Argentina Part 2

I didn't take many pictures during the second part of the trip....
and for the first time in a very long time, I didn't paint-- at all (some people call that a vacation....)


You can't see them but there are Condors in those cliffs.... right next to that crack in the rock...near the white spot....



A fearless helicopter bird*




We had him eating out of our hands....
Afterwards there was a beautiful hike down... in the dark... under an incredible star filled sky....past rabid man-eating killer cows and possibly a vampire or two (maybe a few werewolves too). The car mysteriously moved farther and farther away but we made it through. Still it was one of my favorite hikes.



View from Los Gigantes



* don't know the actual name but it sounds like a helicopter when it goes whizzing past your head...

Punta Alta

Yes--- I'm breaking the silence.

I just got back from a few weeks in Argentina ( I lucked out and got to go again!) . I spent the first half with my friend Ken Colorado who invited me down to help him out on a sculpture project. We spent a few days in Buenos Aires where he introduced me to Andrea Juan who shares Ken's goal of bringing attention to climate change through art. Afterwards, Ken and I went to Punta Alta to work on the ice core sculptures with Uretec.


An ice core sculpture with text from Lynne Cox. Lynne is an amazing woman who among many many incredible feats swam in the waters of Antarctica for 30 minutes without a wetsuit.... normal people die after 10 - 15 minutes in water that cold.
(If you click the photo it gets larger & you might be able to read some of the text).



Ken and Roberto discussing the project. Roberto is the owner of Uretec and a wonderful person.... even if he doesn't like the way I make coffee ;0)










More ice core sculptures, these have writings of Russian & Argentinean scientists.

Plagerism & Copyright Infringement

The double edged sword of posting your work on the internet and making it accessible to anyone: on the one hand its a method to promote your work and to participate in community dialog; on the other, it leaves you open to theft of your work.

It happens often, to writers & artists whose work is taken to build websites, presumably with a goal of generating cash by using other peoples' work and names to entice traffic that turns a profit (advertising that pays by the number of hits to a site).

Some infringement is by people who don't know any better. Most is by people who convince themselves that there is a grey area* the size of the Sahara when it comes to "referencing", "borrowing from" or "paying homage to" an artist.

If the offender is in the U.S., there is a chance to do something about it. An example is House Industries, a font house whose illustrations were stolen and reproduced (I think it was on t-shirts or glasses). They found out (a lot of the scum bags think no one will notice) and sued. The happy ending is that up until that point, House was a couple of guys working out of an apartment. The settlement provided the cash flow that helped turn them into the successful company they are today.

Unfortunately, not everyone gets the happy ending. This morning I read about a blatant theft that even the most self delusional person could not convince themselves was "OK" or "in the grey area": a publisher took the interviews of Darren Di Lieto, along with the work of dozens of other artists from a website and published a book which is being sold for $100. The book even includes a CD of the artwork. Unfortunately, the publisher is in Hong Kong (presumably-- the contact info on their site is fake).

Scumbags.

More info:
Some artists whose work was stolen by Azurebook's Colorful Illustrations 93°C:
Luc Latulippe
Jeff Miracola

*The "grey area" is actually a three part calculation:

1. Can I make money off of this?
2. What are the odds of the artist finding out?
3. Can the artist afford to hire an attorney to come after me?

What is art?

Some great quotes/references:

• "I love it the fact that theres that Elephant at the zoo painting..."
• "Now the monkey that throws poo, hes making art...cause he's living in the experience" (gotta admit Im unfamiliar with this one)
  
• "The gorilla* don't know what he's doing. That's a monkey painting, dude."
• "Some of that modern art sometimes getting waaaay out of context man, they trying to push the limit, trying to be the next Van Gogh or whatever..."
  
• "I hate how people don't think that Dogs playing poker is high art..."
• "It's Pop Art, isn't it?"
• "Just because you say its art doesnt mean its art. For instance, in central park? that moron with the flags? That was not art."
• "Look at that painting on our wall over there, by Jackson Pollock**" -"It's hideous!"
• "My biggest pet peave in the whole world, is dolphin art I reeeeaaaaaly don't like that...."
  
• "Oh!, Who's the guy on TV? Hi, the happy squirrel, lets make some happy clouds, we're gonna get the big fanning brush...."
• "I think modern 20th century art, if you don't discuss comic books, you're just a snob or a fool."
  
• "My face looks kinda lika a Picasso ..."
  (this clip of Picasso painting is in French but you dont need a translation...deal with it)
• "I consider ballet or interpretive dance, ala Matha Graham or something like that, yeah, that's artistic..." (and a cut off video)

*much was made about the subsequent auction....and sale prices)
** a fun site where you can (Make your own art)

Dwight Harmon

Strange how random things will trigger a memory & make you think about someone.

