gardening

gardening, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

not that this is a good day for gardening, with the snow still on the ground and the freezing temps... but i thought i'd share with you one of my first paintings. it currently has an honorable space on the wall in my studio.
being one of my first paintings, it's definitely very naive, but also very raw - 2 of my favorite adjectives about art. i hope you enjoy it as much as i do..

stone mountain

stone mountain, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

just created a photography set on flickr to highlight some of my favorite photos that i've taken..
enjoy.

portrait of wayne

portrait of wayne, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a portrait i took of wayne while we were in richmond. this was on belle isle. look closely and you'll see wayne's head.
enjoy.

untitled stripes

untitled stripes, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's the newest work... this photo was taken in eula's studio so you can see hints of her work around the edges...
enjoy.

puberty

puberty, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

i'm still working on the same print and with my sprained ankles i haven't been to the art store to buy new supplies. so i have an older painting for you. it's from several years ago. i can't remember who the actual model was, but i do remember that she was wearing clothes. when i was finished with the painting, i stepped back and immediately thought of Edvard Munch's Puberty... so i gave mine the same title.
enjoy.

Wild Iris

Wild Iris, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

of the series, this might be my fav....
enjoy.

it's a she-devil

it's a she-devil, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's the latest, latest version of my wild iris print, she-devil. i set out to do about 20 or 21, but ended up doing 37 (so far). a strange number to end up with on the day before i turn 38! and i'll probably continue to carve away and print single color prints with the face and body.
print collectors will probably not like that i never number my prints like 1/37, instead i number all of my work as each piece is a unique piece of art. plus i catalog the prints right along with my paintings.. so there you have it...
enjoy!

latest print

final, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's one of my latest prints... it's 1 of 7 and is in a few different colors - this is one of my favs though..
enjoy.

stuffed (or. lady smith-smythe)

stuffed (or. lady smith-smythe), originally uploaded by marcofrey.

this is my favorite painting from the past year and as such it will be on the cover of my art calendar for next year...
enjoy!

mon frere

mon frere, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a mixed media painting you've probably never seen before. i did this many years ago and was inspired by this asian newspaper that i found. the little boy is from a photo of my brother back in the 1970s...
enjoy.

katia

katia, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's an old painting i did of katia. the wax on her shirt was actually on the canvas before i painted her, it was not intentionally placed on her breast. that said, i think it's fantastic and hilarious.
enjoy.

self portrait

self portrait, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a self portrait on pegboard that i did a while ago... it doesn't really look anything like me, but it is...
enjoy.

glass headless in forest

glass headless in forest, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

i was fascinated with dark and creepy paintings back in 2004.. here's a glass head that i placed in a very sparse forest... it makes me think of halloween which seems right around the corner now that we finally have some cooler weather...
enjoy.

una donna da siena

una donna da siena, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

several years ago my family went on a family vacation to italy. while we were there we rented a villa in siena for a week and i fell in love with a painting that was hanging in the hallway there. in lieu of stealing it or finding someone to ask if it was for sale i took a picture of it. this is my version of that painting. the original was not quite as dark and had a bouquet of flowers and i believe the woman was wearing a hat...
enjoy.

(aca) deserted

(aca) deserted, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

you may not have seen this one before. it's from several years ago but it's always been a favorite of mine. this was painted on the very last day of aca and because our class was on saturday, we were the very last class there. classrooms around us were already being cleaned out but we were still there painting....

wild iris

wild iris, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

a small painting from 6 years ago that still rests on a shelf in our living room. i love this painting and it's still unofficially on hold for someone, but i'm now thinking it would transfer to a linocut print very well. and i need a project to work on while eula is in california...
enjoy.

untitled

untitled, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

another painting that recently got a makeover. the background took forever and helped turn this painting into a more interesting piece.
enjoy.

untitled

untitled, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

an older painting that recently got a makeover, it went from one of my least favorite paintings to one of my favs. it's very calming and reminds me of a native american. perhaps i'll rename it america.
enjoy.

somewhere sometime someone did something not necessarily like a dragonflying over iceland. was that funny?

somewhere sometime someone did something not necessarily like a dragon flying over iceland. was that funny?, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's my newest work to date. just finished it on wednesday. this painting requires a strange title that has nothing to do with what's going on in the painting (or does it?). this painting is number 699... just about at 700 and creeping towards 1000....
i hope you like it.
enjoy!

teardrops of my soul

teardrops of my soul, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

i painted this on wednesday night. the image of the woman was from a photo that i saw in vogue and instantly had to draw it on my canvas. i think it would be a fantastic album cover for wayne's next cd... even if it doesn't though, it's still hanging in our living room! i love it and hope you do too...
enjoy.

pas de guerre

pas de guerre, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here is my anti war piece. only mannequins should wear gas masks! i'm not usually a political person but i do firmly believe that our civilization has advanced to the point that war should be obsolete. give peace a chance... for a change.
enjoy.

it's fantastic! it's lush!

it's fantastic! it's lush!, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

i don't really care if people like my art or not (i paint what i like) and people are free to have their own opinions (i certainly do!), but this collage brings back a funny story.. it's one thing to ask someone their opinion especially if you admire their work and respect their comments, but when an artist walks up and says, "that's trite", i will have very little respect for him.. plus i never did care for his work, there was nothing entertaining or fun or fresh about it... i did not walk up to his painting and say, "that's boring as shit" even though that's what i wanted to say.
please enjoy my fantastic, lush collage!
and feel free to leave a comment :)

from sketchbook

IMG_1528, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

so i decided to photograph some of my favorite pages from my many sketchbooks... here's a page from several years ago. i love to sketch with sharpies because of the beautiful way that the ink bleeds through the paper...

so there you have it.

so there you have it., originally uploaded by marcofrey.

