JOURNAL ARCHIVE
2005 - 2009
December 31, 2009
THE END OF ANOTHER YEAR
Well another year is almost to a close. It seems like they go by faster and faster as I get older. Of course I never do all the things that I plan on doing artistically but I've learned thats just the nature of being an artist. We just have to work with the time we've been given. As always I'm looking forward to the new year for bringing new ideas, inspirations & images!
This year I discovered online the paintings of the late Eyvind Earle. His landscapes are amazing & immensely creative! I'm so inspired by the vistas he has created that there's no doubt some of my future landscapes will contain some of his influence in them!
Another great artist is someone I went to high school with, his name is Nobu Tanaka and his realist paintings are just breathtaking! His works can be viewed at: http://www.ntanaka.com
Finally I'm very pleased to have finished my 3rd triptych in my "Odyssey" series. The new works express abstractly an appreciation and romance for the Moon. To think there are many scientists who believe without the moon the human race may never have developed, or at least in the form we are now! This is partly because of our slower rotation caused by the moon's gravity which has given us our inhabital and median tempatures. Also many believe without the Lunar tides there would have been no rich nutrient tidal pools for which organic life sprung. Its just an really interesting thought. Anyway my favorite one is the middle one titled "With the Moon" which is named after a song by the one-man synthpop band Cosmicity.
December 22, 2009
THE ODYSSEY CONTINUES
For the last week I've been working on my new "Moon-Wheel" series. I have the final sketches and concepts finished and I posted them in the 2009 gallery. I plan on having the final versions done by the end of the year. They will be part of my "Odyssey" series which I started back in 2005 with my "Sun-Wheel" triptych.
October 22, 2009
ORIGINALS SECTION UPDATED
I just finished updating the originals sections with new originals as well as new prices on some older works from 2007 & 2008. I also condensed those 2 galleries down to one page each.
I've also added some new originals to the 2009 gallery. One of my favorite new paintings is a decorative piece titled "Willow Branch I". It has a really cool contemporary look to it as well as a unique surface quality that I was able to achieve by rolling some of the paint layers on instead of using a brush. "Gleaming Landscape" is another new work that I'm happy with for the most part. It was painted very quickly and has a fresh painterly quality to it that resembles many of the high contrast landscapes I did back in 2004 & 2005.
Other than that nothing new & exciting. I've had a bad cold & sinus infection for the last couple weeks so I haven't been able to get a whole lot of work done. Just a lot of sleep and resting.
September 19, 2009
NEW POSTER PRINTS ADDED
I've been able to add some new poster prints for 2009. So far my favorite prints are my "Fall Stems" set.
Other than that not much else is new. Can't believe fall is now here. I plan on working on more straight landscapes as well as some abstracts for the rest of the year. Unfortunately sales of originals & prints have been down even more than last year so for the next couple years I plan on spending more energy on new images and even less time on shows or sales for my originals & prints. Of course all my artwork is always available from marcongallery.com.
August 30, 2009
NEW AVAILABLE ORIGINALS ADDED
New Originals have been added to the 2009 Available Originals Gallery. So far my favorites are "Summer Changes I" & "Summer Changes II"
August 23, 2009
ONE OF MY IMAGES IN A EPISODE OF "THE OFFICE"
I guess one of my paintings (prints) is going to be in the background in this season of The Office. I don't watch the show but I guess its supposed to be in Jim's office on the wall. Its a golf course painting. The set designer contacted my publisher 2 weeks ago and they needed a print ASAP for filming. She said they already shot some scenes with the print in it last monday. So if anything it'll probably just be a flash on the screen. Its still pretty cool though. I think the new season starts in September. So if anyone sees it let me know, in case I miss it.
July 3, 2009
My new show is up at Benny Hahas in downtown Eau Claire. The show consists of about 35 originals and lots of signed poster prints. For more info just go to the Benny Haha Page.
The work should be up for at least a month.
I also decided to keep my Marcon Art page and update it regularly. As opposed to having both my personal & art myspace pages.
May 15, 2009
2008 PRINT GALLERY FINISHED
I finally finished the gallery of 2008's complete poster prints. Overall it was a decent year for the publishing in general, but not as strong as 2007 and really I would say I'm a little happier with my 2007 published works. But 2008 still went well and I did get lots of images published, including a Golf Course set that was a new subject and something I hope to revisit in the near future.
Anyway below is a list & links to my favorite prints from 2008.
Beyond the Village & Beyond the Forest
May 3, 2009
ART SHOW AT BENNY HAHA'S IN JUNE & JULY
I'll be having another solo exhibit at Benny Haha's art supply & gallery this summer sometime during June & July. I'll post the exact dates later when I know more. Benny Haha is located in downtown Eau Claire, for more info click here. The exhibit will consist of 30 or more framed originals and over a 100 signed poster prints.
I've been updating my gallerys over at ARTID on a regular basis. I have over a 100 available originals that can be purchased through that website. Of course all of the paintings can also be purchased from this website as well. My ArtID page is www.artid.com/MarconArt
February 12, 2009
MARCON ART IN A REALITY SHOW
The other day I was contacted by a television company out of California who were filming a reality show and needed my permission to use some of my images in a "set dressing". It seems that one of the houses that was being filmed in had two of my prints on the wall and the show needed me to sign a release form so it could be shown on TV. Not that big of a deal but it was still kinda cool getting the call. I've never seen my artwork in a show before but I have seen some of my prints on a TV commercial before. The name of the show is called "House Husbands of Hollywood" and I guess its a show that follows a small group of men who are mainly stay at home fathers while their wives are the big bread winners in the family. I have no idea when the show airs or what channel its going to be on. Anyway its just a cool thought knowing my art is getting out there across the country and that it might be shown on national TV. (even though it'll probably be for only a few moments.) The two works that were on the walls in the photo they sent me were my "Palm in the Sunlight" set from 2006.
January 25, 2009
2008 GALLERY FINISHED
Well I recieved all my 2008 JPEGS from Sun Dance so I was able to finish the 2008 Gallery already! I decided to call it the Eastward gallery because at the beginning of the year I was inspired to create landscapes and compositions that had a more eastern influence to them. Although I wasn't able to focus on the those visual themes as much as I wanted to I still think I expanded my overall imagery which should open even more options & inspirations for future works!
Also I continue to add my new available originals to my art id galleries.
December 29, 2008
ANOTHER YEAR ALMOST TO A CLOSE
Well Christmas has come & gone already and the year is almost overwith so I thought I'd take some time to reflect a little on 2008. Overall the year was pretty positive, I created a diverse body of work & I got many works published. I also was able to create more digital images this year than any other year. The only thing that I'm not satified with is the amount of work that I created and the lack of landscapes that I painted. I really thought I was going to be more productive in some areas but often its just not possible. Like my high school art teacher used to say "its easy to be an artist in your head", in other words imagining creations is much easier than actually making them! But I hope 2009 brings new inspiration & visual ideas.
My father finally finished his new trainset layout! To see his old layout just click here. His new layout is amazing and took almost a year to rebuild from the his old layout. We are currently getting new pictures of it so when I have a moment I will create a new gallery in the Artist section. For Christmas he bought me my first starter trainset which is a lot smaller size model since I don't have much room. So my new project for 2009 will be to work on my own little layout. (mine will be "N" gauge & my father's is "O" gauge) But of course mine won't even come close to being as large and as sophisticated as my fathers. He has been working on his collection and creations for almost 9 years now. Thousands of hours he has put into making his buldings, setups & layout design. His old layout will be featured in a train magazine this coming srping, when that comes out I will post a link to it on here!
I have finally finished my archive galleries of previous works. I wanted to create an individual gallery for each year since 2003, which was my first full year out of college. To do this I was able to add a lot of paintings that have never been published or put online before. Expecially from 2003 - 2005. Looking back breifly at old paintings gives me new ideas for future works, and its just nice to reflect a little on the images that I created when I was just starting to work full time as an artist! The last gallery that I finished was my Daylights Gallery which consists of early landscapes that I painted while still going to art college. I was completly self taught when I took up landscape painting so many of these works show my naivety towards the subject & approach, but the they also show freshness and pure inspiration unfiltered through personal style or habit of later works!
