Live Arts 4.U: Eco.Arts.Ology

 

Art.ology: Story Vessels was a subscription based interactive arts project informed by  backyard archeological discoveries. Join me to find out what happened when I started digging in my backyard during COVID. 

Join the conversation:
Wed 6pm Sept 17
Live on Insta @MBSarts

Dive Deeper: 
Arts.Ology: Introduction
What is ArtOlogy?
Investigating a Hires Root Beer Bottle
Apothecary and Druggist Bottles

Order a Digitalized PDF Catalogue of the Art.Ology project, emailed directly to you. 

 

 

Moving Drawing Series #1-5

Conceptual artist Michael B Schwartz will be unveiling a series of moving drawings, live on his instagram account 6pm (MST) on September 3, 2025. 

This series of five “moving drawings” were assembled following the COVID lock-down, and edited in 2022. Schwartz created them with hundreds of stills stitched together using iMovie. Each 1-2 minute long work features a different painting as a background. When viewed sequentially we see an evolution of techniques.

The series was originally shared with a small group of subscribers to the 2020 Eco.Art.Ology project.  This series of animations are a companion to the 2022 Art.Ology Catalogue. You can order a copy of the catalogue on the artists website. 

The artist explains that the objective was to explore new media. 

“The goal was to apply old school concepts, such as claymation and hand drawing, to the new technologies I had available. I’m illustrating this idea that the ordinary can be beautiful. My color field paintings are like looking at clouds, different images emerge and then fade away, I wanted a way of expressing that. The story of course always changes, and these films are capturing one narrative inspired by a painting in that particular moment.”

The five released works include; Run 1, Run 2, Seed House, Fish Story and Moon Island. To enjoy these works you can click this link. 

For more information and full fall 2025 schedule visit: https://michaelbschwartz.com/

Prism/Transitions Installation 2025 Art Link PRISM Gala

 I was honored to be part of the 2025 Art Link PRISM Gala at the Biltmore Fasion Park in Phoenix AZ. This stunning collaboration includes visual art by Michael B Schwartz and the sensational Ruby Farias Designs who created three unique party dresses.

Thank you to her amazing models Vera Rosalind and Anastasia Stock!

The group exhibit will be up through the end of March, 2025 at the Biltmore Fashion Park next to Ralph Lauren in downtown Phoenix, AZ.

“Prism/Transitions” Installation
(5) 57” x 144” Drops
Acrylic on 8 gauge Mylar
Lamenate on Cardboard, Lights, Acrylics
© 2025 Michael B Schwartz

#artlink #artdcoregala #artlinkgala #PRISM #prismgala #artistsaz #artdetour #prismexhibition #MBSarts #Installation #SparksOfLight

Process shots: measuring, weaving, cutting.

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Summer Nights: Cashew Road

 Summer nights.

Hey, do you all remember, that one time we went to the old farm house by Cashew Road?

We sat and watched the sunset from the bridge that evening, flicking rocks onto the railroad track and talking about the odd cloud formations we had seen earlier.

For whatever reason we thought it would be abandon. The yard was unkept, and wildflowers were growing. Rusty old machine parts scattered about. The meandering walk across the farm and back on to West Main wasn’t more than a mile. Then the sound of a shotgun and something whizzing by our heads. “Git off my damn property” we hear a man yell  - then a second shot - we take off running as fast as we can, a pellet caught the back of Jorges calf, but he hobble runs like a chicken. Looking back we can see the dim silhouette of a large man in the distance, gun in the air.  

We make the road - the dim yellow street lights create an odd mellow ambiance. Most likely we are safe. It was still early, but West Main at times can be a ghost highway, a car passing every 20 minutes or so. We sit, legs dangling on the road as we pluck grass, placing a blade carefully between our thumbs and index fingers, cupping our hands we while blowing as loudly as possible. The whistles pierce an ambling summer night.

A couple in the distance laugh as they get into their car. A slight breeze. We walk through the graveyard to West Park, occasionally someone runs ahead and hides. We walk by, indifferent as they pop out from behind a tree. We all laugh, making our way past familiar houses to an open field. We lay down stare at the stars as the fireflies scuttle about. We stare into the universe, and fall asleep. 

Thoughts On Drawing: When I wake, I draw

 Thoughts On Drawing: When I wake, I draw.

It has often been said drawing is the core of art, the seed where ideas begin. Some call it a doodle, a sketch, a mind map, an observation, a note, writing. The academic approach is to learn how to create a believable three dimensional environment. Drawing is pre-verbal, primal. The language of drawing so clear and direct.

We can draw with pen and ink, a burnt stick, metal, graphite. Drawing as a way of processing ideas, a form of deep meditation, of switching intelligence. Drawing allows for the experimental, ethereal, spiritual, a voyage into the great unknown.

When drawing I have two primary sources; observational and internal. I bounce between the two. Observational drawing is demanding, we draw what we see - not as we want it but as it is - casting marks and dots of light - doing our best to capture a specific moment, before the lights and shadows change too dramatically. What emerges is our own voice, our own poetic intuition, but the scene is prescribed. This gathering of visual language finds its way into the internal drawings. Internal drawing is as vast a galaxy as observational, trusting intuition and tens of thousands hours of practice.

Illustrations are perhaps refined drawings, with more attention to contrast and graphic lines. There may be a prescribed literary or conceptual objective, or a random meeting. Eventually drawing and illustration merge, then divert again.

Building Your Drawing Collection

People seem to buy a work on first glance - it’s a very intuitive heart process. A work just speaks to you. Next on the list is price, does the work fall into your budget? Drawings tend to be much more affordable than paintings. Do you need to set up a payment plan? How will you store or display the work? When we buy a framed work, we are buying the frame as well, that can double the cost in some cases. I sell mostly unframed work unless the client asks otherwise. Unlike paintings most drawings bought directly from the artist are unframed, allowing for the client to frame the work in a way that corresponds to their interior design.

Preserving and collecting drawings is an affordable way to build your collection. When not on display they can easily be stored, and come in a variety of sizes. I include a Certificate of Authenticity with each work, insuring authorship in perpetuity. 

Afternoon Walk
11” x 15”
Pencil, Colored Pencil on Fabriano
2022
$230. Unframed /Include Certificates of Authenticity
Shipping $20.

Conversation
9” x 11.5”
Ink and Watercolor on Fabriano
$150. Unframed /include Certificates of Authenticity
Shipping $20.

 

Soldiers Creek
9” x 12”
Graphite on Fabriano
2022
$150. Unframed /Include Certificates of Authenticity
Shipping $20.

Catalinas
Note cards
$10.00
($3.00 shipping)
Set: Five Cards (3.75 x 5.5") 5 envelopes

Wheel of Time
11” x 17”
Graphite on Paper
2020
$260. Unframed /Include Certificates of Authenticity
Shipping $30.

You can purchase these and many other works exclusively at: www.MichaelBSchwartz.com