From The Earth...

One last spray paint painting...or at least psuedo-spray paint painting:






This one's called "From The Earth." The background is spray paint and the moon is painted in acrylic. Hence the "psuedo."

I've always wanted to paint the moon, but, maybe its just because of my eyes being bad, the moon has always had a nice glow around it when I look at it. In photographs, its very clear, but I wanted to make sure it had that glow. How I see it.

The canvas was repurposed from the second attempt at the Pineapple painting, the one that I overdid and ended up kinda grey-looking. If you look closely, you can still see the outline of the pineapple beyond the black parts. I was wanting to cover up the spray work underneath, and more spray paint will cover up spray paint nicely. It just dawned on me how to make the glow behind the moon! Spray!

The acrylic moon I painted very rough, let the paint stand up in little peaks to simulate craters. Best part: I pointed out about where Apollo 11 would have landed to my boyfriend when I finished it, Sunday night. On Monday's episode of the Big Bang Theory, they were pointing a laser at the moon, more specifically, at the Apollo 11 landing site.

Also on Monday, after taking From The Earth and the others to Phoebe's, my story for the day at work was about some kids that broke into the Carmel Performing Arts Center Palladium and sprayed words all over the dry wall. Spray paint, all day. I was joking on our way up there that it was really an art form...but really they were just being juvenile. And not that bright: They almost misspelled "Carmel" as caramel, and had to correct it. Duh.

Stuff like that keeps happening, I might start believing THE MAN is watching me, like Big Brother or something!

Anyway, I was so happy with my painting of the moon, I almost didn't want to take it to Phoebe's for sale. I like it! But maybe someone will like it more and buy it, and that's the point. I could cover my whole house with all my work, but I'd rather it go to someone else's house. Eventually, I'll run out of room. I'm on the fence about painting more moons, like a moon series. Maybe some half moons, or a copper moon (when its low and large on the horizon some nights). This will all follow the political stuff I'm gearing up for, for Phoebe's July show. It's supposed to have a patriotic theme, and we were discussing how, sometimes, dissent is the best form of patriotism. Or at least questioning and not blindly following is the best form of patriotism. I've got three ideas so far, and canvas is on sale this week. Yay! I can't wait for my weekend!

Spray Paint: El Fin

I think I'm done with spray paint...FOR NOW (Cue dramatic music!). Well, almost done. I figured I'd experiment with this one canvas as a final test- mixing acrylics and spray paint, but really, its a way to finish off/cover up another failed experiment. But first the pics!



The first one, "Angry Flower Girl," you've all seen before. But but but! Wait! There's more!
I re-worked it, just a little bit. The black lines around the form I sharpened via a stencil, and I'm happier with it now. I had free-handed it in the first go-round, and I do like the crispness the stencil gives. The stencil doesn't quite cover all of the blurry bits of the black from before, but I'm cool with that too, like a weird shadow or something. Two feet wide, four feet tall, I declare this one done.

The next two are both on canvas. They are 18 x 24 inches, one laid vertically, the other horizontally. In the spirit of their gi-normous Radish predecessor, I've named them "Pineapple" and "Tomato." I kind of did them at the same time, I'd paint the background of one, and while it was drying, paint the background of the other. I'm really happy with how the Tomato turned out. You can't tell as much in the photo, because my camera simply sucks, but the colors are blended where they need to be, sharp where they should be and its just all around crisp. About as juicy a swirly tomato as I could ever paint. Yay!

I was really happy with how the Pineapple was going too...Until I botched it pulling the stencil off for the last time. For some reason, the stencil pulled up some of the background colors. This truly makes no sense, since it didn't do that to the tomato at all! But, unfortunately it did. Then, in a moment of sheer genius (sarcasm!) I decided to spray some paint into a baggie, not to huff, but to capture it in its liquid form, use an old throw-away brush (the paint will harden bristles horribly) and try to touch it up. Okay, okay, worked alright on the black bits, the light blue bits...The orange bits? Not so much. It dried darker than the surrounding orange. I quit while I was a little ahead for the part where it got weird in the yellow part. In a perfect world, I would have just accepted how it was from the beginning, and tried to pull it off as some kind of chipped stucco look, or something. In a perfect world, my stencil wouldn't have screwed it all up!

