The Great Procrastinator!

Jeez...It's been months since I last posted anything on here! I've been hella-busy with the job, getting the house and studio in order, and trying to remain social with friends and family. Now that Fall is waning into Winter, it's probably time to get my stuff more together!

Art-wise, I'm currently putting together my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011! I love participating in this annual event. It keeps my mind sane, and my drawing hand active, even if I don't have time to start a larger project. Still have plenty of blank canvases staring at me in the studio, though. There are a few local opportunities I'm looking into as well. I'd post them, but I'm at work, and the links are on my home laptop... :(

Bike-wise, weather has been hit-or-miss, and since I now work until 7pm, and Daylight Savings Time is over, it gets dark here around 6pm. So, I COULD drag my ass outta bed to bike around the neighborhood before work, but so far, that's not happened. My odometer on my mountain bike was at just over 200 miles, before I reset it, and transferred it to the Jamis. Last I recall, I believe I had just broke 100 miles on that, so total biked miles so far this season (since I started in the summer) are around 300! I still hope to add up some more, just have to wait until it's not so damn cold/late. I'm also looking into home workout/exercise routines, to keep my health and mood elevated during the colder season.

Home-wise, not too much going on...we fixed the outdoor porch light (finally) so that we don't have to sit outside on the patio in darkness. Since the colder weather and the shorter days have fit, it's getting harder to concentrate on getting things done. I have a lot less drive to do things around the house when I get home from work, and it's already night-time, and chilly. Which means I've set-up the space heater in the studio again. Chilliness is no excuse to stay away from the studio! I moved my old surround-sound system from the dorm days out there, so I should have some good music available, too.

Me and K just decided to give up cable! This is pretty big for us, as we had been watching several DVR'ed episodes of "The Simpsons" a night, while eating dinner together. But, we have Hulu, and may subscribe to Netflix in a few months, to keep us entertained. I think it'll be good to help us focus more on dayI've been getting more into reading, and currently am in the middle of an intriguing book on UFOs, by Leslie Kean. Basically, she takes an analytical view on reports from government officials and pilots regarding the dangers to airspace and air control caused by UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), whatever they might be. I think I've been watching too much X-Files...Oh, I also finished Stephen King's Under the Dome, which I'd been wanting to pick up since it came out last year. It turned out to be pretty good. Of course, I'm a huge King fan, so no big surprise there.

Well, I think that's enough update for now. I've been putting off writing for WEEKS, so now I just need to post stuff more frequently. I'll try to post some pics of recent work shortly. Later!

-Joe

State fair stuff, car stuff, new (free) bike!

Updates: My buddy N and I went to the State Fair, for the opening night. All was going well, until we both noticed we had some work missing (3 paintings for me, 2 for him). We must have spent like 2 hours just pacing back and forth through the Ellison Family Arts Building, and inspecting the walls. I found 5 of my drawings, and N found 1 of his paintings, and 1 of his painted furniture pieces. I must have asked about 5 staff members, who kept directing us in circles trying to find our stuff. We even journeyed down the (gasp!) Children's/Non-professional art section, to see if they had been banished from the Professional realm (not to put down any of the Kid's/Non-pro art, much of it was very good).

A glancing comment from another artist struck us as humorous, "Well, at least my stuff isn't hidden in the closet!" Little did we know...

We finally got in contact with someone who said that there were a few pieces which had NOT been hung, for some reason or another. Sure enough, our work was hidden away, in the downstairs storage closet. N's work had experienced some hanging malfunctions, mine was intact, and there seemed to be no reason the three paintings hadn't been displayed. I asked the lady in charge, and she surmised that the only reason could be that they were not framed, but were gallery wrapped (painted all the way around the edges, so as to be hung directly on the wall, sans frame). She even said that was not a valid reason not to hang them, as there were several paintings hung that were gallery wrapped, and as a working artist, she did this on occasion as well. Oh well. Something to remember for next year; the fair is very BIG on display/framing.

