Catching up a bit

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post and that's ok. I haven't been having a great relationship with words lately, so it's probably been for the best. Anyway, things are going on and this is some of what's been happening: Way back on February 19th, I visited Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA) to give a talk in conjunction with Concurrent. The day went really well, even with me under the fog of not having enough sleep the night before and being nervous about the talk.

I arrived around noon, met with Cinhad lunch with Dan Mills, one of the organizing curators of Concurrent and graduate assistant, Sarah McFalls, who hung the show and one of the students I did a studio visit with while there. The other visit I had was with Jason Sorensen, pictured below with some of his work. I also got to meet Craig Hill, who teaches painting at Bucknell.

After the studio visits, I had the chance to examine some works in Bucknell's art collection in the Collection Study Room. It was amazing to be able to look at an original Goya print with no glass, crowds, nor guards. I had about 10 minutes to collect my thoughts before giving the lecture. Despite being somewhat tired and slightly nervous, the talk went well. I'm my own worse critic when it comes to public speaking since I'm relatively new at it, but I've since heard that some of the students present at the lecture have begun looking to abstraction as a viable creative option. I guess I did better than I thought. My thanks to Cindy, Dan, Sarah, and everyone at Bucknell who made my visit a great one. A special thanks to Jim, the driver who got me back to Philly after I missed my train in Harrisburg.

"Shut up already...I'll look at your art!"

New York gallery owner and blogger, Edward Winkleman, will look at your art. Submittal form. This is kind of tongue-in-cheek, but there have been a lot of submissions from the U.S. and beyond...

"Shut Up Already...I'll Look at Your Art!"

The Rules (roughly):

• Artists will submit one digital image to "Shut up already. I'll look at your art"
• Mr. Winkleman and guests will view the image for no less than 10 sec.
• Mr. Winkleman and guests will be monitored by a volunteer as they view the work to assure full compliance with the rules.
• Mr. Winkleman, his guests and the Monitor will sign a certificate of viewing stating the image has been viewed
• Mr. Winkleman and his guests will have no obligation to provide representation to any of the artists, make any comment about, or critique any of the images.
• Once an image is viewed by Mr. Winkleman and his guests the artist cannot complain that their work is not being considered by a professional gallery for one year from the date of viewing, Mr. Winkleman and his guests will be absolved of any further obligation to take complaints by artists that their work is not being considered by a professional gallery seriously for one year from the date of viewing,
• As Mr. Winkleman and his guests view the images, they will be available on the internet to be viewed.

Julie Mehretu: Workday

A short portion of the latest season of Art:21 with Julie Mehretu in the studio.

There's a longer interview with Julie Mehretu in the video below:

creative intervention

This short talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, she outlines some interesting ideas on the nature of creativity and inspiration.
(via: Art Vent)

Along the lines of this video, here's a quote by Chuck Close that I found:

“Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and go to work.”

Hitler learns that the director's job at MOCA went to Jeffrey Deitch

I just found this, so if you've already seen it too many times, don't rake me over the coals. I just had to share because it's just too funny to pass up.

Here's an article referencing what the video is about, in case you were wondering: Los Angeles MOCA Set to Name Jeffrey Deitch Director, Shake Up Art World

Neutra Face

Things have been a bit too serious around here lately, so here's something to lighten it up a little. This video, Neutra Face, is a pretty funny homage to a typeface inspired by Lady GaGa's Poker Face. Thanks to Ruth Kalinka for the original post.

the slow move

I haven't been too inspired to post here lately, but the thaw is coming. My mind has been pulled in several directions over the past few months and I'm just now beginning to get a hold of things.

Things are taking form in the studio: paper, panels, paint, collage, a bit of this, a bit of that. It's happening slowly but surely.

This fall/winter has been a little rough: bike accident back in October, computer crash/loss of information, finance issues (who doesn't have those, not counting the CEO's of certain companies we've helped finance. That's all I'll say about that here...) and a general lack of focus in the studio for a while. Of course, it all has not been bad: I did Open Studios in October and sold a small painting, I gave a talk at West Virginia University, met some great people there and saw some paintings of mine that I hadn't seen in almost a year.

With that said, I'm moving on with some new work. In a way, I feel like I'm in a pitch-black room, feeling my way around for a switch. It's getting done and how it turns out is anyone's guess, but that's how it usually is, actually. My studio schedule has been pretty scattered for the past few months but things are coming together.

And now for something completely different:

This is going to be my new bike, hopefully. It's not ready yet and I haven't tried it out. My old bike was not exactly totaled after the accident, but there are too many things wrong with it to make fixing it worth the headache. Lucky for me, my parents-in-law super great. They are so cool that they sent money over from Australia so I could get another bike when Eva told them what happened.

I'm going with a single speed because I've wanted one for a long time and I love their simplicity. They can be works of art in and of themselves. Here's more about the one I'm getting: Swobo Bikes