Inspiration: Remington's Nocturnes

Frederic S. Remington (1861–1909) "The Old Stage-Coach of the Plains", 1901, Oil on canvas, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas



I've been digging into Frederic Remington's nocturne/night paintings again recently. I had the great fortune to see an entire exhibition of his night time paintings a few years ago. His use of color in this series is fascinating - unusual blue-greens, subtle golden-taupe-greens, and vibrant blues - frequently contrasted with the rich oranges of candle or firelight. I highly recommend the book devoted to these works called "Frederic Remington: The Color of Night" by Nancy Anderson. Even if western art isn't your subject matter of choice, I think there is a lot to be learned from the palette of Remington. The more I flip through this book, the more intrigued I've become with these paintings. My next body of work for the exhibition in June will surely be influenced by Remington's coloring.

Rebecca Dolan @ Rule Gallery

Rebecca Dolan, 04-10-07, 1243, inkjet print mounted on aluminum, 30 x 40 inches
Rebecca Dolan, 04-10-07, 1242, inkjet print mounted on aluminum, 30 x 40 inches
Rebecca Dolan, 04-10-07, 1255, inkjet print mounted on aluminum, 30 x 40 inches

There's a great show up at Rule Gallery right now called "The Simple Truth" featuring five regional photographers; Rebecca Dolan, Anna Newell, Katie Taft, Rachel Hawthorn, and Ellen Yeiser. It is a exceptional show overall. I especially enjoyed Rebecca Dolan's work which I was not previously familiar with before visiting Rule. I would highly recommend stopping by Rule Gallery sometime Tues-Sat from 11-5, the show runs through April 5th. Next time you stop by the Mayan for a movie, go a little early and see the show at Rule - it's just a block down from the theater.

Fallout

Artwork from Bethesda Softworks copyright 2007

I love these apocalyptic concept paintings for the videogame "Fallout". Exceptionally realized images with a crazy degree of detail and atmosphere. I especially love the top image. I wish I knew who painted these, but I there's not specific artist recognition on the site.

Editors note: There is speculation as to whether or not these are indeed paintings or really good digital facsimiles and I can't say verifiable if they are paintings or pixels. Either way they are impressive images.

It is Official

NathanAbels dot com has returned. I finally got all the codes, transfers, etc. figured out and my new site is done. The new site also has a blog but that blog will focus more exclusively on my art - news, openings, new works, press...This blog will continue to be about inspiration, artists, music, film, and whatever else is interesting me at the time. Check out the new site and once again - thanks for stopping by here.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I don't usually write about films, but after watching, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", I had to recommend it - especially to those readers who may be into photography. It is a slow moving film, but the cinematography by Roger Deakins is spectacular and kept my interest the entire length of the film. I don't mean to imply that this film is only good because of its cinematography - the movie is quite good for multiple reasons. That said, this was one of the best filmed movies I've seen in a long time. Every shot in the film is exceptionally composed. I can't say enough about how captivating the photography/cinematography is in "Jesse James..." In several scenes, Deakins creates a vignette that references the photography from that time period. The cinematographer Roger Deakins will often holds on stationary objects (a shoe, a cluster of trees, a empty road) - these visual pauses add to the sense of place though I could see them being a test of patience for some viewers. Personally I love it when films incorporate non-moving images. Maybe it has something to do with my fascination with Warhol's 1964 film "Empire" in which he films the Empire State Building for six and a half hours.

The scene in the photo above is especially dramatic when the train comes around a bend and its light streams through the trees. On the subject of trains in film - I would also recommend a extensive collection of film stills with trains in them from the art of memory blog. And another gem I found from the art of memory is Sharon Harper's photos taken from trains.

New Aerial Photos

The first 20 photos of the slideshow below are new aerial photos I took on the way to and from Montrose, CO yesterday:



photos by Nathan Abels

Lorine Niedecker

Photo by Nathan Abels

"Along the river
wild sunflowers
over my head
the dead
who gave me life
give me this
our relative the air
floods
our rich friend
silt"

- Lorine Niedecker

I've been enjoying Neidecker's poems lately. They evoke the midwestern landscape with few words.

