A Couple of Fine Art Websites from Matt

[HobieSport]

I don't know if anyone on the forum is interested, but here are a couple of art sites.

The first one is a Facebook "fansite" that I'm doing for a dear friend and teacher, Charles Stevenson, who took me on as a partner in the world of fine art during the 1990s. He was really a great guy and a very interesting and talented artist. He died in 2004 after a good long life. He was a painter for over sixty years. I was really honored to work with him, plus he was great friend, and he taught me how to paint. When he passed away he gave me most of his art collection, which I finally got into a Gallery a few months ago.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Charles-Stevenson-Fine-Art-Friends-and-Collectors-Forum/190636449365

And this is my lady-friend's website of her own work. I think her art is amazingly beautiful and it always gives me a good feeling of awe to see her watercolors. She's Japanese, and her sensitivity shows in her work:

http://mariko-irie.com/

And lastly I've attached three photos of my own art work. One is a big painting I did as a commemoration of the opening of our new firehouse, and for our fire chief's 50 years of dedicated service. He was on the job every day, and never asked for a penny over all that time. So I did the painting for free too.

The other painting is of what the Eiffel Tower would look like if it was planted in the middle of our little village of Mendocino. I don't think I'll be proposing that one to our local "Hysterical Revue Board" any time soon... Actually the painting is now part of local history now too, as it depicts the two payphones that used to be in front of our post office.

The third picture is of a large three panel painting that Charles Stevenson and I painted together.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy the work. You can zoom in on the images if interested in seeing them in more detail.

-Matt

[Bill Cahill]

Interesting artwork, Matt.
I just joineed that site, and, looked at pictures.
Bill Cahill

[HobieSport]

Thanks Bill,

It's funny, I never really intended to "be an artist" or a "painter", but when the opportunity came up to study with a "master", I couldn't pass it up. I found painting to be a little bit of an ethereal experience, very mental and all that, and I'm more of a down to earth, construction labor/craftworker kind of guy who just likes to design and build little houses. I wouldn't be so presumptive to call myself an architect, but I think of architecture as three dimensional practical art that people can live in. After all, ya gotta have walls before you can hang any art, and my favorite "art" is just a well proportioned window with a nice living view.

Plus the area where I live is known as "a quaint artist's community"; and it seems like there is an artist or two of some kind on every block in town. So I painted (and did a lot of construction work) for ten years during the 1990s, but after I met my last lady-friend (the artist, Mariko Irie) and bought a home and had a family to help raise, I put down my paintbrushes and went back to using a hammer and saw as my tools. Though I must admit, I am a much better house painter now...

[McHeath]

Gee those are nice.  I especially like the portrait.  The way you juxtaposed the fire chief close up detail of the head and then the large text behind him, is very creative and dramatic.  Also like the pose, not a traditional head on smiling shot, but more of a snap from life, you can see him out front on an afternoon, the firehoses drying, shooting the breeze. 

[HobieSport]

Hey, Thanks, Heath.

The portrait of our fire chief (Foggy Gomes was his name) is my favorite of my few paintings too. I had a lot of fun doing it. I like the strong colors, red, blue and gold, and the wood-tones. I enjoyed putting some fun symbolism into it too. My art teacher taught me to not make everything in a painting immediately obvious. Give the viewers fun things to discover and think about.

For examples, how Foggy's big head is obscuring the words "Mendocino Volunteer FIRE Department", and how the words also run off the canvas.

And Foggy is sitting on his own shoulder, being his own "conscience". He was a very warm hearted and humble fellow with a strong natural personal morality.

Then, reflected in his glasses, is the 1880 statue that rises above the church spire in the center of town; "Father Time and the Maiden". Foggy sat in that same chair for fifty years (notice the duct tape patch on the old oak chair) watching the town and time going by, and he was just as much of a local stationary "fixture" as the statue. He was always just sitting there, calm, quiet and aware, looking like he was smelling for smoke and listening. Notice the contemplative position of his hands.

And Foggy always had his newspaper tucked in the rip at the base of his chair, so I painted that in, and you can only read the first three letters of the headline; "FOG...".  So you don't know if the headline is about Foggy himself, or just a north coast weather report.

And yes, I did basically use "snapshots".  As I recall when I went to take the reference photos, I just walked down to the firehouse and told Foggy that I was going to take a few photos to paint him. It was completely unposed.

