Studio Updates

Due to extra busy life circumstances, I haven't blogged in exactly month to the day. It's been busy art-wise too -- a lot of current and upcoming art stuff happening...

  • Been having good meetings and webinars during the Klein Art Works course.
  • The artist Feedback Loop I'm in has been interesting and gets better each time I go.
  • My large-scale cityscape photographs should be installed soon at the Mile North Hotel as part of their hotel redesign.
  • I'll also have more large-scale photos going up this spring at the Hilton Suites new bar/lounge they are designing.
  • Had some good news about some national magazine press coverage I'll be part of -- more on that soon.
  • Been working on a new series of abstract paintings based mostly on objects from my studio:

Here's a video of me working on a painting recently in my studio:


Studio Updates

Due to extra busy life circumstances, I haven't blogged in exactly month to the day. It's been busy art-wise too -- a lot of current and upcoming art stuff happening...

  • Been having good meetings and webinars during the Klein Art Works course.
  • The artist Feedback Loop I'm in has been interesting and gets better each time I go.
  • My large-scale cityscape photographs should be installed soon at the Mile North Hotel as part of their hotel redesign.
  • I'll also have more large-scale photos going up this spring at the Hilton Suites new bar/lounge they are designing.
  • Had some good news about some national magazine press coverage I'll be part of -- more on that soon.
  • Been working on a new series of abstract paintings based mostly on objects from my studio:

Here's a video of me working on a painting recently in my studio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cCVGfxFweU

March Abstracts

After some earlier struggling, I'm feeling more in-synch creatively at the moment. I've bounced around a little since January 1st by experimenting with new media, subject matter and palate. For about the last week or so I've been creating some abstract paintings to shake things up.

These abstracts all have similar shapes and colors and are meant to be part of a set. The bottom one is finished and I'm still working on the top two pieces. I'm enjoying the freedom of letting the paintings take me where they want to go.

Abstracts in progress (oil on canvas and panel)

The Cornelian + reflections on 2012

 The Cornelian (self portrait), acrylic on canvas, 24x30, 2012


As 2012 came to a close, I decided to create a self portrait - The Cornelian. It's based on a photograph taken in front of the Cornelia Arts Building where my studio is located. I haven't done a self portrait for a while, so I figured it would be a good exercise to go through since I've been a full time artist for one year now. I think the portrait reveals a several things: happiness, uncertainty, confidence and a bit of skepticism.

Reflecting back, I'd have to say that 2012 was a very successful year for me; I'm extremely grateful for all of the support I received. I started it off by taking an online class from Alyson Stanfield to work on my business plan and to help focus my priorities as an artist. I sold art consistently throughout the year and completed two commission paintings: West Loop Cityscape and Chicago Lakefront Skyline. I hooked up with Chicago Art Leasing which is giving me more exposure by renting out some of my art to businesses and homes. My studio was featured in the New York art blog, Hyperallergic - A View from the Easel; and I took an Experimental Drawing Techniques class to shake up my creativity.

During the second half of the year, I worked with two different art consultants on various submissions to license my art for hotel redesign projects. Last week, one of them came through -- four of my cityscape photographs will be printed large-scale for the Mile North Chicago hotel downtown. A second project for another hotel is still in the works. In addition to making connections with art consultants around the country, I explored some new online opportunities to help get my work in front of art collectors; such as ArtSlant, ArtBarcs, Chicago Art Database, ArtWorldChicago, Art Takes Times Square, and got my art represented in Xanadu's Online Gallery. I continue to show at the Writers Workspace and Transistor and will be exploring a lot more show and art licensing opportunities next year.

One last thing I'm proud of is helping my wife start up the Chicago Writers Conference. We ran a successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign where some of my art went to some generous contributors. I volunteered on the Board of Directors, created the marketing and communications plan, developed website content, created a mobile app, and shot photos of the speakers and reading events. It was a challenge to say the least but very rewarding and we learned a lot. We'll continue CWC with a series of workshops throughout the year and the second annual conference in October.

In early 2013, I'll be launching a new website redesign and I look forward to experimenting with oils to begin taking my art in some new directions.

Happy New Year!

-Kevin

Snow day!

Lots of snow coming down this afternoon, and after 7 days straight in the studio, today I'm taking a day off. Gotta refresh -- plus, I need to work on some office and business projects.

I'm now about halfway done with my West Loop commission painting. More layers, some colors changes and details to be added. I'm looking forward to having the collectors come for a studio visit next week so they can see where it's at in person.

West Loop Skyline - painting in progress