And finally when it comes to 2008 many of us will remember this historic presidental election that we all had to go through! As a democrat I'm proud to be a liberal and I hope our new President elect will be able to bring about new change in America & in American Politics. This was the 2nd time I voted for president but it was the first time I really followed the race and all the news that went along with it. I've learned a lot about myself this last year and I hope many others did as well. Its no shock that most of us artists are liberals, and I'm glad to say that I personally can't wait until George Bush leaves the white house and we as a country start a new more positive chapter in our nations history! Best wishes for 2009!
November 12, 2008
THE ROCKFORD GALLERY IS COMPLETE
I have finally been able to finish the "Rockford" gallery which contains selected works from 2003. Pretty much all of the works I did that year were landscape paintings. This was before I got into any collage work or real decorative motifs. That year was a strange & hard year for me both personally & artistically. It was my first full year being out of college and being self-employeed, and at that time I was still living in my parents house. The previous fall I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease so by 2003 it was starting to really affect my everyday health & outlook. I remember going through a horrible depression in September brought on by other things as well like my financial situation. By that time it had been almost a year since I left college and broken up with my girlfriend so loneliness & isolation had really set in. But being one of my bleakest years of my life it was also one of my most productive. My basement bedroom was my studio where I painted over 115 works that year. (Many of which are located in the 2003 Gallery.) I just started to get some work published so I didn't make a lot from royaltys yet so 95 % of my income was from selling my originals in Minneapolis among other places. I sold over 20,000 dollars worth of originals that year, an amount I have not been able to even come close to since then. Most of the paintings that I did were what I now call my "Rockford" style which is the contemporary landscapes that feature the rusty colors, exaggerated light & atmosphere, simple perspective, & the cypress & poplar trees. "Luminosity" is an example of this style. Anyway its been 5 years since then so its been nice to breifly revisit some of those images while I was finishing the gallery. Most of the works were never published and many of them have never been online until now. Overall the paintings in Rockford represent a stylized escape into timeless nature where simple imagination offers meditation and even hope!
October 29, 2008
MARCON ART ON ARTID
I have finally found a very professional website to host my available originals on. The website is ArtID and it has thousands of artworks by hundreds of artists. The artwork is still sold through me so the prices and available works should be the same as the ones listed here. The only difference is the originals on ArtID are posted with little tidbits of information & insight on the individual pieces. My page can be accessed through this link: artid.com/marconart Sometimes some of the works will also be posted on eBay in the ArtID store.
What else:
Well this last August I had a booth of mostly prints at Festival of the Pines which is an outdoor arts & crafts festival here in Eau Claire, WI. Although I didn't sell a lot I still sold a few hundred dollars worth of prints which was nice. I'm still glad I did it though, it was a learning experience. I met some really nice people who do outdoor festivals on a regular basis and they gave me some solid advice. I'm still debating whether I want to do more in the future. Anyway it was a good time and I'm thankful to everyone who stopped by my "professional" booth and viewed my artworks.
Last month we got our first hamster. I always wanted one when I was little but I probably didn't have the responsibility to take care of one. So finally now at the age of 30 I should be ready enough to own a pet hamster! His name is Penfold (Penny for short) and he is named after Penfold the crime fighting hamster in the cartoon Danger Mouse. I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid. Anyway he resides in my office room here where right now he's rolling around in his plastic hamster ball. Maybe one of these days I'll post a photo of Penny in my personal photo album page.
Finally Sun Dance Graphics has released some new prints of mine for the fall season. I haven't had a chance to add them to my poster print gallerys yet but they can be viewed on their website here: Sun Dance Prints
September 11, 2008
Fall is almost upon us, some cold air is here but I'm not ready to put away my flipflops yet. This is my first Journal entry on my new computer. My eMac finally died a few weeks ago and so now I have a brand new iMac which I'm still getting used to. I consider myself pretty lucky because about 2 weeks before my old harddrive completely failed I got around to purchasing a back up external drive. So I was able to clone up enitre computer , my files & software first. ( I still lost about a weeks worth of files but its nothing compared to what I could have lost.) Of course my warranty on my eMac expired about 3 weeks before it crashed so unbelievable timing on that as well. Overall it was a pretty frustrasting 2 weeks there, but now I have a new computer with Apple's new Time Machine program that automatically backs up my entire computer every hour! Anyway I was in the middle of updating my gallerys when I lost about 2 weeks of work time so now it will probably be October or November when I finish the last two gallerys. The most recent one I finished was 2004.
August 6, 2008
TOWARDS THE END OF THE SUMMER
Well its almost the middle of August, can't believe the summer is almost overwith. Where does time go?
Anyway my father came out of his surgery in good shape 2 weeks ago and he has recovered well. (read below) We're back working on his new train layout and hopefully we should be able to run it before the end of the month. He's had high spirits these last few weeks which has been great, although his lupas disease has been causing lots of pain for him these last couple of days. But overall he's pluggin' along fine.
Not much new in art related stuff. I'm in the process of renewing my exclusive contract with my publisher - Sun Dance Graphics. We just have to work some details yet. So hopfully it should be done by the end of August. The contract will be my 2nd exclusive deal with them which will last another 2 years.
I have decided to undergo the huge project of re-organizing all of my works from 2001 - 2006, as well as other sections on the site. I've been creating new gallerys where the work will be divided up by years. The galleries will feature most of my published work and much of the unpublished stuff that never got reproduced. Its a huge task but I've been working on it almost everyday. Most of the images are being reformatted and re-saved so their larger & better quality. I'm guessing that after its all done there will be about 75 or a 100 new works that have never previously been added to this website, especially from 2003 - 2005. I should be all finished organizing everything by the end of September or October.
Finally I've decided to do away with the monthly featured works section. I keep forgetting to add new works to it. The reflection on the older art was nice but for right now I need to focus on the meanings & feelings of my new artworks. Although I will be adding a new work to the front page every month which will keep it looking fresh. Maybe I'll just add a comment or two underneath those.
July 23, 2008
JOHN MARCON'S TRAINS - My father and I have been working on his new train layout now for about 5 months. Production has been going a little slow but hopefully we'll be able to run it within the next few months. His health hasn't been the best so thats one of the reasons why its taking a while to complete his new trainset. Tomorrow he has to have a surgery on his leg thats been giving him problems but hopefully it'll go well and he will be able to return to some of the things he enjoys. Along with having a bad heart my father also has lupus disease that causes chronic pain to his hands & feet. His one leg, the one thats getting operated on, has a bad vein that causes excessive bleeding so tomorrow they will try to remove it. My father's trainset is his one outlet that allows him to stay active with something fun, challenging & creative. It really helps him cope with his disabilities and offers some escape from his physical suffering!
Anyway I have a gallery of his old layout here which we tore down at the beginning of the year. The old layout along with my father & I are being featured in a article in Classic Toy Trains magazine which should come out next spring. The new layout is completly re-designed and will be able to run more trains with more ease. I am taking many photos of it in progress so one of these days I will start a new photo gallery for it.
June 22, 2008
Well I've been in my new home for about 2 months & my new studio has been completed for about a month now. I'm just working on my 2nd batch of works in my new working space and so far things are going well. I have a new easle, new tables, new lighting, etc. I've also returned to doing some work on the computer. My "Antefix" set is an example of my new mixed media, digital artwork. Anyway its been really exciting getting back to new work and developing new working habits. Althought I can't believe the year is almost halfway overwith already so I need to make up for lost time from the 1st half of the year!
I just finished watching "When We Left The Earth" which was a 3 part discovery channel documentary on NASA starting from the Mercury missions up until the Colombia tragedy in 2003. It was so inspiring and it just leaves me with a feeling of awe & appreciation of the things mankind has been able to achieve in modern history. I just hope I'm still alive to see further advances in the space program that compares to what it was like to see missions to the moon. Hopefully someday we can go back to the moon, visit Mars & beyond!
And finally for journal purposes I just want to reflect on how uplifting it was to watch on TV Obama's victory speech from St. Paul earlier this month. It was an awesome feeling hearing his strong words about change! I was humbled & of course proud to be an American witnessing such a historical event!
