Show Review = Good!

"Biography" oil on panel, 6" square.

The "minumentals" show was reviewed in the Maine Sunday Telegram! Here's an excerpt from the article by Phil Isaacson:

I conclude with a few thoughts about the tiny (6- by 6-inch) paintings of Rob Sullivan. Called "minumentals," they can be seen at Art House, a new venture on Pleasant Street in Portland.

Their size and the familiarity of their subjects remind me of the work of Robert Kulicke, who was the inventor of the now ubiquitous narrow-faced aluminum frame and not by coincidence, a talented painter.

Once each year, back in the '60s, he would offer paintings similar in size to Sullivan's at a very low price. Their sole subject was a single pear, and people would line up in front of his shop on Madison Avenue to buy one. Not acquiring one was one of the few disadvantages of living in Maine.

Sullivan's subjects are a touch more home-like than Kulicke's, but the idea is much the same: a satiric ennobling of the everyday object. Get it down in paint, and it acquires status.

The results are charming. They include a croissant, a folding knife, a piggy bank, a hand container for coffee, a rubber duck, a cupcake – you get the idea.

Look at the painting; it's deft and handsome.

{here's a link to the entire article}

It's fair to say that I'm very happy about this, and that Mr. Isaacson "got" the show. Not that there's much to "get"- I wanted to keep it simple, elegant, and, well... fun. I enjoyed the comparison to Kulicke, a fine craftsman and multitalented individual.

Drew at Art House told me last week that Mr. Isaacson was in to review the show, and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about it. I think most people who paint representationally are wary of art critics. One's laundry is hanging out there for all to see; there are no tricks, no abstractions, no heavy symbolism or editorial comment to hide behind. It's solely one's skill on display, and if you don't have the chops, it may get pointed out to you in print. Yikes.

That said, it's good to keep one's skill level high by painting and drawing as much as possible. I was in the studio this week, in fact, and I revived something that I had let sit idle for a while. I will post it when it's dry! Here's one of Robert Kulicke's: "Four Wedges of Watermelon on a Glass Plate in a Grey-Tan Background." The frame is made by the man himself.

Well where have YOU been?!?!

Look, just chill out and have a pint ("Pint of Stout" oil on linen panel, 6" square). Let me fill you in, okay?

First of all, if you hadn't deduced it from between the lines here, my corporate day job was stifling my creativity BIG TIME. Frankly, the whole thing was getting me really, really down to the point where I had kind of gone into a shell art-wise and personality-wise, and it was becoming more than a bit noticeable around house and home. I stopped blogging because I had nothing to add, Berehaven-wise. It hurt to even be reminded of that, frankly.

So I stopped pre-holiday 2008/09, I see. Yeah, Christmas was fine: there was money for presents and New York City extravagances and the like. And I was so unhappy. But, I ain't no quitter, so despite my lack of desire for basically anything at this point, I stayed on at the office. Steady paycheck & insurance - this is our lot in life, right? The cliches are right: money is no substitute for happiness. Or staying true to oneself, for that matter.

Some bright moments during this time: My 15 year wedding anniversary, for one. Me & D. celebrated sans kids, and we enjoyed it immensely. Despite everything else, we're doing okay There's a lot more ahead of us, and plenty of love to keep it going. The other thing was a 25 year reunion with my elementary school buddies. You read that right. We were all pretty close growing up; it was a Catholic school that went from K to 8, and most of us were neighbors or pals of some sort. It was an absolute blast, and I love every one of those people.

Then, as February of '09 drew down to a close, and as the economy bottomed out so hard you could hear it like a thunderclap in a snowstorm, my company had a round of layoffs. I knew it in my bones that I was done. Sure, part of me felt afraid - afraid of what to do next, afraid of the end of our savings, health care, etc. But then there was that part of me that was like William Wallace getting his guts pulled out at the end of Braveheart: "FREEEEDOOOOOMMMMM!!" I even preemptively packed my things and wiped my hard drive clean. When I got the last bit down off my wall, the CD came in, looked around, and said, "Well I guess you know why I'm here." Yup.

The severance was okay, not great, but whatever - it was my first brush with the corporate life and perhaps my last, unless the REALLY right job comes along. At the moment, as we all know, that obviously is not happening. We're surviving, but happier - and let me tell you why...

I'm painting again. A LOT. For about 40 days (7 weeks, with weekends off), I 9 to 5-ed it at the studio and produced 28 new paintings. I was hoping for 30, but I didn't factor in some of the prep time, so there you go. I decided to go full on, alla prima, and plop a new still life every day on the stand. It was GREAT. What a catharsis of energy release! I created a theme, too, using my practical illustrator's sensibilities (heh). I decided to create a series for everyone. That sounds grandiose, but it's really the opposite. I chose items for the home, or from the home, that were interesting enough to keep me interested, and fun enough for others to find some connection. And since they are all the same size - small, at 6" x 6" - yet painted with true affection and attention to the singular object, I titled the series "minumentals" (lowercase intended).

Rather than describe it to you, you can see them at my website... www.robsullivanart.com. WHAT? A website? Well, I've been talking about it for friggin' months, already - isn't it about time? Damn right, it is.

