Lift-Off! Of June's First Friday!

Tonight is First Friday!

And since I'm featured at the Art Bank...Here's a sneak peak at what will be new!


Yes, only three. It's a SNEAK PEEK.  Wanna see the rest, then grab your jacket and get downtown! You will also get to see the Five Year Mission in a free concert. And that's awesome. They'll play 7-9pm. With fire twirlers to follow. Yup, that adds to the awesome.

It's been a roller coaster month and a half of preps and I've nearly pulled this all off. Now I just need your help! What can you do? Attend! I mean, I didn't do all this for giggles, now did I? (ok, well, I did, but that's not the point...)


And, premiering tonight, my very first piece of installation art, a collaboration with photographer Vin Oliveri. So...a picture of that and the rest of the event's goings on (and the rest of the new stuff) will be posted later. And by later, I mean tomorrow, as this is going to be a long, fun night.

June is Feature Time! (It's like Adventure Time, but better!)

Welp, I'm featured again at the Art Bank, this time for June.

I can add event planning to my resume if I pull this month off!

I'm focusing on my aerosols/acrylics for the month, and, as such, trying to churn out new work.  Good thing about aerosols is that I've learned new things to add to my technique. So I've been able to make a few multiples, using different color combinations and such. I've made a few windmills, a few Star Trek uniforms and a few space 'themed' ones. And I have a few more in the works, at various stages of completion. I've set up my enclosed back porch as like a spray factory. I've even joked that I should get a bunch of my friends together for a Warhol-style factory party! (Just bring your own coke, 'cause I'm not gonna mess with that!)  I'm really happy with the new set-up and I feel it helps me work more efficiently.

I've had some time to work with the Liquitex... they're...okay. Problem is, the paint doesn't really like to stick too well, or can come off the canvas! On the upside, they match the liquid paints to the T, which is good for touch ups, but still a pain. And my red color I'd bought had some kind of issue with the cap. I can tell there's paint in there, but it's like it drools on itself. *Sigh* I ended up buying a new one, just to finish the project I was working on! 

So here's a rundown of my events!

Thursday, May 31st: Preview Show! 
My friend and musician, Stephanie Kaleto will be providing music via her original songs, and we'll all just kind of be there for those that want to come take in the art without the manic crowd that First Friday can become. (Not that there's anything wrong with manic, art-loving crowds, especially if they're loving MY art, just sayin!). It will be a more personal setting, so if anyone wants to come have a chat about my...artiness, this would be the time. Less noise, less chance of me being pulled in 20 directions, and if you liked the yummy salsa and apple pop from March, there will be plenty of that! The event runs 6-9pm.

First Friday, June 1st: "Yeah--Aerosols and Acrylics by Joy Hernandez" and Five Year Mission!
Our normal First Friday wonderfulness, joining forces with local Star Trek tribute band Five Year Mission! AND, if it couldn't get any better, Northern Lights Entertainment will be doing their trademark fire-twirling, as it gets darker, and we'll have Captain Kirk...and his hot sauce!  This must be seen to be believed! First Friday is listed as 6-9pm, but we won't leave until you all do. Five Year Mission will take the stage 7-9pm, and NLE will follow.

Friday, June 8th: Pet Pals TV THANKS YOU!
Some of you all know (or have maybe watched the show) that I work with Patty Spitler and Pet Pals TV for the show of the same name that runs on WNDY at 10:30am on Saturdays. (I've even started doing stories all by myself! Look out, I'm off the chain now!) We decided to hold a get-together, a thank you to all of Pet Pals' sponsors, fans, friends and supporters. And as if that wasn't a good enough reason, we're also collecting donations for a wonderful dog, Sweetie, that was horribly injured in a hit-and-run. Humane Society for Hamilton County took on her medical care, and now she's happy and wagging, walking and still sweet! Any extra cash beyond the cost of Sweetie's care will go to HSHC for the medical care of a future hurt critter. We will have all kinds of booths and vendors, pets are welcome, adoptables will be available, and much fun will be had. I'd list all of who's coming, but  the list keeps getting longer, so you'll just have to come see! And we'll have happy musics provided by DJ Allan Dare! The event runs 6-9pm. In case of horrible rain, a rain date will be issued. In case of sprinkles, we'll just tough it out and hope you join us!