in 2003 i did a painting of dash that i apparently didn't like very much so i painted over it in 2004. i never made a note of it and thought for the longest time that i had numbered 2 paintings with the same number - 429. part of my great cataloging effort is to solve mysteries like this. today i was looking through my studio for these two paintings, one of dash and one of al. on the back of this painting of al i noticed an older date from 2003 and the name dash - both slightly painted over. aha! this is both paintings!
"so there you have it" is also written on the back and slightly painted over...

at last! a walk-in bath tub.

at last! a walk-in bath tub., originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a collage from many years ago...
enjoy.

sunfleur in green vase

sunfleur in green vase, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a sunflower that wayne got for his birthday. i put it in a green vase that used to belong to my great-grandmother...
enjoy.

daisies in orange vase

daisies in orange vase, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here is a very recent painting for you to enjoy. 3 daisies from my garden in a very cool handmade orange glass vase that some friends made.

self portrait

self portrait, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a self portrait from several years ago...
enjoy.

wayne

wayne, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

although i didn't paint anything while i was in florida, i did take lots of photos. this is one of my favs. wayne at sunset..
enjoy.

gargoyle

gargoyle, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

quadrallison

quadrallison, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

my newest work to date. again, this was painted over an older painting that i was not fond of. and the end result is something that i'm quite happy with. originally painted in july 2003, it sat in my studio all this time just waiting for a new life... do you ever turn your back on the flowers?

to barbara yellow

to barbara yellow, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

my etsy shop is up and ready!
check it out here: marco's etsy shop
this painting and 4 others are currently available for purchase. check it out, let me know what you think, if you have any questions, if i made any typos, anything... i heart feedback! constructive feedback that is ;)
cheers!
enjoy!

ingreened vert

ingreened vert, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a strange little painting with hardly any paint on it. i love this painting and i love the title more. don't you?
enjoy.

the piano

the piano, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a little painting from september 2003. there is no piano in the painting, but the way she is sitting makes me imagine one.
enjoy.

this side face down. glue this side.

this side face down. glue this side., originally uploaded by marcofrey.

happy valentine's day! i'm enjoying this day working on the great cataloging project! i've got 2 full photo albums full now with 200 photos each. the painting here is number 400 and a great painting that has been hiding out in my studio behind a larger painting. it took me a few minutes to locate it, but now it's hanging on the wall in the living room. i hope you remember to put the glue on the proper side and always read the fine print!
enjoy!

marco and eula

marco and eula, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a picture of eula and me at her show at eyedrum. eula's work is behind us.
enjoy.

moon and sleep

moon and sleep, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

there is something i've always loved about this painting - it sort of hypnotizes me.
enjoy.

12 toes

12 toes, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

this is a little painting of ruthie that i've always adored. it has recently resurfaced much to my delight!
enjoy.

stuffed (or. lady smith-smythe)

stuffed (or. lady smith-smythe), originally uploaded by marcofrey.

my newest work. painted this yesterday. i painted over stuffed, an old painting that i was not fond of. i do like to keep the original title, but this work required a second or alternate title - lady smith-smythe.
enjoy.

panda

panda, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

so one day my friend keith said, "so i saw these really large paintings of tiny things". to which i replied, "someone should do tiny paintings of giant things." here is panda. 3"x5".
enjoy.

simon

simon, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

simon loves to have his photo taken. this is a recent photo of simon taken with the hipstamatic app for the iphone.
as i've been working through the great cataloging process, i've made sets in flickr of self-portraits, eula, and now i realize that i need to make one of simon too. i have several paintings of him and want to do several more..
enjoy.

fish tail

fish tail, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

something new:

so here's my newest painting, a self portrait. it's been a couple years since i've done a self portrait so it was time. (i created a set of self portraits on flickr if you'd like to see more of them...) in the theme of the 2010 living room show, i recycled an old painting, fish tail. when ever i paint over an old painting, the old name stays. it's a reminder to me that there was another painting here before. it's also hilarious when painting and title clash like this one.

something else new:

if you'd like to know more about a particular painting of mine that you saw on flickr, just post a comment that says 'please blog this" and a specific question if you have one and i'll write about it here...

enjoy.

eula

eula, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

it was this portrait of eula that first gave me the idea to call my style of art 'post naive'. i thought it was funny and somewhat representational - i love naive art, but have had too much instruction (by eula) to really be considered a naive artist. post naive seemed like a natural progression and i used it for a while (and still do occasionally though it confuses people or perhaps because it confuses people). enjoy.

pink folk

pink folk, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's an acrylic and charcoal painting from 2001. i did several gesso board paintings back then and as i catalog them now i'm getting inspired to do some more... i just love the way the charcoal mixes with the wet paint - it's quite striking. enjoy.

practice

practice, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

here's a sneak peak of the 2010 living room show. new paintings on top of old works of mine that i don't like. it saves space, recycles and reuses old materials and most of them already have nice texture to work on. i think the green petal falling from the hand is about all that's visibly left from the under painting... and the title. enjoy.

david in the hairdryer chair

untitled, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

started off 2010 with a organizing frenzy...
cleaned up my studio and filed several month's worth of paperwork.
canceled a credit card that i no longer use.
photographed and cataloged some works and ordered prints of them for my hardcopy album as well.
and with all this work i give you a favorite painting of mine on pegboard - a plastic man without arms!

i hope to catalog many more works this year.
i hope to paint at least one new painting per week.
i hope to keep my studio clean - well, let's call that 'ready to paint' instead of 'clean'.

cheers and happy new year!

summer's waiting

summer's waiting, originally uploaded by marcofrey.

an old one but a good one. this painting has recently resurfaced and i'm glad because i really enjoy it and many people have asked about it over the years. now i know exactly where it is and i hope it finds a perfect home soon!