The Persistence of Memory

 It's official! My 9/11 painting, The Persistence of Memory, will be on display at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis from September 10-24, 2011. This is in association with a new play, A Short Play about 9/11 by Dominic Orlando, staged by the Workhaus Collective.

On Sunday, September 11, there will be a post-show talk with Q&A. I will be there. Hope to see you!

From the Workhaus Collective's website:

A Short Play about 9/11 follows a hilarious talk show host on the verge of being fired after telling a joke about 9/11; a bio-chemist who confronts the changed rules of engagement by getting drunk; and a lost young woman who realizes the face on missing posters is her own—in a dark comedy about how the path to healing often begins with the ability to laugh at the insanity around you.

With Luverne Seifert and David Hanbury.

September 9-24, 2011

Read more about the play here

Read more about the Playwrights' Center here

Get prints of the painting here

New painting stuff!

On CafePress, I added a bunch of items for my garlic painting, "NOM NOM NOM, onion painting, "Emo Onion," and my teacup painting, "C₈H₁₀N₄O₂."

NOM NOM NOM
Emo Onion
Teacup (caffeine)

And this is the final painting in my "Black Paint" series. Supposedly the final one in the series.

"The End" Original
"The End" Prints and other shit

I've also added a ton of items for this Raven drawing that I did back in 1992:

Nevermore

And on Etsy I added ACEO prints of it...

Nevermore ACEO

Artsy and Etsy updates

Two new items on Etsy:

"WTF" necklace

"Mandarin Orange" earrings

Two new designs on CafePress:

The End (2 designs, actually; with and without the black. The painting is a couple years old but I just had it photographed.)

NOM NOM NOM (My favorite of my new paintings!)

Here are all the new painting photos.

NOM NOM NOM




C₈H₁₀N₄O₂




Emo Onion




CAKE (Actually I really hate this one. I'm hoping somebody likes it!)




Thinking (I gave away the original but hope to have prints up soon.)




The End (The last of my Black Paint series. Probably. I did this in 2009 but only had good photos taken yesterday.)

Artsy Updates

I got someone to rent my booth at the Uptown Market for July 3 and 31, but now I need someone for July 17 too!

See, I'm doing Red Hot Art again this year - I was just accepted today - and the organizational meeting is July 17.

I was actually worried about not being accepted. I did it in 2007, but they had a lot of empty spaces. I also did 2008 and 2009, when they were nearly full. I didn't do 2010 because I had a temp job and I couldn't deal with spending my precious weekend in crowds. This year when I applied, I saw they had a new person running it. I think they've also probably gotten bigger.

This art fair has over 100 artists. On sunny days there are a lot of customers, but it's a very poor neighborhood so most of them aren't prepared to spend much. I HAVE seem people sell huge, expensive paintings, though, and I sold two at $100 each.

Tomorrow I made plans to have my new paintings photographed, and most of them are still not done yet! I need to get my butt away from the computer and get on that.

New Treasury

This is a non-team treasury of minimalist art. Minimalism came up in both Regretsy and LiveJournal conversations recently, so I've been thinking about it.

The principle behind minimalism is pure visual impact. In its purest form, the image is completely divorced form meaning and is only about the medium. Other times it leans toward abstraction. It's an extremely hit-and-miss art form, and even the best practitioners miss more often than they hit. These are some pieces I really liked.

Art fair info and a new print

Hey guys! I'm participating in the Uptown Market in Minneapolis this year. It's every Sunday from June 12 through September 25.

http://www.uptownmarket.org/

But there are at least two Sundays I won't be able to do this, so I'm looking for someone to take my place on those dates, preferably an artist. The cost of the space is $23. This is a bargain because their normal cost for one week is $40, but since I signed up for the whole summer it's only $23/week for me.

The cost is for a 10'x10' space.

The weeks I definitely can't do:

July 3 (tent available - see below)
July 31 (tent not available)

And if there is another weekend you really want to do, I might be willing to sell it to you because every Sunday is really a lot.

I also have a 10'x10' EZ Up tent I'm willing to rent out for $10/day. It's seen better days but it will keep the sun and most of the rain off you. It's this one, except older. It has 4 wall panels that attach with velcro strips. I can NOT rent out the tent on July 31 because I'm doing the Red Hot Art fair that weekend.

Location: Minneapolis, 29th Street between Lyndale Ave S. And Dupont Ave. S.

Dates: Sundays, June 12th through September 25th

Times: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Rain or Shine!

Vendors: Fine Art, Crafts, Jewelry, Produce, Prepared Foods

I made some new small prints of my "A Major" painting to sell. I also put them up on Etsy. Here's the Etsy listing. Only $5.00!!!

The original is also on Etsy. It's slightly more expensive.


Here's a small version of the image the print is made from:

Paintings in progress!

Some WIPs.

Actually I'm calling this first one done:



And I think this is done. I thought the outline was too light, did it darker, now I think it's too dark, I don't know anymore.



If this looks like I'm ripping off Wayne Thiebaud, that's only because I'm ripping off Wayne Thiebaud.



This one is just getting started:



And this one seemed like it would be easy but I'm really hating it. I just put on that top layer of white. Don't know what to do next. Bonfire, maybe. I suppose burning acrylic paint is bad for the environment, though...

Etsy update

Since my last Etsy post...