Oh yeah, and if all that wasn't enough, 10% of my art sales for the month will go to Sweetie and HSHC, so if you even needed an excuse to redecorate your walls, or you know, just support local art, now's the time!

I've got a few more events in the pipeline, stuff to be ironed out. I'll issue a post on that as it gets solidified. And I'll post some nice pics of the art I've been knocking out. I'm on a roll!

Collabs, Hearts, and the Five Year Mission. That's just so Takei!

 It's time for some Mad Collab! These (some kinda poorly shot cell phone cam photos) pieces are the result of my team-up with Moon Stumpp! She brought her mixed media and texture, and I brought my aerosols and stencils, and what you see before you is our result!

This first one is called "Hey! Look Up!" Moon started it with a textured triangle and a line cutting the diagonal, and to tell you the truth, I was completely stuck. Like seriously stuck. Like I sent the photo to a friend and pleaded for help. "What do you see there?" We decided it looked like sky, he suggested I paint a Voyager space probe on there, but I liked the lines of Sputnik and set about making a Sputnik stencil.  This stencil then added to my current reusable stencil collection and I made my own stand-alone Sputnik piece, also further exploring aerosols as a way to show the Milky Way. And...I don't have a picture of it, but Moon does, so I'll post that as soon as I can. In the meantime, let's regard it as a MYSTERY that can only be viewed if you attend the Mad Collab show this Saturday night at the 3040 Indie gallery on Indianapolis's northwest side.  (76th and Michigan St, to be exact).

The second one is called, simply, "Cap." Moon started out with some textured circles and some bubble wrap impressions and I went with my favorite circle design: Captain America's shield.  The usual red and blue coloring was NOT going to work with the jewel tones Moon started it in, so I went with gold and green. I'm liking it. This one came to me super fast; I had it done in a day with little pondering. Hey, I get to win sometimes.

Our last collaboration is "Level 13." This one is a green take on my "Orange Options" acrylic and aerosol, where I made three shades of green similar to a paint sample chip.  Then Moon added the circuitry. And it rocks. It reminds me of some kind of apocalyptic future, all Bladerunner-style. My dad told me a joke once about how the 13th floor of a hospital was where they took the crazies, (or at least at the hospital he was joking about), so I think it kind of works there. The MAD SCIENTIST will GET YOU there! Muwahahahahaha!

 And this last little piece of work has absolutely nothing to do with the Mad Collab show, and everything to do with the upcoming Art With A Heart charity auction! This one is aerosol and acrylic and I got to use two of my liquitex colors! It's a battery giving off red charge and a 'light up' heart on the wall. I figured it was like a second chance at life, like from a heart transplant, so I called it "Life Recharge." And, if you're interested in getting your bid in, you can go to their website and they'll take you through the process. If I understand right, you can even pre-bid online.
It's a good cause, so, you know, do it. Please?

Last little bit I'm going to share is a video. Because the Five Year Mission rules! George Takei, aka Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek, turns 75 today. So the Five Year Mission put together an original song and music video (shot on their laptop's camera of all things!) to celebrate it. I'm proud to say their video has gone viral. As I write this, they're at nearly 50,000 views on Youtube, and they've gained about 5,000 since I last looked an hour ago. It's such a happy song, such a Five Year Mission song, and the video is so them too. I'm very impressed with the work of a laptop cam too! Just the whole concept, execution and sound, and, of course, the response. Mr. Takei was thrilled by it, reposted it, and I'm pretty sure the guys are floored. I'm floored FOR them. I'm proud to say I knew the Five Year Mission before they went viral, and for that honor, I'm donning the Orko costume to see them play at the Freaks and Geeks concert at the Melody Inn, in about...2 hours. Because I'm a Star Trek fan, and Star Trek is cool. So there. Oh yeah, and they'll be at the Art Bank for First Friday on June First. Double so there!



FIVE YEAR MISSION RULES!

WHOA! New Art!

 Been a bit busy. But aren't I always, it seems?

