Artistic Mission

Commission Work Keeps The Wheels of Art Turning

2012-02-01T00:26:00.000-06:00

I started work on this painting a couple of days ago. Getting this commission has been great, it's enabled me to actually be able to show at Naughti Gras this year. I was expecting to get one or two pieces accepted this year, not all four. Printing and framing all of those wiped out my art fund. With luck, I'll make enough sales that I can replenish my bank account and continue to enter shows this year.

Here are a few photos of the piece as it's progressed so far:

First Layer

Second Layer

Third Layer

The only firm guidelines I was given were that it had to depict koi fish. One of the fish had to be white only. It had to be brightly colored. The lily pads look funny right now because the base layer is a collage of strips of paper cut from a comic book. I'll be adding more layers on top of this once I finish the detail work on the fish. I'll post more images as this progresses.

New Year's Contemplations: Darkest Before the Dawn

2012-01-30T00:37:00.000-06:00

I left my last post with a sort of "cliffhanger" ending. I had planned to follow it up with an appeal for ideas on how to move forward to overcome the "darkside" of my recent burst of artistic momentum. You see, creating art takes money. Showing art takes money also.

I'm very close to being tapped out. I'll use the most recent show as an example: Naughti Gras 5.

(prices are rounded and approximate)

• Location, film, etc for photo shoot: $75

• Film developing $40

• Photo printing $100

• Framing materials $200

• Show acceptance fee $40

• Ticket so wife can attend show $10

TOTAL $465

Kind of makes me feel sick to think about it, though I do want to point a few things out that make that number sound a bit more reasonable:

• The photos from that shoot can be used for more than just this one show. I only used 4 images. There are several that will also make good painting reference.

• I am a professional picture framer. So I get good materials at a better price than most, though it also means that I can't trust anyone else to do the work. I end up making up the savings in time spent working on framing instead of other things.

• I got all 4 of my images submitted accepted for the show. In that way, I'm a victim of my own success.

Luckily, in the time since my last post I had a couple of bits of good news. I got a commission to complete a large painting. I also sold a set of 3 photos that I had on display in a local business. Getting 50% down on the commission enabled me to actually be able to participate in Naughti Gras. Otherwise, I might have had to sit it out. I'll be posting pics of the painting as it progresses starting with my next post. In the meantime, why don't you check your calendar to see what you can rearrange so that you can come check out my art at Naughti Gras. It's going to be totally hot!

February 10 & 11 2012

Time: 7pm -1am each night

Admission: $15 at the door ($10 in advance while supplies last)

Age 18 and up with ID

http://kokenartfactory.com

New Year's Contemplations: Getting Down & Dirty

2012-01-22T23:52:00.000-06:00

In a lot of ways I feel like I'm kind of starting over.

The past few days I've been going back and reading old posts here, getting a feel for how I've grown as an artist. A lot of the old tone was clueless, bright eyed, and optimistic. Art was an exciting adventure that I was just setting off on.

Since then, I've gone on creative tears and had some creative droughts as well. I've won awards, sold my art, had it praised, and had it ridiculed. I've shown my work in coffee shops, community centers, galleries, businesses, and museums. I've made incredible artist friends around the world. In a relatively short amount of time I've come a long way, and yet in an odd way I don't feel I've come far enough. I think I'll always find that my moments of personal satisfaction are few and far between.

And that's fine: it's that feeling that drives us to succeed.

Recently I took a hiatus from showing my work in order to focus on, well, focusing my work. You know, making an effort to work in a more cohesive way. I'm trying to make sure that the work I put out is something that is recognizable as being mine.

As the new year turned I started submitting my work to shows again. So far:

• I was rejected outright from one, (I submitted a painting in my new "style") though it was for a small exhibition. Not a huge loss there.

• I had both of my submissions in the "Beyond The Lens VI" photography show at Framations Art Gallery jury in to the show, one winning an Honorable Mention:

• I have one piece (of five submitted) on display during the current cycle at Shameless Grounds coffee shop. (I was asked to resubmit the others for the next cycle as they more closely fit that theme)
• I have submitted a proposal to be part of a program that teaches art to children and gotten a favorable response, just waiting for a final confirmation and date.
• My work on display as part of the Art Rotation Program was asked to stay in it's current spot for another cycle.
• I successfully completed my first photo shoot, with model, and submitted four of the shots into this year's Naughti Gras show at Koken Art Factory. I should get notification in the next few days regarding that.

Taken as a whole I feel really good about what I've done so far in the last few weeks. Not exactly a resounding pile of victories, but everything is largely positive and any setbacks are minimal. I feel good about what I've accomplished.

That being said, there is a darkside. I'll tell you all about it in my next post.

Cbabi Bayoc's "365 Days With Dad"

2012-01-08T21:13:00.000-06:00

I know this space is usually reserved for talking about my personal projects but I thought it would be ok to break from that to showcase another artist's work that is currently very inspiring to me.

Cbabi Bayoc is a local painter who I always considered a really good role model. He and his wife own and operate a bakery that specializes in vegan fare. When I see him at shows and events he usually has at least one of his kids in tow, without appearing to mind that fact. We've met and talked on a few occasions(though I wouldn't expect him to know who I am) and he always came off as sincere and interested. Overall, just a really positive dude.

Like most people these days, money is tight for him. Facing the grim prospect of giving up the freedom to paint everyday in order to get a "real job" he did something totally inspiring. He severely cut his prices and started the year off with a pledge to paint an image a day that showcases fatherhood. One painting a day, $200 (compared to his usual $1,400), first come-first served. As I write this he has sold every painting so far, and in addition, has pre-sold the next 5 days worth as well.

I've spent the last few days since I found out about this project trying to come up with some way that I could help. Knowing all to well what he is facing makes me want to see him succeed all the more. After much thought I figured that the best thing to do was to help spread the word about his project. You'll probably see me mention this a few more times throughout the year. If you have the means, considering buying one of his pieces. It's a great investment. If nothing else, help spread the word.

Click on Cbabi's name above to find his Facebook page where he posts pictures of the completed works daily. To read a full article about his project that ran in the St. Louis Beacon, click HERE.

**UPDATE** Local news article and interview video HERE.

Art Dimensions Meeting......Almost.

2012-01-06T01:30:00.002-06:00

Last night I attempted to make the ArtDimensions monthly "networking meeting" and had my car break down a few blocks away. Literally in the same spot as the last time it broke down on me. Waiting for AAA made me late, then finding out that my battery was shot (the guy recommended not shutting my car off) and deciding to run directly to Autozone to get my battery replaced (warranties FTW!) made me even later. As I imagined, by the time I arrived there were only about 4 or 5 people left, but there was a reason that I continued on. I had a new painting to deliver for their next show:

No title as of yet, but what I can tell you is that it's 18 x 24 and will be available for purchase at 2720 Cherokee starting tomorrow night. There's this new thing that they are trying on Cherokee Street called Cherokee Nights and they are pushing it as a monthly first Friday art-walk of sorts. Great idea, and I hope it's a success. The official facebook event listing is HERE.

Regarding the painting, it's probably the second that really uses the new style/language that I've been experimenting with over the last few months. I have a series of sketches that I did over the summer that is the seed for a show idea that I had. I just needed to find a way to express what I wanted to convey and in a way that took the best parts of what I've been doing up until now and combined it in such a way that was somewhat uniform in execution.

Oddly enough, this painting is one that I started about a year and a half ago while I was live painting at 2720 during one of the fundraising attempts for the Indonesia trip. I set it aside to work on other pieces but felt that the beginning that I had in it would work well if continued in my "new" style. I'll let others judge if it's any good. The last one sold, so I'm hoping this one will too.

I think I'm through with the test pieces and I feel ready to start this massive undertaking.

Dr. Sketchy's - December 2011

2011-12-19T23:12:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the December edition of Dr. Sketchy's, a drawing event hosted at Van Ella Studios. It's hosted more or less monthly with local (and not so local) burlesque performers acting as models. Always a lot more fun and energetic than most of the other drawing groups I've attended. I arrived late this time, missing the shorter "warm-up" poses. I think I did pretty well for the time I had though:

Drawing groups are where I do the most experimenting with techniques. The piece immediately above these words was made using pencil, paint, inkpen, marker, & colored pencil. Is it a good piece? No. But I learned a lot from it that I can use the next time I attempt this sort of look.

If you are local and reading this you can follow the links above to the Facebook page for the event (in case you want in on the next one). Check out the Van Ella Studios link for info on burlesque shows and classes.

Full Contact Art Appreciation

2011-12-04T21:56:00.001-06:00

I've been doing a bit of thinking about art and the way that it is appreciated around town. I love that there are things that bring art to the people such as Citygarden, but then again, I have a small problem with it.

It bothers me when people get too "familiar" with the artwork.

Don't get me wrong. There is certainly a place for human interaction with artwork and it's surroundings. The pictures below illustrate that:

While certainly unappealing to see, this gentleman is at one with his surroundings.

This sculpture is designed in such a way as to encourage human interaction. The neck opening has raised rods welded in subtly to ensure slip-free entry.

I'm not trying to make the argument that all artwork should be behind velvet ropes and guarded. I'm saying that when I see kids running through the splash fountains at Citygarden it makes me happy. When I see a group of adults sitting in the fountain ponds as if they are soaking in a hot-tub after a hard day of looking at timeshare properties it bothers me deeply.

I hate when scavengers steal brass nameplates for scrap. They're robbing our city of it's voice.

I love the City Museum. It had done an amazing job of introducing people into the enjoyment and acceptance of art, of making art a part of your life and a source of joy. However, I have to wonder if introducing that concept of full contact art has erased people's sense of boundaries with all local sculpture.

I hope that Bob Cassilly's enduring legacy doesn't end up being the encouragement of carte blanche interaction with artwork regardless of the artist's intentions. That would be a tragedy on par with his early departure from this world.

Art Attack 3

2011-11-21T20:23:00.001-06:00

This past Friday night I went to the Art Attack 3 event, the following is the description as posted by the Riverfront Times: Art Attack 3: Thirty-two paintings compete in a head-to-head competition, with the winner determined by audience vote. The losing painting is destroyed onstage in a flamboyant manner, unless an audience member bids on the work. Proceeds from sales benefit KDHX. Fri., Nov. 18, $15, www.kdhx.org. NEO on Locust, 2801 Locust Ave., St. Louis, www.neostl.com.

I was one of the 32 "contestants" (?) in the event. KDHX donated the canvasses, so I only had to provide the paint and ideas. Here is a photo of the painting I did:

They were handing out a couple of flyers at the door, one had the title, artist info, and a small image. Each painting was assigned a number which was used to determine their placement on a tournament bracket, which was the other handout. Using both, you could follow the event pretty well. It also helped that all of the works were lined up where they could be viewed prior to the start of the auction.

I kept track of the winners and losers during the entire thing. Pricing artwork is a difficult thing and having such clearly labelled materials I figured would make it easy to see how my work compared to others. A bit obsessive? Sure. Or at least interesting if not also informative. Knowing what people will buy and how much they will spend on art? Great info to have.

I ended up losing in the first round. Kind of disappointing, but it didn't feel like a failure to me. My painting went to face destruction, but ended up selling for over $200 after a small bidding war. I heard a very loud yell of "Bullshit!" by someone in the crowd when it was announced that I had lost. That meant it wasn't just me who thought the applause was louder for my piece. I don't know who it was, but it was great for the ego.

So my art was spared destruction. It didn't really bother me that I had lost, but I did take some satisfaction during the second round. The painting that beat mine? It lost and faced destruction. When the auction to save it started the room got really quiet. The bidding started out well over the minimum bid, (the minimum bid to spare a painting from destruction increased each round) though it ended up getting lowered until someone finally placed a $50 bid. Half of the minimum to save it. Try as he might, the auctioneer failed to get another bid and the painting was destroyed. A part of me couldn't help but enjoy watching a female wrestler beat the painting to death with a folding chair.

Does that make me a bad person?

Pictures of the event can be seen HERE.

Agapanthus

2011-11-20T23:11:00.001-06:00

I visited the St. Louis Art Museum today to see the special exhibition "Monet's Waterlilies" where the triptych "Agapanthus" was reunited for the first time in thirty years or so. The presentation was really nice, with a lot of descriptive texts as you enter along with a video of Monet actually at work painting. The next room had several studies that were done outside to prepare for the larger works. These were very loose, though really worth seeing despite the fact that they were never intended to be shown publicly.

When I finally reached the last room, having taken in all of the previous works and text, the effect was fantastic. I can't fully express how wonderful seeing it made me feel other than to say that it literally brought tears to my eyes. This past year has been one of much difficulty, self examination, doubt, and sadness. Today's experience reminded me why I do what I do and why I need to keep doing it. Art is some powerful stuff. It will change your life, you just have to let it.

Excuses, Excuses

2011-10-27T01:04:00.001-05:00

Just so you know, I have actually been continuing on my artistic journeys. Life for me has been a little weird lately and I'm not always the best at handling things the "correct" way.

A couple of weekends ago I went to the annual Artica event for the first time. Though it was a bit underwhelming I did take a bunch of photos. I had intended for that to be my next post, but not taking the time to edit the photos forced me to push the post back again and again. I'll post it as an update once I get the photos done. You'll also see a post about the drawing and burlesque events that I attended this past weekend.

You probably won't see those posts in the "correct" order, but they will be coming soon.

--End Transmission

The Rollercoaster Effect

2011-10-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

The last few days have brought me several interesting things. I got an email newsletter from a local gallery saying that the winners of the Great Rivers Biennial had been announced. Pretty big letdown to

me, since I entered and hadn't yet gotten any acceptance/rejection notices. I did eventually find my reject letter in my spam folder. So the $20k art project on wheels won't be happening just yet.

I did receive some good news though, I will be one of the featured artists competing in this year's "Art Attack" fund raiser for KDHX radio. The concept is pretty neat. They provide a canvas to several local artists. They then showcase the works at an event where they display them 2 at a time and the audience gets to vote on their favorite, which gets spared. The loser faces the "Wheel of Death" where it risks being destroyed by various nasty methods. Audience members can vote to save a loser by offering to purchase it, unless the wheel lands on "certain death". The creator of the ultimate winner gets $1,000 (and I'm guessing some mad props as well). Sounds like a fun event. Let's hope I don't choke. :)

Today, my wife and youngest daughter visited the Shaw Art Fair. We passed on visiting the Missouri Festival deal at the neighboring botanical garden. ($12 a person is a bit steep to look at homemade jelly and other shit I don't care about.) I bought a couple of things at the show. The first was a book; "St. Louis is Watercolor" by my friend Marilynne Bradley. Marilynne was one of the artists who went on the Indonesia trip with me, so it was really nice to see her again and catch up a bit. She was even nice enough to sign the book for me. I started reading it this evening, but I'm still in the forwards and introductions section.

My other purchase was the painting below:

Pretty awesome huh? It's about 18" x 18", acrylic paint on heavy paper. The local Visual & Performing Arts high school had a booth at the show which consisted of a couple of tables piled high with what I'm assuming is the students' artworks. The back is signed "Samantha Atkins" which is one of the only bits of solid info that I have about this piece. The table was staffed by a couple of guys who appeared to be students and another guy who was sitting toward the back of the booth. (I'm assuming teacher?)

Part of me would really like to have a chance to meet this kid, offer words of encouragement, etc. Another part of me realizes that no one would believe that there wasn't some other motive, and let's face it: 90% of the time, when a guy in his 30's goes out of his way to talk to a teenage girl, there are. So, since I'm not about to go looking up a high school kid to tell them how nice their work is, I figure the best thing to do is treat the work with respect, frame it nicely, and enjoy it.

