Newest Batch of Art-O-Mat Paintings

It's been a busy and messy last few weeks, but I've finally completed my second set of 50 Art-O-Mat block paintings. They are a part of a series I've titled "Little Bits", and these fall under the category of "Trees". I've reclaimed some of the scrap plywood and matboard from work, cut them into 2x3" sizes, and assembled them to make them the vending machine thickness of 7/8". After that I've painted them all, labeled them all, and wrapped them up for dispersal in the various re-purposed cigarette vending machines throughout the U.S. They get shipped to the Artist In Cellophane headquarters in North Carolina where they distribute them to different machines. My mini-art can be found at various locations, recently including Beans & Barley in Milwaukee WI, Faces of the Earth in MA, Venue Ballard in WA, Visitor's Center in NC, Pacific University in OR, and Pop Deluxe in Madison, WI. For more information on this project visit . Here's an overall picture of the batch, plus a few close ups of my favorites.

Starting off the New Year

Alright, it's 15 days into the new year. So far, no complaints. I started and finished a new painting in the first 2 days. "Milwaukee Lakeshore Early Morning View". Submitted that and 1 other recent painting to a proposed show at the Charles Allis Art Museum on the east side of Milwaukee. Keep your fingers crossed...I'll find out next week if I made it into the show.

As for athletics, I've been trying to stay better prepared for the summer triathlons by doing a 30+ minute workout at least every other day. It's been a switch up between the bike trainer, trampoline/jump-roping, skiing and snowshoeing. Today I'm going to head over to the local YMCA and figure out if I can afford a membership for a few months so I can use their pool and indoor track. There is too much ice on the road right outside my apartment to risk running yet. I've signed up for 2 triathlons so far; the Pewaukee Triathlon on July 11th and the Tri for Children's at Ottawa Lake on July 25th. I've decided to do the sprint distance for the first one, and try my first olympic distance for the second one. It'll involve a little tighter training schedule than I've done in the past, but I like the new challenge.