26 JUL 10: Just finished a "Midwest tour 2010" including Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. Over 2,000 miles of driving during 9 extremely hot & humid days but myself and my dog made it through with a great trip and appreciation for how unsuspecting cool these cities are.

 

At the Observation Deck of the Sears errr 'Willis' Tower

10 JUN 10 : NEWSLETTER No. 5 (Mid-2010)

01 MAY 10: Had an incredible wknd in L.A. ...especially Hollywood and Manhattan Beach. The hospitality I was shown was first rate! Definitely plan to come back again soon.

Painting from above Hollywood and Vine on Drai's patio at the W Hotel (note the cool Capitol Records building from the 50s).

Visiting the Hollywood Sign

20 MAR 10 : 1 year after adding Google Analytics to my site it has seen 8,187 unique visits, from 80 countries and 609 cities! Gotta get that bounce rate down though!

BOOK REVIEW 02 FEB10 : "George Bellows: An Artist in Action" by (Mary Haverstock) -
So I'll be honest. I went into this book somewhat biased already as an admirer of Bellows works that I'd seen ...and additionally because we were in the same fraternity at Ohio State (just a decade or nine removed ;)

The book is just near perfect. The book is the perfect size at 160 pages, not too short, nor too long to keep the interest. The book includes not only his paintings; but also lithographs of his sketches, and photographs of him through the years. The accompanying text is easy to read, very informative, historically detailed, and includes many insightful Bellows quotes. One leaves the book with a new found education of life in the early 1900s and wondering what Bellows more Bellows might have produced if not for his early death.

VIDEO JAN 10 : Ryan Vojir - Modern Cityscape Oil Painter video created reviewing most of my paintings from when I started in 2004 up until last year.

BOOK REVIEW 04 JAN 10 : "John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1874-1882; Complete Paintings: Volume IV" - Ok so the title says 'complete paintings' which is somewhat misleading. The whole volume series maybe his complete paintings, but this (final) volume of the series is not. This book goes into incredible detail (446 pages ...for just one volume!). It covers his travels, correspondence, similar and influential works by other artists, and EACH of his work's provenance listed in absolute detail. The images are high quality and it even nicely provides lighter versions of some very dark works and one x-rayed work! My biggest impression was how sick of a drawer Sargent was ...he could have been famous on his drawings alone!

Overall: If you are a huge fan of Sargent's work and have plenty of time to read; this book of the entire series is certainly for you. If however you are looking for a more abbreviated singular overview of his works (as I was); there's probably alternate book that would be better suited.

EVENT 14-21 DEC 09: "Holiday Art Blitz at Third Space" my work will be displayed at Third Space for a holiday blitz. (Third Space is located right next to Neiman Marcus downtown)

DEC 09: Be sure to check out Dallas Art News for the latest and greatest goings on in the Dallas Art seen!

OCT 09: Back from Vegas. Had a great time at the Palms playing roulette and hanging at Ghostbar. Got a some photography and sketch time in too of course!

 

Visiting my buddy Chris. That Vegas sign is 50 years old people!

EVENT 02 OCT 09: "Magnolia Nocturne" will be auctioned off at the 2009 28th Annual Black Tie Dinner in Dallas, TX to benefit the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. I was honored to be asked to donate a piece to this huge million dollar charity event as well as support friends in the gay and lesbian community.

19 SEP 09: 6 months after adding Google Analytics to my site it has seen 1,254 unique visits, 6,509 page views from 65 countries and 609 cities! Not to shabby for a young artist no?

One question. Where's the love Greenland, Venezuela, North Korea, Iran ;)

AUG 09: "Cleveland in the Fall" sold to a collector in New York.

EVENT: 01-29 AUG 09: McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC) Show: “Fifteen.. ANYTHING!” The piece "Two Alarm" will be in show.

