I'm Featured Artist For March! Woo hoo!

This March is off to a great start!

I'm the Featured Artist this month at the Art Bank, and I've been working my tail off to get everything ready.  The subjects of my show are my "Mee-Ba" paintings, calling the show "Mee-ba.0" I've gotten a lot of great feedback on them over the years, so I figured I'd stick with what I know for my first Indianapolis Feature.

Last night, Thursday, was my Preview Show. We had a great crowd and I'd like to give a shout to the "Lawless Clan," and all that they encompass for being there and being great friends.  We had 60's surf/pop music provided by my friend, DJ Allan Dare (who did a great job of interpreting my musical requests: "I'd like something 60's, Beach Boys-like, and red and gold on a synesthetic level.") We were bopping around to the happy tunes and Kathleen, the Book Nook's "Book Mama," took a trip down memory lane. Awesome.

I got a chance to test out my Square card reader, that rocked. It was just so simple! And the transactions were all processed by the time I woke up this morning! It was a Christmas giftie and I'm grateful for it.

Mixed Media and Jewelry Artist Moon Stumpp was there and helped me out every step of the way. I'll admit, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with this Feature month.  I didn't know what I was in for, or wasn't really sure if I knew, and I wanted to do it right, like a good first impression, of sorts. Moon was great, with advice and PR, and gave me some great ideas to branch out with, such as my "Wee Paintings," little 5in. x 7 in. watercolor and ink paintings or 8 in. x 10 in. canvas paintings in a spinning rack.  I painted nearly 50 of those things, to fill the rack, and won't be painting more for a bit, until those sell, mostly because I've never painted 50 of ANYTHING and I desperately want to paint SOMETHING ELSE. They were fun to paint though, like a feeling of freedom with how loose I could make them. But yeah, something else for now. 

I was on IndyStyle on WISH, Thursday morning, and I brought Remy with, for mostly moral support. I'd never been in front of the camera and that had me pretty nervous. It was the kind of nervous that you file in the back of your mind because you've had so much to do earlier in the week, that you didn't really have time to dwell on how nervous you were. But, I DVR'd the episode, and watched it when I got home, and I didn't totally suck! I'm actually kind of proud of myself. I didn't freeze, talking to people on First Fridays really really helped there, and I didn't do any weird nervous tics or anything. Remy behaved herself and even spoke up once, as if on cue! I'd wanted her to paint some lil paintings of her own (she used to do it!), partly for the interest and partly to help fill that "Wee Paintings" rack, but she wouldn't (she wanted to roll over instead), so we just moved on. She's hosting her own doggie-friendly event at the Art Bank on March 15th, so she had relevance being there too.

The Art Bank: wishtv.com

I feel like I'm in a good place for First Friday, as long as the weather doesn't get too nutty (we had some nice hail earlier--to wake me up-- and they're giving tornado watches/warnings for the afternoon). But it's nicely warm out, so I'm hoping we have a good turnout. In any case, I'm prepared. I know what to do in case of a tornado, and I made some killer dip (thank you Artist Within for showing me how to make that dip last March!) to feed to the people that come out if the weather's nice! Oh yeah! AND I finished 2 new paintings that are currently on display: "Two Stickers On A Wall" and "Mee-ba 11.0."  "Two Stickers" can be seen in the background of that IndyStyle video, but I'll have an official pic of both soon.

And hey! 10% of all of my sales for the month of March will be donated to FACE Low Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic in Indianapolis, so be brave, come the Art Bank, buy some art and help a furry friend!

Remy says, "Please?"

The Art Bank --FDIC: Fun Deposit In COOL.

Last Friday was First Friday in Indianapolis, and I had a chance to hang out at The Art Bank on Mass Ave. I've gotten to hang there a bit, the last few First Fridays, and this time I remembered to bring my camera (so, sorry if this post takes ten years to load).

The Art Bank used to be a bank. Really. A really really old bank that John Dillenger supposedly robbed back in the Depression. It's not your average gallery, either. Appearance-wise, they have left all of the interior walls up, all of the bank fixtures inside, this place really is an art...bank. The teller's windows are in place, even the 'drive-up' window on the northeast side of the building. If it weren't for all of the, you know, artwork around, you could easily picture yourself walking up to a teller and asking to make a withdrawl (or, in John Dillenger's case, demanding a withdrawl, seeee, put it right here in the bag! And no funny stuff!)