I just framed the piece below for a show I'm hanging on Saturday. As I was pulling off the plastic that protects the plexiglass, I remembered that Dwight loved that stuff. I couldn't remember exactly why but I remember him being absolutely giddy about it. It was a long time ago.

Dwight was one of my teachers at Art Center. He was one of my favorite instructors and had the best sense of humor by far. In a nutshell, Dwight's thing was getting students to experiment, have fun and hopefully make some really cool art (that's a very simplistic summary). He was killed a few years after I graduated (murdered, actually, but I won't talk about that or the rat bastards who did it). I just haven't thought about him in a while so it was a strange sensation to be ripping plastic off a sheet of plexiglass, thinking about all the things I need to finish when suddenly Dwight pops into my head.

Just about every available surface in my house is covered with paintings in various states of "almost" ready to be framed. While I waited for the varnish to dry on a few of them, I decided to do some surface prep in case I have time to knock out a few more before Saturday. I grabbed the plastic out of the trash to protect my kitchen table, then slathered on a few good coats of acrylic medium onto my painting surface. After it dried, I picked up the piece. Thats when I remembered why Dwight loved that stuff so much. Acrylic wont stick to it. It just slides right off .

Dwight used to pour acrylic over the plastic, swirl it around, draw in it with the back end of a paintbrush, his fingers, or whatever else was lying around. After it was dry, he'd throw another layer on and play around with different pigments adjusting the opacity with gloss medium. When he was finished, and it had dried, he would peel it off and have a painting without a "surface". With a huge smile, he would hold it up for everyone to see. "LOOK AT THIS! This stuff is amazing!"

Just the thought of that cherubic face and his gleeful smile made me laugh.

So Dwight, wherever you are, we still think about you, we still love you, we still miss you...and you still make me laugh.

Just because I like it-

I especially love the little bug that holds up a flame to the guitar playing birds. So very "Free Bird" (no pun intended...)

The song by the way, is "A Chinese Translation" by M.Ward

Huell Howser at Art Loft 205

Huell Howser filmed a show highlighting the Claremont Packing House and spoke with the folks at Art Loft 205. The show aired on Friday and will be re-broadcast tonight (Sunday). I missed the Friday airing but rumor has it my work can be seen behind curator Michael Knott during the interview (I got a message from the gallery today with the news). I think the show airs at 6 on PBS.... let me know if you see it!

OK, I'll out myself: I don't have a TV so I'll just have to rely on someone else to watch it and/or tape it for me.

An L.A. Day

I met Jose Luis this morning at Self Help Graphics. From the get go I was struck by how far away from the corporate world I am. After staying up most of the night painting, I was typically slow this morning and didn’t leave my house until 10:20. I was supposed to meet him at 10:30. Even on a good traffic day it takes more than 10 minutes to get from my house to East L.A. I called him to apologize and tell him I was late, forgetting that I was meeting another artist. He was in Elysian Park picking up some equipment and not ready to leave yet. Phew!

Turns out they were filming a documentary on Self Help Graphics. Not only did I get to meet some of the artists there, I got a crash course on linoleum prints, monoprints, and got to see some of the collaborative pieces they were putting together for an up coming show. All very cool.

In hindsight, it seems inevitable that I would jump in and help on the shooting. And I really did try very hard to keep my mouth shut and just plug in cables, make sure nobody tripped over anything... fill in whatever holes were left open but you know... its me so.... I gave some tiny little suggestions on camera angles and then um.. maybe one or two art direction type suggestions. Shocking you say?! Well it gets worse...

Alex (with a Russian sounding last name that admittedly I cant remember and wouldn’t be able to spell even if I did...) was being interviewed for the current show he had curated: a commemoration of the founder, Sister Karen and a remembrance on the 10-year anniversary of her death. He didn’t feel too comfortable talking to the camera so I sat down in front of the camera (out of view) so he could have a human face to talk to. Well... I kind of got very engrossed in what he was talking about and sort of kind of forgot where I was and to my horror ... asked a question (ever open your mouth and realize as the words are coming out that maybe just maybe you shouldn’t be asking questions when someone you really don’t know all that well is FILMING?! but the microphone had already picked up my voice and there was nothing left to do but make an "oh crap I’m SO sorry" face and finish the question and then quickly look up at Jose Luis who was standing above me with the camera and hope that he wasn’t about to knock me senseless). I admit that I was out of line and it definitely was not my place but it did spark an interesting conversation that Ophelia (another artist) joined in on so hopefully I didn’t ruin anything. I don’t think I did because they invited me back. Besides, no one suggested duct tape to keep my mouth shut (I take that as a good sign) and when Ophelia was interviewed Jose Luis encouraged me to participate.

