Via Tre a la Mode

This comparison of my cardboard box painting and a design by Hannah MacGibbon brought to you by the Tre a la Mode blog - where you can find many more well-chosen painting and fashion comparisons.

Mention on Lost at E Minor

Lost at E Minor posted my work recently and wrote,

"Denver-based Nathan Abels‘ paintings deal with the matter-of-course destruction humans wreak on the environment. Abels, like many other artists and photographers of late, captures the new, self-reflexive sense of the sublime we now experience with the uncontrollable power we now have over our world."

Recent press

Michael Paglia from the Denver Westword reviewed the "Stark" show at Foothills Art Center, saying of my work;

"the exhibit begins with some remarkable, barely-there drawings by Nathan Abels. 'City Park Morning' is so faint, it takes a moment or two to come into focus; it's almost as if Abels has simply exhaled graphite. An apparition-like video of his exudes a similar faintness."

I was also featured on the art-blog My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses and some tumblr blogs: the locative case, sunday afternoon rain, and drawing architecture.

The Constant Gatherer: Artist at Home feature

Our apartment is featured this weekend on the blog of my friend Katie Runnels -The Constant Gatherer. Katie is a fellow SCAD grad and artist. Thanks Katie!

Jessica Hans

new photos from Jessica Hans blog "Small Fires"

Blue Green

Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Summer, oil on canvas 42 x 54 in., 1890
image from wikicommons

Beautiful photo of Lake Louise
- taken by Liza - of Postcards from Colorado blog

Thomas Wilmer Dewing, The Lute, Oil on Canvas, 1904

another beautiful photo of Lake Louise

- also taken by Liza - of Postcards from Colorado blog

Fever Ray + Soft Focus

re-blog from Paul Herbst

re-blog from Paul Herbst

see also:

Triangle Walks from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

The work of Patti Oleon

I found Patti Oleon's work at Freese blog - run by Seattle-based artist Wes Freese. Wes has posted an insightful interview with Oleon and I'd recommend heading over there to read through it. Oleon talks about her concepts and process and expands upon the mood or tone she is conveying through these exceptionally rendered works. These are paintings I wish I had done:

Patti Oleon, Windows and Mirrors, 2008, Oil on panel, 43" x 30

Patti Oleon, Library I, 2008, Oil on panel, 30" x 47"

Patti Oleon, Blue Room, White Windows, 2008, Oil on panel, 40 1/2" x 30 1/4"

Photo Blog of the Day; Dash of Power

Full Circle: Jeffrey T. Baker and Olafur Arnalds

Jeffery T. Baker, Clinging, Slipping, 2009
acrylic, leafing, toner, graphite, and wax on panel
7.5" x 7.5"

One of my blog "followers" - Jeffery T. Baker recently completed this beautiful small work while listening to the recommended Olafur Arnalds album from my "Music For Your Studio" post a few weeks ago. I love to think of all the random things that fell into place for that to happen - some time ago Olafur Arnalds asked to be my friend on myspace, some time passed and then I checked in on his "found songs" project and proceded to post the music on my "Music For Your Studio" weekly feature, then Mr. Baker downloaded the songs and made a perfect visual accompaniment to it. Wonderful.

Early Simeone

Suitcase 2003, Inkjet, 24x40 inches

A Chart with Peaks and Valleys 2005, Inkjet, 45x76 inches

Record Cover in a Flash (Air Supply) 2006 Inkjet, 28x28 inches.

I found these landscape variations by Early Simeone at Regina Hackett's Another Bouncing Ball blog, following a link discussing the worth/usefulness of a MFA degree at Freese. I think they relate to another post I was reading at Edward Winkleman's blog regarding pluralism in the visual arts and the age-old artist question of cohesiveness. As I see it, these three works are cohesive in that they all explore a similar topic through multiple visual avenues. I've posted about the concept of a 'body of work' vs more inconsistent/eclectic approaches to art making before - it is a frequent topic of discussion among artists. The topic inevitably returns to whether we are trying to develop a "style" or whether the stylistic similarities should be secondary to concepts or ideas. In my education, I approached most works with a series or show in mind - carefully considering how each would relate to the others formally. Of course formal cohesion can become a bore - as too much of anything can be in painting,interior design, fashion, film, etc. Over time I have been approaching individual works more individually, aiming for the tone and/or concepts to bring cohesion to the works.

New Print on the Knack

Knack studios posted my new print and a couple of other works on their blog today. Check out all the other great places my print has shown up here (eight more places!).

EDIT: Things magazine also put up a link to my work this week as well as Design Crisis.

New Print Really Gaining Momentum

OMG Posters

Postcards from Colorado

Automatism

Happy Mundane

The Scoop

Twentytwo blog

Also : Design Milk , Design for Mankind; This Week in Inspiration

There are already a few less available than when I posted the print on Monday. You can get your own here.

I've been Booooooomed!

A great art/design/music/etc site put up some of my drawing today. Check it out! They update constantly at Booooooom! so it's definitely worth repeated visits.

Vanishing Point

I watched Vanishing Point last night from a Art of Memory recommendation and it was a really fun and beautifully filmed movie. It was a great film not only for the action but for how well it depicts the western landscape. It gave me the itch to hit the road and explore the West some more (doesn't this third image remind you of something I would paint?). Other movies I've seen recently that present the western landscape well are Gerry and of course No Country for Old Men.

photos from JanVanEyck (the art of memory)

Photo of the Day

by Andrew Fladeboe (found at As Yet; Still Untitled)

Sorry for so many re-posts lately, but you have to see this post at The Art of Memory about the sea in art and film.

Light Pollution

I found these beautiful photos of light pollution by Blake Gordon at Today and Tomorrow (who found them at BLDG blog).

Some Landscapes

I enjoyed this post at Some Landscapes blog about Fennesz and the relationship between landscape and music. Check it out.

Memorable Art of 2008 - A Look Back

A month ago (where did that month go?) I put up my music list of the year and it got me thinking about my favorite art or artists experiences/pieces of the year...here it goes...

• In person:

Damien Hirst at the Denver MCA:



Daniel Richter at the Denver Art Museum:



Jenny Morgan collaborative pieces at Object+Thought in Denver:



The "Manifest Hope" exhibition of Obama art in Denver (Shepherd Fairey and other great Juxtapoz artists):

• Found online this year:

Digitally composed photographs by Beate Gütschown after landscape paintings.



Kaye Donachie, "Your untold dreams I love to see", 2005, oil on canvas



Amy Stein "Howl"




There were many more (Romanticism, Tonalism, etc)- but these stood out to me when I went through my blog posts for the year.

2008 was also a year of many blogging experiments - some of which I would like to revisit this year, including:

• Artist Interviews (Leah Giberson, Ane Graff, and Julian Lee)
• Exclusive Art (Bill Amundson, and Jason Stopa)
• How-to
• Inspiration Walls
• Simulacra

Anything you'd like to see more of in 2009? Leave comments please...

Updates

I just finished updating a lot of things on my dot com -including the press links and images, the exhibition postcards, and the exhibitions section. Speaking of press - Dear Ada just posted about my new works, writing, "“I really do adore the subject matter he explores, the architecture and landscapes of modern life, all beautifully rendered and conceived. It doesn’t get much better than this as far as I’m concerned.”