Robert Reeves: Oil & Dust

I finished up the Chicago commission a while back.  So after allowing for some drying time I shuffled it off to one of our town’s best imaging firms, Beeline & Blue to have it scanned.  A lot of times I’ll employ a photographer if I’ve got multiple works that I need print-quality images of, but in the case of a single painting it’s more cost-effective and expedient.  I can drop the piece off whenever I wish and pick it up at my convenience.  Easy. I like easy.

I used to take my own photos, but after a while I decided to trust it to the pros.  It costs a bit more, but I like giving what business I can to local vendors. Plus I have neither the equipment or the space to get decent photos of my own work.  My new studio space is a little smaller than I’m used to.  With the way the lower level of the house is laid out I’ve had to divide my studio into a drawing/painting space and a framing/stretcher shop.  It works out to be more space on the whole, but the division has some limitations.  I’m glad to exchange some horizontal space for the additional headroom I’ve gained.  I can actually lift the masts of my larger easels to their full working height.  Which is good because I’ve recently picked up a commission for an additional painting to be installed at Aviva USA’s headquarters here in Des Moines along with the grouping they picked up last year.  They’re tall pieces (72″) and with my previous setup I wound up crawling around on the floor whenever I needed to work on the lower bits.  Not complaining… just saying. As always I’m glad for the work.

I’m very happy to be done with this piece.  It was a lot of fun, and it was also a major challenge.  It stretched my ideas about creating scenes and putting elements together in such a way as to appear natural.  It gave me a few ideas for future work.  It’s coming up on time to start getting some studio work together again and I’m looking forward to employing some new ideas.

Off to pick up a new taboret (read as rolling tool chest I found at the hardware store) and bust out the oils.  Enjoy your day.  I plan to.

Cheers,

R

I spent a good portion of the Summer working on a number of charcoal drawings.  My studio space, up until the last year has had a lot of headroom and good airflow.  I didn’t have to worry too much about dust accumulation in the air.  My current digs, while dry, are a little shy in the area of ventilation.  I’m pretty sure I was about a canary short of a coal mine.  As a precaution I’ve been keeping my dust masks handy.

Making Art safely is something you’re (hopefully) taught when you go to school.  You hear the lectures and anecdotes, but many times you don’t take them seriously because when you’re taught these things you’re typically young and indestructible.  This is not the case.  Ok?  Good.  Wear gloves or barrier cream if you paint.  Wear a mask if you work with aerosols or high-dust materials, and always work with good ventilation.  There’s nothing cool about hacking up magenta lunch biscuits because you’ve been hitting the pastels.

At any rate I really need to get those pieces photographed.  Since I was a little rushed getting stuff framed for the last show I’m stuck with the task of having to pull the glass out of a bunch of frames.  Thankfully this round I stuck with metal.  

Needless to say I’m glad to be back working in oils.  Here’s another detail from some of my current work, a mashup of one of my favorite cities, Chicago being created for a client who’s on secondment from the UK.  As soon as I’m done writing this I’m headed down for another session.  Mixing all of these landmarks together has been challenging.

I like a challenge.  Hopefully I’m rising to it.  It feels like I am.

Cheers

R

Boredom is something that doesn’t visit my place very often.  With a relatively new full-time day job fixing bleeding computers at a local university, two growing boys, and an after-hours Art career there’s not much time for anything else.  Not to mention house cleaning.  Seriously… I try to get a little help from the cat, but frankly he’s useless. I keep trying to get a new post started.  I’ve got loads of drafts, but nothing of note.

So here I am.  Home sick.  No time like the present I guess.

After wrapping up the last show, Oil and Dust, I dove into a handful of commissions that had been waiting.  I’ll be posting some more pics in the near future, but here’s a small sample.

I’m happy to say that I’ve landed a couple of other projects and I’m looking forward to getting started.  Funny thing is I’ve got this idea in my head that I can’t seem to shake.  I was sitting up working on my commissions the other night and took a little break to contemplate the over-sized charcoals I put together for the last show.  I got to thinking about the construction and it led me to thinking about machinery.  The boys and I had been watching a documentary about animation and it hit me: I had an idea I had to run with.  All things considered it will have to be a side project that I work on it what little spare time I can muster.  I won’t go into details yet since it’s only the beginning of an idea, but I think it’s a good one.  It’s a huge departure and that’s something I’ve been looking for.

Cheers,

R

This Saturday night, June 18th from 6-9pm the Ware Haus in Des Moines will be featuring the works of numerous Artists from around the country who were asked to do one thing: paint a portrait of an Artist that has inspired you.  The response was phenomenal.  People chimed in from all over eager to pay their respects to their many influences.

The idea got started when I drew a portrait of my friend and fellow Des Moines Artist, Brent Houzenga.  His tenacity and invention has been an inspiration to me and after seeing a particular shot of him I was moved to attempt something I rarely do… portraiture.  Brent saw the piece and immediately had the idea for a show.  The concept took off and very quickly received support from Artists around the US.  It gave us all the chance to tip our hats to the people that have given us direction along the way.

It gave me the courage to attempt a second piece.  A portrait of another fellow Des Moines Artist who has been a great influence on me, Larassa Kabel.

Here they are together

I won’t be able to attend the reception and that’s a major downer because from what I saw of the Art that had already been dropped off… it’s going to be a great show.  Definitely stop by the Ware Haus, 1718 East Universty Ave, Suite A in Des Moines this Saturday.  Enjoy the show.  Meet the Artists.  Have one for me!

Cheers,

R