Happy Thanksgiving! Blog post 90!

It's now roughly a month before Christmas, and I'm busy prepping my holiday cards. :) The cards feature the first drawing from a new series I've been working on. A number of these will be sent out to my collectors and prospective galleries, but I ordered enough to have some extras for anyone else who wants one. :D If you would like to have one, e-mail me a mailing address and I'll send one out just for you. All cards will include a handwritten note from me, and a small sketch inside the card! However, the deadline for receiving one will be December 20th (after that I'm on vacation), so get one while you can. :)

Sketching

One of the things I find increasingly difficult to do is sketch. But since I'm at home, sick in bed with a little extra time, I thought I post up some of the pages from my sketchbook / binder to show you guys what I like to do when I'm not seriously working away at a finished piece. :) I make a lot of messes in my book.. I draw, paint swatches, and sometimes document the progression of my paintings (usually to figure out why they're giving me problems). I also like to print out paintings and artists that I enjoy and then write a little mini-review about them; why the work catches my eye, and what I want to take away from it. In this one, the left page, I took one of my favorite Bouguereau paintings "A Young Girl Defending Herself Against Eros" and thought about it from a feministic standpoint.. she was fending off Love's arrows, and thus, fending off everything else that comes with it (marriage, babies, etc). A couple of days later, I was watching a movie with a female action star, and I thought about how both the painting and the movie had something similar happening; I felt like both women were defying some kind of convention. So I printed some screen shots from the movie and pasted them in to note the comparison. Maybe I'll eventually use it, and maybe not. I also still like to doodle for fun. :) Brush pens are especially awesome because I get to experiment with brush strokes. I'm also still doing blind contour drawings. I originally got the idea from Paul Madonna when he lectured for one of my classes. Though I'd known about the exercise for years, I never really thought about it until he had mentioned how it helped him to loosen up and focus. It's a really simple thing to do, but it helps me, especially when I'm rusty. This last one is just to give you an idea (I don't actually expect you to be able to read the tiny print). I have just as much notebook paper in the back of my sketchbook as I do sketchbook paper. I write down journal entries (something I saw, or felt, or thought about, earlier in the day), definitions, phrases, to marketing ideas and projects I'd like to pursue at a later time. There are days where I won't draw anything but I'll have six notebook pages filled with stuff. So that's it for now. There's some other things I want to show, but it'll have to wait for a later time. :)

The AAU Auction and "Tiny" at Studio Gallery

Just a quick note of a couple of things coming up. This Saturday (the 17th) is the Academy of Art University's "12th Annual Faculty Alumni Fine Art Auction". Here's the specs: Saturday November 17th, 3:00pm : Reception 4:00pm : Live auction starts 79 New Montgomery (inside the main gallery) There is sooo much artwork there. I was amazed, I don't know how they're going to make room for tables and chairs. :P I have a number of pieces available in the auction though (including the above image). "Bottled" is also available, and two still life oil studies. The official "Tiny" reception has come and gone, and I was terrible about blogging it. I put up postcards at work (surprisingly, some of my coworkers were also participants in the show), but otherwise I really dropped the ball. I did go by Studio yesterday, however, and Jennifer has all of the Pop Tops, plus my wedding ring drawing, on display. This is the LAST time anyone will able to see the Pop Tops all together as a set, so I really encourage you to stop by and take a look. Also, Studio will be hosting an anniversary party in December; it'll be a second chance to check out the remainder of "Tiny". Hope to see you guys there! Saturday, December 8th 4-8:00pm 1718A Polk Street (between Clay and Washington)

Contemporary art?

Sometimes (or maybe it's most of the time?) I honestly don't understand the current trends in art. And I kinda feel like other people would think I'm dumb for walking into a gallery and finding a lot of contemporary art gimmicky. :P Don't get me wrong, mixed media and variety is wonderful, I love how you can make any kind of art you want with whatever you want. However, after I get over the initial "wow" factor that the work was made out of pencil shavings, I start to wonder if there's anything else to that work. Truly, I believe that good art is art that transcends both the gimmick and the punch-line concept. Good art is art that, as a viewer, I'm impressed by it visually, and then I stand around to think about its meaning, and then after reading the statement, still continue to find layers of things happening. Good art isn't "Paris Hilton", good art is "Cate Blanchett". There's a real solid piece of work under there, it's not all just rag-sheets and glitter. Of course, I'm saying these things partially as a frustrated viewer and a frustrated artist. I find meaning in my work, but there's a part of the art establishment that doesn't. I'm trying to find a balance there somewhere, and it's something I've been really struggling with for the past year. I'm never sure if I'm going in the right direction, and I'm scared to death of creating something and then becoming pigeon-holed by a piece of work that isn't "me". Hopefully, I'll soon run across the answer to (at least) part of this problem.. but then again, maybe it's just something all artists struggle with? Anyway, that's my rant for this week. :)