Break Time: OVER!

Yeah, THAT didn't last long!

I just gathered info today for a new project: I get to come up with a design proposal for a diner in the Indianapolis City Market. For those not really around here, the City Market is this old brick building that kind looks like a train station, across from the City County Building (aka city hall). It has a large open space in the middle and a terrace above with chairs. The open space is divided up among booths of just about everything you can imagine. Vendors come and go, but some are basically permanent. The City Market recently underwent a huge and costly renovation, but the disruption caused by it put a lot of vendors out. Now, they're trying to do ANOTHER redesign, but this one with an element they forgot: Style. I saw a proposal pic at the diner, and it shows booths with actual canopy roofs and no cookie-cutter grey counters, but bright colors and various styles all working with whatever each booth sells.

My booth proposal will be for Papa Gus's/Tommy's. On one side, Tommy's, it's all spuds, all ways (with weiners soon to be added). The other side, Papa Gus's, is cheeseburgers, hamburgers, tenderloins, seasoned fries: Hot food. Gus, the owner, wants a 50's style feel, the highway diner motif, with stainless steel, magnets to hide the steel air ducts, and that classic style. I happen to LOVE that style. He has the coolest black and steel toaster on the counter and some retro hamburger signs. I took some reference pics of the diner as it is now, and have already brought up some ideas for updating his counter stools. I'm excited.

What does this mean? It means I've been watching waaay too much HGTV. Am I branching out? Hey, I'll take an opportunity when it presents, I'm no fool. I have to come up with a presentation board, (like I've seen on HGTV!) and some perspective drawings. I definetly can do perspective drawings. I also get to play with a logo of a sort, and my friend, Kat, is doing the website for him, so we have to make them match. Kat works there too, she's the one that gave me the head's up. Thanks Kat!

I'm really excited for September 18th too. It's the Fountain Square Art Fair day and I got the whole day off! I had an extra vacation day, went for it, and so now this year, I can participate in all the events, rather than cutting it short at 2 for work. I'm really revved up about my painting idea, I'm really really revved up for that. I think I'm on a bit of a roll, so, maybe tonite, if I get my chores done, the brushes are coming back out of the bin. There's some paintin' to do!

All that AND a trip to the Motherland (Illinois)? Yay! I'm torn. On the one hand, I want those days to hurry up and get here, on the other, that marks the end of summer, and while it's been a stressful, action-packed summer, it was still pleasantly warm out to explore aerosol art. I've decorated the front porch to my liking and just have had alot of fun. Art in the winter is fun too, but paint doesn't dry well in the cold. Maybe by then I'll have settled down enough for the pen and ink drawings my mommy wants me to get back into.

And, now for some pics:

From left to right: "You Cannot Resist," "Carrot," "Strawberry," and "Indiana Working Press Association."

"You Cannot Resist" is aerosol on an acrylic background. It actually covers up the painting that is on the floor in the picture of me and my dogs. I got really really mad at that painting, and sometimes, you just need to paint over it and make it go away. The black texture on the yellow letters comes from a pizza box edge that I dropped on to the painting while I was spraying it. Happy accident. I could have spent an hour trying to re-do the un-re-do-able, but I decided I liked it and proceeded to drop the pizza box on the painting several times.

"Carrot" and "Strawberry" are both aerosol on wood, similar to "Radish." "Radish" is currently at Butterfly Consignment, in Castleton, so I needed something to fill a big gap at Clowes. Same technique, same swirly style, I'm happy with how they turned out.

"Indiana Working Press Association" is kind of an inside joke, stemming from a photograph taken while out with some friends. I really liked how the green wall played off the table, and the simplicity of just the glass and smokes and lighter, placed near the bottom of the shot. At the time, the quote was, "You know you're out with a bunch of photogs when someone thinks nothing of standing on a chair in a bar to take a picture of a table, just to get the angle right." Hey, when the image is there, its there. Regardless of 'who's watching.' My favorite part about this one, is that that glass is the first time that I think I've painted glass in still life since college. Glass is kind of a mind trick, because it doesn't really have any color, but reflects the colors around it. So you have to give the idea that glass is there, based on it's reflections. I'm pleased with the result.