Other than that slight hiccup, being displayed at the fair has been a great experiece. It will be going on until the 22nd. I just came back from the fait today, I was participating at the Plein Air Day. I was there from 9am - 1pm (took a break, which I'll elaborate on later), and again from 3pm - 4pm. I drew the Gondola ride (Large Ferris Wheel) at the Midway, in graphite, and was awarded an Honorable Mention. I was a bit dissapointed with not getting a higher ribbon, but not too shabby for my first year participating. I picked a subject not well suited to the Plein Air style though, since it was very mechanically complicated, and I wasn't able to finish it to my satisfaction during the short time I worked on it during the day.

During the break I took today, I went downtown to check out the Mass Ave Criterium Bike Race downtown. I had read about it 2 days ago in NUVO. They had also mentioned a program called BikeTown USA, which was sponsored by Bicycling Magazine, and Jamis Bicycles. This program happens every year, where the organization travels to different cities, and gives away free bikes, to people who write an essay, explaining how getting a new bike could change their life. On a whim, I typed up an essay. It was mainly about how I had relied on my Walmart bike freshman/sophomore year to commute to and from work (3 miles when we lived at Park Place), after my first car had (catastrophically) died. Unfortunately, this bike got stolen, leaving me transportation-less. I walked/took the bus everywhere for a few months, unitl I saved up $500 cash, for my second (and current) car. I talked about how I missed the freedom that biking afforded me, in my day-to-day life, and that recently I had been getting into biking more, with another Walmart bike. I have biked around 200 miles so far this year, and have had some things fail ont the bike (and other parts in the process of failing), to mentioned that it would be nice to have an actual, factual, professional bike.

And, I WON!

I (along with 30 other essay finalists) was awarded a brand spankin' new (old stock) 2009 Jamis Commuter 2.0 (with matching snazzy helmet)!

(Fun fact: this bike retails for more than I paid for my car, lol)
So. this is a BIG upgrade from my Walmart bike. I will still keep that bike as a backup, but will be using the Jamis for occasional daily commuting (once my schedule changes to start at 10am, on the 23rd). This bike is SWEET! After I finish this post, I'm going right back out to ride around. It super smooth, like buttuh. The shifting is precise, the ride is comfortable, and now I see what I've been missing out on by getting the cheap stuff! :)

In other vehicular news, the 95 degree heat finally took it's toll on my headliner, causing it to completely seperate from the roof. I had been using thumbtacks and the staple gun (I know, tacky, but it worked...for about a year) to keep it attached, but it finally gave up the ghost. Anyone who has owned an older car knows the annoyance of a droopy headliner.

I looked around online, and found that I could replace this myself! So, I stripped the old vinyl out:

And removed the cardboard backing from the roof:

Here's what the roof looks like in bare sheet metal, visors and rear-view removed (notice the high-tech carpeting insulation glued to the metal, lol):

 

Had to scrape off all the deteriorating foam backing from the cardboard, and use some spray adhesive:

To attach the new fabric. What did I use? I decided to forgo the faux-zebra fur I had planned on, and go for a more tame tan vinyl faux-snakeskin:

Close-up of texture:

And how it looks installed:

Pretty snazzy, I think!

Well, I gotta go, Erin (K's sis) is picking me up, to go see K operate the spotlight in Ben Davis' production of Once Upon a Mattress. Later!

-Joe

SketchCrawl Indy July 31st, 28th Worldwide!

Just a quick note; I found out about SketchCrawl from one of the local Indianapolis papers, and will be participating! Sunday is the Artist's Open House for the 2010 State Fair also, will be there from 4pm - 6pm. Will post photos from these events next week at some point.

-Joe

How I rode 30 miles downtown and back for a drink of water

(Note: I wrote this on Saturday night, just haven't had time to post/upload pics til now)

Today, I finally rode the full route from 86^th st. to IUPUI. It was about 30 miles roundtrip, took about 2 hrs. 15 mins. I wanted to do this on a day when I wasn’t working, so I wouldn’t be under time pressure yet. I drove my car, with bike in tow, to the 86^th st. Kroger lot, parked, and hopped on the trail around 8. This is later than I would take going to work, since I have to be at work by 7, but I just couldn’t get up that early today. 

