Robert Reeves: Oil & Dust

It was quite the weekend. Saturday at the very least was an adventure.

I finished Friday by doing some show-prep work: wiring canvases for hanging, making display cards, etc. I had to hang some paintings up in a Barnes & Noble in West Des Moines (the University location for you locals). I’ve been pretty lucky in the fact that I haven’t had to hang my own work for quite a while now. It was good to get back into it and I liked the fact that I was able to make my own decisions about how the arrangement went down. Huge Thank-You’s to a very good friend for lending a hand. I would’ve been kinda screwed otherwise… or at the very least at the mercy of strangers.

That evening I played emcee at a 40’s-themed charity fashion show event at the Des Moines Social Club called Emergence. I was initially under the impression that I would be in the sound booth or back stage making announcements. That is until I walked in and saw the mic wired up on stage. Don’t get me wrong… I’ve got absolutely no issues with getting up in front of a crowd. In a past life I did just that 4 or 5 nights per week. The only concern was that I hadn’t quite dressed the part that evening. After some reassurances that my wardrobe fit more or less with the show (just short of a Cardigan and pipe) I took my notes and spent an hour or so rehearsing my delivery. The crowd was very receptive and the show came off beautifully. The designs looked great and the models: Des Moines’ very own classic Burlesque troop, St Vitus and the Taxi Dancers, were a perfect fit for the theme.

All in all I didnt’ get much painting done, but I did get some shots from Thursday night’s studio session. I’ll be back at it tonight. I’d like to get as much done on this one as possible before I start on the commission I’ll be finalizing with the buyers tomorrow night. I’ve been thinking that I might try just posting detail shots while I’m still in-process from now on. Might be more fun to keep the final composition a bit of a mystery. A creative individual might just be able to tile their version of the finished piece together before it’s all done. I might just post such a thing were it to wind up in my inbox. Just tossin’ that out there.

Until next time…

Cheers,

R

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Just a quick note to post some pics of the DSM Arts Festival GuideOne Insurance Interactive Mural Project. 1000 participants and dozens of volunteers all lent a hand in making this project a success. My sincerest thanks to everyone involved including my wonderful friends and family who not only showed up to offer their support and love, but to lend a hand as well. I’m especially proud of my two sons, Chance and Zane for joining me on the lift (at its lowest setting) and helping me out. AND to Monica Langin for helping me set the last two rows as time was becoming more and more of an issue. All in all the mural, which took nearly 20 hours to complete, only stood in its finished state for a total of 2 hours. A team of volunteers was able to disassemble, file, and catalog the 1000 tiles in less than 90 minutes. Amazing.

That being said here are some pics. Photo credits on this post go to the lovely and talented Monica Langin. Thank You!

Cheers!

R

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There’s something about getting started on a new project. If you know me I’m all about starts. I’m very happy to say that I sold a piece the other day and the buyers want another one to go with it. Naturally I’m pretty excited about the prospect. I met them a little over a week at ArtDive for a little brainstorming session. We discussed some of their ideas for the new painting and what may or may not work. All in all it was a good time. I like meeting with clients. Getting to know them and their perspective is a great help when coming up with something custom.

The end result of the meeting was a list of locations and views I needed to check out. I got to spend some time last week with just me, my camera, and my tripod. Here’s a sampling of the results.

For a full viewing of all the shots I took that night (and if you know me) you can check my new album on FaceBook

I’ll be posting it today.

Cheers,

R

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Since I just posted my Twitter mosaic I’ll keep this short. I merely wanted to post my most recent in-progress shots of my latest work.So… without further fanfare here they are:

I’m trying to work more outside the photo on these. Using instinct and intuition more for coloration and placement. I’m trying to get rid of the more obvious horizon lines and let the characters define themselves in the space.

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You know it’s funny… Just when you thought no one was listening:

These are the fine people following me on Twitter. I almost hate to admit it, but Tweeting has been a good resource for me. I’ve gotten in contact with galleries, buyers, and other artists with some great work to share and helpful advice. Plus it’s a fun outlet for random brain bits while I’m working and going through day-to-day activities.

Are you on this list? Do you Tweet? Like it or don’t there’s something valuable going on here.

