Apparition takes again

Apparition takes again, 2009. 20" x 24". oil on canvas.

Shown in this oil painting is the depiction of a lost character lying on his back in a desert. With his last bit of strength he attempts to drink from his canteen; a single drop falls from it. But before the water reaches his outstretched tongue a mermaid ghost has a hand extended to catch it. Her uncaring gaze looks out to the left of the scene.

The man is shown with links to the earth, browns and tans used for the color, and although he has organic shapes the repetition lines on his body mimic the horizon. His legs are even hooked to the ridge of the dune he has strewn himself over. The female mermaid is aloof and floating in the picture plane. She is the same hues as the droplet and linked to water.

The layout is in a downward triangle to add to the depressed scene. It is meant to do the opposite of an upward triangle as shown in this Raphael painting.

Surrounded on all sides (by dogs)

Surrounded on all sides (by dogs), 2009. 36" x 36". oil, oil pastel on canvas.

This painting depicts a protagonist assailed by open-mouthed monsters. The swirling band of "dogs" block off any path of escape for the childishly drawn hero. Given that dogs can usually have a friendly connotation; "man's best friend", it seems that these beasts have turned on their friend and by doing so have degenerated into devil, bear and pig-like apparitions. The bodies of these betrayers (in brown) are broken down to base icons - hoof and claw, snatching at the central figure who must dodge their biting teeth.

The yellow of the background is meant to convey cowardice, deceit, and betrayal. The color yellow has also been used when depicting Judas. Wrapped in his treachery; the yellow cloaked Judas kissed Jesus to mark him as the priest to arrest. The 3 columns of silver circles to the left of the protagonists head are a clue to the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for his unfaithfulness to Jesus.

One of the two phrases written on the work are from the top right "EaTT yoU" which is being said by one of the dogs. It is a visual play on "et tu" as attributed to Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and is an epitome of betrayal. Also from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is a line taken from Marc Antony's funeral oration in which he states, "thou art fled to brutish beasts". This fit pretty convincingly into the themes needed to get the point across. That which is 'fled' to the beasts, so says Antony, is judgment and in this painting's instance judgment had been devoured. Unless the protagonist here, turned upon by his friends and entirely alone, finds some means of escape he sees to suffer the same fate.

Color schemes and layout copied from this Camuccini painting.

Axon and Section

Thesis Boards

These are the boards that I presented at my final thesis exhibition. I slept for 17 plus hours after the show and gave my parents such a fright they almost called the police after pounding away/ calling me over and over at my apartment door for our scheduled celebratory dinner w/ my grandparents and brother and sister. I was very pleased with the resulting solution to my thesis' problem; I felt I had achieved a great deal of what I had set out to accomplish. Of course, I wish there had been time for more models...

Portfolio I

This is the portfolio I had created by the time I was graduating. The layout and graphic design are heavily influenced by the work of Radiohead's artist Stanley Donwood. I found it interesting at the time, but feel it distracts from the work a bit.

Portfolio O

This was my first attempt at a portfolio and at the time mostly consisted of art work from high school. (I took the class with mostly seniors, while I was a sophomore with only a couple architecture projects under my belt.) It also contains the only photo I have left of my 'lost project' the second page from the top. Those are some sketches and the model from my Elementary School design studio. The model was either thrown away or taken; the boards with my drawings were sent to Basel, Switzerland for the exhibit and were not returned. The odd white pages of the 'Ski Resort' were the first building project I did in school. The photos I took of the model were exceptionally horrible as is the layout for its pages shown here.

Portfolio II

This portfolio consists of some work done while at Jefferson Browne Design Group, my first job out of school. The projects range in scope from banks, to pool house buildings, small offices, residences, and retail. All work was done solely by me under the guidance of my principle. The firm had a predominant and somewhat constraining style and I left the firm with lots of good experiences in search of greater horizons at a larger firm.

Ravine Table

Ravine Table

More pictures of the table.

Ein Hud Masterplan

This board was my entry into the international competition to rebuild Ein Hud, a Muslim city in Israel. The major gist of it was to create a truly self-sustaining entity in both the city itself and the community center. Basic construction methods would be taught at the community center, which would be 'finished' by the townspeople themselves. With the knowledge they had gained through the experience of building the additions to the center they could, in theory, travel out into greater Israel and create a viable income.

Ceiling Cat Has

This series of mixed media poster sized products is based off the internet meme of 'lolcats'. Ceiling cat has taken on a symbol of a God-like being. The cat is usually depicted peering through a small cut in the ceiling. Usually there is some phrase the lolcat is saying. In these it is "Ceiling Cat Has" meaning that the cat has the people shown in the print with him in heaven. I have drawn ceiling cat at the top of each of the pages which are different photos printed from my computer. These photos are of important artists; from left to right - warhol, haring, krasner, pollock, dali, man ray, picasso, braque, warhol again, and basquiat. I chose pictures that had two artists. I did this to complete a triad ceiling cat along with the artists. This was done to represent the triads seen in religion. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. So this elevates these artists to god-like status. The blue and black at the tops represents the night time sky; this is often associated with the underworld and the heavens.

Ceiling Cat Has 1/5

Warhol and Haring are shown in this composition. The letter BVS are shown at the top of the work. This is for Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The roman numeral III is shown as well. These are to reinforce the religious triad.

Ceiling Cat Has 2/5

Lee Krasner and her husband Jackson Pollock are shown in this work.

Ceiling Cat Has 3/5

Salvador Dali and Man Ray are depicted here along with Ceiling Cat.

Ceiling Cat Has 4/5

Here is Pablo Picasso and his friend Georges Braque. Drawn in the night sky above them is a sketch from Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon', taken from one of the women's noses. It reminded me of a stairway which is why i chose it. The 3 columns are from Freemason symbolism. They stand for the 'rule of three': beauty, wisdom, and strength.

Ceiling Cat Has 5/5

Here again is Warhol shown this time with Jean-Michel Basquiat. Drawn in the night sky is a trefoil, a geometric shape that expresses the Christian Trinity. Also shown is Gimel,the Hebrew numeral for three. Turned on its side is Basquiat's crown; with it's three points I felt it was fitting for the triple symbolism shown throughout the work.