The making of a screen painting...

RED on RED! album released online for free!

This October, Nicole and I released our self-titled album "RED on RED!" online through bandcamp.  The album is a long time coming, but we are excited to have finished it and posted it up for free for all who are willing.

For those of you who don't know, RED on RED! began years ago while we were living in Montana.  While recording music under separate monikers, Nicole and I began to write and record music together in the old, brick community house we lived in in Dillon, Montana.

Not until a couple of years passed, did we decide to set aside our personal musical ambitions and give RED on RED! a go.....therefore, most of the music you hear on the album has been written or recorded from as far back as 10 years ago.

For those of you who may already know this story, take heart, the next RED on RED! album will not be so long in the making....we have currently begun recording with our friends at sound ghost studios and hope to finish a 6-7 song ep. by the end of spring.

Here you go.  Enjoy:

RED on RED!

So Nicole and I have agreed (or at least I thought of the idea and she likes it enough to not say no--which is a good sign) to name the music we are working on together "RED on RED!". "Red room" has been taken (like a million times over!) and apparently the copyright in band names does not cover upper-lower case lettering and punctuation. Thus, while there are many "red on red"'s (still not equal to the vast amount of bands/venues named "red room"), there is no "RED on RED!" as I know it. Turns out the exclamation point is actually really vital this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, if you dont know already, we held a photo shoot for the album this summer while visiting Montana and are delighted to have just received the photos on disc in the mail. The photography was done by our good friend Christina, find more of her work here www.patchworkphotography.com.

Here are some of my favorites.....enjoy.

new screen paintings of Montana landscapes....

For those of you who don't know, Ive been experimenting with the process of making paintings with a screen suspended inches from the canvas. I was hoping for an ethereal, supernatural, even holographic effect (which, by the way, is really, really hard to document with photographs).

It seems to be working best with the portraits I've done.....here I tried some landscapes with the same technique...not sure if its conducive to the process.....

and another...

Another video from deep in the heart of the land of mountainous landscapes and prairies....

fresh paintings, pirated pictures.

So I've been shopping thrift stores lately looking for old mountainous landscape paintings with interesting frames. I bring them back to the studio and paint over them, sometimes letting the original print come through and sometimes completely covering it.

Pirating these old thrift store finds is therapeutic for me in a couple of ways;

1. Im really into the idea of building upon another man's work and wrestling out how to create something within the preexisting work yet maintaining a sense of synonymity. It feels communal and integrated into a larger story/rich in history.

2. The paintings are really just large and small scale drawings, most of which are done with vine charcoal. This has been an excellent way for me to refine, dust off, and strengthen my drawing abilities again--it seems that time has atrophied that part of my brain that understands perspective.

3. And lastly, they remind me of Montana and our experiences there these past 8 years (which I completely enjoyed).