I think that's good enough.

Addendum: I found a pretty cool video about one of the past Art Attack events on Bill Streeter's LoFi St. Louis blog. You can check out the video HERE.

Sometimes Art Loses

2011-09-27T01:29:00.000-05:00

St. Louis lost a legend today. R.I.P. Bob Cassilly.

Media reports: St. Louis Post
Riverfront Times

A "Fancy" Affair

2011-09-27T01:17:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I was invited to a "Fancy Party" to celebrate the birthday of a good friend of mine. I brought my camera along, because I had 2/3 of a roll of film left that I wanted to use and with the theme

of the party I thought there would be some interesting costumes to shoot.

Birthday Cake!

We didn't get there right at the beginning, so things were in full swing when we arrived. There were hula hoop dancers and fire performers in the back yard, and a DJ performing inside, while a video art piece played on the wall. Really interesting and a lot of fun. Maybe not technically great photos, but I think I got some definitely interesting shots.

Wish for something good!

I did learn one important lesson. The difficulty of operating a manual focus camera in low light conditions increases exponentially with alcohol consumption. I wish I had more usable images than I ended up with.

Painting Meetup Group

2011-09-27T00:44:00.002-05:00

A few years ago I joined a local group of artists through the Meetup website that gets together very regularly to have drawing and painting events. One could probably go every day to a different one if they wanted. I never had until the other night.

So let me backtrack a little bit. I have ended up at events (Dr. Sketchy's etc) where their members were present, but I never used the website to attend one of their exclusive events before.

The timing was tough, since I had to come right from work, and I ended up having to work late, so I got there right at the starting time. Everyone was really nice and I felt comfortable, I suppose it helped that I knew several of the members already.

The model that evening was about 7 months pregnant, which made the event something of a novelty. The more interesting the model, the better. Also, the event was held at the Concrete Ocean gallery, where Phil Jarvis is currently having a solo show. I ended up painting both the model, and Phil's painting that was behind her. I liked the way the shapes seemed to mimic each other:

I didn't want to perfectly copy the painting, but more was trying to suggest the feeling of it. I didn't want the model to be secondary in the painting. I know Phil a little bit, so when I posted this image on Facebook I "tagged" him in it. Mainly to gauge if he felt offended by my poor representation of his work. He was actually cool with it, which is a bit of a compliment in it's own way.

An Art Filled Weekend, Part 2

2011-09-27T00:25:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday was reserved for work and other stuff, so Sunday became the second half of a weekend packed with art events. My wife and I went to the St. Louis Art Fair (held, naturally, in Clayton) like we do every year. Saw a lot of new things, and some interesting things. One artists' booth was manned by an assistant, since the artist himself had died recently. I wondered internally if that was some sort of
brilliant sales tactic.

Ran into one of my artist friends who was volunteering to man a vending booth who suggested that we check out the Art Outside show at the Schlafly brewery. That was actually our next stop, since several of our artist friends had booths there. I found out from her though, that her sister was the inspiration behind one of those friend (and framing customer) 's new series. I wish I could say that I liked the work, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I suppose that's a risk when you hear about something before you see it. Still, it's weird how small the world truly is.

At the Schlafly show, we didn't stay too terribly long. I managed to make the rounds and see all of my friends though, one of whom was 3 pieces away from selling out completely. I wish I could pull off a feat like that.

An Art Filled Weekend Part 1

2011-09-14T03:06:00.000-05:00

I got a decent chance to recharge my batteries this past weekend. Friday night was packed with art openings all over town. I spent the week beforehand gathering up the various press releases that I received and sorting through the start and end times as well as locations to try and find a way to visit as
many as possible over the course of the night.

I made it to 8 openings that night.

I started out at Grand Center since their shows started the earliest and there were 3 venues in short walking distance from one another. My first stop was the Contemporary Art Museum and when I got there they were turning people away, apparently the member's preview was going on. Luckily, I won a free membership last month so I was able to get in for free. The show was pretty good, I liked the large scale pieces that made the room feel like an oversized living room. The work below is much more interesting with real people thrown into the mix.

After that I went next door to the Pulitzer Foundation. I was expecting a nice peaceful visit since the event was an exhibit of Buddha statues and the like. The place was packed with for real Buddhist monks and of course the somber "I went to a yoga class and then Macrosun and Whole Foods so I'm better than you" smug assholes. Everyone was in reverent serene mode so I thought it would be cool, just standing in the doorway before I entered gave me an incredible feeling of warmth and happiness.

The first part of the show was amazing, the statues actually seemed to radiate light from within and the building itself is amazing:

So there's no signs or any indication that there is a no photo policy in place. Half of the people in the crowd had cameras and or camera phones and are snapping away like crazy. I decided to get a shot of the crowd in the main gallery along with one of the pieces for this article. I was considerate and had the flash turned off (museum mode) and chose a subject that would be impervious to light damage (unpainted stone statue piece) Upon taking the picture this lady yells out "Sir! There's no photography allowed!" Everyone in my vicinity starts looking at me with enough alarm and concern to make me thoroughly uncomfortable so I left the area and didn't bother to check out any more of the show. Didn't even bother to flash my press pass or anything. I ran into a friend on the way out and chatted for a few before heading across the street. Here's the villainous picture:

Bruno David Gallery featured a ton of work made from the insides of security envelopes. Neat idea, but I thought it was boring. Another exhibit of "fingerpaintings" was alot better. I like things that appear simple on the surface but have a lot of depth and technique to them. "I" knew that just anybody couldn't do that same thing easily.

Next I drove across town to the Luminary Center and checked out their show. They had a pretty interesting tactile set of installations that almost instructed you on how to interact with the space. The main gallery had a variety of technological artwork. My favorites were the ones displaying images on a TV screen that were generated from hacked Nintendo cartridges.

I found myself on Cherokee Street next for Aisle 1 Gallery's show Bumble & Bramble - Works by Ben Pierce & Joy Tiyasirichokchai. Really enjoyed that show, almost bought a piece there.

Next stop was one that I was really looking forward to, a solo show of Phil Jarvis' work at Concrete Ocean Gallery. I ran into a ton of people that I know there, including 3 artists that went with me to Indonesia. Spent almost as much time talking as I did enjoying the show. I highly recommend checking this one out before it closes.

Soulard Art Market was my next stop. Their show was work based on architecture. I got there shortly before they were set to close, so I had to breeze through quickly. I did buy a photo print from my friend Patrick Bellmann while I was there. A shot of the lake and bridge at the Japanese Garden at MOBOT, but shot from such a low angle I feel like I'd have to lay on the ground to get the shot. Patrick is confined to a wheelchair and has very limited mobility on top of that. I have no idea how he pulled off the image.

My final destination was an Open House and party at Evil Prints, Tom Huck's studio and print shop. Really cool place, though I got there after the band had finished I still got to look around and even get a shirt silkscreened with one of their cool images for only $2. The only bad part: I must have bought a children's large instead of an adult large size shirt, because when I tried to wear it the next day it fit like an Ed Hardy shirt. I may use it as a giveaway on my fan page or something.

Art Night Out

2011-09-08T23:06:00.001-05:00

There are a lot of art events this weekend in St. Louis. The St. Louis Art Fair (oddly enough, in Clayton) and the Schlafly Art Outside events both go from Friday to Sunday. There are also numerous gallery shows opening on Friday and Saturday night.

Since I have Friday night off from work I thought it would be fun to try and visit as many shows as I can,
so I've been saving emails of press releases etc. for shows that open that night. Anyone who wants to tag along with me is welcome, there's no strict plan. I'll just be flying by the seat of my pants. Below is a list of venues that I'm planning to visit, in order roughly based on hours and location. (For example, the first 3 stops are very close together and start earlier than any of the others.) I'm planning to arrive at the first stop around 5:30 or 6 pm and work my way down the list. With luck I'll be like a snowball rolling downhill and at the end of the night a bunch of us will go get kicked out of an Applebee's or similar.

Show Opening List for 9/9/2011

Bruno David Gallery 5-9 pm
Contemporary Art Museum 5-9 pm
Pulitzer Foundation 5-9 pm
The Luminary Center 6-9 pm
Aisle 1 Gallery 7-11 pm
Concrete Ocean Gallery 7-11 pm
Soulard Art Market 7-10 pm
Evil Prints 7:30- ???

The times listed are the open hours for each show. All venues above are listed on my world famous St. Louis Art Map (see tab at the top of the page) complete with links to websites when applicable.

Hope to see you!

Gangster Story

2011-08-31T08:00:00.004-05:00

The following is a letter I wrote to a friend recently about a true incident that happened to me a few years ago. For no other reason than "I felt like it" I am posting it here. To give a frame of reference, my friend was discussing former local news guy John Auble's book History of St. Louis Gangsters and that triggered the memory of this event. I hope you enjoy it or at least find it odd and or fascinating.

Regarding the John Auble book: I had heard of the book around the time it came out and even had an interest in reading it because of rumors of gangsters in my family,
cousin's cousin type thing.... Wanted to see if any familiar family names popped up. The book wound up on my list of books that I never quite got around to reading.

So maybe ten years ago I was driving around with my dad and he wants to stop at some weird store that he had heard about, it was on Broadway north of downtown. Calling it a store was an overstatement, it had the strangest assortment of goods, mostly the kind of shit that a regular vendor at a flea market would sell. One guy did try to sell me a bulletproof vest which, had I had the money, I might have bought purely for the novelty of it. While we were there my dad couldn't find whatever it was he was looking for and the guys working there told us to check out the big store which was up off of like 70 and West Florissant.

So we go to check this place out and its a huge ratty warehouse with pallets of the most random things. With the exception of the fact that nothing of any real value was present it looked the way most movies and TV depict a fencing operation. A pallet of mechanic's jumpsuits next to a pallet of used hospital equipment etc. etc. Nothing had pricing and if you wanted something the guy would just name a price. There was a dude there that was supposed to be a computer whiz and was trying to sell us refurbished computers. All in all fascinating but pretty fucking weird. I did buy a small dresser from them, an odd 3 drawer deal that looked like it came from a hotel or motel. I still regret not buying the pay phone....

Fast forward about 6 years and the construction supply office where I worked needed a new filing cabinet, but on the cheap. I mentioned this odd place, thinking that they might have something, so I get sent along with one of my co-workers to try and get a good deal on a file cabinet. This time the place was way fucking weirder. The same couple of guys seemed to be in the "office" area but they were acting really cagey and seemed to be super suspicious of my friend and I. Like we had wandered unexpectedly into a really bad place but they were going through the motions of making things seem normal.

After showing us a few really damaged (and more expensive than new) filing cabinets they let us look around the rest of the place, and once they figured out that we were more looking at the endless strange shit they had then seriously going to buy something they handed us over to a new set of chaperones: Two Mexican teenagers who had previously been shoveling anything broken and flammable into a fire inside what looked like a brick kiln.

I found their presence to be odd not only because there were no other Mexicans around, but also because they were so much younger than the other hoosiers who I assumed were in charge. These two guys tried to sell us a ton of stuff as though they got a commission or something. Somewhere in our conversation with these kids my idiot friend let it slip that he was into cars, so these kids are all like "here we've got something we know you'll like" and they are trying to get us to follow them kind of into the darker hallway of the main building that seemed to be kind of "off limits". I had a really bad feeling, my guard was up the whole time we were there actually, but I was certain that we were walking into an ambush. I was trying to get us to go to the car, but my friend was following them and I kind of had to get his back (read: he had the keys). I was sure that we were going to get robbed and or shot etc.

They led us into this small room within the office part of the warehouse. It was filthy and piled with crap but there was a bed and stuff and it had all the appearance that it was where these two guys lived. They dug around until they pulled out a few cardboard trays that had large die-cast cars in them. Again, something that you'd see at any flea market except that these were all in horrible shape, even by shitty toy car standards. My friend pretended to show interest in them before declining to buy any. Meanwhile I'm trying to decide if either A: someone is going to come charging in with a pistol while we are "distracted" or B: we were in some version of the pawn shop from Pulp Fiction. I'm hanging back and looking around the room for anything that I can use to defend myself should I need to. That's when I noticed the small table on which was placed, in such a way that it appeared like it was being studied reverently, John Auble's book about St. Louis Gangsters. Only to make things weirder, it wasn't the actual book, but a carefully assembled and stapled Xerox copy. Like someone two sided copied every page and put the book together cover and all. Too fucking weird.

RFT's Artopia 2011

2011-08-30T01:05:00.000-05:00

The RFT hosts the Artopia event every year and it is where they announce the winners of the Mastermind Awards. Since I'm such an awesome writer, I'll just let you google it if you're interested. Here's some pictures:

The catering was awesome. Treats were handed down from a "cloud" by angels.

DJ's were just a small part of the entertainment.

I was one of about a dozen artists live painting at the event. Below is a progression of my work throughout the evening:

The final result. Still available, as of this writing.

Next Stop Artopia!

2011-08-24T01:02:00.000-05:00

Artopia is the big arts event hosted every year by the Riverfront Times.

This year's event will be held this coming Thursday the 25th.

I will be live painting at the event.

Tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE.

Enter the promo code: dan200 to get 50% off the ticket price.

You're Welcome!

St. Louis Art Scene Map

2011-08-19T00:16:00.000-05:00

I've put together a map that shows the locations (and web links) of as many of the local galleries, places to see art, etc. that I can think of. I posted a link to a big artists listserv (CriticalMass) and got suggestions for a few more places that I overlooked. I made a permanent home for the page link, which you can find as of this writing on the toolbar looking linkbox at the top of the page just below the header image. With luck, some new patrons or upcoming artists will find this information of use.

Plain Ketchup

2011-08-18T01:16:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago was the Open Studios event put on by the Contemporary Art Museum. Not having studio space inside the boundaries of the event, I got together with a few other artists who were in the same situation and we made our own studio for the day. I found a storefront on Cherokee Street that was available for lease and arranged to rent it out for the weekend. Splitting the cost between 4 artists made it really reasonable.

Based on what I knew from the last few years of doing the event I knew that Cherokee St. would draw a lot of traffic. The museum usually offers what they call alternative spaces for artists in our situation, and this year it was a few blocks from our old gallery, which is also where 3 of us were listed as being on the "official" map. Kinda sucked, but we made cards and signs to be left at SAM that would show our correct location. Here's a picture of my display:

Traffic was slow in the early part of the day. Rain was forecasted and I think a lot of people were trying to wait and see what happened. The rain finally came, taking out our balloons that were meant to attract people.

For all of my planning, the event was kind of a big fail. My wife wasn't happy with the space and I got to hear about that, our names were posted in the wrong place, the alternative space was located close to the old gallery and that combined with the extra names added to their list made the 2 biggest locations close by. Totally sucked our traffic away. The rain got the rest and took out our advertising to boot. I sold nothing, though I did have a person interested that was there during the brief window when I stepped out for a few minutes. Messages left have gone unreturned. Still, I'm proud of what I accomplished. If life lessons and exposure could be spent like currency artists would be some well funded motherfuckers.

The next day was the second half of the event on the other side of town. We decided to stay open and see what happened. I got bored really quickly and put the word out on Facebook that I was looking to put a group of people together to go check out some of the other studios. One person responded, and so I ended up checking out a few spots with one of my "collectors". It was a lot of fun to see the event from the other side. Oh, and when I went to grab lunch for the others before I left, I found myself in line with Michael Eastman.... a strange coincidence since I was just talking with someone about his fascinating lawsuit only the day before.

