Last week, I learned that my 2019 painting Ruby is going to be a part of the All About Women Show at Marin Society for Artists. You can see the whole show, with some amazing work, here.
New Series: Punching Up
I love oil paintings but they take forever to finish. They evolve in their own time and there isn’t much I can do to speed it up. Sometimes, I take weeks painting and repainting a section of a piece, knowing in my gut that something is not quite right. Then suddenly it will occur to me that that bit I’ve been painting needs to be a quarter of an inch to the left or needs a little Mars Orange instead of Mars Red. and Then Pow! the picture just gels. It’s a magical moment but boy does it take a long time to get there sometimes.
So I started thinking about doing work that is quicker, more immediate.
I tend to spend too much time doom scrolling on Twitter, leaving me feeling anxious, frustrated, and powerless. It’s been a rough couple of years. Time-honored ways of dealing with these dark feelings, ranging from pointless internet squabbles to day drinking to yoga, worked for me with varying levels of success. Drawing pictures of powerful rich jerks getting punched in the face, however, is very cathartic.
And thus a new series was born.
The pieces are made with charcoal, white gouache, and sometimes a little ink. And they don’t take five weeks to make. You can see more from this body of work over at my newly revamped website.
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Nocturnes
This summer, I’ve found myself working unexpectedly in the genre of nocturnes – paintings set at night. The first painting below started as a work set in the afternoon. After working on it for a month straight in February, I put it aside. It wasn’t gelling. When I started working on it again in June, I repainted it as a nocturne and somehow it worked. I had never painted a nocturne and thus there was something of a learning curve. Nailing values is really tricky. The resulting painting – Gardening at Night – came very slowly, but I’m pleased with the results.
The next Nocturne painting I did is called The Rupture. I finished it earlier this month. Last year, I found this still from a security camera of a guy watching an oil refinery explosion in Texas. Something about the composition, the flag, the half-naked guy spoke to me. So I decided to paint this using the techniques I discovered with the last painting.
Two of my Paintings will be at the 2021 California Open Exhibit at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles
I just learned that two of my more overtly political painting will be a part of the 16th Annual 2021 California Open at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles. The show will run from August 4-21. And there will be a reception on August 7, from 7-10 pm.
Last year, I was accepted in about a dozen juried shows but, thanks to COVID, there wasn’t much of a celebration. This is the first show I’ve been to where there will be a reception. If I can help, I will be there. If you’re in LA, stop by and say hi.
I made both paintings last summer when everything seemed overheated in more ways than one. The first painting is Metaphor (above). This is based on a photo taken in the Central Valley in the mid-'60s. I started painting this in August just before a spate of wildfires turned the skies over the Bay Area a hellish red-orange.
The second painting is Routine Traffic Stop (below), which I started not long after the murder of George Floyd. This is my most controversial and popular painting. The competition is the fourth show it has appeared in.
Now A Member of Gallery House
Earlier this year, I was invited to apply to Gallery House in Palo Alto. Established in 1957, it’s the oldest cooperative art gallery in the area and represents a rich and varied group of artists. I’m really pleased to be a part of it.
I’ve been a full member for only a month and I’ve already sold a painting. (Unidentified Car, one of my favorites.) The buyer is a regular collector from the gallery but who lives in Ohio. If you're interested in my work, check out Gallery House website.
SOLD!
Also, one of my pieces – Routine Traffic Stop – has been selected to represent Gallery House in the Boldbrush competition. Winning will result in art world glory and maybe a little money. Please check it out and vote for it.
Super Boy 2 Just Dropped
Last year, at the beginning of the Pandemic, I started to make a movie with my son as a way to channel his insane energy and my boredom.
This year, still bound at home from the same Pandemic, we decided to make a second movie. Here are the results.
And here’s the first movie:
The Veeptopus Book Now With Kamala Harris Insert
We have a new Vice President.
Back in 2013, having just been laid off from my corporate job, I started drawing portraits of vice presidents with octopuses on their heads. Why? I really still don't know. But somehow, it turned into a thing. I got written up in some very fancy outlets like Boingboing and The New York Times. Just before the 2016 election, I funded a Kickstarter campaign to get all the portraits published as a book.
So now with a new, historic vice president Kamala Harris, I drew a portrait of another cephalopod-bedecked veep. And I am including it as a free insert with the purchase of the Veeptopus book.