May 12, 2008
2007 PRINT GALLERY FINALLY COMPLETE - My 2007 catalog of prints is finally complete with all of my prints from 2007. The only works that I submitted last year that have not been published yet are "September Passage" & "September Fountain". It could be a while before they make it to print. The original versions I painted back in 2004 but the art director at the time did not like them because they had too much pink in them. Finally last fall I painted new versions which turned out a lot better but my current art director thinks they might be a little too "traditional". Anyway I still really like them and I hope they get reproduced someday because there really isn't anything I would change about them if I had the chance!
Anyway as a little tradition here in my "blog" I want to list my favorate prints from 2007:
May 2 , 2008
NEW STUDIO - Well today will be my last journal entry from my current apartment since I'm in the process of moving. My girlfriend & I are excited to be moving to a new place where we will have more room to live and I will have more space to work and create art! I'm sure our cat Moggles will also enjoy having more space to roam & nap in!
Other than that there hasn't been much new with my art except that I started posting originals for sale on eBay last month. I'm new to it so I'm not sure as to how much I will be posting on there but it will nice to offer my original art for very affordable prices! Also as I'm going through my print inventory I realize that I have tons of prints building up so one of these days I'm going to offer an exclusive sale of my signed poster prints that are only available through this site at very affordable & competitive prices.
Finally my show that is up at Benny Haha's in downtown Eau Claire is still going and should be up for at least another month. It has originals, licensed prints & posters for sale. So if you want more information about it just contact me, or just visit the art shop /gallery during regular business hours.
April 15 , 2008
MARCON ART ON EBAY - Well its sort of been a while since I posted a new blog/news bit, plus last week my computer "blew up". Actually it just starting smoking and the inside of the back part burned because a fan or something stopped cooling the inside. Anyway my harddrive was saved but I was a little stressed out from it. But I learned my lesson and I'm going to get a back up hard drive as soon as possible.
Anyway I have finally jumped on the eBay "bandwagon" and I'm going to try to sell some of my prints & originals on there. Some of the artworks will be sold cheaper on there than on this site but only for a limited time because I will only have a small number of auctions that run for about 7 days each. Whereas on this site there will still be the biggest selection possible of all my originals & prints. Any questions feel free to contact me, or if your curious just stop by eBay and search my name and see what you can find. (I did see some discount retailer selling lots of my prints for cheap prices but those are no different than all the other commercial prints of mine on the market, but the ones that are for sale by ME are hand-signed!
Finally I have added some new 2008 work to its appropriate gallery. So far my favorate new set is my two "Somewhere in Japan" paintings. They are examples of my new style that is directly inspired by more traditional eastern art.
February 22, 2008
2007 MODULAR GALLERY FINISHED - The 2007 selected works gallery is now finished. It contains most of my published works as well as some paintings that were never submitted for publishing. To see the 2007 print catalog just visit that section. It should be completely updated within the next month or so. The available originals section is also complete with all of my paintings from 2007 that are still for sale.
February 8, 2008
AVAILABLE ORIGINALS UPDATED - I have updated the Originals section that features all of the paintings that I still have for sale. I've decided to list the prices of each work to make it easier for anyone who is interested in purchasing any original artworks from this website.
DECORATIVE EXHIBIT STILL ON DISPLAY - My solo show titled "Decorative" is still on display at Benny HaHa's Art Supply & Gallery which is located at 204 S. Barstow Street, downtown Eau Claire. So if you live in the Eau Claire area and would like to see some of my artworks in person then feel free to stop by. The store is open Monday - Saturday until 5 o'clock. The show should be up until the end of February. Its the first show of the new store & galley since Benny's renovation, and its a very nice gallery space. Overall the show has about 30 originals and about 100 posters all available for sale. Any questions feel free to contact me.
January 20, 2008
Well the year is underway and already I have a new solo show of my originals up and on display. My exhibit is at Benny Haha's Art store & gallery which is located downtown Eau Claire. The show has a very straight forward title; its called "Decorative". He just finished renovating the building so my exhibit is his first show of the new store & gallery. Its a really nice space with warm walls and good lighting. Also its really my first solo exhibit in Eau Claire so thats pretty cool. Overall it consists of 33 original paintings and about a 100 shrinkwrapped posters which are also for sale.
The other day Maegan & I were watching TV and a commercial for Direct Buy America came on, which apparently is a wholesaler or some sort for interior stuff, design, decor, etc. Not completly sure, but anyway in the commercial they showed some people walking through a showroom and behind them on the wall was two of my poster prints. Honestly it was really exciting to see some of my artworks in the background of a national commercial! You can see decorative posters all the time in the backgrounds of TV shows & commercials so I was always sure that it was only a matter of time before we saw one of my images. The 2 prints were my "Sago Palm" set from 2006.
Finally I just finished adding new print images to my 2007 poster print catalog. I should have about 20 more that need to be added to this catalog once I get them from my publisher. Hopefully it will be completly finished by the end of February.
December 22, 2007
THE END OF ANOTHER YEAR - Well another year is almost overwith. 2007 went by pretty fast but I suppose thats how it goes as you get older. This has been my most successful year so far as a full time artist so I'm very thankful. I didn't do as well with original paintings & prints but the publishing went very well so overall it was a very good year. I even made some money from art licensing which is a first for me. Like most years I didn't create all the art I wanted to but I kept busy for the most part. I think the body of work I did create was more diverse overall than previous years, so thats always good. Well below is some updates on whats new. Finally I'm very thankful to all of those who purchase my artworks, as well as those of you who continue to show interest in my art!
Best wishes and happy holidays!
MODEL TRAINSET GALLERY UPDATED - I updated my dads trainset gallery with new photos. The people from Classic Toy Trains magazine came this month and did their interview & photography. It went very well. We are looking forward to the article which should come out this coming summer or next fall.
MY ART IN A MOVIE - My art director e-mailed me the other day and told me that a set designer approached them about using some of their images in a movie set. She told me I was one of the artists that would be considered. Apparently its a movie with Jennifer Aniston in it, so thats kinda cool. So who knows maybe one of my prints will be in the background of a hollywood movie. My art director said that it would be good promotion for us so there is really no money involved, but thats ok, I would love to just see one of my artworks in a movie, even if its just a "chick flick" with Jennifer Aniston.
NEW ORIGINALS ADDED - I added some new originals in the 2007 gallery. As usual it will be completely updated by around February.
COLLEGE LANDSCAPE GALLERY ADDED - I decided to add my "Daylights" gallery to the front page. This section shows some of my best landscape paintings from college. Many of them were some of the first of their kind that I ever created!
2007 POSTER PRINT GALLERY IN PROGRESS - Well I did add some new thumbnails to the new 2007 print catalog. But this usually takes a while longer because I have to wait until my publisher makes the images available. So all of the prints from this year should be completely added in the next 2 or 3 months.
November 20, 2007
NEW MODEL TRAINSET GALLERY - I just finished creating a new gallery that showcases my father's model trainset layout. Its been his hobby and "passion" for the last 7 years. I'm so thankful that he has something to channel his creativity and time into. He's retired now and he isn't in the best of health so his little world that he has created really keeps his spirits up. I really do believe that I get my sense of imagination and my artistic skills from my father! Anyway a national train magazine is coming next week to interview him and photograph his setup for a future article, so that will be a nice "feather in his hat"! The trainset gallery isn't completely finished yet so I will be adding more pictures as time goes on.
November 11, 2007
ARTWORK DOCUMENTATION - Finally after about 6 months my artwork documentation project is finished! Until this year I never had my artwork properly documented. I always photographed my artwork myself with my manual camera or I would have my publisher send me photos of my published works. These photos usually were never accurate. The work that I did prior to 2003 I really didn't document properly at all with the exception of my 2002 portfolio. I never had much money to have them professionally done and I never had a personal computer. Plus I was just stubborn. It makes me sad to think about all the paintings I did over the years that I didn't get good photos of or no photos at all. Many works are lost forever. But this year I contacted my cousin who works for a printing company here in Eau Claire and now he's able to print me high quality photos of my images, especially the ones where I get high res JPEGS from my publisher. I just color correct them on my computer while looking at the original and then I upload them to their server. The photos end up looking 99% accurate. Even the unpublished ones that I don't send to my publisher I can still photograph myself outside then I color correct and adjust them on my computer. So anyway my big project involved making a couple of portfolios of all my published works, (about 125 images) and photos of about another 100 or so images that I've done since 2002. I even scanned & adjusted photos and slides of old landscapes from college and made prints of those as well. I ended up making a ton of extra photos for gift portfolios too. Overall I would say I printed and cut about 1500 photos. So for now on all my art especially my published works will be professionally archived!
