AWOL and Ramsay-Hunt

Wow. My previous post got quite a bit of buzz...well more than I normally get. I'm glad for this and glad for all the people that got a head's up out of it. We artists have to stick together, right? Right?! haha. Right. So yeah, keep spreading the word and I'll keep posting anything I happen to come across.

In the meantime, I'm kind of on a fine-detail hiatus. It's a strange story really. I've had sinus issue my entire life, and finally had some corrective surgery done in July. Yay! Great! And really, THAT part has all worked out wonderfully (...well...except for the bill I got today, even AFTER insurance... *gulp*). I can breathe, I can smell stuff I haven't been able to smell for a long time (which is a mixed blessing sometimes!) and all that part is all healed up.

And then? AND THEN...And then I had August's First Friday. I had kicked my own butt to get myself healthy and ready to go for it. It takes a lot of energy to do First Friday right, even when you're not featured! Part of art is the business side of things, and without sounding too retail, that means good customer service, a good attitude, and just having fun! So, mucho energy involved there. Even on the day before, things were picking up! I got to stop into the Space Camp micro gallery in Fountain Square to help with a show load-in (very cool place) and then got a call to be a last-minute fill-in at the Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, near the Art Bank, as their featured artist (great place, go there--there's wine!).   But I started to drag and my left ear started to hurt.

I had seen my ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat specialist--the lady that did my surgery) earlier on Thursday and she just thought it was a little boo-boo but gave me a z-pack just in case. Then on Friday my ear had swollen up so bad it was incredibly painful. I trucked through First Friday, got to see a lot of friends and supporters and even ran into some old friends I literally hadn't seen since my college graduation. Really, very much good times. But by the time I woke up on Saturday, I was in serious pain and something was seriously wrong. I checked into an Immediate Care center and they thought, since the z-pack was obviously doing nothing, that I had MRSA, a drug resistant staph infection. Yipes! I went home with enough antibiotics in me to make me impervious to all problems and rested.

The next day... At work, I'm doing my thing, working with the videos, and my eye starts to blur. My eyebrow goes numb and the lack of feeling spreads up my forehead and down the left side of my face. WHAT. So I scurry back to the Immediate Care. They still think it's MRSA but that the lymph nodes under my swollen ear have compressed the cranial facial motor nerve, which controls half my face and runs along my jaw, and that's causing me to, you know, not be able to move my face. Just keep taking the antibiotics, as the swelling goes down, the pressure will subside. Oh yeah, and tell your doc what's up.

I call the ENT during the week and she orders me in immediately. She takes one look at me and declares it NOT MRSA (Yay!). It's called Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome (What?) Basically, much like shingles is a reawakening of the Chicken Pox virus I've carried in my system since I was 4, Ramsay-Hunt is a Chicken Pox sleeper cell that hung out in my facial nerve and waited for my immune system to be weakened just enough to strike. Opportunistic bastard. My sinus surgery was all the distraction it needed.  And if we hadn't caught it in time (within about 7 days) my face would have a way less chance of regaining its control. Swell.

The open-eye side is immobile!

So now, I'm about 3 weeks into all this and I'm trying to keep my spirits up. I've finished my antiviral medication. I've made faces and stuff (even though, most times, people can't see the movements on the outside and I'm moving the muscles as hard as I can on the inside) and I have be careful of my left eye, because I can't blink well or shield it from the sun. I was supposed to speak at a local high school art class, but had to postpone that for a few weeks, because, you know, partial facial paralysis and a room full of high school kids usually doesn't mix well. I also don't eat in public as that's not to pretty either.

Murals and Toad-Stool DIYs

As far as my ART blog side of this: I can't do fine detailed artwork. Oh, sure I can do 'broad stroke' type projects, which so far has been DYI things I've been putting aside, but projects where I have to sit and concentrate and stare for long times to make sure my drawings are accurate...are just not happening. It's that left eye that just won't let me do it. I see spots. *sigh*

"Broad-stroke" project: Table Restoration

So this is like my suffering for art moment, right? Like, my stuff is now more worth it from before, since I can't create now, right? It's more rare now!

Or...I just have some forced down-time to catch up on the broad stoke stuff, (computer stuff is even a tiring thing--looking at the screen and such--this is tough to write) and I get to load up on ideas for when I can, you know, blink.

So that's it. I'm AWOL, painting-wise, until my face heals. Or at least my eye blinks. Ramsay-Hunt WHAT???

Art Scams = GRRRRRR

Today's post is about SCAMS.

SCAMS SUCK.

Especially (or at least especially for me, since, you know, this is from my perspective) in the art world.

Last week I got an email from a dude named Frano Mawer, who claimed to be from Malta. Yeah, Malta? I didn't want to be too skeptical, because international sales are really cool! I got kind of excited, thinking that someone on the other side of the globe may actually be interested in purchasing my work! Like I said, hey, it could happen, right? But I didn't want to be played for a fool either. I googled his name, nothing came up, but I kept up the email exchange. If anything, I could gather more information on if this was truly a scam or not, and IF not, I could still be cordial, not offend a potential buyer, and maybe come out ahead.  I had to dance a dance.  Here is the initial email, it's subject line read "Inquiry":

Hello,
I am emailing to inquire about availability of artwork for sale in your gallery, if you can ship international and also if you are able to process Visa and Master Card Number/Expiry date/Cvv as payment. Let me know so that i can communicate with you on the artworks that interest me,you can also indicate to me which of the arts are sold and which are available on your website.
I will be looking forward to reading from you.
Best
Frano

I know, I know, skeptic radar up. But you never know, so I replied that I could process payments via PayPal and through Square, but that I would need an address, especially to know where I was sending my work (notice, no mention of Malta, yet) and I would need to know which pieces he wanted.

