home auction

I'm continuing to foreclose on this series of paintings, it's interesting to take these pieces started in 2004 and work on them in another place in history. Here's a crop of some of what I did today on Sunland: model 4. It's still "work in progress" but making progress.

Fantasy 3D Street Painting

My first street painting post pregnancy was a really fun one!  I was part of a wonderful project created  by PlanetStreetPainting for the city of Lelystad, The Netherlands.  There were eight 3D street paintings to be created by 9 international artists throughout downtown Lelystad to kickoff the start of their cultural season.  It was a wonderful opportunity to meet up with old friends from Germany, Holland, Mexico, Italy, the Netherlands, and to work again with Peter Westerink of PlanetStreetPainting.

I wanted to create something that was 3D but also very interactive for the public.  I did several 3D concepts before I came upon a children's book illustration of the princess & the pea.  As soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect!  So I drew a sunken room with a huge stack of colorful mattresses...and at the top, you can sit for a photo op as the princess.  We even had crowns.  It was a bit hit, especially with the children.  And in Dutch...'De Prinses en de Erwt.'

Childrens' book illustration by Ashley Smith

I really like this pic because it looks so impossible ;)  The top of the painting extended about 36 feet.

And the stretch.

a riot on the Alex Schaefer hour!

Yesterday was a relatively bug-free episode of the Alex Schaefer Hour at the Hive gallery on coagula.com. It was an "automatic composition" experiment using randomness to find order. I made rubbings on paper off the floor of the Hive gallery and then used that to spark my imagination. My intention was to see a riot take shape, but I could have just as easily chosen to see a rave dance party take shape! Here's a link to the show and some visual accompaniment, a series of shots of the drawing taking shape.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW!

This is going to be an exciting Saturday

This Saturday, October 1st if you're in Los Angeles there are two places you gotta be. First is the Los Angeles outbreak of Occupy Wall Street! 10am to ??? at City Hall at 200 N. Spring St 90012. I'll be showing up bright and early with art supplies, a camera and passion, I'm looking forward to seeing the turnout! Then Saturday night take a break and head down to the Hive Gallery, 729 S. Spring St. 90014, to check out the new show opening, I'll be showing some new work. I'll keep you posted! Here's a couple views of the October installation at the Hive

house for sale

I'm sewing up loose ends on this one and adding a 'for sale' sign. There might be more additions, and there's always the chance of fire breaking out, but at the moment I think less says more. I'm sure there's meaning in the history of this painting. I started a series of these tract homes in 2004 when very few people were foreseeing that we'd end up where we are now, so I think it's appropriate to find these unfinished works, in the middle of an economic meltdown caused in large part by bad business practices in mortgages and housing, and paint 'for sale' signs on the lawn. Bank owned. Forclosure. Here's a close-up shot.

art for sale on Zatista

I finally got approved for a Zatista store to try and sell some plein air paintings. Go to https://www.zatista.com/store/index/Alex-Schaefer to check it out... not sure how this will work out but no harm trying!

sunland, ca

I went through my garage today after teaching and found a couple of choice "works in progress". What a great surprise, it's like I unknowingly left myself a gift from the past. I started five of these in 2004, nearly the beginning of the housing bubble now wreaking havok around the world, and finished three at the time and they turned out great, but then once I had a tryptic I petered out on the other two. But now that I've stumbled across these I feel like they need something? What do you think it needs? What could it be? what? ahahahahahah! I'll be jumping on these tomorrow! I love painting. The longer I do it the more fun it gets. I think if you keep painting, as much as you can stand, all your life, things will work out. oil on canvas, 25 by 45

good times at the Hive

Here's a fun video of a night in the life of the Hive... Yours truly shows up from 1:40 to 4:10 minutes...

art show today!

This Friday, September the 23rd.
From 7 to 9 pm & some ... “soft opening” for

Alex SCHAEFFER, (a burning bank painting)
Fresh from its scandalous and media fueled furor!

As curated by Pierre PICOT
showing One work by One artist on the
The YELLOW WALL

at ALIAS BOOKS EAST
3163 Glendale blvd.
Los Angeles (Atwater Village) 90039
323. 661.9000

See you all this Friday and meet the artist who is fanning the fires.

portrait of troy davis

I was inspired by someone on facebook to paint a portrait of Troy Davis... this is the first image of him that comes up online. I tried to paint it as fast as possible at the edge edge control and disaster and still have it look like him. oil on canvas, 16 by 12

A New Direction

I've been creating like crazy lately. I must have finished 14 larger paintings since July which is a TON for me. I have been going a very different direction with my paintings. Some on canvas... some on wood when I ran out of canvas. They are creepy, colorful, fantasy, and maybe even a little dark. I am in a new world and I am in heaven. I'm trying to keep up with the photos and will hopefully have lots of eye candy for you soon but here are a few teaser detail shots to wet your appetite. Hope you all like this new direction I'm going with my work. It's really, really exciting for me! :)

A peek at a finished piece! :)

Lots more to come...SOON! :)

t shirts

I've uploaded my painting of chase burning to cafe press so it's available to purchase on a t-shirt! Perfect for your next loan renegociation meeting, town hall gathering, or protest! I'm Alex Schaefer and I approve this message.

CLICK: http://www.cafepress.com/burningbanks and order one today! It's political speech! Do it before I get renditioned, or waterboarded or sued, or...

the Alex Schaefer Hour fail

Well here's a link to today's show which experienced some difficulties. CLICK HERE FOR THE SHOW! There is no audio until you fast forward to 27:30 minutes. But enjoy none the less. Here's the painting I was working on, a Bank of America in flames... oil on canvas, 40 by 32

day of rage?

I heard on the internet that today was a "Day of Rage" around the country so I wanted to go out and make a painting. For some reason, the Los Angeles protest was to be at Olvera St which is actually a lovely part of town. I thought painting the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Reserve Bank was more appropriate but amazingly I was the only person there engaged in any form of protest so I felt a little let down by that... Today was like when I recently painted in Pasadena, people were recognizing me and talking about the story, a new experience for me. At 4pm Homeland Security pulled up and I went through the whole deal again, this time with Federal agents. I find it hard to believe but they said this or another building was threatened with fire tomorrow. So they asked for my ID, another incident report was filled out and they took a photo of the painting. I'm glad they didn't mind me photographing them as well. Here's a poorly shot and poorly edited video by your truly but it gives you a good feel for painting on the street. Part 'day in the life', part art lesson, part episode of COPS. here's a shot of the painting, it's still work in progress but a good start with an ugly subject! oil on canvas, 30 by 24

art and economics on Max Keiser

What a great episode! Max and Stacy are real fans and my painting becomes a springboard for real discussion about the economy. In reading all the articles and comments online I think the best one I have gotten was someone pointing out that by selling the paintings which I created to Europe I have actually reduced the trade deficit by $25,200 which is more than the politicians in DC have done in years! good point! I’ll gonna keep painting…

an interview with Shana Nys Dambrot

I was the guest on Creative Current with writer Shana Nys Dambrot. I had a great time and enjoyed getting to talk about some of the aesthetic issues surrounding the painting in addition to the political!

lets paint tv!

I was on LETS'S PAINT TV yesterday, you can watch the show here: Let's Paint TV. Click that link and watch! I was late and the show didn't get rolling until like 15 minutes when we figured out my mic problems, but I got some good painting done, it's always invigorating to work with another artist. I took an old plein air that I'd done when once was allowed to paint INSIDE the Glendale Galleria. The piece never sold but for some reason again I kept it and I thought it was the perfect image to "set on fire". The symbolic fire of economic havok casued by bad banking practices is spreading to retailers! RUN!! But noone seems to be running yet... it's needs some more painting time on it, but the piece is 1000% more interesting now. oil on canvas, 24 by 36

the Alex Schaefer hour

Listen to the Alex Schaefer Hour Wednesday live from the Hive gallery on coagula.com at 1pm PST! Seriously, all I can say is has it REALLY only been a week?!?!? What a week. I look forward to just sitting at the hive doing nothing for an hour. Nothing but talking to you! Call in! 949 203 4726 or come by the Hive and say "hi!"