October 31, 2007
Well its the end of October already. Here in Wisconsin we definantly have had a lot of nice autumn days and today is no exception. In my featured artwork section I added a painting that I did back in 2001, its one of the first paintings that I did that was really inspired by autumn.
I see Sun Dance Graphics have added a bunch of my new prints to their website. So when I have time I will add those works here to my 2007 print section.
Well tonight Maegan and I are going over to my parents house to help my dad hand out candy. Of course we'll probably watch some bad horror movie on TV. I've always like the fall atmosphere that Halloween helps create. For the last couple of weeks I've been watching "Halloween-ish" movies and playing video games that help to fit the mood & atmosphere.
October 17, 2007
NEW ORIGINALS ADDED - Just added some new available originals to the 2007 gallery.
Included in them are two new originals; "Field of Blue" & "Blue Blossom Illustion". So far these are my favorate "contemporary" landscapes that I've done this year. They should be released as poster prints this winter. Way back in 2003 I did a small series of paintings like these that feature a landscape within another faded landscape, but Sun Dance never published them so finally I've gotten around to doing new ones!
September 13, 2007
Well its a rainy day today and I just thought I'd create a new little entry in my online journal / "blog". "Blog" is such an ugly word! Anyway this week its actually been a little cold outside and the air is thin so the summer is surely overwith. I'm really not the fond of this time of the year - this transitional period between summer and actual fall. I'm always bummed out how the summer went by so fast and the end of the year is almost overwith , again! But in October when the leaves start to change then I'm settled into autumn, and the inspiration to capture it through paint begins. I took up golf this summer, but I haven't actually gotten out to play yet, I'm just practicing at the driving range with my new set of clubs. I might get out on the course this month though if we have a few nice days towards the end of the month. Anyway I've always wanted to take up golf but I was always intimidated by it and I always felt that you should start really young or just forget about it. But I've realized that its a sport for all ages and that anyone can take it up no matter what their age. So I finally got out to the driving range and took some professional lessons. So far its going good, frustrating but good. Of course its supposed to be frustrating, like in a book I'm reading right now it says one is supposed to suck at golf. Thats just the way it is. I figure that even if I'm horrible at it, at least I learned something new (good for my brain) and I'm getting outdoors more and enjoying some man-made places in the landscape!
As far as this week goes, of course being 6 years since 9/11, I've done some thinking & reflecting about the events of that day. My heart goes out to the victims, their families and anyone else who was really affected by 9/11. We have been watching some of the documentarys all week and even though I sometimes feel awful after watching them I feel like its the least I could do to help myself understand how horrific and sad the tragedy was. Someday I hope to visit New York and pay my respects! Despite my anger towards things that are going on in this country like greed, bigotry, homophobia & the poor state of health care, I still have to remind myself that America is a good country and that I have a lot to be thankful for! Americans can be good people who will do anything to help each other in time of great need!
August 31, 2007
Well in a way its the last day summer. I'm little bummed because of course I never do all the things that I wanted too . I wanted to get outside more and maybe even take a trip somewhere but that didn't happen. And I did'nt do all of the "summer art" that I wanted to. Oh well thats the way it goes. As we get older the days seem to slip by faster & faster! Maegan and I went for a drive yesterday and we drove past UW Eau Claire and the tech college and we saw all of the students moving into the dorms for the fall semester. Although it made me a little nostalgic for college and starting school in the fall I'm still glad that I'm in the "real world" now and not much changes this time of the year. But I do miss those days when I was younger and the summers seemed to last forever. And though you didn't want the summer to end the fall was a little exciting because starting school was a change and you were able to see & meet new & old people. Well this is the last fall for me in my 20's so I'm going to make the most of it, for sentimental purposes that is!
Well so far this year one of my favorate paintings is "Golden Valley #2" I just added it about a week ago. Its a simple golden landscape with strong yellow oranges and a strong sense of divided design. Which for me expresses fractured experience. Anyway "Golden Valley #1" and this one are the first paintings that I've ever done using gold leaf.
August 5, 2007
Finally after about 3 years I have some new work at Art Holdings in Minneapolis, MN. These last 3 years I've been mainly concentrating on doing smaller works for the poster market, so I never got around to creating larger originals that are better suited for Art Holdings. The new section for this work is Art Holdings.
My fourth show at the Bethesda Rehabilitation Hospital in St. Paul was put up this week. For more information just go to "Modular".
The exhibit and sale contains 35 originals and 5 giclee prints. It is my most diverse show yet. The paintings can be purchased during regular business hours.
Its always nice to see my work all put up together in an exhibit space. It helps me to see my art differently and more objectively!
July 17, 2007
The article about me in DECOR magazine is online, so to read it just go to the DECOR magazine website.
I want to thank Gabe Kiley for doing the interview and writing the article. It turned out really well. I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to be their featured artist for the month of July! I also want to thank Kim Dooley from Sun Dance for recommending me for the article!
Not much else new, just pluggin away with some new paintings. I just got done going through and re-doing my patron scrapbook. So if you ever have purchased one of my paintings in the past and you are reading this keep in mind that I love to get photos of my paintings in other people's home's, office's, etc. I've sold hundreds of paintings over the years but I only have a small handful of patron photos in my scrapbook. For more information just go to the contact section. If you have ever purchased a poster prints of mine, either through me or a retailer, then feel free to send me a photo as well. Thank you!
June 24, 2007
A few weeks ago an editor from DECOR magazine did a brief interview of me over the phone for a small article. Decor magazine is for the trade only but its nation wide so I'm a little excited about it! Can't wait until the article comes out which should be in July's issue. When I get the link to the article I will add it to my site as soon as I can.
Just finished framing some of the lasts paintings that are going in my Bethesda show this August. Its just a little solo show & sale in their Cafe' gallery. I've had 3 there before and its no big deal, but since its my only public showing this year I sort of make a big deal out of it. It'll feature over 30 originals and about 8 giclee prints.
June 10, 2007
Last week I saw Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain" which so far is one of my favorate movies this year. Its a" science-fiction historical adventure-fantasy about a man's struggle to face the incontrovertible fact of death." The movie flows between 3 different stories but with the same 2 characters, one story takes place in the 16th century, one in the 21th century and the other in the 26th century. The movie creates so much powerful imagery as it shows the quests of a man trying to find eternal life in each of the 3 centuries. One example is the 3rd part which Hugh Jackman's character is a zen like astronaut hurdling through space inside a bubble with a large old tree. The tree is supposed to represent or encompass the soul of his deceased wife from 500 years before. He is on his way to a dying star in the hopes that it will bring back his love. The imagery of the dying tree (the longest living thing) and the nebulas & stars really stuck with me as symbols. The way the ideas of the movie move from one story to the other is really nice. Unfortuantly I saw some bad reviews of the movie before I saw it myself. And apparently it flopped in the movie theater, so I went in knowing what some of the flaws were. Sure "The Fountain" is over-dramatic at times and "overreaching". Some parts also get a little too "soupy" for my taste. But overall the movie is very original and unique. The ideas and images it expresses will stay with you. Some of its elements might be confusing but they do allow room for open interpretation. Its a great emotional and visual film that I highly recommend!
May 30, 2007
WEBSITE UPDATES:
As a request from my girlfriend, I've finally added a personal photo album. It's mainly just photos of me, Maegan, & my family. I'm going to add more photos throughout the summer.
Finally was able to begin my new 2007 gallery that features selected works from this year. Of course as I get new photos I will update the gallery with my new work. I've decided not to put all of my work in there because I have to put all of the prints in the print gallery's anyway. So to see all of the published works just go to the 2007 print catalog.
