PRIDE POP-UP at TINY TOWN GALLERY Sept 29th and 30th

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I’ll be showing at Tiny Town Gallery* 408 N. 4th Ave. during Tucson Pride’s 40th Anniversary celebration (Pride on Parade on 4th Ave. starting at 7pm on Friday, Pride in the Park at Reid Park from noon to 9pm on Sunday).

PLEASE JOIN ME FOR A RECEPTION AT TINY TOWN ON SATURDAY FROM 5:30PM to 7PM

I will be donating 10% of my sales to The Montrose Center’s HURRICANE HARVEY LGBTQ DISASTER RELIEF FUND. To donate directly go to https://my.reason2race.com/DNicol/HurricaneHarveyLGBTQDisasterReliefFund2017

* Tiny Town Surplus and Gallery will be open from noon to 9pm Fri. And Sat.

I make joyful 2D and installation art to counter cruelty in the world. My paintings, installations, and encaustics, assert that, even at this time, the ideals of tenderness and compassion serve as the foundation of a prosperous society. My work transcends boundaries between critical ideas and lighthearted forms. My intention is to create a fearless environment to contemplate politically charged imagery– guns, rainbows, plant life and reproductive organs that can be read as male, female, or both. I hope that experiencing familiar impulses in unexpected surroundings will educate our emotions and influence a comprehensive reconsideration of how we see ourselves, each other and the world.

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PULSE

I’ll be going LIVE TODAY
between 6 PM – 9 PM CST
During my artist talk at G Gallery

Please join me LIVE ONLINE from facebook and instagram during  my artist talk this Thursday February 23rd. I’ll be at the gallery between 6pm and 9pm and will be going live to share some of the talk or/and give a brief virtual tour.

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Pulse

Mixed Media on Canvas

48” x 48”

2016

The Last Secret Cloud a collaboration w/ Joseph Mark Hanson

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The Last Secret Cloud a 44” x 35” x 4.5” Neon and Mixed Media on Pine
2016

Joseph Mark Hanson and I worked together throughout 2016. The photos were taken at his studio in Phoenix, my studio in Tucson, at Cook and Company Sign Makers in Tucson and finally G Spot Contemporary in Houston, Texas. It will be on view through February 28th. Please join me for an artist talk this Thursday February 23rd. I’ll be at the gallery between 6pm and 9pm and will be going live from facebook and instagram to share some of the talk or/and give a brief virtual tour.

The Gallery located at 310 East 9th Street, 77007, is open Friday – Sunday from 12pm – 5pm and also by appointment.

PINK CLOUD

12″ X 12″ Mixed media on canvas, 2016

Evolution 4: Jugle Dogs

NOW SHOWING

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I started painting  Jungle Dogs(Mixed Media on Canvas 36″ x 36″) in Austin in January 2016 and finished it in Tucson in December 2016. It is now showing in Houston.

G SPOT CONTEMPORARY

ARTIST TALK THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23rd 6PM

310 East 9th Street Houston, TX 77007
713.869.4770

12:00-5:00 pm: Friday, Saturday & Sunday / also by appointment

Evolution 4: Encaustic art made w/ pure Peruvian pigments

NOW SHOWING at G SPOT CONTEMPORARY

ARTIST TALK THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23rd 6PM

310 East 9th Street Houston, TX 77007
713.869.4770

12:00-5:00 pm: Friday, Saturday & Sunday / also by appointment

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Evolution 2 Plant Life

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Plant Life 24″ x  24″ mixed media on canvas NOW SHOWING at G SPOT CONTEMPORARY

ARTIST TALK THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23rd 6PM

310 East 9th Street Houston, TX 77007
713.869.4770

12:00-5:00 pm: Friday, Saturday & Sunday / also by appointment

G SPOT CONTEMPORARY FEBRUARY 2017

NOW SHOWING IN HOUSTON TEXAS FEBRUARY 2017

The Gallery located at 310 East 9th Street, 77007, is open Friday – Sunday from 12pm – 5pm and also by appointment.

