The Tony Fitzpatrick Show

Over the weekend I went to the Tony Fitzpatrick Show at The Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City. This gallery is fast becoming my favorite gallery in Los Angeles because the shows are almost always consistently strong shows. It's a beautiful space to see work in because it can accommodate a big crowd during a busy opening reception and you can step back from large pieces and soak it all up. I nearly had an orgasm at the Dave Cooper Show there because he had all these sumptuous ginormous paintings of voluptuous women and you could really appreciate each piece without feeling that you had to keep moving out of the way of another patron.

Which brings me to the most recent show. I've only had the pleasure of seeing one or 2 works by Tony Fitzpatrick in person prior to going to this show and it was a real treat. His work was almost all of the same dimensions and his use of collage is incredible to scrutinze. He uses lots of common symbols and metaphors and nostaligic stencils and drawings in each piece. There's a lot going on in every single work. His colors are a very limited palette and used with a military precision. It reminds me of how some singers like a "Billy Holiday" for example are these great American singers and have a range of about 4 notes, yet their emotional range is as deep as the ocean. Tony Fitzpatrick's work is like that. He works within these very specific parameters, but it's very satisfying. You know what you're going to get yet it's still gratifying to see each and every piece.

Check out some of the pics in this blog from the show. I have a couple of the space itself there at Billy Shire Gallery. See if you can spot Tony in conversation with actor Jeff Garlin from "Curb your Enthusisam" in 2 of the photos.

Janet's Cuban Missile Crisis

My friend Janet Hamlin who works for the Associated Press was sent to Cuba to cover the Guantanamo Bay Trial and did these fantastic Courtroom drawings. It's a fascinating piece of history for someone to experience as an artist or otherwise and if you follow this link you will get to see and hear part of her experience.

Janet's Slideshow

Also, I'm incuding some of her drawings and photos below. I have known Janet for 20 years now and she has always wanted to do courtroom trial illustration and has also covered The Michael Skakel Trial in Connecticut amidst all her other Illustration duties. Anyway, although our work is about as different as it gets, I continue to be inspired by Janet and her absolute dedication to this career. Check out her link in my links section to see more of her work!

Janet's Web site

Squidbillies...The Quickening

Looks like we got ourselves some damn hillbilly comedy. How'd you like et? Go see for your own damn self....Yankee!

Quigman The Concerned Economist

Who knew that my cat Quigman was so concerned about the economy and that she had a "thing" for Lou Dobbs on CNN. I swear I woke up this morning and found that she had hit the button on the tv and was glued to a replay of the Lou Dobbs show on CNN. Here's a pic to prove my point. I need to hide that remote because it's just too friggin' easy for her to operate. I think she's learning....(insert Twilight Zone Music neeneeneeneenee...!) Maybe she's worried about the state of immigration and the effect on the national economy? I wouldn't put it past her.

Dammit, they're replaying Anderson Cooper 360...now I can't get back to sleep! Damn you Cooper!