Minimal Now-and-Later Totems

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to play around with some small remnant pieces of wood left over from panel making.  I liked the cut angles and decided to have fun with color theory and perspective. Then I noticed the cool shadows that were cast on the glossy melamine table top and thought I'd take some I-Phone pics.  They could have been huge set pieces from a Sci-Fi movie in the 70's, or in my opinion, some tasty tangy candy. 

Hump Day

This past week I've been busy organizing my new(old) workspace and restructuring how I carry out the business side of my art.  I have been working on and will soon be re-launching my etsy shop.  I'm also investigating Society 6 and some other opportunities.  Until then, I'd like to share with you one impromptu I-Phone photo series. Today's technology is simply amazing.  All you need is a good eye.

Throw Back Thursday

I hope everyone is having a great Thursday afternoon.  My contribution to Throw Back Thursday is a photo of one of my paintings from my Senior year of college.

One of my many inspirations is calligraphic writing.  I love Arabic, Japanese, and Hebrew writing especially.  I played with the possibilities of the figure and an ultra-simplified way to try and get as many narrative figure possibilities as possible.  I was able to fit in 5 figures from 9 shapes.  I looked at it as kind of a challenge or a game to see how much I could convey with as few elements as possible. I still operate the same way today.  This was painted on HEAVILY gessoed green tent canvas.  It was free.  It was available, and I was a poor college student.  Needless to say, I burned through gesso.  The rest was painted with acrylic paint- I can not stand oil.  Keep watching and reading.  New art is coming soon.

Happy Wednesday Evening!

Congratulations everyone!  You've made it over the hump.  Check back tomorrow for some revealing TBT content.

Tuesday Cleaning Day

Today, I was intensely inspired to clean.  I wiped and vacuumed and threw out trash and straightened my bedroom.  I think I'm just ready to do something physically after such a long break.  I think part of it was that I wanted to keep busy after finding out that Robin Williams had committed suicide.  It's really confusing when someone with such an amazing gift that made so many people laugh gets taken down by depression.  It hits close to home.  My Mom has battled severe depression my whole life.  I remember the challenges she had to go through and the challenges our whole family had to go through.  One thing I do know is that Robin Williams has made me laugh more times in my life than I could possibly count.  I have watched "The Birdcage" too many times to remember and I laugh every single time.  That's an amazing gift to give to one person, much less millions.  I would like to put out to the Universe my dedication to Robin Williams.  It's one of my favorite songs of 2014 and the video to it just came out today.

Monument

Where I Have Been

Where have I been?  

What have I been up to? 

The short answer is that I’ve been recovering from surgery that was needed to repair my broken shoulder.  The longer answer is a bit more complicated.  Recovering from surgery has provided me ample time to review my journey up to the point of disaster and has forced me to become more patient concerning planning for the future.  

I moved out of my studio space on May 30 due to significant rent increases.  I was slightly depressed by this but now I realize that chasing the art gallery model has not worked in my favor.  Between June 1st and June 5th I began brainstorming about ideas for how I wanted to proceed with my art career.  June 6th started out no different than any other Friday.  Adrian and I decided to bike down to Buffalo Bayou Park to ride the trails and stop along the way to do calisthenics.  It was a typically hot and humid afternoon.  My 1981 Panasonic road bike had been overhauled including freshly replaced and inflated tires.  I was leading and Adrian was behind me.  I felt that he was not as close behind me as he should be, so I turned to look behind me to see that he wasn’t far behind.  Then in just a few seconds as I turned around, my tire hit a mound of sculpted grass and my full front tire came to a very abrupt stop, but I did not.  Thanks physics!  I flew over the handlebars and landed on my left side hard on concrete.  When I came to a stop and was able to stand I immediately knew something was very wrong with my left arm.  I thought I broke my whole arm.  Adrian, who luckily had his phone, called Chip and Robert and all three rushed me to a nearby emergency room.  Before any X-rays were even taken, I could tell by the looks on the staff’s faces that whatever had happened to my arm wasn’t good.  I vertically fractured the ball joint of my shoulder but fortunately had broken nothing else.  

After reviewing x-rays and CAT scan images, my surgeon prepared me for two possibilities.  Either a partial shoulder replacement would be required- not the best option for a 36 year old- or there would be enough viable bone to use bone graft, plate, and screws to put it all back together.  Early on June 25, my doctor was able to put my original bone back together during a 3 hour surgery.  The first 10 days after surgery were mainly just a long blur of dealing with pain.  I turned 37 on July 2- the very middle of the year.  I got several great messages and a delicious cake.  

From mid-July until now, I have been going to physical therapy and stretching regularly at home.  I’ll probably have most of my full range of motion in another 6 weeks time.  The good news is that I have been sketching.  I created an entire new series of 25 drawings.  I think they are very good and I am still considering exactly what to do with them.  I’ve been writing down many ideas concerning new methods of delivering my visual aesthetic message to the world.  I will be very transparent in sharing information on my work.  I want those who follow my career and collect my work to know all about my inspirations and process.  I am a total voyeur of the creative process.  Please keep watching me.  Thank you for your continued support. 

Out and About on a Beautiful Saturday

I snapped this earlier while waiting in the 610 West feeder on the way to the Galleria.

I LOVE unusual angles and cropping!

Look at Some of the Loot I Found in a Forgotten Treasure Trove!

Check out these pieces I completely forgot I had(they were buried under paper in my flat file).  They are all roughly 8"x11", paper on paper or paper on acrylic painted illustration board.  Don't they look sugary sweet enough to eat??

If you are interested in purchasing one, please send me a message!

In Space.. No One Can Hear You Scream.....

I snapped this pic today in my studio.  Any guesses as to what the subject might be?

It was just a coincidence that I was watching this video-inspired by THX 1138, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, while I was experimenting with this image.

Pet Shop Boys: I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore

What I do when I have to wait at Home Depot

Happy Hump Day!

This is my confused face as I try to understand iMovie a little better.

The Writing's on the Wall

Getting closer and closer to the first opening at Will Brooks White Box.  I have just a few spots left if you'd like to participate!  There is NO COST.  You may bring guests to share in your Spirit Totem Experience.  This is a participant event ONLY.  ONLY participants and their guests may attend this show.

Happy St. Patrick's Day !

Today, I celebrate the part of me(I'm a TOTAL Euromutt) that is Irish.  I won't be drinking any green beer or looking for pots of gold, but I will be making some kick ass art!  Here is a pic of how the Spirit Totems start taking shape:

Thank you to Chip Ware for all the help with construction. 

Throw Back Thursday

I promise I have not disappeared!  I have slightly refined some details of Will Brooks Art Experience 1: Spirit Totem.
1. The size of the totems are now significantly smaller.  5" or less square at the base and 2- 2 1/2' tall.
2. There is NO fee to participate!

I have filled 3 out of 7 slots available for the FIRST show of this experience.  Message me ASAP if you want in on the fun!

I'm serving up some Bob Ross realness!  I watched his instructional show on PBS religiously as a child/teen; he was one of the people responsible for making art seem magical to me.

DAY 2

Don't You Want a Totem of Your Very Own??

Wouldn't you LOVE having a totem that is designed specifically for you?  Well, that is what Experience 1: Spirit Totem is all about!  For ONLY $50, you can have your very own 12"x12"x48" personalized spirit totem that you can keep forever!  What else $50 buys:  Dinner and a movie for two.  2-3 drinks out for two people.  Sign up now!  There are only 5 slots left, and the opening party is set for Friday, April 4, 2014 at 7PM.

Happy Hump Day!

I am busy getting over the HUMP of reorganizing White Box.

I have two people who have signed up to be inaugural participants of Will Brooks Art Experience 1: Spirit Totem, but I have 5 MORE spaces left!  The fee to participate(to cover contraction material costs only) is $50.  The show opening is Friday, April 4, 7PM.  Please click the link above to read the details and contact me about being a Participant.

Get in on the FUN!

I'm hard at work getting my space ready to create the Spirit Totems for my first Will Brooks Art Experience.  I have two confirmed Participants, and two totems ready to be designed.  I have FIVE slots left, so message me ASAP to get in on the fun!

TGIF! What is Your Spirit Animal?

