I’ve known Ryan Goodwin since I was 18, and now he will be having his first exhibit in New Mexico! It will be this Sept. 17, at Palette Contemporary Art & Craft, 7400 Montgomery Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109.

Recently, at Palette Contemporary Art & Craft, we had an exhibit & opening for the artist Daniel North. In his honor and just for fun, I made a cake to resemble his painting, Correspondence! This is an enamel and glass painting on artist panel. His exhibit is currently on display in the gallery and please drop by if you are in Albuquerque. Otherwise visit www.palettecontemporary.com.




This is the cake that I made:

If you have come to my website in the past, you know that I periodically mention my friend Steph. Recently, Steph’s family added an addition onto her house and on June 12 there will be a dinner and raffle held to raise funds for the new addition. Details below.

Mark your calendars to attend the Friends of Mark Allen Benefit Saturday, June 12, 4:30 - 7:30 pm at the Shelby Co Community Center. There will be kids activities, a pasta dinner and auction. Fun for the whole family while helping a great cause!

Mark Allen (Steph’s Step-Father) was born with Spina Bifida which has affected his mobility and made it difficult to live at home.

His family is raising funds to pay for a handicapped accessible bedroom and bathroom addition to his house which will allow him to continue living at home with his wife and daughter.

Cash Donations can be sent in to First Assembly of God, 1146 Hwy 59, Harlan, IA 51537. Make checks out to the church with a note for the Mark Allen Benefit. Thank you for your support!

Yes! I have friends with their own websites...some interesting works and thoughts await, just follow the links.

Faith Chou ---- All Things fashion blog and more
Ryan Goodwin ---- A prolific painter and fellow collaborator
Forrest Christian ---- This is part of the reason I am in NM
Gita Dickenson ---- Latvian artist in the UK
Emily Rapport ---- Wonderful realist painter in Chicago
Terry Othling ---- Pastels / Fellow artist in New Mexico
Jan Benett ---- Photographer in New Mexico
DC Morale ---- Figurative painter & fellow graphic designer

Last friday I received my copies of The Donated Art Book and Volume 1 & 2 of the photography books. They look great! The quality of printing on blurb is fantastic and I was really happy with the results. they make good gifts too, if you are looking for something unusual.

I have also changed the link to The Donated Art Book, and it can be found here.

In 2008 I made some small films for family and friends that I thought would just be silly and fun — a little different from my normal work, but I enjoyed it. I had some help from some people in Santa Fe, that were gracious enough to lend the use of their voices, and in the case of one person, his airplane.

In the fall of 1994 I was a freshman at the University of Northern Iowa and already a declared art major. During that first week, a classmate told me that he was forming an art history study group and that they would meet for introductions that evening after drawing class. It was that evening when I first met the painter Ryan Goodwin (below).



Fourteen years have passed since then, leaving me with the unique observational view on Ryan's work as it has evolved from humorous "Heads On Sticks" and globular, floating shapes, to a more mature, detailed "Fracture" series.

In the years that I have been involved with painting, there is no one else that I have known that has been as prolific as Ryan. While producing several paintings per year, he has continued to experiment with mediums and ideas, while developing detailed craftsmanship.

The results of his work are complex structures shadowed for depth; non-objective shapes that give viewers the illusion of something tangible in the real world. It is not surprising that people have picked out circles and squares, thinking that it was a road, house, or, perhaps, a wolf in the background. The images reverberate with movement and are not static or flat.

The colors are specifically chosen and not accidental. When Ryan paints, he uses a clean sheet of glass and mixes the exact colors into separate, neat sections. Therefore, for each painting he is using a limited color pallet that compliment and contrast, but are not necessarily expected.



Almost all of his paintings are created with oils on canvas, and are done, usually, in one sitting. Depending on the size of a canvas, Ryan may paint for a few hours straight or for an entire day, in order to complete the idea in his mind.

While the "Fracture" series has given Ryan a lot of room to experiment with shape and color, not all of his projects have been so serious. The last few years he has been designing kites in Chicago, where he has resided since 1999. His other spare moments have been filled with collaborations with other artists, making silly Ninja movies, comic strips, and any other odd, funny project that hatches in his imagination. In fact, some of these I can’t mention here because they are in public places under anonymous names.

