something new

Ta- da! They're very rudimentary, but here's the first try at a 3-D version of my cityscapes. These will be for sale for $30 each at the Big100 art show at Olympic Mills (107 SE Washington in Portland) ON Friday December 11th. It's a one night only show- come an' gitem!

AS PROMISED...

20 SURFACES PREPPED

I'm happy to be in Big100, a one-night cash & carry show next month where everything is $30. It's a benefit for KBOO community radio (where my buddy DJ Tronic hosts a show) and The Oregon Food Bank. The 8x8 surfaces are provided, and we have about 3 weeks to produce up to 20 pieces. I intend to do 20, and use the opportunity as a living sketch book. I'm going to do cityscapes, but in a much looser style, and experiment with different types of backgrounds. I have 6 spraypainted for a beginning- 2 each of 3 colors; 2 with 3 layers of spray adhesive and newspaper, then coated with glaze; 2 that are 3 layers with alternating glazing and newspaper, 2 gessoed with a diagonal stroke, 3 gessoed with some paint mixed in, and the rest gessoed with a regular horizontal stroke. I'm going to add some fun things like receipts and drycleaning tickets to some of the plain glazed ones, maybe try some more watercolor-ish backgrounds, and I think I'll just paint buildings straight onto the newspaper covered ones. My thoughts are only about one step ahead of my hands, as opposed to my normal way of doing cityscapes, where I know what to do in what order to get what I want. I'll post pictures when things begin to shape up :-)

some of the stuff in my head

...is a collage I did last May, but it's been naked and frame-less all this time. I went to The Rebuilding Center (just like the bumper stickers say- I love that place) and found some molding that's perfect for a frame. It was that 80's/90's country dusty blue and provided the perfect color base to blend with the pastels in the piece. I added, blended and wiped away colors until the pieces matched, then went about deciding which side of the frame looked best on each side of the canvas. Even though I painted the molding with the collage in front of me to gauge colors, I matched all 4 sides with the entire piece. I was pleasantly surprised- the finished product looked as though I'd painted the whole thing together. There's just some touch up work needed at the corners.

en pointe

I've been making progress on the ballet collage. I know I'm getting close to finished when there are fewer and fewer areas that I want to change or fix. I'm thinking that I'll either do a simple wood panel frame, or make a velvet curtain like that on a stage. Most of the images I used art from OBT print materials, so there's some copyright details to take care of. What I want to do is offer the piece to them in exchange for tickets, and if that doesn't go over, I'll ask for their permission to sell it. I'd LOVE for them to have the piece, if they like it. I think ballet is amazing and have much respect for what dancers do, sacrifice, and endure to become the masters of this art. I think I've put that wonder into the piece, and if a rep of OBT feels the same way, I'd be really pleased. If OBT doesn't want it, I'll offer it to Allison Roper, Yuka Iino or Christopher Stowell- the two principles and the artist director. Yes, I know these names off the top of my head:-)

new backgrounds

These arebrand spankin' new- not even titled/numbered yet. I'm experimenting with backgrounds. This is on gessoboard/hardboard with a cream colored base (instead of white gesso) and the background color painted on, let to dry, then sprayed with water & let drip. I want it to look like the sky is falling.

old stuff, new eyes, new stuff

So I made it into the Art & Labor show- my second juried show acceptance- yeay!
Here's the blurb: http://portlandcityart.org/2009/06/26/art-labor-the-labor-of-art/ There aren't any pics of my stuff, but OH MY GAWD the artists I'm sharing walls with a freakin' incredible. Keeping fingers crossed that something sells... the opening was a lot smaller than I'd expected. BUT KC Cowan was there!! She's half of the Oregon Art Beat crew- EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I spoke with her (she's approachable and very nice), she said she liked my work (EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!) and I gave her my card. If nothing else, KC Cowan has seen my work, likes it, and has met me. Have I mentioned EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!?

