Steve and I decided on the loose interpretation of "monsters" as a common ground to bring our work in the same arena. The show title,"Persona Monsters", basically just means monsters. We didn't go with just plain monsters because how many shows have been called that???

I'm really looking forward to seeing this amount of our work in the same room. He and I have talked about having a show together for years and finally this opportunity came up and we jumped on it. Here's a few more I'm considering to put on the walls.

I have a little bi-weekly newsletter that I rant and rave and show more preliminary drawings and art if you are interested.

The next show "Persona Monsters" is  a 2 person show with my good friend Steve Ellis at MF Gallery opening MAY 26th. Steve and I have a lot of similar influences. We both come from an illustration and comics background. We've both worked at DC and Marvel comics but left before we got all that "icky" fame and fortune from doing Batman or Wolverine. Instead we took our souls and our less conventional styles to devote to our own careers. Steve has produced a bunch of his own properties and I went with editorial art. In the long run, Steve was smart! I'll eventually be filling the role of crazy old man that lives in a cave behind Steve's house while Steve enjoys living off his many royalties and a nice life with his family traveling the world.... Now I have to convince him to put a cave in his back yard and maybe throw in a few blankets!

I'm encouraging every person I've ever known  to show up for the show May 26th.
I'm going to find some cool bar/restaurant we can all take over that will be near by for after the show. I'll be letting everyone know either here or at the show.

Plans for Saturday. MOCCA Fest, food, Opening for Scales and Feathers at Spoke Gallery in the Lower East Side around 7pm!

Fun thing, I usually pick up a cool or weird T-shirt from an underground comic artist. Last year I picked up a cool one. Hard to explain here, but it's not your typical Walmart swag. This year I'm willing to trade shirts at the gallery opening with equal T-shirt coolness for coolness. I'm a Large by the way.

"Paved roads rule" Oil on panel. 8" x 10" Yes it's for sale!

Ink on paper, illustration for White Wolf publishing. Currently pulling art for a show in May with plans to have some new ones. See the calendar on the right!

I took a break and saw Pacific Rim Uprising before it was released. I didn't plan to go but when opportunities present themselves I'll take a free ticket to most things. Last fall I saw a rodeo at Madison Square Gardens. I would have liked to see more clowns jumping in barrels but it was free and so was the bourbon!

If you've seen one Pacific Rim movie I think they are all about the same movie. All the usual tensions and dramatic music. I think to mix things up they should have a dance number or two in the next movie. Maybe have the fighting robot guys doing a dance off with the Kaiju, perhaps a synchronized swim in the middle of the Pacific ocean! It's begging for it!

My review is it was solid and what you can expect based on the previous movies. I had fun and was with some new friends that I met in line to pick up my ticket. I had a cup of coffee prior to going in to the theater but had time to hit the men's room before it started. Story telling was a little confusing as I was never sure about how far into the future it was set. It said ten yen years since the last movie and I like that they show some of the likely reality of the world recovering from the kind of gratuitous destruction of skyscrapers and infrastructure from the previous movie.

I did find it odd they didn't have more back-up on the robots but I guess if you think everything is done, why spend the money the world would need on recovery for robots you might never use?

One of the lines from the very important business lady who was making the robot replacements. was : "I've worked my whole life for this.." She didn't look more than 24 years old. Really? A life long dream? The scale of the dream she was referring would have seemed more appropriate to someone who looked at least in their 50's.

Another line that stuck out, this one I liked, referred to "%39 automated.." and showed how someone who relies on a business that is that heavily automated can not be as in control as they think.

I'll be in several shows coming up soonly.

"Of Fins and Feathers" A group show opening Saturday, April 7th, 6-8pm at Spoke Art Gallery 210 Rivington Street (ground level)
New York, NY 10002 Curated by my friend Travis Louie!

"Monster things" (working title) Two person show at MF Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Opening May 26th 7-9pm. with comic book artist Steve Ellis.

I don't promote this much, but I do have a little news letter, "Meta Fred" that I share things I've done or thought every two weeks. Not EVERYTHING, but some of the high points as they are.

March has already arrived. I had a dream when I began to write entries on my website. I would write something every day. Every day I seem to notice something about ordinary things in my environment. I think it'd be a good exercise to do and also make me pay attention to the world.
I have a lot of illustration work that is eating up my time for painting.  I'm making more figure studies that might turn in to paintings until I have more time to devote.