Then, to do one better, I tried to re-do that painting on a whole other canvas. Annnnddd theeennn I screwed that one up too. I tried to "dirty" it up a bit with some extraneous flickers of black spray paint, which just dulled all of the colors and looked messy. No go. So, in the end, I accepted the imperfections of the first Pineapple (if everyone turns their noses up at it, it will just go in my kitchen, so there) and sprayed all over 2.0 to fit it for a simple, acrylic-meets-spray paint makeover.

Then I'm done with the spray paint. It's loose and fun and all, and I think I'm about played out with the loose and fun style. Every once and a while, you have to go back to the 'harder' stuff, for me, the still lifes and intricate paintings that make me sit and concentrate, instead of flit around and fly free. I'm grounding myself, if anything it will reaffirm my skills. Then, later, when I get bored of sitting still, I'll go back to some kind of sillies again. That's how I roll.

Also, art networking is freaking fun! I've nearly got 200 'fans' or 'likes' or whatever on Facebook and I thank every one of them! My goal is to pretty much get my stuff out there, and, hopefully, on someone else's walls, and the only way to do that is to be present for everyone to see.

I'm thinking my next turn will have some politics in it. Given my background in current events and political cartoons, there are some subjects I can't ignore. Sorry if you prefer to keep politics out of art, or don't care for my opinion, but hey, its my way to express what I feel. You're welcome to your opinion and form of expression as well (as long as it doesn't involve tearing up my art--that's just mean).

I've got the Hip Sips--Art, Jazz, & Wine Festival coming up June 12, in Modoc, Indiana. It's an evening event, so come see! Great atmosphere, I promise. ;)

And, I think I'm going to take a stab at submitting my art for juried review at Oranje Indy. Or just Oranje. But since alot of my friends aren't in Indianapolis, I added the Indy as a reference. Looks like a nifty event, fun and flit, like some of my work recently, so we'll see. Not trying to jinx myself, it is a juried event, but it never hurts to try right?

Then I'll get a better camera and my pictures won't suck! Yay!

Ok bye.

Why I Didn't Join "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" On Facebook

Apparently today has been declared "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." I discovered this last night, when a Facebook friend posted a link. I thought about it, and slept on it, and, today, decided not to participate. At least, not on the Facebook link.

Why?

Ok some background. In 2005, when this issue first came to light, when Muslims around the world were protesting and asking for the heads of political cartoonist contributors to Danish newspapers, I was all on board. In college, I was a political cartoonist for the paper, The Reflector, I won awards for my work in journalism contests and got to meet with nationally syndicated, yet local, cartoonist Gary Varvel. Now, while Gary and I disagree politically on many fronts, it was a wonderful chat, he made me think about alot of things cartoonist-wise, and pointed out that there weren't many female political cartoonists. He told me what I could probably do to start getting printed in newspapers, if I had something to say, but after college, I "got busy with post college life" (yeah yeah yeah) and focused on my job that truly paid the bills and stuff, and cartooning got benched. I was greatful for the chance to do it though, because it got me out of the funk I moved to Indiana in: Animation wasn't going to cut it, I was burned out and didn't want to draw, and cartooning eased me back into it. I'm always up on current events and it allowed me to express that. And, you know, I may still jump back in. We'll see.

When the 2005 protest started, I was angry. To be honest, I'll be damned if someone will tell me what I can and can't draw. I looked at the situation like this: I don't adhere to your religion, mores, or whatever. If I did, I would be a member of your sect, culture or whatever, and then you can dictate to me all day what I can and can't do. As it stands, I'm a Lutheran member of the "American" culture (in quotes because it is so diverse) and American country. The religious ideals that I adhere to are of the Christian varity as interpreted by the writings of Martin Luther (and sometimes, whatever pastor is in charge, but, unfortunately, that's a separate issue). The cultural norms and mores that I adhere to are American: We make our own way. We can be a secular nation where (hopefully) no religion or sect, even Lutheranism, can hoist its feelings about something onto all of us (And no, it never really mattered WHAT religion Obama is, or if he has any. He's the head of government, not a church). And I abide by the laws of my country, the United States of America, and most specifically in this case, the First Amendment and all of the rights afforded in it. You know, like Freedom of Speech. I liken it this way: If I was Jewish, I'd have to eat kosher, right? But I'm not, and I'm gonna eat all the Oscar Mayer hot dogs I want, instead of Hebrew National. The freedom to do so, without fear of recourse, is part of me not adhering to that religion. The same thought process allows me to watch Disney movies, because I'm not Southern Baptist. If I had kids, and wanted them baptized, and the Lutheran pastor said I had to have other Lutherans be the godparents, well, I guess I'd have to do what he says on that one, though.

