Roman Holiday

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

I'll post more about individual photos soon, but until then you can view the collection from our trip to Rome above.

Blossoms of Light 2010

We went to the Denver Botanic Gardens "Blossoms of Light" again last year - here are a few pics. This will likely be my last post of the year. See everyone in 2011 with lots to share... Thanks for checking in.

New Beach House

Beach House (who made my favorite album of 2010, "Teen Dream") just put up a free winter track on their website, "I do not care for the winter sun."

Photos by Oriontrail

Cathedral by Oriontrail

Bare field in snow by Oriontrail

Industrial starry night by Oriontrail

Obscured view by Oriontrail

Favorite Music of the Year 2010

1. Beach House, "Teen Dream"


I know this is number one on a lot of lists this year and my instinct is to not put it as number one -but it is a fantastic album start to finish.

2. Lower Dens, "Twin-Hand Movement"

I was lucky enough to see them play the Larimer Lounge here in Denver on a quiet Monday night after working all day. It was probably the most memorable concert of the year (Portland band the Lovers being a close second). I think I'll be putting songs from this album on mixes for a long time to come.

3. Arcade Fire, "The Suburbs"
This album resonated with me a lot more than their other ones- it expresses the landscape, isolation, and possible future (?) of the suburbs - a topic of my own art for quite a while.

4. Crystal Castles, "crystal castles II"
Sometimes insane distrorted electronics, sometimes atmospheric and danceable throughout

5. Walkmen, "Lisbon"
These guys are a sure thing- some of the best indie-rock out there - this album is probably even better than their last one (which was my favorite album of 2008).

6. The Radio Dept., "Clinging to a Scheme"
I would actually recommend all of their albums if you enjoy New Orderish synth/shoegaze pop- that said, this is one of their best.

7. Deerhunter, "Halcyon Digest"
"Helicopter" is probably the best song of the year (listen below).

8. Sleigh Bells, "Treats"
This gets you pumped.

9. Lovers, "Dark Light"
Another album of exceptional songwriting, but this time with a more electronic backing.

10. Love Langugage, "Libraries"
Catchy and upbeat rock songs.

11. Liars, "Sisterworld"
Tense, aggressive, and heavy.

12. Shearwater, "Golden Archipelago"
Exceptional musicians that make really beautiful music - the closest thing to audio landscape painting.

13. The Drums, "The Drums"
Simple, fun pop songs -you'll be singing along in no time.

14. Tamaryn, "The Waves"
Shoegaze done well.

15. Sufjan Stevens, "The Age of Adz"
He also put out a long EP this year but the full-length had more complexity to it and seemed somewhat refreshingly unrestrained.

• Worth mentioning: , Local Natives, "Gorilla Manor"

Colorado Bands/Local:
I went to more local shows and listened to more local bands this year than any year since I've moved to Colorado - here are some of my personal favorites:

• HOT WHITE - (self titled) - get the album free via the label here. It will melt your face off.
  
• Nathaniel Rateliff, "In Memory of Loss"
• Gauntlet Hair (7")
• Candy Claws, "Hidden Lands"
• The Chain Gang of 1974 (self titled)

These have been regular listening while in the studio or reading-
Ambient and Instrumental:

• Grasslung, "Sincere Void" (beautiful warm atmospherics)
  
• James Blake, "Klavierwerke" EP (chopped up/layered piano and minimal beats)
  
• RxRy, "VAEIOUWLS" (dense electronic music - free download)
  
• ((Rad Kids)), "tape split" (free downloads of Rad Kids music from the artist here)
  
• ryonkt, "north small town" (find one of his albums available for free-and legal- here)
  
• Barn owl, "Ancestral Star"

Tracks:



Favorites from 2009 and 2008.

Some of the best concerts I attended in 2010:
Here We Go Magic, Wye Oak, Owen Pallett, Lower Dens, Lovers, Liars, Hot White (x3), David Bazan, Chain Gang of 1974, Interpol, and Midlake

This and That

photo taken with our new camera.

Best-of 2010 music list in the works. Should be up soon.

new to the collection

We won this exceptional kid-made riff on the Scream from the Firefly Autism House silent auction today. Oh yeah!

Peter Doig - work on paper

Peter Doig

it is Finals week = slow posts.

Christmas Party

I made a mix for a Christmas party tonight.

Griffin Memorial

On Saturday we took another trip up to the Griffin Memorial. It was our first snowy hike of the season.

Floating

source.

