A new painting completed

Justice vs Ignorance, oil on canvas w/ mixed media, 2'x3'.

i'm pleased to announce i finished the second painting of my upcoming collection. more here.

Announcing the concept for my new collection!

i’ve come up with a concept for a show that combines elements of ’50s sci-fi movie posters, the glamor of female celebrities from the ‘70-’80s, and comic book pin up art from the ’90s. i’m tentatively titling it, “heroines”. i’m mixing my love of pop culture and infusing it with a fine art sensibility and hope to have a 10-12 piece collection of mixed media paintings done in my usual “kinetic style”. i want it to be colorful, sexy, and empowering! i’ve already secured a space to host a preview show next summer. stay tuned for more!

The latest

i've been so incredibly neglectful of my art because students and i have been been busy preparing a 24' installation that's designed to speak out about empowering beyond racism. i'm very proud of the work that's gone into it thus far, but we have so much farther to go towards our opening night in downtown boston. check out the Y.E.S. for Change site for more info.

You think you know me? Maybe you have no idea!

Steven & Troia, 2011

i've always been very forthright about myself, having long accepted my flaws as well has my more endearing qualities. but i'm always surprised by how little long-time friends, or even family, seem to know about me. so i thought i'd create a little game. i'm going to list 10 things you may or may not know about me. you think you know me? maybe you have no idea! read on and find out!

1. my parents are christian missionaries (or as i've coined them, "jesus freaks"), but have had a multitude of careers in my lifetime. my favorites would be the owners of  tae kwon do dojo and aerobic studios.

2. i became obsessed with wonder woman when i discovered her through my dad's old comic book collection and when i saw reruns of the tv show starring, lynda carter. the amazing amazon embodied strength, beauty, charm, wit, intelligence, humor, and compassion -- even for enemies -- something i've carried through all my life.

3. comic books brought me all over the world. it's true! based on the comic books i read from the '70s and '80s, i would draw my own comics and started taking art classes, then later going to art school, inspiring me to study abroad.

4. my mother had a brain aneurism when i was two years old. i was sitting behind her in the car when her brain just -- switched off. i still remember the thud her head made against the passenger seat window. i also remember seeing her again after surgery weeks later, a beautiful woman with no hair, but i was afraid to approach her outstretched arms.

5. i have a minor in nutrition. my reasoning for the degree was i wanted a backup if i ever got bored with the whole 'art thing'.

6. a former professor and dear friend took me under her wing and appointed me her intern/apprentice while she taught at the paris college of art. i learned so much about the world in those 3 months, traveling to other parts of europe on long weekends and holidays. i was devastated when my professor, a transgender woman, hysterical storyteller, fashionista, talented artist, and raging alcoholic, took her own life. there was a gaping hole in my soul for a long time.

7. my dog and two cats are among my most favorite people in the world. yes, you read that correctly.

8. i resisted becoming a teacher for a long time because my parents always said i would make a great teacher. so, of course, i couldn't be a teacher! but after life as a starving artist got old, i went back to school and became certified to teach visual art. turns out i love teaching!

9. my first degree is in studio art, focus on drawing and painting. that means i also studied ceramics, sculpting, art history, and printmaking for four years plus years. art education came later and became my real passion.

10. i was hit by a tour bus on a cross walk and thrown 10 feet, but survived with only a few scraps, bruises, and internal bleeding -- no gaping wounds or broken bones!

Coming up with a concept

Ross, Diana Ross, 1983

i discuss the first step to coming up with a concept for a new painting. i've been influenced by diana ross, batgirl, to a forgotten sci-fi movie of the late '80s. check out my website for more.

swartstudio.com

Latest work in progress

"Welcoming Imagination", 3'x4', oil on bulletin board, 2012

my latest work in progress is a commercial piece, a welcome sign. it's been a process to work on my art with so much teaching, but this is slowly coming together. i only have a few days to get it right. the deadline is fast approaching!

Latest work

"severe tranquility abstract", diptych, mixed media, 2011-12

this poor painting just gets no love. originally it was commissioned by a friend of a friend for her cape house. she was determined to display something completely modern and i was eager to create something purely abstract. after several preliminary sketches, we seemed to find a happy medium. as with most clients i ask for half the fee up front, and the remaining upon delivery. the latter never happened and i've kept the painting in my possession for several months.

 every once and awhile i would add or take away, slowly modifying it. then, just recently, i was offered a part in special one night show. i dusted this off, tweaked it a little and was preparing to have this sent to the gallery. then last minute, well almost last minute, i checked the fine print of the contract before signing and realized that the venue was not something that would benefit my career as an artist. it looks like this painting will have to go back in storage another few months until i find the right time to have it on display.

Continued work in progress --

two months ago i blogged about a painting i had begun and since that time i've continued working on it on odds days off or when time allows. hopefully the summer will afford me greater opportunities to work on my art. to date i have three paintings uncompleted. i would like to see at least two finished before the end of august.

"Buddha Glam" work in progress

SWart Studio is on facebook!

i've created a facebook page for my artwork, classes, and lectures - plus announcements and events that relate to my own work and ideas.

 SWart Studio on Facebook

vozwords: Al Parker (1906-1985)

mike vosburg was one of my favorite comic book artists of my dad's original marvel and dc comics collection from the seventies and eighties. i happened across his blog and was immediately inspired by his love of an illustration artist i never heard of. vosburg has moved on from comic books into tv, film, and even music videos and is another real life example of where comic books can take you.

vozwords: Al Parker (1906-1985): The invention of the camera shattered art in the western world. For several centuries one of the primary goals of the artist was to reprodu...

Latest showing of art

it started as an unfinished piece in college that had been discarded at the back of my studio. almost three years later it suddenly found new life! what you see to the left is myself standing in front of my latest painting, fist on the pulse, on display at the worcester art museum. the idea of the piece came from a conversation between a colleague and i about how music and art can often reflect current events. art in all its forms can teach world history - something i strive to bring to the attention of my students. art often remains on the pulse of what's happening in the world and sometimes really shocks it to its audience. that shock is the point of the piece, there's not just a finger on the pulse, rather fists grabbing the pulse line. obviously there's more to be gleamed from the painting, but i don't want to spoil everything, and i also don't want to cancel a viewer's own interpretation. i will say, the point of my looking uninterested while i hold the iPod relates to the 'shards' of newspaper scattered on the edges of the piece. my next work will also loosely relate to music and art, as well as fashion - hopefully completed by the end of summer.