Life in the interim has been pretty uneventful. I've been cutting back on the group shows and have instead been focusing on putting proposals for shows and projects together. The last of my shows that are up will be it for a while I think. I've been pitching shows and entering competitions left and right lately. Something is bound to stick. If not, I should at least come out of this a little wiser and with a more cohesive body of work.

Last weekend I took my oldest daughter to the premiere of Bill Streeter's film Brick by Chance and Fortune. Really well done and interesting documentary about the city and it's brick construction. You can check out the trailer HERE. Take a minute to watch it and you'll see that it's way more fascinating than you'd first believe a movie about bricks could be. I think there will be more screenings coming in the next few weeks, so if you are interested it's still availble to be seen. It's just going to take a little more work to seek them out since it's not a normal theatrical release, but it's well worth the effort.

Open Studios - Third Time Around

2011-07-27T02:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the preview opening for the Open Studios event at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. I had a piece on display as an example of my work. I wasn't too proud of it since it was a hastily chosen piece that was a stand-in for another that I was working on but failed to complete. I wish I could
have shown that one instead.

I ran into a ton of traffic on the way to the opening. We ended up getting there about 45 minutes after the show started. We grabbed dinner from the Pi pizza truck outside before going in and looking at the main exhibits. Then I went into the big room to see the artists' work and it took me almost another hour to make it across the length of the room, not that it's a huge room:

I was excited to be able to take this picture, since it was the first time that I was ever able to make it upstairs at the museum. In the past something has always prevented it. Now I know what's up there.

I don't pretend to be famous, but I can totally see how famous people can come to go crazy about their lack of privacy. I couldn't take 2 steps without getting spotted and drawn into a conversation. I'm not complaining or saying that it was a bad thing but going into a room determined to see a painting on the other side and having it take so long to get there really illustrated that for me. Hell, half of the conversations I started and they were all with people I enjoyed and wanted to talk with, but it is just crazy that it prevented me from moving forward for so long a period of time. Obviously I need to learn how to gracefully exit a conversation or at least stall it until I get done what I need to do.

A title like this is what i get for posting drunk

2011-07-24T02:03:00.000-05:00

Yeah! it's what you deserve! So I have some things to fill you in on. First I have some artwork on display in a law firm. Really shouldn't mention their names since this might "embarrass" them. Yes! even lawyers have feelings it seems! They keep them stored safely in the cavity where most people would store their souls........
Next most important thing.. I started a new gallery/studio with the sole purpose of having it last but a single day. Poetically beautiful and sad........ and a part of the Contemporary Art Museum's open studios tour this coming weekend. (google it, i'm too tired to post a damn link) The place is called "Exile Studios" and will feature myself and 3 other former SAM artists: Lisa Jaboor, Jane Linders, & Angela Ament. We will be in a storefront building on Cherokee Street. (2644 Cherokee to be exact, right next to the awesome Van Ella Studios.) Saturday the 30th is the day that our studio will be featured, so make sure you stop by. I will have plenty of art for sale, including new work and things that haven't been seen by the general public. A piece or two that are tests for my new series, and lots more fun and surprises. Don't miss it!

Events Are In The Works!

2011-07-19T03:01:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to quickly mention a few upcoming show dates. Hopefully you will find yourself able to attend one.

"Creative Heatwave"

July 23- August 27, 2011

Opening Reception, Saturday, July 23
6 - 9 pm
Syndicate Building
915 Olive Street
Saint Louis, MO 63101

4th & 5th floor galleries.

"Open Studios Preview"

Reception, Tuesday, July 26
6 - 9 pm

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
3750 Washington Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63108

"Open Studios Weekend"

Saturday, July 30

10 am to 4 pm
Exile Studios
2044 Cherokee Street
Saint Louis, MO

(next door to Van Ella Studios)

Full info on the weekend's events can be found HERE

Exile Studios is a studio that I put together with myself and 3 other former SAM artists who lived within the allowable area of the event, but no longer had studio space within the designated boundaries. The museum does offer "alternative spaces" for artists in this same situation, but I heard horror stories from others and decided that I didn't want to go that route. Instead, we created a "gallery for a day". I actually kind of like the concept of a single serving art gallery. One day only! Don't miss it!

Inspiration and Rebirth

2011-07-08T01:15:00.000-05:00

I admit that I've been feeling more than a little lost lately. My whole world has been in somewhat of a strange turmoil....things get better then something happens that puts me back at seemingly square one. Pretty disorienting. Throw in a bit of an identity crisis and it makes for some interesting emotions.

Last night I went to the monthly Art Dimensions networking meeting. There were several new faces and a bit more of an optimistic spirit, something that had been missing for a bit, it was nice to see. The energy was helpful too: for whatever reason, the right combination of things inspired me and I came up with what I think will be an interesting painting process that takes elements from several different techniques that I use currently. It's the same stuff, the same influences, the same materials, just presented in a new way. I'm pretty excited about it, I've already drawn out about 13 designs for paintings. The first few were pretty typical of my recent subject matters, but then I got the idea to do something bigger.

I feel like the best thing to do is a couple of test paintings to find out if it's going to work like I think it will. Then, if all goes well, I'm going to start a series that together works as a huge singular narrative. I'd like to try and plan for it to be a standalone set of works that I can try and present as a solo show. There are a few galleries that I plan on trying to submit a proposal to but regardless of their answers I'm going to make these paintings anyway.

For now though, I've got some loose ends to tie up before I embark on another massive project. I have 2 shows that are opening soon and both are places where I already have work, so this weekend is the big dropoff/pickup ordeal. I have to put hanging wires on a few, frame a few more to get things ready..... the usual. On top of that I have to start getting things together for the Open Studios weekend. I still haven't decided what piece will go into the museum to represent my work. I have a lot to do in the next week or so.

Oh yeah, remember this piece from Cinco De Mayo?

It never did sell after a few auction attempts, so it's back in my possession as of last night. I think I'm going to cut it in half and rework the top part a little. The bottom I like quite a bit, you may notice that I added it to the header image above to switch things up a bit. Little by little I feel like I'm coming back to life. I like where things seem to be going.

Plotting, Planning, Guilt, & The Future of Art

2011-07-04T00:34:00.000-05:00

It's America's birthday as I write this. I'm not sure what the future holds for me, since I've been in at a low point for a while now and it doesn't seem to be getting better fast enough. I spent a few hours the other day making arrangements for the next month's round of shows. I should know in the next couple of days

which ones I will be in for the near future. Then I think I might take a break from showing for a little while.

I had hoped, upon leaving SAM, that I might have more opportunities to show and get back to my previous level of doing 3-4 shows a month. It's pretty ambitious, but also expensive. I feel like it would be better for me to focus instead on locking down opportunities for sales and also taking a good hard look at the work that I am creating in regards to salability, at least for the near future. I'm pursuing art to the point of irresponsibility and I need to get that in check and try to be a bit more business-minded so that I can continue to create and not have to go into a permanent retirement. I need an epiphany or something I suppose...... :)

Circus Acts: Distorted Visions Bring Clarity

2011-07-01T01:26:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went to see this month's Beggar's Carnivale. The show recently outgrew 2720 as a venue and for the past 2 months has been held at the Casa Loma Ballroom around the corner. I had never been there before, despite the place having a storied history. The place looked like a really cool

Art Deco building that got a half-ass late 80's remodel. Teal and burgundy paint, cheesy wallpaper border etc. I think it would be really awesome if it were restored right.

I decided at the last minute to bring my new (to me) film camera to try and take some pictures of the show. I'm really glad I did. I shot about 3 1/2 rolls that night, got the first 3 developed the next day and edited about a dozen and posted them on Facebook. The reaction I got from people was unexpected. Several of the other photographers from that night messaged me with compliments and I got numerous positive comments and friend requests from the performers. I've always felt like I was just playing around with photography, but I'm starting to give it a more serious look now.

Anyway, enough talk for now. Enjoy the pictures:

Father's Day Adventure

2011-06-29T00:04:00.002-05:00

My wife and stepson had other prior commitments, so I took my daughters to the City Museum for an adventure. I really had wanted to go the week before, but my wife ended up having other ideas of what would be fun (it was). The funny thing about the City Museum, for me, is that I only recently got see
more than half of it. The last time I was there was in March, with our visiting Indonesian guests, and was the first time I ever got to go inside the central caves. I really wanted to explore that area further and also see the rooftop finally. Each visit has allowed me to see only a little bit more than usual, which is cool, but also kind of a tease.

The day was nice. It had rained the night before, but it was hot and sunny and humid, so the outdoor areas were open for business. I got to finally explore the caves in a satisfactory fashion, and the rooftop was as awesome as I had hoped. I even got a new pair of shoelaces for my well traveled boots. It was a great day, but I'll let a few pictures tell the rest:

One final word though: Dragging a backpack full of cameras and such through the tunnels and everything is really, really tough sometimes. I was still able to out maneuver the kids though. I may be old, but I'm not slow.

Magical Awesome Day of Adventure

2011-06-27T01:42:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I had the day off and found myself able to dedicate the whole day to a solo adventure. I started the day by meeting my friend Harry at Shameless Grounds for brunch. He'd been out of town for a few months and had never been to there before and wanted to see the artwork I had on display there. Another reason, I found out, was that he wanted to share with me a potential art opportunity. I can't
share any details yet, but I can say that I've had a followup meeting since then and it is starting to look like an even better opportunity than I first guessed.

After leaving the restaurant I drove over to Cherokee St. and stopped at the craft event that was set up around the shop Peridot. Outside I ran into Tim Wagner who was in the process of setting up his art outside. I talked with him for a while, he was one of the artists who travelled to Indonesia with me, catching up on things. After saying goodbye I checked out the rest of the booths and the stores involved as well. Ran into my friends Peter and Jenny also.

I didn't really have much of an agenda after that besides killing time until the Cherokee Stroll started. I ended up driving through Tower Grove Park to try and check out the farmers market that I had heard about. I grew up in the area, but the market is something that developed after I moved away. I didn't see anything that looked promising so drove in the general direction of Forest Park, figuring that I could try and shoot some photos. I had just shot at Tower Grove the week before so I wanted to switch it up.

Along the way I saw signs for the entrance of the Goodwill Outlet. I HAD to check that out and I was glad I did. In the parking lot I found a crisp twenty. Inside was weird. Tons of misc junk in huge shallow carts. People were packed around them digging out what they wanted. Everything, except for the few large items in the corner, was sold by the pound. I looked around a bit, because I've found some decent stuff there in the past but ended up leaving with nothing. The line to checkout was so long that I'm pretty sure the time spent would end up negating any savings.

The next stop was my dad's house, since Father's Day was the next day I thought I'd pay him a visit. I hit another regular Goodwill along the way but still came up empty. I spent a few hours there talking and just watching old Daniel Boone episodes on TV and some horrible You Tube videos. Had something to eat also.

Once I left I still had some time to kill. I took a drive through Maplewood hoping to see if any of the electrical boxes had been painted yet. There was a call for artists to submit their credentials to get the job and the work was going to be unveiled officially at an event in very early July. I assumed that whoever got the gig must have at least started one of them by that point. I was hoping to discern who it was because I wanted to know who to hate. :) They were all blank still, which really surprised me. Also of note: I saw the outside of the new Jumping Jupiter showclub. Looked pretty swank from the outside.

For some reason I decided to go to the Galleria. That was never a mall that I hung out at or anything, but there were a couple of stores I wanted to check out. They also had a Breadco, so I was able to enjoy the AC and an iced tea while I sketched and checked the internet. Nice little time kill there. Once I hit the road again I found myself in the Cherokee area a bit too early, so I decided to go over to SAM and take a look at the show that had opened the prior weekend. Jay was the artist working that day, so we chatted for a while which helped kill more time. I always have such mixed feelings about going back there. I miss the place and the people, but I really felt like it was holding me back. Leaving there was a tough decision, but I know I made the right choice.

I started the Cherokee Stroll at Aisle One gallery. They had a new show open the previous weekend also, and I knew about half of the artists in the show. Art Monster was the disappointing next stop and so I continued down the street in the opposite direction. Along the way I snapped what turned out to be the only photo I took all day:

I seemed to get to each of the next few stops just as they were opening up. I felt really good about how I was interacting with people all day, so it didn't feel awkward necessarily but I did notice that the area just didn't have the same energy as it did when the Southern Graphics conference was in town. (That event is what prompted the stroll as a regular event) I stopped back by the Peridot craft event and talked to Peter again to find out how he did with sales and then went to check out the Archive bookstore as my final stop. I browsed around for a bit, finding a really cool book of works by Gustav Dore'. This one I hadn't seen before and it really captured my imagination:

I met the owners, who seemed nice enough, and they invited me to stay and listen to a band who was in the process of setting up. They were going to be playing traditional Brazilian music. I stuck around and listened to a couple of songs before walking back to the car. It had been a long interesting day and though I was sad to see it come to an end I knew it was necessary in order to have new, different adventures.

Dreaming of Death

2011-06-15T22:26:00.001-05:00

The Way of the Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and advance. To say that dying without reaching one's aim is to die a dog's death is the frivolous way of sophisticates. When pressed with the choice of life or death, it is not necessary to gain one's aim.

We all want to live. And in large part we make our logic according to what we like. But not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice. This is a thin dangerous line. To die without gaming one's aim is a dog's death and fanaticism. But there is no shame in this. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai. If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he pains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling.

- Yamamoto Tsunetomo

The above is the first portion of the book Hagakure (which translates as either "hidden leaves" or "hidden by leaves" depending on who you ask) The concept sounds really dark the first time that you hear it, but there is really a lot of light and beauty in the concept. I find myself thinking of the people you hear about who set about to do some miraculous public service task or working to raise funds in the face of a terminal medical condition.

It got me thinking.

If a person were to live their life as though they were going to die in a short amount of time, imagine the possibilities. The fact is, we're all dying. It got me thinking that if I did such a thing I could really achieve some amazing things. Set aside petty issues, focus on the important. Set about to do only those things which yield the most benefit, forgo the rest. Do great things as efficiently as possible for the greater good, be truly selfless.

Maybe a little too much depth of thought for a Wednesday evening, but an interesting possibility nonetheless.

A Weekend of Adventures

2011-06-07T01:15:00.000-05:00

Friday night was the "Grand Re-Opening" of the Art Dimensions Gallery at 2720 Cherokee. I'm not sure honestly that they ever closed, but it's how they termed it. The event was used to showcase numerous changes that had been made to the space. The basement was rehabbed to add more art studio space, offices for the organization, and additional gallery space. A patio area was added outside the back

of the building and the bar on the second floor was moved to allow for a small display and test kitchen to be added so that cooking classes can be held.

The second floor had the larger solo show of work by Roz Flax, a local artist who was active in the group before her death. I believe the show was of her entire remaining collection of artworks. The vibe on that level was classy, with cooking demos, snacks, and a cellist. The first floor featured several local bands and live artists. The basement gallery hosted the juried group show as well as a DJ. I was setup to live paint on this level.