Sarah McKenzie at Rule Gallery Opening Friday

Sarah McKenzie, a friend and fellow Colorado artist whose work I greatly admire has an opening tomorrow night. As it turns out I will have a few newer works in the group show in the back as well including my recent moon painting and the small mountain painting called "further".

One thing I love about Sarah's work is how varied her paint application can be on one canvas - something that rarely translates well online. There are parts that are thick and pasty, parts that are washy and so thin you can see the weave of the canavs and other parts that are very flat. I took this detail photo today to give you an idea:

Concreate/Abstract is a very solid show - highly recommended. See you tomorrow night.

Studio Music - Ambient

Centralia, Pennsylvania

Centralia, originally uploaded by Proper Pictures.

Back to September

I forgot to change a setting on flickr so these photos were never made public. Now there are 20 photos from our trip to Leadville/Twin Lakes on flickr in all of the golden glow.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Careful

My most recent painting (see below) has been compared to Guy Maddin films - here are a few stills from his film Careful made in 1992.

New Work: "Further", Acrylic on Canvas, 12x12"

"Further", Acrylic on Canvas, 12x12", originally uploaded by nathanabels.

How it is looking

the blues really helped.

Studio Music for Today

mix made by me for your weekend studio work.

Studio Update

small detail of in-progress painting (still pretty rough)

I'm still working on the tree painting along with three other smaller works. My current studio listening includes:

A fantastic podcast live set by Deerhunter (free download)



Barn Owl's new album Ancestral Star



and the new album Lisbon by the Walkmen (easily one of the best albums of the year)

, originally uploaded by sylvain-emmanuel .P.

New Josh Keyes exhibit

I'm going to be visiting the new Josh Keyes show at David B. Smith gallery three times in two weeks -once at the opening and twice with classes. It's more of what you've come to expect from Keyes but there are some larger sclaed works. Keyes is an exceptional painter who has gained significant notoriety since his first time showing here in Denver at Limited Addiction gallery(now David B. Smith gallery) in 2007 - you can read about that opening from what feels like many moons ago here.

Atmosphere

Joy Division's promo for "Atmosphere"

ps. 96 followers...who's going to be 100?

continued

This painting is going to be a tricky balancing act of hard and soft edges.

At work

update on the new painting

More progress

New Painting Progress

It has been a while since I've worked on a large painting -this new one is 2'x7' and based on the same series of photos that inspired "Reverberation". Here are three stages of the process that has taken place over the last couple of weeks. The right side is more done than the left side so far but there is still a lot of work to do.

"Like"

this is a page for my art on facebook. there are a couple new updates on this page of the painting I'm currently working on...

Simulacra

Still from Andrey Rublyov

Daphne Wright, Stallion, 2009, Marble dust and resin
160 H x 380 L x 140 W cm

small drawing I did called "After Andrei Rublyov" (obviously)

Millet's "Starry Night"

Jean-François Millet, Nuit Étoilée (Starry Night), c. 1851. Oil on canvas, 65.4 x 81.3 cm. Yale University Art Gallery - via Art History tumblr

New painting above the couch

Recommended Music: Grasslung "Sincere Void"

I bought Grasslung's "Sincere Void" on Amazon yesterday (just seven bucks!) and I've been playing it a lot while working on the new paintings and class work. This quiet ambient music is a shimmering, warm soundtrack for a cool gray autumn day.

A recent review of the album described it as "bare in the best way" made up of "melancholic tapestries". Recommended.

Last night

Interpol at the Ogden.

Lewis Payne (redux)

Lewis Payne, 1865

VILLA DRACAENA / ART CONTEMPORAIN
VERNISSAGE / 26 NOVEMBRE 2010 - 18h 30
MICHELE SOTTILE
ÉLOGE DU SILENCE / ELOGIO DEL SILENZIO
6, avenue Cytharista - 13600 La Ciotat. Tél.: +33(0)6 13 61 17 35

A Pair

Whistler, Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel 1875 via the Tate.

Jonas Asher

New Work: Moon

Untitled (moon), Acrylic on Canvas on Panel, 24x36"

I painted this soft-focus image of the surface of the moon with layers of brushed paint, transparent white washes and airbrushed paint. I have been working on it for probably for a couple months but it wasn't until I added a bit more haze this weekend that it really came together.

Suspiria

I don't watch many horror movies, but it is October and that means it is time to watch Suspiria (1977) by Dario Argento again. The sets, the lighting, the soundtrack, and the overall stylization of the movie makes this horror movie more watchable than most. Photos here by OfScotland.