in and out of the studio...

Alright well, it looks as though I have not updated anyone in a while on whats happening in and around the studio. New Works our now available in the metro New York area at the Jerry Pair Showroom located right on 3rd Avenue. Also, more info is coming soon for the next New York opening dates for a post New Year/ Late Winter Series to be released... possibly even early spring. It looks like I should be present at that opening as well.

The next upcoming group exhibition is in Atlanta, Ga at Bennett Street Gallery. Feel free to check out the link below for more details...

http://www.bennettstgallery.com/index.html

now about whats going on in the studio...
Work is coming along. The new series is becoming such an act of preservation... can't wait to release the 12 new works at Bennett Street Gallery.
October has been quite an interesting month... Rufus has been very sick and it has been such an emotional time for me. He is doing better now, but we still have a long road to go. The studio is not quite the same with out him around. But things are hopeful---and he's still showing up for work everyday to lay around and watch things out the window=)
I'll write more later about some of my work that has really centered itself around his healing and the healing of so many others in and around my life. He's a very good dog and I expect many more creative years with him in the studio.
Well, it's now back to work for me.

open windows.

Well, I am back in the studio. It truly does feel like my short break lasted for quite some time. It is hard to stop painting... even for creative rejuvenation. Speaking of refreshment...the air in the studio is crisp for the first time in months, and it feels wonderful. All eight of the old gym windows are open, and my hours are quickly filled with the momentum of a new season of painting.

Rufus has been back to work in the studio as well...he loves laying on the cool cement. I've attached some photos of my little/large companion doing what he does best.

It's a new day.

& I am thankful for all the open windows.

Thought for the day.

Well, as I approach my next upcoming show, I decided to take a few minutes to be thankful. I was thinking back to design school, and remembered hearing one of the most impacting sentences of my academic experience. It was on a day that I realized I was coming into my own...but fighting it all the way.
I remember the frustration of my interior drawings not being exactly what I thought they should be...in essence, my drawings never looked like anyone else's and I struggled to be okay with my differences.
I remember sitting in my professor's office (one of many times), (who was my one my dearest friends from the very beginning) and hearing her say that maybe right where I was in my style and approach, was exactly that... my own unique style and approach.
Moreover, in that moment I began to be more gentle with my considerations of my skills as an artist...not satisfied with mediocrity, but content with the idea that I was different in style and intent.
So today, I thank those two friends that so gracefully showed me confidence and love as an artist... and today as a painter...very rarely is there a day in the studio when I don't think of you and continue to be inspired by your years of encouragement.
a note with love to: nicole and paula=)

Alejandro Ortiz Ponce

Well, I am always quite intrigued when I meet a new artist, but when I met Alejandro I was fascinated. On my previous visit outside of the country, in a very small city in Central America, I had the most wonderful privilege to meet this vibrant artist. After hearing some of his story and his approach as a sculptor and painter, I wanted to share a portion of his work. So with the permission of Alejandro, I have posted some quite amazing photographs to try and capture his vision as an artist.
If you would like more information on Alejandro and his work please feel free to contact via email @ courtneyjgarrett@gmail.com

(PLEASE NOTE ALL ART AND CONTENT COPYRIGHT OF ALEJANDRO ORTIZ PONCE).

on the road

Well I am back on the road again.
Special thanks to everyone who came out to the show in Florida a week ago.
Next public showing will be again in Florida on July 3-5...check out showings and publications info on the main website for details.
Also, it looks like there will be a showing this summer in the metro new york area...dates to be announced.

a little art, a little music....and we loved the Old 280 Boogie

Okay, so the old 280 boogie was wonderful. A special thanks again to everyone that came out.

Most importantly i cannot express how thankful I am to Scott and Paula Frances for the whole day.
Check out the website for a complete layout of all the paintings shown at the boogie.

Also, once again head out to waverly for the next local event or just go get yourself a day of fun-
check it out at
http://www.standarddeluxe.com/

alright let it rain...

It's very very early in the morning, and the rain is pouring down. In fact, is has not rained quite this hard since the last tornado blew through, just a few short months ago.

So with that said, packing up two new painting series for the art opening today is going to be increasingly difficult but, let it rain. Despite the struggle to protect my work I am incredibly thankful for the day.
Which brings me to the art opening today in Waverly, Alabama---I get to see one of my favorite friends and you should come out and see the work=)

10am-5pm at the old 280 boogie... just visit http://www.standarddeluxe.com/

thinking back...

Okay, so for one of the first times in a long time, I am at rest in my studio. In the midst of the tarped floor and walls I find myself (again) alone with months of work sitting in it's completion. Day and night I work to create and recreate images that I hope will resonate within each of us. ...But it's days like today that I let go, and let be.

Overworking can really destroy the original intent of the the work and I am training my mind and my hands to shut off when they need to.

Meanwhile, I decided to go back through some of my old design journals from school and found such a wonderful thing...
I was able to see the pattern of becoming a painter---
Pages of journaling devoted to the study of interiors and their environments, literally seeped with the intimate study of great painters and their works.
I realized then the birthing place of my artist statement years before it was ever offically composed.
I remember the hours I spent reading the words of some of the greatest modern painters of our time and what excitement I found in the reasoning they had within the expresson of being a painter. In one of these references entitled "Encounters with Great Painters" (article by Barry Joule), I remember reading the words of Francis Bacon, "he explained that with luck and by the dint of manipulations and roiling brushwork, smears, deposits, and trails of paint laid on the canvas, he'd discovered how to make new and exciting things appear".

and so it goes...

well so, im now blogging.