Artist Statement- Upon losing my studio of fifteen years to the Russian River flood of 2019, and having successfully built my new professional art studio (on higher ground) with my own hands by the beginning of 2021(at the peak of the pandemic), I began working again at last. Retrieving my works in progress from storage that I had managed to rescue before my space was submerged, I found myself not wanting to return to my previous line of aesthetic as if nothing had happened, as if my whole perspective on my work, my friends, my relationship to nature, and the art community at large had not been shaken to the core. I knew that I needed to process this experience through my art but did not know exactly how I would want to do it. However, I knew that I did not want to go back to painting barbizon and american tonalist influenced landscapes, that I had experienced something that required a more contemporary approach. As my past collectors will acknowledge, I always put a lot of work into building and prepping all of my painting panels from scratch. Knowing that I was going to embark on an exploratory art process, I decided to scrape my panels down to their grounds so that I could use them for new works. Fully intending, at first, to simply make my panels fresh and blank, I immediately started to notice something very appealing as I scraped and revealed layers in some areas while leaving others intact. Like a child scraping away black crayon to reveal the myriad colors they had layed down first beforehand, I became excited as I decided to abandon the initial goal of making "clean slates" in pursuit of this new experience. I was having fun. I was also very intrigued as to where this would take me. At one point, I stood back to assess my progress, and to my astonishment something clicked in a big way. It looked like a heavily weathered fragment from a wrecked ship that had washed ashore after years of floating at sea. The scoring, clawing, and removal of layers had breathed fresh life into the panel. I began thinking about water, both the sea and the river. How high tide combined with the storm had caused the river to flood my studio, of all the debris floating out to sea as a result of the flood, and of my folly for placing my studio in a flood zone (knowing full well that it was a gamble, and one that I eventually lost). In the back of my mind were these resource images that I had gathered of a local shipwreck, that I had been wanting to use for quite a while, but it wasn't until this moment that I realized how vital they would be to this new body of work. I knew exactly what I wanted to paint, and I knew that I could explore this aesthetic ad infinitum.
Artist's Biography- Born in San Francisco, Ethan Cranke was raised in Sonoma County. He left Sonoma County in 1997, to study painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. There he was allowed to thoroughly explore his medium, mostly under the guidance of Bruce McGaw (of the Bay Area Figurative Movement) and Jeremy Morgan. Having returned to Sonoma County in 2002, he has been painting full time at his Guerneville studio ever since.
Artist CV-
Website: ethancranke.blogspot.com
Email: ArtByEthanCranke@gmail.com
Born in San Francisco, 1978.
Education:
BFA 2001 Painting San Francisco Art Institute
1996 Santa Rosa Junior College
1996 Attended CSSSA at CalArts for Summer Session
Areas of Specialization: Painting, Drawing, Monoprinting, Experimental Film, and Performance.
Professional experience:
Fall 2011 Guest painting instructor for “Arts With Elders,” held in San Francisco at The Sequoias and Western Park Apartments.
2001-08 High School and Junior High Substitute teacher, Sonoma County Office of Education
Spring 2005 Interim full time English Teacher for Spring Semester, at El Molino High School, while teacher was on sick leave. I developed and implemented original lesson plans, lectures, projects, and final exams.
Fall 2004 Interim full time Art Teacher for Fall Semester, at El Molino High School. Implemented orignal lesson plans, lectures, projects, and final exams.
Awards/Grants:
1996 California Art Scholar Award
1997-2001 Merit Scholarship SFAI
2000 Materials Grant SFAI
Exhibition Record:
Solo Show
April 1 - April 30, 2016 | Canessa Gallery | 708 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94111
"New Landscapes"
Solo Show
June 1 - August 22, 2015 | Reframe Gallery | 6790 McKinley Street, STE 180, Sebastopol, California 95472
“Summer Show”
Solo Show February 4 May 31, 2015 | Daredevils & Queens | 122 4th Street in Santa Rosa, California 95401
“Tonal Landscapes”
San Francisco Group Show
January 17 - February 2, 2015 | Arc Gallery | 660 Fourth Street, #125, San Francisco, California 94107
"Impulse"
San Francisco Group Show
January 18 - February 1, 2014 | Arc Gallery | 660 Fourth Street, #125, San Francisco, California 94107
"Impulse"
Group Show
November 2013 - February 2014 | Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma, CA
“Art Around Town”
Solo Show
June - August 2013 | D & G Equity Management | Guerneville, CA
“Landscapes”
Twitter-Art-Exhibit Group Show II
April - May 2012 | Moss Women‘s Crisis Center | Moss, Norway
“140 Characters”
The New York Group Show
Dec. 28, 2011 - Jan. 1, 2012 | Kianga Ellis Projects | Brooklyn
"I am the judge. I am the jury."
Rebellion & Empowerment in Contemporary Art
#KEP Santa Fe Group Show
July 25-31, 2011 | Kianga Ellis Projects | HD3 on 560 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico
“Everything and Everyday”
Twitter-Art-Exhibit Group Show
Nov 2010 - Jan 2011| Moss Children’s Library | Moss, Norway
“140 Characters”
Driftwood Salon Group Show
February 6- March 4, 2010 | Driftwood Salon Gallery | 39 Isis St., San Francisco, California
“The Preview”
Petaluma Arts Center Group Show
Sept 30-Nov 6, 2010| Petaluma Arts Center | 230 Lakeville Street, Petaluma, California
“El Día de los Muertos”
Bibliography:
April 2010, Publication: Modern Painters Magazine, Article: “Modern Painters Salon,” pg. 12. Contents included my contributions to dialogue regarding the “death of painting.”