I'm painting new ones now (I've ben showing the same damned ones for 2 years). I'm excited to have something new- the backgrounds are very different. I'd show you what I'm doing but our scanner isn't on speaking terms with our computer. I'll have to take photos. I've also had the thought to put more skyscrapers in there- real ones. Or at least inspired by real ones. I've traced some new & funky buildings from all over the world, and want to put my favorites in the background- a little Detroit, a little Tokyo, a little Paris.I'll have the whole world in my paintings. Then I'll do the smaller buildings where people live in the front, as always. This just makes the city bigger, and the gap between the haves & have nots more profound.

yeay!

I received confirmation that the curator received my submission- I'd left it on her porch so as not to disturb her or barge in unannounced. Hee hee! Here's her email:

I found your packet this afternoon.
Thanks for bringing it by. (stealth-submission ... :-)
Your work is a delight.

A delight!! This is good! The curator has told me twice that she likes my work, and that she thinks it fits! Woohoo!

I have the drive

100 miles of it, to be specific. Between being away on a family getaway for a week and the 4th of July being on a Saturday (and the day after we returned), the deadline for applying for a juried show became a bit of a chore. One snag led to another, and here is Sunday and I haven't sent my application. And it was due Friday. So, I made the trip to Salem to hand deliver my submission. BTW- I heart MapQuest.

Why the century drive? (And yes, I did consider biking)
1. The show is about the current hard economic times, is scheduled to run around Labor Day, and is called Art & Labor, and the Labor of Art. Pretty catchy, huh? I sent an example of my work with my request for application info, and the curator's response was yes, I agree that your work is a good fit for the theme, and I look forward to seeing more.
2. She gave me a grace period of "As long as I have it by Monday" deadline extension.

So who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? It's a juried show, and I have a lack of those on my resume, and I received encouraging feedback from the curator. The drive was necessary. A consolation prize is that the mileage is tax deductible.

*erk*

My brain is trying to go too many directions at once, and it froze. Like the blue screen of death familiar to so many Windows users. So I stare a lot. And spend too much time goofing off on the computer. Then I'm frustrated when the weekend ends & have little to show my time off. I think I'm due for another art to-do list. But those can give me brain freeze, too. All those things!I want to do so many of them at once.

got ahead of myself

When the lady from the Rental Sales Gallery called a couple of weeks ago called, she said "you've been accepted." Those words rang in my ears- it sounded so final. When I took the paintings in, the agent said something about "making the first cut" and "good luck-" that's when I remembered that there are TWO review stages. I hadn't been accepted- I'd made the first cut. My heart sank. I received a message this afternoon that I didn't make the second cut- so, no, I wasn't accepted. Boo.

BUT- I was told that in the first round there was a "significant reduction" in applicants, that they enjoyed my work and think it's "fun," and although they don't think this is the right "venue for my style," they have some suggestions for me of where else to apply. How cool is that? I'll call back on Tuesday for details.

Yeah, I'm disappointed, but it's still a victory to have made the first round, they enjoyed my paintings, and I get referral info. And I can submit in another medium next year- I have linocuts and landscapes.

On etsy this week, someone included one of my landscapes in their treasury- a set of 12 personal picks shared with many people.

so much good stuff

I got word last week that the 5 paintings I submitted to the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery were accepted! I can't get my head around that. A gallery (wow) connected to a museum (a museum!) liked my work enough to say- sure, we'll represent you. WTF? I turn in my paintings tomorrow, and I can't wait to find out how many applied (I saw a STACK when I turned mine in) and how many were accepted. And when the website is going to be updated- with my name and images! Oooh- I need to update my resume:-) There's an event in June for the new artists (there's only one application period a year- lucky I looked into it when I did)- a reception. I hope it's not the weekend we're in Sacramento, or the 2 weekends we'll be in Sun River :-( Fingers Crossed!