Drawing her presented some challenges that weren't problems drawing, say, Hubert Humphrey. Hair, for instance. Most vice presidents within living memory looked a bit like a potato. Hair wasn't an issue because many didn't have hair. Kamala, however, is the most glamourous veep we've had since Al Gore. And unlike Gore, she has luxurious flowing locks. Getting her hair and the tentacles to work together was a pain.
Another issue was skin tone. Harris is, of course, the first woman of color in the executive branch. I couldn't, as I did with every other veep, just use the tube of "flesh" color paint. There were some trial and error. Paint makers really need to get with the times.
Since then, I've evolved away from being the octopus guy but I am still very proud of the book. So now with a new, historic vice president Kamala Harris, I am including a free insert of a cephalopod bedecked Kamala Harris with the purchase of the Veeptopus book.
And if you want an updated Veeptopus poster with all the veeps including Kamala Harris, put your name on this list.
Latest Painting (and Last of 2020): Unidentified Woman
Here’s my last painting of 2020. I supposed I’m going through what my wife calls my Pepto Bismo period. The mixture of King’s blue and Mars Red makes for an unsettling combo that I keep coming back to for some reason. Also, in the waning days of the Trump administration I feel that fog and mist resonates. Maybe in 2021 I’ll do some brighter, happier paintings, but I probably won’t.
Happy Holidays and Good Riddance 2020
It’s been a hell of year. And it can now fuck right off. Take COVID and Trump too.
New Painting: Blue Van
Between all the prep required for the film history class I was teaching this past quarter and general anxiety about the election, I haven’t had a lot of time to paint. I started this in early October and I knew that I wanted to take it slow and let the work speak to me.
Routine Traffic Stop at both the JUSTICE Show at Marin MOCA and the PANIC Show at O'Hanlon Center for the Arts
It’s been a busy month here wrapping up the film history course I teach but I want to catch up on some more art developments.
My painting Routine Traffic Stop is currently in two shows at the same time. Fortunately, one is virtual. I was included in O'Hanlon Center for the Arts latest show PANIC curated by the great Chester Arnold. You can see the whole show here. It’s filled with some pretty great art.
If you want to see Routine Traffic Stop in person, you can see it at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art as a part of the Justice exhibition curated by Karen Jenkins-Johnson. This looks like a very strong show and I’m pleased to be a part of it. You can see a gallery walk through here. The show runs through to the end of the year.
By the way, that same painting won first prize at the 202? show at Shockboxx in Hermosa Beach.
My work at the 2021? Juried Show at Shockboxx Gallery in Hermosa Beach
Two of my painting are going to be exhibited down in Hermosa Beach this month. Shockboxx Gallery’s latest juried show 2021? One is Benton St., which is literally a view from my bedroom window (plus the corpse). The second is Routine Traffic Stop.
If you’re in SoCal and have a hankering for art, check it out. The show runs from the 10th to the 24th with a virtual opening on Facebook. Info in the graphic below.
My Paintings at the de Young Open
Yesterday, I went to an advance showing of the de Young Open to see two of my paintings hung alongside some really amazing work. (That’s me at 839 and 840.) The show is simply crammed full of art. Nine room with work hung salon-style. There is some amazing works of art in the show and some stuff that wasn’t cup of tea (a lot of abstract art, for whatever reason, rarely does it for me.) but all of it was clearly high quality work. The curators did a fantastic job of grouping them thematically – one room was political art, another portraits, another nature landscapes.
This showing was reserved for artists. I heard a lot of people having the same “Hey look! It’s my painting” conversation. There were some name brand artists there too. I heard from a staff member that the great Bay Area figurative painter Wayne Thiebaud, a huge influence, was there too. I had a quiet fanboy freakout at that news. I probably walked right past him but it's hard to tell who's who with everyone wearing masks.
The de Young Open opens to the pubic October 10 and runs through to the end of the year.
New Painting: Unidentified Car
This painting was a royal pain in the ass to finish. All those straight lines vanishing into the distance caused me headaches.
I was inspired in part by the horrible smokey air that my corner of the Bay Area has been experiencing off and on for the better part of a month. The original photo was taken on a day with clear skies. Getting that foggy, uncanny look took some time to get right. I’m not really sure if I got it right, but I tried my best.
My 6 year old son, Jasper, came up with the title of the painting.
New Painting: Metaphor
I started this painting at the beginning of August. I discovered an old black and white photo of an oil field fire in Richmond CA in 1963. It was nicely composed and resonated with the general mood of 2020.