His response:

Hello,
Good to hear from you,
Below are the artworks that interest me so i want you to get back to me with the cost price of each so i can give you the credit card number to run for the payment

Bang Bang Bang
Acrylic on canvas.
16 in. X 20 in
====================================================================
Rewind I
Aerosol on canvas.
16 in. x 20 in.
====================================================================
We Are All Americans
Acrylic on canvas.
24 in. x 18 in.
====================================================================
Lollyputnik
Acrylic on plywood.
23 in. X 23 in.

I want you to get back to me with the cost of  the above so that you can have the payment.
I will be looking forward to hear from you asap.
Thanks
Shipping Address
2, Enis Street, Hunch.
PQY 6428  Malta

Hey! Sweet! That's quite a bunch of my work! ...But I wasn't too sure about that address. It didn't read right. I've not sent much mail overseas, so I wasn't sure about how addresses are set up in other countries. I decided to call FedEx, see if they could ship there (I wanted to call UPS too, but their offices were closed at the time I was calling). The very patient lady at FedEx's phone center explained that that was not a true address in Malta, and that she would need a proper zip code. Zip Code, got it. My reply to Frano: 

Ok,
Here are their prices:

Bang Bang Bang: $150 USD
Rewind 1: $150 USD
We Are All Americans: $180 USD
Lollyputnik: $200 USD

The total would be $680 in addition to shipping.
I called FedEX today to try to get a quote for shipping, but they were not able to locate the address you listed. They would need a proper town name and a proper zip code.
I would also need a proper billing address for the card, including zip code.

Again, thank you very much for your interest.

-Joy Hernandez

Again, I wanted to maintain civility, just in case this was legit, but the chances were getting slim. That and I had found this nifty blog that posted a nearly identical email sent to an artist, but hers included the Malta address off the start. They're getting tricky. I was pretty sure the jig was up, but I got a reply back: 

Hi,

I am okay with the cost of the artworks therefore i want you to get them packed while on the shipping,one will have to pay additional fee at the delivery point here in Malta  because they will never bring to ones house. courier like Fedex, UPS are not worth it here especially USPS all of them are not rendering good service here probably because they already known very well.
You can contact this courier Airpro Delivery  (airprodelivery@hotmail.com) as well with the weight and cost of the artwork for the shipping and insurance to my
address because they ship and deliver safely without one paying any other money before collecting the goods unlike some other courier where it will not be
delivered to your address rather you will have to go to their office to pick it up and when you get there you will be told to pay other money before collecting it.
I will be looking forward to hearing from you asap.
Thanks
Shipping Address
2, Enis Street, Hunch.
PQY 6428  Malta

No change on the mailing address, no 'real zip code' and not even a real town listed. (And, yes, Malta has more than one town). I'm not going to mess around with "AirPro Delivery," I'd never heard of it, and I'll never EVER ship before I have payment, let alone go through all that trouble. AND the FedEx lady had assured me that they did ship to Malta, as long as they had a valid address. So I'm calling shenanigans. 

I emailed him back as such:

Hello,

I'm sorry Frano, but I'd have to insist on FedEx. The woman I spoke with on the phone assured me that they do ship to Malta, but that the address you listed before was not valid. I've also used USPS in the past, overseas and especially with the military, and have had no problems. It's a security issue on my part, if you are still interested, I will add the cost of shipping to your overall total, via one of these couriers.

Thank you,
-Joy

Haven't heard back. And, if you're wondering or receive such a thing, his email was: mfrano3325@rocketmail.com  What's rocketmail? I googled that, apparently it's an old email server, pre-hotmail, that was popular back in the 90's, around the time Britney Spears was on her way up. I wonder if art scammers in Malta dig early Britney Spears as much as they dig old email servers? In any case, the other blog with the Malta scam had listed them with a rocketmail address too.

I apologize for this not being a nice shiny post with lots of pictures and such. I wanted to post all of Frano's emails, in case someone else heard from Frano, and especially since they tend to change up the act.  I didn't get taken, and I don't want anyone else to be had too.  According to that other blog, if I had processed that card information for a sale, I would have been on the hook for handling stolen card information. I would have been out the money, and my art would have been delivered to who-knows-where. Great.

And as for those that think pulling scams on the world's artists is okay or cool? Stop it. It's not cool. It pisses us off, and all we want to do is deliver the world our art. You get our hopes up. I'm not going to turn down a legitimate sale, because I really could use that money, so don't jerk me around with this kind of nonsense. If you've got that much time to seek out and try such an elaborate scam on an artist, I'm sure there are better, more productive ways to use your time.

Artists: Make sure you always check out sales, especially online. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but do it cordially, so that you don't offend the buyer, in case they're legit.  But do do your homework, see where your art is going, and make a few phone calls. Protect yourself!

Art Scams = GRRRRRRRRRRR.

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.