Peyton Art Work Studio

Well, in my last post I stated that I would endeavour to not wait months between posts; just made in under the wire in under a month. Can I get a hallelujah? One more? Ok, enough of that. I haven't posted any new gourds recently because I am on a "mini" tangent trying my hand at "drawings". I'm not really sure where these visions are coming from except to say that I believe I am, in my own "special" way, trying to release some of my inner demons. If the drawings are any indication of my "progress" I believe that I have a long way to go. Although, I did take something of a heavenly detour and attempted my version of an Angel (of course, given my present state of mind; or lack thereof, it was titled "Warrior Angel") in support of the Angel Store which is being sponsored by the Betz Gallery (www.betzgallery.com) in support of a most noble group; the Justice for Children Foundation (a non-profit group of lawyers to who provide legal counsel for abused children). Check it out; there are some magnificent pieces for sale by some very talented artists. Be sure to check out the "Latest Drawings" page on the website. On the gourdier side of things; I am just about to finish another piece in my new "Oaxacan" series. This will be quite a stray for me as there is quite a bit of ACTUAL PAINTING (although not anywhere near enough to get me off the "outsider artist" list; oh well) on the piece and I really think it will turn out fabulously. Check back in a week or so to feast your eyes on this beauty. I am getting ready for two shows in October; the East Texas Herpetological Society Annual conference (in Houston) where I will try to peddle my creations to people who are atleast "geared" towards my subject matter. Hopefully, they will decide that one of my creations is alot less maintenenace-intensive than the real thing. The other show is the Texas Gourd Festival in mid-October where I will take my works to the gourd-public. We'll see if they take a "shine" to my interpretations and use of the versatile gourd. Well, time to get back to therapy (aka - releasing my creative energy on canvas and gourd). In the meantime, hope you enjoy my creations and don't forget to make some of your own.

Holy cow (as Harry Caray would say)! It's been months since a post; how derelict is that. No wonder nobody reads this dribble. Anywho, if you've checked the site you will see that I have added some new sculptures, "Harmony" and "Stranger Among Us". I've also added a new series, Oaxacan, which is intended as a "tribute" to those wonderful artists creating colorful and mystical wood carvings in the State of Oaxaca in Mexico. "Snakescaper" has been "chopped down" from its original size to something more visually appealing to me. So, one might wonder what happened to the "top" of the 'scraper? Well, it became "Stranger Among Us" (which tops out at 44" in height; a mini-scraper in its own right). Haven't been doing too many shows (summer and all and everybody is out and about enjoying family time, as I have been doing with the boys). I will venture into the world of the "real" gourdies this October when I take my works to the Texas Gourd Festival in Fredericksburg, TX in mid-October. We'll see how the gourd crowd takes to my works of the mysterious and mythical creatures. I will endeavour to not wait months between posts. In the meantime, enjoy my works and make your own.

Mike

I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since my last posting. That's pathetic; and I call myself a blogger! Many things are afoot as of this posting. Let's see, where shall I begin? First, I've completed "The Gathering"; it, just like every other sculpture went thru numerous revisions but I am quite happy with its final design and look. I've started "Rainbow Coalition"; this is a smaller (yet significantly "brighter") sculpture that will incorporate bright colors and large assemblages of feathers (compliments of my mother; thanks Mom!). "Rainbow.." has its own page so go and check it out. Now, on to the truly exciting news.......I have finally found my "white whale". "Snakescraper" has become a reality and I am excited to get started on it. Check out its page and follow its progress. The Betz Gallery is having its final First Saturday Art Walk Show (before the summer break) this Saturday. If you are in our neck of the woods please stop by; "The Gathering" will be making its public debut at the show. We'll see if anybody is brave enough to take it home. The First Saturday shows start back up in September where I will be the featured artist. This is great timing for me because that gives me a full 3 months to build some inventory in preparation for the show. I'm sure that "Snakescraper" will take much of that time but I will find a way to grind out some singles (and perhaps some 2 or 3 snake sculptures). Finally, I have started design and assembly of a "stout" sculpture which will be titled "A Night's Reunion" (thanks to my son Hunter for the name - although I think he meant "Knight"; I took some artistic liberty and renamed it - and the inspiration). Keep an eye out (not literally) for some pics to be posted in the near future to see what this beast looks like (right now its at 15 snakes (and counting) and just about 5 feet tall). That's it for now; enjoy.