Which brings me to the first learned lesson today; it’s VERY important to eat an energizing breakfast before heading out. I skipped it today, since I wanted to be out before the sun got too bad. It came back to hit me later.

So, the ride there went by pretty quickly. There wasn’t as much traffic as I was expecting, so I didn’t have to pass too many people, or weave around behind crowds. I stopped along the way to take photos to document a few landmarks on the route, specifically for the map I made. I saw a bunch of wildlife along the way, many ducks, geese, a few turtles, some beavers, and a hawk.

I took the Monon to the Canal Towpath, which was the slowest going part of the trip. This is the least-paved trail, mainly crushed limestone, and powdery gravel, so this limits speeds a bit. It is the most scenic route, at one point, the trail is surrounded by water on both sides, and there’s trees and wildlife all around. When the Canal Towpath meets the Wapahini/White River Greenway, going gets easier, since it’s well paved. I found a shortcut, instead of having to weave in and out of parking lots to reach the campus, I took Porte Allegre st. to New York, which cut down a bit on hassle. The trip there right around 14 miles, and took an hour.

This was my day off, so I surprised my coworkers by dropping by the office. I filled up on water, rested for about 5 minutes, and then hit the road back. By this time, it was starting to get pretty hot and sunny (high of 94 today), but I thought I could make it back in similar time.

This brings me to the second and third points learned today; even if you think you have enough water, bring more. I made it downtown on one bottle of water, but with the temperature increase, I ran out of water about 2 miles out from home on the way back. In Broad Ripple, I started to feel a bit dizzy with the heat, so stopped in at the CVS on the way, and grabbed some trail mix. Third point; always have an emergency energy snack (trail mix, granola bar, etc). This was good, since it gave me some energy, but also a bit of a sugar rush, and mixing with dehydration, this caused me to feel a pretty lightheaded, around the 28-mile mark. I had to move off the path, and lay down on the grass to catch my breath, and regain my balance, for about a minute, after the first bridge on the way home. As soon as I got back to the car, I walked in to the Kroger, and picked up some much needed water. The ride back took 15 minutes longer, since I was so tired out, and a bit dehydrated. I suffered some sore legs, but other than that, and much sweat, the ride went well.

All in all, the ride was a success, and proved that biking to work will be feasible for me (when the weather conditions are decent). Next time I’ll be sure to bring more water and snacks! I'll be updating my route map with more photos I took along the way shortly).

In other news, my mom is coming to visit tomorrow, and to see K’s show that she’s in, so that’ll be fun. Tomorrow is also drop-off day for the fair, and I have everything ready to go.

-Joe

Two days off work

So, this past month or so at work, people have been taking time off, which is as it should be. However, during a three-day period, 4 of my co-working superiors were out at the same time. This, in addition to hourly staff calling in sick or late, left the office a bit short-staffed, and left me a bit overworked. Luckily, I had planned about a month ago to take some days off after this point. My boss had been concerned that I hadn't requested any time off. "Really, you'll be okay to work the whole summer? You sure you don't need to take some time off?" He was basically telling me I "needed" to take some time off, so I picked out two days at random, to have a 4-day weekend.

In fact, I had taken a week off earlier in the Spring, to go on our 1-year Anniversary cruise to Mexico. And I try to save up enough PTO (paid time off) to take a week or two to visit family around Christmas. I wish I was able to transfer "Sick time" to vacation hours, as (knock on wood) I hardly ever call in sick (as evidenced by my 80 hrs of sick-time...). K will be in classes during the day, and in the musical at night, so I've pretty much got two days on my own.