Denver "Building Creative Businesses Expo"

The Denver "Building Creative Businesses Expo" takes place today (Saturday) and is loaded with interesting workshops and discussions. I will be on the panel for the discussion called "Self Made: Local Artists Make Good" at 2:30 pm. Joining Me will be Katie Taft, Kay Tuttle and Patti Hallock. Self Made: Denver's site is here. Come check it out.

Works by Alexandre Arrechea

Alexandre Arrechea, “Ruidos sospechosos” 170 x 114 cm, watercolor on paper, 2006

Alexandre Arrechea, “Conspiración” 223 cm tall, Plywood and formica, 2007

Alexandre Arrechea, “Arena”, 114 cm diameter, Espumacor fiber, 2007

"Super" Tuesday

photo by joshuamellin
photo by billikidbrand

To celebrate "Super" Tuesday - check out this great, constantly updated flickr group called "Obama Street Art". According to the admin of the group, "This group is not an official endorsement of any presidential candidate by any of the parties involved, and is in no way funded by or affiliated with any presidential campaign. Think for yourself and vote." Regardless of your political affiliations, it's interesting to see politics in street art in a positive manner. There's no shortage of anti-Bush street art - so political-art positivity is refreshing.

Douglas Roesch's Photography Inspired by "The Road"

Douglas Roesch, from the series titled "The Road"

I'm reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" right now and while doing so I remembered a photo set I saw awhile ago that was inspired by the book. Douglas Roesch's photos capture the aura of the book well. You can find the whole set here. And you can read an exerpt from the book here. It's an appropriate choice for what I'm told is typically our snowiest month here in Denver.

Feature on Twenty2wo Blog

My work was featured on Twenty2wo Blog today. Check it out!

I'm on Artist-A-Day!

You can leave your comments about my work and/or rate me. Fun times. I'm a real average artist right now (2.6/5) but you can change that!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Christa Palazzolo's "Talking Heads Series"

Here's some fun paintings for what turned out to be a glimpse of spring here in Denver. I think a day in the 60s deserves some paintings that also let loose a little:

Christa Palazzolo, "Anne Sullivan"
"Talking Heads Series"
Oil and Acrylic on Panel
2x2'

Christa Palazzolo, "Joan of Arc"
"Talking Heads Series"
Oil and Acrylic on Panel
2x2'
Christa Palazzolo, "Amelia Earhart"
"Talking Heads Series"
Oil and Acrylic on Panel
2x2'

Decorate Your Device

"Laika" by Juan Marín at Poolga

Several websites have made a variety of artistic backgrounds and videos availble for free download to put on your zune or ipod/iphone. Zune-arts in particular is a great resource for videos, music, and tons of backgrounds for your desktop and zune. Also check out Poolga for more. Customizing is fun. If you don't have a digital device like a zune or ipod/iphone - you can download desktop backgrounds from the Zune-arts site too. Everybody wins. There's a great blog with tons of videos here too.

New Website Update

I've been improving and updating my new website. This site has several new features that were not a part of my last website including; exhibitions (documentation, press, installation views), new categories of photography (aerial abstractions, light glare series, and other noteable photos), a very thorough documentation of my press and blog coverage, and video. This will be my dot com in a few weeks. In the mean time you can find it here;

http://nathanabels.wordpress.com

Aerial Geometry

Great post on Circular Communities - lots of interesting aerial views at Deputy Dog. Check it out.

Here's my contribution:

Press: Hess&Hodi

The blog called Hess&Hodi states that it is " a virtual gallery dedicated to showcasing affordable (generally under $300) works of art. We curate our way through the affordable art sludge so you don't have to." They did a feature of some of my work from shopSCAD and wrote some very kind words. You can find the feature here. Thanks Hess&Hodi!

New Website!

In aproximately two weeks my NathanAbels.com website will no longer be with earthlink and will cease to exist in its current form. Nathanabels.com will still exist as a domain but it will now be hosted on a wordpress blog site. I combined the capabilities of wordpress and flickr to make a nice new site with lots of new information that will be much easier for me to update. I now have images from recent exhibitions - with press links, installation photos, and images from the pieces I had in each show. Take a look around and tell me what you think!

Light Glares

I put together a small collection of some sun/light glare photos of mine. I'm a big fan of this pictobrowser application that works with flickr. Really easy to use and highly recommended.