Wretched surprise

Got some good progress last night both pre and post work. March is poo season at work so we've all been staying late and doing overtime. We'll have to work both days this weekend as well.

Still, the painting continues. Here is the first painting I started for the upcoming spring-themed art show for the Red Dot in April.



When I was at the Red Dot last weekend and Jeff, one of the curators, invited me to be in the show I instantly got this image in my head. I only have the background done and a ramshackle photoshop reference thrown together.

Even Death gets spring fever and loves to frolic.



I need to come up with a few more paintings for this show in the next week or so and I brainstormed on the train ride home last night. For inspiration I went up to the saloon and took photos of my old victorian couches. I got to work and before you know it I had a case of sleepy eyes and the beginnings of the painting below...




About the wretched surprise.... Just a little while ago just after 9 am, I was taking the photos of these canvases in my office and I heard this horrible wretching noise. And another. Another. I looked outside and saw a dude propping himself up on our stone wall heaving into the yard. Then he'd move ten feet down and repeat into our yard.

I threw open the front door and barked "THE FUCK?" at him. He quickly looked up and apologetically patted his chest, lunged down the street and kept heaving.

"What did you do for breakfast today? Oh a western omelette? Sounds good. Yeah I had a Puerto Rican guy barfing in my yard."

Enjoy the weekend, all of you who aren't working both days.

www.hookermedia.com

Brux and floss

I always carry stress in my jaw. Any time I'm doing any exercise I curl my tongue into a U and hold it there tensely. I "play drums" on my teeth, clacking to a beat in my head. I tense up when I type for long stretches at work. I try to correct all of these as I notice them but the habits always sneak back.

I was alerted recently that I grind my teeth in my sleep. I've only heard this noise a few times. The first time I heard it I had no idea what it was. I was amazed to find that the human head could produce such a terrible noise.

Years ago when I was around 12 I'd have vivid dreams where my jaw ached and I held a strained underbite for long intervals. Then I'd wake up and my jaw and teeth would be killing me.

All of this freaks me out and since I'm 26 and have only maintenance to worry about teeth-wise, I decided to buy a mouth guard for when I sleep.



I sleep easier knowing I'm not going to wake up with a mouthful of teeth dust.

Tommorow, with any luck I'll be able to throw a photo of a new painting in progress for the upcoming April 13th show at the Red Dot gallery in Dorchester. With that I'm going to get to work on that badboy.



www.hookermedia.com

Well well

Got into town early yesterday.

Took the subway to Central sq and decided that waiting for the bus is about as cool as giving Paul Stanley a nude piggy back ride.



So I decided to walk from Central to Union square (bout a mile and a half) to the motorcycle shop.

I was like a proud parent picking his kid up from Gymboree or something. As I waited for the mustachioed walrus behind the counter to get my paperwork together I peered out back to the stable of motorcycles, looking for mine.

It took a little while but when I actually caught site of my bike I actually muttered "theeere he iiiiis" like a complete buttclown.

Within a few minutes I was pulling out of the parking lot. It was as if I hadn't stopped riding for three months. Didn't skip a beat. Like... riding... a bike. Pure joy washed over me like a river of pure uh.. joy.



Here. I asked the guy to snap a photo of me.


I headed to the tattoo shop just to put my backpack and jacket down so I could go back out and take a nice ride, but I was immediately bombarded with a task of putting together and mailing a package. This meant I had to walk to the P.O. Where is it? Four blocks down? Ok.

No. Not that simple. Not for me. I walked four blocks. Five. Six? Couldn't find it. I ended up walking two miles. To Harvard. Halfway through my journey this dude walked up behind me and blurted a shitty joke.

Even before he was in my line of vision...

"Ever hear about that zen vacuum cleaner? It comes with no attachments"

He walked a little faster, sidling up next to me. I made a face as if he had just farted in a ski mask and put it on my head.

"I don't get it"

"Oh. Well I don't normally just tell jokes to strangers. I'm just happy to be alive today."

Wonderful.

I finally got to the P.O. Then I waited in line in front of and behind mothers with crying babies. Package sent. Took a bus back to the shop.

Last night and tonight I'm doing double duty. The shop and my crappy office job just cause I'm a nice guy and March is hell in the office.

Go tell a friend about my paintings and ramblings. Get me out of here.


www.hookermedia.com

Narcoleptic Disco

Lately I've been feeling similar to how I often felt in the last few months of senior year in highschool.

Back in those days, nearly ten years ago... jeez... I'd get up, go to school, get home around 2:45... get back on the train by 3:15 and then work, in the same office I'm sitting in right now... jeez... until 8 pm, then do it all over again the next day.

