End of An Era

Sadly, after nine awesome years, I went to my Bushwick studio last month for the very last time and moved out. Due to the pandemic and too many artists moving out at the same time, it was no longer tenable for the six of us that share the space to keep it going.

The studio was my second home, my refuge where I could make art, hang out with friends and have a community. Most of all I’m going to miss all the great friendships and conversations I’ve had there with Jisho, Andrew, Kyrre, Tati, Paz and so many more. I’m forever grateful to Jisho, who was able to manage the studio for nearly a decade!

I can’t recommend enough trying to find a community of like-minded people that exists outside of work and home. I was lucky I found mine at the studio. I hope to find a similar place again when the pandemic is over. But in the meantime, I’ve been painting from home for the last couple of months and it’s been going well. Although my apartment is much more crowded now that I’ve squeezed a small studio into my space, I’m able to paint just much as I did when I had a studio.

I’ve collected a lot of photos of the studio from over the years and thought I’d share them here. Photos include some of the amazing sunset views from our roof and windows.

Constantin Brancusi’s “Mlle Pogany” (8 x 6 inches)
Constantin Brancusi’s “Mlle Pogany” (8 x 6 inches)
$175.00
Richardson St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (18 x 14 in.)
Richardson St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (18 x 14 in.)
$720.00

Video & Interview with Musician, Public Speaking

I’m excited to share with you my latest video, which along with my art, features a song I commissioned by my friend and previous MoMA coworker Jason Anthony Harris. Jason makes music under the moniker Public Speaking and has toured across the US, been featured on the Bandcamp Weekly, The Needle Drop, and his album “Within Patterns” was listed as a Top Ten Experimental Album by A Closer Listen. The following is an email exchange I had with Jason about our video Color Walk, making art, and finding connection during a time of social isolation.

Alex: Thanks so much for the amazing song Jason! It’s perfect! I was inspired to reach out to you after reading one of your thoughtful social media posts about the importance of supporting bands during this time when there are no live concerts. I took a look at your Patreon where I was surprised to learn that anyone can commission you to write a personalized song! I immediately thought of how fun it would be to commission you to write a song that I could use to accompany a video of my paintings. Have you done any other song commissions? It’s such a great idea.

Jason: I started a Patreon in late September of last year with a member benefit of a personalized song. The listener fills out a brief questionnaire, and I write and record a song based on their life and whatever they might be going through. Some of the songs are light and playful, some are meant to empower people who are struggling, and others are more intimate dives into people's lives. Writing songs for other people is a completely new experience for me. I usually write music that draws heavily from history and literature, occasionally writing more personal pieces about my own life and experiences. Somehow, I've written nearly thirty personalized songs since launching this project, and the commissions keep coming. I've grown so much as a songwriter in that short period of time, and I've learned that making very specific art for an audience of one can be a rich, engaging process. I know that writing all these songs for other people has unalterably changed me as a musician. I also feel more open and confident in sharing and gifting my work.

Public Speaking

Public Speaking

Alex: I can relate, commissions have been helpful in my growth as an artist as well. Can you share a little about your process in writing and recording your song for me? What you were thinking about? What instruments did you use?

Jason: I was predominantly concerned with your aesthetic and the world of your paintings. I think your pictures have a great sense of calm and warmth. I wanted to put the listener inside that feeling, without distracting from it too much. I used some field recordings from an archivist at Yosemite National Park. I juxtaposed a soundscape of birds singing in the daytime with some nighttime lake sounds to give the piece a subtle, otherworldly, timeless quality. I also used the rhythmic sounds of chopping firewood, an electronic kick drum, and many layers of what sounds like synth but is actually effect-heavy guitar.

 
Public Speaking|Photo by Chester Hawkins

Public Speaking|Photo by Chester Hawkins

 

Alex: My hope was that this video might inspire others to get out, even if it’s a small walk around the block, and find a little solace with whatever nature can be found this time of year. Getting outside has definitely helped me a lot with my cabin fever and social isolation. Have you been able to get into nature at all? How have you been maintaining on a personal level?