28 JUN 09: Visited NYC ...always a favorite.

Sketching in Times Square

31 MAY 09: The 1st annual D Art Slam was a tremendous event. Met a slew of incredible up-and-coming artists and collectors. Looking fwd to nxt yr!

23 MAY 09: NEWSLETTER v4 (Mid-2009)

EVENT: 29-31 MAY 09: Selected for the “D Art Slam” at the Fashion Industry Gallery (f.i.g). 1807 Ross Avenue. Dallas, TX.

Times: Fri 11-7, Sat 11-7, Sun 11-4

 

27 APR 09: Update: I have been informed that "Flag of the Corps" (auctioned off at the 2009 Navy and Marine Corps Ball) has been very generously donated by it's buyer to be displayed aboard the brand new (LHD-8) USS Makin Island Amphibious Assault Ship (a big one too)... quite an honor for me!

20 MAR 09: So a friend told me to add Google Analytics to see info about visits to one's site. I was incredibly (and pleasantly) surprised to see visitors from all over the world [FYI: somehow Google can locate IP addresses locales (for better or worse;) ].

Sorry but I just have to brag a little. From Auckland, New Zealand to Edmonton, Canada, São Paulo, Brazil to Tampere, Finland all in just one month!

Wished I added this months ago... pretty cool eh?

EVENT: 18 APR 09: "Maverick Excitement" sold during the live auction 2009 Art for Darfur at SMU's Owen Fine Arts Center.

EVENT: 28 MAR 09: "Flag of the Corps" auctioned off at the 2009 Navy and Marine Corps Ball in Washington D.C. to benefit the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.

ARTICLE: 26 MAR 09:"Dallas artist combines his love of travel with his love for art by painting cityscapes" featured article in the Art section of Pegasus News .

21 JAN 09: Viewed Olin Travis's (20th century regional Texas painter) exhibit at the MAC. Portraits, cityscapes, landscapes, and visions...truly interesting works.

28-31 JAN 09: Visit to Montreal, Canada.
04 JAN 09: NEWSLETTER v3 (1st Half 2009)

14 DEC 08: "White Rock Lake" completed en plein air.

13 DEC 08: "Midtown Atlanta" available at Lagerquist Gallery Atlanta's oldest contemporary gallery.

15 DEC 08 - 15 JAN 09: Frankfurt and Helsinki works showing at the Knox Henderson Starbucks in Dallas

05 DEC 08: "Boston's Beacon St." for sale at ARTANA Gallery just west of the Boston Common.

01 DEC 08: Frankfurt completed.

28 NOV 08: Read "the impressionists" by Corinne Graber and Jean-Francois Gullou. I highly suggest it. It provides tremendous insight into their lives. The privileged few, the impoverished majority of them, Zola's optimism to Degas miserable temperament and Van Gogh's naive and noble yet consistent failures. One can never fully understand their lives but after a few years of painting I can empathize with their frustrations at the art world for not 'getting' the gravity of what they were undertaking, their frequent solitude, and their wonder at the world as we live it (not as mythology, legend, nor abstract). Their only real comfort was their lifelong camaraderie.

08 NOV 08: Helsinki completed.

17 OCT 08: "Midtown Atlanta" included in the Anne Irwin Fine Art Gallery Atlanta Cityscapes show.

16 OCT 08: Five works showing at the Starbucks in West Village.

10 OCT 08: "Corps Flag" completed for charity auction.

EVENT: 06 SEP 08: I'll be at Adobe Western Art Gallery in the Ft. Worth Stockyard area from 6-9 for a meet the artist event.

23 AUG 08: Purchased a beautiful Lajos Markos. It is a graven image of a Paris Street Scene. Great viewing and a great study for me.

14 AUG 08: "Midtown Atlanta" for sale at Twinhouse Gallery on Peachtree Rd. in Atlanta.

12-18 AUG 08: Cruised the country from Dallas to Cleveland capturing shots of Shreveport, Huntsville, Knoxville, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, and Little Rock.

