Aspirational Distinctives

Acrylics, ink, and watercolors on canvas.
12" x 24"

The end of each painting I do seems to come unexpectedly. I keep working on it, it seems to be going nowhere, and then all of a sudden WHAM!!!

Painting done.

I'm very proud of this one. It's my favorite painting I've ever done, and I'm inclined to suggest it's the best one as well.

Denver field trip.

Took a trip with colleagues to Denver last night. Good times.

Buildings in the Art District



Cheesman Park


Downtown, from the 7th floor of the public library


Inside the Mayan Theater


The new industrial design documentary "Objectified" was screened last night at the Mayan Theater in Denver. It's from the maker of "Helvetica." Designers were out in full force. It was a pretty good movie, gave me a lot to chew on. We ducked out during the Q&A because I hate listening to designers go on and on.

Slice of life - Late April 2009.

From Marcia's school:



A couple of these are older ones, but I'm working on my tweaking and these are examples.




My birthday was fantastic. I took a nice bike ride after work, had a delicious dinner out with my bride, took it easy on the couch. Thanks to everyone's well-wishes.

Hiking the Crags.

I had Good Friday off, so I took a solo trip up to the Crags, on the back side of Pike's Peak. I had to walk the last mile of the road up to the trailhead because there were such deep ruts in the snow. There was every kind of trail condition imaginable: dry, wet, muddy, snowy, icy, lava-ridden?!?! Just kidding about that last one. There were some breathtaking views that translate very poorly through a camera. I don't know how much winter/spring mountain hiking I'll do after this, but it was a great experience.

Morgan Grimes.

I like the show "Chuck". It's a guilty pleasure. Morgan is my favorite. He's been having a rough time lately.

And while we're here, let me update my top ten favorite albums of all time. I did my top 50 a couple years ago, and there were some egregious errors. So I redid my top ten. Again, this is favorite, not best. A best list would look very different.

10. Redlight by the Slackers
The only ska to make the list, this is the best ska album ever. It just is. I think we can all agree on this.

9. Hello Rockview by Less Than Jake
That's because I don't count this as ska. LTJ makes me feel like I have to get out of the Iron Range if it kills me. Oh yeah, I did get out of the Iron Range. Oh double yeah, I was never there to begin with. Phew.

8. Fashion Nugget by Cake
Audry gave me this album because she didn't want it. It became the soundtrack to my stoner days. We're getting to the point in the list where almost no songs are duds anymore.

7. Something to Write Home About by the Get Up Kids
Besides the glaring grammatical error, this album is great all the way through. "I'm a Loner Dottie, A Rebel" is still the best song on here. They all remind me of the way things never were, if that makes any sense.

6. OK Computer by Radiohead
This would be at the very top of the best list. It blew my mind when I first heard it, and the subsequent 20,000 listens we all put in between 1997 and now. Don't act like you didn't try to figure out what the words meant. We all did.

5. Electro-Shock Blues by Eels
It's difficult for me to describe why I love this album so much. Part of me thinks it's the repeated listenings, but mostly I think it's because I know this is the soundtrack for anything devastating that might happen in the future. It's too bad they couldn't take out "Baby Genius". Then this would be the perfect album.

4. Parklife by Blur
Numbers two through four on this list are all up for debate. I'm actually a little surprised I put this at four. Honestly it should be at three, considering that this was the soundtrack to at least three years of my life. I can probably also blame this album for 10-15% of my snarkiness. Thanks, guys!

3. The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky
Wow. This totally effing destroys. No matter how often I listen to this, three things are true: 1. I listen to every single second from start to finish, 2. my life feels insanely epic, and 3. I would totally step outside for a smoke afterward if I still smoked. You really need to do yourself a favor and hear this before you die.

2. Downward Is Heavenward by Hum
When I started thinking of what I wanted my novel to be about, this was my starting point. I didn't think of characters or plot, I thought that I wanted this to be the soundtrack if it ever got made into a movie. A strange way to go about things, I know, but this is so atmospheric and rocking that it's impossible to deny.

1. Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
As if it could be anything else. Never has an album been more significant to me, never has an album had so high a strong/weak song ratio (10:0, if you care to know), never has an album rocked so hard. This is probably going to be at the top of the list until I die. I can't see anyone unseating them.

What do you think?

Maundy Thursday, Palmer Park.

I took a stroll with Sasha off the beaten path in Palmer Park last Thursday. There are always plenty of new trails to discover, it's my favorite thing about the park. Having spent countless hours there, I think maybe I've walked half of the trails. Sasha doesn't seem to mind the exploring either.

My favorite site.

Being three states away from my beloved Twins, I have to read blogs and scour MLB sites to get all the info I need. Luckily I live in the internet age, and it's never been easier to follow a team from far away.

I can't tell you how excited I am for Target Field next year. I don't know when I'll first get to go there, but the fact that it's being built is enough for me. I'm so excited that I daily check the webcams and this site. I'm happy to know that there are many others out there who suddenly find themselves as stadium geeks as well.

Then and now.

Silent Tiny Pieces of the Sun
April 2009
Acrylics, ink, and watercolor on canvas panel. 24" x 18"

I finished this one over the weekend and I'm very proud of it. Many failed things all came together in a way that I never expected. It's further testament to my newfound conviction that any painting can be saved if you just keep at it.

It just so happens that I recently found the last landscape I did, and I'd like to present it in the spirit of comparing and contrasting:


Ice Cream Mountains
Spring 1998
Acrylics on canvas panel. 24" x 18"

The differences in paintings directly mirror the differences in me that have happened over the past eleven years. When I was finishing up high school in 1998, I was like the older painting. More certain about colors, a little glib, not all that interesting or varied. Like the newer one, I am now more subtle, interesting, complicated, and patient. The colors in my life became far more varied and uncertain, but make up a distinctly vibrant palette.

The brilliant stroke is that the painting I just finished was reclaiming a canvas panel from another failed painting of the spring of 1998. It sort of feels like I'm coming full circle in painting.

Collaboration 1

My first entry to a collaboration experiment. Photo-based, with some sketching and watercolor.