Jason: I live in a small apartment with my wife and cat in Brooklyn, and I take daily walks and runs around our neighborhood to fight the feeling of isolation. I also meet up with friends one-on-one in the park every now and then, and I sat on my roof almost every day before the temperature dropped too low and the wind became too strong. I've been fortunate to take a couple of short trips upstate over the past few months to do a little hiking and feel closer to nature. On these trips we've been careful to stay very secluded and safe. They've definitely helped us stay sane during the pandemic.

Jason composing in his Brooklyn apartment

Jason composing in his Brooklyn apartment

“I have never regretted trying, but I almost always regret giving up, limiting, or diminishing myself. It’s taken me a lifetime to feel the agency to speak up and advocate for what I believe in.”
— Jason Anthony Harris

Alex: One of the highlights of the year for me was hearing a song of yours on the podcast How Did This Get Made? Have there been any silver linings for you creatively in the past year? Or as a musician do you feel like your creative life has just been on hold?

Jason: Happily, I've been more productive than ever. I'm sort of a workaholic when it comes to my music, and this time has given me so much space to explore and create - and also to reach out to other people and take more risks. I'm a recent convert to the philosophy of continually trying to make contact with (and make an impact on) others through my work, and of giving of oneself as much as possible. I have never regretted trying, but I almost always regret giving up, limiting, or diminishing myself. It's taken me a lifetime to feel the agency to speak up and advocate for what I believe in (not to mention, for my own art), instead of convincing myself that my contribution does not matter. What I do is not for everyone, but I know that I have been able to touch some people. I want to continue to show up for the ears that may want to listen. Besides, I've designed my whole life around making music, and creating is how I build meaning and keep myself from falling into despair.

Alex: Making art is definitely something I need to do to keep myself emotionally buoyant as well. Lastly, any plans, hopes or dreams for the rest of the year?

Jason: I find it almost impossible to make plans yet. It all depends on the vaccine rollout, which unfortunately does not seem to be going very well. I'd like to continue to build my Patreon following, and I have a loose goal of finishing 100 personalized songs by the end of this year. I have two upcoming albums for 2021, but the release dates have not been finalized yet. I'd love to play live again and to do some touring (especially in Europe), but who knows if that will be possible this year. I may have to wait until 2022! Thank you so much, Alex. I'm happy to provide music for your beautiful artwork, and I look forward to seeing it, and you, in person when the plague subsides.

Alex: Thanks Jason!

You can listen to and find out more about Public Speaking here:

Bandcamp
Tumblr
Facebook
Patreon.com

You can also find Public Speaking on streaming services: Spotify, AppleMusic and the like.

New Paintings Available

 

My apartment is inundated in paintings, they're absolutely everywhere! It’s gotten to the point where I’ve run out of room and had to put a wet painting on top of the bathroom vanity to dry. By the next morning I saw my wife had moved the painting elsewhere. I guess she doesn’t consider the bathroom studio storage. So to reclaim some living space, I’ve decided to spend the next few weeks going through my archives and making previously stored artworks available for sale. Most of these paintings don’t line up with my current landscape style, and some are really quirky, but I thought why not give them the opportunity to find a new home? They want to be seen! So for this week I thought I’d share my first batch of newly available works. The paintings below are from the recent past: 2014 - 2017. Click on any image to see more photos of the works. I hope you enjoy.

The Pines, a 30 x 40 inch painting, is part of an ambitious series of abstract-photorealist paintings I made in 2015. For me, the painting feels like a memory of taking a long car ride into the woods and getting lost in a pine forest. The imagery from left to right includes: water droplets on a car window, close up of a pine cone, pine needles on the forest floor and the vinyl interior of a car, rotated ninety degrees.

RESERVED: Nautical Flags and Birch Trees
Sold
RESERVED: Nautical Flags and Birch Trees
$800.00

Nautical Flags and Birch Trees is the second abstract-photorealist paintings I’ve made available for sale. This painting is 40 x 30 inches and shows a colorful array of nautical flags, a ship’s steering wheel, a birch tree and birch leaves. The painting may evoke a connection with any woods-y waterfront of your past, present or future. It reminds me of spending my summers as a kid at Lake George, New York.

