The First Week Of The New Year

As Future Husband and I held hand last Saturday at 11:59 pm,  he said "Do you have any resolutions?"  Now usually it's to lose those nagging 10 lbs that I hate so much, but this year I decided to focus on art.  "Yep, I hope to get more publicity. Don't know how, but that's what I want!"

My friend Paul says that if you put it out in to the universe, you'll get a response.

This week I had over 30 unique articles written about a series I only finished on Dec. 18, 2011 and thought that no one would like.  I have to say, that's pretty crazy.

I maintain this blog for three reasons: 1. It's my journal, 2. So that non-artists can have a glimpse of how an artist's life is composed, 3. So that students/beginners have an idea of what's in store for them.

With that in mind, I'm going to share an ancedote:

Titles are inextricably linked to your work and can even function as an artist or  political statement.

I knew this before, but that sentiment was pounded in to the 'ol noggin this week.  Sometimes, I have a tendency to not take my work too seriously.  In this case I gave Barbie Trashes Her Dreamhouse  a rather flippant title. If it were not for that consideration, no one would have "gotten" this work and no one would currently be viewing it.  Originally I did call the series "Time To Burn the House Down" and everyone thought I was showing images of my own home, so I changed the title to stress the point that what they were seeing was, in fact, miniature.  The rest is history.

Be careful what you wish for, though.  I had envisioned that the work would be a one-two punch.  I thought that people would look at the images, gasp, think "God I hope that's not real", then see something odd and realize what they were seeing was very small, then marvel again at the detail. 
This is not what happened. Everyone thought that I was a hoarder and I had to explain the image to each viewer,  so I changed the title so that they could instantly understand that the scenes were models. In doing so,  I caused a sensation while providing a small disservice to myself. I think that a certain amount of mystique had been lost due to the "barbie" association, but it's what people get and who am to argue with that?  Future Husband says of his stand-up career, "It doesn't matter how you come up with a joke, if it's brainy or dumb, all that matters is if people laugh."  I think that sentiment fits here, too.

Lastly, here is my list of things to be grateful for:
I have almost 90,000 unique visitors to my Flickr page.
My work has graced the online pages of Huffington Post and Time, plus many other publications, all within a weeks' time.
Other than the few nut jobs who think this work is satanic, most of the response had been amazingly positive.
I've made some pretty useful connections.
Work was printed in the actual local newspaper, the Post-Dispatch.  That made my mom proud.
I might have a future in this art thing. 

If you've been keeping up with thisahere blog, you know that heretofore I was a nobody, so these are quite huge events for someone who hasn't even been out of grad school for 2 years.

Now I just hope to find a full-time job.  Universe?  Are you listening?

New Emergent Structures!

So, I got a bit of an extension on the residency.  The Center is hosting one of their signature events, Palate to Palette, on December 2 and since my show is still up in the gallery,  I'm going to stick around to be a part of it. This means that I get a few days more time to haul ass in the studio and as always, I'm inundated with work that needs to be finished.
Today, I dragged some art out to the ruined rectory behind McColl and had my way with it.  Here's what I've come up with:

They're not too bad, although I do have to say that the sculpture always looks better in person, naturally.
I still like what it looks like in a photograph, I think that one can draw some conclusion as to the goings-on in my brain when it's served up this way.

Making Art And Figure Skating, But Not At The Same Time.

My First Time

First time experiences can be awesome, overwhelming, triumphant or even just weird. They can be especially eye-widening when they come at you all at once. Last night's reception was no exception and I am still glowing over the positive buzz. For the first time in my life I experienced: 450 well-heeled guests, gallery attendants walking around with price list clipboards, two blubs with images in local publications, a professional photographer, a videographer, and many well-wishers that sought to tell me that they understood my inspiration and wanted to know more. I am humbled and flattered. I hadn't really thought about what the opening would be like. I almost felt separate from the work, that my presence, while welcome, certainly wouldn't be necessary.  All I can say is that I am a part of it, inextricably linked to something that is much bigger than myself and my wildest dreams. Thanks for believing in me, guys.

Element- 1st Solo Show

 Here it is in all it's glory- at the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC.  Through Jan. 14, 2012.

I'm Doing It Again!

The last time that I finished up work for a massive show then had down time, I created a myriad of 1/6th scale tableaus that I painstakingly set up and photographed as a counterbalance to "serious" art.  History is repeating itself, although perhaps more intelligently this time, since I'm really trying to create a confusion between what is a miniature set and what is a real room. I had starting going this route about a year and a half ago, but didn't have the wherewithal at the time to keep pushing the limit, but I've create some scenes this weekend that have come out pretty well:

This is a redo of one that I tried last year. I used flash this time to simulate the look of a point-and-shoot camera in an actual room. I think it's more convincing that even lighting.

When I began the first one, I thought it might just be a pointless redo of my previous kitchen scene, but I like the vantage point here a bit better. If you just give it a once over, it's pretty convincing.

So, this is pretty much the series.  I'm going to probably move on. The bad thing about the "Hoarders"-inspired scenes is that, while amusing, they make their point rather quickly.

Long Exposures from the School Carnival

Lookie, I done took some purty fotos with my camera box at the carnival what has the twirly rides.  It were fun, I reckon: