Art & Process

First Day in Palm Springies

February 16, 2013February 17, 2013Ayin EsLeave a comment

I arrived pretty late here yesterday, probably a little after 1:00pm, and I had to wait for my room. I got an early check in, but the room was still not quite ready, so I waited in my little, rented white Fiat and texted a few people I needed to for about an hour until it was ready. I knew by the time I got all my stuff into the room and changed my clothes, I’d be too late for Peter Frank’s guided tour, so I skipped that and decided to meet a couple of guys from Stark + Kent, a cool little gallery here I found on Facebook. We have been emailing back and forth for close to a year now. They were very nice, and they also had a beautiful German Shepard named Madelyn. Most of the work in the gallery was of high quality. yet the pricing was reasonable. Two of the artists were very similar in medium and subject matter – male and a female – only the female’s were more subdued and the male’s (I only remember his first name – Arturo) was of more brilliant colors. I could not decide whose I loved more, but they competed against each other and I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing.

The other thing was, they had told me they were not taking on any more artists until the spring, and I noticed a new artists that used garment patterns in her work – much more salable I have to say, so I fully understood. What can ya do?

So then I went to the fair at the convention center, which is magnificent by the way, a beautiful building. I actually tried to take a picture of the amazing entrance, but my stupid, fat fingers got in the way. I am really bad at taking pictures in general, I’ll have you know. On trips, during those great moments in life, of my dog, especially when she does cute things… I’m just not that person. I never care enough to break out my phone or camera in those moments, especially when I see everyone else doing it. Then I really get annoyed.

But I managed to take one pic yesterday of my friend Kelley Reemtsen‘s work at Skidmore Contemporary‘s booth. No one was around. It was convenient, so I did it. These are pastels.

Then this morning at breakfast with Tressa Williams, the Director of my gallery, George Billis, I took a picture of some mountains over a parking lot.

But the best picture I’d like to introduce you to is the TV that is in my motel room, circa 1981. It’s a Zenith, and it works about as good as it looks.

Road Trip!

February 14, 2013February 14, 2013Ayin EsLeave a comment

Tomorrow morning I am off to Palm Springs for the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair and I have to say, I am kinda excited. My LA gallery, George Billis, is bringing a couple of my pieces to see how they’ll do out there in the desert community. I too am curious, but trying not to be too hopeful.

I got a pretty good deal on a three star hotel, so I’m happy about that. What I’m not happy about is that I took my car into the shop this morning to get my front brake pads switched out, and they found that my master cylinder had some kind of leak in it and the whole thing needed to be replaced. So Pricey! Not only that, they didn’t have the part, so it could not be completed today. Boring story long, I have to rent some kind of little economy clown car for this trip. I hate driving a car I’m not used to, but…at least I don’t have to put the miles on my car. Trying to look on the bright side. That’s hard to do for me! My favorite CDs are in my car, plus I have the room I need for my little suitcase, my guitar, and just all my own little comforts and habits. I have nothing against economic cars, mind you. I have a 4-cylinder too, but it’s a CRV, so it has a lot of room like an SUV. I mean, what if I wanted to buy a huge painting and bring it home? Can’t do that now!

So the show I’m in, Intersecting Paths: Art and Healing, got the top pick in the most recent Jewish Journal. That’s pretty happening, don’t you think? Your name doesn’t have to be Ezra to appreciate that shit. High five me anyhow. It’s a berachah! (A blessing in any language!)

If I can figure out how to work my stupid phone, I will be tweeting from the fair, but if I can’t, I will be going back and forth to my hotel room anyway, so I will also be writing highlights on my blog and re-posting them on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Any good art I can take pics on will be going on Pinterest as well. I’ll do my best.

Or I’ll be a lazy son-of-a-bitch and you’ll hear nothing from me.

I’ve Been

February 5, 2013February 5, 2013Ayin Es2 Comments

I’ve been mental. A mental case. One foot in crazy town, the other in “everything’s fine.”