With that aside, much of his work can be viewed online at www.goodwingallery.com.

Collaborations are nothing new in the art world, but they are one way to stir up the imagination and have a good excuse for a party!

From my own experience, group projects are fun and have helped birth new ideas for future paintings. My series Ancient Boats developed from one such collaboration with the painter Ryan Goodwin (www.goodwingallery.com). We bought thirty small, beveled pieces of wood from an art store and painted the surface with gesso. Then, we split the group in half, laid out all of our acrylic paint and each completed fifteen small works. As a challenge, we agreed upon the subject Ocean. All the paintings were either based on a literal, symbolic or abstract meaning related to this topic. We could paint in our preferred style or something entirely new.

As we created each piece in the Ocean series, it was fun to work with someone else in the room. For most painters that have left the college environment, we are accustomed to creating our works in a solitary place. This experience allowed for comradeship and talk about our craft, as well as an excuse to order pizza and turn up the music!

Another project idea is to make Christmas ornaments. One year, Ryan and I bought several round, glass ornaments, painted them and then gave them as gifts to friends and family. Before splitting up the group, we took a photo of all the ornaments together. Since a Christmas tree environment would be too stereotypical, we arranged the ornaments in the refrigerator.

In other cases, collaborations have spear-headed art exhibits. When I first moved to Chicago, a group of painters secured a place for an exhibit, created all the advertising, and hung the show. For an artist that is just starting out and looking for a simple venue, this can be one of the easiest solutions.

Whether the collaboration yields a breakthrough idea or an art exhibit, it can add to a general sense of well-being. It is difficult for anyone to produce good art year after year, and it is most certainly not as fun alone. A collaboration for the sake of entertainment, to keep one’s ideas from going stale, to encourage or expand one’s thoughts and craft, are all worthy reasons to engage in such a project.



To view the complete Ocean painting series, visit Ryan Goodwin’s site at http://geocities.com/goodwingallery/23.htm.

Two of the world’s oldest mediums — poetry and fiber — come together in a vivid and exquisite way within Leilani Pierson’s artwork. Her eclectic style weaves stories out of objects you might have gathered in a drawer: buttons, bits of ribbons, typed words, thread and swatches of cloth. She exposes bits of broken words and images to create meditations on the details of life.

“I like to make a variety of things but mainly with fabric and fibers. I have a short-attention span, thus the name Studio Gypsy,” Pierson explained, referring to her website www.studiogypsy.com. “I am always looking to create something new. Though, fiber is my main staple.”



Her Storyboxes are exactly that: vignettes captured within old altoid tins or other candy boxes. Each one is unique — both on the outside and the inside — transforming an object from something that was once ordinary and came off an assembly line into a personal, one-of-a-kind item. Pierson explains that while “altered tins are nothing new in the mixed-media field” it was her idea to focus on a story-theme.

“I love to discover a bit of poetry in the process, then flesh it out. I hope others will grasp it as well and be moved. The little things in life have great meaning in my work. I am inspired by so many things,” Pierson said, adding that she has been affected by such artists as “Dr. Seuss, Jackson Pollack, Georgia O‘Keefe, E.E. Cummings...and of course, the Great Creator Himself — God.”

In other works, such as Death of a Tree, Pierson has glued pieces of text onto the material. Organic shapes retain a lucid flow within the abstract “tree branches.” Strips of cloth remain buckled from the surface, creating a three-dimensional texture.

In Invisible Qualities, embroidered patterns are contrasted subtly on the surface and almost missed by the eye. Every detail, including the color of thread, is aply chosen for the right effect. The overall shape of the piece is that of one, distinct leaf — plucked from it’s tree.

Pierson does not limit herself as to what she can do with her chosen materials. Some of Pierson’s pieces are small sculptures created out of cloth, like Oasis.