I was feeling a little reflective the other day so I added a statement to my college landscape archive. Its mainly me looking back at the transitional period in my college career where I was moving away from expressive conceptual art and into landscape painting.
New available originals added to the 2007 originals section.
May 4, 2007
2007 SUN DANCE PRINTS - Not really busy today with any painting. Sort of dreary outside and I was really sick this morning from my crohn's so today I just took the day off. But I see Sun Dance has some new prints for 2007 added to their website already so I thought I would add them to my website as well. So far I have 11 new prints released for 2007.
The images that I'm the most happy with are my new Sun Wheels. They are works that were completely created digitally. I did them back in fall of 2005 when I was starting to do work for Editions Limited. They decided not to publish them so I pitched them to Sun Dance and they declined to publish them as well. But they did put them on hold and now finally they are in print. I guess some of their framers who purchase wholesale prints finally gave them some positive feedback. So I'm very happy my Sun Wheels are in the market. I think they're very original images and I hope they do well in the decor market.
April 27, 2007
Not much new going on with my art. Just pluggin away with some new paintings. Can't believe its almost the end of the month already, but the weather looks nice today and its supposed to be nice this weekend so I'm in a good mood. I might consider participating in an art festival this May in Golden Vallery, MN. Not sure if I'm going to be able to do it yet but hopefully. Other than that the only news with me and my art is that I should be getting all of my sample prints soon from all of my fall 2006 releases!
Last night I watched the first democratic presidental debate on MSNBC which was interesting. I think this will be the first presidental race that I'm going to follow from the beginning to the end. In the end as long as a strong democrate wins I'm going to be very happy!
As far as my personal life goes, Maegan and I had dinner last night with a old friend of mine named Larry who used to own a cleaning company that I worked for the year I took off from college between my freshman & sophmore year. Larry has purchased about a dozen paintings from me since 1999, so he definintely has the most diverse collection of my work. Anyway earlier in the month I found out that my landlord wants to sell our apartment building to me. Since I have no experience in real estate I've had to get a lot of information from bankers, friends & family, etc. So Larry has also giving me some ideas & advice on what sort of things I should be thinking about. Anyway that has been exciting, so hopefully this summer I will decide what I'm going to do. The only problem is that right now my credit isn't the best because in 2005 I had to file for bankrupsty because of lots of medical debt. so it might be 4 or 5 months until my credit gets to the point where I quality for a bank loan. I guess now that I only have one full year left in my 20s I'm starting to really think about buying into either a rental property or a house because of course I can't rent forever!
March 18, 2007
FINAL PRINTS ADDED FOR 2006 - Finally all of my prints are added from 2006. I've decided to organize the print gallerys by year instead of when the prints are actually released. So any published paintings that are created this year will go into the 2007 gallery even if some don't come out until next year. (Sometimes if a work is done later in the year the print won't actually come out until the following spring.) Sometimes prints take even longer than a year to be released. For an example my "Changing Colors" set were created in spring of 2005 but for some reason the files got misplaced at the publishers so the prints didn't get released until spring 2006.
This will make it easier for me to know which works for a particular year are available in prints. Overall 2006 was a good year for me and getting my paintings published. Even though I didn't create as much works as previous years, most of the works that I did create got accepted for publishing. As opposed to my first year (2003) when I created over a 115 works but only 10 got published which is less than 9 %. Last year I created only 57 works but 51 got published. So about 89 % of my total works for 2006.
Overall my favorate prints from 2006 are:
March 4, 2007
STATEMENT ADDED TO MCAD ARCHIVE -Well I finally added up my total sales from the 7 years I participated in the MCAD art sales. I'm very thankful that I had the opportunity to sell many of my originals at the annual event. It means a lot to me that so many people came and purchased my works. Its nice to reflect a little too on the MCAD art sales and the confidence they gave me in regards to creating works that people would want to make a part of their life! Overall I ended up selling about 260 paintings and making about $21,318.00 total for the 7 years I participated. Which is about 1/4th of the money I spent going to MCAD. (1 years tuition for a 4 year degree) For photos from the MCAD art sales just go to the Exhibits page.
In my personal life, this is my last weekend before my girlfriend Maegan moves in with me. We've decided that after 3 years of our long distance relationship its time for a change. I'm really excited (and a little nervous) to finally live with her. I've never lived with anyone before with the exception of my college roommates. Driving to and from Rochester, MN (about 2hrs) was nice because it gave me a chance to get away for a while but now I'm ready for a change and ready to get into more of a routine for working. We've decided to live in my apartment for about a year so we can save some money. Its going to be crowded for space but I'm looking forward to it! Hopefully in a year or so we can afford a bigger place where I can have a larger studio and a room just for my office.
February 23, 2007
ARCHIVES UPDATED A LITTLE - I rearranged the Archives section a little. One of these days when I have some time and I'm feeling a little reflective I think I'm going to add some comments to each section that explains a little more about each one and the work that is contains. The newest one that I just finished adding final paintings to is the MCAD art sales archive.
February 9, 2007
MARSHFIELD GALLERY FINISHED - I added some final works to the Marshfield Gallery so now its complete. Basically most of the work in that section was meant for various works that didn't fit into my "contemporary landscape" catagory. Some of the work expressed more garden like places rather than the open spaces of my other landscape work. Many of the paintings are also named and even painted after real places that I've visited.
I also added my "Rod Iron" set to the 2006 print section. These are prints that are exclusive only so they are only available here and one retail outlet.
February 5, 2007
NOT MUCH GOING ON -Well nothing new exciting going on. Have been getting a decent amount of work done though which is nice. Trying to develop new working habits is tough but its paying off. Of course its been so cold lately there isn't much to do except stay inside and work. (Right now its about 8 degrees below zero outside.) Just added a new work to the Featured Works Gallery. Other than that I'm just pluggin away with new paintings.
Sun Dance did release their winter/spring addendum recently and I just received my copies. They look great and I'm proud of myself for all the new work of mine in it. I have 28 new print releases in their catalog and 2 exclusive prints that Kirklands purchased last fall. Which means they purchased a very large quantity and they are the only retailers right now that are carrying the prints. "Rod Iron #1 & #2" are the prints and one of these days I will post them up in the print section. Recently my girlfriend and I went in Kirklands in Eau Claire to see if we could find one of my prints but so far no luck. I'm sure with so many stores even if they did purchase a large amount it would still be unlikely that every outlet has a set.
January 20, 2007
NEW ORIGINALS ADDED - I'm finally able to update the gallerys with some new originals. (all of my artwork that is submitted to Sun Dance is now digitaly photographed and archived so I have to wait until I get the JPEGS from them. Sometimes it really takes a while!) I've decided to close up the Main Gallery & Gallery Two after adding some final works . They are now titled the "Rockford" gallery & the "Marshfield" gallery.
Although I wasn't happy with the overall quantity of works that I created last fall, I was really satisfied with some individual works. Some of my favorates are "Vineyard in the Sun #1" & "Vineyard in the Sun #2". I also did a set of paintings that were inspired by a park in Marshfield, WI. My brother lived there about 5 years ago and I recently dug up some old photographs that I took when I was down there visiting. They are titled "Marshfield Memory" & "Marshfield Morning". Both sets are currently being published so I'm hoping the prints turn out looking really strong. I just hope Sun Dance does not alter them too much.
January 1, 2007
A NEW YEAR -Well its the beginning of another year! 2006 went pretty good, I wasn't as productive as I wanted to be but I was more successful with making more money from the commercial prints. I ended up making more than double from my publisher than I did last year. So I'm very thankful! Even though I didn't create the amount of paintings I wanted I was able to paint some of the best paintings that I've done in a long while. And pretty much most of the works I did create ended up getting published so thats really cool. Unfortunantly December was pretty shot, I was sick with bronchitis for 2 whole weeks and then the week of Christmas I was very ill with my crohn's disease, so I was only able to finish 2 minor paintings for Sundance. (Although I was able to play lots of Phantasy Star Universe for PS2 which is a really cool game.) Overall Christmas came and went and I had nice quiet New Years spent with my girlfriend Maegan so I'm doing ok. Ready to start a new year!