Pastel Seascape (Bob Ross)
Sold
Pastel Seascape (Bob Ross)
$150.00

Pastel Seascape is based on a painting demonstration from Bob Ross on his TV show The Joy of Painting. It was a joy making this painting. Before I got started, I made sure to have all the proper Bob Ross tools and materials, including a large house painting brush, the signature Bob Ross palette knife and a ton of linseed oil. While it took Bob a mere thirty minutes to make his painting, it ended up taking me six hours! Of course I spent a lot of that time rewinding the episode to watch his technique a few times before I committed to any part of the painting. It was a lot of fun to make this painting and I am happy with how it turned out.

Bob’s Pastel Seascape in progress

Bob’s Pastel Seascape in progress

Abstract
Abstract
$150.00

Honestly, I only dimly remember making this painting but I am loving it now. It’s colorful and weird! The painting has an underlying base of acrylic paint with touches of oil paint on the top. Most unusual, is the textural band of paint near the bottom that fades from yellow to blue. The band is composed of acrylic paint, a chunky concrete medium and a subtle iridescent medium which collectively gives the painting an other-worldly appearance.

Tree in Central Park
Sold
Tree in Central Park
$352.00 $440.00

Tree in Central Park was created in my current painting style, but is newly available. The painting shows a rather dramatic tree I came across in the southern half of the Central Park. I made this painting just when the leaves were starting to turn yellow in the fall.

Avignon Street is also not too dissimilar to my current work, but is also new to the website. Avignon, France might be the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited. This painting shows one of the many small homes inside the castle walls.

Well, that’s all for this week!

Also, be sure to follow me on Instagram as I’m sharing new works there all the time.

 

New Year, New Paintings

I hope you’re all doing well, or as well as can be. I’m doing OK, working from home, painting on the weekends and basically being in my apartment 24/7. This week I wanted to share with you three paintings that I’ve just made available on my site. The first two paintings are brand new and the third is from 2017 but new to the site. I’ll be adding more previously unavailable works to the site in the coming weeks.

Richardson Street

 
Richardson St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (18 x 14 in.)
Richardson St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (18 x 14 in.)
$720.00
 

This view is from the corner of Richardson Street and Meeker Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a couple blocks away from my apartment. I was drawn to this view because of the great lighting and because of all the great color on the buildings — the bright green cornices to the right, the fun red and blue Kalmon Dolgin realtor logo and of course the fact the trees were in peak fall foliage.

There is also the awesome vintage VW van on the left. Once I first noticed this van in my neighborhood I couldn’t stop seeing it everywhere. Seeing it has become a good luck charm for me.

The photo below shows the same scene, a month later at night. Sadly the VW van was elsewhere and a U-Haul van took its place.

 
View of Richardson Street with the World Trade Center in the background

View of Richardson Street with the World Trade Center in the background

 
 

Abstract Landscape

 

This abstract landscape is one of my favorite new paintings. I wasn’t sure at first if it was finished because I wanted to create a mood but at the same time I didn’t want to over work it. Moods need to be felt, not explained, and I hope I successfully gave enough space for the viewer to fill in the rest of the painting with their own feelings. Personally, when I look at this painting I get a fuzzy warm feeling of melancholy that you can sometimes experience on an overcast day, as if somehow the cloud cover is a giant blanket protecting me.

Vroman’s Nose

 
Vroman's Nose, Schoharie Valley (20 x 24 in.)
Sold
Vroman's Nose, Schoharie Valley (20 x 24 in.)
$90.00 $420.00

Vroman’s Nose depicts the beautiful Schoharie valley. I lived in Middleburgh, a small town in the Schoharie valley, which is just out of the painting and to the right. At the center of the work is Vroman’s Nose, a thousand foot high hill and cliff surrounded by farmland. From the top you can get amazing views of the town, farmland and the surrounding mountains. Here are a few photos I took from the top, which is easily accessible by a short trail.

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Screen Shot 2021-01-14 at 6.45.59 PM.png
 

I Need to Remember to Go Outside

The most meaningful moments I’ve had during the pandemic have been the moments I’ve spent outdoors. Every day I try to make it outside but I too often forget, or I say to myself, “But I’m busy, it’s cold, it’s dark and I’m tired of walking around the same block.” Plus how can I not keep up with the latest news about the pandemic, insurrection and impeachment? Who has control of the nuclear codes?!