The other exciting thing is that I recently had inspiration for a different kind of cityscape. I stumbled upon a game where you build towers & place them in your little city, and I liked the backdrop of the high-in-the-sky towers. I figured that I could add some true skyscrapers in the background of my ghetto hoods. I bought two books on major skyscrapers of gthe world, and checked out another two- one of them is all about the architecture of Portland. I've marked my favorite buildings and will scan/sketch/trace them, and add the Big Pink, The Bank of China, New York lofts, Mexico City insurance buildings, etc. There will be the world- and Portland- in the next series of cities. I haven't figured out how to combine the fore and aft- there will need to be some experiments to find the best execution. Research & sketching is fun :-)

I also got some pictures from the Strongsville Community Theater- I think they did a great job in blowing up a 6x6 inch painting to a 8x8 foot set. They're sending me a DVD of the show, and some of the programs where they gave me a page. I'll scan that when it comes :-)

Now I have to get together some pieces to put up in the bike shop- 4 of the 5 I submitted to the RSG were on the walls at the Recyclery! I want to fill the holes I've left.

now i'm committed

I've been wanting to work more on my garden collage, and tonight I had a good two hours of doing just that. I'd decided that I was satisfied with the whole as a base with texture & interesting little bits that will peek through in the finished product, and the next thing was to hone in on areas that I didn't like, and fix them. All the happy accidents from the base texture layer will be refined. In so doing, I found myself reaching for a piece I'd set aside for the top layer- if I like something enough, it gets put in the top pile. And if I'm grabbing something from the "save for the end" stash, it means I've turned the corner towards finishing. I put in two of those pieces. I'm committed, now.

pam rsg

Tomorrow I'm going to submit my application to the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery. They accept apps only once a year from new folks, and I happened to find it a month before the deadline. The worst that can happen is that they say no. And I still get my work and name under more people's noses. Chuck's recently been accepted there, and one of the questions on the app is whose collections are you in. Well, he & I exchanged paintings a couple of years ago, sooooo, I'm in the collection of another artist in the gallery- ha!

I *accidently* started another collage this weekend. I was just going to put down some layers of texture so that when I decided what it would be, I could jump in with some good stuff. For texture, I added some leaves, which lead to dandelions, then some moss, and pretty soon I realized that this will be about our garden- not even an idea that was on the list. I dug up years and years worth of seeds in various bags, so I've bordered it with seeds packs- peas from 1995 and radishes from last year. Jim's really pleased that these old seeds are getting such a dignified retirement:-) Now I'd added invoices from Seeds of Change orders, ads from the Sunday paper on plants, grills, and hoses; and bits cut out of books- sketches of plants, and descripitons of species. It's all I want is to work on it:-)

cap auction

I'm pleased as punch that my piece was accepted, for one- and even happier that it SOLD!! I would have been content with a single bid but there was a battle between 2 bidders for a total of 7 and the final price was $190! 3 people wanted to by my painting, and one liked enough to pay almost $200 for this little piece of my brain. I'm just tickled!!! They like me!


AAAND... I sold one of my bikey linocuts on etsy!

I didn't get into Froelick's Oregon at 150 show, but I'm glad I had the chance to submit my work to them.

critics

We just watched an interesting and amusing show on Showtime that was all about critics, the actors they criticize, comedians, their hecklers, and how they deal with them. As for movie critics, I've never paid attention to them because if they like or hate a movie it doesn't mean that I will agree with them because we're different people with different tastes. And so what if one guy's opinion is in the paper or online? Doesn't make a damn but of difference if I'll like something or not.

