January in review
The first month into being an actual, self-sustained artist has been completed. I managed to paint 7 new works over the course of the month and I do believe this party’s just getting started.
The Virginia invasion has begun, which is actually a bit backwards, since I’ve lived here all of my life, yet I seem to have honed my chops on the Jersey Shore, in New York and at various out of state festivals and events. Rarely in the last three and a half years, have I painted bands in Charlottesville, my home town. But I recently vowed to change that and the movement seemed somewhat logical now that I don’t have a steady paycheck. The travel will continue, the art caravan WILL ride…just a little more cautiously.
So January was a month of Virginia shows, split nearly evenly between Charlottesville and Richmond. New Year’s Eve found me at the upstairs dancespace of Si Tapas, a restaurant which has taken the place of the old Starr Hill venue. The upstairs is coyly called Is and I’m happy to see that it’s been revamped, with a much better atmosphere, but still as much cigarette smoke as ever. Jeyon Falsini of Magnus Music does a great job of bringing in really solid musical acts, though C-villians have missed the mark attendance wise recently in my estimation.
Still, the room gets pretty full and at some shows, such as the Weapons of Mass Production led 2020 Soundsystem show back in December, the place is what it should be. What it was a born to be. An intimate music venue where people leave sweaty and a bit doused with beer perhaps…perhaps with dilated pupils, perhaps not. A place where 2 Skinnee Jays once had to stop their show, because the audience had danced so hard that the floor freaking CRACKED (since repaired, since repaired).
We rang in the New Year with hometown alt-punk-art rockers The Falsies and the NYC based band Peelander-Z. Peelander-Z describes itself as “Japanese Action Comic Punk” and that pretty much does them justice. They were eating when we pulled up our gear and they introduced themselves. They were wearing street clothes, but these three Japanese gentlemen introduced themselves as Peelander Red, Peelander Green and Peelander Yellow.
The Falsies warmed it up and got the local fans going with a lot of tawdry banter, costumery and general thrashing. Lance Brenner, the drummer, came out in a chicken suit, hence the painting displayed below. By the time they left the stage, the medium sized crowd was very happily chanting for them and preparing for midnight.
Peelander-Z took the stage in full rock, super hero style. Their songs were ridiculously uplifting somehow…ludicrous, funny, simple and danceable. The crowd chanted along with the band’s sometimes purposefully repetetive lyrics. It was pretty awesome, actually.
I can now say that I’ve witnessed a Japanese Action Comic Punk band. I live a very interesting life.
Drumstick Peelander: painted live to The Falsies and Peelander-Z at Is, Charlottesville, VA on 12/31/08-01/01/09
24×36
$350
The next night found me back at the same spot, upstairs at Is. Asheville jamband Modo happened to be running through their winter tour and luckily hit Charlottesville. I highly recommend checking these guys out. They sample a bit from a variety of sounds, from traditional tunes to smoking covers to their own polished seguing jams. It was my first time meeting these guys as well, much as the night before with most of the Falsies and all of Peelander-Z.
I’d love to post the photo of the work, but thanks to Tim, I don’t have it anymore! Tim picked up the piece on the spot. It was a psychedelic elephant…I remember thinking about elephants all that day for some reason, leading up to the show. It basically fell out of me and onto the canvas…it amazes me these images seem to form themselves with little help from me. At least initially.
Two days later, I shot down to Richmond to paint for Modo again at Cary St. Cafe. Cary St. Cafe is a quaint joint and I think I’ll be painting there again soon for some reason. They get a lot of good acts coming through…the bar is small but it lends to the atmosphere. It’s hard to paint there, but doable. Below is the result of that evening. It references the covers Mad World and Working On a Building, an old traditional song that I remember Natural Breakdown playing on my 30th birthday in Staunton (I remember this particular song because Natty sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me along with the entire bar in the middle of this tune).
I’m not sure if the band was watching the development or the painting or not, but about halfway through the show, Modo busted out a Talking Heads song…cosmic connection, Divine tickle. God smiles.
Talking About a Building and the Ghost Within My Head: Painted live to Modo at Cary St. Cafe in Richmond, VA on 01/04/09
24×36
$500
Modo returns to Charlottesville on March 11th. So recover from the Hampton Phish shows and come to Rapture to see these guys. Defintely worth it.