So here's some of the stuff I've churned out lately. I present to you, for your review:

"Bars and Negative Tone"

"Bars and Positive Tone"

 Another take on Bars and Tone. Commonly known as test patterns to non-teevee folk, the indoctrinated among us refer to the strange color test pattern as "bars" and that really annoying sound that accompanies it as "tone."  In this case, we have a television stencil I cut out and managed to use twice without destroying it! (Really, this is rare.) I started out with two canvases, painted the bars pattern on each and used the television stencil to preserve the bars in one, covering up where only the television should be, and on the second, smaller one, covering up all of the bars, until they showed through only where the television should be. On the first one, I loved how the orange paint on the stencil interacted with the stencil, so I glued it on for another layer. I'm liking them! And am showing one more time, just how much teevee has permeated my brain!

"Two Stickers on a Wall"

Next, we have these two fellas: "Two Stickers on a Wall."  The name and concept came from the owner of the Art Bank. Shortly before Christmas, he told me that I had sold two paintings. He puts small happy face stickers on the tags to indicate that they are sold and reported to me that I had "two stickers on the wall--hey! That sounds like a painting name!" I agreed and this is what I came up with. AND it's already sold! Talk about prophetic! This puppy found its forever home before I even had a chance to post its photo! In fact, I had to quickly take its photo before I gave it to its new owner, just so I could document it for posterity and stuff. Not that I'm complaining!

"Orange Options"

After that little victory, I went back to my favorite color: Orange. I just love orange. I like its energy and it makes me happy. It's not mean like red and not flighty like yellow. It's orange. I've presented here three 'options' for orange. The coloring is in acrylic, kind of a play on one of those paint chip things at the hardware store. the black and white are stenciled and spray painted. It also stems from some of the 'Wee Paintings' I created for my feature show, to fill a rack lent to me. I made an orange one, a green one and a blue one, and used ink to scribble/scratch in the dividers and name them. I thought it would be interesting in a larger format. Once again: Pleased.

"Just A Little Acorn"

To finish off my feature month activities, I got to tour the 3040 Indie art gallery on Indianapolis' northwest side. It's owned and operated by aerosol artist Pete Brown and we also had a nice chat on how-to's and such about aerosols and stencils. See, so far, I'd been just kind of figuring this out on my own. I used poster board for stencils (hence the one-pass rule--poster board doesn't really hold up to paint well enough for a second pass). He gave some recommendations on what to use for stencils and how to preserve them and I went home, tested it out, and got creative. (Thanks Pete!) First I went for "Just a Little Acorn" and then I kept a First Friday promise: "Swimming Fishie." At my March First Friday show, a little boy told me I needed to paint a fishie for my wall. He was really convincing. I told him that I would. If he came back on April's First Friday, a fishie would be on my wall. He didn't come back (a little boy's life can be busy at times, I guess) but I kept my word. I made sure a fishie was there. 

"Swimming Fishie"

Both of these were done on my new stencil medium, watercolor paper, and I've now kept them so I can do them over and over. But still, I'm not a copy machine, and no two would ever be just alike. For starters, the outlines are the stencil work, the rest is acrylic brush work. I like how that works out for myself best. Also, even though it's difficult to tell from the photo, the two little swoosh-like shapes on the acorn are actually purple, and are from the Liquitex acrylic spray paint line. It went on sale at Michael's, buy two-get one free, so I got a purple, red and lime green. I've only used the purple so far, and am still excited about the color selection available (although by the time I was able to get to the store, the colors were pretty picked over). I'll write more about my experiences with them as I get more opportunities to test them out. 

I'm also collaborating with fellow Art Bank artist Moon Stumpp in 3040 Indie's Mad Collab show on April 23rd! (AKA Shakespeare's birth/death day for those in the know). We're working up three collaboration pieces, two started by Moon and one started by me, plus showing some of our individual works to show what we each brought to the table. It's a fun concept and an interesting challenge. The first of its type for me. I have one all the way done, but am admittedly stuck on the second one started by Moon. I have a week and better do something quick, huh? I can do it!

My other, more immediate deadline is for the Art With A Heart fundraiser. They'd like me to submit a painting for their auction. I've got an idea gelling around in my head and the base color drying on a canvas... I know it will involve a stencil, one that I'm looking forward to making and one that I will use again for a similar concept... Why am I such a procrastinator?