A few weeks back, I went to see my doctor. My regular doctor, not my shrink, and like every doctor visit, they weigh you and take your vitals before you actually see the doctor. Well I stepped on the scale (those scales are pretty darn accurate) and I went into a kind of shock. I was probably frozen in denial for a few hours – maybe until I got home and thought to weigh myself on my scale at home, which read about four pounds less than the scale at the doctors, but still heavier than I had ever seen that scale go. Then, from that moment forward, a dark mass began to move into me, like the worst thunder storm just before it shoots out its first bolt of lightning, only it was not cold. It was warm and comfortable. Familiar. Too familiar.

I’ve heard some people talk about depression and how they can take a walk, take vitamin D, or warts on Saint John’s nose, or whatever. They don’t know depression. I’m talking serious, wanting to die, self-cutting depression. That is foreign to them. It would be nice just to have a bad day, and when I am correctly medicated, I do. But my medication is in transition right now and it SUCKS!

Now, not only am I on an SSRI, an anti-anxiety, and an anti-psychotic, but now an antidepressant is added to the mix too. That’s not counting the light chemo, the MS and Lupus meds, and pain killers. I think it’s amazing I was able to produce this new painting last week that I actually really, really love. I call the top part, “In My Dreams, I Fall Apart” and the lower half is titled, “Dick Boat with Feet.”

Yesterday

January 24, 2013January 25, 2013Ayin EsLeave a comment

Yesterday I had to pull ten paintings out to deliver to a curator and they had to be within a certain price range. I pulled older work mostly, well going back as far as 2008. That’s old in art world years. They had all been wrapped up an stored for so long, I almost forgot about them! Two of them, I have never showed before, and the other two have been shown, somewhere… I dunno where. The curator picked these four:

Bi-Polar Sundae, 2009. Oil, paper and pencil on panel, 24 x 24 inches.

Have a Beer, 2009. Oil, pattern paper and pencil on panel, 20 x 20 inches.

Dream, 2009. Oil, paper and pencil on panel, 24 x 24 inches.

Remember, 2008. Oil, acrylic, paper & graphite on wood panel, 18 x 18 inches.

Two different styles, I know, but it was interesting to me that the first two are pretty abstract – which has been the direction I have been going this year so far. I guess it just took me a while to continue what I started four years ago.

NEW ESART

January 20, 2013January 24, 2013Ayin EsLeave a comment

Well, I haven’t written a blog post since I updated my website. Here is the “Press Release” for those of you that missed it:

Los Angeles, CA – Okay, I have now officially launched my new, improved website after two years in the making (yes, it took that long!). If you thought my site was cool before, wait until you experience the new features and content now. You’re going to poop your pants!

My trusty partner (a.k.a. mjp) and I have finally managed to create an entirely new and original design with fun and user-friendly navigation. The site is still sleek and simple, using my own handwriting and personality – that part doesn’t go away. Over 880 original artworks are displayed on top of a database that presents each and every category of artwork in easy-to-see, bite-sized sections. PLUS, there is now a NEW search engine, making everything you might be looking for that much easier!

Books, prints, paintings and works on paper are now more bitchen to view and/or purchase with a simple mouse click. Additional features include the options to view descriptions of the art. They are not all there yet however. Keep in mind I am writing 880 of these. Some are just process notes, while others are stories, inspirations, and anecdotes written by yours truly. Individual displays of each work include little rulers and yardsticks to give you better insight as to the size of each piece. Viewers also have the ability to Like, Tweet, +1, or Pin individual artworks to their favorite social media networks. Woo hoo!

Everything you’d ever want to know about me and my art is a cinch to view, including my blog, and an inside look at my past and present studio spaces. As always, you can still sign up for my seasonal newsletter to get updates on exhibitions, and a personal account of my hair-pulling progress on the various, ongoing projects I subject myself to.

Esart.com has been in existence since 1996. Do you know how old that is in dog years? It’s had its trademark “look” for the last 12 years, if you can believe it. It was high time for a redesign. So take a look and poke around. Tell me what you think! I’m usually around.