It is out of a sensitive nature toward life that Pierson is drawn to poetry. In the small, hidden things she finds her purpose, which is to “cause pondering and wonder.”



it is summer
by leilani pierson

winter snows inside.
it is summer
and my darlings
ride the stroller and pedal
the tricycle.
winter snows inside.
it is summer
hot sticky skin
drips into a puddle
that winter then freezes
and hardens
for my aching feet
to skate about on.
it is summer.
winter snows inside.

7.10.06



rock balloon
by leilani pierson

this white marble
rock that i hold
in my hand
has a small opening
that I put my lips on
and blow into
a room of a balloon
with all its sparkling
intricacies and complexities
and the light
oh my
the light that bounces
all around me
and bathes me clean
as crystal air
then pops my rock balloon room
into millions of tiny diamonds
that i stuff deep into my pockets
as i walk away whistling.

5.11.06



Leilani Pierson currently ponders in Chicago with her husband, and three children (with a fourth on the way). She has been featured in Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, the International Quilt Festival in Houston Texas and The Columbus Center for the Paper and Book Arts in Columbus, Ohio, as well as exhibits in the Chicago area.

Artists have always been drawn to the figure as subject matter throughout the in order to explore unknown parts of the human drama and have interpreted it in many different ways on canvas. To painter D.C. Morale, exploring this focus in her work helps her understand “people and human nature better emotionally.”

The subject also leaves room for much expression within the medium. Morale uses oil paints, because it easier to throw down the colors and create expressive, abstract marks across the canvas. Broad strokes of color differentiate folds of cloth and variant hues in skin, while drips and solid colors activate the negative space. The result is rich, earthy portraits with an edgy, restless feeling; meditations on chatrooms and grace within a sea-changing, modern world.

Morale graduated from the Art Center College of Design in California with a BFA in illustration. Since then, she has worked, as a graphic designer to support her painting career, and lived in Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. Her projects have included everything from publication design to corporate marketing. Graphic design has helped Morale’ become a better painter, as it “helps with color relationships, shapes, composition, and mass. Painting has also affected my design.”

Morale’ offers this advice for someone going into the arts: “persevere, practice a lot and learn from other painters — never stop trying to learn or try new things. Try to be your own person and experiment with new techniques. Promote yourself 50% of the time and get a core job to pay the rent!”

It is not happenstance that the word “zakhor,” the Hebrew word for remember, appears in the Bible over one hundred and fifty times because the ancient Hebrews were commanded to remember. This commandment was often repeated so that the Hebrews would never forget the countless times God’s faithfulness had brought them as a people safely through. They were never to forget the stories of their exile in Egypt, their deliverance from slavery, the words of the prophets – those who demonstrated faith and obedience, and those who failed. The act of remembering is the foundation of the Christian sacrament of communion. The words, “Do this in remembrance of me,” are spoken, when partaking of the bread and the cup — the body and the blood — in remembrance of Christ’s death upon a cross of wood: the final payment for our debt of sin and separation from almighty God.

How we remember – that is, what is used to trigger our memory – in ancient times may have come in the form of processions, banners, a newly dug well or rocks piled high to configure an altar or sculpture. In today’s postmodern times we utilize memorials – both public as well as the personal home shrine, movies, ephemera such as postcards, historical books, or even paintings. “The prophets of old were commanded by God in faith and love to set up an altar or a memorial,” Robert Eustace, a sacred artist from New Jersey explained, “so that the stories of miracles and great deeds would be passed down and linger in the hearts of subsequent generations to come.”

This is the foundation of Robert Eustace’s paintings and altarpiece constructions. His work is rooted and grounded in an ancient faith and has matured in a metabolically paced and chaotic world that finds itself in a state of constant flux, future uncertainty and redefinition. The results are a series of images that cause the viewer to pause, consider and perhaps to remember in the midst of a technological age.



