In the two conjoining spaces will be artists Megan Greene and Balint Zsako, who are both from out of town so it will be a treat to see their work. Make sure you come check it out.

Tremendous shout out to the amazing curator, Cori Wolff  for dealing with me not being able to coherently form a sentence as well as being woefully tech impaired.

Future projects include a short comic me and Alex are shooting to finish in time for the next Buffalo  Small Press Book Fair in 2012 entitled Milk, Eggs, Hollowpoints. I would tell you a bit about the story but if I do I think Alex might cut me a new breathing hole. However, I do have big dreams of publishing it properly with a nice color cover, but we shall see the further along the deadline we get.

Also in the works is a blog we are working on that should be a great deal of fun utilizing old pulp novel covers and a great deal of imagination concerning both story and illustration.

If you are stopping by I hope you like old style monstrous harpies and none of that pretty women with wings nonsense that is knocking around nowdays. I don’t have any pictures yet, but when I snap some I’ll post them on here and rate them not safe for work because of harpy breast.

After my BAS show Home is hung and completed I am recruiting a very handsome boy who just happens  to be a terrific writer into working on a blog project with me using old pulpy novels. (When I say recruit I mostly mean make puppy dog eyes and hope he is done with his novel enough to spend some time with a whole lot of nonsense.) We will be writing short stories based entirely on the cover and back blurb of each book, and illustrating that story in various ways. Sometimes I may also beg the talented and fabulous artist Amanda Wood to do a guest appearance if she is so willing. So keep an eye out for that ridiculousness starting early next year somewhere between strange comics about birds and trying to avoid leaving my warm, warm bed.

October 6th 7pm Burchfield Penney Art Center:

I am releasing a free mini comic entitled Maybe in conjunction with this presentation/q&a I am not entirely sure I belong on but am really flattered to have been invited to. The other (amazing) panelists are: Alan Bigelow, Josef Bajus, Julian Montague, Hyeyoung Shin, Chris Fritton and Allison Wilton.

For this I will be discussing the zine-style comics me and Salvatore Sciandra have been making as well as future solo plans. Comics are still a learning process for me, so bear with me on this one.

Panel from "Maybe"

October 11

I donated a work to Buffalo on the Bowery, and incredible fundraiser event curated by one of my personal art-heroes Julian Montague and benefiting two deserving not-for-profits: PUSH Buffalo & Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center. I highly suggest if you are in NYC at the time you take a look because it looks like it is going to be a really fun event with some amazing artwork.

A closeup of my donated piece: AHB-EHB

? October

I just know my deadline on this one, which is the 16th. I am in some sort of group show at 464 concerning monsters, mythology, and fantasy. For this I fully intend on painting some roundish, lumpy, and anatomically correct harpies. I think it will be a lot of fun to see the show done, but mainly because I was a giant nerd growing up and mythology always excites me.

January:

My Buffalo Arts Studio show. I will keep that a secret for now but it is my personal anxiety attack.

March (I think):

Hopefully the Solo release of  “Bird Stories” at the 2012 Small Press Book Fair. This will be a lot more labor intensive than the Elephant Guns and hopefully have a sweeter presentation. I can’t promise anything though. Comics are really hard.

photo by Tullis Johnson

As you may or may not know, depending on how close you are to the folks from the Burchfield, we had a pretty amazing experience a few weeks past where a red-tailed hawk took down a seagull and brought the carcass within feet of the window to the store. It was an absolutely amazing sight. I sat on the ledge and watched it for close to an hour. Their beaks are incredibly efficient tools, and they eat almost every part of the carcass (including the brains and tongue). As breathtaking as the whole experience was the real treat was being able to really get a good look at the shape of everything on such a large and powerful bird,  even the way the feathers flip back on the thighs and the soft shades of color. It really reminded me that I a) am kind of a creep, and b) to really just take everything you can out of rare experiences, which was a timely reminder now that I am unemployed.

For the first time in ten years I am finding myself without the structure of a work day. The freedom to finish up projects and work on anything I please is kind of nice, but I haven’t settled into not driving myself insane yet. For some reason I am working on this:

Which I think is one hell of a happy looking seagull/duck thing. Everyone keeps telling me he looks pretty upset though. I finally sanded down the bottom side of those old lingerie rack tops I salvaged from JCPenney in Missouri and have moved  with half a dozen times and I am painting him on one. I am not a painter, and far better at my haphazard way of watercoloring than acrylics, but it’s really enjoyable.

Oh! I am also currently in a group show of Gerald Mead’s collection at the Carnegie Art Center called Flora and Fauna. Check it out if you can get out there.

Also, if you go, can I catch a ride?

I made a few funny little acrylic paintings lately as well as some other secret projects with my good friend Tom Holt on our art-making Mondays. This one:

is for the Bijutsu Art Sale happening Friday May 6th at the Upton Gallery on Buffalo State Campus. 100% of the sales go to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund and there should be items ranging from $10-$250. A really nice way to pick up some art and not feel bad for spoiling yourself with it.

I am also doing a project with my roommate Allison Brady for Artists & Models this year. This will be my first time doing an installation/performance piece so I am kind of nervous but really excited. I have been gathering my supplies like a madwoman and hopefully it will be an enjoyable work for everyone involved and every guest I force to participate (all of them!).

I also have a great summer project lined up with one Mr. Brian Milbrand which, if we get our act together and it comes out exactly as envisioned, could be pretty impactful. I have wanted to do it for ages so I am pretty excited.

I have a few other things that aren’t set in stone but when they are I might do some babbling on the subject matter, but until then I leave you with this kind of goofy little painting of a hyena I did on an old piece of the Burchfield Penney’s fancy wood flooring that got water damaged and ripped up.