In both interviews, Ophelia and Alex were brought to tears talking about Sister Karen. If I had to boil it down to the essence I think the thing this woman gave them that still touches them so deeply today is hope. A simple thing that is so easy to underestimate yet powerful enough to elicit that response ten years after her death. She believed in them as human beings and as artists and devoted her life to encouraging their work and ensuring they had a safe place to express themselves.

Afterwards, Jose Luis took me to his favorite street vendor for freshly made blue corn quesadillas filled with a mushroom that grows on corn (again-- I don’t remember the name...) with a side of cactus and Mexican soft drinks. Another very L.A. experience sharing a meal with random people on the street. I loved it!

Finally, I got shanghaied into going to an L.A. city commissioners meeting on Olvera St. This is where I had major flashbacks of the worst Disney production meetings. The point of this part of the agenda was to approve the project to save a Siqueiros mural. They did that within the first 3 minutes (it should be noted that this project has been on the table for 6-7 years). Then they debated whether or not to add a paragraph thanking the people who volunteered their expertise in crafting the proposal. At issue was the wording: should we call them "volunteers" (some felt that word minimized their contribution) or "contractors" (but they weren’t paid and "Contractor" implies pay and is this ethical?....) or maybe "volunteer contractors". As they spent an excruciatingly long time discussing the thank you paragraph, I checked my voice mail and email, surfed the web a bit on my phone, googled the commissioners, day-dreamed, possibly took a nap, and came up with a pretty good plan for world peace. Wish I could remember what that was....

Bad, Bad Blogger....

I never kept a journal when I was a kid either. Except in 6th grade but only because I was being graded on it. Its not that I don't want to its just that I'm lazy about it. I keep thinking I will get to it later in the day but I dont. I even have a ton of sketches to post I just....havent done it. Apparently I need to put this in my schedule too! So here's the scoop (some of you got my email/newsletter so sorry for the repeat):

Update & News:
Last month's Brewery Artwalk was a great success, & I want to thank
you so much for your support!

The most common question I get now days is "what's it like not
working?" . I want to say that its fabulous. I want to say that I get
up every morning, put on my striped shirt and black beret and create
masterpiece after masterpiece while sipping espresso. Thats only
partly true. It is fabulous but its also kind of scary. I do drink a
lot of coffee, but I don't own a beret and not every piece is a
masterpiece. I'm learning a lot about myself and how I work. So far,
the most important thing I've learned is that I can't focus without a
schedule.

Last week I had my first panic attack. I felt like May had flown by
and had nothing to show for it. Over the weekend I let the other side
of my brain take over and created a schedule and spreadsheet that
would make my past project managers proud. This week a few seeds I
planted recently broke through the ground and I realized I actually
did accomplish something:

• I was invited to be in the May group show at the Hive Gallery in
downtown LA and will have another piece in the June show (see below
for opening info).

• Returning to my roots, I signed on at a new gallery in Claremont,
my hometown. Loft 205 gallery currently has 4 pieces that debuted at
the Brewery last month: my two largest steel pieces and two
portraits. The Director wants a studio visit already so my studio
inventory is rapidly declining. Artist reception is next week, see
info below.

• Virtual Art Scope (http://www.visualartscope.com/ ), a Los Angeles
based art consulting firm has officially launched its website. I am
on their featured works page.

• I spent a week in Mammoth landscape painting, some of the pieces
are on my website under New work.

Not too shabby! So what's next? June will be spent locked in my
studio for the most part. According to my schedule I have a lot of
work to do ;o)

I will be traveling for most of July. A fabulous opportunity landed
in my lap and I have to take it. More on that as it develops but for
now I don't want to jinx it!

OPENINGS:

Los Angeles:
Hive Gallery Opening is this Saturday, June 2 from 8pm to 12:30am.
The Hive openings are becoming a very popular part of the LA scene
and attract a very diverse crowd. It should be a lot of fun. Aside
from the great artwork, there will be a live band, food & drinks and
fabulous people watching!
More info at the hive website: http://www.thehivegallery.com/news/
news/june07.html
The show runs June 2 through July 1.

Claremont:
Art Loft 205 Artist's Reception is next Saturday, June 9 from 4 - 6pm.
More info at the Art Loft 205 website: http://www.artloft205.com/
My work will be there on an on going basis.

Art Loft 205 is a new gallery in the recently renovated Claremont Ice
House. Downstairs from the gallery is the new Claremont Museum as
well as a creative studio for kids.