Cool Piece of Seattle Art History

My mom was in the process of moving and came across this invitation for a collector's Art Tea at the Chi Omega House she chaired in 1963. Some of the names on this list of over 175 artists are amazing and it's a literal who's who of the Northwest art scene. Here are some of the iconic names: Mark Tobey, Guy Anderson, William Cummings, Kenneth Callahan, George Tsutakawa.

Keep in mind this was at a time in Seattle where there were few places where an artist could show their work and the gallery scene was very limited--especially for contemporary artists.

The cover plate for the program was designed by William Cummings. The most incredible thing my mom told me was that no piece at the event could be more than $150, which amounts to just over $1000 in today's dollars.

Fathers Day Surprise

Well I had an early morning surprise for Fathers Day. My 3 year old decided that she wanted to edit a piece of mine that I had just finished last evening. Unfortunately her edits couldn't be fixed, so I had to bring out the canvas smasher again. The bummer of it was that I really enjoyed the painting. At least I will have a funny Fathers Day remembrance for years to come.

The Canvas Smasher

I've received quite a few emails in response to an earlier post asking me why I destroy most of my paintings. There are several reasons I suppose; but the most obvious is that I need to connect with a piece, if I don't, it gets smashed. As funny as it might seem, destroying the work is part of my creative process. In order to move on, I feel that I must leave the past behind--albeit, learn from it.

One regret I have, is that I wish I could recycle materials. Since I use so much paint, and have uneven surfaces, I'm unable to re-use the canvas; also I like to start fresh from a clean surface so that I don't have the previous image embedded in my mind.

Looking back, I guess there are a few I probably was too hasty in destroying, still, this will always be a part of my process that continues.

The picture above is the mallet I call the Canvas Smasher.

Measured Air

Here are a couple of pictures of my latest painting titled "Measured Air". As you can see, this piece is very light and subtle in color as compared to my main body of work. It's hard to tell from these pictures as well as in-person, that the predominant color is grey. Just minor variations in grey that range from blue, green, violet and beige. To me least, this piece seems to float--hence the title I came up with.

Note: The paintings size is 36x36 and I used a 23 inch wide palette knife for the first time.

Subtle Direction?

I just got back from my studio after painting a new piece. I’ve noticed that my last few paintings have had a lighter, much more subtle palette. This certainly hasn’t been intentional and I don’t know what’s pushing it—perhaps it’s the change in seasons. Most of my work consists of deep rich color variations so I’m finding it surprising and in a way perplexing. I also used a much larger knife for the first time at 23 inches across. I’ll plan to take a picture soon and will be curious to read your thoughts. At least I’ve got a title for the painting, “Measured Air”. It is a very subtle piece, almost weightless in appearance.

In a previous post, I wrote a fun fact about me in that I destroy most of my work. Another fact about me is that I paint only at night. Some are surprised to know that I have never painted a piece in daylight hours—not a single one. I’ll post on the reasons why later, but I’m tired and time to go to bed.

Cool Grafitti Art/Animation

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

This is an amazing video of grafitti animation art done on public walls in Buenos Aires. I have no idea how this was done, and if in fact it was hand painted or not. If so, I can't imagine how long this must have taken. I've watched it a few times and I still have no idea of what the artist is stating, but the imagery is really cool and clever.

Failed Attempt

Well, I just got back from attempting to paint a new piece that failed miserably. The color relationships didn't work. This is where the majority of my problems occur. In fact, a little known tidbit about me, is that I destroy most of my paintings--about 75% of them anyways.

Tonight's painting looked great until I used my palette knife to blend and pull down the paint. The paint blended into a muddy mess and didn't want to cooperate. I mention the relationship of my paint in my about section and sometimes going to battle with it. The paint got the best of me tonight, but I shall return.

Artist Trust Edge Program

I received some exciting news last week that I was accepted into the Artist Trust Edge Program. The EDGE Program focuses on providing artists with the relevant and necessary entrepreneurial skills to achieve their personal career goals, as well as to develop peer support and exchange among the participating artists.

I can't begin to say how excited I am to be part of this and a big thank you goes to the Artist Trust for allowing me the opportunity. The last class is open to the public where each artist will be presenting an overview of their work at the Lawrimore Project.

Disaster Averted

Yesterday I had a close call to losing quite a few paintings. My hot water tank failed and was quickly spilling water all over the place and came within inches of a number of finished works. These paintings are the ones I'm planning to show in July; needless to say, disaster was averted.

Paintings are Set--A New One About to Begin

Today I finalized which pieces are going to be part of the show at the SAM Gallery. I'm happy with the choices the gallery director made and I'm anxiously waiting for July to roll around.

This weekend I'm planning to paint a piece that I've had in my mind for the past month. Lately I've been doing lots of commission work so it will be nice to paint something for my own enjoyment. It seems like I'm in a yellow phase right now. Earlier this year I went through an orange phase which for some strange reason isn't a color that I have painted with much. My palette seems to be heavily influenced by the northwest resulting in predominately blues, browns, greys, and green. I'll post a picture of the finished piece to get your thoughts.

Kindergarten Follow Up

First let me say that kindergarteners are awesome. Their imagination and enthusiasm is so contagious. Some of the great responses to art that I received were: "Art is about having fun", "I like to make messes, except when I have to clean it up", "I love the colors", "It's so fun to create".

What is apparent to me, is that I feel the exact same way as an adult that these five and six year olds do. Art is about having fun, making messes, color, and most of all, the enjoyment to create an idea.

We did bubble painting as our project. Each student had a straw and primary colors mixed with bubble solution. Some of the works were fantastic and they found so many different ways to use their straws. Many of them used them as sticks to splatter and drip the paint as well as to lightly blow bubbles. One little girl didn't like it so much since she used the straw to drink the paint. After a glass of water, she was back creating.

Kindergarten Class

Next week I get to teach my daughters kindergarten class about the joys of art and painting. One of the questions I plan to ask her class is what art means to them and what exactly is it. I'm curious to see what responses they come up with. I'll make sure to post some of the more colorful ones I hope to receive and if they can teach us adults a thing or two.

Japanese Performance Art

I came across this video on Youbube the other day and felt it was so creative and worth viewing

Site Changes

Back in college, I always seemed to over edit my papers; I probably spent more time editing than writing. Lately, I've been reviewing my website and feel it's time for an update. Intitially, I just wanted to change one page in my gallery section and make it simple, instead, I have decided to completely revamp it. Currently I'm in the process of making changes and I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of the month. At least that's my goal. I'd love to hear from you about features that you would like to see.

The Beauty of Oil Paint

A few weeks back I took a test called the Myers-Briggs. It assesses your personality traits by asking simple questions. After receiving the results, it was almost spot on with how I view myself. I won't go into details about the analysis, but one part that I found fascinating was that it told me I'm pressure prompted.

The beauty of oil paints is that they force you to get things done ahead of time. This is due to the long drying period they require; some paints take a month or so to dry to the touch, and because I use so much paint, at times even longer. Cadmiums are a perfect example. I bring this up, because I just completed my final piece for a show in late July and it's so nice knowing there won't be a last minute scramble.