Upcoming at our Gallery: Michael Imes

 

New this time to our show at the farm is the addition of Michael Imes' work to the gallery. We are both excited, and especially me, as Michael was part of the faculty that took me under their collective wings when I was a student at Carroll College in Waukesha. Michael will have his beautiful pinch and coil method work open to the public from Sept 4-7th. 

I was never a student of Michael's, never had a class with him, he just was a cool male role model that was supportive and nice to me. He played guitar, made cool stuff, was calming, gentile and someone you wanted to be around. One time I remember he called in the local radio station from the studio phone to request Neil Young's Down By The River during the noon hour and they played the song! I responded to Michael also on the level of being a working artist. Constantly creating and selling his work, something I hadn't yet been exposed to, was eye opening. Not knowing quite how or what I wanted to do with my art life, I was drawn to a person that was just doing it. Michael was and is a beloved teacher. Michael and some of the other faculty were so generous to me in giving of their time, patience and positivity. As you would guess, I was at times awkward, abrasive, stunted and just different from the general student body, but I worked hard and was talented. I grew up in a town and environment that looking back on it didn't make me feel comfortable with who I am or was. But in the Art building at Carroll I had a home, perhaps the first time I had ever had that. Michael is one of those people that exposed me to a broader world of culture and community that I am forever grateful for. It is an honor that he allowed us to showcase his work at our gallery.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about our upcoming show. Katie and I will also be showing, in fact I have about 16 large framed paintings, probably more than I have ever shown. I'll be in KC and Louisville after this, so this is my final push before taking time off next year.

All-Star Break

 Just got home after the Ann Arbor Art Festival, 3 shows in 4 weeks, three different time zones. It has been a tough year for me and I want to thank everyone for supporting me, financially and emotionally. Thank you for your kindness and understanding and friendship. My cup runneth over, and I am fried. 

Brookside in KC, was okay, we went to war and gas prices spiked, people were unsure and not themselves. Old Town in Chicago is the best damn show in the country, I love you. Des Moines might be the best run show in the country and certainly a citywide celebration that I am honored to participate in. I felt so good and more myself after that show. Cherry Creek, has some real problems because it is located in an ultra rich fashionable neighborhood in Denver. I had some amazing moments and truly heartfelt connections at the show, but I felt gross and I won't be back. As another artist said,"this show has bad vibes". Art and art shows are about people, good shows in good communities attract good people. I felt Cherry Creek exposed a lot of what is wrong about our country currently and most of the artists didn't like it.

Then Ann Arbor. Set up in 110 degree heat index on newly laid asphalt, unhealthy smokey air from the Canadian wildfires for two horrible days and heat all during the show. There was no way I thought I would have a good show. Instead I almost sold out. Not everyone had a killer show, but even in that shit weather(the worst of my career), people supported it way more than the previous show in Cherry Creek. I was really blown away by the people that came masked up and cared. I wouldn't have come out to see me in that!

So here I sit having a few weeks to decide whether or not to buy my childhood home to save it from the flippers, its confusing and overwhelming. It is hard to tell people I am not coming back next year, but I need time off. This spring I was diagnosed as clinically depressed and I am seeing more clearly that because I have been so busy I just am worn to the nub, especially emotionally, and therefore just becoming more sad and not myself. I have had one day off since at least January 12th, and that was because therapy kicked my ass too much to work. 

That said, I am painting as good as I can for this body of work and am proud of myself for painting from my heart. I stand out because of it. I am happy to tell people I am just trying to paint something beautiful for my Mom and Grandparents,  it ain't no act. The rest of the year shouldn't be as overwhelming, but we'll see thanks to Ann Arbor. It's like, aren't you all sick of me yet? I guess not. 

Remaining show schedule:

August 8th, Charleviox Waterfront Art Festival, Charleviox Michigan

September 4-7th, Open house show at our farm

September 25-27th, Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City Missouri

October 3-5th, St James Court, Louisville Kentucky

The Last Waltz

 The Last Waltz

This is my final tour under these terms.Perhaps you don't believe it, but believe it! Basically I started this body of work when I was still a teenager in Waukesha Wisconsin, painting my home shire as I called it. 30 years…  I have said about as much I feel I can with this and need to move on. Physically and mentally I just can’t keep doing this to myself. If I am moved by something, I have an urge to paint it, and that will never stop for me, and so I highly doubt I will ever stop this body of work entirely, I just don’t want to tour the country with it any longer. What I am saying is if you want something from me that is not a special commission come pay me a visit at one of my shows. Next year will be a sabbatical of some sort and from then on I don’t know. I do know I need to paint other things that bring me more happiness.

This is my 2026 show schedule:

June 13-14 Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, IL

June 27-29 Des Moines Art Festival, Des Moines, IA

July 3-5 Cherry Creek Art Festival, Denver, CO

July 16-19 Ann Arbor Art Fair-The Original, Ann Arbor MI

August 8 Charlevoix Waterfront Art Festival, Charlevoix, MI

Sept 25-27 Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO

Oct 2-4 St. James Court Art Festival, Louisville, KY

Labor Day Weekend here at the farm Katie and I will be having another show. I still cannot believe how successful the last one was, thanks again to everyone. I will be posting more about this as the summer goes on.