The day went pretty roughly. I woke up late and had a very hard time getting moving, it also took me forever to get my things together to paint with. I some stops to make on my way to the gallery for a couple of things which added to my lateness. At my first stop I had to pick up a canvas that I had printed with one of my photos. The plan was to paint on top of this photo as I have done in the past, the benefit being that I'd start out with something that appeared finished, so that my painting would look like something from the very start. The photo was of me holding one of the kid's toy guns to my head, though it looked far more real when converted to black and white. The guy was on the phone when I got there, so I milled around while I waited. Once he was finished, he told me that he almost didn't print the photo for me because his brother had shot himself.

Fuck.

So I got a bit of a long lecture/ awkward conversation after that. I felt bad because the point of the piece was not to advocate suicide, but I also didn't feel like sharing that because there was no way I could make it not sound like excuses. My next stop went a bit quicker and was much nicer. I dropped new art labels off at Shameless Grounds since the originals were lost and the replacements had no pricing info on them. The workers were really nice and in fact, once they learned who I was, gathered around with rapt attention while I explained the meaning behind the title of one of my pieces in the show. Very nice change of pace.

Once I got to the gallery I got my self situated and started painting. My wife arrived a bit later and brought me a drink and later something to eat, the tasty yet disturbing looking bratwurst pictured below.

Maybe it's just me, but food shouldn't be like this. The casing was full of a disgusting amount of grease or fluid. (Enough to make the bun so saturated as to become inedible) In fact, my first thought was that it looked like a turd in a condom. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

While I was finishing this tasty meal, my wife went out on the back patio with some friends to hang out and have a cigarette. I had just gotten settled back into painting when a friend's wife came to tell me that my wife needed me. I figured she needed some cash or something, but it turns out that she got overheated and passed out. Paramedics were called and the whole deal. They checked her out and then took her to the nearby ER where she got set up with an IV and was good as new in short order. I was frazzled on the other hand.

Sunday was the final day of the Photography Invitational at SAM. I went to pick up my artwork, but I brought my camera gear with me with the plan of trying to get lost and take some pictures. Really I was trying to finish the roll of black and white film in my newest camera that I haven't fully tested out yet.

I ended up staying at SAM for almost 2 hours. First chatting with my 2 friends who were working that day, a process that was made longer by the constant interruptions of other artists bringing in work for the next show. Then, as I was about to leave, my friend (and fellow former SAM artist) Jane Linders showed up.... so we ended up talking and catching up etc.

I drove around for a little while with a lot of thoughts in my head. I didn't really see any locations that begged to be photographed and it was really hot, so I soon found myself at the Mud House on Cherokee St. I sat in the air conditioning for awhile just clearing my head, checking my email and enjoying a brownie and some iced tea. I felt better, but realized that I was also a bit homesick so I drove over to Tower Grove Park which is a short walk from where I grew up and spent a couple of hours taking photos there. I felt much better afterwards.

Here's an interesting comparison:

This was taken with my digital, point & shoot camera.

This was taken with my 30-40 year old film camera.

Both photos have had no retouching or other effects added. I just think it's interesting how much more atmosphere you get with the second shot. I'm not entirely sure it's solely because of the image being in black & white. I'm really enjoying the use of actual film and hope that I will get a chance to show some of my new stuff soon.

Getting It Back Together

2011-06-03T01:01:00.000-05:00

I've busied myself recently by submitting work into numerous local shows, in addition to the live art events that I have been participating in. I currently have work in 4 exhibits, though one starts tomorrow and another ends this weekend.

Last night was the opening of an exhibit at Shameless Grounds, which is a new local coffee shop that is "sex positive". They even have a library where you can check out racy books or just browse them while you are there. Really nice place and the employees are super friendly. Here's one of the paintings I showed:

Apologies for the shitty camera phone picture but I didn't think to bring one of my better ones. I usually don't concern myself with having the best quality images on this blog anyway since it means that I don't have to worry if someone is going to steal the image. Makes it a lot easier than taking the time to watermark pictures all the time.

You may have noticed that I removed the google ads and have changed the format to include an "adult warning". It's part of my new self's ongoing embrace of honesty. I don't think it's honest of me to write in a manner different than how I talk so that I can have ads that generate nothing and only give a slight appearance of legitimacy. Fuck it, I'd rather keep it more real in here. Burn bridges, name names, call it like I see it and without regard for what people think. Sure, I'll lose some readers. But I think I'll feel better about what I post here from now on. I want my passion back and I believe that anything that is done with passion cannot be a total loss, regardless of outcome.

Tomorrow (Friday) night I have the opening reception at the Art Dimensions Gallery at 2720 Cherokee. They are calling it the "Grand Re-Opening".... like it's under new management or something (it isn't) and are having art and music on all three levels of the building. I will have a painting in the group show as well as being a part of the entertainment, doing a live art demonstration.

Come check out the show!

Back To Normal (But What Is Normal?)

2011-05-31T01:07:00.001-05:00

I've finally reached the point where I feel that I've gotten everything that I wanted to write about out of the way and I can safely go back to my "normal" posting habits.

Today was Memorial Day. I had no plans, since my job only told me my schedule the Friday before. It's hard to make plans if you don't know that you have the day off until 2 days beforehand. The only plans for the day that I had was to attempt to see the movie 13 Assassins which is showing locally for only 1 week.

My wife and I went down into the city to Forest Park to kill time before the show started. I brought my camera gear and tried to get some shots that I could use to enter into a B&W photography show that is coming up soon. While taking a photo of one of the park's many statues I noticed something fluttering around. Upon closer inspection, I found this note attached:

A scavenger hunt!!! With a little convincing I was able to get the wife to agree to trying to find the next clue. We did a fair amount of thinking an driving around, but were unable to locate either the next clue, or a parking space. With time working against us, we drove to the Delmar Loop and had lunch at Blueberry Hill. I've only been there a couple of times, but there are a lot of neat things there. The hallway leading to the restroom is filled with framed pictures of different bands and musicians posing next to a crudely sculpted wax statue of Richard Branson. I'm sure it's some sort of inside joke.

After lunch we fed the parking meter and then went to the Tivoli Theater to watch the movie. It was fantastic. Maybe I will get some inspiration from it that will fuel my new artworks, but I'm not so sure. I suppose only time will tell.

Another thing: I submitted a design for a new official flag for the Cherokee Street area. They have 10 designs, and the top 3 vote-getters become the finalists. The ultimate winner will be chosen from by committee. If you are reading this before Friday June 3, 2011 please visit the following link and vote for my submission, design #10. I really want to know that I at least made it as a finalist and appreciate any help that you can give me towards that goal. Vote, share the link with others and pass the message on!!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!

People's Joy Parade 2011

2011-05-28T01:20:00.000-05:00

Part of the Cinco De Mayo festivities on Cherokee Street was the People's Joy Parade. It took a detour around the part of the street that was closed for the festival, so I was able to shoot it with my film camera at the first turn, then run down the street to catch it again as it rounded the last turn. The following are some of my favorites from the second set. I'll post some of the film shots later.

Enough talk! Enjoy the photos!

Live Art Adventures

2011-05-27T01:36:00.000-05:00

Over the past few months I've begun doing more live painting. Several weeks ago I painted at the Wall Ball event that is a fund raiser for SCOSAG, a local group that offers art lessons to children among other things. There were over 60 artists involved this year painting or doing other types of work that was offered up for purchase in a silent auction. There was some confusion on mine as to whether it sold or not, so it is currently in limbo (my studio, lol) awaiting a decision as to it's fate.

I decided to show off my newfound portrait abilities, which may not have been my best choice. In retrospect that's something people are more likely to buy if they actually know the person. I painted a picture of my friend Sophia, who oddly enough end up being the painter working next to me. The evening was filled with double-takes.

Hard at work.

The finished painting.

Art Dimensions is really big on live art, so now that I am doing more with that group there are a lot more opportunities to get out and paint in front of people. These are photos from the St. Louis Earth Day at Forest Park. We all were asked to paint on a reclaimed object, a bit of a challenge posed by the organizers. I chose this strange old table that was in my house when I moved in. This one sold that day also, which was really, really nice.

A couple weekends ago was the Cinco De Mayo celebration on Cherokee Street. Art D's gallery is a block from the section of the street that was closed for the event. They arranged with Habitat for Humanity to donate some old doors for us to paint on. There was to be a live auction afterwards, but the crowd was not responsive. My door started at $75 and the price kept dropping until the MC asked if anyone wanted to open the bidding. The opening (and only) bid??? $10. I decided to keep it instead. The doors will be instead displayed at the next Art D show opening and offered for sale then.

Artists hard at work.

My finished door.

Top detail.

Bottom detail.

If the door doesn't sell I'm seriously considering cutting it in half and making it into 2 paintings. I really dig the bottom much more than the top.

Art Fusion Project - The Pictures

2011-05-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

In my last post I told you about the collaborative art project I put together during the exhibit of our visiting Indonesian friends' artwork. Due to some issues I couldn't get the pictures to load. Having sorted that out, I figured you might like to see some of the photos taken during the event:

To recap: there were 10 artists and 10 canvasses. We worked on one at a time, rotating to the next one at 5 minute intervals until each person had worked on each canvas twice. The artists involved were:

Wasono Cubung Putro

(our Indonesian guest artist)

Angela Ament

Evelyn Astegno Yocom

Sophia Dalpiaz-Brown

Craig Downs

Daniel Gaeng

Jennifer Hayes

Dan Jaboor

Cindy Royal

Amy Van Donsel

These are the images of the completed works. If interested in purchasing, please contact me and I will make sure you get in touch with the right people. All monies benefit the next group of artists traveling to Indonesia.

SOLD

SALE PENDING

SOLD

An American Artist Abroad - Postmortem

2011-05-18T08:00:00.073-05:00

Regular readers (there are a few of you still) may have noticed the highly erratic nature of my postings of late. As I write this it is early May, six months have passed since I returned from my adventure in Asia, yet I just finished telling the tale. Was it worth the wait? Probably not. But I'll share my reasoning with you as to why I did what I did and what life has been like since my return.

I had every intention of posting an update every day of the trip, chronicling the highlights and sharing pictures. How hard could it be, right? Internet connection was slow in some areas, photos were taken in huge quantities and were slow to upload so the extra pictures ate up extra time. I really wanted to make sure that I captured with some accuracy my experiences, so when keeping up the blog became too much of a chore and began interfering with my enjoyment of the trip.... I bailed.

I kept my photos in order and collected the pictures that a few of the other artists had taken and had the hopes that the extra images would make up for the delay once I got home and resumed posting. Jet-lag set in upon my return and my sleep habits suffered to a greater degree than when l left. Add to that the feelings of being on cloud 9 in a tropical paradise, living the life of a rock star artist one minute and the next minute returning to the reality of a Midwestern winter and your retail shit-job. A perfect recipe for depression. The upcoming holidays and the added hours at work were my first excuse for putting off resuming posting. I thought about interspersing the Indonesia posts with posts about what I was doing art wise but decided to tell the story from beginning to end as intended and not add too much junk in the middle. That set the stage for what followed. Procrastination and delays continued.

The artists on the trip were invited to show their work at Art Dimensions Gallery for their annual "Off The Wall" event that is held as a big Christmas party/art show. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of new people and drink excessively with new friends. I had gone from hovering in the periphery to center stage. Life was awesome.

The first of the year saw me reach the end of my time as the director of the S.A.M. gallery. I'd done the job for a year and saw a lot of positive changes happen, however, knowing that I also would have a hard time transitioning back into the rank and file I made the decision to leave the gallery entirely at the end of January. I really enjoyed my time there, but I also hadn't made enough in the way of sales to justify the expense of rent and felt I'd reached a creative plateau. Time to make some changes.

The reason I stayed into 2011 at all was because I was able to convince the other gallery members to allow me to curate the January show and to use it to showcase the artists who went on the abroad trip. Curating shows is something that all resident artists took turns doing as part of the collective effort, but it's noteworthy that I was able to negotiate the use of the gallery at no cost, that the artists showing wouldn't have to pay either an entry fee or a commission on any sales. I arranged a top notch DJ to perform at the opening, did all of the promotions work myself and funded the postcards out of my own pocket. A pretty rare sweet deal of a show for all involved, I was really hoping for an awesome event that would help mend some of the personality conflicts that emerged from some of the traveling artists, send me out of the gallery on a positive note, and celebrate my birthday in style.

Things went pretty well during the time leading up to the show, I invited all of the artists who went on the trip to showcase new work that they created in the time after we got back to show how the trip influenced them. I wasn't looking for a packed room of art, just a nice minimal representation. Quality over quantity. One artist let me know that they did not want to participate, but did it in a classy way so there were no hard feelings. Another I learned was away on a different trip and though I didn't hear from them, I wasn't expecting to see them at art drop off nor was I surprised or upset that they didn't show.

I made sure that there were 3 days where the artists invited could drop off artwork and that the gallery artists who were working the first 2 days had clear instructions since there were unusual circumstances. I didn't want to embarrass the gallery by having one of the workers demanding cash from one of our invited guests etc. I worked the last day of drop-off so that I could hang the show after the gallery closed. One of the artists and my wife were both going to meet me at the gallery near the end of open hours to assist and drop their own work off. I spent the morning patching walls and waiting. Toward the end, only one other artist showed up. Really upsetting.

A few phone calls and emails got some more art delivered, but it really gave me a serious reality check.

The show ended and we then went to an after-party that was arranged at a club across town where we had birthday cake and I hung out with the people who met us from the gallery. My wife and I then went back to the hotel (we had 2 show openings and a meeting over 3 consecutive days so it was actually cheaper than driving in every day) where I found the room completely decorated while we were out. The day started badly, but kept getting better.

Happiness looks like this.

What goes up must come down.

The end of January saw me remove my art from SAM. Sitting in my studio at home is a bit sadder now, what with having less room to move and getting to look at all of my unsold works. It really makes you question making new things with so much old work still available. Winding my way through a goat path between stacks of boxes to get into the room and then having to hunt for things to use just makes the process that much more undesirable.

Initially I filled my additional time with working on the abroad trip for next year, though that effort seems to have stalled out considerably. Weekly meetings have turned into no news for weeks, which is a shame. I really wish things could have continued as well as they began.

In March we did host an arts group from Indonesia during the portion of their American adventure that they were in St. Louis. Myself and another artist organized a pretty awesome art performance where we invited the Indonesian artist who travelled with the group (there were several artists featured, but only one came along) ourselves, and 9 other prominent local artists to paint on a series of 12 canvasses that we had set up during the opening event. Each artist worked on one canvas then after 5 minutes we all switched and repeated this until everyone had worked on each canvas twice. The results were pretty amazing and we sold several that night to raise money for the trip.

Aside from that my wife and I put everything on hold for the weekend (her birthday weekend) to assist in whatever way we could to ensure that our guests got as close to the treatment that we got while in their country. This involved vague instructions, lots of waiting, and nothing going even remotely as planned. I did manage to get a "Happy Birthday" sung for my wife by a roomful of people. And cake....I went through hell to get a cake into the event unseen.

A few of us got to do the bulk of the transporting and catering to the delegation. It turned out to be a really nice experience though, taking them to different local restaurants of note and watching them sample different American dishes. They loved most of it. We took them on driving tours of the city as well as visiting places like City Hall, The City Museum, and Blueberry Hill. Freakish weather also allowed them to see snow for the first time. Watching adults get excited about snow is way more fun that it sounds actually. It was pretty magical. We ended up with a few new Indonesian friends and the next time I'm in Jakarta I should be able to arrange some really good local guides.

