EchoesLocation

Scott Avett
Scott Avett and Crackerfarm (Mike Beyer & Lindsay Rome) are having a show together in NYC at Envoy Gallery tomorrow night. I obviously don't live in NY...I live in Portland, but if I did I would be at that opening engaged at Scott's beautiful paintings and Mike & Lindsay's incredible photography. There is a great article from the Salisbury Post, found HERE, that does a good job of mapping his artistic career as it relates to The Avett Brothers progress. I met Scott shortly after he finished up at ECU and opened Southern Star Gallery in downtown Concord. I was honored when he asked me to show some work there. I was also smart enough to gather some of my pennies and purchase one of his paintings back then because the price tags these days are nuts. I'm getting derailed. Read that article and check out both of their sites and if you live in NYC go and see that show. It's guaranteed to be awesome.


Susan Brenner
During my talks with Nicole at the Chris Isaak show we discussed UNCC and some of our professors. The ones we liked and the ones we disliked. I'll leave my opinions (and hers) in the air but I wanted to link Susan one of my favorite teachers and working artists that taught at UNCC. The images I've shown come from "This is History...That Is Not Over". It's the series I believe she was finishing up with or close to it when I started in 1998. Most of my classmates are more familiar with "the rope paintings" she was working on during our time there and still exploring currently but I am partial to these early pieces dissecting ideas of beauty in women and sardonically approaching Hysteria as it was diagnosed in the late 1800's. I love love love these pieces. Masterful application and weighted subject matter. It's my kind of work and I am to this day honored to have studied underneath her for my time in art school. She was also the professor that manned the New York Trip we took after I graduated that spawned a lot of new influences for me and a better view of the New York Art Scene. Go check out her site, there is a lot of work there to see so spend some time. Also, shoot her an email and thank her for being a rad teacher and person.

jeremy

Brian Brown
Really really great illustration work. Love the concepts and originality. The image above is my favorite but there are other winners as well. I'd like to see more of his stuff so I'll probably keep checking back everyday for the rest of my life.

Matt Borruso
While at Opposable Thumb for a post breakfast coffee I thumbed through some magazines. I came across this guy and read a little on him. Interesting paintings, great skill involved it seems. I love the play on the grotesque and how easy it is to distort someone by slightly (or extremely) tweaking a facial feature. The fluorescent tones push the images even more and leap over the line of fantasy. Really great stuff.

Muzi Quawson
Went to Fresh Pot for coffee and some magazine browsing the other day. I came upon this photographer, Muzi Quawson. The works are inspiring in themselves but the presentation is also interesting. I know a lot of photographers use this light box technique to display but for some reason in viewing these it seems to work better. With the dark walls, the idea of documetation and freezing a moment in time comes across incredibly well.

Ashley Hope
I came across a review for Ashley Hope's show as well. The images document Lust Crime Victims. Some of the images are hard to take and I can hardly imagine actually painting them. The cream of the images is in the details which she does really well. The patterns on the couch to the tiling on the bathroom floor. Very well done and it ALMOST makes you forget what you are looking at over time.


David Buckingham
For as long as I've been trying to make my art work and have been actually taking in other peoples work with the idea of furthering my skills and concepts I've loved text treatments and old signs. David Buckingham addresses this with a pop spin that is so awe inspiring to me. The "Backstage Pass" section is my favorite part of the site but I'd spend time all over. Great stuff.

So I've been lax and my reason for not posting is completely unwarranted. I have not been busy making art as I have not worked on anything in close to a week. Sad but true. I've been around a computer mostly this whole time but I've been doing other things. Experiencing life if you will. The facts...