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW ONLINE!

and here's some recent internet links!

http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1163143/0/sucursales-bancarias/en-llamas/pintura/
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/someone_paid_25.php
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/14/paintings-of-banks-on-fire-turn-little-known-calif-artist-into-celebrity/
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/artist-makes-thousands-of-dollars-off-of-anti-bank-paintings/

pasadena plein air

I went out this morning to start a burning bank that I've had my eye on in Pasadena. It was a different experience today then other plein air outings because 5 people recognized me from all the publicity, came up, gave me compliments and thumbs up and posed for pictures. One guy, who said he works in finance and is a self-described "capitalist pig", gave me the biggest kudos of all! Amazing!! Here's a few shots from the location and the painting so far. I painted more on the fire when I got home and I think it's looking good! oil on canvas panel, 24 by 18

more news about Chase Burning...

I just found out that a great piece about the whole incident and placing it in a greater context just came out on Southern California public radio. It's so funny, I did so much media stuff that first week I forgot about this one until it came out today and I heard about it from a friend on facebook! It's Krissy Clark with the California Report reporting on the Madeleine Brand Show.

CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO LINK!

I got a mention at the start of the new episode of the Keiser Report! Enjoy that and then watch the rest of the show...



I'm also including a bunch of links to other online articles...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/artist-makes-thousands-of-dollars-off-of-anti-bank-paintings/
http://www.myfoxla.com/dpps/entertainment/alex-schaefer-artist-paintings-of-burning-banks-ignite-interest-dpgoha-20110914-fc_15009785
http://eaglerock.patch.com/articles/eagle-rock-artist-on-a-roll-after-25000-ebay-sale
http://laist.com/2011/09/08/plein_air_artist_suspected_of_terro.php
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/09/bank_fire_painting_ebay.php
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/dim-bulb/2011/09/artistic-expression-results-interrogation
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2011/09/01/late-night-lapd-sends-cops-over-incendiary-painting/

selling limit

I just wanted to post a short blog to any interested collectors that I found out from ebay that I have reached my selling limit for the month and can't list anything until Oct 3rd! argh! ahahahahah!! But keep watching my blog because I'm not going to stop making painting and as soon as I can sell on ebay again I will be there. In the meantime here's a couple life drawings for your viewing pleasure...

fuck the 80's

I revisited a painting from this series that was work in progress. I love to let a painting get good and dry and then jump on it and whip it into shape... I have found this series to be controversial subject matter and I'm never sure why. I think lots of people have lots of fond memories of the 80's, and so do I... but you gotta admit that a lot of it was pretty fucked. I think the 80s were half full and half empty at the same time; and the beginning of the institutionalization of bank criminality... oil on canvas, 48 by 36

after party on Let's Paint TV

Tomorrow I will be joining John Kilduff,johnkilduff.com, on his show LET'S PAINT TV! for some good times. Go to letspainttv.com LIVE at 11pm PST and join the happiness and spirit of creativity! There has been such an outpouring of love this last week I want to take the opportunity to thank the world!

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO FROM TODAY'S EPISODE OF LET'S PAINT TV!

I got a new video that came out today on RTTV America, it's well done! I hope you enjoy it:

hammer price

What a day! I had a three hour show on coagula.com that you can listen to here, it's basically me yammering about this and this for two hours and 40 minutes and then it gets really exciting at the end! aahahahahah! All the experienced ebay-ers told me to expect that and they were right. Here's a screen shot of the closing price of the auction. I'm still in a state of shock but slowly coming to! Thank you world for all your love! I can't tell you how excited I am for all this and for artistic recognition but also for the ability of a simple painting to get so many people talking about such important issues! I'm humbled.

two dollars

I'm so amazed with ebay that I'm putting another item up for auction. It's a three color, hand cut block print on fine paper.

CLICK HERE FOR THE AUCTION!

the Alex Schaefer Hour

UPDATE THINGS HAVE CHANGED! Tomorrow on the Alex Schaefer Hour from 2pm to 5pm on coagula.com it's an extended episode set to end after the auction closes at 4:50pm so you can get all the latest on this crazy auction. I will basically be clicking refresh on my browser logged into ebay the whole time. hahahahah! The momentum from this painting and the surrounding media storm is BLOWING MY MIND! I don't have a guest planned but there's lots to talk about none the less. If you want to call in, feel free! 949 203 4726 Or just drop by the Hive Gallery and say HI!

live auctions on ebay

Here's the listing for the Chase Burning painting! Click here for Chase Burning on Ebay!