My experiences of the last few months have put me at a strange emotional crossroads. People I once admired showed their true colors, people I once despised became close friends, I felt very sincerely that while in Bali I became a different person and I've come to embrace that and get used to my new personality. I really feel the desire to get out of the emotional and creative slump that I had been in but having cut ties with my old gallery and having no apparent future home base I find myself trying to find a new center and refocus my energies. Clearing my life of clutter and accumulated things I don't need. Setting new goals and choosing a direction to continue walking in the future.

The goal of this post is to get you, the reader, caught back up to the present as to my activities and adventures. I find a lot of times that this blog is helpful to me in that it helps keep me honest with myself and constantly focused and moving forward. I've come a long way artistically in a very short amount of time. Once I find my new path I know I will reach my destination, and will continue to tell the tale along the way.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Twenty (Returning Home)

2011-05-12T08:00:00.003-05:00

After much discussion amongst ourselves the night before, the artists in our room decided that the best way to easily transition our bodies back to our normal time zone would be to stay up all night and not fall asleep until it was our normal bedtime back home. This meant pulling an all-nighter and not falling asleep until about 2 hours into our first flight. We all agreed to keep each other awake until then and spent the night filling our suitcases and emptying our fridge of all accumulated alcohol. I managed to stay awake until about an hour into the flight home. Others, however, only made it as far as the hotel lobby while we waited for the taxi at 5am local time.

I spent most of the return trip sleeping and it went by in a blur. We had a much longer stop in Hong Kong this time and I did get to explore the mall there. They have the most beautiful money I've seen.

Once we were stateside again is where some artists ended up on different flights and we were no longer booked to sit together. My wife and I used air miles to fund this portion and decided to go first class for the last leg. It was very relaxing with the big comfy seats and the sight of a full meal on the plane was so rare that I had to take a picture. This was also used to rub it in to the others who flew coach.

Having lost my jacket at some point in the trip (it stopped showing up in pictures in Bali) I stepped off the plane in shorts and a t shirt. It was around midnight and 24 degrees. I quickly dug through my bag to find the warmest anything I could find once we got our luggage back. We said our goodbyes to the few artists who were on our flight and caught a cab back home that cost as much as every taxi ride we took during the trip put together. Sleeping in my own bed was the perfect end to this adventure.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Nineteen (Jakarta Again, Day Four)

2011-05-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

Our last full day in Indonesia saw us sleeping off the prior night's festivities and getting a late start to the day. My wife and I spent most of the afternoon packing while the other artists scattered to the winds on last minute missions. In the evening Sophia Dalpiaz-Brown, my wife, and I went to a few of the local malls on a last minute hunt for souvenirs and more importantly, a bag to put them in for the return flight.

Malls over there offer no shortage of unusual sights:

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Eighteen (Jakarta Again, Day Three)

2011-05-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

The morning was spent sleeping in, followed by food and lounging around the suite. I continued working on a group of collaborative paintings with some of the other artists. Once it got close to time to be at the museum we got ready and took a cab across town.

Arriving and seeing the huge banner outside was awesome:

We had some time to kill before the opening so we took a look at the special exhibit on musical instruments of the various Indonesian islands. Tim Wagner even tried a few of them out. (Relax, this was allowed)

We started the evening with a small press conference then introduced the artists to the assembled crowd and more speeches by all of the organizers and political types. Luna Moon followed us from Bali to perform a couple of dances as well as our new friends JoJo and Chris who played saxophone between dances and while people viewed the art.

Due to some travel delays the Governor of Aceh arrived late but brought with him a group of very talented dancers who performed for us toward the end of the evening. Very entertaining.

After the event was over officially we did a lot of mingling and such with the various dignitaries. A few of the artists returned to the hotel while the rest of us decided to try out the nightlife again. We hit up our favorite club, the Dragonfly, again and danced the night away. Good times.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Seventeen (Jakarta Again, Day Two)

2011-04-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

We started the day with breakfast in our room, a sort of pot-luck where everyone gathered ingredients and brought them. The grocery store was an adventure. We also sent a representative to sneak up bakery items from the buffet downstairs. It was nice to have a meal together as a whole.

The big item on the agenda was a trip to the Textile Museum where we would take a workshop in batik making. The process begins with sketching a design onto the fabric with a pencil. They had tons of reference books with designs to trace and light-tables too, but I decided to show off and work freehand. The next step was to drape the fabric over a special stand and then go over the designs with melted wax using a special pen device to apply it.

This needs to be done on both sides of the fabric to ensure that the dye does not get underneath the wax. Another thing that can be done is to use special stamps that are put into hot wax and pressed onto the fabric. This holds enough wax that it need only be done on one side.

Below is an example of a batik with the first layer of wax applied.

The next step of the process is dyeing the fabric with the first color. After that you let the fabric dry and then you add wax to any areas that you want to be the first color then repeat the dyeing process with the next darker color.

The three orangish fabric drying below are ours, the other two were done by other students who had been there more than just one day. You can better see the effects of multiple dye layers on their work however.

We toured the museum as we waited for our fabric to dry so that we could add another layer of wax and dye. The humidity didn't help though and we eventually got too hot and hungry and they were nearing closing time. We jumped ahead to the final step: boiling the fabric to remove the wax. Then waited for our ride to show up. While we waited, a few of us explored the market vendors that were selling various items on the street in front of the museum. A group of small boys was playing a game I'd never seen before which entailed swinging a rope around their heads with a Coke bottle full of rocks at the end. They would do this and then step closer and closer to each other until one of them either got hit or backed up. If you look closely you can see that one kid is even using a length of garden hose.

After getting some food and relaxing in our room for a bit a few of us went to explore the local mall. Seven stories of bustling retail craziness.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Sixteen (Jakarta Again, Day One)

2011-04-26T08:00:00.099-05:00

After breakfast the whole group gathered up their artwork for the second museum exhibit and loaded up into an enormous van, clown car style, to check out the venue and hang the show.

Once we arrived at the museum and met with the directors, etc. it was determined that the portable walls where the exhibit would be hung were not installed yet, but would be ready for us by the time we finished a tour of the museum. We were led by one of the museum curators on a personal tour of the new wing. There were a lot of interesting and valuable cultural artifacts. My wife, being a jeweler, took pictures of every gold piece in the place.

After finishing our tour we found that the walls were just about finished being installed but were in such poor condition we decided that the best thing to do would be to give them a coat of paint. We passed the hat around for paint money and a couple of people went to find a paint store. Meanwhile, my wife started to feel ill and decided to go back to the hotel. I went with her to make sure that she got back safely and got the medicine she needed, grabbed the extra room key, and headed back to the museum to help the rest of the group paint. The hotel was not far from the museum but the cab ride seemed to take forever. On the way back I snapped this picture of a pretty sweet Jeep CJ-7. Kind of nice to see something like that in what is otherwise a sea of compacts, scooters, and micro SUV's.

I got back only to find that the painting was done and that we were just waiting for the paint to dry. The fumes were horrendous and everyone was complaining of headaches and nausea. Pizzas were ordered, delivered, and eaten while we waited to be able to hang our work. Once the paint was dry we got to work.

The exhibition was set up in a large windowed corridor that connected the old wing of the museum with the new one. It doesn't sound like much, but it was an awesome space.

After returning to the hotel and eating, getting cleaned up and relaxing a bit myself and three of the other artists went out to explore the city's nightlife. First we met with our friend Harry who was staying at a much nicer hotel with it's own small nightclub/bar. The bar area was as nice as the VIP areas of clubs around here. There was a decent band playing cover songs and the hi top tables were filled with couples enjoying the evening. The bar itself was lined with attractive, solo women spaced out evenly every other seat. They reminded me of a line of cabs waiting at an airport.

We made our way to the VIP area and ordered bottle service and some appetizers, sat on a circle of plush sofas in front of a floor to ceiling window with great views of the city lights. Pretty nice. Harry joined us for a bit and I gave him one of my paintings as a token of thanks for his work in helping to coordinate the trip. He left after a while as did one of the artists who went back to the hotel. The three of us who remained still had a half bottle of vodka, so we had another round of drinks before arranging to take the rest of the bottle with us as we left to go to a nightclub where we were to meet another friend of Harry's. We take a cab to the club, The Dragonfly, where Harry's friend meets us at the door so that we don't have to pay the cover charge, but they won't let us bring the bottle inside so the three of us returned briefly to the parking lot to finish it off.

Once inside, we found the place to be packed. Our new friend introduced us around and set us up with a personal bartender and drinks before leaving. We stayed and danced until about 4 AM and the club was still packed when we left, people were still arriving in fact. Keep in mind that this was a Wednesday night. So much for my preconceived notions of what a conservative predominately Muslim city would be like. Man, you just never know......

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Fifteen (Returning to Jakarta)

2011-04-25T08:00:00.002-05:00

We spent most of the morning packing for our return to Jakarta and saying goodbye to our lovely hotel.

We arrived early for our flight which was delayed and moved to several different gates before finally departing. We flew on the domestic carrier Garuda Air (Asia's most improved air carrier as they proudly advertised) I checked constantly to make sure the wings were still attached.

We arrived safely in Jakarta and after maneuvering through the airport with our luggage we were met by transportation to our hotel where we would stay for the rest of our trip. This time it was a high rise that was set up more like condos than a hotel. We split up 5 to a room though they were more like 3 bedroom apartments complete with 2 baths and a full kitchen. With a grocery store a block away meals just got way easier. We settled in for the night though most of us did go down to the restaurant for dinner. I ended up cutting my meal short to go back to the room because my stomach was upset but the food was good. A little Pepto and I was all better in short order. This was the only stomach issue that I had the whole time oddly enough.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Fourteen (Bali, Day Nine)

2011-04-24T08:00:00.005-05:00

Today we visited ISI the Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar. I really enjoy seeing the banners and such with our names on it. It really gives you a sense of how far they went to make us feel welcomed. The campus seemed like any other college campus, lots of cheap transportation and graffiti.

Once we got inside the building we were given flowers to signify us as guests of honor and led upstairs to the executive boardroom. They had snacks for us and several speeches explaining the importance of our trip and lots of networking with the professors and group photos etc. Afterwards, we were taken to their theater where students of traditional music played while we got to watch 2 dance performances by the dance students. One was a more traditional number, while the other was a modern invention using traditional legends as the basis for the "story" of the dance. It was really impressive.

After the dances we then walked over to their exhibit hall where we opened their faculty/student show. We all signed a big proclamation and it was quite the event. I found myself most impressed with the diversity of the artwork. For every bit of traditional artwork, there was something really progressive though all were interesting. After touring the show we had a round table discussion with the students and faculty before taking a break for lunch.

Me and Myles Keough with our signed proclamation.

Wood carving demonstrations at the gallery opening.

After lunch we went back to the gallery where they had several canvasses setup along with brushes and paint. Half of them had the beginnings of paintings on them. The idea was to have us each finish one that a student started and also start one for them to finish. Unfortunately, a torrential downpour cut the activities short and we frantically moved everything indoors. I never got to finish another person's painting but below is a picture of the painting that I started.

After we said our goodbyes the group split in half. Several of the artists went back to our hotel in one car. The rest of us accepted Mario Blanco's invitation to visit the beach. Never mind that none of us had towels or swimwear. We stripped down to shorts and jumped into the ocean for about a half hour. It was heavenly.

We procured towels and bottled water from some of the local vendors and dried off as much as possible for the ride back to the hotel. We discussed Bali and our experiences at the university with Mario, really just hanging out. Pretty cool since he was honored as "Man of the Year" shortly after we left.

Another interesting thing. While we were drying off we were approached by a group of 8th grade students who had the assignment of interviewing a foreigner. They singled out Myles for most of the questioning (probably because he was the palest in the group). Funny how we seemed to get interviewed even at the most unlikely of places.

We returned to the hotel to change and gather up whoever was still around to go and visit a narrow strip of trees where apparently every heron or egret in Bali makes its home. Several people had gone into town for dinner and exploring, but a good many of us were able to go. As a bird enthusiast I think this place was Mario's way of showing us something that was very special to him. I took a ton of pictures but only a few came out anything even approaching decent. As you can see below the trees were just packed with nests and birds. More kept flying in and landing as the sun got lower in the sky. A real bit of magic.

The picture above is horrible, but really shows the density of the nests in these trees. And this wasn't a forest or anything. Imagine a street with houses on one side and rice paddies on the other. These trees were planted in the grass median next to the road, similar to what you would see here between the street and sidewalk. All of these birds were nesting ins single line of trees about 3 blocks long. There are no shortages of trees in Bali either. Bizzare.

Once the sun set we were treated to dinner with Mario at a restaurant he recommended before returning the hotel for the night. We were set to leave the next day to go back to Jakarta so it was nice to have such a pleasant series of events on our final full day on the island

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Thirteen (Bali, Day Eight)

2011-04-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Most of the group set out to do what we thought was painting puppets. However, our host as always had some other ideas. Our first stop turned out to be the temple of justice in KlungKung which was the past seat of government on the island. This temple was in the intersection just next to the compound.

Not everything in Bali is modernized as evidenced by the horse cart below:

The main feature of the compound are two raised platforms, one surrounded by a moat filled with waterlillies. The undersides of the ceilings were filled with illustrations of the various punishments for crimes of different magnitudes.

The booklet they are reading above details the meaning of the illustrations. Such gems as the punishment of having your genitals burned applied equally to adulterers, those who performed beastiality, and those who chose to remain unmarried.

Seating for the Judges

Statue depicting the Dutch colonists.

Statue lining the walkway to the "moated" pavilion.

The moat.

There was a museum of sorts in the compound as well. It featured a pretty random assortment of paintings of the coloinal massacres, modern Balinese art and cultural artifacts such as traditional costumes and carvings done on brass howitzer casings from the Japanese occupation during WWII. I overheard our host say that if the government would put one of the judges chairs up for sale at Christy's the money if would make could fund the excavations and preservation of the site forever. I guess that must be real gold on them.....

After leaving KlungKung we travelled to the nearby village of Kamasin to "paint puppets" which really meant that we were getting a lesson in traditional painting. We got a tour of the workshop area where women in groups worked to color in a large canvas:

We were then introduced to Nyoman Mandra who gave us the same lessons in drawing traditional figures that he was giving to a group of young future artisans. Our leader was feeling ill and left with our host while the other driver went to get lunch for us. We worked on drawing figures onto canvas, taking a break to purchase art in their shop to support and say thanks for the lesson. After eating lunch, many felt that it was too hot to continue and start adding color to our paintings. Thus it was handled in the savviest way possible, paying a bribe to leave early. We all chipped in and left once the second car returned. The evening was spent hanging out at the hotel pool, enjoying our last bits of Bali.

Mario Blanco & Nyoman Mandra

The future of art in Bali

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Twelve (Bali, Day Seven)

2011-03-06T10:01:00.003-06:00

The events of the previous night were magical. We slept late and awoke to find our flowers from the night before adorning the statues around the hotel. No beauty is wasted in Bali.

We were invited to have lunch with the Consul General for Indonesia, Benny Bahanadewa. We went to
a restaurant called the Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck in English). While we were waiting for the other car to arrive I found myself watching these guys build a roof. The guy on the ground was throwing tiles up to the rooftop 5 or 6 at a time. I watched them for about ten minutes and they never missed.

The restaurant was open air and surrounded by rice paddies. Very nice scenery. The menu said that the name came from the ducks that would walk across the floor when the building was being built leaving muddy footprints on the new concrete floors.

Davide Weaver, and Consul General for Indonesia, Benny Bahanadewa

Lotus flowers in the courtyard.

