The hand that cradles the rock

First time in my life I let myself be held

God made dirt and dirt bust your ass

We Are Damo Suzuki

Here I'm trying to create and illustrate a whole new universe and imagine what it's inhabitants might look like. The title is a homage to the lead singer from CAN and also the title is influenced by a song by The Fall.

Faces of Chicago - Carolina

Faces of Chicago - Cody

Commission Work

I did this painting from a photo shoot i did. I shot it in the ornate Congress Theater lobby thinking that I'd have a bunch of cool background stuff to work with, but in the end it was the floor that caught my attention. Luckily, the client agreed, because I think it turned out to be a very unique and special painting.
I did this painting using house paint, airbrush, spray paint and acrylic. I did it from a picture the client gave me. It's 3.5ft by 8ft.

Faces Of Chicago

40by60 inches. This is made from a photo I took.

Chicago Artist's Month

Coffee and Art

If you happen to be in Logan Square, stop on by New Wave coffee shop to take a look at some fantastic art. I have a few of my ArtKart pieces on display.

New Commission Piece

24 by 36 mixed media

Sister Stones And Brother Bones

To The End OF Night

Delirium Makes Us All The Same

Audrey Test Stencil #1 and #2

I don't use a computer to separate my layers for stencils. I do it all myself without the assistance of the Photoshop cut-out tool. So before I put any real time into the final stencil I first do some tests. I see if I should go dark to light or light to dark. Meaning sometimes it works best to make your first stencil(the base) black and get lighter with each progressive layer. Or you go light first and end with black.

I used to use the Photoshop cut-out tool, but now there's a million other artists that have discovered it and everyone's stuff looks the same. Also, the updated version of the cut-out tool lost some of the rawness of earlier versions. But as with most Adobe programs it's two steps forward, one step back.

Kingdom's Temple Of Culture

The move-in and build out is almost complete and I'll probably start some new paintings this week.

New Space

After painting out of my apartment for the longest time, I've finally got a real studio space. It's called "Kingdom's Temple Of Culture," or as my dad calls it, "The Temple." Here's the first look before I start bringing everything over today.

New Work

Here's a picture of 2 commission pieces I've been busy with this month. They were both done using only spray paint.

New Work

"Pink Betty" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"Hockney's Pool#2" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"Mayhem" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"Flowers For Josephine#2" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"Ode To Chicago #2" 18 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"Jimmy Clean" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"It's In The Eyes" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray Enamel
"Everything Is Sugar Free" 16 inches by 16 inches" Spray Enamel
"Beast Quotes Celine" 16 inches by 18 inches Mixed Media

Sunday at Art Chicago

Because I sold-out of everything on Saturday. And with not enough time to make anything Saturday night because I had an opening to attend. I decided to bring my studio to the streets and make some new pieces there. Right away, Sunday was looking to be a good day. Plus, people really enjoyed seeing the process of how I make my art. By mid-day I had already surpassed Saturdays sales and was almost selling them faster than I could make them. People seemed to be more relaxed and talkative. I was constantly getting kind words of encouragement.
And after three days, I was beginning to get familiar with who the artists and gallery owners were that were exhibiting at Art Chicago in the Merchandise Mart. You could tell because when they went to lunch, grab coffee or make runs to the liquor store I'd get these screwface looks of disdain or jealousy. Probably, because here I was in the open sunshine, blasting my tunes, smoking cheap hand rolled cigarettes and selling my art and I didn't have to pay a dime to do it. Poor Bastards.

But more than anything, I really appreciate all of the new friends I made, the candid stories people shared with me concerning their lives and the positive feedback I got. Selling my art on the streets of Chicago allows me to get a real sense of whats going on and allows me to reflect that in my work. It colors a realness to my art which is formed from the vibes and energy I digest from the pulse of our great city and those that walk it's streets. From the poor, the insane, the rich, black, white, gay or straight, everyones individual perspective is as important to me as the air I breath. And for that I feel very lucky and honored.
But the hardest part, is not being able to go the bathroom whenever I want. Saturday I went five hours without peeing. That's gotta be a record. When I finally was able to go, I nearly wet myself just thinking about relieving my kidney's. I left a little quarter spot on my pants in anticipation. I hadn't done that since I was a kid. Very humbling.
But with the sun blaring down on me and the constant moving around and talking, I needed to monitor my water intake because if not -- I'd have to go to the bathroom every hour. So, I felt like I was repeatedly on the verge of dehydration. And add to that, the paint fumes and the constant rumble of the elevated trains, it all paints a surreal memory of last weekend. But thankfully my wife would stop by and bring me food and watch my stuff so I could take a bathroom break. Another benefit of her presence was sales would increase when people saw that my wife was pregnant. I've tried to convince her to come with me full-time but she called bullshit on that. Oh well.