I don't want to schedule everything I'm going to do on my time off, but don't want to waste/mismanage the time either. Tommorrow (Thursday) is supposed to be pretty rainy, so biking is likely out of the question, but I'll probably bike on Friday a bit. Other general "to-do" stuff:

• Update blog/website
• Clean/organize studio
• List some junk for sale on eBay
• Sketch/draw/paint
• Compile work for upcoming shows (State Fair drop-off is Saturday) 
• Catch up with family (via phone)
• Plant some annuals in the front yard/garden
• Get A/C in car checked out (after 5 years without, it's about time...)
• Visit IMA
• Haircut
• Catch up on videogames (Got at least a dozen games I've bought, haven't had time to play)
• Catch a $1 movie at the cheap theatre on Washington (prolly Iron Man 2 or Splice)
• Rent some DVDs from Redbox (gonna try the 'Free' codes found here)
• Excercise
• Meditate
• Read (right now in the middle of Neuromancer and Wastelands)

 These are just a few of the things I might do, like I said, don't want to thoroughly schedule my time-off, but now squander it either.

Any ideas on how to spend time off are appreciated, and I hope to return to work refreshed next week.

-Joe

2 upcoming shows, new fish, more biking

Good news; I’ve heard back from some of the art venues I’ve been looking into. I’ll be showing my work at the 2010 Numa Arts and Cultural Fair, in Westfield, IN. This outdoor art festival will be on Saturday, September 18, from 12pm – 10pm.There will be 35 participating artists this year. This is the first outdoor festival I’ve participated in, so it should be pretty fun. I’ve done indoor festivals before (Oranje, in 2008), and had a good time. I think an outdoor atmosphere will be more laid back, and easier to talk with visitors. I’ve got my own setup that K designed, and we built together, that works really nice.

I’ve also heard back from the 2010 Indiana State Fair (August 6 – 22), and will be submitting 8 works (3 drawings, 2 watercolors, 3 acrylic paintings), and participating in the Plein Air Day (August 14), where artists are invited to create a piece during the day on-site, to be displayed and judged at the Fair. I haven’t heard from any other artists who have shown at the fair, but thought I would take a chance.One of my buddies will be showing at the fair, and possibly doing a demo at Numa, so that should be fun.

The main reason I was interested in the fair, was because K’s great-great Aunt AJ would always talk about her friend who showed her work at the fair. AJ was 104 years old at the time, and would talk about how she helped her friend haul her hand-woven baskets back and forth to the fairgrounds, and what a good opportunity it was. I decided that I should give it a shot this year.

So, in addition to getting together, matting, and framing work for these upcoming shows (still waiting to hear back from one), I’ve also been keeping with the biking training regime. Just today I rode 11 miles, from home to the Monon, and back home, to see if I could add that to my 12 mile route. It would add about 5.6 miles, or 25 minutes, to my hour-long commute. Since I already have to get up and start biking before sunrise, I’m still planning on driving to the Monon entrance off of 86^th st. with my bike on the rack, and then parking and biking the 12 miles down from there. I’ve gone the full way on this route, but not in the morning hours yet. The past week has been alternately low 90’s/thunderstorms, but hopefully mid-week next week I’ll be able to bike commute to the office. I’ve also saved my route on Google Maps here, have added notes and places of interest, and will update it with photos from time to time.

I added a back rack to my bike, a handle-mounted water bottle holder (since my bike's frame is too oddly shaped), and a homemade rear fender from recycled water bottles (following the instructions found in this video). It'll do for now, didn't really want to put any more money into my Wally-World bike just yet...though I'm thinking about upgrading to some clipless pedals if I can find a cheap-ish pair, which would make my commute a bit more efficient.

I got some new aquarium fish, Petsmart is having a pretty sweet 50% off sale on many of their more popular fish, and I picked up two fish from our local specialty shop, The Reef. From The Reef:

• Malayan Halfbeak
• Blue-Eyed Gertrude Rainbowfish

From Petsmart:

• 2 Corydoras catfish (1 bronze, 1 albino)
• 2 Black Kuhli loaches
• 1 Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami

The 50% off sale is until the 25^th, so if anyone wants to stock up on any fish, now’s the time to do it.

Well, gotta get back to putting together more work for the shows. I've also got a good-sized watercolor underway, will post it when finished. Fingers crossed that I hear back from the last show here soon!

