Whew. Take it easy. One thing at a time. I'm officially leaving Portland this Tuesday to move back to my hometown of Pittsburgh. There is much to be done and not much time to do it. My brother Ben is in town to visit and to eventually drive back to Pittsburgh with me and all my belongings. My mom and my grandmother are also on the way here to help me move back so it'll be a Kehoe caravan. Just follow the smell of smoke and the sounds of screaming to know where we are in the country. The next few days will be a blur but the drive should be a good time. There's a whole bunch of paintings to ship on Monday and a whole lot of explanation of where they are going, but that will have to wait until a later update. For now, I'm posting the last small painting of the summer that I'm selling off my Etsy store. It's called "Forest Watcher" and is a 10" x 10" Oil Painting on wood going for $750. I have it up my store but the store will be shutting down Monday night. Then my store will reopen whenever I end up in Pittsburgh... so probably a couple weeks.

This might be the last update I make in Portland, so I give a huge salute to you Portland. It's been an awesome time and I know I'm a better person for living here the last 2 years. I shall miss you and your fresh air.

Summer in Portland is an awesome slice of fir-scented heaven. For all the rain we put up with all year, it stays clear and sunny all summer. Normally the temperature is pretty modest and pleasant, but every once in a while some high heat rolls in and slaps you in the face like a hot jerk. Honestly, as hot as it gets here it's nothing compared to heat out East with all the sticky humidity. So I can handle some dry heat... especially if some river swimming is involved. Although, working in an attic studio with little tiny windows is not the best place to be during a heat wave. It definitely reached over 100 degrees in the studio today. After a while I started passing out sporadically and waking up in random places with dirt and wood chips all over my mouth. One time I woke up with a frozen chicken pot pie in my mouth. I think I was attracted to the coldness of it.

I've got the Blab! Show 2010 coming up next month at Copro Nason. The pieces are done and waiting to be shipped out. The show is chock full of amazing talent so if you're in the LA area, I recommend you get on those scary freeways and make you way over there. I wish I could, but I'll be on the road moving all my belongings back East.

I'm going to take this time to share some Etsy fun from some of my favorite artists... who also happen to be good pals of mine. You could say we're a crew. You could even go as far to say that we're a dangerous crew. To get into the club, you have to do something dangerous and illegal. For instance, I bought a book, read it and then returned it for a refund. Suckers!!
Then there's Evan who killed at least three people to get in. Show off. It could've been more but every time I bring it up, he starts grumbling and waving around a straight razor. You don't have to be that enthusiastic to get in, but I'm pretty sure that puts him in charge. Speaking of Evan, here are some prints and originals he has available in Etsy:

Whaler and His Muse Print - $75

Wounded Fin (Original) - $250

Check out his Etsy for more prints and paintings.
Evan B. Harris Etsy
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Next are some beautiful prints from Kathleen Lolley. I'm not sure what Kathleen did to get in, but she had to hide away in the woods for almost 2 years afterwards. Must've been bad. I asked Evan what she did, and his reply was to pull out the straight razor and stare at me until I left. 

Moon Ritual Print - $45

Can't Let Go Print - $45

More Lolley Goodness at Kathleen Lolley Etsy
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Last and maybe most dangerous of all is my brother, Ben Kehoe. What he did was so heinous and vile that it's a crime just to repeat what he did. A friend of ours kept insisting for Ben to tell him what he did. When Ben finally relented and told him, that poor friend bled out of his ears and slipped into a coma he still hasn't recovered from. Better to just let it go and never ask Ben any questions. 

He Helps Me Fight Print - $45

Done Haunting Houses (Original) $600

 Go to Ben Kehoe Etsy for more.

Wanted to give anyone that actually reads my blog a heads up that I'll be releasing a new print through Tony Showcase tonight at 7:30 EDT. Yes! If you don't know Tiny Showcase, check them out. Their whole deal is awesome.
http://www.tinyshowcase.com/

Some of my prints have been up for a while so I'm putting them into back stock and bringing out some freshlings. I just posted 3 new prints to entice your mind grapes. You can see them via my Etsy Store.

Also dropped the prices of all my prints. A "Punch The Economy In The Balls" discount. 

In other news, I've got a print through Tiny Showcase coming up very soon. Love those guys, love what they're doing and I love that they love doing what they love and that makes me love it all even more. Should be out in a couple weeks so keep your eyes peeled.

I was feeling a bit annoyed and down today because I kept forgetting things and had to keep going back to the house and back to the shipping place and back to the house again... one of those days. Then a Paul Simon song came on, the sun peeked through the clouds and everything felt better. I even saw some teenage goth girl smelling the flowers. That was a sure sign to snap the hell out of it. And I did. All is well.