Cheers,

R

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It was a holiday, right?
I’m using that as an excuse for my slow-ish return to my normally stringent work schedule. In the interest of giving myself a break in that respect I do have to say that I had my boys to myself from pretty much Friday through yesterday. I love spending time with my kids so you’ll never hear me complain about getting extra time with them. We spent the weekend watching movies, playing games, having friends over to visit, and the obligatory Memorial Day cookout. Outside of a little house cleaning and laundry there was almost no other “constructive” activity. In my opinion that’s how holidays are supposed to be spent.

Last night I got back into the studio and was surprised at my own fervor. I turned on the tunes and within minutes “Pursuance” from John Contrane’s “A Love Supreme” drop-kicked me into the single-minded state I require to work (here’s a portrait I did of him some years back). Some nights it’s like being possessed. I know I’ve written on this subject before so I’ll spare you, but last night was one of those nights.

All that aside here’s the latest update. Lately I’ve been thinking more about the relationships of the characters to each other and the viewer. In most of my paintings the figures are solitary and standing with their back to the viewer. Even in compositions with many figures situated in close proximity to each other they all seem to be on their own. There are some notable exceptions, but more often than not they’re solitary. It says something about the artist frame of mind. I think it also says something about our current state of mind as human beings. Each one of us can communicate to such a broad audience, but ultimately no matter how much social networking, etc a person gets involved in it’s no substitute for real face-to-face interaction. When faced with such interaction many social networkers are at a loss, or are unable to distinguish between the online personality and the person in front of them.

We plug in… We tune out.

I try to use social network in a way that gets me involved with people directly. I like to meet new people and get to know them. At the same time i’m an observer. A voyeur. A perennial fish-out-of-water. Reconcile that.

How do you rank yourself? Are you a social networker? Do you press the flesh? Do you sit and play WoW and eat cheesy-poofs?

What do you do that keeps you from turning into a shut-in?

Cheers,

R

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After having turned in the painting for the Des Moines Art Festival Mural Project I decided it was time for a break. I took the week off from pretty much everything except for housework and parenting duties… and the occasional game. I went to bed early every night (read as “before 1am”). I didn’t paint. I didn’t blog. I didn’t Tweet (much). I didn’t FB or MySpace much either. I few odd updates here and there, but far below my normal level of social networking activity. I just seemed like time to unplug a bit. As a result I look less like a crak monkey and have some fresh enthusiasm. I’m ready to go again. I think this is the longest I’ve been away from the easel in 3 years. The longest prior to that was the 3 months immediately following the move into my current home 3 years ago. I think I was getting withdrawal symptoms across the board.

As of last night I’m back at it. Going to try to get more intimate with the characters in my compositions. I’ve also been thinking about trying out some abstract pieces. I’ve never had the talent for abstraction/abstract thought. Probably why I nearly failed Algebra I and dropped out of Algebra II. I have always considered it a possibility that my evolution as an artist would lead me down the path to creating Abstract Art much like Piet Mondrian’s did. Look at the progression of his work sometime and you’ll see what I mean.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway here are some shots of the compositions I’ve started playing with. They’re done in one of my favorite drawing tools, the Sharpie. Also I’ve included the beginning stages of a painting based on one of those drawings. It’s a small section from a photo I snapped in NYC last December.

Enjoy. I’ll write again very soon now that I’m back on track.

Cheers,

R

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Here it is… Monday. An auspicious Monday to be certain. I’m submitting my Des Moines Art Festival image today. Hopefully they’ll like what they see. I spent a lot of time on it this weekend and I’m proud of it. I’ve submitted it to the powers that be. My initial contacts love it so it’s now just a matter of time. I’m looking forward to taking a couple of nights off and catching up on some sleep and/or R&R. Plus I’m sure the kids will appreciate the ‘Daddy with no deadlines’ thing. I enjoy the focus having deadlines provides, but they can make me a little surly. The boys are always there to help me lighten up or get my focus on other more important things like flying kites and working on getting my little one off his training wheels.

So here it is… my finished painting. I hope you enjoy it. I can’t wait to see it blown up to it’s full mural scale of 50’x20′. It’s gonna look fantastic although part of me is just a tiny bit apprehensive. At that scale all of the little things come out. The things you never thought of… Like looking at your skin as reflected in one of those magnifying mirrors they use at cosmetics counters. But that’s what I signed up for. It’ll be nerve-wracking and liberating at the same time. I’ll be on hand at the Des Moines Art Festival for the entire weekend (6/26-28) helping to get it assembled. Be sure to stop out. Grab a tile and add your touch to this interactive project!

Cheers,

R

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