So yeah, I'll be DAMNED if someone is about to tell me what I can and can't draw. Screw you. I'm a political cartoonist (if not anymore in practice, certainly still in spirit) and I have something to say. So I drew this:


I didn't draw an ugly Mohammed. I thought I drew a pretty cute one. I even gave him a halo, to give him holiness. He's not necessarily holy to me, but others think so, so I recognized that. I figured he was probably looking down on his flock, from where ever he was, and thought, "Man, with all that's going on in the world, THAT'S what they're upset about? Really? Wow."

I posted it without fear on DeviantArt, and, despite comments of discouragement and encouragement, I've left it up there. Even when friends warned me to check under my car, afterwards, to make sure it wasn't a bomb. 'Cause see, there have been artists for generations that have had something to say, to push humanity forward, in a sense, and they had to do so without fear of outraged mobs.

Now, as to why I didn't join the Facebook group. I'm not drawing a new picture for this years "day" because the above picture is all I really have to "say" on the issue. That picture, five years later, still represents what I think. I checked out the Facebook page and actually was really appalled by the comments on there. There were people making blatant racist (or religionist?) comments against all Muslims, just being totally disrespectful of the entire group. I think that's wrong. Also, there were the typical, American, Christian-Evangelical-wear-your-religion-on-your-sleeve nutjobs that were posting on there how it's ok to make fun of Mohammed because all of his followers are going to hell anyway because they aren't following the ONE TRUE religion...as dictated by the tele-evangelist they send too much money to each week to be "healed." Yeeeahhh. Not cool either, because, face it, those people are just as much extremist as the ones marching through the streets, carrying signs saying "Kill those who insult Islam." Screw both of you. So I'm not joining your little club.

No one can tell me I have to adhere to their religion, except the one I belong to, and it's completely my choice to belong to that one or not. Jews can't make me not eat pork, Baptists can't make me think the Lion King is sinful, Muslims can't make me not draw Mohammed (or anything else) and Evangelicals can't make me hate everyone that isn't like them or else I'm an evil sinner fornicator that's going to hell (or whatever). Now, if you're a Muslim, I'm not saying you should draw him. If He didn't want you to draw Him, DON'T. But don't call for my head because I did. I'm free to do what I want.

But, c'mon, people, don't go on Facebook and show how ignorant and intolerant you can be. The answer to intolerance is never more intolerance. Pot? Kettle? Extremism on both sides? Draw him for the freedom of drawing him but remember he's important to alot of people, so at least draw him respectfully. And sorry, Pakistan, that Facebook got banned.

What I Learned Today

Ok Grrrr.

Spray paint can be frustrating. That is what I learned today.
I like other kinds of paints, like acrylic, because if you mess up, hey just paint over it. Spray paint you get one pass.

I reworked "Angry Flower Girl" by making a stencil for the black to sharpen it up. I actually kind of like that one. Not sure if it's up there very high, as happy as I am with the "Radish" but hey. You gotta know when to stop messing with it.

Speaking of which. YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO STOP MESSING WITH STUFF.
I made two more canvas versions of the swirly food. One, a tomato, came out freaking awesome. I'm so happy with it, I can't wait to share pictures. Like, I was so happy with it, I did a little happy dance. Yes, yes, I like this one.
But...I made one more. A pineapple. I have a thing for pineapples, their shape intrigues me. I have a bunch of little pineapples all around my house, mostly concentrated in my kitchen. They're just cool. So, of course, I had to make a swirly spray paint pineapple. It had all the promise of the tomato. I had used some spray adhesive to hold down the tomato stencil's little pointy bits. Worked great. Did the same for the pineapple and it tore up some of the (very dry) background colors/layers! Not fair! Then I tried to fix it. Yeahhh. I should have quit when I was ahead. I started to, in a moment of stupidity, lay the stencil down so I could try to respray it (or something like that). Rule #1 for spray paint: ONE SHOT AT IT...Don't screw it up! Rule #2 for spray paint: Attempting to violate Rule #1 will cause you to SCREW IT UP!

