ECHOES

"Echoes" ... is one of the newer paintings from the series I am currently working on in the studio.  Standing 24x30 inches and painted in oil on canvas it conveys spiritual connection and transcendence.  A sense of balance and harmony reverberates throughout the landscape.


Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
"Echoes"
24x30 inches, oil on canvas

DRAWING ON FASHION: JAPANESE DESIGNERS OF THE 80's

Several years ago I had the fortunate and eye-opening pleasure to visit  a fantastic exhibition at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum of exemplary and influential Japanese fashion designers from the 80's.  Designers like Issey Myaki, Junya Watanabe, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto have become legends in the fashion industry and several of their most famous and inspirational pieces were on display.  Not being a fashion history buff but still a lover of great figurative art and the Asian Art Museum, I figured I would poke my head in and see what was on display.

To my surprise I immediately found myself right at home.  I took the afternoon to walk through the exhibit several times in absolute rapture and awe of what I saw.  What passed before my eyes resembled more of a science fiction movie than a fashion retrospective. Shape and form spiraled together to create an imaginitive and innovative running story in my mind that inspired me immediately bring together two art forms that in my mind couldn't have been farther apart. I never could have imagined that high-fashion and science-fiction could tolerate standing in the same room together let alone working together in such a natural and elegant way.

With my small bag of drawing supplies and sketchbook I began to draw immediately whatever I could capture, I had to.  Somehow I had to get down on paper what I was seeing.  Being more of a fantasy geek than and fashion diva I was unfamiliar with the work of these artists from the opposing side of the galaxy.  What I walked away with that afternoon was an idea that maybe as artists from differing worlds we might sometimes feel light years apart, but in our search for "The Edge" of creativity and imagination we might just be next door neighbors and maybe even friends.

If you would like to learn more about exhibit you can visit the SFGATE review on the exhibit -->  HERE

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco --> HERE

Drawings & Studies ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

plate 1:  dress design by  Yohji Yamamoto
Study (marker)

Plate 2:  dress design by Issey Myaki
Study (graphite)

Plate 3:  dress design by Junya Watanabe
Study (charcoal)

Plate 4:  dress design by Rei Kawakubo
Study (watercolor pencil)

Plate 5:  dress design by Junya Watanabe
Study#2 (marker, ink)

Plate 6:  dress design by Rei Kawakubo
Study#2 (marker)

SUMI DRAWINGS 2

Artwork: Copyright Trey Gallaher

image 1: "Deduced"
image 2: "Call of the Wild"
image 3: "Nocando"

FLOWERING SPADE

"Flowering Spade" is another work from my new series.  Painted in oil on wood panel it touches on several classic themes in art, reflection, desire and purification. Confinement in our lives is often self-imposed and can be outwardly defining in nature.  How do we begin to replace inherent preconception with truth and set ourselves free?

At the time I was painting this I was listening to the music of one of my favorite singer-songwriters Sean Hayes.  The title is also a 'nod' to his moving song by the same name.

Sean Hayes Music -->  seanhayesmusic.com

Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
"Flowering Spade"
oil on wood panel
18x24 inches

JOURNAL 6: EMERSON, FRANK & GANDHI

Artwork: Copyright Trey Gallaher
From the Journal  Hummingbird.

Qoutes: (by their respective authors)
Mahatma Gandhi
Anne Frank
Ralph Waldo Emerson

OUTSIDE THE BOX

I finished this painting a while back and wanted to post this sooner rather than later.  Completed in oil paint on wood panel 18x24 inches I wanted this piece to encompass a glorious sense of light, luminosity and vibrancy while still allowing for interesting brushwork and paint application. Using a limited palette and a strong gestural pose, I strived to capture a sense of "strength" and "reconnecting" with something spiritual, primal and perhaps lost within ourselves. This is one of the earlier pieces in a series I have been working on for exhibition next year. I've included a detail shot here and you can click the images to see them larger. Enjoy!

"Outside the Box"
18x24 inches
oil on wood panel

Artwork:  Copyright Trey Gallaher. All Rights Reserved.

GRAPHIC NOVEL SUMMER '12

I wanted to send a SHOUT-OUT to my students of my Summer '12 Graphic Novel class at the Art Institute of California-San Francisco.  You guys did a fantastic job and I am proud of you and your fantastic work.  In an intensive eleven weeks together I watched you crank out original stories, characters and artwork to complete your graphic novel projects.  Layouts, pencils, inks, coloring, cover and masthead... it took hard work, dedication and you did it all with passion, talent and elbow grease.  I want to applaud you, thank you and let you know it was an honor to watch you work.  I hope you take your ideas and your work and continue to push them both forward.

photo: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher 2012
All Rights Reserved.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

 

Just a little glimpse at a piece I have been working on recently.  This is part of a series I have been working on for a over a year now. I'm hoping to have a show sometime next year.  These works are quite a bit larger than most anything I've done recently and working in oils is slower and requires more process drying-time.  I included here a drawing study of one of the figures depicted in this painting titled "The Beginning".  Enjoy!

Images and Artwork: "The Beginning"  ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

ON THE COVER 2

Gracing the homepage of my website this month is a detail shot from this recently finished illo I completed titled "Sorceress". While working on this piece I was thinking about science fiction and fantasy writers whose work I am familiar with. I had recently watched an interview with the great concept artist Ian McCaig and remembered him being inspired by the American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell. A few Google searches and thirty minutes later I was immersed in Mr. Campbell's life and work.

An amazing visionary, pioneer and savior of world mythology in the modern age, Joseph Campbell would have many interests and influences from the likes of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Stekel. Campbell was great freinds with fellow writer John Steinbeck and even lived in Monterey, CA next door to the legendary "Doc" Ricketts of all people. Campbell would go on to originate the term monomyth or what would later become known as the The Hero's Journey and what has now become a standard in contemporary story writing structure.

Being totally blown away with Joseph Cambell's dedication to story writing and the survival of mythology in modern day society I decided to include a famous quote of his to accompany my illustration. They seemed to fit nicely together.

"Follow your bliss, and the world will open doors where there were only walls."

- Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)



For more information on Joseph Campbell click --> HERE

To see the detail shot of this work on my homepage click --> HERE

Artwork: "Sorceress"
                9" x 12" oil on paper
                ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

JOURNAL 5: KINDNESS, SOULS & EINSTEIN

From the journal "Hummingbird".

Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher. All Rights Reserved.