I have been decompressing from a really big piece I was in the midst of for a while and am back to the computer land. Here is a photo from my lovely collection spanning a lifetime. This one more recent that many.
The Sierras
California
On the Way to RDU
Pay Attention to the View
Tokyo From the Air
I am sitting in Raleigh, NC, on a visit home right now reflecting on the world, life, home, how I got here, and also simple things like how much I dig the new True Detective season with Mahershala Ali, the fact that soda water is the truest refresher there is, and why North Carolina BBQ is so damn good. So many things have been moving through my mind of late. Two projects currently under way in the Bay Area, a huge mural coming up in LA through a Dept. of Cultural Affairs grant, wanting to be in LA more to spend time learning from my mentor there, so many exhibition ideas that have been in the mind’s eye for years starting to become actual possibilities in this reality, there is more.
The Power of Certainty, Painting on Wood Panel, 40”x30”, 2019
Bill Dunleavy, co-founder of Superchief Gallery and Director of Superchief Gallery Los Angeles and myself at the Parker Day opening in Los Angeles, CA.
What happens when we decide to show up for family in times of age and growth, how do we move from a life of 12 years in one place into the next phase of our development. Do our intentions and true direction in life often or always take use where we need to be despite what might seem logical in a mine field of late capitalism, societal structures, and broken status quo idealism? Is it that simple pure energy inside that isn’t about feeling good all the time or convenience or efficiency for the sake of investors, but about truly living, exploring what we have at our fingertips with the bodies and minds we were created in and with, that is our vehicle for truly finding what lays beyond systems of servitude to things that don’e elevate us? I feel alive.
Studio, Oakland CA
Eating Blintzes with my friend in Alameda, CA
Plain and simple, I feel alive. I am excited about life’s challenges, failures, and successes. I am mostly excited about the fact that through it all we learn, we grow, we become better versions of ourselves if we are willing to embrace the energy that is readily supplied us. I first time in a while feel optimistic despite how fucked up our nation is, as it is doing a sort of final vomit of so much poison that it is inside. Maybe not a final vomit, nothing is final, but something, some tearing and some ripping is happening, and from it comes a new way.
Current detail of an installation commission in progress in a new Apartment Building in Oakland, CA>
Berkeley, CA
I prayed and meditated and accepted and received the energy of the blood moon the other night. It filled me with a sudden awakened moment of remembering, that energy of choice, to let it fill me and guide me and be the path is always real and always there. So I say work for it, work to stay in it, filled with it, work to go and keep it unfolding and see what sorts of amazing things we can create, share, communicate, love, and find form and formless purity within.
Okunoin Graveyard, Koyasan, Japan
Late Capitalism, Oakland, CA
So to all this I say, in a more brass tacks kind of way, there is a lot being made and thought out right now. The response to aging and to the worlds ceaseless suffering and infatuation with it has me moving the opposite direction. There are projects, shows, and even some new endeavors in the works. Reprinting my zine Anime Mixtape again soon, getting ready to keep cranking out some new large paintings and assemblages of smaller works exploring armor, the psyche, patterns, ritual, personal and geographic history as a means of identifying our own multi faceted portraits of existence. The gears keep turning and I am also super grateful to be surrounded in a larger international sense, by a community of amazing creatives and people that support and drive each other to keep reinventing and riding our waves. Lastly i will say, I have some work in a small group show coming up from a long time friend and curator who I am honored always to work with in San Francisco. More to come on that soon… thanks for stopping by.
Interstate 5, CA
Portrait of Me at Waffle House in Durham NC, Shot by my brother Parker.
Photos
Just met up with a local SF Artist and rad dude named Matthew Badja at Flywheel in the Haight. Much of his practice consists of Photography and some really cool social practice, street installation work. Anywho, I feel inspired myself to post some photos for you gals guys and gender benders. I hope you enjoy. Please contact me if you would like to have prints of any of these.
