"If you can't pull it, all you gotta do is push it along..."

("push it along" by a tribe called quest)

It's over 24 hours since the Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series Championship and I'm still feeling the rush - Holy SHIT! :D Seriously! We did it man! Took 28 years to get back but we did it! Finally a Phillies championship for MY lifetime!!! Although it would have been nice to be among other Phillie fans - or at least on the east coast where there might at least be some sympathizers within ear shot - but that didn't stop me from screaming my face off when Lidge nailed that final K. I can only imagine how good the vibe in Philly must be right now...

At any rate, I still have a smile on my face and I'm still an oil painting animal. Here's some pics of the progress over the last couple of days. Granted, I'm a little behind in schedule as far as where I wanted to be at this point, but I have two paintings very close to completion and another not far behind.

Just for the sake of fast confidence, I busted off this quickie tonight. As usual, sorry for all the nasty glares, I'll get some nice final images up once the residency's complete.

I'm off to Chicago this weekend to meet up with my parents and reacquaint myself with big city stimulation. I'll no doubt post some pics of my antics out there - as well as hit the studio with even greater vigor upon my return. Now that the Phils got their big win and now that my absentee ballot is in the mail, I can focus on the next big win - OBAMA 2008 Presidential Champion, no doubt. :)

I gotta say it was a good day...

It was a slow start to the day, considering the amount of wine and beer I consumed the night prior, but overall the day ended in my favor. First and foremost, I finally finished a time-intensive painting - about frickin' time! The photo doesn't do it justice whatsoever, but I'll be sure to post a properly scanned version at a later date. I also got a jump on another painting, which I plan to bust off much quicker than the first.

To top it all off - Philadelphia Phillies yo. Spanked the Rays 10 to 2, putting them 1 win away from the championship. How nuts is that!?!

First drunk night in Central ILL

PHILADELPHIA!!! 2 GAMES UP!!!

Worked on a drawing for a couple of hours today - but the main event was a dinner party at the residency house. A gang of Bradley University MFA grad students paid us a visit and cooked up a sweet spread. Add some good wine, beer, and music into the mix - boom, good times had. Here goes a couple pics from the night (it was actually way more bumpin' than these photos suggest, but humor me)...

"I might have been born yesterday, sir, but I stayed up all night"

("up all night" by el-p)

I know I quote that El-P lyric a lot, but it always seems appropriate - especially after being shacked up with oil paint and canvas all Friday night.

Almost 10 hrs in the studio today - and still no finished paintings! All good, I have three sexy mofos on the brink. The Santos Party House jawnt has been pretty labor intensive, but it's gonna be sweet, I'm excited. That should definitely be complete sometime this weekend.

On an unrelated note, Sarah Palin is twice as dangerous as she is stupid, seriously. VOTE OBAMA 2008. Peace.

"My method is uncertain, it's a mess but it's working..."

("please please please" by fiona apple)

One down, three to go! Go Phillies!!! :)

I cut my workday a little short on account of the game, but here's a taste of where things are at after 3 days (sorry about the glare).

Peoria's Riverfront & Where Else I Be

I'll apologize ahead of time if this post comes off as just filler. I'll post some painting progress tomorrow, but for now I just wanted to share a few pics I took this morning (before I locked myself in the studio for 9 hours straight). Here's few shots of the Peoria Riverfront (facing the Illinois River)...

And since it was so nice out, I took a couple shots of both the exterior of the Arts Center as well as the house I'm staying in (the shot with the white car represents my end of the property as well as my sweet sweet ride).

More interesting content to come, I promise.

Getting better all the time... Escape to the Midwest

I've been looking for a halfway decent excuse to start a blog and it looks like I finally scored one.  I am currently on my first ever Artist Residency and the timing couldn't be better.  After a marathon day of travel and a variety of frustrating hiccups along the way (jetblue didn't lose my luggage, just the contents of it - ?!?), I am now residing comfortably in central Illinois with an excess of two key elements that I've been starved of for all too long: 

SPACE and TIME.  

The residency is through Prairie Center of the Arts, which I would encourage any artist to apply for as the arrangements are top notch.  My living space is SICK with a huge and private bedroom, office space, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and patio.  Though there are two other residents in the building (an installation artist and a writer), they're both really cool and it's been extremely peaceful - despite warnings of nearby deer hunting (rather than prance around the woods alone in an orange coat looking for trouble, I think it's best I keep my urban ass out of harm's way).  I've also been provided with a CAR (whut!) so I can commute between my cozy crib and studio on my own schedule.  The studio space is in nearby Peoria, Illinois (which apparently is the second largest city in the state) within Tri-City Machine/Prairie Center's massive, historic facility. Today was my first day in my studio, which is larger than any of these photos could suggest.  I got everything set up and started work on two new paintings.  

The purpose of this blog is to document the work I create while on this highly unique retreat.  Though I am certainly tempted to speak on the various personal dramas which have plagued me all season, I will do my best to stay on topic.  To sum it up, some sober time alone to think and produce is exactly what the doctor ordered and I'm extremely grateful to have such an opportunity.  After pushing some paint this afternoon, I'm more amplified than ever.  Good stuff to come.    

GO PHILS!!!