DAILY/WEEKLY PAINTING #3

Before coming to Brooklyn

In the early 90’s, I didn’t know a thing about jazz. I considered it the soundtrack to the affairs of old folks.

Later as a student at Pratt, I began listening to WKCR in my dorm room. Although they played other genres, jazz was a large part of their programming. They often played day long marathons of one artist. I heard the music of Sarah Vaughn, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. I started to learn about the different types of jazz and how distinct one is from another. I learned that jazz is as sophisticated as the art forms I was learning about in art school. I started to view jazz musicians like Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Sun Ra not only as great artists but as iconoclasts and men of mystery who were forging new paths in music and creating “the shape of jazz to come.”

When Ornette Coleman died this summer, I decided to pay tribute to him with a painting.

This one is 6x6”, acrylic paint, pencil and collage on 1/8” hardboard.

Again, stay tuned if you want to continue receiving updates. If you know anyone you think may be interested please share this email with them or have them contact me and I’ll add them to my list.

Best,

Sean

DAILY PAINTING #2

As a kid,

Growing an afro was one of my greatest ambitions and frustrations. All of my attempts resulted in a lumpy, uneven, grease packed mess! Still, ads for afro-sheen and other black hair products gave me hope. In the end, they never seemed to deliver what they promised - my hair was left unchanged, sometimes worse off. Eventually, I gave up.

To this day, afros still fascinate me and leave me longing. People who sport them seem to have a sense of pride and personal power. For me, the memory of these ads (and their promise of a better life) still reverberate from my childhood. Years after the fact, I find myself inspired by the optimism and mystique of the graphics used to promote them.

This painting, FRO #1, is 6x6”, acrylic paint, pencil and collage on 1/8” hardboard.








Again, stay tuned if you want to continue receiving updates. If you know anyone you think may be interested please share this with them or have them contact me here and I’ll add them to my list.
If you missed my first daily painting you can check it out herehttp://seanqualls.blogspot.com/2015/09/daily-painting-1.html

Best,

Sean

DAILY PAINTING #1

** For the past two months

I've dedicated myself to painting daily. You may be asking yourself, "Don't most artists paint everyday anyway?" Well, I can only speak for myself and the truth is I wasn't. I allowed other things to take over my day instead of making time to do personal work i.e. painting for me. Even if I was doing commissioned work like illustrating a book, I could spend most of my work day gathering reference material or responding to emails but not painting or drawing let alone doing it for myself.

By personal work I mean art that speaks to me about how I see myself, the world, race, identity and the media, I've been inspired by the Daily Painting Movement which is a growing number of artists who have dedicated themselves to painting everyday, some starting and completing a new piece every 24 hours, generally a small work. So far, for me, I'm averaging one and a half pieces per week.

If you're interested in keeping up with my progress stay tuned, I plan to send out updates every Friday with new work. If you know someone you think may be interested, please share this blog post with them or have them contact me and I will add them to my weekly mailing list.

For this week I'd like to share this piece:

Reverend Ike was a minister my mom listened to and watched on television in the 1970's. Recently, I found a link to one of his interviews on youtube. I was instantly brought back to my childhood and my mother's $ contributions to his ministry watching this flamboyant televangelist. Ever since hearing about the minister Jim Jones when I was a kid, I've been fascinated by extreme religious personalities and their lives. I'm sure Reverend Ike is only one of many off-beat religious characters that I will paint. This one is 6x6", ( a little larger than a cd case but slightly smaller than a 45rpm record) mixed media (acrylic paint, pencil) and collage on 1/8" hardboard.
#reverend ike, #rev ike, #Frederick Eikerenkoetter, #preacher,  #seanQualls, #dailypainting, #mydailypainting,