Portrait of Musician Julie Moon in the MIlls College Bathroom
American Tobacco, Durham NC
Photoshoot with Mackenzie James in Tenderloin Neighborhood Building Basement, SF
Camping in the Sierras, California
Camping in the Sierras, California
Mutsumasa Hakozaki, Artists Studio in Kyoto, Japan
LA Adventures
So once the Mural i did with Kent Yoshimura and crew was finished it was time for some LA fun. I was so wrecked physically after the mural that I had to give myself a 5 hour session at WiSpa. I got to spend some time with with homies Phil and Michelle, then it was onward to do some gallery hopping with my friend Jessica (also a Superchief Co-Conspirator), then to Superchief where we kicked it, talk about future ideas, had a pool party, as per their August Conceptual Art Show Brilliance, "A Swimming Pool in the Gallery", and then went to Malibu the next day before I headed to NC to see my Grandmother turn 90 (which was awesome btw). I got to hang with all the Superchief Peeps like Bill and Marcella and Taylor and Tubby and Serena and more. It was solid. Like a page out of a future Kerouacian autobiographical adventure chronicle of celebrations of ideas, weirdness, energy, and togetherness. The chief always makes it happen. Here are some photos to give a visual trip.
Chopper the Dog, Phil and Michelle's yung pup
Civil Rights Movement Photos by Dennis Hopper
Marcella and Bill Being All Business at Budman Studio.
My friend Bisco Smith's Installation Room in Budman Studios.
Peace, time to head East.
LAnguage-of-Memory-Flyer-One
Language of Memory
Time has been flying by. I have some major announcements to make. First off, Andrew Kline and I have been working on a massive new show to debut at Superchief Gallery LA on November 12th, 2016. We have been working hard to bring you an immersive art, sound, and installation experience taking you through a future world where samples and visual reference from today have become the foundation of a society in the world of Unstoppable Tomorrow. It is also a conceptual exploration of shared reference creating a unifying but also very singular experience.
here are some works
Goddess low res
Goddess 12"x12" House Paint, Oil Pastel, Pencil, Acrylic Lacquer on Wood Panel
Split Tales low res
Split Tales, 2'x4' House Paint, Acrylic Lacquer, Acrylic Paint, Soft Pastel, Oil Pastel, Pencil on Wood Panel
Time Signature low res
Time Signature 12"x12" House Paint, Spray Paint, Acrylic Lacquer, pencil on Wood Panel
The Story of Life low res
Story of Life 24"x27" Spray Paint, House Paint, Acrylic Paint, Soft Pastel, Oil Pastel, Tempera, Pencil, Acrylic Lacquer on Wood Panel
I will be in LA living at Superchief for two months working on the installations leading up to the show. Get ready for some awesome documentation.
In other news, this website hosted by Bits & Bristles will unfortunately be coming down in October. I am working to get a new site up by then so please bare with me in the interim as I will be transferring the name over to a temporary blog style site due to time constraints.
Thank you for all your support. If you would like a preview of the show works and are interested in purchasing send me a comment or email to felixthethird@gmail.com and I will connect you with the good people at Superchief as well as supply you with any info you need from my end.
Much Love and thank you to all for your support!
-Felix
Saturday 06-06-2015
The feelings that come with making art, the push and pull, the life experiences spewing forth onto the paper or wood or canvas or being made into sculpture or installation etc can be very mighty. They can be intense overwhelming, sometimes even cause a certain sense of shock that requires a moment of rest after their culmination. I went extremely hard, like I was being a channel for some universal energy for years, hell I still am in the channel and I still go hard. But what I have found since my rather traumatic albeit eye opening experience of going back east and coming to some personal realizations about my place in things, is that the moments of gestation, of mental and spiritual digestion of all these life experiences are very important. To reflect and refocus and reassess and then move forward carefully is a point I have found myself in. As a recovering addict/alcoholic and artist I often want things now now now so to speak, I have found that with age and wisdom comes the necessity of learning how to pace ones self so as not to combust or run ones energy raw. The work I have been making, and my slow moving urges and thoughts about finally embarking into found object assemblage have been evidence of this for me lately. I am so blessed to have a life that I am afforded the time to just be and think and find my center. Just some thoughts for the day.
New Painting for Black Book Gallery for my September show. "Rakushisha Vision" 22"x22" Acrylic, Spray Paint, and Oil Pastel on Wood Panel.
Climbing the Life Ladder Again.