I've had a pretty eventful couple weeks since last I posted. I had a photoshoot a couple Sundays back with Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho for their Heroes and Villains project. It was awkward yet pretty damn fun and I was definitely honored to be involved. I got to meet some awesome artists like Blaine Fontana, Above, and Scott Musgrove, who was in town from Seattle. I saw Joshua Keyes just leaving the studio when I got there, but I managed to jot down his license plate number as he peeled out of there. I'll be seeing you soon Joshua Keyes.

 

One of my smaller prints has sold out so I've added another little guy. It's from one of the pieces I've done over the summer called, "Budding Youth." It's a small edition of 30 and it's available in my Etsy Store.

I'm in Pittsburgh for a couple weeks to celebrate the birthday with the twin brother and it's feeling a lot like summer here.. Over the weekend, I had a great birthday BBQ, ate a ton and only waited 5 minutes before I jumped in the pool. I ended up cramping and sinking to the bottom of the deep end, but one of my friends found me after a few minutes. No big deal. Now I'm just kind of lying about and enjoying the time off. Figured I'd write a blog entry since I'm horribly, neglectful blog host.
This summer should be a great one in the Pacific Northwest. My schedule is a little light so I'm planning some camping and maybe a drive out to Big Sur. Always wanted to go there. I'm doing a couple pieces for the next Blab! Show in the Fall which is always awesome. My next big show is at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in March 2011. That's always a good time. So I'll be hard at work for that show very very soon.
Since I don't have a heavy workload this Summer, I've been working on some small paintings in my free time. I plan on coming out with a few this Summer just to sell in my Etsy store. I just finished a small 8" x 8" painting and posted it on Etsy. Here's a link if you're interested.
Forest Guardian Etsy

It's selling for $650. Still have to put some finish on it and stain the sides but the little guy is looking good.

We did it! The long tunnel of winter has opened into the budding glory of spring. Huzzah! I burnt all my jackets in celebration and will never wear them again... next winter might be a tough one. Damn these rash and impulsive celebrations. Had yet another crazy person yell at me while walking down the street. This guy was yelling, "Don't you look at me! Don't you ever fucking look at me! Ever!" Over and over and over. I wasn't even looking at him at all until he started yelling at me. Not the best way to go unnoticed. He ended up standing in the middle of Morrison street and yelling the same thing at every car that passed by so I didn't take it personally.
Portland is looking extra magnificent these days and it's doing it's best to distract me from work. I've given in to some extra long coffee breaks on the balcony. I have my first showing in Portland next weekend at a place called Grass Hut run by the ever awesome Bwana Spoons. The show is called Balls Out and opens April 2nd. Here's the postcard:

I'm also releasing 2 prints for the season. One of them is a print from one of my pieces at the Jonathan LeVine Anniversary Show called, "A Welcome to Coming Days." The second one is from a recent commission I finished for Dean Kuehnen called, "At Ease Amidst My Fellows." Here's some extra info on the prints. They both have the same specs:
Image size 20" x 13" Total Print Size 22" x 15"
Edition of 30
$70

You can click on my mini Etsy store to the right to explore more.

Tomorrow I head to the airport for the midnight plane to New York. I'm taking Jet Blue so maybe I'll watch some Olympics to pass some time. Or it might be a good time to get some sleep... Hopefully I don't get the night terrors this time. Air travelers are so tense these days and don't take too well to some sleeping, long-haired, half-asian guy thrashing his arms around and screaming bloody murder. Lighten up people. Flying used to be fun.

The reason for my trip to New York is to attend the Jonathan LeVine Gallery 5th Year Anniversary Show. I still have my work here in Portland so it's going to travel with me in a very secure and well-packaged box. I was hoping to get these pieces done earlier so it wouldn't be last minute, but that didn't end up happening. As hard as I may try, it always comes down to the wire even though I've been working on these guys for a while. Sometimes I suspect my own paintings are trying to make me look like a fool... But they always pull through in the end and it's hi-fives all around. I dropped them off to get photographed today so I'll have images to share soon. I'll post them on my Flickr tomorrow.

Here's the card for the show... and the ***closed for installation*** image on their site. Nice.

Check out their site for more info.
http://jonathanlevinegallery.com/

Thanks!

The print I get asked about most is an oldie but goodie called "Finding Hope Here in the Clearing." It's one of my most optimistic pieces and I think we can all use a little slice of that these days. Today was an especially beautiful day in Portland, and I felt pretty good about the world as I drank my coffee in the sunshine. Then I gave an old lady a hi-five and did a whistling somersault across a busy street followed by the jazziest jazz hands ever. From my bio, you may know that I am former master of jazz hands. I haven't used my jazz hands in years... not since that tragic day. I can still hear the screams of children and horses when I close my eyes. But the day called for it and I felt that my moves kept the weather nice. No thanks necessary. I'm just glad no one got hurt.

I know some people missed out on the first run so I'm running a second edition of it, but closer to the original size. I'm keeping it at a very small run of 25 and after that, it's gone forever. Go to my Etsy store for more info:

Thanks!
Keep it jazzy.