It’s been a busy week. I think my studio is finally clean! Well . . . as clean as a studio can be. I’ll post a picture of the studio in all its glory next week.

This week there were two events exhibiting my work. One in Shreveport, and the other in New Orleans, both events on Saturday. The event in Shreveport was Monoprints + Andrew Weathers hosted by Minicine, a volunteer run venue for experimental and independent film, video, art and music. This was the first minicine event I’ve been able to attend, and it was great. Catherine Nelson, Ryan Rebouche and Landry Debussy (the other artists involved) had nice work up on the walls, and the music performed by Andrew Weathers and his band was awesome. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to enjoy live music. The Minicine space is super cool, and everyone I met from the organization was very nice. Now that we live in the area I hope to be envolved with them in the future.

The event in New Orleans was Dirty Linen Night, and my work was at Graphite Galleries. I have yet to hear how the event went, but I’m sure it went well. From everything I’ve read, the event is really well attended, and it looks like a lot of fun. Maybe Leigh and I can sneak away and head down south next year.

I also received two pieces of good news this week:

The first piece of good news: I was accepted into the 25th September Competition at the Alexandria Museum of Art. This will be the fourth year I’ve participated and I always look forward to the reception. Leigh always makes sure to come along. Although she loves art shows, I think it has more to do with the fact that Alexandria is home to Taco Bueno (the only one we know of in Louisiana). The Bueno was our favorite fast food when we lived in Oklahoma, so mexi-dips and chips are always a tasty reminder of home.

The second piece of good news: This year I participated in an online competition called Art Takes Times Square. Submitting Artists with high enough ratings had their work projected on digital billboards in Times Square. Super cool idea. Well, I got my work in the billboard rotation, and now the groups that organized the event have decided to publish a book and I was selected to have some of my work included in the pages. I can’t wait to see the finished product.

the image of the book they plan to print

Okay, announcements and self-congratulations aside, now that my studio is clean (enough) I’ve been able to get back to work. Before the move I was developing an increasing desire to ease off painting for a little while and immerse myself in graphite. I know it may not seem like a lot to some, but in 16 months I’ve created 75 paintings. Although I draw in my sketchbook all the time, it’s been years since I worked on a finished drawing. To tell you the truth I was afraid I would be pretty rusty, so yesterday I started some small sigle figure drawings. Here’s the first completed one:

11 x 15, graphite on arches hot press

There are many more small ones to come, and although I’ll still be painting some, I plan on producing some drawings on a much larger scale.