I am coming back to the light now, making work like seen above, wrapping shared experience in a cosmic blanket, finding love and compassion again. But...It got dark. What you may ask? The sky? The Earth? The water? All of it. It became dark. The inside of my spirit. The inside of my spirit. A rift in time space, the Yokai came into my chest, a host of demons, of Oni and miscreant beings and tearing cables of pain and dysfunction. The blossoming of ice in that black vortex of memory and fear. It was too much for me. I found the road back to the path. Someone I greatly respect told me that sometimes we have to get knocked off the path to realize there is a path that we are on in the first place. I found this place, its confusing corridors of obsessive insanity and debilitating fear. No excellent pork chop would do. No fine Pho this time. The ice elbows of small being ribbed my cage and found me full of crazy. Out of shear survival instinct I began to do everything I could to find the path again. This experience which took place in the winter of 2015 will never be forgotten.
My words in this short narrative have only scratched the surface. I have learned things about myself and the realities of life and the beauty of existence that I could have never fathomed previously I must say. This is where my new work was born, this is where it grew and wrenched its way out of me onto paper helping me survive and grow and evolve. This is where the work that suddenly finds color again now has been born of. I am not a Giant Robot after all I reckon. The black hole energy inside of me has turned back to light... or was it always light, just so powerful that it was devoid of anything I understood so as to force me to my foundation to accept that I am simply a being and my re-education is not always of my own creation. The universe guides me, and my story will continue to unfold here for you to see. Thank you for being here.
California Dreamin'
I should actually say California Livin'. Yes, as many had the foresight into, I am back in California... It was a necessary adventure to go to the East Coast and to really know if I truly want to live in NYC again, to truly end and get closure on 8 years of wondering. And I now have closure, I love my part time NYC citizenship, I love visiting and bringing some sunshine and love with me there, and working on amazing projects and art adventures and eating pizza and reconnecting with my friends in that amazing metropolis. But in all honesty, my New York changed a long time ago, it is not the place my heart is anymore as far as where I wan to live full time, as far as where I am needed full time and where I belong on a day to day basis. I love my life in Oakland far to much and very quickly realized I had taken much of it for granted, so I write this with a deep sense of closure and love knowing that life is full of growth and experiences that allow us to find ourselves. No matter how hard it seems during the process, growth and finding the true knowledge of self and place in the universe is what life is all about to me. Now back to the art making, to exploring this amazing state I live in, and spending time building with the world... its good to have roots, the foundation is happy. 
As the Year Comes to Turn.
It's been a minute since I have put in an update. Life has been moving along at a sometimes grinding, sometimes hyper, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly pace. I have been cranking the work along at really solid pace. I have been making amazing realizations and beautiful mistakes to grow from in my process. And this applies to life making art and life lived outside of making art. At almost 2 and a half years sober I have definitely learned and found so much of myself deep within and feel that I can walk confidently with humility and compassion through life as best I am able to this point. I hope this is being reflected in the work I have been creating and feel a deep connection with the new things I have been creating as well as ideas that been permeating my mind in anticipation of big installations and trips and adventures in art I am going to be taking on over the next six months. 
exploding innocence : 4'x3' : mixed media on fabricated found object wood panel
For starters, as I begin the mission to forward into my Superchief Show, I will be putting up an Indie A Go Go fundraiser to raise the proper necessities to go on a cross country guerilla artist adventure collecting bones and bullets, clothes and drift wood, rusty car fenders and window panes, to inevitably build a big and beautiful installation and performance piece setting/environment for the show in April. I am toying with names like "There Will Be Blood" and "Carnal Carnivorous Cannibalism". I will be offering prints and drawings and original artwork in my Indie A GoGo campaign so watch out for it! This trip will be epic, and documented thoroughly as I roll across the country kicking up dust.
hot war : 18"x24" : mixed media on wood panel
And the following month it will be time to really get grizzly with the environment I will be creating at Shooting Gallery for my solo exhibition that is thus far named "Pilgrimage". The name may be changing to "Spring Spots and Walkabouts" or "Grow On Up in the Light". Anyway, the work for this show is almost two thirds complete, as far as the paintings and drawings are concerned, which is a huge stress reliever because Shooting Gallery is a massive space and I was a bit nervous about filling it, but my tenacious, obsessive, insane work ethic and need to just #makeworkson has really helped my vision to explode into a journey through process and thinking. In short I am stoked about how the work has come together thus far.
