you’re welcome to stop by

Saturday, December 12 from 11-6 : Heart the Art – Bizarre Street Party

BAC and Flying Heart Brewing will offer live music, food trucks, art vendors, and activities! Join us throughout the day to taste great food, hear a variety of music, and see an eclectic mix of local art. I’ll be in my studio so you’re welcome to drop in, say hello, and see what I’ve been working on.

BAC will be screening “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” outside at 5 pm. Camp out on the lawn with the entire family to enjoy this classic holiday comedy.

If you can’t make it, be sure to stop by Graphite Galleries in New Orleans, The Agora Borealis in Shreveport, and Ann Connelly Fine Art in Baton Rouge. The holiday season is upon us!

i wish everyone was as happy as me, gouache on paper, 22×30

 

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change is a good thing

I have a new studio space, and even though I have retained my studio space at home, this new space has sparked some positive changes. The new space is much larger, which means I’ll be able to make some larger sized paintings and work on more of them at a time. I’m still at the mercy of shipping and transportation costs, so don’t expect Julie Mehretu sized work any time soon. To christen this new space I’ve been working on twenty-two new paintings on panel. Several of these pieces will be on exhibit at Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches, Lousisana during the month of April. I’ve been making some changes with how I treat the space within these paintings and I’m excited to get them in front of an audience. Here are four of the works:

 

all the while working himself tighter into life’s snare, acrylic on wood panel, 39×39

 

he could not deny that he was full of something that had not been, acrylic on wood panel, 39×39

 

at that moment I realized my time had passed, acrylic on wood panel, 35×45

you don’t act like you like it, acrylic on wood panel, 60x30in

Happy New Year!

Since we are almost halfway through January, I thought it would be a good idea to wish you all a happy new year. If you follow me on facebook, instagram(@jchambers), or twitter(@chambers_artist) then you know I was able to meet my goal of 100 pieces of art in 2014. Below are a handful of some of the last pieces completed in 2014. Visit my website to see all the images, info, and prices.

despite the restraining effect of the attractive force, acrylic on wood panel, 23×23

i wish everyone was as happy as me, gouache on paper, 22×30

finally and truly happy, gouache on paper, 22×30

what’s it like to be who you are? gouache on paper, 22×30

 

My first special exhibition of 2015 will be the Surreal Salon 7 at the Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art. Below is the piece that will be exhibited.

nice is better than good, acrylic on wood panel, 35×23, 2014

I look forward to keeping you informed of things to come.

New work, and where to find it.

Happy Holidays! Here are images of some new paintings. Some of them are leaving the studio this month. Six pieces are headed out to galleries, and one has been accepted for exhibition in Surreal Salon 7. Here are the pieces leaving this week, and where you can find them:

 

Graphite Galleries:

the days of dreaming had come to an end / i can find my story in yours, acrylic on wood panel, 71×45, 2014

conversely any potential difference will be immediately equalized, acrylic on wood panel, 35×45, 2014

do you like you? acrylic on wood panel, 35×45, 2014

 

Ann Connelly Fine Art:

i’m sorry, gouache on paper, 22×30, 2014

in it everyone knows everyone else, gouache on paper, 22×30, 2013

at night he would park in the lot across the street and watch her rock their world to sleep, gouache on paper, 22×30, 2014

Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (Jan. 4 -29):

nice is better than good, acrylic on wood panel, 35×23, 2014

My Studio:

i wanted to say what i hoped you’d say back, gouache on paper, 22×30, 2014

echoes of the most distant objects, gouache on paper, 22×30, 2014

You can find my work at Graphite Galleries in New Orleans, Ann Connelly Fine Art in Baton Rouge, and The Agora Borealis in Shreveport.

spring is the time for birthing new art babies

Here’s the next show of my work:
The Bossier Arts Council, Boomtown Casino, and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra are thrilled to invite you to the next WAM event slated for Thursday, May 15th at 5:30pm. This quarterly event features wine and food pairings, music courtesy of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra (Peter Haas, Dan Santelices, and Chris Reed), and visual art. Cost for entrance is $20 and the featured artist is Joshua Chambers. For more informaiton please visit the Bossier Arts Council website at http://www.bossierarts.org or call 318-741-8310.

ink and gouache on cut paper, 4×6/12×12

 

I’ll post more images of the 28 new pieces on the website after the reception. Hope to see you there.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the 16 new pieces in production.

