Super Dooper Bowl Time!

These last few weeks have been action packed.  The Super Bowl has come to our turf. And to Turf, the IDADA Pavilion, and to the Art Bank. Because, you know, we're all in Indianapolis.

We've been spiffing up the Art Bank, and extended our hours. We're part of the arts tours going through town, starting at the Turf Pavilion, working its way up Mass Ave, down to a local Winery, down to the artsy district of Fountain Square and then back to the center of town. Repeat. We're also a warming station, providing cocoa and cookies, even though we have the very un-January climate right now of 55 degrees.

And this Friday is none other than First Friday to boot!  I've been working on my display of my small stuff like a new 'cupcake' stand for my greeting cards, and I've created 'street-legal' postcards (just add stamp) and are now selling them for $1 each or 6 for $5 (basically just as much as a greeting cards, except they're not bundled).  Like the greeting cards, they're images of all of my paintings, even the ones that have sold, so feel free to sift through them until you find the right one!

I hadn't touched pen and ink in a while, so I gave it a go for the Super Dooper Bowl too. For all of the East-Coasters packing downtown, I created some "suitcase-friendly" art, starting with some watercolor but the bread and butter of each piece comes from its pen and ink detail. They're 5 in. x 7 in., matted to 8 in. x 10 in. and sealed in a nice plastic sleeve, ready to go home with whoever would like one. Collectively, I'm calling them "Wee Paintings," and they're $10 each, across the board.  I'll paint more as the initial batch find their forever homes, but I probably won't post photos of all of them, since they're small and numerous (although unique! No two are alike!).

And, one of the greatest flourishes to my display is a copy of Michael K. "The Artbook Guy" Corbin, titled Art For The People.  I've added a bookmark to my copy indicating...a write-up of my first-ever show at the Greenwood Public Library (in Greenwood, Indiana).  The book is basically about the accessibility of art and different ways people find to display and express art.  There's even a poem of pies. Color pictures, tales from New York, to Chicago, to Miami, to Indy, and a nice photo of my painting, "This End Up."  Check it out, if not to read a certain section (*wink wink*) then to read a really wonderful...Art Book.

For the people, by the people, let's bring art to everybody.  And stop by the Art Bank and see all the cool stuff we have going on!

Commissions!!!

I’ve been so crazy busy.

Not that I’m special or anything, I’m just explaining my absence. I do want to stop starting posts with that thought, though.

I had a crush of commissions (like a murder of crows) to complete for the holiday season. I’m nearly finished, but at least now I have breathing room! 

The first finished, due to its Christmas present deadline, is this little puppy. Or, little puppies. It was commissioned by a friend, as a gift for his aunt.  This is a follow-up to his commission-gift-awesomeness of this one for his wife.  This family likes yorkies. I’ve also found out that yorkies are hard to paint, due to their beige and grey coloring, but I’m no longer as intimidated by them. Well, painting them. I got bit by a yorkie once.

My second commission that I’ve completed, I no longer have the imagery to post.  They were court-style sketches, but for a court case in the early 80’s! I was contracted to draw sketches, as if I was present (I was alive then, but my crayon work has gotten better with age) for four scenes. The director/producer of the project had audio of the scenes, but no video to cover it. I’d done court sketches before, in real life, on the spot, but this one required a phone call to my mom to find out what color palette people wore then. And, yes, I made sure all the required sideburns were in place.

My third commission was a custom framing job for a customer that had recently bought a painting. He wanted me to frame in a 3-d manner (to give it depth) some sentimentally-valued papers that he had saved.  Check! Done! Completed at the Art Bank to play keep-away from dog hair. Thanks Remy.

My last official commission is so almost done, I can almost taste it. I’m just waiting on the informational particulars. This one’s looking pretty rad too, so I can’t wait to finish it.

I have one informal commission that I’ve been told to work on at my leisure, and, it sounds like I’m about to be working on yet another one. At first, all these commissions scared me quite a bit, but now I’m starting to like the work. So, anyone else?

Color Of The YEAR

ANNOUNCING…. THE LATEST IN PANTONE!!!

The 2012 Pantone color has been declared. Please join us in welcoming “Tangerine Tango.” Yes, folks, it’s a reddish-shade of orange. ORANGE. I love orange. I blame my Kewanee High School roots on that one. Orange and Black, baby. You get conditioned to it.

I’m liking this. This means that soon you’ll be seeing everything from clothing to toasters in Tangerine Tango. Pantone is a fashion color trend company.  They look into their crystal balls and figure out what is going to be the ‘big’ color of the next year. They actually come up with a whole palette. Tangerine Tango is joined by the yellow-orange “Solar Power,” dark-lavender “Bellflower,” deep blue “Sodalite,” fushia-like “Cabaret,” light sage green “Margarita,” light pink “Sweet Lilac,” aqua-like “Cockatoo,” dark brown “Driftwood,” and tan “Starfish” (even though the first image in my mind of a starfish, it’s the color of Tangerine Tango).  Designers around the world will look at these colors and start to produce all kinds of merchandise out of them.  People will see these as the must-have colors for items. You’ll wear them on shirts. You’ll shop for college dorm supplies and cheap-plastic housewares in them. You’ll buy drapes in them. 

I’m digging Tangerine Tango. I like it better than last year’s “Honeysuckle Pink.” I already work in Tangerine Tango. So remember: This year, I’m not following the trend…the trend caught up to me! Oh yeah!