Win Win and Forgotten Philadelphia!

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The Four Humors of Tinicum, 2012, polyptych, oil on wood panels. 60.7X14 cm. 


​If you haven not had the chance to see Forgotten Philadelphia you will have one more opportunity! Just to remind you, it is a show with my painting (above) about the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Philadelphia. 

​This is the third and final stop of this exhibit sponsored by the non-profit literary magazine Philadelphia Stories. The show is from April 15 to May 17 at the Center for Architecture at 1218 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA. 

There will be an opening for the show this coming Friday, April 19. This opening serves as a fund raiser for Philadelphia Stories and has a cover fee of $20 ($25 at the door). Unfortunately, Mary and I will not be able to make it to the opening because of a busy weekend for William's confirmation and Paddy's first communion. If you haven't or can't see the show there is also a wonderful book published with reproductions of all of the artwork and literature. The book in of itself is a nice work of art. 

For friends and family in the San Francisco area you will have an opportunity to see one of my paintings on display (below) in Richmond, CA, at the National Institute for Art and Disabilities (NIAD). It is part of a benefit for the institute called Win Win. Tim Buckwalter, my good friend that I went to undergraduate school with at the Tyler School of Art is the Art Director at the institute and asked if I could donate one of my paintings. I was more than happy to comply! 

Both of these ​organizations do great work in the art community. If you have a chance to support their work please do so! 

The Four Humors of Sometime Soon, 2013, polyptych, oil on wood panels. 61X15.25 cm. 


Steve and Russell Visit the Land of Pork

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Russell and Steve - Version 2.jpg

Last November my great friend from my days in art school, Gerry Bannan and his lovely wife Betsy, honored me by having a solo show of my paintings in their studio/gallery in Roanoke, Virginia. ​I'm still impressed that they arranged to have Bill Clinton visit Roanoke while I was there. See the details of that visit here.

The show in Roanoke was up for November and December. For most people that would be enough. But not for Gerry. He then moved the show to the Patrick Henry Community College where he teaches. So, for January through the 19th of February, folks in the town of Martinville VA got to see (put up with) my work. On the 19th Gerry invited me to come and talk to his students about my work. ​

The first trip down in November I went by myself. For this trip I managed to talk Steve Garr into coming with me! Now, I have had success with this in the past, because I there were at least two other times I talked Steve in to crossing the Mason Dixon Line to head deep in the the land of boundless slow cooked pork. Once with his brother Mike and once with the legendary Jim Reed. ​

This trip, much to my regret, was way to short. Unlike the good ole days where we could roam at will, I had to be back in West Chester to make sure the kids were off to school and such. We left at 7:00 AM on President's Day and returned the next day at around 10:30 PM! A whorl wind tour but fun nonetheless! Check out photos of our trip here. 

The Red Show

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I might be short on paying work, but I am having a fair amount of success in getting my paintings shown. I will have another of my paintings in a show called The Red Show in Stoudsburg, PA. I don't know how long the show will be up, but the opening will be on Saturday, February 9th from 4-8 PM. 

I think the painting that will be on exhibit will be the one above, called The Four Humors. It could be the one below, called The Letter. I'll find out on Saturday! If you are in the area, please stop by! 

Forgotten Philadelphia

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The Four Humors of Tinicum, 2012, polyptych, oil on wood panels. 60.7X14 cm. ​

The Four Humors of Tinicum, 2012, polyptych, oil on wood panels. 60.7X14 cm. 

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Last fall I was part of a painting and writing exhibition called "Forgotten Philadelphia" through the organization Philadelphia Stories. The show featured 16 visual artist. Each artist proposed a location in Philadelphia that meant something to them and might be off the beaten trail, or in other words, a forgotten part of Philadelphia. The people at Philadelphia Stories then paired each visual artist with a writer, who then went out and wrote about the location. 

I proposed to make a painting about The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. When I live in Philly over 20 years ago I use to visit this place often as it was one of the best birding spots around. Back then it was called The Tinicum National Environmental Education Center after the creek that flows through it. The poet that I was paired with was JC Tood, who wrote absolutely wonderful poem about the refuge. 

forgotphilacoverol.jpg

The show in Center City was up from September 15th to November 9th. If you missed it you have another chance to see it because it is moving to Arcadia University from January 21st till February 20th. The opening reception will be on Wednesday, January 23rd at 7:00 PM. 

Along with the exhibit Philadelphia Stories published a book (right) with all the works in it. If you are interested in buying a copy they are available here ($30 hardback).