My new listings:
Rainbow necklace
Dragonfly envelopes

Updated listings, pretty new pictures!
Large brass key earrings (antique)
Black and amber skull earrings
White and red skull earrings

Treasuries I'm featured in:
The Print Shoppe
K is for Keys
Stay Gold
Team April's Easle - No. 1
"my favorite words are goodbye"
May Rainstorms Bring Rainbows
Mental Health and Illness
Misty Morning
Blue Skies, Shining on Me
Give it a Whirl
Who's got the Wiggles?
Demure

Treasuries I made:
Blue Flowers
Yo Ho Ho (This one is great!)
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Whew. Now to go write some real blog content.

Featured artist!

Welcome to my first ever post about another artist! I don't know if this will be a regular thing or not, but sometimes you find an artist you just want to show to everyone.Today I want to show you...

DanielleNicoleMetals on Etsy (shop)

Gilding Primal Instinct website (portfolio)

Retail location: Gothic Renaissance

From her shop announcement:

Soho based metalsmith, Danielle Nicole Hills, creates pieces that come alive when placed in the context of the body, combining elegant forms, theatrical flair, and just a touch of brutality!

By presenting an aggressive dichotomy between subtle, elegant forms and vicious primal instinct they transform the frame of reference in which the wearer is displayed, creating a codependent relationship between adornment and the human form.

Ms. Hills is fantastically creative!  She has many items I've never seen the like of, such as this piece of custom work (link).

Here's a video interview with her at the RAW Artists Showcase “Unearthed”: Interview with Danielle

I love these talon rings. I think pretty much everyone I know would buy these if they have the money. No, I don't know where I would wear them.




This, of course, I would wear everywhere:

New listing for my paintings.

I just put four of my paintings on Craigslist. Again.
These four are $100 each!

If you only know me on the internet, you'll never have seen "Migraine Headache." It doesn't photograph well, but actually it's quire good. Really.

Modern Art

Inspired by my roommate calling my new acquisition abstract. I guess I'm a purist; for me abstract has to be abstract, that is, depicting an abstract concept. So I wrote this for people new to modern art...

Abstract Expressionism
For example, Mark Rothko
The art does not depict anything in the natural world. The artist instead uses the paint (or whatever media) to convey emotions or abstract ideas.

Cubism
For example, Georges Braques
Cubism represents a real-life subject from several perspectives at once in order to get at the essence of it.

Minimalism
For example, Kasimir Malevich
Minimalism is only about the visual impact. It makes no attempt at narrative or expression or representation. To some people, this is the only pure art. (I'm not a fan, but there are some pieces I really love, like the one I linked to above.)

Surrealism
For example, Joan Miro
Surrealism may or may not depict real-world things. Most of Miro's doesn't; most of Dali's does.
From Artcyclopedia: Surrealism is a style in which fantastical visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the work logically comprehensible.

Expressionism
For example, my new acquisition.
This is a broad term that can be applied to art from a lot of different styles and periods. Think Munch, El Greco, Van Gogh, Goya. I like the Wikipedia definition a lot: Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an emotional effect; it is a subjective art form. This is my favorite kind of art to look at.

Photo tips for the broke

How to photograph your own paintings:

First, DON'T. Find a professional photographer to do it for you.

Okay, you can't get a professional. Try to get your hands on a very large copy stand with four lights.

Okay, you can't do that either. That's why you're on line Googling "How to photograph paintings."

***

Here are my “Photo Tips for the Broke” on photographing paintings. This is assuming you can spend no money at all on equipment.

1. Set your camera on the highest resolution possible. Seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes you find you’ve accidentally reset it to a lower res. If your camera isn't good enough, borrow one.

(If you can only get a film camera, take the film to Target or whatever and they will put the images on a disc for you. It's much cheaper than having prints made.)

2. Download GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It’s free, and it works pretty much like Photoshop. Most things you can fix by just cropping and brightness/contrast adjustment. You can also level it if it’s crooked. The “white balance” function usually fixes mine right up.

GIMP Dowloads:

Linux
Windows
Macintosh

3. Hang the picture if possible. If not, set it on a box and prop that up against the wall. Don't worry about the background because you're going to crop it.

4. Use a level to make sure the picture is straight. You can straighten it in GIMP if it's not, but it's easier to level it in the first place.

5. Never, ever, ever use regular incandescent lighting. Sunlight is free. The best light would be out of doors on a sunny day but not in direct light. One good tip I read was to make a tent out of white sheets and shoot inside that in direct sunlight, but I haven't tried that yet.

Indoors, you want two 100-watt full spectrum lights at 45 degree angles from the painting. If you use artificial lights, use something to diffuse the light, like tracing paper.

6. Use a tripod if you have one. If not, stack up boxes or whatever until the camera is at the right height. Use the timer. If you're using natural light, set the ISO to 800.

7. Always crop the picture so it only shows your painting. You can do a separate shot of it hanging on a wall in a room to show how it looks hung, but right now we're just working on getting the most accurate possible photo of your painting. Nobody wants to see the background.

8. Save the best version as a .png or .gif file. You can make .jpg files of it if that's what you need to upload to a site, but .jpgs degrade every time they're saved. If you save the best version as a .png or .gif, it won't be as much of a problem if you accidentally resave it.