Most of the day I'd feel as though I had a slight pressure weighing down my brain pan. A drowsy, inviting hum that beckoned me to drift off to sleep. Sometimes I'd take a 20 minute nap after work and I'd wake up confused with ever-so-echoed hearing that lasted a few minutes.

That constant nap feeling is back and I can't stand it.

When I step back and take note of my schedule, it seems like a lot. However, I'm still working in this office. Still.

I'll spare you the weekly itinerary, but this stupid tiredness makes me wonder, should I take one day off a week? A day where I sit and do jack shit?

My 20's are running out. Jack Shit'll wait.

If anyone needs me I'll be using my desk as a pillow for 20 minutes.

Here's the progress on the Paris painting...

24 hours ago



12 hours ago



and...Taylor Hanson. Zac Hanson. Sorry.




www.hookermedia.com

Comrade!

After months of searching craigslist I found what I've been looking for. An olympic bench and a squat rack for the basement. I got them cheap and now with these items added to the other stuff I already had, I pretty much have a small gym down there.

February I didn't touch anything heavy and did all these balancing corrective routines in preparation. Now I am getting back to normal weights and whatnot three times a week. March is almost over and I've tired of my current regimen so I've been looking around at different options for the April workout schedule.

The other day at the shop the guys had 300 playing on the dvd player. Two of the guys live with a kid who always gets movies on DVD a year before they are out. He works for some movie studio or something. Anyways, everyone was all fired up at all the violence and muscle.

Kurt (pictured below) started jokingly yelling "HOOKER YOU WANNA GO GET A FLEX ON?" They have a bowflex in the basement of the shop.



The dvd had a feature showing the grueling workout that all the actors did to prepare for the role as Spartans fighting to the death. They kept mentioning these things called kettlebells. I had never heard of them before.

Kettlebells are basically cannon balls with a handle. The Soviet army has been using them for 100 years. Think strongmen of yore with twirly little moustaches and leopard print singlets. These are people who use kettlebells.

They caught my attention though because it's something new. I did some research and ended up finding this hilarious video.

So unintentionally homoerotic. You gotta watch the whole thing and listen to the guy's quotes.

Reminds me of this...



Tomorrow: I'll have pictures of Paris and another commission I'm working on... Zac Hanson. From. Hanson.

Also: There'll be another show for April. More details to come. Friday night soiree for anyone who wants some free drinks and good art to gawk at.

www.hookermedia.com

Not a bad couple days

So now that I'm going to post about what I was excited about yesterday it doesn't seem nearly as awesome. But it is. So what the hell. Just keep in mind I'm a complete ass and it'll all read smoother.

The other day I was on the computer at the shop and this girl who got a small tattoo on her wrist was standing and watching while her friend got something touched up on her shoulder.

I had been chatting with them both since they came in and they were both nice and it was pleasant and all that crap.

So I'm on the computer and the girl tells me to search for her myspace page. I do, and she points out a photo of her and another smiling black woman. It's Queen Latifah.

I love Queen Latifah.

No irony, no smarminess, no joke. I have a crush on Queen Latifah.

Turns out the girl went on Oprah and met her. Hung out with her. Has her phone number. Address.

Also turns out Queen is going to be in Boston in early May.

I must meet her. I asked the girl if Latifah's skin was a perfect and smooth in person as it seems on t.v. 'tis she said. She also likes motorcycles. I wonder if she likes white guys built like praying mantii. Mantises? Mantii?

....and now the good things about the last 24 hours.

Last night at work we had a large in house client. They left two platters of sushi literally untouched. I had carte blanche on about $200 worth.

Earlier today I got stopped by a dude at a kiosk at the mall. He somehow coralled me into trying some Dead Sea salt scrub thing. As I walked away from the kiosk I noticed I got a year's supply for $3.05 instead of $35.00 when he screwed up the credit card transaction. Gay that I bought Dead Sea minerals? Pfff. Whatever. I'll have smooth, supple skin. Like this guy....




On the way home I heard a song I fell in love with nearly 10 years ago. A song from the year 1969. A song by R.B. Greaves called "Take A Letter Maria".


That's all I got. Enjoy the weekend. U.N.I.T.Y.

www.hookermedia.com

What the hell day is it? UPDATED*

I swear I had a good idea for a blog entry today. It's rattling around in my head like a widget in a krylon can. This is pissing me off. I can't think of what it was. I thought of it last night. Riveting reading this eh?

Well dammit I can't think of what it was so here's the latest progress on the Barcelona Cathedral painting.



What a useless buttface.

*I finally remembered what it was that was blog-worthy about yesteday. I'll post it allll tomorrow. Awwwwww.

www.hookermedia.com

More Paris

Not Paris Hilton. She looks like Powdered Toast Man.

The painting I'm working on.



I'm excited about how this one will turn out.


And here is a little gem I found tonight while looking in a drawer with old papers and photos in it.

