Notes from an easel-part 54-Death of Winter

'If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad.'

Lord Byron

Showboat-Hive Price Less show

With grey skies and temperatures plummeting in LA, one might have expected a modestly diminished attendance at the Hive gallery last night, but not to be deterred, Los Angelians are made of sturdier stuff, art comes before a storm or at least a little spot of rain, and boy did the city of angels look angelic last night.

Speaking of angels, the ever wonderful and enchanting Eliza Rickman performed a short but sweet set, on her Schoenhut piano. The set list included some new songs (one about Napoleon) and a personal favorite on request-Cinnamon Bone- a highlight of the night for me.
I promised to make a post on her work the last time we caught her, and shall do so over the next few days-I think she is a delight, highly original and deserves arena sized accolade. She is also playing here in San Diego on the 18th at my local haunt-the Ruby Room in Hillcrest.

Talking of old friends, another surprise through the night was discovering that a fellow San Diego alumni, artist Celene had a lovely piece on display, so as ever my work sat in grand company, which was a veritable santa's grotto of art cornucopia, all at the bargain basement price of $200 or less.

Can you imagine a world where everyone gave the gift of art for Christmas, economies would float higher than Timothy Leary on acid, and artists would be the new Warren Buffets, or at least if not a buffet but something approximating enough for food on the table.

A rather delicious cherry on the cake of shows for me in what has been a busy year, and as always my indebted gratitude to all the friends and supporters who make these events the twinkles in an otherwise black curtain that they are.

Something for the weekend

I shall be showing at the Hive gallery up in LA this evening, for the Price-Less group showing. All the work featured shall be available for $200 or less-a great chance to make a gift of art for the holidays.
The work I am exhibiting is an early study for my latest piece, which is actually quite a different concept to the new work, and I am considering repainting the original idea and entitling 'No crib for a bed.'
Anyway, if you happen to be in the LA area, doors open at 8pm and tonight the exquisitely lovely and talented Eliza Rickman shall be playing too.

729 S. Spring St,
Los Angeles, CA 90014
December 5th, Saturday 8PM-12:30AM
Show runs December 5th- 28th

Notes from an Easel 53-Death of Winter

Fridays are my only concession to the mundanity of the working week, which is only ever punctuated in the evenings by occasional ruminations at my easel. On other days, I still feel like I'm merely faking it, a Sunday afternoon hobbyist inauthentically posing as the real deal, because the drag of scratching for a living at every other time, leaves me with a clutch of hours, fighting total exhaustion late into the dying candle of the evening.
Fridays I afford myself the afteroons,locked in my studio-five hours of uninterupted contemplation of paint-its like a enema for the soul.
With, the wintery timbres of Brett Andersons latest offing, en loop in the distance, the paint flowed like alchemy-I'm loving the new piece so much, it touches the innately unpronouncable chasm of living with a knowledge that someday it will all end, the awe of the nature and the passage of time. I can't wait to finish it.

Notes from an Easel-Part 52-Death of Winter

Having laid down a light wash, and distinguished the details, I started to work in the background because I feel that as with the Valley piece, the geography for this piece,carries the same weight as the message. Previous deaths head pieces have been more informed by the concept, the background seeming something of an afterthought, although not entirely.

Its a process I'm learning to embrace more and more, I think for the longest time-perhaps too long, I've held a general mistrust of the real, believing that feeding entirely from the subconscious was the purest form of expressing-that to draw from life somehow diluted the idea. I still think that's the case-certainly with someone like Dali, the more technically he drew from the real, the less his work seemed informed by the surreal, but for me it feels like the work is becoming more cohesive and focused, evolving a germ of an idea into an entirely different animal. Its hugely exciting, and I've even taken to carrying a sketchbook everywhere and sketching, which always felt like somehow an attempt to elevate the mundane, but its something I am enjoying again.

Barrowboy-2010 Calendar

My only official calendar for 2010 is now available through Zazzle. It features what I consider to be twelve of my best pieces starting from 2003 to present day, and they can be purchased from the following link:

2010 DAVID GOUGH ART CALENDAR

Barrowboy-Nature of a Fragile Mind

With the holidays upon us, I'm posting one of my pieces on Ebay for a buy it now of $350. Nature of a Fragile Mind was painted anticipating the Delmar Fair Art show in 2008, although not exclusively for that, as it existed previously as a smaller study in 2007. I think it was about that thing of longing for the spirit to be elevated but being grounded by the geographic mundane of the everyday. Anyway, its available at this exclusive price for ten days, so make a gift of Art for Xmas.

NATURE OF A FRAGILE MIND EBAY ART AUCTION