Paint Can, 2008-2010, oil paint, plastic straw, and aluminum.

Almost anyone who has ever watched me paint and drink a beer at the same time has seen me use a straw.  It’s kind of strange.  Who does this?  Well it happened naturally.  When I am in the zone painting I don’t want anything to disrupt my concentration.  This desire has resulted in custom made studio equipment, rigged up contraptions, and the simple solution of a plastic tube. By using a straw to drink from a can I don’t have to tilt my head back and lose focus.

This piece was made using leftover paint from my palette.  When the paint started to lose a desired consistency or I no longer needed a color I would use it to build layers of this sculpture. Other than the base and the plastic straw this sculpture is made entirely of paint.  The life size piece is rather heavy and took over two years to complete.

Below is a shot of the sculpture on the floor of my studio.  Notice how the form of the can is dented in several places.  The idea for this work happened organically while working in the studio, but I definitely thought of Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning and legendary dealer Leo Castelli.  The painter Willem de Kooning said of gallery owner Leo Castelli, that “he could sell anything. He could even sell beer cans.”  Jasper Johns heard of this statement, and produced a series of castings in bronze of Ballantine Ale cans, with labels painted on, under the title Painted Bronze.

And to cap off this entry here is a view of the top.

Stay tuned for more sculptures made of paint.