Cafe Verite Ballard | Art Show Explanation

(EMPIRE, acrylic on canvas, 36" by 36", $450)

I currently have a show up at the Cafe Verite/Cupcake Royale in Ballard, WA. I have been working hard over the last 6 weeks… putting in some substantial time to make some good studio work. Most of what I create is in front of an audience and takes about an hour… that’s what I’m remembered for. But what I think artists are known for is their studio pieces, their portfolio.  So it’s important for me to take some time out every year to work on a series of paintings based on whatever I’m thinking about.  That’s what this show is.

Above is EMPIRE. This was the most recently finished painting I have done.  I needed to something funny as I was creating some heavy work and this is what came up.  Even though it’s to get a laugh, I do think it has some interesting comments on using power and military force to make people adhere to a set of beliefs.  If you put in a stormtrooper to a normal saint painting, it becomes funny, yes, but it can also stir thoughts about what are the belief agendas we promote through military pressure… even if it is in the name of God.  Remember, don’t think too much about it.  It’s supposed to be fun.

 

(FORGIVE THY BROTHER, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48", $675)

These next four paintings are based off  thoughts, experiences, or events that pertain to humanity’s interaction with God.

Forgive Thy Brother is about just that…. forgiveness.  Jesus says that we are to forgive or neighbor/brother just as our Heavenly Father forgives us… and if we cannot do that that He is reluctant to forgive us.  How do we do this when we can be so tragically hurt by someone else?  And it seems that the way to reconciliation with God is through reconciliation with each other.  Why is this?  Why is God so interested in us learning to forgive one another? Why can’t our hurts and grudges be justified in His eyes?  This was a very heavy painting to live with…..

(CONVERSATIONS, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48", $675)

CONVERSATIONS comes from my experiences being a surfer up here in the northwest.  The coast is a magical place and there is something about leaving the city, being out on the water that lends to it feeling holy.  Except for the dickheads who yell at you for being to close to them in the line-up. (apparently 4 people in the water is too much.) I feel like I’ve learned a lot about God from the ocean.  One is the ocean demands my respect.  It’s big. Beautiful. It has it’s own rhythm and character. Entering into that can be some of the most joyous experiences imaginable.  But the ocean can kill me, and I must play on it’s terms.  

(THE DEALING WITH DEAD FAITH, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48", $675)

This painting came out of a few conversations I’ve had with friends who used to have beliefs in a certain faith, but then, mostly after they graduated college, no longer believed in what they had.  Why is this?  I have my own thoughts about this and I would gladly share them with you if you like. But this painting is more about that place of coming to that understanding.  To holding the “spirit” of your belief and realizing that it’s dead.  

(THE HEAVENS AND ME, acrylic on canvas, 36"x36", $450)

This painting has a lot in it. From memories of living in Minnesota watching the geese migrate to what is that distant between the earth and the sky and where is God in all that.  Do what you will with it.

 

(KINGDOM COME, acrylic on canvas, 20"x30", $350)

This image has come up in some way shape or form a few times and I think it’s very strong.  So I decided to make a more iconic version of it using gold in the painting and aging it to look like an old relic of cultures past.

 

(YOU ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL, acrylic on wood, 36"x48", $650)

YOU ARE STILL BEAUTIFUL and FOR THE RAPED IN CONGO are both responses to a 60 minutes article I saw about the unprecedented amount of rapes that are occurring in Congo.  Rapes from 3 year olds to 80 year olds… it’s happening all the time and starting to become a normal experience in this conflict ridden society.  It’s a completely overwhelming tragedy and I’m glad for the 60 minutes article…. but what do I do with that? I have no army. I”m not a superhero. I don’t have billions.  I feel helpless to do anything about it.  And in fact, I probably can’t.  But I can paint… and I can grieve. So that’s what I did in these paintings. The woman above was raped and brutally traumatized.  The girl below is ten yrs old and was raped twice.  Both were victims of horrible events. Both had something taken away.  I wanted to let them know they are beautiful…. and what they have can never be taken away.  I wanted to give them the beauty they deserve.  I used Gustave Klimt as my muse for these two paintings.

(FOR THE RAPED IN CONGO, acrylic on wood, 36"x48", $650)

and last but not least….

(SEATTLE SKYLINE BLUE, acrylic on wood, 36"x48", $750)

For all you looking for the perfect addition to your living room collection…. here it is! This is a painting of the Seattle skyline from West Seattle.

 

So stop on by the Ballard Cafe Verite sometime during the month of July and see what it looks like in person.  In fact, on Saturday, June 13th, I’ll be hanging around the shop during the Ballard ArtWalk to shake hands, answer questions, and mostly look out of place if you want to make an event of it.

And… if you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings, feel free to email me at transpireproject@gmail.com.

 

Cheers

SCOTT ERICKSON

May | How do artists support large NGO’s?

I recently participated in WorldVision’s Acting On Aids Summit On The Hill and Sojourners Mobilization to End Poverty Conference out in Washington DC.  Both events were designed to ramp up people’s involvement with advocacy for the poor and to actually go meet with their states representatives to lobby for initiatives that benefit the poor nationally and worldwide. 

With Acting On Aids, I painted alongside fantastic Josh Garrels during an evening concert, painted with Scott Bessenecker from Intervarsity as he shared his thoughts on advocacy, and hosted a seminar with Josh about being a creative advocate.  This event was focused on college students from around the nation.

My involvement with Sojourners was a bit different. Their conference was a large event at the Washington Convention center and involved a lot of big named people from around the nation.  My part was small as Caitlin Beidler and I painted during the worship response time.  Not that I wasn’t thankful to be there.  It was a great pleasure to work alongside Martin Smith from Delirious and Vicky Beeching as they led in music.  Basically, good times all around.

Want I really want to write about was an interesting conversation that I had with Aaron Graham (one of the greatest people in the world) from Sojourners.  I’ve been thinking about this conversation and I would love some in put from you if you have any thoughts.

During my time in DC, I wandered down to the national portrait gallery and saw some amazing work. Currently they have a folk art exhibit that was very powerful in it’s portrayal of racism, sexism, and many other realities that we face in this country.  It got me thinking about the power of art and it’s role in society.  Along with that experience, someone shared with me this quote that I can’t remember word for word. But it’s by Daniel Berrigan and it’s along the lines of “if a movement isn’t creating/producing art, it’s not really a movement.”

So I’m talking to Aaron the last night of the conference and I share with them this quote and this thought: If this quote is true, and a group like Sojourners is doing a great work on poverty issues… trying to motivate the Church into action on such subjects, then how does and artist like me help with that? And how does a large organization like Sojourners utilize artists in their work?

Aaron had a great twofold response. One is that for most large organizations, the way in which they really only utilize artists is along the lines of branding and design.  This is a really good point, and I think a legitimate way that art can be a powerful communicator through things like film and design.  But as for artists like me and others, his second response is he doesn’t know. 

And I don’t know either.

Film and design are huge influencers in our society today, so maybe that’s all that large non-profits really need.  A lot of visual 2-d art like painting really just comes from the inspiration and particular desire of the individual artist.  There are paintings that we could probably just pick out that have to do with poverty issues that they could use to represent the work of a non-profit.  But it seems that great work really just comes from the artist wrestling with an issue and then trying to manifest that struggle. 

I guess large organizations could commission artists to do work, host art shows, stuff like that.  I’m sure there would be some push back from supporters wondering why they would waste money on art instead of directly putting it into the field.  Point taken.  I would push back and say a great part of the work of the NGO is to tell the story of why they are doing what they are doing and to touch the hearts of those who would support their work.  Artists are storytellers.  So they are utilizing the power of art storytelling. 

So that’s one idea. Anybody got any other ideas?

Questions I’m thinking about:

What does art from a movement look like?

How and why was it created?

Who made the work?

Who are our movement artists today?

 

A FEW THINGS…..

1. Thanks to Holly Strand (www.beautifulendings.com) for most of these great photos over the weekend in DC.

2. A film crew from WorldVision was at the conference and took me aside and did a little interview about being a creative advocate. Here it is….

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 1-31 | Art Show | Ballard Cafe Verite

I’ve been working for a couple months on new paintings. I will be showing at Cafe Verite for the month of June, most likely having an artist reception on the second saturday of June, during the Ballard ArtWalk

 

ROUND 50 | JULY 7 | THE TRIPLE DOOR, SEATTLE

Wow.  Round 50.  It’s been a long haul and the Round keeps getting better and better.  To celebrate, we are taking it out of the Fremont Abbey and going to Seattles swanky Triple Door. Here’s the line up:

Music: Damien jurado, Jesse Sykes, Seattle Rock Orchestra, and special guest

Painters: Glen Case (does the Easy Street Records murals, me, and one other painter

Poets: Buddy wakefield and Youth Speaks poet

 

Tickets $12 adv/$15 day. Click Here.

 

 

Cheers Ya’ll

 

Scott