In The Church at the End of the 20th Century (above), Eustace employs architectural structure and pattern to grapple with philosophies of time. “I was studying the ideas of existential (or eternal) time, creativity and destiny written by the Christian Existentialist philosopher, Nicholas Berdyaev (1874-1948),” Eustace said, “this work is a meditation on the act of waiting – our earthly longing for transcendence out of this present world of sin, limitations and death, and into the marvelous light – staring off into the deep space of night through an ornate window (or a portal that receives and emanates the Divine Mercy and Grace). The window signifies a metaphor for the Church – or Christ’s body – which is composed of fitly joined stones (the saints of God) into a magnificent, everlasting, eternal edifice or building.”


Eustace’s subjects don’t derive from ‘self-expressed ideas’, but from meditations within Judeo-Christian and other sacred texts. Therefore his ideas of time and memory are within a context that believes that God created and operates inside of time, and yet is also outside of time. Humans dwell on a physical plane and travel on a linear (or historically conscious) path – event-by-event – within time and space, from birth to death. Humans also travel on a cyclical journey marked by patterns of daily to yearly ritual as well as the lifelong rites of passage. Existential time can simply be described as that timeless moment when a ‘drop of eternity’ crosses over, intersects with and converges with time and space, or the linear/cyclical plane. Existential time is a moment of forever.

Memory and imagination transcend linear/cyclical time. Something new can be learned of the past, while also affecting the present and future. Eudora Welty said in her book One Writer’s Beginnings, “It is our inward journey that leads us through time – forward or back, seldom in a straight line, most often spiraling. Each of us is moving, changing, with respect to others. As we discover, we remember; remembering, we discover; and most intensely do we experience this when our separate journeys converge.” In Eustace’s work the convergence is focused on the relationship of God and man, specifically in the intersection that meets with Jesus Christ.

In Pairidaeza, boxed, open spaces along the lower sides of the work, give the idea of blueprints – perhaps something that will be built in the future – and alludes to the house that Jesus described to his disciples before his death. “In my father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you (NIV/John 14:2),” this is an allusion to a time that has not yet come. In the same piece we have symbols related to the beginning of time (the Garden of Eden) and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is in the center. “At it’s roots the viewer can find Adam and Eve with the serpent, standing in front of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, from which the much larger good tree seems to emanate,” Eustace said, “The colorful, jewel-like Tree of Life, fills the entire center of the artwork and is surrounded by an eight sided octagonal expanse of immense open space, or the open parklands. Outside of that are the bright golden yellow walkways that meander everywhere and the dark blue waterways that spill off the edge of the artwork and into the four Cardinal Directions (north, south, east and west). These waters – sourced here at this model Eden – travel throughout the nations giving life, healing and nourishment to the world. At the top of the painting/construction, there are numerous scriptures that speak of the story of ‘original oneness,’ sin and separation through the process of the mystery of iniquity or kosmos diabolikos, and then through Christ’s Incarnation and Death/Resurrection – the return path back to oneness with God.” In essence, that salvation through Christ was destined from the beginning of time and flows throughout history.

Robert Eustace was born in1957 and grew up in New York City, in the Inwood section of northwestern Manhattan. Like many artists, his childhood fostered what would be his vocation in life and he was influenced early on by lush gardens and large expanses of parklands that flourished around his urban neighborhood, the Christian faith and his local church, the explosive tensions and cultural developments within 1960-1970’s America, and the relationship to his neighbor and best friend’s father: the expressionist painter, Peter Dean.

Peter Dean and his family occupied the flat across the hall, and Eustace was invited on many occasions into their rooms filled with bright oil paintings. He was privy to Dean’s energetic explosive style and was witness to works in progress. This open invitation not only introduced him to new ideas in painting that were congruent to New York’s atmosphere of the 1960’s, but also set the stage for his own gentle response to meaning, imagination and creative environments. Eustace describes Dean’s work as “wildly magical panoramic scenes from the bizarre carnival pageant and fantastic drama of life – painting as mystical theater.” For a child of Eustace’s character this was an intense draw and he enjoyed the moments that he shared with the Dean family. “I always saw the Dean’s as special people who were refreshingly different from all of the other friends and neighbors in our immediate family circle. They did not seem to have the same hang-ups and frustrations as most of the people that I knew. Looking back at the times of the early 1960’s, in my mind the Dean’s were most definitely pre-hippie or beat in lifestyle.”