Conferences/Symposia:
Kianga Ellis Projects “Art Talk, Santa Fe,” July 30, 2011(#KEPSantaFe), Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of a three person panel. Topics included further discussion of my “Fire Man“ series (on display in the show) as well as the works of other contemporary artists guest speaking on the panel. As a team we spoke to the audience with regard to our experience of intertwining social media and art, followed by a Q & A with the audience, participating both in the gallery and watching live via internet streaming. Archived footage can be viewed at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16336877
Technical Abilities:
As I am a skilled artist and oil painter, I possess a full and complete knowledge of the tools, materials, and methodologies of the medium; as well as those of acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal, and graphite. I have experience in mono-printing, and am familiar with how to work a press. I have made art films using found footage, super 8, and 16 mm. I have played guitar since the age of five, and piano since my teenage years. As a composer I write original songs and lyrics.
Collections:
My work is now in the possession of a variety of private collections.
Artist's Biography- Born in San Francisco, Ethan Cranke was raised in Sonoma County. He left Sonoma County in 1997, to study painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. There he was allowed to thoroughly explore his medium, mostly under the guidance of Bruce McGaw (of the Bay Area Figurative Movement) and Jeremy Morgan. Having returned to Sonoma County in 2002, he has been painting full time at his Guerneville studio ever since.
Artist CV-
Website: ethancranke.blogspot.com
Email: ArtByEthanCranke@gmail.com
Born in San Francisco, 1978.
Education:
BFA 2001 Painting San Francisco Art Institute
1996 Santa Rosa Junior College
1996 Attended CSSSA at CalArts for Summer Session
Areas of Specialization: Painting, Drawing, Monoprinting, Experimental Film, and Performance.
Professional experience:
Fall 2011 Guest painting instructor for “Arts With Elders,” held in San Francisco at The Sequoias and Western Park Apartments.
2001-08 High School and Junior High Substitute teacher, Sonoma County Office of Education
Spring 2005 Interim full time English Teacher for Spring Semester, at El Molino High School, while teacher was on sick leave. I developed and implemented original lesson plans, lectures, projects, and final exams.
Fall 2004 Interim full time Art Teacher for Fall Semester, at El Molino High School. Implemented orignal lesson plans, lectures, projects, and final exams.
Awards/Grants:
1996 California Art Scholar Award
1997-2001 Merit Scholarship SFAI
2000 Materials Grant SFAI
Exhibition Record:
Solo Show
April 1 - April 30, 2016 | Canessa Gallery | 708 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94111
"New Landscapes"
Solo Show
June 1 - August 22, 2015 | Reframe Gallery | 6790 McKinley Street, STE 180, Sebastopol, California 95472
“Summer Show”
Solo Show February 4 May 31, 2015 | Daredevils & Queens | 122 4th Street in Santa Rosa, California 95401
“Tonal Landscapes”
San Francisco Group Show
January 17 - February 2, 2015 | Arc Gallery | 660 Fourth Street, #125, San Francisco, California 94107
"Impulse"
San Francisco Group Show
January 18 - February 1, 2014 | Arc Gallery | 660 Fourth Street, #125, San Francisco, California 94107
"Impulse"
Group Show
November 2013 - February 2014 | Petaluma Valley Hospital | Petaluma, CA
“Art Around Town”
Solo Show
June - August 2013 | D & G Equity Management | Guerneville, CA
“Landscapes”
Twitter-Art-Exhibit Group Show II
April - May 2012 | Moss Women‘s Crisis Center | Moss, Norway
“140 Characters”
The New York Group Show
Dec. 28, 2011 - Jan. 1, 2012 | Kianga Ellis Projects | Brooklyn
"I am the judge. I am the jury."
Rebellion & Empowerment in Contemporary Art
#KEP Santa Fe Group Show
July 25-31, 2011 | Kianga Ellis Projects | HD3 on 560 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico
“Everything and Everyday”
Twitter-Art-Exhibit Group Show
Nov 2010 - Jan 2011| Moss Children’s Library | Moss, Norway
“140 Characters”
Driftwood Salon Group Show
February 6- March 4, 2010 | Driftwood Salon Gallery | 39 Isis St., San Francisco, California
“The Preview”
Petaluma Arts Center Group Show
Sept 30-Nov 6, 2010| Petaluma Arts Center | 230 Lakeville Street, Petaluma, California
“El Día de los Muertos”
Bibliography:
April 2010, Publication: Modern Painters Magazine, Article: “Modern Painters Salon,” pg. 12. Contents included my contributions to dialogue regarding the “death of painting.”
Conferences/Symposia:
Kianga Ellis Projects “Art Talk, Santa Fe,” July 30, 2011(#KEPSantaFe), Santa Fe, New Mexico. One of a three person panel. Topics included further discussion of my “Fire Man“ series (on display in the show) as well as the works of other contemporary artists guest speaking on the panel. As a team we spoke to the audience with regard to our experience of intertwining social media and art, followed by a Q & A with the audience, participating both in the gallery and watching live via internet streaming. Archived footage can be viewed at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/16336877
Technical Abilities:
As I am a skilled artist and oil painter, I possess a full and complete knowledge of the tools, materials, and methodologies of the medium; as well as those of acrylics, watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal, and graphite. I have experience in mono-printing, and am familiar with how to work a press. I have made art films using found footage, super 8, and 16 mm. I have played guitar since the age of five, and piano since my teenage years. As a composer I write original songs and lyrics.
Collections:
My work is now in the possession of a variety of private collections.