02-29 AUG 08: McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC) Show: “Gastronomia | erótica y estimulante.” "After Strawberries" piece entered in show.

10 JUL 08: NEWSLETTER v2 (2nd Half 2008)

26 JUN 08: "Cleveland in the Fall" completed. Can't wait to take it back home in August for sale.

19 MAY 08: Returned from NYC with some good yet mostly rainy and overcast images of the city in spring. Always love to visit the Big Apple!

Crossing the East River to Brooklyn

11 MAY 08: Viewed the J.M.W. Turner (major influence on impressionists) exhibit at the DMA. His two works "The burning of the Houses of Parliament" were incredible!

24 MAR 08: "Boston's Beacon Street" completed.

16 MAR 08: "Erin Go Braugh!" Me and my college buddy Brian took in Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade and got lucky with zero rain. Hat's off to the Southie neighborhood for a great parade. Check out the future painting here.

St. Patrick's Day - Boston

28 FEB 08: "The morning fog may chill the air... I don't care."

Vista Point - Sausalito, CA

10 FEB 08: "The Big 'D' " sold.

25 JAN 08: Captured views of Frankfurt, Germany (best ones from the River Main).

Paulskirche Plaza

I spoke broken Spanish with an elderly woman at this Cafe because I don't speak German and she didn't know English..it was pretty funny.

23 JAN 08: Captured great harbor views of Helsinki, Finland.

Helsinki North Harbor

18 JAN 08: NEWSLETTER v1 (1st Half 2008)

14 DEC 07: "Big 'D' at Night" on display in the Oaklawn Ave. Starbucks (3330 Oak Lawn Ave Dallas, TX)

16 NOV 07: "Ft Worth Stockyards and Skyline" for sale at Adobe Western Art Gallery in the Ft. Worth Stockyard area.

12&13 OCT 07: Captured more views of Austin and new ones of San Antonio and Houston.

Remember the Alamo!
...seeing the National Historic Landmark while in San Antonio.

 

30 SEP 07: Returned from Cleveland with some shots of downtown from 'the Flats.'

27 SEP 07: "Summer in New York City" (true to the nightowl form) is completed at 2:16am. Damn, almost busting out one a month, lol! Getting quicker (or more obsessed?) and better. Now 'turning to' on completing "Red Square" and Marine Corps Flag.

Working on Summer in NYC

26 AUG 07: "Ft. Worth Stockyards and Skyline" completed. "Summer in NYC" and "Red Square" in work.

23 JUL 07: "The Big 'D' " is complete. Waiting some time to dry and varnish...then show! "Ft. Worth and Stockyards" coming along nicely.

JUL 07: Google and Yahoo begin displaying my images of my paintings.

26 JUN 07: "Sunset on Mckinney Avenue" sold (first sale) for over a grand.

07 JUN 07: "The Big 'D' " is is nearly 2/3rds done.

15 APR 07: Placed "Sunset on Mckinney Avenue" also on display at the Columbus Square Starbucks (2801 Allen St. Dallas, TX)

22 MAR 07: Placed "Maverick Excitement" on display at the Columbus Square Starbucks (2801 Allen St. Dallas, TX)

12 MAR 07: Returned from Charleston with great prospective photos to use.

MAR 07: UrbanImpressionist.com launched and my first paintings go public!

28 JAN 07: Austin Luna Eclipse completed and still building up a pieces for my first showing.

15 NOV 05: Returned from Russia with great pictures of St. Petersburg and Moscow.

With my Dad in Moscow's Red Square, 2005

MAY 05: Completed first cityscape painting: "Evening of May 31st, 2003, Chicago, IL"... just under the wire of one year.

FEB 04: Not wanting to get my sister and her new husband china or a damn toaster for their wedding gift I decide to sneak away during the wedding and take pics of the Allerton to create a memorable gift for the newlyweds...a painting of where they were married.

16 JUN 02: Discovered Edouard Cortes cityscape paintings at Kamp Gallery, Chicago