In college Eustace experienced a spiritual awakening that deepened his faith and set free his aesthetic sensibilities. He described this as a time period when “his soul experienced an immediate transformation – it had passed from an old deadened state of black and white that was totally void of color – overnight – to a new state of vibrant color and eternal spring.” While he considers himself as someone that had always felt God’s presence in his life, this time garnered a deep inner change and immediately all his senses flew into high gear. It is from this experience that a prolific series of paintings based on gardens emerged, and so did his view that being an artist is a calling – a vocation – and not just a nine-to-five job.

“Over time and through years of prayer, study and art making and life’s ups and downs, I began, and to this day, continue to hammer out a sacred art vision,” Eustace said, adding to this idea that art making isn’t limited to contemplative thought, but is also about prophetic vision. “As a sacred artist, I am not limited to self-expression, which to my thinking just begins and ends with me! This is not a negation or obliteration of my personhood, rather, in the midst of deep creative process(es) there is plenty of room for who I am and was created to be. Yet, I am tapping into something far greater than myself and am availing myself to be an open channel (or conduit) to dialogue with, receive and convey in earthly materials something of the LORD. HE is my source and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – lives within me! I have learned to quiet myself to be able to listen to these internal nudges – go-aheads – spiritual promptings. HE is also clearly evident within the Creation – though fallen, groaning in travail, waiting for the Sons of God to be revealed – and then made over into the New Heaven and the New Earth.”

Eustace’s ideas were forged during a period in American art where religious and government establishments were considered obsolete or untrustworthy. Religion, especially Christianity, was seen as a trap that kept an artist from experiencing their full self in expression. “Much of the modernist tenets in art called for an art of dry, formal and pristine devices which lack real life and vitality,” Eustace said, “gone was a sense of the narrative, of animated storytelling and larger than life heroes, of history — and in its place was a dead and lifeless formalism. It really wasn’t until the current postmodern times of today that the slate was cleaned and the doors now open to all sorts of creative philosophies and possibilities — including ideas of history, storytelling, deep spirituality and beauty.”

Eustace chose a different approach. “Because of the Incarnation (Christ as man dwelling among us) and the Resurrection (Christ raised up to set us free from sin and death) the artist of faith has been set free to create within the large framework of prayer, study, thinking, working — throughout the course of this life and its translation into the next! Artistic excellence is to be passionately pursued. Lastly, the idea of beauty is something that should be honored, upheld and restored to the dignity of its rightful place as it relates to art and the sacred. During much of the modern epoch in art and throughout culture, beauty has been met with mistrust, ugliness and irrationality.”

Today Eustace resides in New Jersey and finds solace in the meditative quietude outside of the city. While he admits that the bustle of New York helped to trigger and foster his growth as a young artist, today, it is not necessary for him to have constant access to this type of creative environment anymore. “If anything, the city in the early 21st century, provides far too much confusing diversity of choices, over-stimulation, clutter, chaos and noise — so that one cannot hear oneself think, or truly hear one’s inner voice.” He now finds strength in stillness, corresponding with friends, long walks, and even in creating his own homemade soup recipes. It is in the place of stillness that he is able to focus his thoughts, search through a myriad of aesthetic angles and create new works.

His latest series, Aenigmate, are an ongoing work of mixed media altarpiece constructions. “These images likened to illuminated manuscript pages, reliquaries and icons, stem from my interest in Medieval, conceptual and narrative modes. The series title Aenigmate means: At this present time (being earthbound and limited in finitude) to see and ascertain only the dimmest of shadows of what truly is and what is to come; like looking through a dark glass. I seek to convey something of the mysterium tremendum – or a visual approximation of the experience of awe, divine mercy and terrible beauty.”

In the work Image: Seed of Divine Life, Eustace uses common images in female reproduction to remind us of the conception of God becoming man: The Incarnation becomes flesh with blood and bones, but remains mysterious — swirling color and spirit. The use of metals along the rim and sides of the work harks back to medieval times and draws upon mystical, abstract representations of the creation of life.