From left to right: 1) Carmen and Dan in the 'drive-up' teller window. There are a few art pieces in this small space, but it's more like an impromptu chill-spot for now. 2) The Book Nook, AKA the bank's old vault. A cozy space selling locally published books which are displayed using the drawers from the small safe-deposit boxes inside the vault. 3) Art fans examining Mark Patrick's work, as seen through the bars of the teller's window. Imagine me, the photographer as the bank customer, and one of these ladies as the teller. An excellent example of how every surface is utilized in The Art Bank.

There are some strong characters at The Art Bank. I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of amazing oil artist Kim Estes (she left before the camera came out!). It's to her credit that I 'discovered' this place. She was the featured artist this last July, with a show of paintings based on Hubble Space Telescope photographs. Of course I was a moth to a flame as far as space paintings were concerned and they were amazing! But for the double-win, I made some new art-friends and enjoyed the really wonderful atmosphere that is The Art Bank. This is not your average gallery with a 'stuffy' stigma. This place is more like an art-party on First Fridays, with bands and activities in the parking lot during warmer weather. There's alot of high traffic even in the winter, so the Bank is always hoppin'.

The first character I'll introduce (that I actually got a pic of!) has to be Carmen Hurt: The Internationally Unknown Artist and a true CHARACTER. On my first trip to the Bank, I was drawn to her dramatic colors. She uses alot of bright oranges, yellows, and that bright turquoise-y blue that I love to use so much, so, once again, about as moth to flame as I could be for not having space stuff around. She uses oils for her large paintings, blended and blended and smoothed until it looks like acrylic. She does use acrylic for her lil boxes and lil paintings. The lil boxes contain "round-tuits," perfect gifts for procrastinators.

From left to right: 1) This is Carmen Hurt. See her brightly-colored artwork over her shoulder? Crazy-dazzling. 2) These are Carmen's shoes. A lady this colorful, what, did you think she wore penny-loafers? 3) These are some of Carmen's lil paintings. They are minis of her "Some Flung Blue" series that features...blue paint flung around on orange and yellow backgrounds. These are acrylics and the larger versions are also in acrylics. These lil guys are displayed on the counter outside the tellers' office. 4) Inside the tellers' office, a large oil by Carmen covers a storage space and more lil paintings and lil boxes cover the top. 5) This is Carmen's wine, chilled in the snow on a table outside the Bank. Told you this place was hopping, even in the bitter January winter.

Next door to Carmen is Mark Patrick. He's a recent addition to the Bank, displaying his oils and watercolors on the counter and in the cubbies used by the tellers. I'm honored to say that Mark saw my show at Clowes this August, by coincidence, and, once he figured out it was me, said he had wanted to meet the artist behind that show. I was humbled and I marveled at how small the world is sometimes. I envy Mark's loose style, and all the colors that blend to form, say, just the petals of a flower.

From left to right: 1) Mark Patrick and his art. See how every space, every nook and cranny is used to display at the Bank? 2) A close-up of one cubby, used by Mark Patrick, with some of his florals displayed inside.

The last character I'll introduce this time is Preston Karns. Preston is a glass-artist based out of the Shelbyville area, so he has quite a commute to the Bank. When I first met Preston, his art occupied the space that Mark Patrick is now using. Preston's art involves fused glass, etched glass, glass-glass-glass of all kinds. This last First Friday, he showed me a photo of a counter top he created, using beer bottles (it was for a bar in Ohio) that were melted until they formed an interesting surface.

From left to right: 1) Preston Karns, glass artist. That's his artwork on the stand in the background by the window. 2) Preston's turtle, a close-up of the piece that's on the stand. This is a many-layered piece, with the ground looking like its in one spot, the turtle a little closer, and the fish a little farther away. A neat 3-D effect. 3) Jellyfish from the same piece. Some of the jellys are closer, some farther away, and a piece of sea-weed right up front.

There's something interesting about that room that Preston's standing in, on the second floor of The Art Bank. Very soon, some of my art will be displayed on a portion of wall in that room! I'm going to The Art Bank! I can't wait! I'll post details as soon as I get them, and dance happily around until then. Thanks Preston!

Next time: There's an issue out of Better Homes and Gardens and I'm totally captivated by it. Really. Tetris-themed curtains anyone?