Advice from a Painter: Part 1 - Gregory Euclide

I have been preparing for teaching painting this summer - researching processes, organizing projects, and putting together power points. While doing this it occurred to me it might be more meaningful to students to hear advice and quotes from living, breathing working artists. This starts my (hopefully) weekly blurb from a painter in the form of a tip or advice. First off is Gregory Euclide. Euclide has shown in Denver several times at the David B. Smith gallery as well as the Foothills Art Center as part of their "Habitat" exhibition. Lately he's been getting a lot of buzz because of the artwork he did for the upcoming Bon Iver album (pictured above). I asked Gregory for advice to young artists and he said,

“Read as much as you can about what you are interested in. But don't let that allow you to lose the feeling for what you are interested in.”

- Gregory Euclide

Thanks Gregory!

Inspired by "Urban Tundra"

I exhibited the above painting "Urban Tundra" at the Stark show at Foothills Art Center last year - while it was there some class groups came through and wrote about different works in the show. One nine year old student by the name of Roxi wrote a really touching story about this painting;

During the winter in the school year my mother sends me to school with two warm biscuits and half an apple. When I'm walking to school sometimes I will stop walking and eating to close my eyes and listen to the trains pass by and the mills working away. I can smell and almost taste the smoke in the air. I can feel the snow crystals piercing my skin. I wonder if I can see Papa working at the mills. I wonder when Papa will have a vacation to spend time with Mama, my little sister Mary, and I. When my Papa will say "Tell me a story, Elanor." But Papa never gets vacations from work. Almost everyone's dad works at the mills. When I go home Papa is tired and won't talk to me. Mary is tired too. A few years later the mills shut down and father has more time with us. Father will finally say, "Tell me a story, Elanor." Now we can see the stars without the mills. Mary has gotten older and is going away for two days for a camp at the museum made out of the mills. I could never forget what they looked like when the mills were still running. I have this feeling that the mills will open up again.

This will be a great show - opening tonight.

Habitat: Exploring the Relationship Between Our Natural and Manmade Worlds
Featuring Artists: Ricky Allman, Chris Ballantyne, Molly Dilworth, Christina Empedocles, Gregory Euclide, Evan Hecox, Tat Ito, Paul Jacobsen, Josh Keyes and Jean-Pierre Roy
Foothills Art Center
January 21 - March 13, 2011

• Opening Reception: Friday, January 21, 6:30–8:30pm
• Gallery Talk with Molly Dilworth: Saturday, January 22, 2pm
• In the Gallery with Molly Dilworth: Visit with artist Molly Dilworth while she creates a site-specific painting in our front gallery during regular hours, January 22–24
• Gallery Talk with Paul Jacobsen: Thursday, January 27, 6:30 pm (MEMBERS ONLY EVENT. Space is limited! RSVP to: michael@foothillsartcenter.org by Monday, January 24)
• SCFD Family Free Day: Saturday, February 26, 11am–2 pm; Kids create their own unique habitats

Through the art of 10 nationally-ranked artists working throughout the United States, Habitat will become a tour- de-force presentation of the rapidly evolving world we all live in. Through painting, installation, graphite drawing, found object sculpture and more, these artists conceptually reflect upon how technology, development and consumerism has created a compelling human occupation of the earth’s once rudimentary habitat. A far cry from the “traditional” portrayal of environmental subject matter, Habitat will explosively, yet intelligently, examine the sophistication that is the modern world, and its undeniable effect upon the planet’s natural state. This exhibition becomes a unique opportunity to support a dialogue that is extremely contemporary, relevant and overflowing with passionate opinions and perspectives.

Some of the artists that have come together for this exclusive show have never before exhibited in Colorado, and all are beginning to make signifcant impact on the national and international art scenes, with several showcasing works in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

Foothills Art Center, 809 15th Street, Golden, CO 80401
Mon-Sat: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sun: 1:00 - 5:00 pm
303.279.3922
michael@foothillsartcenter.org

"Why is it Art?" at Foothills Art Center

photo source.

I'm teaching two different series of classes at Foothills Art Center this fall - the first one begins Thursday (tomorrow) night. The class is called "Why is it Art?" (4 part series) and will focus on minimal/abstract paintings this week -performance, public works, and installation will be covered in later classes. The other class I'm teaching is going to be about drawing with charcoal from photographs - from September 15-29.

Another photo of Stark

Mindy Bray's wall painting and some of the crowd at the opening.

Another peek at Stark

I spent a few days this week helping Mindy Bray with this huge wall painting - here's a process photo from earlier this week. The finished work is very impressive. See it tonight!

"Stark" opens tomorrow

Sorry I've been away folks. I've been working hard preparing for the "Stark" show at Foothills Art Center. I will have ten works in the show -most of which are new or have never been exhibited before. The group show consists of all black-and-white works and includes my first site-specific wall painting since moving to Denver. I've also been spending the last few days helping Mindy Bray work on her monumental wall painting (sneak peek above). She's been up on scaffolding and ladders for over a week now with a rotating cast of assistants like myself - it is a very impressive work and her largest yet. If you are in the area don't miss it. I'll post photos on Saturday. The details for the exhibition are as follows:

Join us at Foothills Art Center for the STARK opening reception on Friday, May 14 from 5:30 pm to 8 pm. An exhibition of photography, painting, drawing, video and installation, STARK is an unmistakably candid and personal look into the beauty and intrigue of our world simplified to black, white and the grey areas found in between.

New Short Film

made this for my upcoming participation in a show called "Stark" at Foothills Art Center.

Colorado Art Open 2009

This show opens today at the Foothills Art Center in Golden and I'm one of the "98 exceptional Colorado artists" - there will be a new piece up there. I'll be at the opening too - see you there (Friday 5:30-8 pm)...