Jim made the connection between these critics and ones that I may face as an artist. This is no new concept to me. So far, I haven't received any criticism, but that's only because my work has not been widely shown. I expect criticism around every corner- I know it's coming sometime. I know that not everyone will like my work- and that's ok. To be honest, I kinda look forward to the first ding I get- it will make me feel more... real. Right now, I've received nothing but positive feedback (in small, personal ways)- and that's appreciated more than anyone can know- but when someone takes the time to have a negative opinion of my work and make an effort to express it- that means that to that person, my work is big enough to merit a proclamation of their opinion. If you see something you don't like- say, online- and you just think it's lame, you'll move on to the next thing and not say anything- why bother? If you find something you have a negative reaction to and make a point of writing or blogging about it, then the critic must think that not only there's an audience for their voice, but also an audience who can understand and appreciate the subject. Why rant on something that irritates you if no one is going to see/hear your opinion, and if someone does, may not know what you're talking about, and if they do, may not care? Art criticism comes with the knowing that someone thinks their opinion will be heard and that it matters because the subject matters. And- not everyone will agree. Which means that someone could read or hear something negative about my work and think: Well, that's harsh. They're completely on the wrong track. Which means that they like my work. Which in itself is praise- even if it's silent.

I'm sure I'll disagree with this once I've been panned, but for now, it seems reasonable. As it stands, I'm much more humble about my work than people know. I'm grateful for each kind word anyone gives me about the work I produce. I make things because I love it and if people like it- that's wonderful!! I'm humbled by the enthusiastic responses I've received from the etsy site, and folks who have seen my work first, then meet me. It really makes me happy. It's a great reinforcement, and is untellingly satisfying.

Someday, the time will come that I'll submit my work to a gallery, show, auction, etc, and I'll receive a resounding "NO." What's the worst than can happen when I apply to Froelick Gallery's Oregon at 150 show, or to be an artist represented by the Portland Art Museu, in their rental gallery? No- we think your work is crap. Which is the same as a simple No. Which does no harm to me for having tried. I'll just get to laugh when someone in a similar positions says Yes! We love it!

printing today

After I got home from work this afternoon I printed 3 limited edition series. One of the lino blocks needed some extra touch up carving, so I feel like it's great progressto fix that one AND get some successful, frameable prints of it. And scanned! Tommorrow- framing, Thurs/Fri- hanging in The Recyclery! Oh, and I stayed up WAY too late last night adding the first 3 to my etsy account.

framed!

I'm framing my linocuts to go up in the bike shop:-)

On a more exciting note, I got a call on Friday from a board member of a community theater group in Strongsville, Ohio. They're doing a play and want to use one of my cityscapes for a backdrop! Whoa! The guy was really nice (a community theater person in Ohio- how bad could he be?) and said that he'd Googled "cityscape" and found some ok stuff, then found my work and had the "wow" moment. well, schucks! He made my day! I wholeheartedly gave him permission to use my work and tweak it as neccessary for turning something 6x6 inches into 8x16 feet, and they'll give me a whole page in the program about me with contact info & all that! Holy advertising, Batman! I asked if he'd send me some pix of the set, and he agreed to that & offered to send me a DVD of the production! What a great start to me Friday!! He was as happy for my go-ahead as I was with the recognition! Wowie wow!!

And I sold a painting from etsy to an international buyer...

And I have a piece in the CAP Art Evening and Auction...

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Oh, and I applied to Froelick's Oregon at 150 landscape show. I submitted my Front Ave inspired cityscapes as well as some of the red toned landscapes I did a couple of Septembers ago inspired by the drive through Banks. I wrote a damn good artist's statement, if I say so myself, so I'm hoping that my 100% Oregon paintings make it:-) At the very least, it's a great opportunity to submit my work (and two kinds!) to a gallery I have much respect for.

bermuda!!

I'm stoked as all hell!! I just checked my e-mail & there's an inquiry from my etsy site (purplespideroconnor.etsy.com) asking if I could ship a piece (this one) to Bermuda or an alternate address in the UK! Holy frikkin' WOW!!

BERMUDA!!

the recyclery

I'm pretty stoked- I put up about a dozen cityscapes in The Recyclery, and I have to say it looks good! Ian- the proprietor- said that it makes his shop look better. Nice! I put the cityscapes where people can get right up to them & look at detail, and I'll put the bike-themed linocuts I've done in the past couple of weeks in the higher places. I printed everything tonight, and was pleasantly surprised that I had less clean up work to do than I'd thought. I did the clean up and have only one that needs more background taken out- it's too dark.