THIS ... is the Matt Hooker Signature Series custom shop order form. As you can see Mr. Hooker was very particular about details on his namesake guitar. With good reason too. He was a founding member of the seminal singer-less, gig-less, original song-less metal band "Nepenthene" back in 1994.



It's funny looking back on this fantasy guitar I drew for myself back in the day before I ever got the chance to really play a variety of guitars and see what I preferred.

This guitar would have featured:

24 frets. ... i hate 24 fret. prefer 22.
a rosewood fretboard.... i prefer ebony
a whole mess o' pickups and pickup variations. .... i use a bridge pickup and that's about it.

I'd still love to see this thing built if for nothing other than the MELTING SKULL GRAPHIC!!!

www.hookermedia.com

YES!

Goddam. The hits keep coming. I keep jumping back to the top of this post to update while I'm typing.

Real quick...I just put my headphones back on at work and Badlands is playing on the internet radio station I listen to. I think I'm the only person who still loves Badlands. They were a short lived band in the early 90's comprised of guys who went on to or came from bigger bands. Eric Singer, drummer of KISS. Jake E. Lee, Ozzy's guitarist for a while.

GAH! Speaking of Jake, "Shot in the Dark" just came on!

I got an email tonight from a name I didn't recognize. Turns out it was from someone at Juxtapoz Magazine.

If you're not familiar with Juxtapoz, it's an art magazine that caters to people who are not into shi-shi "highbrow" art. I've been an avid reader for years and I'm a featured artist this week on their website!!

SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE BIT

Juxtapoz was created by Robert Williams, probably best known as the guy who painted this:



I'm so psyched. This is a much-needed boost after the shit weekend I had.

www.hookermedia.com

Noreaster

Oh awesome.

I can't believe I still bitch about New England weather, but I'm from New England. It's what we do.

It was near 60 a few days ago. And now I'm in a snow globe. Weee.

Well in happier news I started Sarah's Paris painting.

Wet paint does not look good with flash photography, but it'd be lame to say "I started a painting but no picture for you. So there."



Have a good weekend, everyone. This weather better calm down. I'm supposed to get the Admiral out of storage next weekend.

www.hookermedia.com

Unbelievable

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. I woke up pretty early and exercised and then headed into town with my roomate to meet our friend Josh and Jenny for lunch at the Other Side Cafe. The weather was perfect t-shirt weather, the lunch was awesome, the day was off to a great start.

After lunch I headed across Mass. Ave to wait for a bus that would bring me to Central sq. I called my friend Tacky to shoot the shit and see if he wanted to hang out later on after I got out of work. We went back and forth for a few and then he asked


"Oh did you hear about Greg?"
"No. Greg Puricelli?"
"Yeah. He's... he was killed."

I screamed at the bus stop.

Greg was at the opening at the Red Dot gallery back in February. He and his fiancee Audrey had showed up and it was great to see them both. Audrey was there in my highschool art class when I first picked up a paint brush. I knew Greg for years having grown up down the street from him in West Quincy.

That night it had been a couple years since I saw him since he moved to Arizona to become a master motorcycle technician.

He had just recently moved back. He congratulated me on my artwork and invited me to come to Daytona with him and his buddies, one of whom I bought my first motorcycle off of. They were getting a trailer to bring their bikes down and I was welcome to come with them and ride the first week in March.

That invitation stuck with me all month and I wished I could have gone. I thought of the invitation often. I hadn't seen him in years and he happily invited me along. Sweetest thing ever. That is how I'll remember Greg.

Monday, March 12 he was killed on his motorcycle when he was struck by a van. He was on his brand new Ducati sportbike that he told me about excitedly at the art show.

I haven't stopped thinking about Greg and Audrey since I heard. I won't for a long time.



Bye, buddy.

Loft party

Saturday was a good day. Got up early and painted and then my buddy Gary came by around 6 and we loaded up his truck with artwork and headed to the South End for an art party.

We had no idea what to expect and when we got there. We pulled down Harrison ave and then down the dark street that was on our scribbled directions. The street was like some sort of valley made of endless, identical brick fortresses.

We saw a dude putting a crappy scribbled sign up in a stairway out front and sure enough he was Kurt, the dude who put the whole night together.

He wasn't an artist or anything, just a regular dude who was "bored" and decided to do something worthwhile with his time by putting nights like Saturday together for local artists. He's a rare breed and a very cool kid.









I brought a twelver of Bud and realized too late that I forgot to eat dinner. I was benevolently drunk by 11 pm, giggling all high pitched and uncontrollably at all the nonsense pouring out of my mouth. I didn't sit in the corner like a fat kid at a prom though. So that was good. Talked to people and had a great ol' time.

