THESIS

The Perfect Thank You

"Landslide" Think Dixie Chicks or Fleetwood Mac
4' x 5'
Oil On Canvas

"Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes bolder, children get older
I'm getting older too,"

Hopefully this is the culmination of all of my other efforts and vocabulary of painting

"Little Red Riding Bitch"
24" x 30"
Oil On Canvas

 "The Idea of You" Think Dave Matthews Band
16" x 20"
Oil On Canvas

"I fall so hard inside the idea of you
That's why with you I can't say what I mean
Wana stay but I think I'm getting out of here
I fall so hard inside the idea of you"

"Raven" Think Edgar Allen Poe and Dave Matthews Band
12" x 15"
Oil on Canvas

"Bold As Love" Think John Mayer or Jimi Hendrix
16" x 20"
Oil On Canvas

"My red is so confident he flashes trophies of war 
And ribbons of euphoria. 
Orange is young, full of daring but very unsteady for the first go 'round. 
My yellow in this case is no so mellow. 
In fact I'm trying to say it's frightened like me. 
And all of these emotions of mine keep holding me 
From giving my life to a rainbow like you. 
But I'm a yeah, I'm bold as love," 

 Leftovers but work nonetheless.

 

 

Some Final Thoughts (before the show)

Before the show and before the installation I have to say the pressure is on. Between my own priorities, (work, 4 academic classes, seminar and of course thesis) personal conflicts, and time management struggles, I feel very disorganized. The pressure of trying to graduate on time, trying to do well, and looking for what's ahead is all a matter of growing up. Maybe for me personally I should have waited a semester to take this course, god knows i could have focused more. I wonder if it is at all correct to have college students delve into so many different areas in such a short amount of time but it is too late for that now. I have worked on over thirty new paintings over these last two semesters. much of it was experimenting and continued learning, but I am proud of those experiments and lessons none the less. I hope the next few days while we install the work i've done can speak for itself.
It seems time management is the most important factor now before the show.  

The Other Side (continuing work)

The Other Side, continuing off my last series of more personalized work.
Influences: Edvard Munch, David Park, Pablo Picasso, David Beckmann

Landscape and Learning

As I continued to read pamphlets and online articles on Edvard Munch, it was fascinating to learn how he portrayed his narratives. His use of backgrounds, based on or observed through personal experience was a great lesson. Through an interesting train of thought about backgrounds and the portrayal of landscapes, I also began thinking about Cezanne and an old show I attended when i was younger, Cezanne in Provence.  Perhaps of all landscape artists, Cezanne was the most dedicated and this dedication is nothing short of inspirational.

Paul Cezanne 

While my work is not heavily influenced by landscape I believe that learning to portray it in my current artistic language would certainly be beneficial.  

Landscape Paintings / Studies (Jeffrey Villanueva)

Early Thoughts

So far early thoughts of my newest work has been positive. My peers believe that improvements continue to be made. One suggestion was looking at the work of David Mack.

Another suggestions was this unknown artist found online

The color choice and use of strong contrast and life are great inspirations for me as are the use of few but meaningful brushstrokes. 

Early Thesis Work (Studio Journal)

Towards the end of last semester and the beginning of this one I kept myself busy. Instead of my usual ambiguous paintings, I began to think about my own personal experiences of life and painting and what they both mean to me. How can they be combined together in a way that is not sentimerntal nor kitsch, but instead continuing the dialogue I have already began with artists such as Picasso and Park. I also began to think about Edvard Munch and how he used personal experience in his artwork. 

Through this new work I decided that is how i wanted to present my thesis. I continued to look to other artists for influences but also decided to develop my own language

Continuing Studio Journal

Empty Studio,
This semester started out differently. The first thing I  was to do was to empty my 3rd floor studio in Mason Gross. This semester I was not able to take any studios, hence I decided to vacate my studio so someone else could make use of it. I found this to be only slightly challenging and stayed productive until all of the weight of the four academic classes and seminar class took its toll