Rockport Flyer

Just for a reminder about the Rockport show with this flyer done by Matt Tanzi, who set up the show and will be featured in it as well. Better see it soon before it goes down!

Abstract Watercolors

Here are three of the set of watercolors on paper I've been working on during the spring and summer. I'm working on another one currently and plan to carry out more over time.

             

         "These paintings are an abstract interpretation of transformation that occurs within nature. Done in watercolor I am able to draw, scrape, and wash out overlapping fields of color and light to create a sense of rhythm and momentum. Through these intense color shifts and organic structures within the picture plane evokes a sense change and rebirth like seasons of a temperate forest. Growing older I become more aware of my connection with the natural world that’s been a part of me since the days I’ve taken nature hikes with my siblings and father. The more distant I am from nature the more I attempt to reconnect my passion through art whether it’d be abstract or not."

"Abstraction 1"

"Abstraction 2"

"Abstraction 3"

Changes for Rockport show

In case people we wondering why there wasn't a reception on the announced day is due to a sudden change where it has to be rescheduled. I apologize to anyone who was not noticed about the change, for I was given last minute announcements about it myself. Though I'm a little late for posting this, but I will announce when the reception is for anyone still interested in the near future.

Group Show at Rockport High School

Montserrat Alumni Derek Hart, Alex Black, Matt Tanzi and I have put together a show at Rockport High School, where Matt Tanzi is assistant teacher to complete his practicum. The work spans from work done from paintings, illustration, as well as collages that were made as far back 2011.  It is currently up now a reception will be held on Thursday November 1st from 3-5 pm. More information to be posted asap.


Derek Hart:
http://derekhartstudios.com/section/307772_Illustration.html

Matt Tanzi:
http://matttanzi.com/home.html

Things that go Bump in the Night

My painting "Virus" will be on display at Gallery Della-Piana with a theme on the eerie and the mysterious. The gallery can be found on 15R Main Street, Wenham, Ma. The show will run from September 14th through November 10th. For directions or to learn more visit the site, I hope you get to enjoy the show with other amazing work!

http://www.gallerydellapiana.com/

More Ink Studies

Here are some more ink studies I've done dealing with figures in space. 

"Sitting Study #1" 22" x 13 6/8"

"Dan study" 22" x 13 6/8"

"Sitting Study #2" 22" x 13 6/8"

Keeping this up to date

Couple of drawings I've done in the past, the charcoal drawing was done last fall and the pastel was done roughly two years ago. Granted I'm not that great with pastel I believe that this piece was rather successful, it was also a starting point for drawing and collage. The other drawing was one of the last drawings I did for my advanced figure drawing course I took in the fall. Drawing was always difficult for me even though I've progressed immensely since my last intensive semester of drawing. I still find time to draw, I'm currently working on a portrait and will post it as soon as I photograph it (along with other work I promised to post).

Things are in progress

Well you maybe wondering what I've been doing for a while now so I'd give an update. I finally have my studio set up in my apartment which has more room to work in than the last space, which is now my bedroom. However, like any other artist that goes through this transformation it's taking some time to adjust. Not so much for what I need to do, which is plenty, just getting use to the space and how I work in it. I've manage to stay busy doing some work though, I've belted out more collages that'll be updated soon on my collage blog, and working on a series of abstract work with watercolor and pencil/charcoal black and white drawings. This set of work is a different form of abstraction that is more organic, whereas I've made work with hard cubist structures and pops of color. I've grown an interest in this series of work and will continue to work until I've created a substantial body of drawings and paintings. Some of this series will be updated soon!

On other news, I've been working with Caroline Bagenal fixing up her barn studio in Newburyport as well as preparing for her upcoming show in the fall at Boston Sculptors Gallery. Caroline is a sculptor, installation artist, and writer who currently teaches senior fine art seminar and art history at Montserrat. She's had many exhibits and is quite a successful artist, you can learn more about her on her website with the link below!
http://carolinebagenal.com/home.html

Purchasing Prints!

I'm very excited to say that there are now prints available for sale with society6! This is a great way to own a print of my work as easy as clicking your mouse, check out the link and see what I have posted. There are different sizes to choose from small 8 x 10 inches to gallery size prints, enjoy!