Keeping Kewanee Weird

I've written before, about my hometown, Kewanee, Illinois, and just how weird that place is. I love it, I love it there, and I love where I come from. I'm proud of our quirks and oddities and the stories I get to tell people when I'm away from there, about where I'm from.

That's why I'm really proud to announce the unveiling of a new 'weird' venture: Keep Kewanee Weird.


See other gifts available on Zazzle.


Yes, we're totally ripping off Austin and Portland, but you know what? We may be small, but we have a lot they don't have. You know, we're in the Mid-West, centrally located for your travel convenience. We have Hog Days and now we have Walldogs and our future mural based arts fest, and we have wonderful mineral springs *coughcough,* a decades long vendetta against Santa Claus and Christmas Trees, a school division and we have Deer Man. And remember, if you see him three times, you die, so be careful.

We are weird, and now we have T-shirts to proclaim it!

I've taken the liberty of setting up a Zazzle store, featuring our Keep Kewanee Weird memorabilia: T-Shirts--simple in design, yet full of Kewanee pride, hats, keyrings, and all sorts of other things. I even have the option of creating skateboards, and will do so if there's a demand.  Our designs our simple, the stories behind them complex.  Because when people ask me where I'm from, I'll happily tell them about Kewanee, Illinois; there's no other place like it.

All proceeds go to Kewanee Walldogs, for our initial offering of murals in 2013 and, in the future, to the arts and music festival that will become a July regular down the road.

Those little rubber bracelets will appear sometime in the future as well.

If you have an event and would like to raise some money for Kewanee Walldogs by selling shirts, bracelets or other memorabilia, just email me and let me know. If you're in the Kewanee area, maybe we can work with our friendly neighborhood shirt printer--shop local and all that--and I'll send over the files for the designs. I went with an online Zazzle shop because of the global reach, but if our friendly neighborhood shirt printer wants in, c'mon, let's go!

I think we can do this. I think we can celebrate Kewanee for what it is. Growing up, I was always so proud of how diverse and unknowingly tolerant we were in my town, especially for such a small city. This is a great set-up for an arts town. I've said it before: Everyone else can fight over the manufacturing and farming pies; we're going to go bake our own pie: An Arts Pie.  There's money there to be had; we just need to own it, and I'll start by proudly wearing my Keep Kewanee Weird shirt.

Spray Paint High

Oooooo!!! I'm so excited!

Photo by Liquitex

I don't often shop at Michael's arts/crafts supply stores. I'll admit, I worked at Hobby Lobby during college and loved it there (and loved the employee discount!). Where I worked, there was a Michael's RIGHT. NEXT. DOOR. So I got to do a bit of price comparison shopping.  Over the years, this has remained true: Hobby Lobby's regular prices often beat Michael's sale prices. So I usually shop at Hobby Lobby.

I do like some of the sales Michael's has, though, such as their buy-one-get-one sale on canvases (but beware! Sometimes, that $30 canvas you bought at Michael's -- and then got a free one--still will cost you more than a similar size canvas you could have bought at Hobby Lobby. So be sure to do the math!) I'll get those every now and then, and they have a nifty app for smartphones. AND I overheard a clerk telling a customer they have one of those new loyalty card things, but I was in a time-crunch and didn't have much time to inquire on it. They do carry some products that Hobby Lobby doesn't.

Which leads me to my cause for excitement: A vast array of SPRAY PAINT!

Hobby Lobby carries spray paint, usually Krylon that costs at least 50 cents more than Wal-Mart. Krylon is okay, and their colors are a bit more opaque than other kinds (although I'm really digging Rust-O-Leum's 2X line--basically it sprays enough paint for 2 coats at once--excellent opacity for lighter, tricky colors like oranges and yellows).  I really like the smell of Valspar spray paint at Lowe's and they have that neat-o turquoise blue that I love to paint with so much. Their downside is their opacity with the lighter colors, again, yellows and oranges, but that's where I'll pick up some Rust-O-Leums.