Happy Friday everyone!  Today is the last day in February which means we are that much closer to Spring!  Yesterday I announced my first Will Brooks Art Experience.  This show is completely dependent on willing participants, so I need your help to produce it as my first example of where I am going with my art philosophy.

The cost is only $50(to cover totem construction).

So.. which animal do you associate your spirit with most?

Alligator, Ant, Bat, Birds(please specify), Bear, Boar, Butterfly, Cat(please specify), Cock, Cow, Deer,  Dog(please specify), Dolphin, Dragonfly, Elephant, Fox, Frog, Goat, Rabbit, Horse, Lizard, Octopus, Otter, Owl, Raccoon, Ram, Salmon, Scorpion, Seahorse, Serpent, Shark, Snail, Spider, Squirrel, Swan, Turtle, and Wolf.

Message me if you would like to participate.  I'm eager to begin work on your totem!  

FINALLY! Introducing Will Brooks Art Inaugural Event: Experience 1: Spirit Totem

"Don't you know who I think I am?" -Kelly Mantle from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6.  

Who are you? Who are we?  

This is a question humanity has been asking for millennia.  What is the answer?  We are each many different people, and we have developed many sayings for this.  "We all wear many hats."  "There are three of us:  How others see us, How we see ourselves, and who we really are."  I tend to agree most with the first statement.  We are many people(labels/roles), yet we are able to transition seamlessly from one to the other while still maintaining enough consistency to be perceived as an individual by everyone else.  My goal is to visually present just a small slice of each Participant's life experiences in the form of a totem using information such as global Historical perceptions on humanity and our relationship to our environments while including unlikely associations as context in order to create an interesting, informative, and beautiful Artifact created by my hands and filtered through my personal visual aesthetic.

 

Presenting:

Experience 1:  Spirit Totem

This will be a physical manifestation of a visual conversation; and the discussion starts with each Participant choosing a "Spirit Animal" which they think best describes who they are as a person.  The list of Spirit Animals to choose from include: 

Alligator, Ant, Bat, Birds(please specify), Bear, Boar, Butterfly, Cat(please specify), Cock, Cow, Deer,  Dog(please specify), Dolphin, Dragonfly, Elephant, Fox, Frog, Goat, Rabbit, Horse, Lizard, Octopus, Otter, Owl, Raccoon, Ram, Salmon, Scorpion, Seahorse, Serpent, Shark, Snail, Spider, Squirrel, Swan, Turtle, and Wolf. 

I will use that information as a starting point in creating a personalized 'Spirit Totem' that visually explores each Participants life.  I will be mining each person's Facebook pages as well as their other public social media interactions looking for the interesting, exciting, and fascinating personal experiences that lend themselves toward creating exciting personalized pieces of art.

-How may you participate? 

First, this experience requires that you live here in the Houston metro area. There are only 7 slots open for this first show of Experience 1.  It is first come, first serve.  Those who are interested, please message me through my Will Brooks Art Facebook page, my Will Brooks Art website, or Twitter.

-Is there a cost? 

Yes, there is only one small fee of $50 for those who wish to participate.  This is to cover totem construction/production costs.   Each totem will be approximately 11" x 11" x 48" and will be constructed out of wood. 

-When and Where will this event occur? 

The unveiling of each Participant's personal Spirit Totem will happen during the unveiling party scheduled for  7PM, Friday, April 4, 2014 at White Box located in Spring Street Studio #135 1824 Spring Street, Houston, TX 77007.  There will be the usual food and drink and perhaps an unexpected surprise or two.  Every Participant is encouraged to invite their friends to the unveiling of their personal totem.  A donation box will be provided if guests feel moved to help defray the costs of the event.  Additionally, each Participant may choose to make a financial donation in appreciation for their personalized art according to their desire and/or means, but is by no means mandatory and no specific amount will ever be suggested or expected.  Having said that, the more capital I have to work with, the bigger, the better, and more exciting my Experiences will be.      

-Other information: 

This project along with all future projects will be heavily documented through photography, and video recordings.  My creative process will be documented step by step and will be released online throughout the duration of the project. 

Thank you all for your continued support and I look forward to presenting my first Will Brooks Art Experience.