After lunch a group of people were going to visit Amy Petersson at her home. Another group decided to walk from the restaurant to do some shopping since the restaurant was in a busy shopping district. My wife and I decided to find our own way back to the hotel, but we were shopping for massages or spas rather than gifts and the like. The stress of show preparation needed to be relieved. We did take time to admire the awesome architecture though:

We found a spa that looked promising and for a very reasonable price got a fifteen minute foot massage and fifteen minutes in the fish spa:

Read this link HERE if you need explanation. I can't recommend this enough because my feet felt amazing afterwards and have probably not been that smooth and callous free since I was born. Yes it did feel weird, but if you can find a place that offers this service, do it.

We took a cab back to the hotel and had a decent dinner before retiring to our room. Most of the evening was spent listening the rain come down outside. Another magical night in Bali.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Eleven (Opening Night)

2011-03-03T10:01:00.112-06:00

Opening night arrived at last and all of the stress and tension of the last few days would finally pay off. We got dressed in our formal attire (which is much more relaxed than Western standards) and headed to

the museum.

Lisa Jaboor

Once we arrived, the artists were all given floral leis to wear as a sign of honor. There were refreshments in the courtyard with photographers capturing the event as we mingled and guests arrived. A large video screen was set up and playing a slideshow of images that the camera crews had captured over the previous several days of workshops etc. This was one of the most magical nights of my life.

Lisa Jaboor, Davide Weaver, Sophia Dalpiaz-Brown

Lisa Jaboor, Dan Jaboor, Davide Weaver

A traditional percussion band was set up on either side of the museum entrance. The best way I can describe their instruments would be to have you think of a mariachi band only with xylophones instead of guitars. Each one was a different size and tuned differently so that even though they were essentially identical, there was a full range of tones. The band began playing and we were treated with two welcome dance performances. Both were traditional Balinese dances, though the second was by a group of young girls who despite their age were incredibly talented dancers.

Even the museum door is a work of art. (Note the band)

Once it was time to open the exhibit there were several welcome speeches, first by Mario Blanco our host and owner of the museum, then Davide Weaver who was one of the artists and trip organizers, The King of Ubud gave a speech as well, though his mic cut out for a moment and we all knew that someone, somewhere had just lost their job. Finally, we heard a speech from the Consulate General for Indonesia to the United States; Benny Bahanadewa.

Davide Weaver, Mario Blanco

Drs. Tjokorda Gde Putra Sukawati, King of Ubud

The Ribbon cutting that opened the show.

After the speeches and introductions of the artists the King cut the floral ribbon that opened the show officially. Guests came through along with camera and film crews interviewing artists about their experiences in Bali. I got a lot of positive comments on my work, and based on the business cards I was given, from some very accomplished artists and influential people.

After the show was open for awhile, we were escorted across the courtyard to the cafe' (home of our late night painting sessions) where a very nice dinner was waiting for us. More talking and mingling followed. We then proceeded back to the museum entrance for the closing dances by Luna Moon, an American dancer who is currently studying traditional dance in Bali.

Luna Moon

Amy Petersson, body painting by Davide Weaver

Interior, Blanco Renaisance Museum

Our display at the exhibit.
The large central painting is by Antonio Blanco.
The jewelry at center is by Lisa Jaboor.

Artwork by Dan Jaboor

Artwork by Lisa Jaboor

My wife and I had our work displayed in an alcove with one piece by Antonio Blanco. I found out later that we got this space because the artists who took it upon themselves to determine spots found that these two were just a few feet smaller. My theory is that they didn't want to risk being overshadowed by "The Maestro" as Mr. Blanco was known.

Once the show closed and we thanked everyone responsible very profusely, we returned to the hotel. Most of us changed immediately into our swimsuits and hit the pool where we met Luna Moon and her friends Jo Jo and Chris. They broke out a bottle of nice champagne to toast our opening and we swam, drank, and relaxed until the wee hours basking in happiness, satisfaction, and accomplishment.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Ten (Bali, Day Six)

2011-03-01T10:01:00.000-06:00

I woke up earlier than normal this morning because there was so much to do to be ready for the exhibit opening in the evening. Im pretty sure I skipped breakfast and went right to the hotel desk to arrange a cab to the frame shop I visited yesterday. I got there just a few minutes after 8 a.m. and they had the frames built and painted to my specifications. The driver knew that I needed to find small nails and so he

spoke to the framers and they gave me a small handful of nails to secure my paintings. That saved me another stop and so I was able to go right back to the museum.

I got to the museum and the bulk of the group was there doing last minute adjustments and hanging tags, that sort of thing. I found some heavy twine and managed to secure my paintings in the frames and rig up the twine as a de-facto hanging wire. (Framing is my day job, so I had a lot of questionable frame jobs that have been brought in to be redone as reference.) I got the art framed and on the wall in very short order and proceeded to the cafe' for a press conference.

On the way across the museum grounds, which were abuzz with preparations, I came across a whole bunch of these big banner signs and flower arrangements that other businesses sent in honor of our exhibit. My inner marketer loved this idea. It's freaking brilliant to send a big huge ad for your venue to another venue's event opening. If they display it, you get free press and look like a nice guy, if they don't then you can alert the press or whatever and talk about how ungrateful they were in light of your magnanimous gesture. They really were neat though and I should totally copy this idea once I get my own place.

The press conference was awesome. There were people from about 10 different media outlets, the local papers and The Bali Art News magazine among others. Mario Blanco made introductions and then the reporters asked questions which were translated and then responded to by various members of the group. Afterwards we had lunch and got pulled aside for separate interviews from various entities.

Once we got back to the hotel we regrouped and had a few hours to relax before the big event. I packed literally no formal attire as I had planned to pick up either a suit in Jakarta or some sort of Indonesian formalwear. During an earlier shopping trip with my wife I had gotten part of my outfit, but still needed to get a shirt among other things. My wife was not up for going back out into the heat and wanted to take a nap and relax in the air conditioning. I tried to rally a group to go out but the only person that wanted to come along with me was Sophia Dalpiaz-Brown.

Had this happened earlier in the week I would have tried to find a way out of it as my first impression of her were that she was highly annoying. However, she was one of our small band of late night painters and so I had gotten a chance to get to know her a bit better and realize that I was most likely mistaken about her. We set off on foot to check out the small shops at the base of the hill below the museum. Of course we had to stop and pose for photos first:

Sophia Dalpiaz-Brown and the Blanco Museum sign

Dan Jaboor and the Blanco Museum sign

Dan Jaboor and the giant show banner

We poked around in the small shops looking for clothing but also browsing around. Got some interesting photos like this shrine in one of the shops. Never seen a paper mannequin with an 80's porn-stache before.

After finding a decent formal sarong and some other items we took a cab to the big central market. The place was a crazy bustle of activity and there was some seriously aggressive saleswork going on. I found a waist-pack there so that I could carry my stuff around. I know what you're thinking, but it's rare to see a guy in Bali without one. Added bonus, it makes getting through the security at the airport go a lot smoother. It's faster to unclip a waistpack than it is to empty all of the change/keys/mentos out of your pockets. The temples at the market had the most offerings I saw at any one place on the island:

After perusing the market and still not finding a decent dress shirt Sophia and I walked down another long street that was brimming with shops. (It was on the road leading to the Monkey Forest and therefore a prime tourist area) The walk gave us a good chance to talk and get to know each other. As it turns out, we had a lot more in common than I realized and had overcome similar hardships in our lives. That day really was the beginning of my transition into the "new person" that I feel I've become. Knowing that my first impressions of someone could be that far off really got me to reassess how I relate to people that I meet. I almost lost out on knowing someone who has turned out to be a really good and trusted friend by totally disregarding them based on my first impression alone.

Along the way as we walked and chatted we saw and encountered many strange and wonderful things, such as this dog:

It's ok, he's not dead. He was snoring too loudly to be dead. We also saw this giant shoe:

These are just the highlights that we were able to catch on film in between offers of erotic massages, taxi rides, foot rubs, and fish spa treatments. I did eventually find an a pretty awesome shirt though it cost me more than I expected since it was from an Australian designer's shop and not a local item. We caught a taxi back to the hotel and on the way entertained ourselves by answering his every question with an untruth of some sort. By the time we got to the hotel we were a honeymooning couple from Dallas that was in Bali for a few months to write a book about noodles or something of that nature. Totally harmless hilarity made funnier by the cab driver's lack of how outlandish some of the things I claimed to be were. Once safely back at the hotel we went our separate ways to get dressed and ready for the big event.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Nine (Bali, Day Five)

2011-02-28T10:01:00.002-06:00

Today was the day designated for setting up our exhibit and hanging artwork. The heat was brutal, the museum is not air conditioned and one of our band of evening painters woke up sick and went back to bed, tired and dehydrated. (alcohol does that to you) The other 3 of our group of painters made sure the

work got hung though.

I wasn't going to show any of the exhibit pieces until I wrote about the opening, but I'll make an exception for this one:

Myles Keough spent a huge amount of time acquiring all of these glass bottles and painting them white for this installation piece. His only oversight was logistics. It took three of us over an hour just to get them into the museum. I kid you not. Paint doesn't stick well to glass, especially when you mix every kind of white paint that you can find while in a strange country. Add to that the high humidity and you end up with glass bottles that can be safely picked up, but if banged together require touchup painting that we didn't have time or paint for. We carried these things from the second floor of the cafe, down two flights of stairs across a grass courtyard, into the museum to the steps in the back corner of the room, up the steps and them back to the front of the upstairs room. And we could only carry two at a time.

At this point I was stressing out about not having frames for the paintings that I had made over the previous few evenings. I took a cab around to a few stores, using my cab driver as an interpreter trying to locate the items I would need. He ended up taking me to his small village to a frame shop which really seemed more like a carport than anything else. Inside the mom and dad were making frames while a small boy of about 12 was carving elaborate designs into a completed frame. The cabbie was able to translate and arrange for 2 frames to be made for me, to my specifications, for about $12 (US) total. I was told that I could pick them up the next morning at 8 AM. This was the day of our show opening, so I was really stressed and needed to make sure I could find everything I needed to pull this off.

I arrived back at the hotel and was getting ready to take another excursion to try and find hanging wire and small nails to secure my pictures to the frame and the frames to the wall. I was also very hot and tired and stressed beyond belief. Several of the artists wanted to go together and have a nice Thanksgiving dinner out and after missing out on the temple trip, I really didn't want to seem like I was avoiding the group. One of the other artists only went because he was assured that we would be back at the hotel well before 9 pm so that he could call his wife. Picking up on this I figured that I could just hit a tore nearby after dinner, or take a cab from the restaurant to get what I needed so I could sleep easy that night.

We ended up going to a very nice restaurant that seemed like one of those places that "foodie" types would gush over. I was thinking my wife and I would step out before the rest of the group if needed and my appetite was non-existant due to my worry about having my work done in time so I didn't even order food. My plan was just to enjoy everyone's company before bowing out to get the stuff I needed. The food seemed to take forever to come out, which I found out later was because they didn't even begin to prep the food until it was ordered, and some people ordered course meals..... I did excuse myself to use the restroom and it was awesome: the men's room shared a wall with the kitchen and the stall was open to a fishpond on one side. I couldn't make this up. I ended up having some surprisingly nice conversations and was able to play off the not eating thing using the excuse of what had now become known to us as "Bali Belly". As the checks came out I was relieved to be able to get my problems taken care of, we got outside and arranged a cab and that's when I found out that it was already after midnight.

I freaking lost it.

The first cab had already left at that point and despite attempts to problems solve and calm me down I ended up telling the rest of the group that I would find my own way back and walked off. I wandered into a couple of shops that were still open (convenience store/gas station etc) but found nothing that could help me. I know I could probably have better luck at a gas station back home, which frustrated me further. After checking every open store I could find nearby I began walking briskly back to the hotel. I figured the walk would cool me down to where I could make some attempt at sleeping or at least not snap and kill someone. I made it probably half way back when the second cab pulled up alongside and the rest of the group asked me to get in with them.

I don't remember what I did once we got back to the hotel. Maybe a swim or something and then bed. The schedule for the next day was tight and I had to be up early to pickup the frames at 8 am, find some way to attach and hang them, do the work needed to make that happen, get the work hung in the gallery and all of that in time to make a 10 am press conference. I fell asleep certain that the group thought I was either weird or a total asshole. In retrospect I should have either blown off dinner, or gone ahead and ordered a meal. This evening marked the low point of the trip for me.

For obvious reasons I didn't bring my camera to dinner with me, so these photos from that evening are courtesy of Sophia Dalpiaz-Brown:

Marilynne Bradley, Myles Keough

John Wahlers, Amanda Verbeck, Dan Jaboor, Lisa Jaboor

Gina Alvarez, Tim Wagner

Myles Keough, John Wahlers, Amanda Verbeck, Dan Jaboor,

Lisa Jaboor, Gina Alvarez, Tim Wagner, Marilynne Bradley

Myles Keough, Sophia Dalpiaz Brown, John Wahlers, Amanda Verbeck,

Dan Jaboor, Lisa Jaboor, Gina Alvarez, Tim Wagner, Marilynne Bradley

Marilynne Bradley, Myles Keough, Sophia Dalpiaz Brown

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Eight (Bali, Day Four)

2011-02-26T10:01:00.034-06:00

Several 3-4 am nights and all-nighters caught up with me today. The group was supposed to take a quick visit to the largest volcano on the island. I was exhausted and not too keen on trying to take photos of panoramic vistas. My camera is small and doesn't take lenses for long distance stuff. I decided

to pass, sleep in a bit and see what the other people who didn't go were doing.

As it turns out, the group did go to the volcano, and then to the largest temple complex on the island. Expecting the group to be back before lunch I spent the morning after breakfast working on the blog, resizing photos etc. I didn't eat lunch because a few of us were planning to go into town and eat and I didn't want to leave the hotel, fearing that I would just miss them. They ended up getting back in the evening around dinner time. I felt really out of step with the group at that point. Hearing about my day made some people apologize for the situation, which made me feel worse since it wasn't anything that they did. It was my decision to stay behind and no one can be mad at Mario for adding little surprise side trips into everything. Here are a few of my wife's photos showing the volcano and the temple complex:

After having a nice dinner and hanging out with Harry Lim for a while (he arrived behind us as he had business to do in Jakarta) Our little band of painters had another evening of drinking, painting, and bonding late into the evening on the museum grounds. The life of an artist is so incredibly rough sometimes......

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Seven (Bali, Day Three)

2011-02-25T10:01:00.003-06:00

After breakfast at the hotel, we all meet at the Blanco Museum for the day's workshops. Our first stop was an artists community and gallery in the nearby village of Pengosekan. The gallery was really nice, with a variety of interesting artwork as well as architecture. To enter the building required walking over

a lake with stepping stones just inside the courtyard.

The owner, I Dewa Nyoman Batuan, was amazing. I never was a big believer in people having "energy" and so on, but this guy was the real deal. You could not be around this guy and be in a bad mood or negative in any way. Happiness just poured out of his every pore. He spent quite a while explaining his artwork and philosophies of community and art bringing people together. he even shared with us some of his own handmade brushes, which are made of bamboo from his yard. They work amazingly well and I carefully guard the two that I was given.

Yes, he paints these intricate mandalas with a brush made from hammered bamboo. Humbling huh?

