I'm keeping watch...

Keeping Watch Over Pueblo (acrylic on wood, 17x17") Sep 2014

I love the look of paint on wood!  I enjoy the ability to blend and texturize the piece.  I created a piece called "Pueblo" a few years ago, which hangs in a home in Arizona...and I wanted to recreate that piece when I saw this panel of 17x17" wood.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  Here's "Keeping Watch Over Pueblo."  -Erico

It was time....

"The Road is Long..." (acrylic on wood, 17x17")  Sep 1, 2014

I've understood writers block.  I've understood stagnancy in music and theatre.  I've never quite understood why it's so difficult to get something on canvas when I know that I really want to do just that.  The past couple of weeks have been riddled with frustration and bitterness and, sad to say, a sense of doom.  Maybe it's just my body telling me that summer is ending and that the leaves are about to fall.  Maybe it's more than that.  But it shouldn't stop me from painting; in fact, it should inspire me to paint more... in order to get out those aggressions.  I'm open.  I'm trying.  Paths are strewn with blockage and the leaves still fall.  Let's make it a colorful one.  -Erico

Storm's a-comin'...

"Storm's A-comin'" (acrylic on wood, 17x17") Aug 30, 2014

Is summer really ending?  Already?!  It seems the older I get, the more difficult it is to deal with the changing of seasons.  It's the end of August.  I know we'll have some good weather ahead of us, but this summer seems to have passed so quickly.  I still haven't figured out a way to embrace our winters.  I survive them, but I don't embrace them.  And the storm's a-comin'. -Erico

Windows abound...

For some reason, windows still fascinate me.  Maybe it's the view that fascinates me.  Maybe it's the idea of being sheltered.  Or the design.  Or the idea that there's something OUT THERE for me.  Here's my latest window...  -Erico

"Window Purple" (acrylic, 24x24") August 2014

Donations abound...

Lately, I find myself being asked often to donate pieces of art to benefit my church community and charitable organizations in the greater Milwaukee area.  I was approached by America SCORES Milwaukee, an organization that provides out-of-school opportunities for children, including athletics and arts, to consider creating an original piece of art for an October fundraising event.  The Inspired Art project takes poems written by America SCORES Milwaukee youth and asks local and regional artists to create one of a kind pieces inspired by their words.  Each piece of original artwork is photographed and compiled into a graphic collection of SCORES art and imagery with selected pieces brought to auction in a gallery-night themed cocktail event.  Inspired Art truly brings the words of youth to life.  It took a while to choose the right poem for me, but here it is.

Edwin, Age 10

Star

I wish I was a star

To be high in the sky

Shining down on you

As you say goodnight

"Good Night"  (acrylic, 24x24")  July 2014

SVA Small Works 2014...

Here are my contributions to the Sheboygan Visual Artists' Small Works for this year.  I committed to painting ten of our 8x10" canvases...and they are done!  Here's a sampling.  -Erico

   

                

Pentecostés

"Pentecostés"  (acrylic, 36"x48")  May 2014

Seven weeks have passed since the celebration of Easter.  At my church, I have sung for the lives of three members who have now left us.  As often as I sing a funeral, it never really sinks in that these individuals are gone from this world until long after I've missed them for a while.  Maybe that's a coping mechanism.  Maybe that's a sign of hope.  I'm glad to have been a part of their lives.  I'm glad they were a part of mine.  Their spirits live on... in us... around us... with us.

I've missed painting over the past couple of months.  I'm glad to share this in their names.  It's Pentecost.  -Erico