Thoughts

Hi Ho! Welcome to the last year of the Earth! I haven’t posted in a long while, but as you can see, I changed the look of my blog. I went for simple. I had that old look since 2007. In fact, I’ve had the look and design of my website for many more years than that and I’ve been working with MJP on revamping my entire site. This is going to take a bit of time of course, but in the next couple months, be ready for a full on change after a decade of what it’s been.

Change is really hard. I never thought I’d say this, but the older you get, the harder it truly is. I am changing a lot of things this year. This wasn’t some “New Years Resolution” bullshit or anything like that. It’s purely coincidental. I’ve had to reassess my relationships, which was not easy. I’ve had to get my own self-worth in order and realize my goals. Putting things into perspective was like coming out of a burial site. I still have dirt and maggots all over me, but I’m walking up the road trying to find the first service station I can. I can see it in my sights and I’m flicking off the worms and brushing off the dirt…

The last week of 2011 was tough. I had a really hard time getting my act together for the show I am about to install tomorrow morning. Pressing, personal issues tugged at my energy levels and I had to tough it out and chug through it with brut force. Everything is finished, including the ERL site. The specimens are now all FOR SALE and can be purchased with PayPal.

Bioillogical starts tomorrow, with the opening on the 25th. It’s featured on The Huffington Post right now! Then Wednesday, three large pieces are being picked up and shipped to NYC for a show I am in at Denise Bibro Fine Art in Chelsea called Detonate. I’ve also been remiss in calling Andrea Harris about a show I’m participating in at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion at Orange Coast College in February. I got a lot on my plate. I want to do a couple of installations there. I’ve been wanting to do my blue shirt cuffs forever, so maybe Andrea will allow it.

Also, 2012 is slated for me to work on an entire new body of work. This new work is going to be a lot more abstracted than my most recent work. That’s what I’m going for anyway.

And I’m still working on my book. My Artists’ book, and the novel. Jesus strike me down now!

I’ve been working towards an exhibit that I will be hanging the first week of January at the Learning Resource Center at UCLA Geffen School of Medicine called Bioillogical. It’s going to include a couple paintings and mostly drawings on pattern paper, plus a few of my specimens in glass Erlenmeyer flasks — speaking of which, I have put up a KickStarter project to complete this entire series. PLEASE HELP! There are some great incentives for you to contribute there.

I say I am working on the pieces for this upcoming show, but I have to admit, I am doing a lot of sleeping. I am STILL going through a long bout of fatigue that has not let up very much. I am embarrassed to admit just how long my daily naps are exactly, but I believe they are just not normal. I’m looking forward to getting back to what was once normal.

I’m also considering adopting a new doggie. I am going to take my Bordie Collie and myself to meet Spencer on Wednesday to see how we all like each other. If it goes well, I just might bring him home with me.

The novel is coming along slowly. I’m chipping away at it little bits at a time. I am still not even at the best parts, so it feels boring. While I’ve written in parts of my life at 40, stories about a few key people, a few tragedies, and my parents’ histories, I decided to then go chronologically from the beginning of my life and now I’m not yet nine years old. I’m at the part where my family finally got back together after a long separation, drove across the country from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, and we are about to rent an apartment in North Hollywood on Coldwater Canyon Blvd. The bulk of the shit has yet to begin, but I’m at 52,000 words (200 pages) into this rough draft now. And I still have a lot to write.

Me and my brother with “Gigi” our doggie in Culver City, circa 1973.

I’m not so good at blogging as often as I used to be. Sorry. It’s just that I have been using all my writing energy for my book these days. Didn’t I mention this before? I’ve been writing a book. It’s been a couple years in the making, but the past six months I have been really been focused on it, more or less, on a daily basis.

It wasn’t until then that I un-fictionalized it. Plus I got The most incredible program called Scrivner, which has made organizing the process about as easy as brushing my teeth. It’s a God send for anyone who is writing a book, screenplay, or what have you. I highly recommend it! It was a difficult decision to make it an actual autobiography of non-fiction. That was quite the hurdle actually. Now I am walking on very thin ice when I think about publishing it after it’s finished, but MJP was in my ear for over two years about it – telling me how I had to do it. The best thing about the entire story is that it’s all true. He has a good point there, but it’s not easy to then out my friends and family, and myself in a public manner about everything under the sun, moon and stars. It’s going to be difficult. And if this thing actually gets published by a real publisher, I’m probably going to get sued by a couple of people at least.

In other news, I am in an article on the Huffington Post that Mat Gleason wrote about the private studio tours he did during July. I had a few people come through my place and it was very fulfilling. Mat did a good job of describing the tours he did.

I also made my very first YouTube video! I have never tried to do such a thing before, so don’t be too critical:

Machine (In progress)

I’ve also recently applied for a grant at a NY foundation (pending) – wish me luck, and another residency at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY. I’m also in a new group show at Hebrew Union College at USC right now, but the reception date has not yet been announced. The show will be there until December however.

Here is a painting I just finished:

I’m also still working on my Artists’ book called Houses. I have 4 more pages to go, plus the covers. Times that by six copies though. I still need a couple of months at least. Slowly but surely…