ARTIST TALK FEBRUARY 23rd 6pm – 9pm

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SOLO SHOWING OF NEW WORK AT G SPOT CONTEMPORARY IN HOUSTON TEXAS FEBRUARY 2017

The Gallery located at 310 East 9th Street, 77007, is open Friday – Sunday from 12pm – 5pm and also by appointment.

ARTIST TALK FEBRUARY 23rd 6pm – 9pm

Inquires: Wayne Gilbert 713.822.4842

These paintings, installations, and encaustics convey a colorful world seemingly untouched by the upheavals of ruin, bigotry, evil, violence, and fear, but are, in fact, a penetrating and personal view of this moment in our American life. They assert that, even at this time, the ideals of tenderness and compassion serve as the foundation of a prosperous society.You could say that I want to challenge perceptions, beginning with the idea of a fixed self, gender, body, or ontology, including the perception that delight and tenderness are not part of a discourse of political protest and protection.

With a preference for motes of pure pigment, pencilled lines, metallic, neon, and iridescent color, I’ve developed a personal iconography. By presenting tangibly politicized objects and images in pacific settings— guns, rainbows, clouds, triangles, plant life and male/female reproductive organs— these works skirt the lines of representation and abstraction to create a vantage from which to view violence and prejudice.

I employed lines of graphite and loose constellations of shapes, favoring day-glow and translucent paint. I mixed pure pigments with water or encaustic medium or applied them directly to create celestial compositions of colors. Throughout the year, my work became simplified. I let myself go, scattering handfuls of pleasures across surfaces. It has been liberating to let particles of pigment direct the topography of the resulting work.

I’ve also explored the whimsical possibilities of installations, joining materials from the cultures of construction, craft, and play to create hanging sculptures. These immersive forms reveal the armature of their own making and invite us inside to question our expectations about reality.

I hope that experiencing familiar impulses in new surroundings will educate our emotions and influence a comprehensive reconsideration of how we treat the world, each other, and ourselves.

Cover image: PULSE 36″X36″ mixed media on canvas.

ANNOTHER SUNNY DAY AT CAFE PASSE

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ANOTHER SUNNY DAY IN THE DESERT | MARCH 3 – APRIL 30 | CAFE PASSE | 85705

I owe the title of this series to my sex-same partner, who often opens the shade of a morning and exclaims, “It’s another sunny day in the desert.”  The phrase can be understood as a point of fact, irony, or wonder.  In a state that votes discrimination into law with such Senate bills as the federally-disputed SB 1070, and that narrowly vetoed SB 1062, which would have legalized a faith-based right to refuse service to assumed members of the LGBTQ community, it doesn’t always feel like a sunny day.

So much behavior comes from, and makes for, heavy hearts. To oppose fear and hatred, I am compelled to expose and explore with light-heartedness and whimsy.  It is important to me to bring heavy subjects to “light.”

The master images for ANOTHER SUNNY DAY IN THE DESERT exist as light.  Reading about David Hockney’s use of iPhone technology to make art led me to explore the drawing applications available on my iPhone. I settled on Green Gar’s Whiteboard app.  I began making digital paintings in 2012 at local businesses, and outdoors at home of an evening or afternoon.

My use of color was greatly expanded by working with a digital palate.  It was a delight to match colors in encaustic and acrylic with the digital colors.  Each encaustic or acrylic corresponds to a digital fingerpainting and is one of a kind. Translating digital images into encaustic art required me to use tools in new ways. Previously I relied on incising, using paintbrushes to fill incisions, but with these pieces, I also used the brushes to paint.  Next, I used a heat gun to move and to fuse the layers that I’d painted on. The process of moving back and forth between ultra-contemporary and ancient techniques is liberating.

The prints are produced in a range of sizes, with a maximum of 5 images per size and a maximum of 25 prints per image.

All works are discounted for purchase during the exhibit. If you would like to take a piece home today, Café Passe will accept cash on my behalf. If you would like to pay with a credit card ($5.00 processing fee on purchases of $100 or less) via PayPal, please contact me.

Thank you to Betts Printing and Fred’s Custom Stretching.