After a brief respite, we charged back to Richmond for Sci Fi, Former Champions and new favorite, Basshound. I met Basshound earlier last year and have enjoyed several shows with them since…they provide pretty funky inspiration and it’s always a good time when the co-mayer of Blake town (Blake Mobely, keys extrordinaire and shareholder of my name) and the rest are around.
Thanks to the Canal Club for being so accomdating…I’m hoping this venue becomes a mainstay for me.
The Sci Fi Dog and Champion Canal: Painted live to Sci Fi, Basshound and the Former Champions at the Canal Club in Richmond, VA on 01/09/09. 4th live painting of the year.
30×40
$700
Slated for an evening with the Kings of Belmont and Raw Dawg on the 16th of January, I took the week off, chopped a lot of wood for the woodstove and worked a few days with the kids at the Shelter for Help in Emergency (I do art with the kids about twice a week there). The day before the show, Will Faulconer, Raw Dawg’s percussionist, messaged me to relay some tragic news: R. S. Hornsby had passed away the night before in a fatal car accident. The same R.S. Hornsby that I’d watched shred China Cat Sunflower onstage at the Wolf Trap alongside his uncle (yes, Bruce). The same R. S. Hornsby who was an integral part of the Charlottesville music scene and, to me, had nowhere to go but up due to his established talent and burgeoning musical complexity.
The Kings of Belmont called off for the gig, but Raw Dawg decided to play on in R.S.’s memory, rounding out two sets of solid music + encore. I ended up painting a trumpet (horn) and a bee…my symbolic take on “horn”s(bee).
Then…Orchard Lounge in Richmond on Jan. 23rd was a face melter. EQ Produktions knows what they’re doing by bringing in the quality and volume of music to the RVA. We set up paintings all along the back wall of the Canal Club and had merch galore. Over 650 people showed for the event and I got to paint next to Strictly Mental, a very talented artist from the Baltimore area. Check out his work here.
I focused my intention on change through love and peaceful, conscious effort, giving a nod to the band’s Chicago roots and making a mental connection with the recent inauguration of President Obama. What resulted is something I’m quite proud of and thanks to the many of you that shared kind words over the evening.
Orchard Lounge gave me mad props for the painting, which was very nice and won’t be forgotten soon.
Beat Home Bass: painted live to Orchard Lounge at the Canal Club, Richmond, VA on 01/23/09
30×40
$1000
Finally, this past Friday saw another Raw Dawg show, this time at Uncle Charlie’s Smokehouse in Crozet, VA. Unfortunately, Uncle Charlie’s is closing due to some legal issues which is unfortunate for a number of reasons. Primarily, it’s a nitty gritty music venue where locals get together and hoot and holler for an entire evening. The crowds are always on point at these shows, whether the people are there to just get drunk or if they showed up to see the music.
I’d love to show you the painting from this show but it was sold to Amy from Richmond (thanks!!). I also sold the painting from the last show (the R.S. painting) to a friend of his and shared a pretty nice story with in the process.
So thanks to everyone who’s supported live art this month! Big things are on the horizon!
February live painting schedule
02/06/09: The Juggling Suns and Roy Hobbs Agenda, The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
02/07/09: Phanart book publishing party, Revolution Hall, Troy, NY
I’ll be painting to a Phish cover band, The Flow, on this particular evening
02/12/09: Basshound, Is Dancehall, Charlottesville, VA
02/14/09: St. Valentine’s Dub Massacre, Virginia Brewing Company, Winchester, VA
02/15/09: Basshound, 8 x 10, Baltimore, MD
That’s it for now, but be on the lookout for more dates TBA, with hopefully a good 31st birthday throwdown somewhere on the 9th of February!
As always, please contact me with any questions at crazyredbeard@crazyredbeard.com.
Price list for giclee prints and matted/framed work is below:
Watercolor Paper, 16 mil cold press 100% cotton rag
These giclee prints will last a lifetime, without fading or losing the steadfast color of the original, even in direct sunlight. If kept out of direct sunlight, these prints will be wonderful generational pieces to be handed down in your family.
8×10: $75.00
11×14: $90.00
16×20: $110.00
20×24: $130.00
20×30: $150.00
24×36: $170.00
30×40: $190.00
36×48: $220.00
40×50: $250.00
www.crazyredbeard.com