The Wire Man--Getting There

The Studio wall - 12.10.09

David Bates at the AMOA

If you find yourself in downtown Austin before January 31st, you need to check out the David Bates show at the Austin Museum of Art.

One of my favorite painters working today.

Info can be found here: www.amoa.org

The Wire Man--Slow Progress

Shiny Object

Crisis Painting #3 finished.

Horse Progress

Early shots of Crisis Painting #3.


Thumbnail--Fall 2008

Kuzdu

I finished this painting last night. Growing up I always enjoyed seeing the shapes kudzu would make growing on telephone poles, trees, rusty cars, whatever. To me, they resembled dinosaurs.

Goldfish Memory: Crisis Painting #2

Eagle (detail): Crisis Drawing #1

The Wire Man

Last week I was in Jackson, MS and had the privilege of spending some time with Charles Lindsey: Mississippi sculptor, painter, inventor, philosopher, historian, poet, etc. I first came in contact with Charles 10+ years ago, when my Mom invited him to participate in an arts day at my High School. I always new him as the "wire man", because he sculpted people's names and portraits out of wire.



He keeps a lot of his work in his Mom's old home, where he was born. It reminded me of Francis Bacon's studio (as seen here). Old sculptures, paintings, Bible drill trophies, toys, clothes, and various debris were stacked in clumps around the walls. Looking up you can see Charles' hand prints scattered across the ceilings. When I inquired about them he mentioned the "Sistine Chapel".



What I remember most about Charles was that he predicted he would die by the end of 2005. When I met with him last week I asked him about this prediction. "Well," he said. "I was wrong...it was my brother." He pointed out that he painted his Mom's old house 3 different colors in honor of 3 different family members that died around that time.

Penelope and The Showers

The Showers: Crisis Painting #1

I drew the initial sketch for this painting last November and finally got around to painting it in May. This is the first piece in my tentatively named 'Crisis Paintings'.