You know what? I take part of that back. I didn't paint glass in college, the still life I was working on (in oils no less!) had a silver pot in the set up. THAT'S what was messing me up! I remember my teacher telling me that silver isn't really a color in the paint world, because that pot was so shiny, it's true color was the colors around it, the reflections. I never did finish that painting (I got sick), but I did get a good grade on it for all the other parts. And I learned a lesson in the process, that, years later, I was able to apply to glass. I earned that grade well, in the end!

Next time: What's up, the Motherland (more windmills?) Hog Days, and the diner!

Break Time! (Sorta)

Phew, that's over. FOR NOW (dramatic music).

I finally got everything up at Clowes. That includes the little signs that say "For prices and an artist statement, please see the information desk." Yup, all done. I'm so glad. I'm so tired.

It was a week of hard work and I think it paid off well. I've already gotten a ton of positive feedback and that always makes me smile. :D <- See? Big smile.

I delivered five works to Phoebe's this morning: "Pi," "Cone Zone," and three windmill photo prints. They're the pictures I actually took as reference pics for the windmill paintings. I thought they would look good printed out, and of course framed in brightly painted frames. I'm very happy with them. "Pi" has always been underappreciated, I feel, to the point that at one point it was stored backwards, because a friend was frightened of it. I like it and I'm glad it's going to hang at Phoebe's. Neither "Pi" nor "Cone Zone" fit at Clowes, but hey, that's not the only wall they can hang on! Sometimes, when hanging a show, I learned, there's always some editing going on. (I actually learned that on Work of Art on the Bravo channel: One of the artists had that as her criticism for her final show. By the way, I was right: Abdi won. I'm so happy for him, he seemed so much more real than the others). Anyway, there's no reason to force something in art that isn't already there.

I have an idea for what I'm going to paint for Masterpiece In A Day, and just found out that my vacation day cleared (I usually work Saturdays), so this year I'll be able to participate the whole day (last year I cut it short to go to work) AND attend the art parade! Yay! Last year, I did watercolors, and this year, I'm definetly doing acrylic. If my idea comes out remotely like its looking in my head, I'll be happy. I'm really happy right now with how it looks in my head.

Unfortunately, I'm spent. I have no idea what I'm going to do for October at Phoebe's and need to figure out what comes next. I'm on vacation for Labor Day, and will have the chance to go back home, see my family, and see the familiar sights. Hopefully, this will recharge my battery so that I can come back with some more art awesomes. We'll see.

Good news: My art was on tee vee! A photog friend had to shoot a story at Butler University, about their incoming freshman class size and the welcome back weekend. He had to interview a member of the university. He asked the photog where he would like to do the interview and the photog answers, "Well, how about Clowes Hall." He then puts the university official right in front of my work. Interestingly, the piece to the left of the shot, "Rocket Corn," is based off of a photo taken last harvest by this same photog friend. I had asked him for some corn reference photos and this was one of them. Yay for free, subtle publicity!

And now, a collection of my newest pieces:

We have, from left to right, "Prayer," "Vigil," and "Coronal Mass Ejection."

The first two are based off of shots I took while shooting a story of a National Night Out vigil. This year's vigil happened to be scheduled the night after 8 people were shot at a birthday party. Two people died, the other 6 are recovering. The police say they've arrested the shooters, so we'll see what comes of it. At the vigil, I noticed several people holding hands. In fact, when I was editing the story, I realized how many hand-holding shots I had, and made that the editing "theme." The man in the hat was a man that was praying and holding his hand into the air. I crouched on the ground and tilted the camera up to his face and thought it was a very cool shot.

The third painting is on plywood and is another take on the moon. Yes, that black circle in the middle is the moon. It doesn't have nearly as much texture to it as the previous moons, but I think it fits well enought. It's based off a simulation that was shown on the Science Channel, in a documentary about solar eclipses. That red stuff coming out from behind the moon is the coronal mass ejections, AKA the solar flare stuff, that is easily visible during a complete solar eclipse. It struck a cord in my head and I had to paint it. Once again, the background, including the CME, is painted in aerosol, and the moon is acrylic. It looks really more cool in person, I couldn't get it to photograph right.