So the end of this update caps off like this! I am incredibly grateful for everyone in my life thus far, everyone, friend and enemy that has helped shape and mold the person I have become. Everyone in the Bay Area, New York, NC, Japan, Everywhere! Seriously, as I walked to work today, in light of all of the recent things in my life that have happened and they are rather intense on every level without having to explain in detail here, I am so incredibly grateful for the shoes I walk in and the people that I get to experience and love daily! Thank you all for helping this man continue forward with integrity and passion. I am doing my damnedest!. MAKE WORK SON!
"Found in Darkness" @ Book & Job Gallery : Friday Nov. 9 : 2012
Christopher Burch and I descended on the new Book & Job Gallery on Wednesday, November 7th to begin our install of our Fall 2012 two man show "Found in Darkness". Exploring our own personal mythologies that comprise the focus of our work we embarked on this show in August of this year. Examining respective narrative architectures and linear framework, we began creating installations that reflect real environments within our imaginary worlds, both dealing with different reflections of contemporary issues of social problems, race, the environment, and a proposed future of humanity in our own tales.
We were able to create a conversation through our mixed media forays that not only blended and melded together well in the space but also pushed one another's practice to a new level of intricacy. Chris dealing with his modern day reinterpretation of the Br'er Rabbit Folk Mythos and myself dealing with all the legends and myths of the world of "Unstoppable Tomorrow" that I have created, we embraced the Book & Job Gallery with energy, drive, thought, and a sense of community and challenge. Our drawings and paintings spoke well with one another as our installation works tied the environment together into a dialogue of two strong minded individuals exploring their own tangible realities in this world together through imagination and practice.
Guy Culver also helped organize a wonderful show of musical talent. Chris Danko of Religious Girls performed an awesome piano solo. Then Guy Culver and his drummer Ringo performed their punk influenced, electronic, synth heavy, hard hitting electro fuck fest of beats, noise, and beautiful screamo moments of chaos as Laughters.
Carson Lancaster, the man behind Book & Job Gallery, did a great job of orchestrating the evening and the install and was a pleasure to work with as well!!! I recommend working with him to any other artist that may be interested in contacting Book & Job. All in all it has been a great experience. Thanks again to Chris for inviting me to be a part of Book & Job and creating yet another killer show with me. -Felix
Production and Opening Photo's of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" @ Old Crow : Oakland : CA
I ended up taking a great reel of great production and progress shots of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" at Old Crow Tattoo & Gallery, and some good photos of the openings. Him Downstairs performed Saturday night and then Sunday was Unstoppable Death Machines and the Laughters. Count Z-Bop was even hanging out. It was spectacular! I hope you all enjoy seeing the install process and the final product. -Felix
Tools, Wood, things to make the magic with.
Motocycle piece "The Great Debate" just finished moments ago.
The organ was a good find, thank you urban ore.
Viking Ben lending a hand.
Arial view compliments of Terry Addison.
"In Memory of..." series.
Star Wars Stormtrooper Helmet Relic Remix.
Belly drinking a 40 of that Ole English Eightball 800!
D Young V looking wild!
Nadia and I flossin!
D Young V and I representing.
We all love to see ZeeZee!
The most amazing couple alive.
Joel Tarman back from Palesien with Rhea St. Julien.
Jessica from Old Crow looking pretty other worldly in her Jedi Hood!
Fuckin New Yorkers!
Brendan Cox.
"The Great Debate"
Joel and Rhea St. Julien aka Him Downstairs.
Ara Christina Jo being awesome as usual.
How did everyone at Old Crow become so damn cool? Dana James looking tough on the bike piece!
Dana James fully suited up for the world of Unstoppable Tomorrow.
The lovely Chloe Crossman with the coolest hair dew of all time.
Unstoppable Death Machines
Mike from Unstoppable Death Machines at Mama's Royal Cafe, bout to get some breakfast Monday morning. I am about to go to Japan right after this meal! See you all from my Japanese tour with Ken South Rock! -John Felix Arnold III