I'm having lunch with Jen Lees tomorrow to talk shop:-) She gave me some good info on getting things printed at Kinkos, and what papers to use, and what size envelopes (I'll print cards of the linos). I've been coming homefrom work & diving right into the linos for the past couple of weeks. I finally feel as though I'm taking enough time with it to make the second job for real. That's part of why I work part time. I have 2 part time jobs... ans one of them doesn't seem like work at all:-)

new venue

Yippee skippy! I have new place to hang my work- by a fluke. I went into a cool store/gallery called Grass Hut across the street from Grendel's Coffeehouse, where my work is now. I'd picked up some show cards there, and asked the owner how one gets to be on the walls there. A week later I came back to refill my business cards at Grendel's, and realzing I'd lost a card for a show I wanted to see, went back to Grass hut. The owner recognized me & said he'd thought of me. A bike shop downdown was looking for an artist to adorn the walls. Wow! I thought the two knew each other friends, but upon introducing myself to Ian at The Recyclery, it turns out that Justin had recently bought a bike from him. Ian was pleased to have someone pop up out of nowhere & volunteer/grab the chance.

Yesterday he'd shown me all the space there was to hang, and today I brought in a cd of photos of cityscapes, landscapes, linocuts & maps of antiquity as samples. He liked them all & told me bring stuff in any time, and he'd help me hang. Woohoo! They'll sell the stuff for me, and all they take is 10%- damn! He alo said that I'm welcome to the scrap metal/parts in the back- all he asks for is a piece of work that comes from it. WOW. What a deal!

I sketched some possibilities for linocuts that I could make prints of, and potentially make cards. I stopped by Art Media & picked up a few pieces I needed, and I'm planning on taking the afternoon to carve some fun new stuff.

linocut

I've learned a lot from the first 2 of 3 classes with Thomas Rude. The first one I did was ok- it was the doodly sort of thing I used to draw 14 years ago. It looks better in pen, I can tell ya that. The second one I decided to cut around the drawing- leaving the design to print in black. I'm really pleased with the way it came out. My first attempt at a cityscape wasn't bad. I need to do some cleanup and tweak my method. Ultimately I'd like to paint a watercolor sky, print a carved city on that, paint the buildings with acrylic, then do the linework. 'Cause the process as it is isn't long enough. yeah.

collectors and galleries!!

I'm so damned excited!!! I just got a confirmation email from the Cascade AIDS Project that my painting was accepted for the Art Evening and Auction! Freakin' YEAY!!! doesn't even cover it! I'm kind of reeling, realizing how many people will see my work. And not just people- like the thousands of New Season's shoppers- COLLECTORS, GALLERIES, WRITERS, OTHER ARTISTS! Collectors and galleries! And because I've donated, I get a ticket to the event! (Probably one for Jim, too.) I'll be there as a donating artist with the likes of Gretchen Gammell, R. Keaney Rathbun, Thomas Rude, and a host of other artists I've admired in galleries for years! I'll be one of them!

Here's this year's blurb: http://www.cascadeaids.org/page.php?id=138
and here are some photos from the 2005 Art for Life event that I volunteered for:
http://www.dimarcoimages.com/artforlife/

keep moving forward

It's been a remarkable art week! Today I stopped in at Tender Loving Empire to say hi & look at what's new, and lo & behold! Someone had bought a cityscape as a Christmas gift, and she handed me a check! Woohoo! Bonus!!

I'd forgotten (even now I don't remember signing up for it) that I'm in The Launchpad Gallery's Love show, until I asked yesterday & got the confirmation email today. Ha! I have some linocuts that are love & hearts, so I think I'll use those as stamps for the background of a collage/painting. Cool! I wanted to make my Friday an ART day, but I'm so good at being distracted by stupid meaningless stuff & wasting the day. But now I have something to make, and in limited time- guaranteed art day- yeehah! And I have to admit that it seems I've come far from showing my work in public for the first time in July of 2007 to selling work in a store, hanging my first solo show, and forgetting that I'm in a group show by February of 2009.