And here's the listing for the mini Bank of America Burning painting!
Click here for Bank of America Burning on Ebay!

The Keiser Report

Last Friday I taped a segment with Max Keiser and the Keiser Report. Here's the teaser from his website. Click here for the page on Max's site!

Here's the full interview, I go on at 13 minutes:

BTW I thought this was an interesting, apropos article on MarketWatch:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-profit-from-investing-in-art-2011-09-02

live painting at the Hive

Yesterday was the opening show at the Hive. It was a low key crowd, likely the labor day weekend and burning man combined. I used the opening as an excuse to get some painting done. Here's a shot of a work in progress. This was a random internet Chase branch submission so I didn't know where it was, but the web has stepped up and I have learned this is in Ohio! I plan to paint some more on it and get a better photo, but it's still blog post worthy... UPDATE here's how the piece looks after a little work at home... it has sort of a luminous Thomas Kinkade-y look to it...

Bank of America

I have listed a new painting of a bank on fire, this time it's Bank of America. Painted from life from the patio of my local Starbucks. More information is on the ebay auction. It's been quite exciting all this. The next big media appearance is going to be on the Keiser Report on Tuesday. The first painting I listed has already taken me over the top of my selling limit, but I called ebay today and worked it out so I'm getting to list this new piece. It's smaller and more affordable to a larger audience. oil on canvas panel, 8 by 6



CLICK HERE FOR THE EBAY AUCTION!!!



note I've slightly reworked the sign and signpost with more reflected light from the flames. I can't edit the photo on the ebay auction so THIS UPDATED image on my blog is what the painting you are bidding on looks like. I think it's an improvement!

I thought this was a cool link...

http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2011/09/04/please-support-your-local-artist-fire-sale/

ebay auction of Chase Burning

I've gotten so many offers on this painting that I've decided to auction it on e-bay! I've never sold anything on e-bay before so I'm curious to see how the experience turns out! Click here for the listing!



Here's how I'm pricing the piece: In 1873 one French franc equalled .290322581 g grams of gold. Legend has it that Vincent Van Gogh sold one painting in his lifetime, the Red Vineyard at Arles, for 400 francs, which would have equalled 116.129 grams of gold, or 4.1 ounces of gold. Today an ounce of gold costs $1835, so 4.1 ounces of gold is $7523.50. Not a bad price adjusted for inflation and given the amount of money his work auctions for nowadays quite a steal! I'm going to auction this painting on e-bay, it's just "too hot" not to! I've been getting offers and I think this is the most democratic and frankly interesting way to monetize this artwork. I'm going to float this painting on the open market and engage in a little real-world price discovery. And I'm going to be setting the auction starting bid at the cost of just a half an ounce of gold in today's prices, or $920.

alex schaefer on alex jones

Listen to the Alex Jones Show today at http://www.infowars.com/ for my interview with him regarding the Chase Bank paintings I've been up to. It should be a hoot!



here's a link to the PODCAST! http://rss.infowars.com/20110901_Thu_Alex.mp3



I come into the show at 1 hour and 13 minutes...

The painting has caught fire at auction! CLICK HERE FOR THE EBAY AUCTION!

I'm teaching in Sanford FL!!!

I don't teach much off-line and I've never taught these techniques before, so here's a special opportunity to come learn something extra special from me in person!!!



Saturday October 15th at Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery, Sanford FL (located about 1.5 hrs from Orlando)



I will be teaching a full day of "Textural Bliss" Acrylic still life class. ($85 per person, $10 materials fee)



"In this class participants will be making happy still life paintings with lots of yummy texture! You will learn the basics of collage and drawing with an in-depth focus on textures and acrylic mediums. We will play with crackle, sand, pumice, fabrics, paper and lots more! I will show you how to “cheat” if your drawing skills aren’t so sharp so you can dive into the fun part- painting! You will gain knowledge of my techniques and will be able to take these skills and apply them to any future creative endeavors. This class is for all levels. Beginners welcome!

Call the gallery to reserve your space. Seating is limited.

407-323-2774



Jeanine Taylor Folk Art…211 E. 1st St….Historic Downtown Sanford, FL http://www.jtfolkart.com/