This winter I got a real burst of creative energy from going through my Grandparents and Mom’s stuff and from being back at my childhood home, so I actually have more large work than I have ever had. I love seeing everyone and meeting new people, you all truly bring me joy. Hope to see this summer!

Beauty

 I found myself heading out to draw when I got some sad news from a client. Its not like the world doesn't suck enough right now, its not like other people I know aren't going through shit, some of which I can't even imagine. But the ridge calls me and has been on my mind. It was the last forecasted nice day, hasn't been remotely pleasant since. Chipmunk Ridge is one of my favorite places on earth, a good place to be as the world swirls.

This winter I have been slowly cleaning out my childhood home, which for multiple reasons has been hard. My family has lived in the same neighborhood for over a hundred years. Its confusing and lonely to carry on your shoulders that family history when you feel like you are the last gasp. My Grandparents lived in my house and more than helped raise me. I was brought up by people that lived through the great depression and grew up with Babe Ruth and literally Les Paul. Perhaps I am one of those old souls because I was so heavily influenced by older people. There is a lot to sort out in my heart as I peel back the layers of time, dysfunction and most importantly love.

This year is uncertain for me, I miss everyone. I want so badly to do something positive. Don't get me wrong, I aint no saint, but as I am dealing with family, my past, and a very unhappy country, I think more and more of my Mom. My Grandparents. I think of the old neighborhood and the people that I love. The river. The things that bring me the deepest joy.

So I carry that all as I head up on the ridge to draw. Drawing gets me going. There isn't the pressure to make a product, drawing is thinking, exploring, poking. It wasn't a remarkable day, but I was locked in. I don't have to go far and everything just snowballs. When one is dialed in one starts to notice things, little things become big things. Everything becomes alive and the events of the last thousand years flow together and you feel it all. For my last drawing I sit by a 19th century farm and I swear I am there and its a hundred years ago. The craft and the divine order just overwhelm me. The light always knocks me out. The mature trees. Its so powerful and I try my best to just get it out onto the paper. When this happens everything just seems beyond you. You are the stereotypical vehicle and everything seems possible

Our country can be so inspiring if we wanted it. Those people long ago wanted it more. We are such a poor nation and its sad. Poor in our heart. I don't feel sad when I am in places like this. I don't feel sad when I am trying to do something beautiful. I don't know if what I did was any good at all, but I felt good. I felt my Mom and that made me happy. I hear kids voices playing, there is something in the wind. The twisting limbs on the trees seem to contort my body. When I am done with the drawing it is near dark and the sensation is so intense it runs down my arms into my wrists and tingles. Everywhere I looked I saw beauty and a painting. Its like living in a dream. I think the world used to be like this more. People were more exposed to this. They may have been much happier. I don't know. The world largely doesn't look or feel like this anymore. I reject the way it is now.

In these hard times, I encourage everyone to try and do something beautiful. Not a painting, but in how you conduct yourself, how you talk to people, what you think about, how you spend your money, be giving, be good. Don't go along with the ugliness that surrounds us and you will feel much better. If it feels gross don't do it. I am wrought with the emotions of mourning as I move forward with my childhood home, and I don't have the energy to reinvent myself. I just want to paint something beautiful for my Mom, and that is what I promise to do, to the best of my ability this year. Not sure if I will do less shows or just the same amount but with less work. Now is the time to do what is in my heart, I hope you all do too. 

Picking Up The Pieces and Finally Posting New Available Work

 It has been a month since we had our opening at the farm, I can honestly say I was overwhelmed by the love and am still recovering. It wasn't like thousands of people showed up, it was just the right ones. People from multiple states away too! New friends and old friends. The two best things about what I do are: I get to do something I believe in for a living and the people I come in contact with. My cousin who was there said she just loved meeting all the interesting people who attended. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people that support Katie and I. Here is one of our friends who wore my Des Moines Art Festival tshirt to the museum this week. That is as close as my work will ever get to Hans Holbein or Van Gogh!

Anyways, things are calming down kinda. I have actually posted new available work for the first time in a long time in case anybody wants a little painting for the holidays. This time I included images with the frames which I am not sure about, maybe too wonky looking online, but I feel the little paintings have taken on a more "as object" quality. All the frames are repurposed, scavenged wood from the farm or estate sales or wherever-even the side of the road. It is part of my oeuvre I guess.

Thank you all for helping me get through this long and stressful year with pleasant memories to consider. And thanks to those who came to the opening and supported our nephew Grayson, he had his best show ever!

Gallery opening, Louisville and the age of ugly

 Again, we are showing at the farm and anyone is invited. Friday, Saturday, Sunday Oct 17-19 12-6. I have held back some paintings for the show and am in the process of making a few new ones. These will be there.