Last thing: I'll be adding a new feature to the site, or, rather, my web guru friend, John will be: A page that contains event shots, publicity type shots and such. It's not the gallery section, but a place to put all the smiley, happy photos taken during events that my art has been featured at. A photo album of sorts. Yay.

Next time: Progress reports, the inner workings of the site, and more new art!

Busy Busy Busy Busy Busy Busy.....

Phew.
Ok.
Crazy Week.
And it's not done yet.

I have half the show up at Clowes. We ran out of time, both for me and the union stage hand, of our four hour allotment. I had to get to the regular job, he was only scheduled for four hours anyway. We're set to continue the work tomorrow and finish it then. I'm pushing for two hours and we're done. I think it can be done. Just take some quick work, that's all.

I've spent the last two weeks on a mega-push to make sure everything gets done. I finished the last of the paintings for a while (just a little tapped out), and I'm really happy with them. One only got half done, but I just kept looking at it and looking at it, and it just wasn't in me yet to finish it. I like where it's going, but sometimes you just have to walk away from a painting to save it. If I had kept trying to finish it, I probably would have messed up the parts I like, and that just won't do.

I got some framing equipment. I got a little device that looks like a stample gun, except it doesn't kick back, or threaten the glass, and shoots those little tabby things into the frame to hold the glass, work, and backing in. So yeah, I know offer framing services. Or at least, assembly services. I just get old frames and fix them up, so I don't have the abilities to order brand-new frames from anywhere. Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! I offer Green Framing!

I learned how to cut glass, from my awesome mosaic-artist friend Deborah Lewis. She has a studio, The Bunker Studio, in Muncie. She gives lessons on how to cut glass, design and make beautiful mosaic pieces, and how to adhere the glass on to surfaces, like gazing balls and window panes.

The lesson came along by accident: I kept cutting myself on the glass from the frames! And then I broke a large piece of glass! I was really disheartened and scared of cutting myself again. Deborah told me to bring the glass up to The Bunker, and she'd cut it down for me so that I could reuse it for smaller frames that didn't have any glass. While she was cutting that glass down, she taught me how to score and cut stained glass andplay around with a piece of light green. Then I got to glue it onto a mirror and take it home! AND, I didn't cut myself!

Ain't it perty?

So now I have a new skill. And I'm not afraid of glass. I have a large window in the front room of my house (my 'studio') that has a smaller window above it. The name starts with a "T" and many people have said it to me but I keep forgetting what it is. Anyway, my landlord said I can make a stained glass pane to put up there, and Deborah inspired me on the design: Circles. It'll be like bubbles are floating around the window and it will be awesome. Thanks Deborah!

The rest of the week was mad-assembly of the framed works, the boyfriend being very helpful in putting hangers on the backs, dotting "I's," crossing "T's," and making sure the name cards are just right. I'm going to be so happy when I get this all up and finished...Just in time for the Fountain Square Masterpiece in a Day! I actually have an idea for this year's painting, a better one than last year.

Also, I'm thinking photography for Phoebe's this month. The photos I took of the windmills, the ones that inspired the paintings, are excellent stand-alone photographs. I'm just trying to decide if I want them black & white, or in color...Either way, they're going up there on Monday!

So here's the rundown of activity:

From now until October 10th: Joy Hernandez Art at Clowes Hall on Butler University.
September: Windmill photos at Art & Soul by Phoebe Gallery in Muncie.
September 12th: Gallery Tour at Clowes Hall.
September 18th: Masterpiece in a Day in Fountain Square, Indianapolis.
Until October: Three pieces are at Butterfly Consignment in Castleton, Indianapolis.
Ongoing: A variety of pieces at Cortex Hair Salon in Muncie.

Busy busy busy.

I leave you with a sneak peak at Clowe's, with stage hand helper Joe, hanging the works:

Next time: My latest works, those that I finished just in time for Clowes!

Windmills, Broken Glass, and Boo-Boos.