Brett Mason society6 page:
http://society6.com/BrettMason

These two paintings are from the show "Depth". The top piece Virus was painted during my winter break while the bottom was made during my last semester, which is called Alter of Life and Imagination. Virus was inspired by this strange experience I had when waking up in the middle of the night with a face staring me down with wide, glowing eyes, while in a panicked state the face slowly slipped out of my bedroom door. Whether it was a dream or some paranormal encounter it still leaves me with curiosity to how why this occurred, making this an interesting subject matter. Alter of Life and Imagination was referenced from a photograph taken 50 or so years ago in Vietnam. I used this image as a departure point to create a more abstract composition, I have more photographs that I intend to use for a series.

Heres a painting that is on display at the Beverly High School Alumni show. Unfortunately the reception already took place earlier today, but will be up for a while. Also, one of my paintings, "Isolated Contemplation" will be in the Endicott Artfest show going up from May 25 till August 3 with former Beverly High School Art teacher, Paula Borsetti, as a featured artist! Paula has taught me when I attended at Beverly High School and is an accomplished teacher and artist who is dedicated in motivating her students to become great artist. The reception will be Friday, June 15, 5:00 - 8:00, hope to see you there!

These are drawings I did back in 2009, which happen to be my better drawings I've done in that time period. I believe this was a starting point for me to work with photographic images with drawing compositions.

These are two out of the drawings I did during winter break. I would begin my day by drawing  a self portrait or from a photograph in the morning, paint by the afternoon, then would work on collage projects by the evening. Though if I did not manage to get to collage by night I would at least create a new drawing or refine painting or drawings. I did work on a large painting, perhaps the largest I've done so far (4 x 5 feet) and hope to work back into it soon as I move everything out of the studio in the 301 building of Montserrat into my own studio space. I will post the painting when I meet to a better resolution then some of my better drawings during the break

 Also, I will be doing a drawing demo at the Artragous! art auction tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. I will also have 2 painting studies up for auction as well! If interested heres the site for directions and further info. If you chose to go I hope to see you there, feel free to say hello!

http://www.montserrat.edu/auction26/

This piece is called Personal Revelation done in acrylic on canvas. I think this was one of those paintings that took a lot of time compared to the other paintings that arrived to some resolution quicker. I would work on it, store it away, then take it back out until finally I worked on it consistently until I brought it to a state where I was satisfied. The only changes I've made after this photograph is the plant in the green vase to the left of the painting, the pink bulb-like felt a little flat so I worked on them adding more depth with a periwinkle color giving it a little more excitement with the plant. It was in my recent group show Depth and is on display at the Montserrat College of Art main gallery All Senior Show, up from the 7th till the 25th.

This is a portrait of Hans Hofmann that I made sometime in mid December. This was during a period of understanding Hofmann's theories and development of his work, which sparked my interest when I found his book titled Search for the Real. Long story short, it was worth the purchase and it certainly contributed to the development of my own work. This was from a photograph image in a book called Hofmann, there's at least 5 of these books with the same title. Originally I wanted to create a portraiture in the same tradition he did; colorful and expressive. In the process I noticed how realized the portrait looked even with a monochromatic pallet and continued working only with black and white.

Here's the other painting that is going to be at the Artragous! art auction that will actually be held saturday  the 12th. This was done for a Realist Methods course I took, I was focusing on on painters such as Vermeer and primarily Louis Melendez, an 18th century Spanish painter who made rich detailed still lifes.  This is certainly one of my favorite paintings I've done, though it is only 14 inches by 16 inches. Unfortunately it is not the best picture of it, but the color is almost exact to the original, the reason it wasn't best quality is because I needed to take last minute pictures in order to get it in the auction [and for some reason didn't get a chance to re-photograph it]. Still a great piece and I hope whoever owns this piece will enjoy it.

Here are two self portraits I've done the last two years. One is an ink study and the other is watercolor on gessoed cardboard. The ink study has been shown at the Montserrat College of Art Open House and the Boston Figurative Art Center exhibit at the William Scott Gallery at 450 Harrison Avenue where it was sold. The watercolor study will be at the Artragous! art auction on May 17th along with a still life oil painting, which will be displayed soon.

Welcome to the Art Blog!

Well, here it is, the art blog where you can find drawings, paintings, drafts, progress of work, anything involving my art. Though it is not a website, it is still a resource for my work like my collage blog. I will be updating it over time with news about what I'm doing and what I'm working on. This is actually post reception of my first group exhibit "Depth" so this is a good time to have a source. This is a painting, Isolated Contemplation, from the show which will also be in the Montserrat College of Art "All Senior Show" coming up. Hope you enjoy!