Well, I realized that I have been quite negligent in keeping you appraised of the status of "The Gathering"; so, I posted a new "in progress" picture on "The Gathering" page for your amusement and astoundment (much like the bearded tattoo lady at the circus......come on, you know you paid the 2 bits just to satisfy your freakish curiousity. Or maybe you didn't because the few times (yep, I said a "few") I checked her out (just to see if she lost any weight) it seemed like I was the only one in there (except for the characters who went just to say they were freakier than the main attraction). But I digress (as I am prone to do; and not just here in the vacuum of my own internet blog). Back to the show..... Well, I have completed 7 of the 12 guests that have been so-far invited to "The Gathering". It's lookin' pretty good and hope to finish it in the next 2 to 3 weeks (so long as I can continue to sacrafice sleep for MY ART; oh how I suffer for MY ART. Has anybody seen my left ear?). So, stay tuned for the unveiling (unless of course I get a wild cockaburr up my you-know-what and decide to extend further invitations!). The next First Saturday show is coming up on 4/4/09; if you are in my neck of the woods come by and heap praise upon my work (of course, taking one home is optional). Until then, enjoy.

Mike

It's about time I shattered my hermit silence and dropped a line on my own website. I've been busy doing what I do (don't ask unless you've got a six pack (or 10) and some Kleenex....just kiddin'......don't need the Kleenex) and then doing it some more. I posted a couple of new snakes on my "Latest Releases" page. They are a couple of stained snakes, one Sharpied and one done in the style of my roots (lots of stuff on it). I hope you enjoy them. I'm still working on 'The Gathering"; should be done with another visitor tonight (or will it be in the wee hours of tomorrow morning?) and will post another "in progress" picture later. Well, had another Saturday Art Walk at the gallery last week. Once again, I garnered many a compliment but had to come home and eat PB&J (cuz nobody is spendin' money during these hard economic times). That's ok; so long as the compliments keep coming I will keep pursuing the elusive dream of becoming a bohemian artist. The Sharpie contest ends today so I will let you know if I make the finals (which if selected as the winner results in a trip to the big LA to meet David Beckham!). Other than that, it's just about Spring Time (just need the weather to cooperate) and I'm looking forward to pool season (as are the boys). I guess I better get out there and super shock that yellow algae that has bloomed in my concrete pond. Until next time, enjoy.

Mike

Well, I've gone off the (Sharpie) reservation and tried something completely new. "In the Buff" is a sculpture comprised of dyed (leather stain) gourds with only minor embellishments. Check it out on the Latest Releases page and let me know what you think. The motion and flow of the sculpture is nice and I like the stained look; however, snake gourds don't appear to make the best medium for "stand-alone" staining due to the flawed exterior that seems to be so prevalent in them. I think that maybe a stain/Sharpie combination may work (I'll get to that eventually). In the meantime, I've got lots of visitors to finish for "The Gathering". Speaking of "The Gathering", I've completed 3 of the visitors and am looking at adding some more visitors. Who knows, maybe there's a name change in the future? Well, gotta get back to it. Enjoy.