Sunday I hung 20 pieces at Grendel's Coffeehouse. I think it looks pretty sharp- it's amazing what some nice frames can do. First solo show- yeay! I hope I sell some:-) I've priced the little ones at $35- a good price for a framed original piece of art with mondo detail. I hope that it speaks louder than the screaming cacophony of the economy. It can be disappointing to start a career in a big fat recession, but I figure that sales can only go up from here. Any by the time things are turning around, people will have been seeing my stuff for several years, and may have liked it and wanted one for that time. Where did this optimism come from? I suppose it's determination- this is really what I want to do.

I'm psyched to be taking a linocut/printing class from Thomas. I inquired with him some time last year if he'd give me some pointers, and he responded to my Grendel's show announcement with a last minute invite to a small 3-Saturday class he's giving- starting this weekend! YEAY! Thomas is the master of linocuts- his work is precise and has incredible detail. http://www.thomasrude.com/ I'm interested in linocutting b/c it's doodling in 3-D, and I can make multiple prints and have fun with colors. AND use it as a giant stamp in other, larger pieces.

FREAKIN' YEAY!!!!

I submitted a piece to the Cascade AIDS Project Art for Life auction, and haven't heard back yet if it's been accepted. Ooooo- I'm keeping my fingers crossed! That would be a HUGE stage to put my name on. I mean- wow. I hope, I hope, I hope!

i did stuff!

I've had a productive weekend- went to Grendel's & talked to Eric, updated my etsy page, I scored some nice frames on sale, I inventoried, matted and framed everything for next month's show at Grendel's. It's amazing what a white matte and a black frame can do. It looks sharp!! I made the tags for each piece, but I still need to print a fresh (non wrinkled) About the Artist sheet. I need to send out an email to my list, too. I even ordered more business cards, and drew the composite for Taylor's tattoo! (preliminary composite- the end product will be neater, better blended, and have more detail- that's up to the tattoo artist. This pic is only for the idea.)

mapping the past

Here's an in-progress map of antiquity I'm working on. It needs ink.

the latest project

It's not snow this time, but we're under all sorts of storm, wind and flood warnings. It's been raining for 24 hours straight, Johnson Creek is 5 feet above flood stage, the Wilson River is 1 1/2 times flood stage, and all three highway mountain passes across the Cascades in Washington are closed for landslide & avalanche danger. And it's supposed to rain more. And harder. And more. Normally this wouldn't bother me (other than I wanted to take a New Year's bike ride today on my roadie that I'd no longer afraid to ride-the new pedals-, or even my commuter, after I spent hours putting on a new tire, only to pump it up and have the damn valve pull out & have to change the ensuing flat). BUT our roof leaks. And it's leaking badly. One or two drips in the kitchen? Try 7- including into the cabinets. I had to clean it all out first thing this morning BEFORE I'd had the latte I so wanted (but the bag of grounds got wet with the yukky contaminated drippy water and had to be tossed). So there are puddles/towels/bowls on 3 shelves in the cabinets, 3 on the counter, and one on the floor. OH- and there's a leak in the living room, now, too!!

This frustration has lead to inspiration for yet another house-bashing art piece. This one is aquacentric. So far the form it's taking in my head is of a one room house with a giant picture window to look in, where I'll have a sketchy representation of our kitchen, simple cabinets and walls and floor, with pots, pans, bowls, towels, rags, etc all over, filled with faux water. I'll have to find some online. I think I'll have a figure inside with it's head covered by an umbrella. The roof will be a ramshackle mishmash of scrap wood, tarp and shingle with big gaping holes. Above this I'll suspend a "cloud" of batting (pillow filler), and string blue teardrop (raindrop) beads through the cloud, on fishing line.

nice- Radio Paradise is playing Bob Dylan's Shelter from the Storm