Swing Batter Swing

Swing Batter Swing
18 in x 12 in
acrylic on paper

The Front

This is The Front. A triptych. It started as a live painting at the N8 Glass Music and Art Studio's live art party. Took me almost an additional month to finish it out after the party. I'm including some shots of the individual pieces and some detail shots. The three pieces probably stretch about 6 ft from left to right.

 

Here is an extra shot before I added the black background to give you a sense of how it was made. 

 

And here are some detail shots

 

Newest work on Paper

This newest work on paper is titled Pauciloquent

6" X 12"
Rag paper acrylic painting

Two new works on paper

All Day
acrylic on rag paper
6"X12"

Slimy
acrylic on rag paper
6" x 12"

Ridge Electric

New work on paper. I'm planning on making a lot of these. Seems like the smart thing to do. This one is called Ridge Electric. This is 6"X12". Acrylic on canvas. Get yourself one of these affordable works on at Bombstract Paintings on Esty

HIGHBALL HALLOWEEN MURAL

This is the mural we painted at Highball Halloween over two days. Came out pretty cool. Check out the progress video below:

Mural is for sale. It is 16' x 8'.  Please inquire.

All Ya'll

This is another painting on paper. Keep a look out for lots more of these. They are a lot of fun to make.
I titled this one All Ya'll

From wiki
"Some people misinterpret the phrase "all y'all" as meaning that Southerners use the "y'all" as singular and "all y'all" as plural. However, "all y'all" is used to specify that all members of the second person plural (i.e., all persons currently being addressed and/or all members of a group represented by an addressee) are included; that is, it operates in contradistinction to "some of y'all," thereby functioning similarly to "all of you" in standard English."

Painting is 8X12 inches acrylic on rag paper. 

Timelapse abstract

Monsta Mash

I made this piece for the Nth Gallery's annual Halloween exhibit. It is acrylic on paper. I think we'll be doing a bunch more of these paintings on paper. Small and economic.

Back on the abstract track

Haven't made many paintings lately. I've been busy painting a haunted house and preparing to do a live mural at the Highball Halloween in Columbus Ohio.

But I did just finish this painting. "Remembering Magic Eye at the Mall" is the title. It was kinda nice to do a little abstract painting again since I've been doing the skulls series. I often found myself letting my eyes cross to see where it needed more of what color. It reminded me of looking at MagicEye posters when I was a kid.

"Remembering Magic Eye at the Mall"
Acrylic on canvas
16in X 16in

BASSJAM Painting is finished

 

This is the painting I started at the BassJam. It is finished now. Hope you like it. I didn't want to work on it too much so it could still be what it was at the BassJam. But I can never leave anything alone. It changed quite a bit. 

 

Commissions

These are some paintings that were recently commissioned. I'm very thankful to have the opportunity to create something totally unique and original for someone. Please feel free to contact me if you have the desire to have your own original art by me.
 

Welcome to the Bass Jam

 

I painted this painting LIVE @ Skully's during the August BassJam. Painting to live music is a lot of fun and I look forward to the next one. This painting came to life pretty quickly, in just around 4 hours. I'll probably put some final touches on it. Stay tuned to see how it turns out. 

 

Cobble's Knot

This is my Cobble's Knot. The Cobble's Knot is from a novel entitled Maniac Magee.  


"Maniac Magee is a novel written by American author Jerry Spinelli and published in 1990. Exploring themes of racism and homelessness, it follows the story of an orphaned boy looking for a home in the fictional Pennsylvania town of Two Mills. He becomes a local legend for feats of athleticism and fearlessness, and his ignorance of sharp racial boundaries in the town."

"His final effort to gain acceptance is by untying the famous Cobble’s Knot (a huge, grimy ball of string with a year's supply of pizza waiting for its vanquisher.) After finishing the task he is praised by everyone as confetti is thrown into the air."

I often feel there is a Cobble's Knot in my head. So it was good to get it out on canvas.

Hello... I Ain't Lion

This is my newest painting. It is one of the biggest I've done. It stands 6 feet tall. It was a lot of work to get the level of detail I get in my smaller pieces in a piece this big. All and all, I'm happy with the out come and excited to show it this weekend at the Ohio Made Arts Festival. I'm setting up a booth there with all my paintings. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Tigerhorn Bluenote

This is the live abstract I started at Hal and Als Bar. It has had quite the transformation. But I've finally finished it! Hope you like it.

Hello My Name is... Tusko

This is Tusko. I was drawn to the elephant skull because of the tusks and giant cyclops hole in the forehead. This was a cool painting that had some happy accidents. I unintentionally formed four separate trunks.

