Prairiefire and Young Artists

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Took 40 high school artists to the Flint Hills last week.

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The purpose was to get them out of the city, let them seen an expansively beautiful place–in this case the Flying W Ranch–then set a pasture on fire.  The fire of course renews the tallgrass, so it’s about rebirth, not destruction.

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Not only did this satisfy any pyromaniacal needs the kids might have had, it gave them great ideas for art, which they’ll soon execute.  After that’s done, we’ll put on a show for them at the gallery.

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I’ve been mentoring some of these kids for a couple of years.  Don’t tell them, but damn I love those punks. 

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Could one of them someday become president?  Sure, if they chose to.

Adolfo Martinez

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Adolfo recently joined the gallery.  The piece above, which is acrylic on panel, is typical of his work.  I bought one of his paintings for H&R Block in 2006.  Another was  recently acquired by the Nerman Museum.  I suspect that many other museums will soon follow suit.

BKD Project Progresses

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BKD’s new headquarters will be finished in August.  Will the artists and I have all the art ready in time for the move-in?  Well let’s put it this way: if I don’t, and if the client isn’t ecstatic, I’d better find a different way to make a living.

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Chow Painting at Kauffman Stadium

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Well, today’s Opening Day for the Royals.  In preparation for that, over the past week we oversaw the installation of Allan Chow’s mural, above, and also framed 100 large photos for installation throughout the restaurants and clubs.  Man, that was a lot of photos.  Allan’s piece hangs above the entrance to the Crown Club. 

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Peggy Wyman and Pine Needles

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Copper Canyon Shadows, Pine Needles and Dried Gourd, Peggy Wyman

Peggy Wyman weaves sculptures like this one out of pine needles.  Now if you think about that for a moment, you’ll realize how impossible that seems.  I acquired this piece for one of my corporate clients.  The executives love it–well, most of them do.  Hey, I don’t assemble collections so that every piece pleases everyone (which is impossible anyway), but so that they collectively make an impact.  When I bring the right group of artists together, that happens every time. 

Allan Chow Commission for the Kansas City Royals

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Allan is wrapping up a very large oil in palette knife that will go in the Crown Club at Kauffman Stadium next week.  These shots will give you some idea of his process.  The piece is a celebration of the ’85 World Series–that golden moment which the Royals have ever since been trying to duplicate.  Maybe this year will be the year.  Well, at least the wait for their first Series win wasn’t as long as the Red Sox.
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What you can’t see from the photos is how coarse the texture is, and how impressionistic the painting.  It isn’t as abstracted as his landscapes, since this is a more straightforward sort of commission, and we didn’t want to go in that direction.  Either way the Royals are ecstatic.  So is the consultant.  Good old Allan always nails it.