-Joe

New business cards, done with submissions for awhile

So, finally got up off my ass and ordered some new business cards. The ones I designed/printed myself from home are all gone, and didn't really cut it anyway. I used this site, and designed my own card (full-color front, b&w back) with "Silo Study" on the front with contact info, and "Trojan Seahorse" on the back with my website address. I had been planning on using "Harvest" on the front, and "Fractus" on the back, but thinking about it, "Harvest" is reeeeeeaaaallly old, from Freshman year of college. It is a nice piece, and stands out a a logo, but doesn't really represent what I do now. "Fractus" does, but I would have had to squish/crop it down to fit, and it really loses a lot of it's visual impact on the small screen. 3' x 7' just doesn't translate as well to 2.5" x 3.5". The card design looks pretty sharp, and got a sweet deal on them. However, reading through some forums, I may be getting some spam from the site, as it seems they really try to upsell you on stuff;

  "Oh, you ordered some bunsiness cards with this design? How about a shirt? Or a hat? Or a coffee mug?" NO! Just send me the f#$%in' cards! I also found this site, which was recommended by another art forum. Had I known about it, might have used them, since they seem cheaper, and pretty straightforward.

Yesterday, I sent out my third submission of the month, for an outdoor art fair north of town. Fingers crossed that I hear back from them, possibly early next month. I have 3 submissions out there, I always tend to procrastinate, and then lump together multiple art shows and events, usually in the Fall. Now I really need to get to work, matting and framing my old presentable work, and getting started on some new stuff. I'm pretty excited, I have one piece particularly in mind, that I've gotten the idea from one of my dreams, should be fun to work on.

Today, I brought my bike with me to work, and plan on biking about 1/2 of my bike commute route on a test run. I've biked the "top half" (Monon, 96th st. to Broad Rip.), and will bike the "bottom half" (White River Wapahani Trail --> Central Canal Towpath --> Monon) during my lunch hour. If all goes well, I can attempt the full commute next week (around 14 miles each way). I've also been looking at the Indianapolis Cultural Trail (currently under construction), and am looking forward to using it when it's done. When it's completed next year, it should connect directly with the Monon, which would shorten the route a bit.

-Joe

96 degrees AND rainy?!?

I know, it's been too long since I've updated. I've been pretty busy lately, have submitted applications to 2 shows so far this past month, and possibly have an upcoming application to put together by the end of June, along with work to mat and frame for these upcoming shows. I don't want to get into specific details, because I don't want to "jinx" anything (the whole "counting your chickens before they hatch" thing). One show is way South of town, one in town, and the third a bit north of town. The painting for my office is 'on hold' at the moment, since I'm focusing on creating work for the shows rather than for myself.

Weather has been a bit crazy, it's been in the high 80's/low 90's, with flash flood style rains in between. I was out on the bike last week, and got caught in one of these downpours, couldn't see at all, got completely drenched, my shoes were wet for two days. I've gotten up to 12 miles at a time, and have biked 9 miles on my Monon route, so am just about at where I need to be for bike commuting to work. Here's my current setup:

My bike computer's odometer reads 97 miles so far this season (bought it in Spring)!

The vegetables in the garden are relishing all the rainfall, we have our first ripe Cherry tomato, with others on the way. I can start to see some green peppers, and our big tomato plants are bending under their own height/weight. I'm working on some outdoors stuff when it's not too hot, have mulched around the pond, and will probably put some annual flowers/plants in the front. Just yesterday I cleaned out the tree saplings that had taken root in our gutter (!). Roy (our kitten) is doing well, growing quickly. He's probably doubled in size since he first came home, and is still as rambunctious as ever.

Lately, I've brought out my watercolors again, because I think that they will work better than acrylics for some of the compositions I've got in mind. Also, they seem to lend themselves more to the frequency and method that I work. I can spend time slowing working the painting, when with acrylics I tend to feel rushed, fighting the quick drying times. There are 'slowing agents' that can be used, but they seem to not work as predictably. Plus, watercolors are more portable, so I can do more sketching/quick work with them.