Tusko is a popular name given to elephants in captivity. Three notable elephants with this moniker were the meanest elephant, the elephant that died on LSD and one that has resided at the Portand Zoo.

Hope you enjoy!

Hello My Name is... Pliny

This is Pliny. Squid turned out to be a challenge to pull off in my style of abstraction. Mostly because of my line techniques. I abandoned the rules of how someone should paint a squid and decided to just try to capture the essence of a squid rather than keep up with how many tentacles he had and what order they were in. I recently saw the Melvins live, I'd say I painted a squid like Buzz plays guitar chords. No rules and feeling right about it.

I gave him the name Pliny after Pliny the Elder who wrote Naturalis Historia around the first century. It is one of the largest surviving texts from the Roman Empire and in it Pliny the Elder described a giant squid with a head the size of a cask and 30 foot tentacles weighing 700lbs.

Hello My Name is Bill

 

This is Bill. He is Bison. I attempted to embed the skull into the life of the bison in this painting. The stark contrast of the skull against the array of colors and strokes creates a great portrait of both the vibrant life of the animal and what's generally left behind. Studying both live bison and the bison skull was eerie. And the painting reflects that eeriness through its color vibrations. This painting has a great (what I call) Ohm. Hans Hofmann guided me through this one with his theories on push and pull in painting. 

I chose Bill as the name in reference to the mass extermination of the great American Bison. From the wikipedia:

  
William Frederick Cody ("Buffalo Bill") got his nickname after the American Civil War when he had a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. Cody earned the nickname by killing 4,280 American bison (commonly known as buffalo) in eighteen months, (1867–1868).

Seems these great American beasts were nothing but walking dollar signs.  Also, in my image searches I've been staring at this picture.

The American Frontier was brutal.

Our Name is...

This latest Skull piece is a bit different but a lot the same. I think we are going to move away from human skulls for a bit and take a zoological tangent. These came out pretty nice though! This is the second painting I've finished in Columbus.

Our Name is
20"X24"
acrylic on canvas

For sale.

Hello my name is... Brutis

 

This is Brutis. He is the first animal painting in the style of the skulls. I think more will come. This one is smaller and I'm still getting used to the new studio. There should be prints available on Dreamcoat Studios soon. til next time!

NthFA. Got it.

I'll always keep the Nth Gallery in my heart. Here's to an ending chapter and the start of new journey!

Hello My Name is ... Hope

Meet Hope. She's the 6th skull painting. 36X48 inches. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas.
Original for sale.
Get prints at Dreamcoat

Also, last Nth exhibit is about to happen on Friday May 3rd. Be there. All six skulls will  be on display and a whole bunch of older work for my time at the Nth Gallery.

Farewell

5 year Nth Studio Member, Jonathan Ryan, is moving to Columbus Ohio.

In lieu of going to grad school to get his MFA, Jonathan hung out in Boone and buckled down at the Nth Studios. For 5 years he has been exhibiting and working at the Nth Gallery, constantly refining his unique style of abstract painting. The Nth Degree was his "graduate school". This is the capstone exhibit. THE Nth F A STUDIO DEGREE GALLERY SHOW.

In addition to showing some new works, Jonathan will also be exhibiting past works from his time at the Nth Gallery.

Everything will be for sale.

Drawing is almost as fun as painting.

This drawing in colored pencil and ball point pen. It is what I work on at home when I can't get to the studio. I've included some detail shots so you can see just how intricate this drawing is.

Humble Pie Session

Hello My Name is... Mary

This is the latest painting I finished. I have one more to complete in my studio at the Nth Gallery in Boone NC. Then it's time for some big changes. ANNOUNCEMENT: Jonathan is taking his art and his life to Columbus, OH. I'm gonna go try to make a name for this art stuff I do somewhere else! I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'll keep you updated.

First Seven

I wanted to share the beginnings of one of these skulls with ya'll. Included is a video of the first "lines" of the image, as well as a triptych of the first 7 layers. Before sure to click for the zoomed in view.

Hello My Name is... Alexander

This is the latest Skull Series painting. A profile view of Alexander. "Hello My Name is... Alexander" is the fourth in the series. He is mostly acrylic paint and spray paint on canvas and 39"X44". He was a lot of fun to create. The original is already sold but you can always find prints of my work at Dreamcoat Studios.

Almost there.

The newest skull painting is almost done. We're getting down to the final touches. Still not set on any name. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.