Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A Welcoming Oasis

His talent is unearthly and so are his characters. Logan's drawings, paintings and caricatures make you wonder what rhelm he's really from. http://dlot.nu/loganmilesdavis/

Natively and geographically, he's a Virginia Beachian and I found him on the boardwalk back on Memorial Day weekend. He had his work organized and displayed in a tent at the end of a row of 10 or so other artists participating in this particular show, but he was hidden at the far end, near nothingness. He stood out from the rest though, not only because he was straggling at the end of the boardwalk and the only artist to present work with non-aquatic themes in a row of seascapes, Jimmy Buffet sayings, seagulls and waves, but because he was the only artist performing his wonderful craft for on-lookers to see, en plain air. This practice provokes peoples curiosity and temptation to purchase work. They are acting witnesses of a genius.

Real artists love to produce their work. They live, eat and breath for it. It would be like prying a bottle of rum from a pirates hand to keep this man from painting, even if he is selling it between strokes.

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Scott Tuttle, of Stout Metal Works, (also vending that weekend) had purchased a pastel portrait of one of his caricatures. I saw that piece before I even ventured down to his end. It was on newsprint paper, matted and covered in plastic, like the rest of the work in his unconventional oasis. Of all the other artists, Logan seemed to be presenting work that he believed in, not the consumer. Having confidence as an artist in what you produce holds more value than any themed show can afford to give.

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Among a very cliche collection of local beach art, Logan's work presented itself as an outcast. That's what I was drawn to and that's what I'm inspired by.

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