December 3, 2006
THE END OF A CHAPTER -The MCAD art sale is overwith and I'm very pleased on how I did. I sold 32 paintings which was everything that I had there so I'm very happy. Overall I had a really nice weekend! My girlfriend Maegan and my parents came with me as well and we got hotel rooms for Friday night and then we went to the sale. We also went driving around Minneapolis which made me a little nostalgic for college and when I lived up there. Anyway I wish I was able to meet more of my patrons but Friday night is always hectic and the place is so packed with people that it was very hard to get around and really spend time representing my work. But oh well the MCAD art sale has always been exciting and I am surely going to miss it! ( I cannot participate anymore because I've been graduated for more than 5 years) Now that I really don't have anything to do with MCAD anymore I feel like this is the end of a stage in my art career. I'm now making full time money from the art print business so now I'm really in the real world of being a working artist. I just feel like its time to really take it up a level when it comes to making art. I'm thankful that I'm able to make artworks that people enjoy and make a part of their life. I think the MCAD art sales helped me to gain confidence about my work and showed that I can create images that have a strong appeal. (I haven't done the figures yet but I'm estimating that I sold about 240 original paintings at the 7 MCAD art sales that I've been in.)
November 26, 2006
READY FOR THE ART SALE - Well nothing new this month except that all my artwork for the MCAD art sale is ready and dropped off for this weekend. I always get a little stressed out over the sale and its hard for me to get a lot of work done this time of the year but its all done and this is my last year participating so in a way I'm a little relieved. I can't believe this will be my 5th year participating as an alumni.
In my personal life I adopted my first cat this month on November 3rd. His name is Moggles and he's a short hair tabby who is really affectioniate. He loves to cuddle and often he sits in my studio on a chair while I paint. Its nice to have a companion. I would have got a cat sooner but I just found out that my landlord allows cats so now I have one! My girlfriend really loves cats as well so now we are "parents" for the first time!
November 2, 2006
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ADDED -This week I was able to obtain a digital copy of an article that the Eau Claire Leader Telegram wrote on me and my art. It was from this last September and it appeared in the entertainment section. Click here to read the article.
October 26, 2006
MCAD 2006 ART SALE - Well its that time of the year already. The annual art sale at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design will be Friday, Dec. 1 & Saturday, Dec. 2. Friday the sale starts at 6:00 p.m. and goes till 9:00 p.m & Saturday it runs from 9 - 5. The admission for Friday is $30 at the door and tickets can be bought a head of time as well. For more information you can also visit MCAD's website.
This is my 5th year and last year participating as an alumni. Its always an exciting event with food, music and plenty of amazing art for sale. I will miss it! This year I will have about 30 original paintings for sale. You can also contact me for more information as well.
October 16, 2006
NEW MYSPACE PAGE FOR MARCON ART - I've decided to create a seperate myspace page for Marcon Art in addition to my regular myspace page which will be for the more personal stuff. The Marcon Art page will have some of my journal entries as well as updates and links about new works and prints. And basically anything that is art related.
My personal page: http://www.myspace.com/michaelmarcon
Marcon Art page: http://www.myspace.com/marconart
October 7, 2006
MY PRINTS IN A LOCAL AMISH RETAIL STORE - Today was a nice autumn day! Last week someone told my parents that they saw some of my prints at an Amish store in Augusta, WI. So my father and I drove there today so he could show me, and so there they were up for sale in the Wood Shed which is a huge place with Amish furniture, home decor, etc. (they were my "European Pine" set) Apparently the owner purchased the framed prints in Atlanta at a trade show. So it definintely was one of those "small world" moments.
We also went to the local retirement home to see some framed prints that were purchased from this same place. They had two large prints framed on each side of the lobby. It was so nice to see my "Auburn" landscape set in the retirement home. Maybe they'll offer a sense of escape or even a peaceful & timeless state of mind, even for just a moment. Of course there was some irony to the moment as well. One of the landscapes was actually painted from a photo I took of a cementary up north. Obviously I did not paint the tomb stones so one could never tell where it was from. But of course after we left my father and I had a morbid little chuckle over the irony.
September 14, 2006
NEW ORIGINALS ADDED - I just finished adding a bunch of new available original works. My "New Country Road" & "New Country Glimpse" works are two of the best landscape paintings I've ever done. They hearken back to my "New Summer Road" set which were done exactly 4 years ago last month. Those works were the first commercial paintings that I ever did. They were created the month I signed with Sun Dance Graphics which was also the last month I lived on campus before I moved back to my home town. I consider those to be the last paintings done during my "college" days. Now that its been four years my contract with the Sun Dance Group is up and I just renewed for another 4 years with them. I'm really excited because my new contract is a more exclusive one which will mean that I will have more opportunities to get more work published as well as make more money from royalties. Since August 2002 I have gotten about 80 images published. I'm pretty confident that during the next fours year I will get even more artworks put into print!
September 12, 2006
ST. MARYS FALL FESTIVAL SALE - This last weekend we a had a 3 day art sale of some of my art at the St. Marys fall festival. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and who purchased prints or original paintings. The sale went surprisingly well and we were able to donate $300 to the St. Mary's church. It was nice being able to meet and talk with people who acquired some of my work. Too bad the weather wasn't nicer, but overall the weekend was a nice experience. Thanks!
September 2, 2006
Both the Leader Telegram & the Altoona Star featured articles about me and my art in todays papers. Both articles turned out great and I'm very pleased on how they wrote about me and how I make a living from my paintings. They also featured some images as well as some information about next weekends fall festival being held at St. Mary's where my mother is hosting a little sale of some of my prints there. For the Leader Telegram article they were able to speak with Kim Dooley who is my art director from the Sun Dance Group in Florida, and also Bobby Scholze who is a friend of our family's from Altoona who has not only purchased originals and prints of mine in the past but who has seen many of the different types of art that I've done since high school.
Thanks to Ann Barsness of the Leader Telegram and to Robby Robbinson of the Altoona Star for writing such wonderful articles!
August 31, 2006
Well the month is already overwith and I can see the days are getting a little shorter and it won't be long until you can sense that autumn atmosphere creeping in. It was a good month for my art, plus I'm in the process of renewing my four year contract with the Sun Dance Group, so thats a good thing. Just can't believe its been four years since I've been off campus and doing my art full time. I hope the next fours years will be even more productive and important for me and my life as an artist!
Last weekend I had my ten year class reunion down at the altoona beach pavilion. I had a great time, the weather was perfect, and it was really nice being able to catch up with old classmates. On the front page I posted a gallery with many photos that I took on saturday with my new digital camera. Anyway I'm really glad I went. I'm very thankful that I've been able to keep creating art all of these years, and its nice to talk to classmates who saw the art that I did while in high school and who gave me encouragment back then. And then now ten years later after sticking with it I'm still able to create art and finally make a living from it. Its also nice when old friends and classmates are able to not only see some of the art that I'm making now but also have the chance to see some of the stuff in between my high school days and now.
Best wishes to everyone of Altoona class of 96!
NEW SUNDANCE PRINTS - The Summer/Fall line of my prints from the Sundance Group have been added. So far this year I've had the most images released in a single year so the commercial end of my art is going well. Plus Sundance has been selling more than double in wholesale prints than the last year so the publishing is going in the right direction. I'm in the process of renewing my contract with them so my first 4 years are overwith. Its been a challenge getting into the poster print market but also exciting. Of course being able to make some money from art is always cool, it just takes time. I'm looking forward to another 4 years of creating lots of new images for Sundance.
I think my favorate new set of images would have to be "Warm Season #1 & #2" which are related to many older works that have the square landscapes with a square border. I'm hoping they will sell as good as my "Isle Pathway" & "New Summer Road" sets. They display my new interest in using more stencils in my paintings.
