Giant Insects in PDX!

"Woman and Child"

I'm terribly tardy in posting about this, but I it's not every day that one has an art show up at Paxton Gate, so I should probably tell you about it. 

When I was living in San Francisco eight years ago Paxton Gate was my favorite store to visit. On a rare sunny day I'd travel by myself to the Mission, and between lazing at Dolores Park and getting toasted banana ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery, I'd wander into Paxton Gate and marvel at their collection. Taxidermied animals littered the walls while the rest of the store was stuffed to the gills with gems, minerals, skeletons, insects and arachnids in frames, and mammalian glass eye replicas in large glass cases. It was a store that held so much of what I loved as a child, but had inexplicably forgotten. It inspired stories of mystery and wonder. 

Needless to say, I was excited when one opened in Portland in 2010. Located on N. Mississippi Ave. Paxton Gate PDX brings the spirit of the San Francisco location to the Pacific Northwest. I've been admiring their collection for years, so I was pretty excited when they agreed to show my work last month. Two summers ago I created several pieces that combined vintage cabinet cards and giant insects. I wanted to expand on this series, but wanted a venue first and Paxton Gate seemed like a great fit. Here's some information on the show:

Family Portraits is an ongoing series that questions humanity's place as the dominant species and explores the relationship between humans and animals by depicting what the world might look like if we were replaced, or lived alongside different creatures from the animal kingdom.

In this incarnation:  Through the lens of a portrait photographer at the end of the 19th century we are introduced to an alternate world where insects have grown to mammoth proportions and strange human/insect hybrids pose with poise. All pieces are painted with ink on wood panels and are based on authentic 19th century cabinet cards.

Unfortunately the show will only be up for a few more days (I think it comes down the 17th) but they'll be holding onto a couple of the pieces as well as some of the prints that are available for another month. All pieces will be featured on my website and prints will be made available through my Etsy store. For information on purchasing the original paintings please contact me at beardedmaladies@gmail.com.

I think it's important to note that all products at Paxton Gate are purchased through responsible sources and that taxidermied animals are vintage and bought through trade shows and estate sales. No animals are being specifically killed for taxidermy and sold at this store. I do have conflicting feelings about the fetishization of animals through taxidermy and animals used as decoration, but that is perhaps a topic for a different blog post. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on the matter if you'd like to leave a comment.

 Here are some photos of the show

Bat Gramps

Wow, it's been quite a while since I posted an actual drawing on this blog. So long, infact, that I bet you thought I had given up on it. Not true! I've been drawing up a storm and here's a picture to prove it. As a companion piece to last years "Darth Paul" I decided to draw my grandfather as none other than the caped crusader himself! I still have a little more work to do on this one, but I thought it was finished enough to share with you guys. I'm planning to continue this series just as soon as I think up some more characters for my grandfather to be. 

If you have any suggestions let me know in the comments!

Bustin' Loose

Going into this class I was probably most excited about learning how to sculpt a bust. As a fan of portraiture I'm quite drawn to busts and always saw it as a natural progression for my own work.

As usual we spent an entire 5 hour session working from a live model for this piece, but I spent most of my time working on it at home from digital images taken during the session. Here are a few photos of the bust pre-firing.

They all start bald like a baby

Getting there

Here's the finished version next to his doppelgangers, waiting to be fired

Side view

This piece is a good example of how over glazing can ruin a piece. I wanted this piece to turn out well so badly that I spent too much time fussing with the glazes, instead of performing careful glaze tests prior to the final glazing. The end result was a muddied mess.

It wasn't a total disaster, but I wish I had put as much care into glazing the piece as I did in sculpting it. Oh well, lesson learned. Hopefully this will just be the first bust of many. 

New prints for sale!

Hello everyone! Spring is springing and new things are growing all around us. I'm working on new drawings everyday that I plan on having available as prints or cards in the near future, but for the time being I have two new prints up for sale at my Etsy store.

The majestic BigHorn Sheep:

                            

And the adorably regal Pizza the Hutt Family Portrait:

If you'd like to see any of my drawings for sale as prints or cards please let me know and I'll try and make it happen. 

Bovine Picture Day

Last night was the opening of a group show I participated in called "Found in Translation." 

"Found in Translation is a group exhibition making use of a process similar to a game of Telephone or Exquisite Corpse. An object is made and passed chronologically amongst participants whom then make a work in reaction to the one they receive, being sure to maintain a clear formal or conceptual connection to the previous piece. Each artist only sees the piece immediately preceding her or his own and gives their work to the next person for inspiration. This creates through-lines that become visible only after all the pieces have been placed side by side for the exhibition." - Description from the press release. 

Here's a photo of the piece by artist Leif J. Lee that was the inspiration for my piece.

And here's a look at snippets from each piece that show the threads between each artwork.

