Friday's are workdays

These paintings aren't going to paint themselves on a Friday afternoon. I found the slot today as we say in golf and painted Rodney's t-shirt. I love his posture and you can feel his weight underneath his shirt. 

Progress in the face of nihilism

It may not look like much progress to others but it's progress to me after being away from this piece since November and retiring from the University at the end of January. The time at the easel has been spent painting sweatpants on Shawn. 

I had to prepare statements from each model in the series describing their invisibility and their comments continue to profound me in the depth of their experiences, fears, and hopes. That's the one good thing that connects these men and others is the hope and ambition to achieve in life. Still, nihilism is our greatest threat. 

Chicago will be seeing Black men

Melodye's hands were a blur as she described the nuances and varieties in Black men physical characteristics and my willingness to take on this challenge when depicting the Men. Her mind races faster than her hands as only an artist would with her excitement over hosting (In)Visible Men this month. I'm still amazed at the irony of her discovering my work in October while I was always a fan of her children's books.

This will be the first public exhibition of the work in Chicago and I'm excited that former students and friends living in the city may be able to see my work. The opening reception is February 12 and the show runs to March 4, 2016.