Friday, December 28, 2012

poetry on Love


LOVE
by James Riggs


sometimes I think that I've got things all figured out
then you throw me a curveball and I strike out
it's how you look in your eyes
soft and fair like the morning sunrise
kisses like dew on the soles of your feet
then I see past those eyes
see a knife wielding side
see how I let you in and then you begin….
you dig.
how far can you go though?
china is not inside my chest
there is no other side,
nor is there a diamond in that cave for you to find in my breathe
it seems sometimes we let love get the best of us
it only comes in like a morning fog
then the suns rays come in and it dissipates as quickly as it came
do you not see the steam or the lava behind my grin?
do you not understand that all we have is time?
do you not want to take advantage of this so called love?
and this time is not on our side just as that damn fog…
damn knife wielding whore on the foot of my bed.
damn sun for coming out and evaporating that cool clean air which can drown you in a moments notice
someday I should learn to swim
I already know how to run, 
but i just can't get far enough

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Latest Mural

Newest mural painted for "TO DO or DYE SALON" in Brookfield il. This piece is painted in reverse from the inside out on the main window of the shop.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Cave Mural

This is a cave mural which Painted in a basement on concrete walls. It consists o spray paint and household rustoleum brand paints. Thre spray paints were the hardest part to work with do to the lack of ventilation down there.




Duvel painting

Here is another Duvel painting I did which is hanging at The Hop Leaf in Andersonville. This was a solo Show I painted at in celebration of Belgium Independence. 

I came as a rat

Here is a new little series created with the past weeks. "watering can rat". This piece was designed for outdoor use. The concept is to place him on walls where weeds are present growing. Everyone needed a little help while we had no rain.



Wednesday, July 11, 2012

There is a video from Duvel.

If you would like to view a video of myself and a few other talented artists doing live painting for Duvel you can view it by liking their page on facebook. Do a search for

Duvel/Ommegang Chicago

This will link you up to the video that was produced showcasing the art and a delicious beer.

Tonights the night!!! Logan Bar from 8-close!!

Come out this evening to view a collection of my works along with the work of Rachel Lechocki (http://organicrenaissance.blogspot.com/)
We will be at Logan Bar in Logan Square tonight 2230 North California Avenue  Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 252-1110
Opening our show from 8-close.
Come and join us and enjoy a few delicious beers as well!
                                      
 Just a few of my pieces you will see there for the next month.
Mounted and hung and enjoying a beer!!

Live Paintings for Duvel done for an event last month.

Practice run for Duvel Logo

Deciding the day of how to make these two work together

First piece done at show before logo is installed

Side view with logo showing the gold flare up

Second piece designed that day. Forgot to take progress pictures.

Both pieces I did within 5 hours of the event

Front view of my pieces

Individual views

Individual views

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Monday, July 9, 2012

Teaser for the Logan Bar show this coming Wednesday July 11th

"Blue Woman a Thought"

"Evolution"

Teaser for "Hades in Chicago" dedicated to the recent heat wave here in Chicago

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Late night doodles

This is just a simple late night sketch from last night using the quote on my donated Oak Park window piece. Quote from Ernest Hemingway's For whom the Bell Tolls. Pen and ink with water color pencils and finished with clear coat gloss.
Today I found out that this piece has a bid on it right now which closes this evening. This is an image of one of the first identified "orchids".  This is another stencil which I did. It is painted on a red cabinet shelf. Layered colors: spray paints along with acrylic paints and gesso.

Donations I've recently done.


So It's been a pretty productive couple of weeks. First of course there was Summer Camp Music Fest where I was lucky enough to get to pain side stage to Hot Buttered Rum (great bluegrass band). The piece I did for them is on a piece of press board which was actually a direction sign or something of that nature. There was a little girl who came up to me and was excited that I was over there painting. She came over to me to watch. I showed her what I was doing and then asked if she wanted to help. So of course she was head over heals in wanting to join in. I asked her to hold out her hand where I proceeded to put a few types of paint across her palm. I then told her to put her hand prints in different locations on the board. From there I can admit I was a little bit confused. I stared at it for a few minutes realizing that I had completely changed my idea. I then decided to create a sun and moon stencil and spray paint them on in order it to create a certain soft tone for shadow. From there I just filled in the image until the band was done. Good times. It was interesting and fun to create all on a whim in front of a crowd of people.

Monday, May 14, 2012

It's been a while since I have been able to post anything. Here are a few new pieces...




Here is a batch of a few new pieces that I've done. Each one of these is created by using a stencil which I cut out on water color paper. From here I then used brushed on acrylic paint on top of gesso which was spread on with a rag. From here I then would place the stencil on top of the canvas. I really like to use a blue paint or a gold paint first. From there a coat of black works as an excellent way of creating shadow and depth. Besides the canned spray paints I would also use the mister bottle technique of diluting an acrylic paint with water or rubbing alcohol. On the painting of a sprouted tree I used a textured primer to create an extra bit of shadow and depth.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Reposting these images from a short time back.



These are a couple of my old window paintings I have done along with a few window advertisements I painted for my job at Trader Joe's.

Here are a few new post of works I have been doing on a few of the influential people in my life. There are many more of these to come...


In order to create these I begin by laying down what ever colors or textures onto whatever object I plan on working with. From here I dry the objects either quickly or slowly to play with their textures. You can achieve this with blowdryers or even placing things in your oven. (cautious about the temps because you don't want to burn anything unless that is what you're going for. Then I place a stencil which I create and cut out to my liking. This is an old technique which is great because you can reuse the same image over and over again. Then once this dries glaze it to seal in the colors and the paints.