 

Menu

Vegetable Crudités Served w/Spicy Ranch Dip & Mozzarella, Basil, & Roma Tomato Bruschetta Paired w/Rogbert Goyette Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, CA

Assorted Fruit & Cheese Kabobs & Assorted Canapés Paired w/Fernlands Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, NZ

Mini Quiche Sun Dried Tomato & Smoked Chicken Cerviche Paired w/Peirano Estates Chardonnay, Lodi, CA

Grilled Mini Bacon Wrapped Scallops w/Roasted Corn Salsa Paired w/Christopher Michael Pinot Gris, Willamette, OR

Lasagna Cups Paired w/ Carpinetto Dogajolo Rosso, Tuscana, Italy

Prime Rib Carving Station Paired w/Stephen Vincent Cabernet, Central Coast, CA

Assorted Desserts w/Eberle Muscat Canelli, Paso Robles, CA

really good news

I’m not really sure how it happened, but last week’s post was deleted. Here are the images I had intended to post last week:

you should always say thank you, or at least say please, acrylic on panel, 10×10, $200

i need it as much as you need me, ink on paper, 30×22, $300

this is part of loving someone, ink on paper, 22×30, $300

these meant more when i was younger, ink and gouache on paper, 30×22, $300

i am a hero, ink and gouache on paper, 30×22, $300

i refuse to be forgotten, ink and gouache on paper, 30×22, $300

A really good thing happened this week: I was awarded “best in show” at the Shreveport Regional Arts Council’s exhibition Critical Mass. The winning painting is titled “I can’t be what I once was” (you can look it up on the website). Besides that cash award, there are some pretty exciting things that come along with the award. First, I will have a solo exhibition in the third floor gallery of Artspace in July. Second, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council will take out a 1/4 page ad in a prominent art magazine to publicize the show (Art News/Art in America). Third, the juror for the show, San Diego art critic Lauren Buscemi will write a review of the solo show to be published in local/national publications and websites. Needless to say I am very excited, and feeling very fortunate. Critical Mass is full of impressive artists living in Northwest Louisiana. If you are in the Shreveport area you should make it a point to stop by.

Graphite Galleries in New Orleans has been doing a wonderful job selling my work,  but this means I am going to be producing like a mad man. I have the solo show in the Leslie Powell Gallery in May/June, the solo show in Artspace July/August, the group show in the Masur Museum of Art June/October, and the group show in The Shaw Center for the Arts October/November.

When it rains, it pours.

If you pray, pray for my wife.

nice letters are nice

I received my first rejection letter of the new year: The Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition. I have to admit that I’ve grown fond of reading rejection letters. I enjoy the subtle differences in the construction of each rejection letter. I used to save them when I was in graduate school. I pinned them to the wall of my studio like some sort of merit badge. I kept them all on the same push-pin. One day while I was painting, the push-pin fell out of the wall. It could no longer hold the weight. I laughed at the situation until I was cleaning up the mess and realized the stack that I thought had been accumulating for awhile had only amassed over the course of one academic year. Sitting there on the floor in the midst of an obscene amount of rejection letters I counted on two fingers the shows I had been selected for, neither of which were in the same year. It was a very dramatic moment.

I’ve grown a thicker skin and developed a more selective process for submissions. And sometimes a rejection letter can be a relief, especially when the opposite would mean a last minute scramble to frame and pack. I think I still prefer a rejection in the mail over one in email.

Now to speak of the shows in which I do have work. Here are the links to their online catalogues:
Louisiana Purchase
Surreal Salon 5

I have also finished two new monotypes and two new paintings:

a new painting, a new show, an old box

This week I finished a new painting, was notified that one of my paintings was accepted into Surreal Salon 5, shipped two paintings to Monroe, shipped 6 paintings to Graphite Gallery, and I got back my painting from The September Competition at the Alexandria Museum of Art. It’s been an exhausting week, so I’m keeping this brief. Please check out the links and and take a look at the new work.

you and i make such selfish decisions, acrylic on panel, 23×35

new work, old books

I’ll start this post off with the new work:

i was trying, acrylic on panel, 10x10in

failed attempts and other happy things, acrylic on panel, 10x10in

their sins flung off by strength of faith, acrylic on panel, 10x10in

he cut loose the sandbags, but the balloon wouldn’t go any higher, acrylic on panel, 10x10in

The paintings I sent to Graphite Gallery are going over really well. I’m hoping to maintain a steady momentum in the studio so I can keep sending more work to New Orleans.

I submitted my entries to Surreal Salon 5 and the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition. I think these two will be the last exhibitions I submit to this year. I’m still planning on submitting to a couple of publications, especially New American Paintings. I really need to get started on new pieces for my solo show in Oklahoma, and the group show of narrative painters I was invited to in Baton Rouge next year. Hopefully, I’ll get to do some printmaking in the next couple of months. I really want to try working the text into some monotypes.

My studio has transformed from painting mode to packing mode as I make boxes to ship work to the gallery and to a buyer in Monroe. In the meantime, I’ve been rummaging through my old sketchbooks chasing threads of thought and mining for anything useful. Occasionally I have to stop and laugh at some of my writings from graduate school. You can tell I wasn’t getting any sleep. I’ve also decided to reread Art as Experience. If you’ve never read it, you should.

voted, painted, photographed, and updated.

I had the day off today because its voting day, so I made the most of it:

I voted (won’t be sharing the gritty details)

I painted (one painting finished before 11:30)

this was very disagreeable to a guilty mind

I photographed new work using the equipment at the Bossier Arts Council sponsored Artists One Stop (the work above, and the these two below)

we don’t mind lying to ourselves

always remember: if you’re not having fun, stop

I updated the website 9 new images with info in “paintings” (if you want to see those, you’ll need to go to the website.

The show at Graphite Gallery is going well. Work is selling steadily. Hope the momentum maintains.