The "Rockford" set also turned out well in original form but I'm not that happy with how the prints turned out. Apparently my publisher is no longer making prints that have a 1:2 ratio so when I submitted the original paintings that were 18 x 36 inches they decided to cut off the top and bottom and stretch the landscapes out to make them 12 x 36 inch images. Overall the prints do not look too bad, I just like the originals a lot better especially "Rockford #1". I think they are great examples of my contemporary landscape style that I started in 2003. I just hope to create more in the near future where I expand my use of color and forms, as well as adding more architectural elements as well. I think this September I'm going to do some more that feature some vineyards.
Another set of prints that I like are "February Blossom". Although they are not the most detailed or elaborate images they do have a nice concept as well as a nice contemporary feel to them. Partly inspired by asian imagery I wanted to give them sort of a Japanese scroll look without the use of symbolism but with the incorporation of simple "western" designs. I hope to continue this approach more in the future. I just got a book of Japanese gardens from the library so I'm getting inspired to do some new imagery with that particular theme.
"Orange & Violet Tulip" are also strong decorative images but again the originals were longer so the images were squeezed to fit a different format. See original versions. Although I do like how the prints have the texural border which gives the images a better look. Overall I'm really happy with how the paintings turned out. They were a last minute idea were I just acted on a visual impulse and I created them very quickly in about two days.
July 30, 2006
Well its about 11:45 p.m. and I'm getting ready for bed. I just came home from my parents house were I walk their dog just about everyday. Its been so hot that I've been walking the beagle at night instead of in the hot sun. It was still muggy and humid out. Apparently it got over 100 degrees today. Anyway I was down in the basement talking to my dad where he was working on his huge train set which has been his hobby for more than 6 years now. Its amazing seeing all of the work that he has put into it, the detail of the buildings, train tracks, the little figures and cars. A lot of the things he creates from scratch with all of his tools, little brushes and many colors of paint in jars. (more colors than I have) Plus all of the wiring of the lights and accessories is pretty amazing. Anyway I was sitting on the couch with snuggles the beagle when my father was showing me a little gas pump that he was putting together. It was for his little old fashion village where he says most of the people are poor and live in small homes. Back in the olden days he says. I suppose when things were simplier and more humble and where one could take pleasure in everyday things. It sort of made me think about the meaning of nostalgia. It wasn't too long ago that I lived in that basement where I really took up drawing and painting. I remember drawing futuristic cities and fantasy landscapes inspired by sci-fi and video games. But as we get older I guess we don't want to look to much into the future, maybe because its too uncertain and you realize as you get older that the concept of "future" can be scarry! That is doesn't have anything to offer except complexity and old age. At least in the real life sense. As I listened to my father being nostalgic about a past that was I'm sure a good mix between fantasy and his memories I felt humbled and I understood how normal and important it is to yearn for something in the past, even if its just imaginary. A mental elixir if you will. Let the young and healthy worry or fantasize about the future. Only when we appreciate the past we realize that "moving on in life can be easy, but its what you leave behind that is hard."
July 23, 2006
NEW ORIGINAL PAINTINGS - New available paintings added to the Originals section as well as some new images added to the Main Gallery and Gallery Two.
Out of the new paintings added "Into Viola" and "Viola Gardens" are my favorate. They are some of the best traditional paintings that I've ever done. I set out to create very luminous and lush garden scenes that have a nice warm glow to them. The bridge in "Into Viola" is inspired by the bridges in Silver Lake Park, Rochester, MN. Both images will be released as poster prints later this summer. The prints I think should look about the same except they will have a thin textural border around them.
July 18, 2006
NEW WORKS ADDED TO GALLERY TWO - I've added some new paintings to Gallery Two which are ones that have been published but were altered so the final prints are a little different. I've decided to use Gallery Two for my various decorative works that are different from their prints as well as landscapes that don't really fit in with my more contemporary landscape style.
Finally after like 2 weeks of heat we get some rain. Usually dreary rainy days get me down but not today! Even though it didn't poor hopefully the grass will be able to get back some of its green.
June 30, 2006
NEW SUN DANCE PRINTS ADDED - Well its last day of the month and June was definintely a more productive month for me. Some of the new prints from the Sun Dance Group have been added to the 2006 print section. More prints will be added as they are released. I should have about 30 new prints added for 2006 by the end of July.
June 20, 2006
Yesterday was a sad day. Early in the morning in my parents back yard which is fenced in I found my parents beagle playing viciously with a little bunny rabbit. I went back inside for about 10 minutes and I returned hoping that he would have killed it by now. Sadly the rabbit was still alive, I kneeled down and picked it up to place it on my leg where I saw it had a broken leg, no fur, and was in very bad shape. I was told by my father on the phone that I was going to have to put it out of its misery. I was in tears knowing that I was going to have to kill the poor thing. So I went into the garage and got a straight edge shovel, I then went back by the fence where the rabbit was laying, it was looking straight ahead and seemed to be in shock. I petted it a few times and looked into its helpless eyes. Not taking anymore time I stood up and I quickly slammed down the shovel on its edge to cut of the rabbits head. It was such a hard thing to do but I knew that I did the right thing. I quickly picked up the body and head to put it in a garbage bag, and at that moment when I was standing there while the warm morning light flickered through the trees down on the grass and fence I realized how cruel "nature" can be and how biological life in the animal world is such a fragile thing. It was one of those times where in an instant I just appreciated life in and of itself!
May 31, 2006
Well its the end of the month and unfortunantly May wasn't the most productive for me. I wasn't able to finish any major works but I did start on some really cool decorative works for Sun Dance which I hope to finish within the next week or so. Its been about 4 years now that I have been living with Crohn's disease which is a chronic disease of the colon. Since I've been on my current medication I have been feeling better overall with the exception of this month where I've been sick for many days. Usually when I get sick its in the mornings so by late afternoon and in the evening I feel better but it does drain me a lot and I'm not able to get a lot done during the day. And when night comes I'm pretty tired and not able to be very productive. But overall I'm living with it and dealing with it, its just really frustrating having it linger over my head all of the time and knowing that in the future I could get really sick again and need more surgerys. Although as an artist I've learned to live in the present more and not worry too much about the future or regret too much of the past. And I'm thankful that I have job where it can be very flexable and I don't have to worry about getting to a regular job everyday if I'm really sick. I just wish I could be more productive with it sometimes.
May 7, 2006
POSTER PRINTS SEEN IN A RETAIL CHAIN - The other day I was told that someone saw a couple of my prints at Kohls in Eau Claire so Maegan & I went there to check it out and sure enough they had some of my poster art prints from Sun Dance graphics there. It really wasn't a big deal since I don't really make a lot of money or have anything to do with the retail end of my art, but it was just cool to see it in a store for the first time. They were the more decorative prints rather than my main imagery but oh well at least it shows that my art is "getting around" in some shape or form. ("Fantasy Palm" set & 2 of the "Floral Motif's") But it did make me think how impersonal the commercial world can be because I felt such a detachment from it, seeing it there in that context rather than in original form at a gallery or an exhibit. Overall though it was a gratifying experience and I enjoy being an artist with work in the commercial art world!
May 5, 2006
EXHIBIT PHOTOS ADDED - Just finished adding some photos to the Exhibits & Awards page. Its too bad that I didn't do a better job at documenting my older works and shows. I really regret that I didn't even take photos of some of my older paintings and exhibits. Most of the displays of my artworks over the years were in college when I put on lots of shows at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, and different coffee shops, etc. Unfortunantly since I've graduated I have'nt had any real "professional" exhibits except at the Bethesda Rehabilitation Hospital in St. Paul. Hopefully in the near future I can find some places in Eau Claire to show some of my paintings. These last 3 years my main focus has been creating new works for my publisher so finding places to exhibit my work hasn't been a main priority. The exhibits I had in college, especially my "Alchemy" exhibit, were more conceptual/mixed media and much of the work was created in a certain context. In other words the specific works were meant to be displayed as parts to a larger whole. Putting on those shows gave me a chance to create a sense of showmanship and to learn how to make an artistic presentation. Many of those shows were also meant to create a certain atmosphere with their individual themes and meanings. Nowadays (since 2002) my exhibits are more of just collections of the different "visual" works that I do.