As I was painting this, exploring different colors and tonalities for the earth and the smoke, a series of massive fires swept through California. My immediate area was not threatened but the air quality was pretty toxic for many days from all the smoke. I felt that in some obscure way I summoned the fires from my painting. Maybe for the next work, I’ll paint a picture of the current Commander and Chief getting devoured by a bear.
Anyway, I was sort of stumped to come up with a title for this – Richmond, 1963 seemed a bit too dry for these days – so I just punted and went with Metaphor.
Celebration of Art 2020 at the Marin Society for Artists
One of my paintings, Golden State Dr., has been accepted at the Celebration of Art 2020 at the Marin Society for Artists. Since this is still COVID times, the show is virtual (meaning, essentially, a website). You can see it here.
The Marin Society for Artists is, of course, the first place to show my work back in May.
You can see a video of the show below.
Solano Ct (2020)
One of my paintings will be at the California Open exhibit at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles
I learned last week that one of my painting, Solano Ct., will be a part of the California Open exhibit at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles. The show will run from September 9 – October 1 and, if you’re planning on going, you will need to call ahead because COVID. This is the first time one of my paintings has shown in LA.
Solano Ct. has previously won 1st prize at the Expressions exhibit at the Marin Society for Artists.
TAG Gallery is located at 5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Check out the Autumn 2020 Issue of Content Magazine
Get a load of this! I contributed to the Autumn 2020 issue of Content Magazine. The issue is about making art during the time of COVID. Some amazing artists featured in here. Check out the full issue.
I’m pretty pleased with the write up, which was written by Taran Escobar-Ausman. Since this is a site designed to publicize my work, I’ll drop a few quotes from the article.
Self-taught artist and parent Jonathan Crow discovered that quarantine actually resulted in less time in the art studio. Crow experienced a shift in priorities, mainly preoccupied by the insurmountable task of keeping his six-year-old educated and entertained. Like many of us during this time, Jonathan checks social media – especially Twitter – and finds it hard to cope with the frustration of a world that appears “maddening and sickening.” The reality of COVID-19 and the BLM protests, however, have inadvertently bolstered Jonathan’s conceptual focus in his artwork.
This last bit hadn’t occurred to me but it’s probably true.
Another passage:
Jonathan Crow’s stylistic theme fits into the context of current events, but our quarantine and global pandemic increase the emotional potency for viewers. His art may reveal hard truths while also offering a catharsis that brings you back from the void. “Art can bring intellectual and emotional clarity to all the chaos and toxicity. Art can also tune into the the subconscious currents of the zeitgeist and articulate them in a way that is beyond words or really even rational thought.”
Two of my Paintings will be at the de Young Open Exhibit
I am delighted to announce that two of my paintings were selected for the de Young Open Exhibit. It’s a community art show for Bay Area Artists at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. I am delirious with joy.
One painting (seen above) is Indoor Door. It took me forever to paint. This is currently hanging in my stairwell. I see it every day and I find that I like it more and more. This isn’t always the case with my work.
The other (seen below) is Cul-de-sac, which I completed last year. It’s the painting that started by ‘Corpse in Cul-de-sac’ series and has even been used for a record cover.
A recent San Francisco Chronicle article described exhibit and the vetting process.
Some 6,190 artists from the nine Bay Area counties applied to be part of the exhibition and sent images of 11,518 artworks spanning painting, drawing, print-making, digital art, photography, sculpture, fiber art and video. After being evaluated by curators and artist judges Hung Liu, Mildred Howard and Enrique Chagoya, 881 works created by 763 artists were selected.
At this point, because of COVID, I’m not exactly sure when the exhibit will take place, but I’ll keep you posted.
I Have an Exhibit at Kaleid Gallery in San Jose
I have an exhibit this month at Kaleid Gallery this month. For legal reasons, I can’t call it an opening because of COVID-19 guidelines. Yet for this month, I have 18 paintings of mine on display at this specific space in scenic downtown San Jose.
Before everything fell apart, I was slated to have an exhibit there this month but I assumed that it was canceled. A couple weeks ago, I learned that, in fact, the show was still on though in a truncated COVID sort of way. I’m happy how it turned out. If you find yourself in SJ, for whatever reason, come down to Kaleid Gallery and check it out.
From the Facebook page:
KALEID is open for viewing this exhibit Fridays & Saturdays from August 7th to August 29th, 5pm–9pm.
Free admission.We will have strict safety protocols including low capacity, social distancing and masks required at all times in the gallery.
KALEID gallery
320 S. 1st St. San Jose 95112