Some of the really cool black came off the pineapple. *sigh* I am sad. This is so not cool. In the morning, I will try to fix it. But for now! Now, I go to sleep and let the thing dry overnight. I can't possibly screw it up while I'm sleeping. That's what I get for trying to get it finished quickly so that I could sleep with the satisfaction of having that idea checked off my mental list. Rule #3 for spray paint: Don't rush for no good reason. You WILL screw up.

Let's review:
Rule #1 for spray paint: ONE SHOT AT IT...Don't screw it up!
Rule #2 for spray paint: Attempting to violate Rule #1 will cause you to SCREW IT UP!
Rule #3 for spray paint: Don't rush for no good reason. You WILL screw up.

On that note, I will sleep off this weird bipolar-esque art feeling of on the one hand, accomplishing something, and on the other hand, SCREWING UP.

But hey, I could always just hang the pineapple in my kitchen.
'Night.

PS: Pics will follow on my "weekend" (Thursday or Friday), as my camera takes way to long to cooperate. It is a ridiculously concentrated effort and I'm putting the evil lil device on notice that it shall be replaced! Some day.

Spray Paint Endeavours

I've finished my three spray paint efforts. I'm reluctant to call them grafitti art, but they were inspired by a contest that was going to be held at the Art & Soul by Phoebe Gallery, in Muncie, but was cancelled after some unwarranted controversy. Anyway, here are my three pieces:

The first one is called "Angry Flower Girl." Why? Because it looks like an angry flower, but also like a girl wearing a green dress with red hair.

The second one is called "Yeah." Figure it out.

The third one is called "Radish." once again, figure it out. Sorry, all my creativity went into making these things, and I had very little left to devote to naming.

I definitely like "Radish" the best. I'm just really really happy with how it came out. The other two are like evolutions. "Angry Flower Girl was my first try. I painted that one free-handed, using some Krylon paint, some Valspar paint, and some off brand Wal-Mart kind for the black and white. I like the flow of it and I like the shape of it and I'm glad with how the colors blended in some parts, but other parts I think I overworked a bit. I like how it moves and the shape of it all...I didn't use stencils on this one, so I might still go back over the black parts with a stencil. I'm torn.

The second try was "Yeah." With that one, the background, the purple and white cloud bits, are free-handed, but the black parts and the word are stenciled. I sketched this out while watching "This Is Not A Show," a REM special that was on Sundance back in March. I was just watching and listening, and this popped in my head. I scribbled it down with a bunch of sharpies, while my boyfriend looked at me, puzzled. I liked the colors, and the three lines in the corner are something I draw to symbolize speech or thoughts. Just my little style. I'm cool with how this turned out, it is what it is. One thing I learned, though, was that next time, I'll probably use some kind of low-tack spray adhesive, instead of little bits of rolled masking tape to stick the stencil down to the plywood. When I sprayed the black, you can kind of see some spots where the paint dusted under the stencil, and the masking tape left a clear, undusted spot. Not happy, but there's nothing I can really do about it. If I try to change it, to fix it, I'll just screw it up. One thing you have to do sometimes is walk away before you make it worse. I had to stick the stencil down somehow.

The third one I did is called "Radish." I'm the happiest with this one. The stencil was fun, I figured out how to not completely screw up the rest of the picture while stenciling (I didn't cover the entire thing everytime on the other one) and I like how the shading on the radish came out. It was a last minute decision and it worked out well in a medium where you pretty much get one shot at it. Spray painting is definitely an artform where you better just make a plan, stick with it, and get it right on the first try, because there are very few re-dos. Acrylics are just the opposite, you can re-do and re-do until you have a big wad of paint on a canvas, and then you can still re-do, because all that extra paint just adds an interesting texture to the background. For reference, come see my painting "Tomoe" in real life. That one has, like, three other paintings under it that I got mad at and covered them up.