April 28, 2006
FIRST POSTER PRINT SEEN IN A PUBLIC PLACE - The other day I was in Rochester, MN visiting Maegan my girlfriend when we decided to get some pizza for my birthday at this new Mr. Pizza restaurant on the northern end of Rochester. It was a nice new place with a very contemporary look to it; open space, yellow walls, etc. Anyway right when we walked in I looked to the right and saw one of my prints hanging on the wall right between the bathrooms. So I told Maegan to look over at the print on the wall, right away she asked with excitement is that one of your prints? And I told her it was. So anyway we thought that was pretty cool and of course she felt the need to ask the lady working the register who happen to be the owner if she knew where the print came from because it was one of her boyfriend's artworks. The lady wasn't quit sure but we figured it probably came from a very commercial, main stream place like Kirklands or a place like Target.
Well anyway I tried not to make a big deal out of it but it did put me in a good mood. It was the first time I ever saw one of my commercial prints in a public place. My publisher sells thousands of my prints a year so I knew someday it was bound to happen, but it was just such a surprise to me. Right away I knew the image, it was Fantasy Palm #2, which isn't one of my favorate prints. (I wish it would rather have been a landscape) But at this point it didn't really matter, it was just nice to actually see my art "getting out there". When I walked up to it I tried to find my signature which was on the original painting but I couldn't find it on the image. The print was framed in a way where the textured border was raised up about a quarter of an inch over the center image where it overlapped it a little. It did make the print look nice but it covered my name. Well hopefully some day in the near future I'll see another one of my prints in a random place, but one that is more of a personal and more unique image of mine!
April 17, 2006
AVAILABLE ORIGINALS - Just added the first two paintings of this year to the available originals section. The works are called Rockford #1 & #2, and they are two paintings that represent my contemporary landscape style. I'm really happy with how they turned out and I think they are some of the best landscapes that I've created in a while. They are being published right now so prints of them should be out by this summer.
April 4, 2006
Well its about 6:00 a.m. and I'm just up for a while doing some computer stuff so I thought I'd include a short but reflective journal entry since today will be my last day of my 27th year. I never make a big deal about my birthdays but I always like to take some time and thoughts aside and reflect a little on my life so far. But as I get older that usually means I just think to myself how another year has just gone by. I guess I've been a serious artist now for about 10 years, ever since I graduated from high school, and looking back I've went through a lot of changes that have influenced my art. I'm sure I will never again go through so many life changes in such a short period of time which I think is a strange fact that comes with "growing up". Looking back at the different places I've lived, going to college, being around different people, different girlfriends, and creating different art gives me that bittersweet notion that I will never experience again such diverse or freshly new and uncertain things , but at the same time I've come to a peak in my life where from now on I have a clearer objective of what I'm doing. In other words most of the obstacles that I have had to go through to get to my "more established, adult" life are overwith. Sure there will be more in the future, but for the most part I know what type of person I've become and when it comes to art I generally know now where most of my art belongs and why it should be created. I've always said that everything in life has its trade off and I believe that is surely true of growing older. Clarity, accuracy and comfort as opposed to the mystery and excitement of youth. And of course when I attend my 10 year reunion this summer it will be pleasing to know that I'm finally doing what I love full time (although not making much money) and that I'm spending my days doing something that is unigue and what I was meant to do. The things, the places and the people that I experienced while getting here were nice and exciting at the time but I'm glad I won't have to go through them again!
March 27, 2006
2006 SUNDANCE PRINTS - So far most of my new print releases are added from the Sun Dance Group with the exception of a few sets that are exclusives and a couple landscape sets. The exclusive ones will not be in their catalog, they will only be available to a certain company and here on this site. One of the landscape sets that I haven't seen that I'm looking forward to is titled "Autumn Light #1 & #2". They are two of my favorate and most sophisticated traditional paintings that I've ever done. One of them is a remake of "Walking through September" from 2003. Most of my new releases are more decorative works that feature floral and design elements. Overall I am happy with my new line visually, but for my next line I hope to get more landscapes published, both traditional and contemporary ones.
My favorate prints this year so far is my "Plainview #1 & #2" set. They are the most successful contemporary landscapes that I've ever done with they're use of a wider variety of colors, textures and tones to express a warm communion with an imaginary place. The textured blocks represent a psychological and abstract space where earthy sensations as well as interior sensations co-exist. The landscapes are plain and desolate but yet they are warm and illuminated with twilight. The originals were some of the last works that I did in 2005, they are simple paintings but poignant. Right now 2 different sizes are available of each and a 3rd exclusive size. All 3 sizes should be available here very soon.
"Yellow Roses", "White Daisies" & the "Changing Colors" set were done in late 2004 and early 2005. But for some reason the digital files were misplaced at the publishers and never got added to their Spring 2005 line. So finally they are published in prints for Spring 2006. The "Color Swatch Blossom" set was an idea that was rolling around in my head for a long while, the idea of dividing up a square panel into 16 color swatches and then adding some flowers along with some circle designs. I hope to do more variations on this theme in the future, maybe ones with trees and different design elements.
March 14, 2006
ORIGINALS ADDED - A gallery of available paintings has been added to the Originals section. It has all of my available originals with the exception of my new paintings that are currently being published.
March 10, 2006
MICHAEL MATHEWS PRINTS - Just added the first of the "Michael Mathews" poster prints from last fall. I also modified the Sun Dance print section, I divided up all of my prints so far into 2 catalogs. One catalog for all of my previous releases up until this year and my new 2006 prints which should be released within the next month or so.
March 8, 2006
Today I'm excited because I finally purchased Dreamweaver and now I can work on my website anytime I want. It will be nice to have the ability to add new works and prints on a regular basis. I'm also going to have a gallery dedicated to current available originals that I can update anytime that I need to. I'm hoping that 2006 will be a more productive year for me as far as creating new art goes, and so far its going pretty good. Along with having a new computer to work on my site I also have the ability now to create more mixed media works using my Macintosh. This along with forging ahead with my acrylic painting and creating new exciting works is my goal for 2006!
November 13, 2005
2005 SUNDANCE PRINTS - Finally I'm able to update the Sun Dance print section with most of my new open edition prints from the fall line. "Beyond Elgin #1 & #2" are among my favorate images because they capture a simplicity and expression of the landscape that I enjoy, they also contain a lot of subtle color variations. They are named after the town of Elgin, Minnesota which I drive through whenever I'm on my way to Rochester visiting my girlfriend. The "Floral Motif" set is also among my favorates because they represent a newer direction in my art with their design and format. I really accomplished what I set out to do with those works and the final images are unique and the quality of the paintings are strong. The shape of the flower urns come from a Maxfield Parrish painting titled "Land of Make Believe" (1905). Although I am pleased with my new poster releases from the Sun Dance Group my goal for the next 6 months is to return to more straight landscape work. This will include revisitng older works for new inspiration. Hopefully I can get a lot of new landscapes published for the spring.
I've also finished working on my main galleries which showcase more of my unpublished works. The Main Gallery mostly contains work that represents my contemporary landscape style that I've been developing since 2003. Gallery Two contains various works that are either more traditional or are a little different than my main style.
November 4, 2005
Today I finished my 300th painting since August of 2002. It was that month that I moved off of campus and back to my home town bringing my college days to a close. Looking back and going through all of my work done in these last 3 years has been gratifying but also frustrating. I see older paintings that contain elements that I have not been able to recreate since. Creating painting after painting on a regular basis has caused certain habits and ways of working to develop which I'm trying to break free from. Looking back at older work helps me to open up a little bit more and rediscover some forgotten ways of doing things.
The painting that I've finished is titled "October Trees #2". It is a more decorative work that has been created for my new poster publisher - Editions Limited. If it gets published it will be under my other brush name - Michael Mathews. I hope to have a photo of it on my site by the end of the month.
November 3, 2005
MARCON GALLERY UPDATED - Well thanks to my new computer (and a free dreamweaver download) I'm finally able to update my website. Now I can add new paintings and prints and organize everything better. This section will be dedicated to announcements and tidbits of information on what's new in my art and in marcongallery.com. I also want to use some of this space to reflect a little on the creation of my artworks and my life as an artist.
Well its getting late and time to call it a day. I've just finished working on my Archives section which contains older paintings and various unpublished works done in the last 3 years.