July, August, And Everything After

(“the heavens and me”  36″x36″ acrylic on canvas)

(the dealing with a dead faith”  48″x48″ acrylic on canvas)

 

Up top are a couple studio paintings that I’ve finished in the last month or so.  I’m trying to up my studio game by working on six paintings that I hope to finish by the end of the year.  I spend a lot of my time either doing live work or commission paintings.  But I think what really sets and artist apart is what they just make on their own in their own time and with no monetary restraints.  I have a long way to go in my look and development as a studio artist… but I feel like I’m on my way at least.  This series is an attempt to challenge myself  in the studio and see what I really can do when I put more than and hour into a painting! : )  There will be some kind of showing of this series in the early winter…. I’ll keep you posted.

 

The last month has been very busy for the wife and I.  For one, we bought a condo…. at the seemingly only time in history where two people with our incomes could get a great two bedroom place in the Green Lake area.  We are stoked to move in… but as you can probably guess, packing up takes a lot of time.  So we look forward to getting past that busy aspect of our summer.  

Some great news is that I became a new uncle on my families side (I still love my niece maddy!). Below is a pic of the new clan member - Isaiah Cruz Erickson.

( an uncle has to gloat….)

 

PAST HIGHLIGHTS

The only live stuff I really did over the past month was had a great time performing with Paul Wright.  I got the chance to paint with him and his band up in Snohomish and then at the Sultan Shin Dig in Sultan, Wa…. which was monumental to say the least.  Paul is super talented and once again I’m amazed at the people I somehow get to work with….

 

New 5 Spot painting

I have a painting up for the 5 Spots new festival which is “Oregon”. My painting was supposed to be about Crater Lake.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

There’s a few exciting things that i’d like to share with you coming up in the next month…

August 1 | Benefit Concert sponsored by Old Navy, Salem OR

I will be painting with my friend Logan Martin during this benefit to raise money for school clothes for the poorest of families in the Salem Area.  The concert starts at 7pm and it will be held at the Shamala Indian School Auditorium.

 

August 11-22 | Art Residency, Vancouver BC

I was selected to be a part of six painters who will be going up to Vancouver BC and will be working together on a series of work based on the theme “the beautiful, the sublime, and the grotesque”. The amazing part about this residency is that this project is totally funded by churches…. harkening back to the days when the church financed a lot of art.  Works from this project will be shown in a gallery downtown, will spend a year in the spaces of the various patrons, and then could possible end up going on a year long tour around the united states.  The patrons as of now are John Knox Presbyterian Church, Church of the Beloved, Sanctuary (Seattle), Mars Hill Graduate School, Shoreline Christian Reformed Church, and CIVA (Christians In the Visual Arts).  

I’ll be videoing a lot of this experience…. and i’m sure i’ll post some of my thoughts later on.  But very cool!

 

August 30 | Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle Wa

I will be performing during the Round Concert on the Northwest Stage at 4:45 on Saturday.  This is Seattle’s biggest music festival and i will be performing with musicians Damien Jurado and Jen Wood along with poets Buddy Wakefield and Rose McAleese. Click here for more info.

 

Fall | Youth Specialties Artist In Residency | Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Nashville

I will be the artist in resident at all the National Youth Worker Conventions this fall.  I will paint on the mainstage with all the speakers during the main sessions…. and I will be hosting the ArtDen - a creative resource center for leaders to learn, ask questions, and also to make art.  Um… this is huge by the way.  I will be exposed to about 18,000 movers and shakers nationwide.  We’ll see what happens.

 

So there you go.  If you want more info, please click to the calendar page to find what you seek…. or email me back and we can chat!

 

Cheers! Make space for art.

 

Scott

It’s June! Recap and the Round

(group art piece at the Acting On Aids Summit on the Hill, Wash. D.C.)

It’s June everybody.  I hope you’re feeling the summer love. Holla.

Up above is a picture from the Acting On Aids’ Summit On The Hill which happened two weeks ago in Washington DC.  Students from all over the nation came together to lobby on capitol hill for initiatives that help those living in areas being devastated by the AIDS epidemic receive the help they need in the ways of medicine, education, and aid in the larger systemic problems of hunger and poverty.  I was there creating art with the speaker, Aaron Graham of Sojourners, and teaching about creative and artistic ways for advocacy.  I also got to paint with musician Derek Webb during a concert he did, which was a nice little highlight for me, I must say.  

It was a great time and I feel honored to be involved with the passionate folks at Acting On AIDS.  

UPCOMING EVENTS

I’m looking at this summer’s calendar and I don’t have a lot of things scheduled…. which I’m excited about.  I’m hoping to use the summer to work on some new paintings and to do a bit of writing. Oh… and do some filming.  Other than that my other goals are to be in the sun, swim, skateboard, surf, and go to as many friend BBQ’s that I can.  Maybe you share those goals… and hopefully I’ll see you at some of those places.

 

I do have two concerts coming up that I’m excited about that you should know about.

 

Round 37 | Tuesday June 10 | 8pm

with Laura Gibson and guests doing music and Matt Gano spittin on the mic

 

Paul Wright | July 11th 

I don’t have all the info yet, but I will be painting with Paul up in Snohomish.  Paul has a great So-Cal sound and puts on a good show.  More to come….. 

For more info, click here

 

 

That’s all for me.  I do have some artwork hanging up at the Mosaic Coffee shop in the Wallingford district of Seattle.  Miscellaneous new and old paintings (that I’m selling for cheap!) along with other paintings from Jen Grabarczyk and Anna-Lisa Notter, my two studio mates.  So stop on by if you get a chance!

Until then… make space for art.

(Seattlites, pray for sunshine!)

 

 

 

 

Being on cable TV is all it’s cracked up to be

I was on the recent episode of the Seattle Channel’s Art Zone .  It’s a local show that highlights the art scene going on around the Puget Sound area.  Usually they just have a painting in the studio that they show.  But Nancy Guppy and I had been talking and I told her that if I was on the show I would like to do a painting in studio.  She loved the idea… and you can see the episode and see how it all went down!

Also, here’s a little follow up endorsement by Nancy…

 

4 Concerts Across the Country

Well… maybe that sounds a little more dramatic than it is.  I have three local shows here in Seattle this week and then one in Washington DC next week.  But technically that is across the country….

May 14, 15 | w/ Logan Martin in the Seattle area

May 17 | w/ Charlie Peacock @ the Fremont Abbey, Seattle

May 20 | w/ Derek Webb in Washington DC

(click links for more information)

In other news…

* I am being featured on the Seattle Channel’s Art Zone television show.  I go in for taping this week where I will be creating a painting throughout the show, instead of the usual feature of just having a painting displayed in the studio.  The host Nancy Guppy is rad…. and it’s a great show featuring the art scene around Seattle.  I’ll have more info about when the show will be aired….

* I created a little short video about what I hope happens to the art that I create at churches….