I've been rolling right along with my preps for the Clowes Hall show.

I got my new camera, a Canon Powershot A495. It's 10 megapixels, but hey, I'm upgrading from a 3 megapixel camera, so the clarity is stunning as far as I'm concerned. I was worried about being able to afford a camera at, basically, the drop of a hat, but I kind of lucked out. My old camera, a college graduation giftie from my mom, happened to die just as Canon was rolling out their 14 megapixel cameras. This dropped the price in the formerly new 12 mpx cameras, and, of course, practically clearanced the 10 mpx. Yay for good timing!

And with that, I bring you these beauties:

These are four of my latest paintings, all to be shown at Clowes. I'm calling them all "Bouquet - ..." (Bouquet- Pink, Bouquet- Yellow, Bouquet- Rose, Bouquet- Green, to be exact). The Yellow one and the Rose one are flowers the BF has given me. I'm not sure what the yellow flower was called, he always finds such interesting flowers that I have no idea what they are. The Rose is the flower he gave me for our anniversary. (Awwww.) The Pink one is some little flowers that grow across the street from my house; I have no idea what they are either, but they are cute little round things with vibrant color. The Green is because, well, every Bouquet needs some greenery, right? They range in size, with the Rose being pretty big and the Green and Pink being very small.

And then there are these guys:

Together, I'm calling them "Power." (Power One, Power Two, Power Three). They are painted from photos I took last time I went home to Illinois. About 20 minutes from my grandma's house, there are a crop of these things. I can see them from my grandma's town, but they are itty bitty, only a half inch tall. Then you drive. And drive. And drive. And they get bigger. And bigger. And bigger. The photos I took, I think, are awesome. A storm had just passed, and these were to the east of me, so the storm was retreating to the horizon in the pictures, adding that dark sky look to the background to make the windmills pop out really well. I painted them with a nice, bright blue, because, well, I wanted to. There are two more that I have yet to take pictures of, the last one just finished today, so they'll be up shortly. These will all be at Clowes too.

The one in the middle is the one I started with, but, geez, that thing gave me so may problems. The windmills are a very geometric form. The blades, no matter what place they are spinning in, are each a certain degree seperated from the others. Get that angle wrong and the whole thing looks off. I painted the blades on that middle one at least twice (three times in some parts). I painted the background with such a nice, blended blue, that it was difficult to re-blend in areas where I needed to. Frustrating. But finished. And I'm happy with the results.

I just loved the grace and shape of these windmills. They're like the future, but then, there they are, in the middle of a corn field, next to some old barns that have been standing since Woodrow Wilson was president. It's like when I remember that my great-grandfather was born in the same year the Wright brothers first flew a plane, and lived to see all the leaps in technology before he died in 1994. That was alot of advancements. And here they are, spinning away, next to an old farm barn. Or, as a friend put it when he stumbled upon some windmills in a field, "If we had a case of beer, we'd STILL be up there, watching them spin."

***

I've been working on framing my paintings. I bought a nifty lil mat cutting kit at Hobby Lobby (40% off coupons rock!). I've pretty much got the mat cutting bit down. I've been hoarding frames from Salvation Army and Goodwill and such, so I only have two more frames to acquire. For reassembly, I was told a quick easy way to secure everything within the frame, but with the larger ones, it's just not going to work. So I think tomorrow (with another 40% coupon!) I'll be purchasing this device that shoots lil holders into the frames (or, as I've been calling them, tabby things). I figure, if anything, I'll be able to make some side money cutting mats and reassembling frames, to earn back its purchase. Anyone need some mats cut?

I don't work well with glass, though. I cut my leg, I cut my finger, and I cut my other finger! All on my left side, too! They're starting to heal up, but last weekend was a bit disheartening. Or it was all just the loss of blood. Hard to tell. I've started wearing my leather work gloves when messing with the framing glass, so that's worked out.

I did break the glass on a large frame though. Grrrr. And then I broke it again while trying to move a piece of plywood today! Just not cool. But, there's an upside! I have an art friend who works in stained glass, and she said she'd cut the glass down to smaller sizes for me, which works out, since I had some smaller frames that needed glass! Win!