The swirly style of the radish is another marker of mine. I like to do these random swirly fruits and vegetables. I've done pineapples and tomatoes in the past, but never anything this big and with spray paint. I may do a pineapple and a tomato still, for the June show at Art & Soul, but I'd probably do them on canvas. These paintings are 4 ft by 3 ft, for the most part, and on plywood, so I'm going to have to get creative as to where I can store them! I love painting big, but, man, storage is what really limits me! Also, I really need to get a higher megapixel camera. My shots of these paintings really suck. Hmmm, I think after my next sale, that may be on my list. :)

So, what do you think?

The Day After First Thursday

Wow. First Thursday was packed!

As the weather has warmed up, there have been more and more people getting out to see what's going on. It was a constant stream of people at Art & Soul by Phoebe, even some fire fighters stopped by...in their big yellow truck! It kinda freaked everyone out a bit, like a sudden alarm, but they were just driving by and wanted to look around, they said.

Phoebe had her prom dress on display, and several other momentos from the 50's and 60's. A sculpture artist made a tail fin from a 50's car, for the front window, and a restored red 50's car was parked out front (hey, don't ask me what kind, I couldn't tell you). That sculpture artist also had on his 38 year old, patched, hippy jeans on, going with the retro vibe. Me, I embraced the tie-dye too.

The artwork was a fun mix. This First Thursday was also the 95th birthday of the grandmother of a frequent artist. The grandmother contributed some textile pieces and we all had cake with her. There was also a submission from an 11 month old! No joke! It was obviously...abstract and there were pictures of him in the process of painting. It was cute! The caption said that he liked to watch daddy paint, so they gave him a canvas and a brush and he smeared paint around. Now, if only I could get my dog Remy to quit "helping" me while I paint, and to perfect her own technique. Usually, she sits, leaning against me, while I paint, sometimes nuzzling my elbow. One time, I did have her hold a brush in her mouth, and she came up with a something on some foam core board. We'll have to do it again, I think. Her whole name is Rembrandt, after all.

Which kind of leads me to my paintings on display this month:



This one was titled "Licked By Rembrandt." Why? Because when we were sitting around trying to figure out what it should be called, Remy walked up to it, gave it a good sniff (everyone's an art critic) and then licked the middle of the canvas. I guess she approved. It was such a bizzare little moment, that phrase just had to be the title.




These four are titled "Rewind 1, 2 3 & 4." They can be sold together or separate. I'm not entirely pleased with the acutal photos that I took of these pieces (or Licked). For one thing, the colors are pretty flat and even throughout and don't have the shadows that are in the photos. I need to get a better camera. My current 5 year old one with only 3 mega pixels is a bit obsolete. But it was a graduation present, so Thanks Mom!

All five of these have something in common: Spray paint. There is actually an earlier version of "Licked" that has yellow circles with bright blue shadows, and orange around the background. I liked that one so much that I hung it in my kitchen. The colors went well. It always feels so good when an experiment comes out the way you want. That orange one was never really meant for sale, I just wanted to test it out. One both the oranged one and "Licked" the backgrounds are spray paint. The black and gold coloring on the "Rewinds" are also spray paint. There initially was going to be a grafitti art contest at Art & Soul for the month of June, but true grafitti artists were skittish about being public, and it didn't help that some over-reactionary numbskulls tried to counter publicize the event as promoting criminal activity! Art & Soul was just trying honor that art form!

I don't even know how to do true grafitti style art. In fact, these paintings were mostly an experiment to see how well I could control the paint. Now, I have three pieces of plywood that, today, I hope to paint with some grey wall paint to seal them, and then see how far I get in crafting my "masterpieces." ha. I'm just going to be happy if the paint doesn't run.

These three and two more (undecided, probably a bit more traditional, one may be political) pieces will being going to Art & Soul in June.

-Joy

First Thursday!

Ok, so today is First Thursday!

In alot of cities, they do a special art/open-gallery walk on a certain day of the month. In Indianapolis, its First Friday (by the way, that's tomorrow). In Carmel, Indiana, they do Second Saturdays. In Muncie, Indiana, they have First Thursday.