Our next stop was an artist's gallery and studio in Mario Blanco's home village. His name is I Ketut Soki and he is one of a group art painters known as the "Young Artists" who apprenticed under the noted Dutch painter Arie Smit. (This was explained to us in the van on the way to the studio and though Mario's English is very good, he does have enough of an accent that one of the artists in the van asked, with stone sober seriousness: "Did he just say he studied painting under Aerosmith?")

Watching him paint as well as just seeing his in progress work was incredible. His work had a level of detail that seemed familiar to me. I kept wanting to study them so I could find Waldo. Nothing in his gallery was for sale and most works were giclee copies. The originals are in museums around the world. We also got the honor of touring his family's personal temple. Quite large, since he is a man of some stature in his village.

After stopping for lunch we returned to the museum to find that the banner for the show was delivered. Mario Blanco does nothing half way. This thing was HUGE!

The afternoon was spent relaxing for a while. My wife and I did some exploring of some of the local shopping areas and had a good time browsing around. It felt so good to be walking around again, something that you don't get to do much of in the suburbs. The healthy food and exercise was making me start to feel good about myself again.

In the evening several of us returned to the terrace cafe of the closed museum because, c'mon, who's going to pass on an opportunity like that? We stayed up until the wee hours painting and building on our growing sense of camaraderie. With the show opening looming the pressure was on, though the Jameson kept it from getting unmanageable. Paradise was at our fingertips and surrounded by friends we created art and magic. All I could think about was how truly blessed I felt. Pretty powerful stuff.

A Return To Form, Of Sorts.

2011-02-24T10:01:00.000-06:00

Buckle in for a long and rambling post that is two months in the making.

I feel like I have reached a crossroads of sorts in my life. I had hoped to begin recapping my daily adventures in Indonesia once I got home and settled. One day turned into two, into a week and pretty soon I got too scared to commit to writing things out. I wanted to really stay true to my planned daily
post exercise during the trip and it got away from me. My biggest fear was that I'd get days mixed up and tell my tale out of order. This blog was really meant mostly to be a document of my attempts to "make it" as an artist. (I still am not quite sure what that means) Luck intervened when another of the artists on the trip sent me her trip diary. That, coupled with my memory and my pictures (which are still in the order they were taken), I figured was enough to help me get my updates down and continue telling my story. Yet still I hesitated.

Over the last few months I have watched several of the blogs I read disappear, and I wonder if maybe it's not just me. Though blogs come and go all the time....... and I have never been the most reliable of posters.

A lot has happened since my last post. The last time I sat down and put words to this screen I was on the other side of the world, sharing a hotel suite with my wife and 3 artists who I had become incredibly close with. Today I am sitting in my basement studio surrounded by boxes of my unsold art and feeling depths of loneliness I haven't experienced in a long time. Quite a reversal of fortune.

Since I still feel like I am hiding behind excuses, these are some of the events or reasons for my stalled out blog:

Recovering from jetlag.
Christmas holidays (both extra work, and also family stuff)
Transitioning and training new people to take over my duties as director at S.A.M.
Organizing and promoting an exhibit for the artists who travelled to Indonesia.
Orchestrating my departure from S.A.M. as a resident artist.
Transitioning and training new people to take over the remainder of my non-director duties.
Getting my vehicle street legal again before the city fines me for my "derelict".
Creating a new website for the Study Abroad program.
Planning to help organize an exhibit for Indonesian artists who are coming here.
Creating a website for my wife's new business.
etc. etc. etc.

This is all in addition to a full time job and family responsibilities. I don't feel like I have been doing enough of the right important things lately. I want desperately to be more organized and successful, but I struggle with it daily. All is not lost, however. Just by me posting this I have broken the cycle of fear and procrastination and the rest of the Indonesia story will be told. Thank you for your patience, friendship, and continued reading.

P.S. Since this is an art blog after all, (one of the world's best even) I figure I owe it to you to show at least one thing that I've worked on since the trip:

"Cancer Sun"

This is a painting that I started in 2009, I think it was during the Tour of Missouri race while we had the Spoked! show at S.A.M. Attempting some live painting of sorts with some other artists. The sun was unrelenting and got me thinking back to another painting I did with a similar theme. The sun as bringer of both life and death as well. I thought I was finished with it but it ended up in a pile of unframed things that just didn't quite feel finished yet. I picked it back up along with some others that needed to be either finished or reworked. Adding the gold elements really helped to complete the design, I think. It is now framed and available for purchase at the "gift shop" in Art Dimensions' gallery at 2720 Cherokee.

P.P.S. Just a reminder, I know it's a horrible photo. Uploading bad pics is easier than watermarking images that can still be cropped and stolen. I save the good pics for show submissions.

Lost in Bali

2010-12-02T23:47:00.001-06:00

You know how they say you need to lose yourself in order to find yourself? It's true. I have had a profound reawakening / spiritual experience here and can't wait to share all of the details with you.

I'm working hard to finish the updates about the rest of the trip but I also don't want to put forward a half-assed chronicle of what happened. Pictures took about 5-10 minutes a piece to upload with our connection, making live-blogging a chore more than anything else. I felt better about letting others who were having computer issues use mine during that time to stay in contact with family back home. I hope that you understand and enjoy reading about my exploits after the fact.

As I write this I am sitting in my hotel suite in Jakarta on the eve of showing my artwork in the Museum Nasional of Indonesia. Our display is hung in their exhibition hall, a glass walled breezeway between the old and new buildings. You can see our art from the street, so it is something that is far nicer than it sounds. The world is my oyster right now and I can't wait to share the details. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

-Dan

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Six (Bali, Day Two)

2010-11-24T01:14:00.002-06:00

After breakfast we met at the Blanco Museum to have a workshop on traditional Balinese egg painting with master artist I Wayan Sadra, S.Pd.

We ended up splitting into 2 smaller groups and while the first group was working the rest of us were taken to a couple of local art supply shops by Mario Blanco's driver (this man's hospitality knows no limits). We got a chance, once we returned, to try our hand at egg painting, results varied but here is mine:

After the workshop we were taken to see the nearby Sacred Monkey Forest. Enjoy the pictures and keep in mind that I don't have a telephoto lens. They were close enough to touch. (Humorous aside: The huge amount of banana peels on the ground was a Three Stooges moment waiting to happen.)

After dinner a few of us returned to paint on Mario Blanco's cafe patio where the workshop was held. It's a large elevated patio, open air, but with a roof and lighting. (There is little in Bali that isn't open air in some way.) We stayed up until around 3 a.m. painting and comparing notes on how wonderful the trip and it's accompanying experiences have been. How often do you get the chance to paint on the grounds of a museum after hours? It was another in what I am sure is going to be a long string of life-changing moments.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Five (Bali, Day One)

2010-11-24T00:33:00.001-06:00

The bed that I showed you on the last post... I never got to sleep on it. We found out that Mario Blanco, whose museum was hosting our exhibition in Bali, was kind enough to arrange several workshops and activities that would showcase the art and culture of the town of Ubud where the museum is located. Since Ubud is about an hour and a half trip one way it was decided (with much debate and drama) that we would be better served to check out of the hotel in the morning and into the hotel in Ubud that we were going to stay at later in the week. A bunch of us decided to take advantage of the pool and then hang out chatting and working on various computer tasks. The 12 hour time difference makes late night/early morning the best time to chat with family and friends back home.
Transportation arrived in the morning to take us to Ubud. The car I was riding in got rear-ended on the way, but it was a very minor fender bender. We arrived at the Blanco Renaissance Museum where we met up with Mario Blanco. We stowed our luggage quickly in one of his storage areas until we could check into the hotel and then went to have an audience with the King of Ubud, Drs. Tjokorda Gde Putra Sukawati. The temple and palace complex was bustling with activity, young children were getting lessons in Balinese dance among other things. There was so much beauty that it was hard to take it all in.

We were led back through a set of gates that were marked no admittance and that is where things got REALLY lush.

I was only expecting a quick handshake meet and greet but we were led up to his private sitting area where we were introduced and then listened to him tell us about the history of the area and their efforts to make Ubud the best art community in the world. He spoke for almost an hour, sharing photo albums of his family and the history of the town and then we had tea and snacks together before posing for photos. His words were incredibly inspiring and the passion with which he spoke about the importance of art and it's necessity to any community is something that will stay with me for my lifetime.

After our visit we toured the Puri Lukisan Museum, which the King's father established. This was followed by a tour of Mario Blanco's museum. I won't post pictures of it just yet..... but suffice to say that it is as fantastic a venue for artwork as is possible. His tour was full of insight and humor and we have gotten the full rockstar treatment since we arrived. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.

After the tour we checked into the hotel, which is a very short walk from the museum. It's not the royal palace, but I have yet to stay at a nicer hotel. After being awake for 2 full days a good night's sleep was in order, but a pool like this begs to be used:

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Four (The Road to Bali)

2010-11-21T07:49:00.000-06:00

We left the hotel in Jakarta after breakfast to fly to the island of Bali where we would be doing the bulk of our cultural explorations for the trip. More sets of security, but with a different amount of thoroughness and more checks. It will be amazing if any of my film turns out as many times as it has been x-rayed. I found myself thinking about the airport scenes from the movie "The Golden Child" a lot as we navigated the terminal.
The flight was short, but still included a full meal, and we arrived in Bali on schedule. The airport in Denpasar was really a trip. We exited the plane using the old fashioned stairs and ended up on what looked like a big parking lot where we took a shuttle bus to the terminal to get our luggage and arrange our taxi. We ended up not needing to get a ride since Harry Lim had arranged transportation for us already. The guy with the sign was waiting for us at the exit and everything. We got moving toward our hotel in very short order. I was sooooo happy to see this sign:

There were scooters on the road everywhere on the way to our hotel:

As we got near our hotel we got this stunning view of the setting sun:

Better than that was the room at the hotel. Very swank indeed:

We ended the evening by meeting with both Harry Lim and Mario Blanco (one of our hosts in Indonesia) for dinner in town. The place was setup really interestingly. The restaurant was setup on a small courtyard with small shops around it. The food and the company was great. I knew it would be a great week.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Three (Jakarta)

2010-11-21T06:59:00.001-06:00

We woke up from our first night far earlier than I would normally. I tried to force myself to stay in bed a bit longer so that I could better acclimate to the time difference (13 hours) but finally ended up showering and getting dressed to do some minor exploring. This is the view from the hotel:

I walked down the street to a familiar store that we passed on the way in the night before, 7-11. I figured it would be a good place to grab a caffeinated beverage and some snacks to carry with us. I ended up getting what appeared to be the Japanese equivalent of Teddy Grahams and a couple bottles of soda, one of which turned out to be something called Pepsi Blue. I brought both cameras but didn't take many pictures with the digital. The trash guys were interesting, hard to see from this shot, but a couple of them were barefoot:

My wife was up and dressed by the time I got back, we sat around and watched TV for a bit before heading down to meet the group for breakfast. A bunch of us decided to do some exploring of a nearby mall. We set out walking and got no further than the corner when we saw the first raindrops. I was about to suggest looking for a cab, but didn't since the mall was supposed to be only 2 blocks away....we were halfway there! It turned out to be much farther. They were doing sewer repairs on the street, shoeless guy with jackhammers and the whole nine yards so we were walking in this downpour that only started to subside once we arrived at our destination. People were pointing and laughing at us because we were like the only people who were wet.

The mall was pretty neat. Each floor seemed to have it's own category, there was even a floor for knockoff merchandise. Here is a view from one of the upper floors:

It's hard to see, but there is a safety net at the bottom. I think if you fell on it though it wouldn't save you so much as turn you into Julienne fries. The whole place too quite a while to explore and we will most likely go back later once we return to Jakarta later in our trip. On the way back we encountered a lot of beggars, one child in particular followed us for about 2 blocks tapping on our elbows and everything. It was pretty sad and eyeopening at the same time. We returned to the hotel to get cleaned up and have dinner and prepare for our travels the next day.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part Two (Getting There Pt. 2)

2010-11-19T11:48:00.000-06:00

The longest leg of our trip ended with our arrival in the Hong Kong airport. Our layover was just long enough to get from one gate to the next and pass through security. Kind of neat that the airport had a massive upscale mall inside it. You could totally travel there without luggage and get what you needed at arrival. No time to look around though as we had only minutes upon getting to the departing gate before boarding started. Hopefully we will get a little more time to browse on the way back.

The final leg of the trip is when I almost had a psychotic episode. The way that the seats on this plane were configured was in 3 rows across: 2, 4, & 2. The ticketing person got us seats where we were all together, but the "break" put my wife and I in different rows. With the new seating configuration I was no longer on the aisle, but was now in the center of the plane with people on both sides.

I am claustrophobic.

After sitting in a confined space for so many hours my knees and buttcheeks were killing me. (go ahead and say pause) I finally had to ask to get up to pretend to use the restroom when there was a long line so that I could stand for a bit. I was at my mental limit I think, especially since the flight was 2 hours longer than what I was told it would be originally. Four hours later we were on the ground in Jakarta. The airport terminal looks like a row of Pizza Huts on the assembly line and the interior has the same feeling as some of those older tiki bars or 60's vintage Howard Johnsons. Kind of cool actually.

The line for getting our visas took some time to navigate. Once we cleared that hurdle we made our way to the baggage claim. On the way there several guys aggressively tried to get us to let them portage our bags. I brushed off the first few but then noticed that they had uniforms on and the guy was asking for our flight number and seeming very helpful so I gave in and let him load up our bags. He pushed them the rest of the way through the terminal, unloaded and reloaded them as we went through yet another customs bag check, directed us to the right place to exchange currency and then all the way to the exit where our group was negotiating taxi service to the hotel. The guy then asked for his payment and after consulting with the translator etc. we arrive at a price that worked out to about $10 US. My wife was visibly upset that I handed over such a large amount of money. (I found out later that she thought I had given him the equivalent on $100 US and that she was mad that I even let the guy load up our stuff) Once we worked out transportation I pushed the cart the rest of the way (across the street) where a couple of guys loaded it into the back of the taxi. One person had fronted the whole fare so once we were loaded up the other 2 who were in the car with us were made to pay the equivalent of $5 US each for "portage". Keep in mind that I had my stuff and my wife's carried almost the entire way while the others carried their own as far as the car only to hand them off at the back of the van to be set down inside. We were told that we didn't have to pay since we already did. I definitely got the last laugh.

The trip to the hotel was harrowing. Traffic laws seem optional, there are tons of scooters and motorcycles among other things zipping amongst traffic. New York seems tame in comparison. It took an hour to get to our hotel. Once there we got checked in and settled into the room, took a quick shower, and crashed out for about 14 hours.

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Part One (Getting There)

2010-11-18T17:24:00.001-06:00

As I write this I have been traveling for so long and far that I'm not really sure of the total number of hours I've been awake or even the total duration of time I've been gone. Right now I am in the cozy confines of a large jet somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Japan is on the horizon and Hong Kong, where we have our next layover, is still about five hours away. The first part of the trip was almost too routine. Everything went like the proverbial clockwork and we were able to clear security with minimal hassles. No body scanners or rough putdowns though my film camera did get sent through the X-ray machine. My wife and I ended up on the same flight as 2 other people in our group (we were all left to our own devices to get to Los Angeles) though we used travel miles and got first class seating on the first leg. Once in LA we had about 8 hours to navigate the airport and make it to our departing gate for the flight I am on now.