I have an exstensive list of things that still need to be done, 10 days to do it all in, one painting half done, 4 that need to be photographed, 3 blank canvases that are calling to me, solid ideas for 2 of them and 1 canvas that has vexed me for the last time and will have something painted over it soon.

That's the rundown for now, I'll have another update soon, with all that stuff I promised in the previous post. For Reals.

Found Moon

Remember this one?
"Lost Moon."

I titled it after the book by Jim Lovell. The book is better known as Apollo 13. That movie was impactful to me, made me crazy about space stuff and fuel something of an intense hobby/minor obsession for the better part of the next 15 years. I painted it for the "patriotic" loosely-themed month of July at Art & Soul by Phoebe Gallery. See, right before I painted it, Obama declared that we weren't going back to the moon, at least on his watch.

I love the scene in the movie, after the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, where Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) is standing in his backyard, putting his thumb over the moon and blocking it out. Later, when Apollo 13 is in crisis, his wife, Marilyn, stares up to the moon, knowing that her husband is somewhere there.

I've always enjoyed staring up at the moon. I can point out the Sea of Traquility, the Ocean of Storms, and let's not forget the Bay of Rainbows (the official, less Saturday-morning-cartoon name is Sinus Iridium). The large crater near the bottom of it called Tycho, after astronomer Tycho Brahe, is that one that thas the light colored rays arching away from it. Some nights, its good to just stare up at the moon.

I painted "Lost Moon" as something of a companion to "From The Earth" (that title also tied to the Apollo program and Tom Hanks...points to the best guesser). It was going a step further on the aerosol + acrylic style, using the aerosol to get that awesome smooth glow that is around the moon, and the acrylics to get the texture and the craters of the moon. With "Lost Moon," I referenced those nights that the moon is low and golden and large on the horizon, and those nights when that moon is touched by clouds.

It hung at Phoebe's for the month of July, and was often visited by a blind woman, Dena Polston. Dena has been blind since birth and has never seen the moon. I guess she knows its there, because someone has told her, but she's never been able to stare up at the moon, at Tycho, Tranquility Base, or Mount Marilyn. Dena experiences art by touch, and she touched "Lost Moon." She said that by doing this, she saw the moon for the first time. This kind of blew my mind. I've been saying that alot about this story, but its really the only way to describe it, and it still doesn't completely convey my awe. Awe doesn't even convey how I feel about all of this.

Dena fell in love with that painting, and I couldn't take the moon away from her! So at the end of the month, I told Phoebe that "Lost Moon" was now "Found Moon" and it was also now Dena's. I love and appreciate staring at the moon and to have the chance to give that to a person who has never experienced that was...something more than amazing.

The next time Dena came into the gallery, Phoebe was to give the painting to her. When she finally came in, she brought a poem with her to have Phoebe give to me. Phoebe surprised her by putting the painting into the same hands that had just held the poem. I wish I could have seen that moment.

Dena's poem, coincidently, was also titled "Found Moon." And here it is:

You call to me like an old friend
You touch me beyond mere words
Though I cannot see all that you have to offer
I have an innate feeling that you are meant for me.
I'm drawn to you over and over again.
Like a forged chain inexorably linking the two of us.
I always know right where you are
Every time I return, I have to look and make sure you're still there
You make me dream of romantic places and times
I can't help smiling
Just thinking of songs, poems and other works you've inspired
I'm so glad I found the moon in all its glory
And I'm elated that we have found each other.
-Dena Polston


This whole thing just rocks so much. And I'm still not doing justice to it all. But it still really, really rocks. I could have a piece of my art hang in the Louvre, the White House, or positively critiqued by the best, most highly-regarded art critic in the world, and it still wouldn't measure up to the compliment from Dena that, as far as she is concerned, that painting contains the real Moon, the Moon I look up to in awe.

Thanks Dena!

Next Time: New camera, that mystery painting, a whole bunch of new ones, Clowe's update, injuries, framing, and a coronal mass ejection (...that's the big scientific name for a solar flare!).