Photo by Liquitex

But now I have an entirely new color pallet to choose from! Liquitex, sold at Michael's! I walked through their arts supply section and a wonderful aerosol rainbow, locked in a cage, caught my eye and dazzled me.  I wanted one of each! Downside: These little puppies (well they're the size of a normal can of spray paint) run $11.99 each. But, you know, there's always a 40% off coupon in the circular, and there are coupons on the app! (I kind of can't wait to see what that loyalty card offers up).


I could go on and on about the colors! According to their website, they ultimately offer 100 different colors (there were maybe half that on display at Michael's) and they're tinted in line with many of their common acrylic paints. I think I just heard the swoosh of new art doors opening for me..

Photo by Liquitex

They're touted to be low odor, which doesn't really bother me either way. I've accidently sniffed enough of that stuff over the years that I actually like it (and Sharpie markers? I'm totally immune). Troy wants me to always wear a mask...and I do...when I remember... I know, I know.

I've been doing more and more aerosol/stencil art, combo-ed with acrylic painting lately. I really do like the idea of painting the bulk of the painting with my acrylics, then making a stencil for the final layer, be they black outlines or whatever. I really enjoy the fun of peeling off the stencil when I'm done to FINALLY see the finished painting. I feel like those homeowners on HGTV when they get to the reveal! And I like that they are always just slightly off. It's like a deliberate imperfection, if there is such a thing. I'm getting better and better at the acrylic+aerosol stencil style, and I'm so glad that I'm no longer bound, color-wise, to whatever color choices 'normal' people want in a can of spray paint to paint their patio furniture (or whatever it is that 'normal' people use spray paint for).

I'm Featured Artist again at the Art Bank in June, and I was already wanting to highlight my aerosol work, so rock on, expanded color choices!  *Happy Dance Happy Dance*

Bark Art! And Such Things

My first foray into being an Indianapolis Featured Artist this month is going pretty well!

Photo by Moon Stumpp

My preview show and my First Friday turned out pretty good-sized crowds, especially for March, which, I'm told, is one of the harder months to be featured.   It was a lot of hard work getting everything ready in February, especially coming right after the crush of work for the Super Bowl.  I've figured out things that I really like to do, to show, and to serve as refreshments and I've come out of it, at nearly the half way mark, with a feeling of "I got this."

Remy says, "Please come?"

This Thursday will be the last planned event for me for March, an event I'm calling Bark Art! With Rembrandt Hernandez. My dog, Remy, AKA my painting assistant, will be hosting a doggie-friendly reception at the Art Bank, Thursday, March 15th, from 6pm to 9pm. So far, we're forecasted wonderful weather and if that holds up, I'll even go for some paw print paintings in the parking lot! I have a few more preps for that to do, but ...I got this.

What I've learned:

Apple pop and salsa + cream cheese dip, served with tortilla chips and butter pretzels, are a great way to have an interesting food spread, while not breaking the bank. And I didn't have to police the beverages, as I would have had to do with wine--something I did not have time to really do. Apple pop is way more interesting than same ol' Pepsi or Seven Up.

Television has quite a reach! I've been surprised how much feedback I got on my appearance on our local 'scene' show IndyStyle.

I really like making and distributing postcards as advertisements, and, now that I have the size template finished, those will be churning out more frequently in the future.

It's fun to work in a charity to your events. I've worked with FACE Low Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic, for the month. Ten percent of all of my sales for the month will be donated to FACE, and we'll have a common donation jar available at the Bart Art! event.

Photo by Moon Stump

Involving your dog in what you do is a pretty fun adventure.  She did great on TV, and added another layer of interest.  She's cute, what can I say!  She also has a facebook page of her very own, and has invited several of her doggie friends! We'll see what comes of her event, but I'm hoping for great success!

It's always good to have a tight posse. My posse consists of an array of people I've befriended since moving to Indianapolis, and they are right by my side. They show up at my events, make me feel like a winner and all that, and, in the case of my art friend Moon, are instrumental in helping me pull this off. I've learned so much this month, and they just made it all easier to absorb.

"I've got this" so well, that I'm prepared to dive back in again. I'm featured again in June, this time with my aerosols, and I'm going to try to make it bigger and better than March ever knew!

Here's hoping I don't go crazy first. :)