There are actions I can take politically, but reading two hours of news everyday and listening to ten podcasts probably isn’t doing any good for me or anyone else. I’m just distracting myself with my news addiction under the guise of being a good citizen.

 
Hopelessly looking for meteors was the best use of my time this week

Hopelessly looking for meteors was the best use of my time this week

 

The most meaningful moment I’ve had this week was when my wife and I spontaneously went outside in the middle of the night and looked for meteors. We live in Brooklyn, so there was zero chance we were going to see a thing. But that didn’t stop us from believing we might see the expected meteor shower. We laid on a blanket in the park and had a great time looking at a handful of stars, the moon and some geese.

I’m looking forward to this weekend when I’ll have time to get out of my apartment and actually connect with the nature again. The news will still be there when I get back home.

 
Forest Park, Queens is my current painting in progress. I’ll work on it more this weekend. Let’s see if I don’t end up overworking it ;)

Forest Park, Queens is my current painting in progress. I’ll work on it more this weekend. Let’s see if I don’t end up overworking it ;)

 

Holiday Sale on Instagram Live! Dec 6th, 6:00PM

 
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I’ll be hosting an Instagram Live Holiday Sale from my home this Sunday, December 6th, 6-6:30pm. I’d love to see you all there, say hi, answer questions and catch up.

My paintings will be discounted 20-50%+ off just during the event. I’ll be joined by my wife, Ariel, as we celebrate the holidays and catch up with all of you.

Here’s the schedule and how to participate:

Now-ish:
- Follow me on Instagram if you don’t already: @alexroediger so you can watch the Instagram Live event and say hi.
- If you’re not already an email subscriber, sign up for the $50-off raffle which also includes early access to the sale using the form below.
- Check out some of my paintings that will be available at discount here.

Sunday, Dec. 6th, 3:00PM:
- If you’re signed up for my emails, you’ll receive early access to the sale via email and be signed up for the raffle at 3:00PM.

Sunday, Dec. 6th, 6:00PM:
Start of the Instagram Live event!
Event includes:
- Artwork
- Tour of my home studio
- Maybe we’ll end with a song???

All of my email subscribers are automatically entered for the raffle and early access. If you have not signed up for one of my previous raffles or if you're not an email subscriber: Please add your email for early access to my December 6th Holiday Sale (6-6:30PM) and for the chance to win an additional $50 off my upcoming Instagram Live Sale where paintings will already be offered at discounted prices.

Thank You for the Kind Words

Thanks to those of you who kindly gave me permission to publicly share your quotes on my new testimonial page. It’s been really nice going through my old emails and finding all these really touching comments many of you have written to me after receiving your paintings.

If you’ve purchased a painting from me and would like your review added to the testimonial page, please leave your quote in the comments below! I’ll be sure to add your feedback to the page. Reading these comments has reminded me that I’m supported by a really great community of art lovers. Thanks again and here are a few quotes I have so far:

 
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“We got our painting and are in love!! Thank you so much, Alex. This brought tears to my eyes!!”
— Jane P., New York, New York
 
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“Just received and unwrapped the paintings - am so happy I could cry! I was surprised to see that you were featured In Fenimore Museum , where I frequently visit. I’ve been following you on Insta and looking at your site from time to time. I so so love it. Thank you!”
— Mary H., Oneonta, New York
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“I’m very pleased to have a piece of your work! I have been watching your art with interest and am a big fan. We will really enjoy having your painting in our home.”
— Marla G., Bozeman, Montana
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“This was a gift to my father for his birthday. He was thrilled with it and told me it was perfect. My father has only had it for a short time but has already received multiple unsolicited compliments from guests about it.”
— Melissa F., Jackson Heights, New York
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“I love it. You’re so talented. Really looks incredible!!! I am blown away. I can’t thank you enough!”
— Allegra S., Chicago, Illinois
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“First, this painting is gorgeous. Second, Alex is professional, a good communicator and quick. The piece arrived well packaged and ready to hang. Thank You!”
— Hatti F., New York, New York
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“We love this painting. It is even more beautiful in person than in the picture. It was packaged really well and arrived quickly.”
— Patrick S., Astoria, New York