Next time one of these rolls around I'll let you know in advance.

www.hookermedia.com

BACK

Goddam it's been a week since I last blogged. I know everyone has been biting their nails, glued to their monitors for my triumphant return.

Frrrrrrrrrrt.


Well I'm back, and I have actual content. First, just to get it out of the way, here is my favorite picture of the month...



Ok. That's done.

Now, here's the weekend progress I made on the Barcelona Cathedral painting. I had intentions of going to bed early on Friday night after work but I was up till 3 and up again at 8:30 working on this piece. It's finally starting to get interesting.



I have prints available on my website for both the newly finished Elvis Costello painting and the dearly departed Big Bird & Bert, which was recently sold to Ulli

Go check out the finished Elvis and maybe pick up a print if you want.

www.hookermedia.com



Tomorrow I'll be back with photos from the South End art loft party that I had pieces hanging in this past Saturday.

Stay tuned.

Done with China

Goddam it's cold out today. I went outside today at 8:00 am to take the plates off my van and in three minutes my fingers turned into pure ice. Worst part is? I can't find my awesome flannel flappy hat that my mom got me years ago. It's around here somewhere dammit. On the way to work my ears are going to fall apart like a delicious, flaky Vienetta ice cream treat log.

Holy shit. Remember those?



Moving on.

Taipei is finally finished. I'm just going to call the painting Taipei since it's already force of habit, even though the photograph I used as a reference is actually a place called Kaohsiung.

Check out the painting under the Oils section on my website and let me know what you think.

www.hookermedia.com

I also made more progress on the Barcelona Cathedral. It doesn't look like much, but this pillar section on the right took a total of four hours to get to where it is now. Pray for me, people. And if you're a reader from Spain who has the opportunity to actually go to the cathedral itself... si puedes poner una vela para mi.

Here's the progress.





Bundle up, suckers.

WHERE IS MY FLAPPY HAT THAT MY MOM GOT ME.

All I ever wanted...

A few weeks ago in Newark I was part of a ragtag wedding band that hammered out a few classic fist pumping songs like "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake and "White Wedding".

The groom Ryan (who was also the bass player in his own wedding band) being a huge Elvis Costello fan, threw the song "Human Hands" into the mix. That one was particularly fun to play and was only the second Costello song I've learned to date. Coincidentally, years and years ago I recorded a version of "Allison" with Ryan for my cousin of the same name after someone close to her died. It's not exactly a pleasant lovey song when you really pay attention to the lyrics, but it was a well received effort nonetheless.

And now, after my pre-requisite tangent, I present the second Costello-related coincidence.... After I got home from the wedding I was contacted by my friend Angela about painting her her very own non-velvet Elvis. Here he is today after a day's work...



I got some commissions at the beginning of the weekend so stay tuned for progress on such subjects as Boston, Paris, two headed birds and all the stuff I'm working on for my own jollies.

www.hookermedia.com

Friday post of awesome stuff

I don't have anything clever or poignant or whatever to write. Not that I ever really do. So today I'm just going to list a bunch of stuff that I dig for no reason. A rainy Friday blog post. Damn is it rainy here.

Awesome staple of my life #1.



Jif peanutbutter.

I eat it straight out of the can, on bananas, Ritz, toast... whatever. At least two large cans a month. Skippy is too sugary. Reese's in the can is a joke. I choose Jif.



#2 Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy.

Who else could pull off having a fro, creepy moustache, being a half black Irishman in leather pants all while writing some of the best songs in one of the best bands ever? Phil. Go listen to Thin Lizzy "Runningback" now. If you want me to email you an mp3 of it let me know.



#3 Liquin.

Most people talk about how oil paints take too long to dry. I understand their pain. I also used to find it frustrating how thick and unspreadable some paints were. Liquin is a drying agent that lets me get more work done quicker and it thins paint out just enough to help me wash large canvases for backgrounds. Thank you, Kiley for bringing it to my ignorant little unschooled art world.

#4 FLH Harleys.



I love the lines on these bikes. The curves, how they sit, everything. I've never driven one, but if I had my choice of a custom bike it'd be modeled after an old FLH.

#5 Bud from the can.



I have no idea why, but the end of this week has found me craving Bud from the can. Last night my roomate called to me as I stepped in the side door, which is right next to the fridge asking me to grab him a St. Pauly girl and one for myself if I wanted. I love St. Pauly Girl. I grabbed one of my Bud cans. I think it's like fast food. Sometimes you just crave it. I can't say the same for myself with fast food, but sometimes I'd rather slum it with beer.

#6 Calling myself "Best Man"

I stole it from this....



Sometimes I yell it like a superhero war cry in the supermarket or wherever I feel like it. Try it out.




Alright that's enough. I'm going to get ready for work. Enjoy the weekend.

www.hookermedia.com