Our checked baggage arrived in short order with nothing amiss. We were early enough that once we got to the International terminal we had to wait for them to open the ticketing counter. The four of us grabbed some food and talked as we waited for the counter to open. That's when the first hiccups happened. At the ticket counter we learned that one of our carryon bags was too heavy for the trip and needed to be checked (of course this was the one that had wheels) THere was no line for security so I was able to separate my film camera from its case and present it for "hand inspection" then got selected for a putdown despite not setting the detector off. They then let me know that my film would need to be sent through again because they couldn't see it because of the lead lined bag that I bought to protect it from the X-ray machine. I have no idea if it was sent through, I had to turn my head as they dumped about sixty dollars with of obscure film out of the fifty dollar protective bag to run it through the machine again. All I know is that it was jammed back into the bag when I got it back from them so I have no idea what happened to it. I guess I'l have to eat the developing fees to find out if it was ruined or not….. I understand that the security stuff needs to be thorough and that the processes are subject to change, I just wish that they would let the Disney people design the layout of the checkpoints so that you can easily move forward and not feel like it's such a choke-point. I think it would make for at least a tolerable experience. I was left at the end of the conveyor belt shaking with anger, confused, and trying to keep my pants up long enough to get my belt back on. Once I tok a few minutes to collect myself I found that I still hadn't gotten my camera back. Luckily I had about six hours before the flight left to calm myself down.

We took off at just after midnight LA time and my first impression of the plane was great. Four rows of recliner-like partitioned seating areas……VERY nice. Then they showed us to our seats. Right now we are sitting in 3 rows of 3 though there is a TV in the headrest in front of me that has movies and games among other things. There is even a camera on the outside of the plane that I can view from the screen. Too bad it's dark outside right now. I'll end this by saying that while cozy this is still much nicer than most domestic flights I've taken. If you'll excuse me I have some ramen noodles to eat (is this an artists trip or what?)….

Artists Abroad - Indonesia 2010 - Prologue

2010-11-16T01:38:00.001-06:00

As I write this it is about one thirty in the morning and I am 8 hours away form getting into a cab for the airport. My bags are packed and all of the details of my life at home have been taken care of and placed in the care of trusted others. I'm headed to Indonesia.

I have several worries about the trip despite my faith that it will be one of the better chapters of my life:

My bag containing my artwork will get lost or damaged. ( I have to check it due to size)
My bag containing my ~~paint~~ "artist colors" will get confiscated leaving me unable to create abroad.
TSA will squeeze my bag too hard and crush its contents. (the all important third carry-on bag)
Film for my camera getting exposed by the x-ray machines

Notice I did not list any of the "obvious" items that I have been warned about by well meaning friends and relatives. Natural disasters and political situations are a lot more far fetched to me than the possibility of being hassled. I'm looking forward to a great experience and looking forward to sharing it with you all here. We're going daily for awhile. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Dan

Next Time Around

2010-11-01T12:51:00.001-05:00

I'm going to keep this post brief I think, but I wanted to mention that this is something of a noteworthy post. This is post # 365 to this blog which means that it took me just about 2 1/2 years to equal what the "picture a day" bloggers do in a year. I admire people who can maintain that type of regularity in posting and I am planning on doing that (connection permitting) when I leave for Indonesia next month.

The amount of preparations that I have ahead of me are a little daunting. On top of work and family responsibilities I have to make sure that the gallery has everything in order and that I train people to take over my responsibilities while I am away. It will be good practice for the group since I have given my notice at the gallery and will be leaving S.A.M. at the end of January 2011. It was a difficult decision, but I think it was for the best. Who knows what the future holds?

The Tower At Night

2010-10-24T02:22:00.001-05:00

Tonight I took a brief photo excursion to the top of the Compton Heights watertower near my childhood home. They open it for visitors once a month and occasionally at night during a full moon. During my last (and first) visit we noticed the ad for the next night openings and agreed to go to the one in October, since the next one will occur while I am away in Indonesia. It was a nice time but most of my pictures sucked. Photography is something that I enjoy, but I truly consider it to be the golf of the visual arts, and I am an avowed duffer. Here's my best shot of the view of downtown:

I had a little bit of trouble getting up to the top. I didn't have a full blown panic episode or anything but I did feel a bit anxious. Heavy cast iron floor plates that move under your feet and wet, spalling bricks will make anyone nervous. Heights and enclosed spaces really do me in sometimes, but I kept my cool. My brothers laughed at me until I pointed this beauty out on the way down. Their pace down the steps picked up noticeably.

(Bottom side of one of the floorplates)

A Shameless Appeal

2010-10-22T02:07:00.001-05:00

The artists study trip to Indonesia that I will be taking part in needs more funding to go forward. To help raise the needed cash the artists involved pooled their resources and had posters printed. The design selected was by artist Gina Alvarez:

All that we ask in exchange is a $10 minimum donation. ($25 if you want it signed by the artists) Feel free to contact me directly, or you can order on at the website we established for the trip HERE.

Sharing Pictures

2010-10-16T01:20:00.001-05:00

These are "experimental" shots taken on a Banner camera which is of a type known as a "Diana clone". Diana cameras were made in the 1960's in China and are made of plastic and particularly shitty. They were given away as prizes at carnivals and the like. Artistic photographers liked the strange effects that the crappy design caused. Light leaks into the camera and does bizarre things and the plastic lenses often cause bizarre focus and warping issues.

I put a roll each of black & white and color film through just to see what the thing can do. A friend of mine has a lot of experience using cameras like this in his photography and has offered to help me adjust this camera as needed to make it a bit more reliable. These photos are kind of a baseline, since the thing was new in the box when I got it. My plan is to bring this or something similar along with me on the trip to Indonesia. I think it could get some interesting results. These pictures were taken last week at the Missouri Botanical Garden, some are better than others, most are crap. Enjoy.

Another Milestone

2010-10-08T01:53:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was my wedding anniversary, so the wife and I decided to take advantage of my having the day off and her playing hooky from school and go on a photo expedition.

We used to do this a lot more regularly, but the constraints on both of our time has made it a much more rare event. I decided it would be a good chance to try out my film camera that I bought a while ago. It's called a Banner, which is a clone of a cheap plastic camera called a Diana. I paid $2 or something for it at the local Goodwill because I thought it would be neat to have. It turns out that they sell on Ebay for around $100 give or take. My thought was that it might be fun to bring along on the trip to Indonesia.

Our first stop was a camera shop to buy the uncommon film that it takes (120). I got a roll each of black and white, and color film to use as a baseline. I'm told that the cameras can be modified and adjusted to make the odd effects more controlled so it will be interesting to see the results once I get the film back on Friday afternoon.

Once I get the film back I will post pictures of the results......

Shaw Weekend

2010-10-07T01:11:00.000-05:00

Last weekend had several events on my calendar. The gallery was a stop on Friday night's Art D Tour. This was the second and final tour for the year and we learned a lot the last time that we put into effect for this second incarnation.

One thing that we did was have as many extra volunteer helpers as possible come in to help staff things so that the artists could hopefully remain in their rooms to represent themselves. We streamlined our food and drink presentation and set up a checkout near the front of the gallery. It all worked out really well and the event went much more smoothly this time around. Another addition was giving out coupons as people exited that were good for a discount on sales made on a future visit. We gotta keep folks coming back!

The event went into "overtime" though for the first time in a long while I wasn't the last person to leave the gallery. Myself and a few other artists went out for a very late dinner and had a pretty enjoyable time. Feeling too tired to make the trek home I called up my brother and made arrangements to crash on his sofa for the night. Of course some conversation and half a movie saw me even later into the night. I woke up early the next morning and drove around killing time before the meeting for the Indonesia trip that was to start at noon.

I found myself some breakfast then drove my way to the Apple store to get the necessary adapters for my laptop while overseas. A few minutes in a massage chair helped to put my back into good order since my brother's sofa is about 6 inches shorter than I am. On my way out of the mall my youngest brother called me out of the blue because he heard that I was "in town" and asked me if I wanted to go with him to the Compton Heights water tower.

Growing up in the shadow of this thing my childhood was filled with fantasies of breaking into this thing and making my way to the top. After its renovation in the nineties though, a volunteer group opens it up for tours once a month. Going in was a matter of paying 5 bucks. A lot easier than I had imagined. Luckily my brother brought his camera along:

After taking in the view, I headed to the Artists Guild for the trip meeting and found out that there was a snafu in the plane ticket ordering and that the dates had been botched among other things. We decided it would be best to wait until Monday when the travel agent's office was open to get more info on our options and make a decision as to our course of action. Surprisingly, this took some debate.........

After the meeting I headed back to the gallery (by way of Dick Blick) so that I could relieve the person who opened and finish out the day of gallery sitting. While there I finished a painting and started a new canvas that will be finished in collaboration with Angela Ament. It was a slow day and I was exhausted. I crashed out for the evening shortly after I got home.

Sunday my youngest daugther, my wife and I took a trip down to the Shaw Art Fair. I saw a lot of really nice art by a lot of new faces, something that is getting kind of rare for me. In a 2 minute span I ran into several artists who I knew and also had the pleasure of meeting Colin Shaw in person. (no relation to the show BTW) :) After making our round sof the show we crossed the street to the Botanical Garden where the Best of Missouri Hands festival was going on. Admission was jacked up for the event and we got to see a vast assortment of honey, soaps, jelly, and spices with a smattering of artists. It was like a better smelling version of the Festival of the Little Hills....... kind of a dissappointment.

Preparations

2010-09-27T02:39:00.001-05:00

Getting ready for my Indonesian adventure is becoming both more exciting and nerve wracking. We had a meeting the other day and went over various details...everything from what shots we should or shouldn't get (apparantly rabies is a big deal over there right now), how many more sponsors we need to solicit (as many as possible, click here if you are interested in contributing), to the amount of space we get to display our work in the Bali Museum.

I still need to coordinate so much on the home front to make the trip happen. I've been slowly gathering needed items such as a new larger bag for my laptop. I'm planning on travelling pretty light though I need to bring painting materials with me in order to create while I am there. Surprisingly or not I have found some really helpful items at stores that specialize in backpacking and adventure sports and drawing back on my time in the scouts as a kid has been helpful too.

I have weighed the option of starting a new blog to chronicle the trip but have decided to just allow it to take over this space for a while. I am hoping to do a better job than I have been as of late and make with daily posts and have pictures and videos etc. Let's call this post the first step in that direction.

Double Whammy

2010-09-16T23:44:00.000-05:00

I spent my time after work tonight helping my wife set up for the "St. Louis Classics" show at the Artists' Guild. Dinner and a wine tasting at the event will run you $150 and there are only 5 other artists there. I think this will be a decent opportunity for her. I'll be holding down the fort for her at the MOSAICS art festival in St. Charles. That means that while she is enjoying a black-tie dinner gala I get to play salesman and peoplewatch. There is an Irish festival a few blocks away at the same time and the crossover crowd is really something to see. I'm preparing myself for the task of setup tomorrow morning right now......vodka and typing FTW!

Lessons In Art

2010-09-16T00:20:00.000-05:00

For the last several months I have been studying portraiture with Evelyn Astegno. We meet for a couple of hours every week and work on a variety of things, and it's honestly pretty tough. Trying to overcome years of habits and learning to let go of what you know to be correct is hard enough, but since I have only recently begun to have any confidence in my own abilities it is even more difficult to let go and find that place in yourself where you can start as if from nothing.

I have, as of this writing, two more classes before we stop. I don't know if we will resume later or not but all good things, as my life is quick to remind me, must come to an end. Not trying to sound over melancholy or anything, endings make room for new beginnings.

I've written before about the Artist's Abroad Trip this coming November, since then there have been a few developments. The Cheapy Art events that were being held every week at 2720 Cherokee are no more, though the donated art is still available for purchase at the Artists' Guild. In more exciting news, the opportunity has opened up for me to be able to go on the trip as well as my wife. Pretty great news, but it also means that more funds need to be raised. My hope is that it all works out for the best. I'd normally cut and paste in a bunch of info about the trip, but the group has put together a pretty decent little website. Please take a moment to check it out by clicking HERE. I think that being able to partake in this trip could open some doors for me that might not budge otherwise. Here's to the future.......

A Long Time Coming

2010-09-13T23:07:00.000-05:00

I've been working on this one for a while and it's almost finished. Probably at about 95% now:

Photo is courtesy of my laptop's webcam, so it is pretty washed out. I'll post a better pic when it's done. I feel like I'm in a better place now than I have been in the last few weeks. The overwhelmed feeling that was pretty constant in my life for a while has subsided to a large extent. I have some big things on the horizon and feel a little bad for letting myself get away from posting here more regularly. Staying on track here can feel like a chore some days and at times I feel like I should wait until I have something "worth saying" before I post here. I guess I need to remind myself that blogging is only partly about the content and that it is better to maintain an honest presence rather than making sure that every day is exciting. Better to post more often and keep my five fans....... :)

Outside: IN & Art D Tour Weekend

2010-08-11T23:32:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was a whirlwind of activity. Friday night I had to work during the day, and from there went straight to the gallery to meet the caterers who were dropping of snacks for the opening. This was part of the Art DTour that was pre-arranged, so I was a little clueless as to the exact details but in general they arranged to have a variety of different eateries provide snacks and they paired up a restaurant with a gallery. We had Knodel's bakery so we ended up with several trays of small pastries. Not a bad deal at all.

The show "Outside: IN" opened the same night and turnout for that was quite decent. A gentleman who I talked to a few weeks before at another event came in with his wife to look at a painting of mine that he had his eye on. She found another of painting of mine that she liked and so they bought the pair. Not a bad start to the evening.

When the first bus arrived insanity broke loose for a few minutes. The line of people coming in cleared the table of pastries like army ants and then continued into the various artists rooms. Luckily we had some extra people behind the counter to help with handling sales because it was hard to move around much less be everywhere at once. Next time we do this (October) we will have a plan in place now that we know what to expect.

In preparation for the weekend's events I rearranged a lot of the art in my gallery room and rotated in some work from home and took a few things back with me. I had 2 rather large paintings that I wanted to take with me that wouldn't fit into the car I was driving so instead I hung them in another room that is between artists and had been filled with enough artwork to appear presentable. I didn't even put price-tags on them because I intended to pull them at the end of the night and throw them into my wife's car. Each busload brought one person who was interested in each work. They both took my info (space on the bus was limited too) and I am still waiting to hear back from them. With any luck they will contact me soon and not find another way to spend their money.

In all of the confusion I couldn't get to my camera so there are no pictures of the event that are worth sharing. There is a collection of pictures from several of the venues throughout the evening HERE. I am in picture #34 and my artwork makes a cameo appearance in pictures 24 & 36. The RFT took my picture at the after-party but I have yet to see those pics turn up anywhere.

Once the show was over I helped close the gallery and proceeded to hit 3 construction detours on my way to Forest Park where I sat in Muny traffic (a show had just let out) making what should have been a 10-15 minute trip take an hour. The after-party for the event was held at the Boathouse and had several artists live-painting, snacks and liquid refreshments. I ran into a lot of people that I know and some that I had just met that evening. Overall it was worth the delay.

Another One For The Pile

2010-08-06T02:13:00.000-05:00

I got another show rejection letter today, which really surprised me because I only entered it because I got a very nice invitation that made it sound like applying was only a formality. I'll have to print both and save them together.

I keep all of my rejection letters by the way..... Truly. I have a nice little pile of them. It's interesting to go back and read them, especially when you contrast them with my awards. I keep those too, just in a seperate album. I also save two of any postcards or flyers from a show that I've done or been involved with. The only exception being the first show that I curated. Those went like hotcakes and I accidentally gave away my last 2.

It's important to maintain a sense of balance in all things.