Art With A New Graphic Attitude News

Tuesday @ Trios

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:50:00 CDT

I'll be at Trios gallery in Joplin for a "Meet the Artist" night. Come by and see me if you are in the area. You will get to see the first painting in new series I am working on for my fall collection.

Our studio is now running on all cogs. I'm all moved in and starting to get work ready for the Thursday night art walk on July 16th. We are still photographing art for the website, so you can get a full look at our portfolio.

I will be bringing on a new apprentice this week and will soon have several other talented visual artists working out of the new space. 

Portraits for Hunting and Fishing Fans

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:56:05 CDT

I'm working hard on my fall line of eclectic artwork, all contemporary large canvases, but my studio relies on portrait commissions, so I'm proud to announce the launch of a new website that is already becoming a hit - huntfishportraits.com

I do a number of these each year and am now really opening the door for these incredible personal portraits. I am an avid outdoorsman. When I'm not painting, I'm fishing. I love to sit around a fire and listen to hunting and fishing stories. Some time ago I decided to start preserving some of those stories on canvas.

While visiting some castles in Ireland, I noticed that the aristocracy often had portraits done of there sporting adventures. "What a neat idea". These paintings were so classy. The challenge would be to offer these heirloom paintings at a price point the average outdoorsman could afford. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of hunting and fishing enthusiasts with big bank accounts. An African safari aint cheap! I want to offer these painting to everyone. It's the retired grandpa on a budget who gets so emotional over these portraits. It took me a year, but I worked out a system that would allow me to offer these at a price point anyone can afford.

As for now, I'm back to the easel to work on that collection of contemporary art. I'll be posting some of those soon, so you can see what I've been up to

Erik Buell Portrait Presented

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:29:07 CDT

I was recently commissioned to paint a retrospective portrait of Erik Buell, President of Buell Motorcycles, to present to him during his recent visit to Cycle Connections Harley Davidson and Buell in Joplin, Missouri. What a treat to have such an opportunity. I can remember watching Erik race at Daytona back in the day, and I've always admired his mechanical design contributions to the motorcycle industry. Buell corporate provided some images for reference, and the whole thing was done with Erik Unaware. I had a blast painting this portrait. None of the photos were quite what I had in mind, but provided a great amount of information to lean on in the composition.

Erik was thrilled to receive the surprise gift and he was an absolute treat to meet in person. I still have the painting in my possession for a few more weeks while it is photographed for my portfolio and a feature on portraitsforbikers.com. After that it will be shipped off to the legendary racer and bike builder.

If you are in the Joplin area and want to see the piece before it leaves my studio, send me an email and I'll make sure you get to see it. 

Portraits for Bikers

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:46:14 CDT

Many of you know that I am heavily involved in providing high quality, affordable handpainted portraits to passionate people. No one is more passionate about an interest than bike riders. I own a Harley Davidson Sportster myself, and frequently find the biker genre a subject of my artwork. For some time I've wanted to paint portraits of guys and gals with their rides.

Cool new Logo 

To get my idea off the ground I decided to produce a special logo and grab a domain name. I love the new graphic, and so do the guys down at the Harley shop. Of course I'm not just painting hogs. I've done motocross, superbikes and hot rod cars too - with and without the owners in the painting.

Site Coming Soon

portraitsforbikers.com is being created and will launch ASAP. Please subscribe to my newsletter so you can know as soon as it is live. In the meantime I will have a section on awanga.com where you can see some of the art I am doing in this area.

Welcome!

Mon, 11 May 2009 16:36:32 CDT

AWANGA is up and running.

Over the coming days weeks and years you will get to know me, my art and my experiences on a personal level. You will also get to know what AWANGA is, and why I started it. This is the launching platform for all the hopes and dreams I have for the second phase of my life on earth. Everyone tells my wife and I that we should write a book. This is it guys. You will get to ride along with us for the coming years and we hope you enjoy an occasional "meanwhile back at the ranch" post.

I'm an artist so I plan to tell a lot of stories through my art. Thats the first part of what AWANGA is about - "The Art" and whether you think is fab or folly, I hope you enjoy the imagery that is posted on this site.

Gotta go for now. I am moving all my boxes of creative gadgets into my new studio gallery in preparation for our opening.

Thanks for visiting and come back again and again. 