Breathing In and Out

I notice that my work comes in breaths. I have a period of "breathing in", where I don't produce much work and just breath in the life around me, storing it up and processing it. Then I "breath out", letting my subconscious purge and I begin turning all of those experiences into artwork. For the past several years I haven't really produced that much work, Ive been breathing in.

I have ideas for about 25 new paintings that I'm looking forward to starting on. Most of the ideas I have are figurative, some with religious and anthropomorphic overtones about them. I will probably start on those this fall, after we move. I'm interested in seeing how my artwork has changed since I haven't been doing a lot of it lately. I notice that when I "breath out" my work has changed quality, new ideas and ways of painting spring out. I never know what the change will be but I'm looking forward to seeing it develop over the course of my next breath out cycle.

I was recently contacted by a photographer named Ross who is curating for a new space in Dallas called Ochre Gallery. Its a gallery space located inside a salon. I enjoy having my work out in public, for people to see and talk about as opposed to being stored somewhere. Its there now and will be there for several months. I'm also talking with several other galleries right now about shows and other things coming up.

Not Art

I recently signed an online petition against someone who calls themselves an artist ( but is not). This person (who I will not name) starved a puppy in a gallery and called it art. He is set to do it again this year. You can sign the online petition asking the gallery not to do this again.

Killing any living being is not art. It is cruelty, torture and murder for the entertainment of apathetic individuals. There have been other individuals who call themselves artists who kill in a gallery setting and try to pass it off as art in the past (I will not go into the details). To me art is a creation that reflects or represents some aspect of reality, conscious or unconscious. Killing is a reality, it is not a reflection or representation, it is not art, and when you witness the murder of another being through torture or any other means you are witnessing a reality. The reality of another's pain for your pleasure, again (this is the last time I'll say this) this is not art, and any violent individual who does this is not an artist.

Introduction

I'd like to introduce myself for those of you who don't know who I am. My artist name is Skip Noah. My real name is Daniel Myers, I acquired the nickname Skip in elementary school. I started painting around 1992/1993 and I would sign my paintings as 'Skip' most of the time. I decided to go with an artist pen name in 2000. I picked Noah after the character Noah in Genesis who saved all the animals. I currently sign my pieces with 'Skip Noah' and go by that name for my art.

I've taught myself how to draw and paint. When I was a kid I would trace cartoon characters on a light up tracing machine my parents got me. Years later when I was in my early 20s I decided to start painting. I showed at a gallery in Deep Ellum called Vincent's Ear. They soon closed down and I didn't seek any other gallery shows.

In 1996 I met my amazing soon-to-be wife Nikki, and she encouraged me to try and show my artwork again. I submitted my artwork to a gallery called the Deep Ellum Center for the Arts. They offered me a dual show with another artist. After that I started showing regularly at various galleries.

Thats the artistic side of me in a nutshell. You can always see more of my work on my website. I will be posting a lot of my past work on this blog so I can go more in depth about the paintings, the stories behind the paintings, post images of sketches before the paintings were created, and so on.