I'm very excited to be part of this show which can be seen until March 28th at The Lodge Gallery in the lobby of Allied Works Architecture at 1532 SW Morrison and SW 15th in Portland.

Martin Get's A Makeover

For those of you who have followed my blog you may remember this guy from some years past. He's also featured in the "Stories" section of my website. Last month I decided to revisit ole' Martin and give him a proper portrait. Please enjoy his story written by my friend Aaron Greyson, and stick around to the end to see the original portrait from June 2010. 

The Hated World of Martin M. Martins

Martin M. Martins, fourth earl of North Northbridge, hated his family. He hated his lazy brother, his humpbacked sister, his dead father, and his dying mother. He also hated his house, most shoes, and the color green. He hated that he hated his stupid breakfast because he knew he had to eat it or his dying mother would get after him (again) for hating everything in his world, which was, Martin M. Martins thought, a typical example of her insufferable penchant for over-exaggeration. "I do not hate everything, mother," he would hiss at the bed-ridden woman through his wooden teeth (the real ones fell out because he hated brushing), "I simply do not understand why one should abase oneself with fictitious happiness when said emotion is, as I've told you before, a construct born of our unwillingness to admit that there is no such thing as love." At this point, his mother would usually tell him to "Go shit in the sea, you sour little man," which only reminded him how much he hated being little.

If there was one thing which Martin M. Martins, fourth earl of North Northbridge, hated more than anything else in the entire world, it was shopping. Nevertheless, shop he must, at least for food, such as eel, which he hated slightly less than other food, such as rabbit. In fact, he was actually looking forward to a nice boiled eel served with a side of pickled cabbage when he walked smack into a woman older than his hated mother, with skin drier than his hated father, a back humpier than his hated sister, and an eye lazier than his hated brother. "Get the hell out of my way, you ruddy crone," he grumbled as unpleasantly as he could. Yet, despite the gypsy's warts and fleas, Martin M. Martins' face twitched into what might pass as a grin of genuine joy for the old witch smelled of cabbage - nay, pickled cabbage. And though her years might be as long as her crooked nose, the hag's eyes were as keen as a headsman's axe.

"Ye codgery ol' bag'o'hate," she hissed at him, "Be ye so 'fraid o'love and happ'ness ye cannae admitit t'yer lonesome self?" She raised a skeletal finger, knobbed, gnarled, and twisted as the devil's horny backbone, fixing the hateful man in it's bony sights, and pronounced her curse: "Yer joy shall evermore follow ye 'round, undisguis'ble, bright as the day is long." She then turned from Martin M. Martins, fourth earl of North Northbridge, who was so relieved to be rid of that hated she-devil that he actually did allow himself a full smile (though it looked more like a grimace, I can assure you). No sooner did his face crease than, to his surprise and what would turn out to be his eternal consternation, a butterfly, bright as the day is long, alighted on shoulder.

Darth Paul

I'd like to note that the above image does not reflect any personal or negative feelings I have towards my Grandfather. I'm just a big fan of puns.

Scrunched Face

I didn't have any specific stylistic intent for this drawing of my grandmother, but I am very happy with the results. 

This is what happens when I sit down and draw something quickly and intuitively. 

Jellyfish Tattoo

In keeping with the conversation started last week on style here are two stylistically different versions of the same drawing.

Which do you think is more effective?

Stylin'

I've been experimenting with different styles these days, which also means revisiting some old styles. One common misconception about art is that every artist has one distinct voice, but the truth is that art is never a stagnant thing. It's always moving around and changing. A single piece of art has the possibility of going in a hundred different directions and who knows if the final product is the best incarnation of that idea? I'm constantly struggling with which direction to go in in my art, which probably accounts for the erratic nature of some of the pieces you see on this blog. Sometimes you just want to do it all!

Above is a drawing of a friend of mine from a photo I took over four years ago. If you're curious, here are some drawings I was thinking about when I did this one.

Drawing #1

Drawing #2

We've Been Bugged

Here are two more pieces from the Insect show. These two were an experiment in turning people into bugs. David Cronenberg's "The Fly" is one of my favorite creature movies and was definitely going through my mind when I was working on these, even though they don't even come close to being as grotesque. You might say I was going for something a little more subtle. 

Faceless Woman

Despite what some people think, that is not a Star Trek uniform.

Fly Guy

I probably had the most fun with him.

Birthday Portraits

Yesterday was my grandfather's 93rd birthday, so I figure that's a good enough excuse to break me out of my posting slump. Here's a recent watercolor sketch I did of him that I think turned out well.

This past weekend was the one year anniversary party for the art studio collective I belong to in N. Portland, Civilian Studios. It began with open studios and ended with bands playing/partying. Thanks to everyone who came out and said hello! I'm so used to my studio being a solitary place that it was definitely nice to be able to share it with other people and talk a little bit about my work.