I'm currently showing several pieces of art each month at a new gallery in Muncie called Art & Soul by Phoebe. It's a cool little place that fills up quick. Their motto is "Artists first." They often have a feature artist, or little contests (this month also hosts a scholarship contest for local high school artists) and sometimes a fun theme. I guess some people would have something against a theme, like their art is supposed to be as it is...or something like that. But you know what? I like the themes. They're not written in concrete, but it is a fun way to get you thinking. My art style bounces around so much that I look at a theme as a challenge. April was a spring theme, ok, easy enough: Flowers! But May? May is retro month. 1950's, 1960's--I heard they even got a restored vintage car to park out front just for kicks. Phoebe is going to put her prom dress on display and all the artwork in the front of the gallery will most likely fit the theme.
It got my creative juices running and here's what I came up with:

hmmmmm....Oooook. The host is is a bit wonky with the pics. I'll try to add them here later, I have to get going to Muncie! If you're here via Facebook, look in my "Acrylics" photo album for "Rewind 1, 2, 3, and 4" and one called "Licked By Rembrandt." Those were my five Art & Soul paintings for this month, I'll explain those titles in a post when I get back!

-Joy

Hi!

Hello,

So this is the blog for Joy Hernandez Art. This is the story behind the art. And this is the first post. Yay!

Sometimes, I have a hard time ...explaning... my art. People will ask me questions about why I painted it, what inspired me, what does it "mean" and I have no clue what to answer. Some of my work comes from my day job, a TV news photographer. I see stuff on a day-to-day basis that just kind of intrigues me, so I paint it. Sometimes, I'm painting odd, stylized versions of something from back home (Illinois). Sometimes, it's just an idea that popped into my head that I just need to get out of my head. And, man, do I get antsy until that can happen.

I guess my driving force behind my art is making something visible so that others can see what I see. My first career goal was to be an animator, to work for Disney (thanks, Lion King) and to draw what I "see" so that other people can watch it. Unfortunately, I have about a 3 second attention span. I found out, half way through college, that there was no way I could sit there for the next 40 or so years of my life, and draw the same drawings, with only minute changes, over and over, to make images move. So I changed directions, moved to Indiana, and got into television news. Now, I only have to hit a record button and stand there for thirty seconds in order to have 30 seconds of video. Much better than drawing 500 pictures! And now the viewer can see what I saw!

My 2-D art is like that, in fact, its all related. My news photography is an extention of my art; from shot composition to subject matter, I can't have one without the other. But with my 2-D art, the art on this website, I can show you whatever I want. I don't have to wait for the right circumstances to be there, in order to capture that sight. If I want to see a statue on Rapa Nui wear sunglasses, I don't need to wait for someone to put a giant pair on it, I can just paint it and you'll see it!

And then that three second attention span plays in: As you browse the images on my website, you notice that there is no discernable theme for the subject matter of my artwork. In fact, in most cases, there is no discernable theme in the style of my artwork. I will work in one style, in one type of medium for a while, then get bored, or run out of ideas, and do something else. I'm versatile! *bows* Eventually, I'll come back and work again on another style (I need to do some more pastels...) but until then, I'm a pinball machine bouncing around.

The only discernable connection is: Color! I'm not scared of bold colors and I'm not scared of bold black lines. I had a wonderful fellow art student teach me the value of working in dark black (not shying away from it at all) when I was in high school, and to that, a shout-out to Carl Baker. And of course, the only way to balance out the blackest-blacks are with the boldest color. I'm a fan of orange, as any good Kewaneean should be, and I personally see the world rich with color. Take some time, sometime, to stare at a cloud. Or a vast field. Notice all the bits of color there, more than Crayola could ever dream up. There's purple in that green, you know.

So here's the introduction to the world of Joy Hernandez Art. As I work on projects, I'll post pics of the process (hopefully...unless I'm on some kind of roll). As I finish projects, I'll post a pic here at the same time I put them in my online gallery, and explain what was going on behind it, where it came from. And as I participate in art events, and after I've participated, I'll blog all about it.

Thank you.