Last Thursday morning Joey and Pam made a visit to the fair city and that was a blast in a half, save having to work both Thursday and Friday. I went and picked them up from the airport not before I scooped Seth up (The Avett Brothers were playing that night at the Crystal Ballroom) from Burnside to surprise the two of them. I surprised them and we had a great drive from the airport to my place where I showed the three of them my habitat and surroundings on a brief walk up Hawthorne. I then had to get back to work for a couple hours. I got off and came home and changed and went and scooped the two of them back up and headed to MK Gallery for Amy Steele's thesis show on the PSU campus. Amy is attaining her masters degree and her thesis revolved around meeting dogs at the dog park and documenting their behavior and interaction with their owners and other dogs. An interesting show no doubt. We then traveled North to Burnside and to meet up with Levi and Alyson for dinner at Ringlers Pub. We had some interesting conversation and it was good to introduce the two of them to each other as we grew beards together for 4 months and it's only right. After dinner we went upstairs and partook in The Avett Brother's concert...definitely one of the best. The crowd was into it as was the boys and it felt like we were all on the same page, a huge celebration where no one stepped on anyone else's toes. It was great...and I met Jerry Glanville.

Friday after going to work for a full day basically I rushed home and got Joey and Pam and we traveled the boring non-scenic route up to Seattle. Blah. So boring but being with Joey and Pam made it better for sure. We toughed the 5 O'clock traffic and even indulged in a delicious truckstop dinner at Gee Cee's (I had the liver and onions) eventually arriving in Seattle at Neumo's at around 10:15 or so. Rachel and Lori joined us for a while but left because they were tired from exploring all day. The show was great albeit a little bunched in to Neumo's. We hung out with the guys for a little bit and then went and checked into our rooms and slept.

Saturday morning was an interesting one as we sat in the lobby and traded conversation with Scott, Seth, Joe, Jessica and whoever else came to our table for nearly 3 hours. What a way to spend a morning in Seattle at the Renton Hilton Garden Inn...I wouldn't have it any other way. Joey, Pam, Seth and I hopped in the car around 2 to grab some lunch. We went to the nice family restaurant called Claim Jumper. We had great service, great conversation and my meat loaf was delicious. We all four went to UNCC together so it's always good to get together and catch up. True friends never skip a beat. We headed back to the hotel where i switched off car passengers. Scott, David and Jessica Lea Mayfield joined me for a venture to Ballard. What a great little area. I'm hesitant to say hip but it was definitely favoring that vibe. I have no problem with that though. The shops were fresh and the people were "unique". I feel comfortable in that environment and I have to say that some of the other portions of Seattle that I've visited don't rub me right. I digress. We walked around and drove around Ballard for a few hours. I bumped into Tiny Vipers (Jesy Fortino) and bothered her for a photograph. I have no shame. We left that area and traveled back to Capital Hill to drop the guys off for sound check. I went and met back up with Joey and Pam at Moe Bar. Fellow beard contestant Will Hays and his roommate Lauren met up with us for a drink and then a walk to a really delicious Thai Restaurant. That was a treat. Then we headed back to the venue and enjoyed the Avetts yet again.

Sunday morning I woke up and spent some more lobby time with friends and then drove to Green Lake for dinner with Will, Rachel and Lauren at a place called Julia's that was absolutely delicious. After some more conversation and laughs I drove back to Portland not before I stopped at the Value Village for some Tacoma thrifting and the Michael's for some supplies.

So all in all it was an incredible weekend with friends and music. I left out a few things for time's sake. It's 5:34 AM and I think I'm gonna take Nolte for a walk and then do some painting before work. I'll also be uploading pictures to my flickr from the weekend today at work so look out for those. Hope everyone else is well.

jeremy

"The doctor don't wanna take procedures
He claimed my heart can't take the anastesia"
from Kanye West's song "Roses"
I'm pretty sure this song & lyric was in reference to his Grandmother and how instead of sending flowers to the hospital when your kin is sick the "Roses" are the members of the family and the herds of support that is shown when the matriarch or any member of the family is ill. The line is eerie when you consider the rumors amidst on how his mother passed. A sad an unfortunate loss it is and it's got people buzzing about the ills of cosmetic surgery which could be the only positive that comes of this. I obviously don't know Kanye West and probably will never meet him but my heart goes out to him because I know what it's like to lose your support system, your mother. Now, seeing that he has to go thru this in the publics eye makes my heart even heavier. I heard the news last night from my brother and then read up on what happened this morning and felt like typing some words. This life is not as long as we all would like to believe so make the most while you are here. Tell someone you care about them, tell your mom or dad or best friend or even an acquaintance because we are all in this together and it's so much easier with shoulders to lean on. Let's be each others support.

jeremy