Keep in mind that these works are meant to be altarpieces, which is a form of art created ages before to illuminate teachings and worship within the church. However Eustace’s work is on display in galleries and other venues that exist outside the church, and the altarpiece removed from the altar is brought into a modern space, with modern viewers. The meditative quality doesn’t change. The viewer is brought in as a participant, not as a student that will learn a lesson, but as a fellow traveler through time, that is beckoned in the quiet of the gallery to stop and contemplate memory.

To remember was and is considered a blessing, and to forget was and is considered a curse. In a world obsessed with celebrity and the newest fads, Robert Eustace calls us back to remember – that there is a well spring deeper and longer than we can ever can imagine running through and outside of time, rooted in an unchanging love from the eternal God.

To view more of Robert Eustace’s work, please visit his website at sainteustacefineart.com.

On any given day, Michael Wilson might open a grid-paged book, take out a pen and sketch an image triggered by a conversation overheard on the train. Or, he might scribble some random thoughts under a taped postcard. Later, these parcels might develop into a logo or a four color spread.

Michael, a graphic designer in Chicago, continually finds his subject matter from “people, places, conflicts, form and truth.” He collects thoughts, sketches and scraps of paper inside journals. “I have a journal and a concept book. I have also invested in smaller size books for doodles. You never know when an awesome idea will hit. I have sketch books for explorations and illustrations. I also collect images from anywhere I can. All of this makes for a simple library to pool from.”

In 1999 Michael graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA degree in Visual Communications and left his home state to pursue a career in Chicago. At his first job for Big Idea Productions he designed packages for Veggie Tales products and later, he freelanced for many companies such as Sanford LP (makers of Papermate pens), Paterno Wines and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

With over ten years of experience in packaging and web design, Michael has come to understand what it takes to make it as a designer in Chicago.

“I would say to a young designer, to turn around and get a degree in accounting. Well maybe not that drastic. I would advise the designer to stay open to a wide range of mediums and technologies. Designers will have to be able to work in a diverse range of medium. Be a professional! Work hard and remain humble. Get a good reputation for quality and detail. So many designers become big headed or bitter, so their work suffers and so too their reputation. Never stop learning.”

Like most graphic designers in Chicago, Michael has weathered the ups as well as the downs with his chosen profession. His faith in God is what has kept him grounded as he has weathered layoffs and recessions. Yet, he has been startled at such few resources in Chicago there have been for artists, and especially those of faith. It has been a struggle not only to survive and flourish, but also to meet those within the artistic community that feel a connection to a higher being and also have a great desire to create beautiful and professional work.

His view that designers should be well versed in multiple mediums is founded in that more and more positions require an assortment of skills, not just Photoshop expertise. Many companies are looking for designers with print and web design skills, which requires knowledge of several software packages.

To compete with a skilled market, designers need to know the latest software versions on an expert level as well as possess an artistic eye for composition and detail. The software can be expensive, and in the case of video, much equipment must be utilized. Artists that have left their field for a given period of time, for whatever reason, may have a difficult time returning to the market place, while others may feel an economic crunch. This has been Michael’s ongoing concern and he has wondered what options could be made available, especially to those in underprivileged communities in Chicago.

Recently Michael’s attention has shifted to forming an online community of artists in Chicago, through his blog site http://worththefight.tumblr.com. Aptly Michael has named this "The Good Fight." While it has not been unusual in recent years for everyone to start such sites, Michael's aims are different in the focus. It is his goal to retake the higher ground in art often ignored by most evangelicals. While he would like to bring together artists for fellowship, his dream is to eventually provide a physical center in Chicago that could aid starving artists through grants, train others that would not have the financial income to buy video cameras or expensive software packages, and provide a location for exhibiting and a hands-on space for creating art.

He also believes that a center of this kind would be useful for churches and non-profit groups that don’t have large budgets or available artists within their congregations. Young artists seeking employment or portfolio pieces would aid in the design of logos or websites.

While some of these things may be in the future, Michael is dedicated now to taking a step of faith. He invites anyone to visit his blog site for more information.