Sorry but I have to get this out of the way. It is difficult for me to be in a place that has as much character as Old Louisville and then come back to Wisconsin on a dreary day and sift through factory farms in search of something beautiful. I feel like we are living in the age of ugly after spending time around the glorious shotgun shacks in the Germantown neighborhood, or the prestigious Victorian homes near St James Court. It is like we stopped caring about aesthetics. The old farms cared, I seek them out. The new architecture doesn't care. It is ugly. And so too often are the cars, where are food comes from, the way we dress, our politics, our communities, our art, ourselves. Too many of us are ugly. We are living in the age of ugly and I am sick of it. I wonder about the kind of people that live in the older neighborhoods compared to the new ones. What are their values? Does it effect how we live? Is it really that different. Over and over again people tell me my art is peaceful calming and beautiful. A younger version of me would not think this very rebellious, but in reality it is rebellious to be handsome and dignified in our culture of anger and dumbed down efficiency. When I am in Louisville, I always fantasize about living in an old house and making paintings of the neighborhood. I am supported by the people of Louisville, or at least the ones that come to the show. I love its dive bars and character. Its feel and texture.

Anyways, St James Court Art Festival, doesn't attract as many higher end artists. It is large and sprawling but I love it more than many of the top shows in the country. All weekend long I talk with people young and old and just have a good time as I bask in the glory of the Conrad House. I hope everyone else has as much fun as I do. I hope my rant against ugly is not too negative, but from having talked with so many people, I know I am not alone in this. 

My travelogue of art shows has concluded. Thank you to everyone who helped me get through this tough year. Thank you to the beautiful and interesting people that float by my booth. Thank you to the people who spend their money on me. Thank you for the privilege of bringing something I made into your homes, I can honestly say it came from my heart, I still have a hard time believing this is all possible. Thank you for those of you who show me photos of paintings they bought that are now in their homes. Thank you for those who share a beer with me. To those who just are encouraging. To those you make me laugh and smile. To those that are amusing. Thank you for the feeling of togetherness in a sometimes isolating world. Thank you for the shared time and experience. I don't understand it but many times this is where I feel most myself.

Plaza

	10:05 PM (1 minute ago)
Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City

All the art shows we do are so different, a different flavor, different part of the country, different venues and different reasons for existing. I have been told by another show director that Plaza is done for all the wrong reasons and lately it has been hard to argue in defense of Plaza. But I cancelled last year and wanted to do the right thing, so there I was again in Kansas City.

The Plaza Art Fair has been put on for 86 years by the Plaza Country Club which is a high end historic shopping district. Perhaps the first mall in the world built for automobiles back in the 1920's, it is to anybody that appreciates architecture pretty special. But the shopping clearly is not my bag. It reminds of the bad things and superficial people in the place I was born. The show has gotten a reputation of a big drunk fest and for not giving a shit about the artists. I can't say I was eager to be there. Plaza was once a top 5 show in the country, now it is just a show. A long grueling one at that. That said I have met some great people there, just like at any show, but there seemed to be less of them lately. The Plaza had slipped. It was loud and seemingly out of control in recent years, and so less buyers and serious patrons showed up. Then less of the best artists. You could see how the downward spiral of a show happens at Plaza. 

But there I was, grumpy and rolling my eyes at high maintenance women and corporate men in outfits that made me uncomfortable as I drank my Hillsboro beer. And the people came and drank. Got dressed up and meandered around holding fish bowl margarita glasses, and like always it was a big crowd. A diverse crowd. By diverse I just don't mean gays, blacks, liberals; I mean everyone. Sports fans, wealthy professionals, bums, every slice of life. Maybe not as many nerdy art people and that is the problem. I like that art can break down divisions in our country, I like that about Plaza, but I don't like that it has become an event that had nothing to do with the art. Drink, be seen and listen to some live music. Fine, but it makes for a bad art show. And the quite sensitive folks that enjoy artists and artwork don't want to be at a meat market.

Side note- anyone that says people buy art when they drink are completely wrong. I like to drink, but I don't drink to experience beauty or have an emotional connection with something, and that is what I need for someone to do if they are going to buy a painting from me. Drinking makes you more likely to buy another drink, not an expensive piece of art. Having a leisurely beverage and relaxing as you talk and take in the show is different. Drinking is straight up bad for business.

This year was a little different. The Plaza has new owners and they clearly gave a shit about the show. They had quality control brought in from Cheery Creek. They had better hours.They were more visible and the crowd seemed far less rowdy. The music wasn't as loud. Things had bottomed out. I had more conversations. People seemed more into the art. My grumpiness subsided. I had a good show. I even won an award so if I feel like it I will be back next year. We got home today and I didn't feel beaten down by Plaza like in previous years. I feel good. I feel good about Plaza and grateful, like at every show, for all the staff and volunteers who put on the shows. I couldn't do this without you. Thank you! 

 

Next up: Louisville Kentucky