Much thanks to everyone at WNC magazine for all of the great work they did organizing and promoting the On The Verge show! Tonight is the closing reception at the arts council gallery downtown. Unfortunately i wont be able to make it, but im sure it will be plenty of fun.

I have to keep the entry short, as a mayan rhino totem is waiting for me in the kitchen. This was an awesome week. Not only am i a year older, but we sold another major work this week, "Dawn The Golden Mare", my tribute to Horus. In addition, i received news that i will be booking my first museum commission. ill announce more details on this once the final paperwork has been signed.

Im still working really hard at the drawing table and should have a brand new totemic shapeshifter finished within a few days. This new piece will be a part of the body im sending for SOFA WEST in Santa Fe in a few weeks.  

Mountain Xpress Mastodon review/WNC magazine Video Interview

The Mountain Xpress asked me to review my Mastodon experience yesterday. To take a look here

http://www.mountainx.com/

WNC magazine posted a video interview they did with me on their website. To see it click here

http://www.wncmagazine.com/feature/on_the_verge/gabriel_shaffer

Ok ive pimped myself enough for the day.

Keep rocking.

Divinations at the Orange Peel

Troy Sanders, Bassist for Mastodon, during soundcheck at the Orange Peel, Asheville,NC. They played two songs off Crack the Skye and covered a Lionel Richie song. There was about 12 people in the room. I felt like i was 14 years old all over again.I had the pleasure of meeting them each individually and gave them amputee angel t-shirts. Really cool dudes who know all about Krull and castle Greyskull. Good looking out Bill.

Following the breadcrumbs to Fiat Lux

Sometime in late February, i started developing the ideas that would become the current material ive been working through. Originally, i was going to do 2 solo shows in 2009 and then the Blue Spiral show Jan 2010. After thinking things through and after seeing a really inspirational concert with Neurosis and Mastodon, i decided a skin had to be shed and i was going to seriously shift gears.The next week i postponed some shows until 2010-2011 and began meditating on what i wanted to be my fantasy Asheville solo show. This whole idea posed a serious financial threat, considering i used to do at least 1-3 shows a month, to keep a steady stream of income. However if i wanted to really get deeper into the rabbit hole, this option was the only one available, i wouldnt be the first poor artist. 

So with that being said heres the basic idea behind my show so far. the title "Fiat Lux", is Latin for "Let there be Light".  Its definitely a conceptual show, but i think even that phrase is a bit limiting. I would say the show so far is more of a story im living out inside my mind, that will eventually be told once ive finished the journey.

A young boy named Astral is new to Asheville and a bit strange, even for Asheville. At school he tells the kids and his teachers that he isnt really a boy, but a very old time traveller with amnesia, trapped in a boys body. One afternoon, while Astral is exploring by himself, he wanders through some woods behind his home and finds an old house that looks like a small castle, overgrown with kudzu and weeds. However the beautiful  and strange sound of women singing  emanates from inside the house.  Once inside Astral discovers three beautiful sisters, who are enchanting and frightening. In addition, they speak by singing and finishing one anothers sentences.The sisters instantly are enamored by Astral,since they claim they havent seen a boy in many years, to the point that an argument emerges amongst them. One of the sisters wants to raise and groom Astral to be her lover forever.Another sister wants to enchant Astral to remain a boy forever so she can always,be his mother. The third sister wants to raise and fatten Astral, so she can eat him once he is a full grown man. In order to settle this dispute the sisters decide to distract Astral, by placing a pair of enchanted spectacles over his eyes, with a promise he will be able to see his home before he travelled to earth. "With these eyes you will see other worlds, including your true home." the sisters whisper in sing song as they place them on his face.

Every painting from this point on in the show is what Astral sees through the glasses.What the viewer sees is what Astral sees. Ive decided to take different characters', stories and settings from Ashevilles history and create an enchanted Asheville, where time and space are no longer separated.  All history happens at once. Not only will this give me the ability to go bonkers with creatures and symbolism, it will also give me an opportunity to dive into Ashevilles unique history and bring it to light in my own special way.  

Im sure alot will change and adapt as the year progresses, but the journey, is the fun part.

The Plain Truth House

We recently were lucky enough to have acquired parts from a art environment that was disassembled in West Asheville. The man who had built and lived in this environment, was constructing, what he thought was a school for surviving the apocalypse. Unfortunately, he didnt pay any property taxes, so the city kicked him out and removed his installation. A few friends helped me put these parts in place last saturday. I still need to put the ten commandments in the fence and we also still have a giant sculpture dedicated to the seven seals of the apocalypse, to install. Were really happy to have these amazing found object works be a part of our home.

What i am working on right now

A part of this blog, will be answering the weekly question, "What are you working on now?".Im partially doing this as a way of documenting my process throughout the year and also as a means for letting folks get a insiders view of what im doing.

 Ive spent the last week and a half at the drawing table working on a whole new wave of characters, maidens, mutants and narratives. Im at about 10 plus new works right now, but am planning on plotting at least 20 new pieces.  A large part of these pieces im developing for the Blue Spiral solo show, in January 2010, the rest is for shows later in the year. Ive been really fascinated with Cherokee mythology, Asheville history and architecture,fairy tales, astral travel,  Ancient Occult iconography,shamanism, birds,monkeys and giraffes of all shapes and sizes,mutated animism, totemic shapeshifters and of course beautiful women with blue hair. Ive been feeling really strong about the new ideas, but im planning on staying at this phase for at least another 2-3 weeks, to make sure everything is super tight before i move on to the next stage, in the studio. This is an exciting part of the process for me, i hardly leave the kitchen, but at times it feels like a long road trip.

For the last five years i have been like a manic factory, pumping out anywhere between 100-150 works of art a year. Not to mention all of the travel and energy i put out toward the 75 plus shows ive been a part of. This year is the beginning of something different. Im doing alot less shows and taking much more time with my pieces.  I think when everything is said and done, by January, my art will be a much stronger animal, because of this decision.

Im contemplating posting some photos of a few of the new drafts once im ready to get back to the studio.

If your itching for seeing new work from me, dont worry, ill have a brand new totemic shapeshifter finished in a few weeks, for SOFA, Santa Fe.

Welcome to my first blog!

As if i didnt already have enough places on the internet,to show my work, i am now a part of the blogosphere. Well be using this page as a way of keeping folks up to date on upcoming shows, special events, what im doing in the studio and any other bits of related awesomeness i might encounter.   So if you think you need to learn even more about me than Facebook, Myspace,Flickr or my website can provide, go on, subscribe.