Saturday at Art Chicago

First thing Saturday morning I set up at the bridge on Wells and Wacker. But there was very little foot traffic. I noticed a block west looked a little more heavily traveled so I moved over there. But when I got there, nothing. Once at my new position I noticed my last spot began to get a constant stream of people. It was like being at a check-out line and no matter which one you pick, it'll always be the wrong one. It didn't matter because the wind was getting a bit treacherous and I decided to go back to where I was on Friday, at Wells and Hubbard. But before I left, I was able to sneak a picture of the local legend "The Walking Dude" in his natural habitat.




In general, Saturday was much more subdued than Friday. I think with the Cubs game in the afternoon. The Blackhawks and Bulls both in play-offs games later that day, business was slow. At least not as good as Friday. I did manage to sell out of everything but it took 9 hours.

Friday at Art Chicago

Blast from Christmas past

This photo was sent to me from Maria from Idaho, a very nice lady who was visiting our beautiful city the day she ran into me. It was taken during Christmas 2008 on Michigan Ave., and I remember it because it was one of the coldest days in which I took the ArtKart out.

New stencil paintings

"Sue Is Fine" 12 inches by 16 inches spray enamel on canvas
"Flowers For Josephine" 16 inches by 16 inches Spray enamel on canvas

These photos are kind of crappy because I took them before I varnished them. The glare from spray enamel makes it's hard to get a decent picture with a flash, so I had to shot with existing light. I meant to re-shoot them after varnishing them but I forgot and ended up selling them last night in the River North gallery district.

Latest Commission Painting

"SUPER COAL" 35 inches by 60 inches. Spray enamel and Benjamin Moore house paint.

My client wanted me to paint their family dog but they couldn't decide which picture to use. So, I took their three favorite picture's and used a comic narrative to weave them all together in a cohesive way to showcase all of their pet's unique personalities. This family has had me do other stuff for them in the past and they always let me put my personnel stamp on every new assignment. I'd like to give a shout out to Philip, Rebecca, John and Em for all of their support towards my creative adventures. I'm pretty wasted in this photo. My regular respirator filter's were trashed so I was forced to make do with one of those disposable face mask one's. It didn't offer much protection because after 8 hours of spraying I was feelin a little warped -- as you can tell. Photos by Blake Fearn

Revolution Tattoo "Love You To Death" Show

VIMBY - Revolution Tattoo

Here's a video about one of my favorite places to exhibit -- Revolution Tattoo. It's shot during my last group show there, the Valentine's Day themed "Love You To Death."

I'd see this WATCHMEN movie

The WATCHMAN is definitely in my top ten of favorite books. I read it in high school and it just blew me away. I revisited it again a couple of years ago and I was afraid it wouldn't hold up, but you know what - it did. But regardless, I don't think I'll see the new movie because there's just no way it could compare to my imaginations interpretation. Plus, the director, Zack Snyder is a hit or miss director. The Dawn of the Dead remake was flawless but "300" was a boring snooze fest, with a souless narrative and too much slow-mo. And the trailers for WATCHMEN, kind of hint that Zack Snyder is again got his finger stuck on the slo-mo effect button. And I don't know if it's just me but I get an empty feeling about the whole thing. Maybe, I'm wrong, and it does seem to be that people who haven't read the book enjoy the movie more than those who did. But I would watch this animated WATCHMEN movie.

I submit for your viewing pleasure

Yesterday was a very productive day. I completed ten new works of art. I'm trying my best to refine my style and keep it fresh. Although, I re-use the same stencils, each new piece is a reflection and expression of my desire to challenge myself to work within my limitations of what I have on hand. I added some new colors to my palette and did a new stencil of Chet baker that I think turned out pretty good. I'll be downtown today at State and Washington from 12pm to 3pm today selling these babies. Wish me luck.Music Is For Lovers

Orange Betty

Stark Raving Beautiful

Orange City


BUK


WSB


Do You Feel Me?

Chet #2



Chet #1


Blue Betty