Mike

Well, we had our second "First Saturday Art Walk" show this past weekend and it was another great show. "Nightmare" was received very well (however, it still sits in the gallery). Will nobody show me some love and take one of my creations home? Oh well. As usual, my work received lots of "show love" and I really enjoyed talking with the collectors and visitors. I even had a couple of out-of-town friends come by and visit and they enjoyed the show, as well. I've finally started working on "The Gathering" in earnest and am almost done with the first visitor. In the meantime, I completed another single, "Coiled" (you can check it out on the Latest Releases page) as a gift for one of my two biggest fans, my Dad (of course, my Mom being the other biggest fan). Just a small way to show my appreciation for all of the support and encouragement they continue to show me. Everybody should be so lucky to have parents like mine! Thanks Mom and Dad; you're the best. Anywho, "Coiled" is another one of the uniquely shaped pieces that really comes to life with a little bit of Sharpie-inspired simple geometric expression applied to it. Back to the show, just like the first show where I got the advice and encouragement to contact Sharpie about my work (which worked out pretty well), I got some more advice about what people would like to see (in addition to what I am already doing). Two of the suggestions included creating a two or three-piece sculpture that hangs from the ceiling (for the urban loft-dwellers) and creating an "uninked" sculpture (which would probably be comprised of nothing but dyed gourds to show off their natural beauty). So, don't be surprised if you see both of these suggestions born out in the depths of my mind and then assembled and displayed (for your viewing pleasure).  Well, got to get back to the inkin' while the boys are still asleep and dreaming of the day that their Dad actually becomes a "paid" artist (you know, so they can get those toys they've been hoping for). Enjoy and may your creativity be freed from the shackles of your mind.

Mike

Well, the last week "plus" have been filled with sick kids, sick dad and lots of coughing, sleeping, grumpiness, etc. I am finally feeling my old self (no, not that way!) and well enough to get back in the saddle and get back to my latest creation, "The Gathering". I had to take a few days to build a little (very little) bit of inventory for the gallery since we have our monthly "First Saturday Art Walk" coming up on 2/7/09. This will also be the first public "showing" of "Nightmare". It will be interesting to see how a sculpture of my snakes is received. "The Gathering" has finally reached a point where I feel ready to start "inkin'" the guests. Of course, it did have to go thru a "revision" due to some constructive comments I received from a couple of very talented artists (Lori and Roberta) at the gallery. They said it needed more "space"; so I opened it up a little bit which resulted it in getting taller and now it is defiinitely ready for even more height. I'll have to clean some more gourds and see if I can get it up to the 5-foot mark; right now it stands at 3'-3". Stay tuned for more changes to "The Gathering" and if you are in my neck of the woods this weekend stop in to the gallery and say "hey". Enjoy and may you avoid the "crud bug".

Mike

What is an Artist (do I have to capitalize that?) to do these days? It is unbelievable to me the number of high quality artists doing their "thing". So, how is one supposed to crack the nut that opens up the marketplace? Hell, I don't know! If I did I would have given up my day job already. You know, that secret "artist dream" to live a more bohemian lifestyle drinking wine, espousing nothing about nothingness and pretending to paint pictures of naked ladies. Oh, hold on, gotta hit the snooze on the alarm clock again (and again, and again). Where was I? Oh yeah, THE DREAM. Well, it's a good thing that my kids' brace payments are relying on daddy peddling another piece of "art". I'm presently showing in a couple of galleries, advertising in Miami (that's Florida, not Ohio!) and trying to break into the Santa Fe market and still I have to ask, "Donde esta el dinero?". Depending on who you talk to and which side of the fence they (Mel Gibson would probably capitalize this) are on I'm priced too high and too low. Yin/Yang, black/white, to be or not to be...... Is that really the question? The point of all this is that people who SEE my art seem to genuinely appreciate it. This is the crux of the proverbial biscuit; being SEEN, VISIBLE, IN THE ART-BUYING PUBLIC EYE! Given the outlets available; galleries, shows, printed, internet, my imagination, the key (from where I'm sitting, which at present is at my desk in my living room in my suburbia known as Katy, Tejas) is to be seen by the right person. Who is that? Where are they? How much do they cost? It makes me harken back to that sage saying (or was it advice) from my Navy days; "It's not who you know, it's who you .......(it's a rhyme, and it starts with "bl" and ends in "w"). I'm not sure where this is all going (my art, not my personal life) but I do know that I'm enjoying the new road that I have decided to travel down. I remain confident that someday one of the appreciative on-lookers will decide that their life would be far better if they could look at one of my pieces everyday for the rest of their life (and NOT have to marry me to do it!).  In the meantime, I'll keep creating (and hoping, as I am running out of places to pile these beasts!). Enjoy.

Mike