Five or six years ago during the early days of 10studios I compiled an eclectic mix of 70 works to demonstrate the seven elements of art. Pieces ranged from drawings and paintings to a small cafe size table and two chairs. Over time many of these works were purchased by family, friends, community members and the occasional stranger. However, some still remain, sealed in the basement archives.
Recently John Cartwright, a member of Thodos Dance Chicago, approached me about donating a piece of art for a silent auction. Humbled, I graciously opened the archives and offered three pieces.
This large still life drawing of apples was created during a demonstration for a small group of high school students in Hancock County.
While eating a gala and granny smith apples I drew the progression of consumption. Each new image overlapped the previous one and created a cubist style. After the real apples were long gone I returned to the piece adding thick amounts of oil pastel breathing new life into the apples.
During my non-objective faze I created these two acrylic paintings: Thing 1 and Thing 2.
Each piece is constructed from multiple layers of color and line.
I now anxiously await the auction and encourage you to check out the other pieces of work available.
Have you ever participated in a silent auction? What did you purchase?
As humans we possess unique quirks that make us individuals. We tend to select our friends, lovers, companions, and spouses based on similar quirks or appreciation of these unique quirks.
Over the years I have enjoyed observing the weird, quirky rituals my friends and family go through before leaving the house. I have established that everyone falls into one of four categories. Some are pocket patters - persons who lightly touch their pockets checking for essentials: phone, keys, wallet, etc. Others are scanners - persons who scan their immediate surroundings for items that may serve of importance. Another group are runners - persons who briskly walk throughout the house looking for something that is already in their pocket or purse. The last group are heedless - persons who constantly forget or leave items behind.
My wife is heedless because she always forgets or leaves behind her phone, purse, stack of papers to grade, or lunch box daily. However, she never leaves her lip balm, lipstick, or chap stick. One reason is because she has hundreds of tubes strategically hidden all over the house, both cars, and school.
In honor of her heedless nature I created a painting to show my love and appreciation for all she does for our family despite not knowing where her phone or car keys are.
Gold Standard, acrylic on canvas, 18''x24''
I borrowed the image of Scarlett Johansson from a Dolce and Gabbana ad, but changed the colors to match my desire for symbolism.
The gold lipstick tube represents the most important in Amy's arsenal of makeup: lip gloss. She will not leave the house without applying a layer of balm or gloss to her lips. If time allows she will fix her hair so silver and metallic black were used there. The skin tones and background are flat colors allowing the gold and silver to shine brighter. The red nails represent Amy's heedless desire to paint her nails two minutes before we are to walk out the door.
College/Career Readiness: Kentucky's Real 2012 Olympics is the theme for the 76th annual Kentucky School Boards Association Conference scheduled for February 3rd - 5th, 2012 at the Galt House East in Louisville, KY. Banners from each school district in Kentucky serve as a critical contribution to the conference because they reiterate schools' focus of learning and learners. I had the honor of designing Hopkins County School District's banner this year.
The following image is my interpretation of this year's theme:
College
Society provides students an image of college where alcohol overflows every cup, girls wear very little, and naps supersede attending class. The actual facts are students sleep very little, eat to much, and work harder then they ever thought possible. John Belushi represented society's take on college in the cult classic Animal House, however, Draper Hall on Berea College's campus rises from the background of my painting to represent the real reason we send students to college - an education. (In 2009 the Center for College Affordability and Productivity Staff ranked Berea College as America's best college buy)
Career
Coal industries are not the only career paths a student forgoing college may take, but many students at my school list mining as a viable option. The coal miner in the bottom left represents this popular job choice for my community. A color coded ranking system exist with miners and their helmets where white represents the highest rank one may possess. My miner is wearing a white helmet because he is an educated, skilled veteran of the mining industry. I pray blessings of safety and longevity upon every HCCHS student who graduates with intentions of working in the coal mines. I ask that you do the same.
Kentucky's Real 2012 Olympics
The silhouette of our amazing bluegrass state sits calmly behind the Olympic rings while the conference theme floats above. You may believe the word Olympics missing from the slogan is an error, but it is an omission. Many times a single image, icon, or symbol tells our brain everything it needs to know. Some may say a form of newspeak from George Orwell's 1984 is coming true with the use of symbols rather
than words. I would like to believe we are immersed in art
and design so much we no longer need words to read and comprehend. As a
method of exploring my theory I omitted Olympics from the slogan. Am I correct? Are you able to read and comprehend my masthead?
Would you like to take a "reading comprehension" test?
During the basement makeover I had the opportunity to create some new pieces of art.
Behind our game/dining table we had a long empty space of wall that needed something. I first began looking through my collection of framed art and discovered nothing of value, however, I found four, fresh white canvases. I really wanted five, but I had a small budget and little time; these would have to work.
A friend of mine, Levon Walker, is married to an artist named Ashley Addair whose work I am continually drawn towards.
During a recent unit of study I conducted in my painting class I became intrigued by Wassily Kadinsky's work too.
With an idea in my head, some cheap bottles of acrylic paint from Walmart (the devil), and four free canvases I was off and running. Two days later I had four pieces of non-objective art which pulled both sides of the room together.
I felt the title, Ashely Addair Meets Wassily Kadinsky for Martinis, to be apporpriate. I borrowed the circle shapes from a painting of Ashley's, the movement reminds of Kadinsky's stuff, and some circles look like olives.
In college, Amy and I ate lunch once a week at the same little "everybody-knows-your-name" kind of place and of course, keeping with tradition, we sat on the same stools each visit. This establishment was a typical diner where the food is greasy, the coffee pot always brewing, and all pies have sky high meringue. I felt at home sitting on that stool for lunch.
For generations people have created soundtracks of their life. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros have a song titled Home that's on my soundtrack.
The chorus goes:
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is wherever I'm with you
La, la la la, take me Home
Baby, I'm coming Home
I made a painting about this song for Amy.
Home 10" X 10" mixed media
The background is a green acrylic called "new leaf green." On top of that I wrote the entire chorus over and over in silver sharpie Then I wrote the line, Home is wherever I'm with you continuously with a white paint pen over that. Last I wrote Home in black all over the bottom two thirds.
The taller, black section on the left represents me while the shorter, black section on the right represents Amy. The connecting letters in the middle represent the kids, Matthew and Emma.