I'm also quite excited that the Advanced Style Coloring Book will be coming out in just 2 short weeks! They'll be stocking it at local boutique Flutter on N. Mississippi St. and I'll be having an art show there to coincide with an opening on Thursday, September 12th. Mark your calendars and come on out. 

Grandfather Triptych

When trying to work out an idea I find that it's helpful to draw the same picture several times incorporating a different style each time. Each style reveals something unique about the subject. The above drawing was my first pass which is basically me being fairly faithful to the source picture. Below is an earlier version of the second drawing. 

 I decided to try out a warm monochromatic look for my second drawing. This was done in a quicker sketchier style than the first. I especially like how this one and the first look next to each other, but at the same time I don't really feel like anything new has been brought to the portrait. Below is the beginning stage of the third drawing.

I like the simplicity of this version, but I had to take it further. 

The third version realized. I really like how this one came out, it's probably my favorite of the three. I love the discovery process of art, how one project will lead you to an idea that probably would have never formed on its own. I feel like this is direction I'd like to explore more. 

Kithaba the Sailor Man

I feel like I gave you guys a fair warning that you might start seeing portraits of the background creatures from Return of the Jedi on here. Well that time has now come to pass! This is Kithaba, a Klatoonian from Jabba's skiff in Return of the Jedi (I had to look part of that info up). As you can see, instead of his usual garb I decided to dress him up as an American sailor from the 1940s. Between you and me I think he wears it quite well. Just look out for him when he's on shore leave. 

Which breed of dog do you think he was inspired by? My guess is Boxer.

Of Beards and Bees

I haven't had much time these days for sketching but I plan on getting back into it now that most of the work for the Advanced Style Coloring Book is done. A couple of years ago I was working on a series that combined antique portraits and insects. I always felt like there was more to explore there so I decided to revisit the concept in this drawing. Hope you like it!

Walrus Murray

Recently there were some delightful pictures of Bill Murray floating around the internet and I was inspired to sketch one of them out. 

I realize it has been a month since my last post which is CRAZY, so I'm going to try and be better about posting new arts on here. Fortunately I have a good reason for my long absence. Last month I signed a contract with my friend Ari Cohen of Advanced Style fame to officially publish our Advanced Style Coloring Book with powerHouse Books. I've been hard at work on 10 new drawings for this edition (I've actually done 17 so we can have a bigger pot to choose from) but unfortunately I can't share them with you guys until the book is published!

So sit tight everyone because more art is coming your way.

Pizza The Hutt Family Portrait

During my blogging hiatus last year I was part of a pizza themed show at The Pony Club gallery here in Portland to which I contributed the above piece. I've always loved Pizza the Hutt from Mel Brooks's classic Spaceballs and I wondered what his family might be like. If there is one Pizza the Hutt there must be others, right? 

This original watercolor painting is framed in a wooden frame and measures 8"x10". It's available for purchase at $150. If you're interested please email me at ischraer@gmail.com!

Below is the sketch I made for reference before I did the final piece. 

Dead Lady Has No Idea What Is On Her Face

I've got piles of old timey portraits lying around and I still haven't figured out what I want to do with them. Here's an experiment using bright colors and a minimal palette. I'm guessing this woman probably wasn't that into face paint in real life. 

Glaring in Red

I can't take credit for the image, but I was inspired by this photo of my friend and was compelled to draw it. I find that I gravitate towards confrontational poses and extreme angles, which is probably why I'm such a huge fan of Egon Schiele's work. 

Also experimenting with monotone coloration. 

Aunt Rita

My show DISTANT RELATIVES has moved from the Emerson Space Case to Fresh Pot coffee shop on Mississippi st., which I'm very excited about. It's a bigger space and I wanted to add another piece to the series to fill out the wall. The series is meant to be ongoing so this wasn't a problem except that I was a little pressed for time. 

Anyhow, this is my Great Aunt Rita, the older sister of my grandfather Paul. She sent me a $10 birthday check every year of my childhood, though I had never seen or talked to her. All I knew was what I heard from the rest of my relatives which was that she was a bit blunt, rude at times, and lived by herself in Fall River, Massachusetts. And of course I always dreaded the "chore" of writing a thank you card back to her. 

A couple of years back I finally got the chance to speak to her. It was during one of her weekly phone conversations with my Grandmother. A surreal experience finally being able to put a voice and a cadence to this person I had heard so much about, especially because I still had no idea what she looked like, but the conversation was pleasant enough, brief as it was. She passed away last year leaving a will that sparked a renewed rivalry between the west and east coast sides of the family that has yet to be settled, but of which my Grandfather still brings up to me from time to time. 

The hours that I spent staring at her face as I worked on this piece, struggling to get her features right, making sure that the shadows weren't overstated and that the space between her nose and mouth wasn't too wide (it is), is the closest thing to quality time that I'll ever experience with my Aunt Rita, but even still I'm glad we got to have that time together.