Title: Left out.
SRO #014
Author: Smooth Ray
Size:3.5” x 3.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status: Not for sale
SRO #013
Title: Are all the pieces there? … I think so, yeah, mostly.
SRO #013
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 7” x 3.75”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status: Not for sale. A rare DOUBLE STAMP! Look at that #013, stamped twice for legibility. A true Smooth Ray Original collectible!
SRO #012
Title: Message in a bottle.
SRO #012
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status:
Notes: none
SRO #011
Title: In the future, cities will be greener.
SRO #011
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
SRO #010
Title: About half, he said. But in truth, it was much more.
SRO #010
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status:
Notes:
SRO #009
Title: I think this is upside down.
SRO #009
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Note: For sale.
SRO #008
Title: Cold quilt.
SRO #008
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status: SOLD.
SRO #007
Title: A living thing.
SRO #007
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status:
SRO #006
Title: It’s all there, if you look.
SRO #006
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 2.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status: For Sale
SRO #005
Title: On The Gallery Walls
SRO #005
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 3.5” x 3.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140-pound cold pressed paper
Status: In private collection.
SRO #004
Title: It all started on a Tuesday.
SRO #004
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 6” x 4.5”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on 140 pound cold pressed paper
Notes: It all started on a Tuesday. Which is weird because almost nothing starts on a Tuesday.
Status: Donated to a free art project hosted by Higher Self in Portland, Oregon.
SRO #003
Title: Maybe this is what life looks like.
SRO #003
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 4.5”x6”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Status: Donated to a free art project hosted by Higher Self in Portland, Oregon.
Why paint small?
Ok, Smooth Ray gets asked a few questions over and over. The first is obvious: What makes your smoothies so damn good?
The second is, “Why paint small?”
We all know good things come in small packages and problems tend to be big. But size doesn’t really matter, it’s all about the experience. What is different, looking at a small or large piece of art?
If you took the Mona Lisa, at about 2.5’ tall, and made a copy 10x as big, do you get the same viewing experience?
Something is clearly different (and that’s a pretty fun idea: considering how different works of art might be experienced differently, at different sizes).
When it comes to small works of art, Smooth Ray thinks about: watching people in a museum lean in to the walls for a closer look; whether details or space make the first impression; and the personal impact of calling someone to close the distance. The mere fact that the viewer has to get right up on a small painting in order to really see it, heightens the personal experience.
There is also a certain intensity—both in observing and making small works. If they are empty, it shows up so quickly. The energy is different, perhaps denser.
There is no answer to “Why does Smooth Ray make small art?” That’s just what’s happening now.
But there is something about it, small pieces of art. They vibrate at a higher frequency.
SRO #002
Title: untitled
SRO #002
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 4” x 3”
Date: 2021
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Status: In private collection
What is Smooth Ray’s?
What is Smooth Ray’s? It’s that perfect taco stand you hope to find on any beach trip.
Many years ago, somewhere in Ecudaor, friends took Smooth Ray to a little spot where the fish came in on small boats and the catch was immediately turned into tacos and ceviches, with fresh salsas and light beer served out of coolers of ice. It was heaven.
Fewer years ago, Smooth Ray cooked Sunday brunch in a tiny dive bar in upstate New York. It started out with a small menu but eventually shrunk to just one item: breafast burritos. That place was heaven, too.
Do you know the effervescent pleasure of a $1 beer? Or the light, sweet balance of a coconut-banana smoothie? The secret is extra lime.
Sit in the sand and eat simple fish tacos, walking back over and over to order just one more.
Sunrise on the beach, wouldn’t it be great if that taco shack was open? Of course it isn’t … it is? Serendipity. Breakfast burritos, hot sauce and coffee.
That’s Smooth Ray’s.
One day.
SRO #001
Title: Smooth Ray’s
SRO #001
Author: Smooth Ray
Size: 8.5x5.5
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Status: Not for sale
Date: 2021
Information: This is it. This is where it all began. The this the key. … Not like any other piece of art Smooth Ray has ever made — this is the first time the vision of “Smooth Ray’s” became manifest.
This isn’t for sale, of course. How could it be? Can you sell a dream? And who could afford it?
SRO#1 is locked in Smooth Ray’s studio safe, until such day the taco shop is real and then it’s getting framed and going on the wall behind the register.
You can, however, own a sticker of SRO#1 and all the good vibes that go with it, to show your support!
A Junk-Store Tale of Art Forgery
Years ago after a particularly grueling move to a new apartment, I uttered the words: "I'm never buying anything again."
That magic phrase. Because the very next day I stumbled on a beautiful lithograph — a gallery poster for a Joan Miro show. I gave the shop owner $10 for it, and he seemed relieved to see it gone.
I was curious about the poster's origins and did a little investigating. The story just makes me love the it even more: The poster advertises a show at the Gabos Art Center in University Heights, Ohio, in the summer of 1974.
Cornell Gabos sold fakes. Thousands of them, he would later admit, scamming millions from his victims. He operated for about 20 years, beginning in the 1970s, and later fled to Europe when federal authorities began closing in. He spent two years avoiding charges as the Federal Trade Commission won a $2.3 million judgement against him.
But apparently he spent it all while on the run, and this great Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story describes a flashy and high-profile lifestyle while avoiding authorities.
Ultimately he returned to the United States where he was recognized, reported and arrested. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and directed to repay $1.5 million to victims — though just where that money would come from remained unclear.
Here's another piece of great reporting by Bill Heltzel. I wonder if Heltzel will be surprised to find his work on the Gabos story is still finding readers almost two decades later. Oh, internet ...
I re-framed the poster, which of course cost way more than the $10 I spent. It's not particularly valuable (despite one online auction that's pretty optimistic), but what a great story. I mean ... unless you're one of the thousands who were scammed by Gabos.
Forged prints are a problem — sometimes the signature is fake but the art is authentic; other times the entire work is not by the artist; sometimes the signature is real but it was signed before the print was made ... "fake" can mean a lot of different things, and I'm fairly sure there's at least one forged signature hanging on my walls.
I'm not sure what you'd call the Gabos poster: It's real, now that we know he was a fake? It reminds me just a little of "F For Fake," the tale of a professional forger and Orson Wells' final film.
And the painting of the peasant girl (in the top photo) is available for sale: $1.2 million. It's an authentic ....