My technique is a somewhat like a very amateur Norman Rockwell: I take 35mm slides and then  project them directly onto the canvas to get the basic lines, and then I project them full size right next to the canvas to paint from. I love a sort of a semi photo-realism, and trying to get the little details, like the laces of his boots, the badge on his cap, the woodwork of the chair and the metal casters of the chair, etc.

Anyway it was good fun and it hangs front and center in the new firehouse community room, which I feel is quite an honer for an amateur painter like little 'ol me.

Plus, don't you think it would make a nice postage stamp?

[AET]

Wow, your writeup on Foggy is so incredibly deep.  It's just fantastic.  I am so impressed!!

[HobieSport]

I just hope I don't sound like an "art snob", because I hate that when it happens!

[AET]

Nah, you just sound like a guy in the know!

[contraste]

I love the Foggy Gomes portrait.

Did he like it?

[Dennis Markham]

Hobie, I have spent some time "studying" that painting of Foggy.  It is really a fine piece of work.  I am amazed at your talent.  That man MUST have been honored to receive a gift such as that.  The possibilities of what was on Foggy's mind as he sat there contemplating are endless.  Being in the business I was in for so many years I got to know our versions of Foggy Gomes.  Those that dedicated their lives to such a profession are often cut from the same mold.  Kind of reminds me of "Old Gus" on the Leave It To Beaver show, the wise, all-knowing Fire Chief.  You certainly captured the essence of the Fire Chief and I almost feel like I know him just from your painting.  Thank you for sharing it with us.  The others "ain't bad either" as Larry King might say.

[AET]

I was thinking the same thing!

Kind of reminds me of "Old Gus" on the Leave It To Beaver show, the wise, all-knowing Fire Chief. 

[HobieSport]

I love the Foggy Gomes portrait.
Did he like it?

That's a fun story too: When we had the big new firehouse opening ceremony and dramatically unveiled the big painting (it's 48" x 64"), everyone cheered and applauded, but Foggy was such a modest and shy guy, he just said quietly to me personally: "Thank you Matt!". And that was all the thanks I needed from him. We both understood. Then the applause died down and the new fire chief said to the room: "Hey Matt, does this mean that we all have to look at Foggy's big ugly nose now forever?" Everyone, including me of course, laughed.

Dennis, thank you for your kind and observant thoughts and words. Yes, there are dedicated people like Foggy in that kind of profession everywhere, and they are often very humble about it, so a lot of people don't notice all the good they are do in the world.

You know, I actually very rarely watched Leave It To Beaver as a child, simply because it wasn't on one of our two (!) tv channels in the early-mid 1960's. And when I did watch it, I was of course watching Barbara Billingsley more than anything else. So I'll just have to do some research on Old Guss the fire chief.

[HobieSport]

Another small town Foggy Gomes story:

One of Foggy's jobs was driving the big egg truck with a partner each week on the long haul from Mendocino to market in Petaluma. In those days Mendocino had a lot of family chicken farms, and Petaluma was the chicken and egg "capital" of northern California. The locals sold the eggs for a penny each.

One day Foggy and his partner were puling out from the corner in front of our grocery store in the middle of town. It was a very long haul over winding and rough roads, and they had to go fast before the eggs spoiled.

Wellsir, while turning the corner, the whole top layer of eggs slipped off the truck and splatted all over main street, (which was also the main coast highway in those days), right in front of the grocery store.

Now Foggy had a moral dilemma: Either stop and help clean up the mess and let all the rest of the eggs spoil, and everyone loses their income, or just one other painful alternative:

Foggy looked at his partner and said quietly..."just keep driving".

[foots]

     Wow. I had no idea you were an artist. I too really like that one of the firecheif. You have some serious talent.

[HobieSport]

    Wow. I had no idea you were an artist. I too really like that one of the firecheif. You have some serious talent.

I admit that I have a rather checkered past...but I haven't painted a picture since about 1995...My business partner/teacher was a full time artist, my gal friend was a full time artist, and that left me mostly taking care of everything else, like building and maintaining houses and studios. After all, art isn't much good if there are no walls to hang it on...

I don't miss doing it, but I'm glad that I did the art thing at least for awhile.
I'm not even going to tell you about my acting career in the 1980s...