Also, this idea was also designed with a show in mind. And guess what?! Yes! - the work is now up at Art House gallery in Portland, and will be there until June 27th. The opening went very well, and 10 pieces have sold (see my site for current availability) thus far. There is another mini-reception on First Friday, June 5th. I'd love to see you there!

And what else? Well, you know how much I loved teaching. Okay, if you don't remember - I loved teaching! It was just difficult, because NHIA was so far away. Well, problem solved. I am now faculty in the Illustration Department at the Maine College of Art. There is, of course, a story behind it, but the most important thing right now is that I'm teaching again, period. The chair and my co-faculty are just wonderful. I am looking forward to September with huge anticipation.

All right, that's a lot to digest, and now that no one is reading this blog anymore due to my neglect, it may have been superfluous. Whatever - I don't care, because I have made up for the time lost with painting! Yes!

Me, after the last of the minumentals went off to the gallery:

Not Nearly Frightened Enough

Ode To Poe - oil on illustration board, 8" x 14". (Done for a McGraw-Hill elementary school-level  compendium of Poe works).

Being scared for the fun of it has never been my favorite past-time. I do understand that some people absolutely love it, and would probably give their left arm to be a real zombie (sorry, ha ha), but I've never equated such grimness with humor or lightheartedness. People such as Poe and Lovecraft were masters of the genre, and it's really hard to find any humor in their tales. That's the kind of scary that I appreciate more.

That said, I really feel like Halloween is for the kids. Costume parties for adults are fun and all, but leave this day for the little ones. They dress up all the time, and this is the one day where this creative impulse is rewarded - so let them get the glory... or sugar rush, as is the case.

Last Leaves

Autumn's Fallen - oil on illustration board, 14" x 16"

I found this marsh warbler dead after it presumably hit a shop window in town. I don't think anyone saw me pocket it, but if they did, I'm sure it made them wonder. I don't normally do still lifes, so this is an unusual painting for me in that respect, but the bird was such a cool thing to have on hand to study, I wanted to compose a full piece out of it. The rugosa roses were the last blooms of the season, so, with the leaves and the bird, the whole piece is really focused on the beauty of things as they pass on. Perhaps this beauty represents a glimpse of the glory of rebirth? As far as the natural world goes, these kinds of things click into place so beautifully.

I hadn't mentioned it before, but I've been back at drawing room a few times since the end of summer. This past Monday yielded a few good drawings, and I have some others from weeks prior that I like. I'll post them here soon. You can always come by the studio to see these new things if you're in the neighborhood, of course. There's a First Friday coming up on the 7th, where I should have a few new drawings up. I'll make a more formal post about that later.

This weekend looks good for me to have some serious studio time, finally. Hopefully I can make some headway with either this one small work that I have set up, or the study for the larger figurative project I've been going on about. We'll see which I am in the mood for, I guess.

Fire and Water

Laurelin - oil on panel, 14" square.

If you're familiar with Portland, you may recognize this tree. Autumn's fine colors are gorgeous this year, and have peaked this week on the southern Maine coast. If you're wondering at the name, you'll have to read the first part of "The Silmarillion" again, I'm afraid.

I have been in and out of the studio quickly these days, unable to put in a lot of time on any one project. There have been quite a few social and familial obligations to fulfill, and I was hoping for a slowdown this fall, but to no avail. Even so, I have concepted out quite a few paintings for the future, and I am through the preliminary setups on two of them. One is the study for the painting with Molly, the other is more akin to the series I'm off-shooting from the successful "She Dreams." I'm very excited about this stuff.

Again, I wonder a bit about the efficacy of doing these figurative works, but hey, I don't need to move them as fast as I would were a gallery asking me for paintings. I would be eschewing the figure for landscapes, no doubt. Not that there's anything wrong with pure landscapes - I enjoy painting them dearly - but, as I'd said before, my vision is leading me towards the figure. Since I currently have the wherewithal to entertain this direction, I'm going to go for it.

Figuring it out / FFAW October

Anna - Ebony pencil on paper, 14"x17"

Forgive the pun in the title, but the double meaning does have relevance, actually. I just sold the painting from this post, and it went to someone who really understood the piece. That makes it easier to let go. As I'd said in that post, I felt it was rather successful, and wanted to study people's reactions a bit more to really understand why. I think I know, and I'm undertaking a new tack in exploring this area. Obviously, it's figurative - specifically - female nudes in landscapes. But the intention is to make them more iconic, more allegorical without being terribly obvious about it. I'm sure there will be hits and misses in terms of what will make these pieces work, but I'm going to take a gamble.

Tonight is First Friday! Please come on by, if you can. I'll be there with wine and beer and you can drink and watch me draw. Entertainment and free drinks - does it get any better? :)

More info at www.firstfridayartwalk.com

Local Color

Apropos of my last post, I stumbled across this gem of a movie, slated to debut November 7th.

Finally, a film that celebrates REAL painting! I'm so excited to see this, you have no idea. I'm familiar with George Gallo's backstory, and I'm amazed that he's bringing it to life. I urge anyone who dreams of leading a creative life to see this movie.

Here's the official site for Local Color.