Month: January 2013

Yesterday I had to pull ten paintings out to deliver to a curator and they had to be within a certain price range. I pulled older work mostly, well going back as far as 2008. That’s old in art world years. They had all been wrapped up an stored for so long, I almost forgot about them! Two of them, I have never showed before, and the other two have been shown, somewhere… I dunno where. The curator picked these four:

Bi-Polar Sundae, 2009. Oil, paper and pencil on panel, 24 x 24 inches.

Have a Beer, 2009. Oil, pattern paper and pencil on panel, 20 x 20 inches.

Dream, 2009. Oil, paper and pencil on panel, 24 x 24 inches.

Remember, 2008. Oil, acrylic, paper & graphite on wood panel, 18 x 18 inches.

Two different styles, I know, but it was interesting to me that the first two are pretty abstract – which has been the direction I have been going this year so far. I guess it just took me a while to continue what I started four years ago.

Well, I haven’t written a blog post since I updated my website. Here is the “Press Release” for those of you that missed it:

Los Angeles, CA – Okay, I have now officially launched my new, improved website after two years in the making (yes, it took that long!). If you thought my site was cool before, wait until you experience the new features and content now. You’re going to poop your pants!

My trusty partner (a.k.a. mjp) and I have finally managed to create an entirely new and original design with fun and user-friendly navigation. The site is still sleek and simple, using my own handwriting and personality – that part doesn’t go away. Over 880 original artworks are displayed on top of a database that presents each and every category of artwork in easy-to-see, bite-sized sections. PLUS, there is now a NEW search engine, making everything you might be looking for that much easier!

Books, prints, paintings and works on paper are now more bitchen to view and/or purchase with a simple mouse click. Additional features include the options to view descriptions of the art. They are not all there yet however. Keep in mind I am writing 880 of these. Some are just process notes, while others are stories, inspirations, and anecdotes written by yours truly. Individual displays of each work include little rulers and yardsticks to give you better insight as to the size of each piece. Viewers also have the ability to Like, Tweet, +1, or Pin individual artworks to their favorite social media networks. Woo hoo!

Everything you’d ever want to know about me and my art is a cinch to view, including my blog, and an inside look at my past and present studio spaces. As always, you can still sign up for my seasonal newsletter to get updates on exhibitions, and a personal account of my hair-pulling progress on the various, ongoing projects I subject myself to.

Esart.com has been in existence since 1996. Do you know how old that is in dog years? It’s had its trademark “look” for the last 12 years, if you can believe it. It was high time for a redesign. So take a look and poke around. Tell me what you think! I’m usually around.

The new website launch is coming next week! I am very excited about it and think you might be too. We (MJP and I) are just putting all the last minute touches on it, and running multiple tests before it all goes live. I’m shooting for Thursday, but it’s a kind of wait-and-see kinda thing.

I am in a new group show at George Billis Gallery called Colorful Antics, which opens next Saturday! It’s from 5 – 8 PM. I will be at the opening early, then I’m off to a close friend’s 50th birthday dinner. I hope some of you can make the opening, but if not, definitely try and see this show – it’s spectacularly fun!

I will be showing some new, and not-so-new, work along side of Derek Buckner, Yaya Chou, Stanley Goldstein, Tom Gregg, Kathy Halper, Duane Paul, Charlotte Smith, Barbara Strasen and Trine Wejp-Olsen. Here is the invite:

I also just finished my first painting of 2013. It’s a small, oil on canvas abstract that’s 16 x 20 inches. See?:

I am also going to be in a very special show at the Hebrew Union College at USC on the 14th, called “Intersecting Paths: Art & Healing,” curated by Georgia Freedman-Harvey. Georgia has been working with the Kalsman Institute on Judaism & Health with Cedars-Sinai, who is the co-sponsor of the exhibit. I will have quite a few paintings in this show, along with many other wonderful artists with candid, in-depth stories about both the process of creating their art, and the various reasons the works reveal healing components.

The opening for this show is February 20th, and there is going to be an online catalog that will be launching this month to accompany the show. The website will then become a permanent part of the Kalsman Institute’s website, which will also include a resource section with organizations that offer art programs/projects that promote healing.

On New Year’s Eve I wound up repainting my last painting of the year. There were just too many goddamn colors in it. Now it’s kinda purple. Here it is finished:

Two Girls Redux, 2012. Oil on panel. 20 x 20 inches.

New site will be launched any day now… Stay Tuned.