Panel #2

A detail of panel #2 for the Ventura Mural Project. My wife was asking me if the shape below the surfer's right knee was supposed to be Arch Rock out at Anacapa Island. Yes it is, at least my version of it.

The real Arch Rock at Anacapa Island

Speaking of Chalupa!

Here she is, in my arms my fuzzy, long eared muse; Chalupa!

Next!

Panel #1

So for the Ventura Mural Project, I decided to work right to left. The piece shown is the 1st panel I started. The acrylic latex is challenging to work with because you can't really apply it like artistic acrylics, i.e. in thin layers to build depth. This stuff is made to sit on a house through heat, drought, rain, sunshine and expected to look nice for years. It took nearly 3 days of experimenting before I came up with a technique that will let me paint in layers. The skeleton in swim shorts wearing a sombrero is my tribute to the great Mexican illustrator, Jose Posada. He drew the Mexican citizenry as skeletons while riding their bicycles or dancing. My skelton can also be seen as being a representation of the Mexican culture in Ventura who have had a huge impact on the community.

Ventura Mural Sketch

Hey Hey Hey! In trade for a neck massage, Ionia scanned the sketch I submitted for Ventura's Mural Project. The original sketch was on 4 sheets of 11"x 17" tracing paper. I had to condense the 4 images onto 1 sheet of 11"x 1 7" because of the submission guidelines. Look for updates as I complete each panel.

Good Girl

This piece is the companion to "Good Boy" and is 5 years old. The basis of this painting was my chihuahua, Chalupa.

Good Boy

Ventura's Streetscape Mural Project

Thanks for coming back! My latest project involves doing a mural for the City of Ventura The City has installed shelters at the bus stops on Ventura Avenue and at other locations throughout mid-town. I found out through the Westside City Council, (whose website was designed by my wife: Ionia) where we occasionally attend meetings to stay in touch with Westside agendas, developments and politics, that the City had an open call for mural artists to submit ideas for the new bus stop shelters. Other than my weekly illustrations for the VC Reporter I have yet to make any impact in Ventura. To make a long story short, my proposal was accepted and I became a freelance mural artist for the City of Ventura! On January 3rd I picked up the 4 pieces of primed plywood panels and acrylic latex paint that would eventually become a mural. Does this wood make me look fat? Each panel is mounted along the back of the bus stop shelter. There will be a clear coating with a UV protectant that has to be applied over the top of the completed mural. After that the City will apply a "anti-sacrifical" coating. According to the FAQ paperwork for the project, the coating will help to protect the integrity of the artwork. Surfaces containing grafitti will simply be wiped clean by a special rag without damaging the work. The murals will be on display for 3-5 years, which was the reason for the Acrylic Latex (house paint). Off to work.

James Brown and Visual Soul

In January 2006, I was asked to participate in a visual (artistic) tribute to the great soul/ funk legend James Brown. The week long event was to take place in Augusta, Georgia and conclude with several musical tributes to Brown on the 2nd to last and last day. I agreed to participate and went about working on some ideas for the event. Besides his hit songs, like "Pappa's Got a Brand New Bag" or "I Feel Good" I honestly wasn't too familiar with his music. To get into the mood I started downloading songs I wasn't familiar with. The 1st song that took me by surprise was "Please Please Please" which was released in 1956 and was the tune that made everyone take notice of JB. I decided to base the 1st piece on that song and used the title and some of the lyrics as text in the painting. I included the traditional draping of the cape over his shoulders but instead of a man carrying the cape I portrayed 2 Swallows done in tattoo style. To the right is the red curtain getting ready to close the show. "Please..." was usually the last song James Brown performed as an encore. That way he could throw the cape off, run back on stage and plead into the microphone "Please, don't go etc.", and the cape would be re-applied, over and over. The title is "Please Please Please" Since the event took place 50 years after his debut, I decided to go another 50 years into the future to see what James Brown in 2056 would look like. I figured he probably wouldn't be alive (little did I know) but his music would still be played. The James Brown Estate builds James Brown Robots as Goodwill Ambassadors to other planets. The title of this piece is "James Brown 2056. The 3rd piece I made with my 12 year old neighbor, Amber Leftwich. An aspiring artist, I asked her if she would like to participate. She said yes and on a Sunday afternoon we spent 3 hours creating the piece shown below which we called "Funky JB". It was a fun piece to make and was a nice way to unwind after working on the other 2 which were so stylistically strict. To learn more about the Visual Soul Festival go to the website, you can also look at the other art while visiting: Visual Soul James Brown Soul of America Music Festival, Art Exhibition

Welcome

My name is Terence Ulrich and this is my digital journal. I am an artist in the city of San Buenaventura (aka Ventura) in Southern California. 99% of my work is done in acrylic paint on wood or canvas. The painting on the left is called "Cats Always Hide Their Claws". The painting was done in 2001 and is part of my ongoing "American Proverbs" series. I have this huge book called "A Dictionary of American Proverbs" which has proverbs on most any subject you can think of. It's a great source of inspiration for those times when I have no idea what I'm gonna paint.