In addition to biking more in the summer, I'm just in general trying to become more physically and mentally healthy. Eating right, exercising, meditation, thinking positively, reading more, etc. I think that this will help creatively, as sometimes artists get stuck in a "mental block." With the change in my mood and thoughts, my art is also evolving.

-Joe

National Bike Month / Welcome Roy

OK, so I've gotten bike repaired @Dick's Sporting Goods (the problem was a stripped freewheel, about 5$ to fix!), and have gotten up to riding 8 miles per session. The problem? My shift at work starts at 7am during the summer. I'd have to leave around 5:30am to make it to work, and the sun doesn't rise until 6:30am. Also, it's supposed to be raining all day Friday. Soooo, despite my best efforts, I probably won't be participating in Bike to Work Day.

However, I have been really getting into biking because of my training, and have been stocking up on necessities to turn my Cheapie Mountain Bike Special into a decent commuter machine. Some of the upgrades:

• Nice cushy seat cover
• Properly adjusted brakes
• new freewheel
• freshly lubed chains, gears, and brakelines

And some more upcoming upgrades:

• Front and rear fenders
• LED Headlight and taillight
• frame pump
• some nice city tires to replace the knobby ones

In other, more exciting news, K and I have gotten a kitten! His name is Roy, and he is 2 1/2 months old. We adopted him from the Indianapolis Humane Society, and he is a handful. He is very active and "meow"-ey, and has gorgeous eyes, one blue and one green. They are having a special for the month of May, where if you get two kitties, you only have to pay one adoption fee (Roy is more than enough kitty for us!). He loves playing, spazzing out, and napping for hours on end. He also seems to be (cautiously) getting along with our bunny, Georgie.

 Well, that's about all for now. Not much new art news, I'm looking into an art fair in Anderson, IN, and possibly some projects with Art House Co-op coming up. I've gotten started on the new painting for the office, but have changed my mind a few times on the composition, so still have a ways to go.

-Joe

Biking set-back

Of course, as soon as I post about Bike to Work Day, my bike dies on me. I was out riding around the neighborhood the other night, and all of a sudden, the pedals just let loose. They would move, but would just spin in place, not moving the wheel. After looking into causes online, it seems that I have an issue with my freewheel on the rear wheel of my bike. I bought it from Walmart a few years ago, and it's kind of rusty from spending a year outside (d'oh!), so I'm deciding whether or not I should invest in fixing it, or getting a newer, nicer bike.


I don't feel comfortable enough working on it to fix the issues myself, so will likely pay $50 or so to have a shop look at it, rather than buy another "disposable" wal-mart bike, or save up for a 'low-end,' but still expensive bike. I'd like to have the situation figured out by the 21st, so that I can participate in Bike to Work Day, but who knows if this will be possible. Oh well!


In art news, I've gotten the canvas for the office painting stretched and primed, the piece will be 30" x 48," so pretty visible on the wall. I'm putting together some compositional sketches, and will probably work more on this tonight. Will update with progress as soon as I can. Oh, also had some interest in some of my older works, so I may be listing more in the Etsy storefront soon. Just posted two pieces, "Jukebox Man" and "Damocles."


-Joe

End of April Musings

Just thought I'd type up some thoughts for the end of April/beginning of May. Looking back over my previous entries on this site, and comparing them with other blogs that I frequent, I've noticed some things missing. Basically, my posts need to be more of a window into what I'm thinking and feeling, not so straightforward and business-like. Also, I've noticed that many blogs post more frequently (some MUCH more frequently), and this builds up a stronger following, and communicates the writer's message more clearly.

So, I've decided that I need to "step it up," by posting more frequent, more interesting entries. Not just what piece I'm currently working on, but to give my readers a better and more interesting look at what is going on not just with me, but with the world around me. Not just art-related things, but any interesting thoughts and ideas.

Along those lines, here's some things that are going on with me:

Friday, May 21st is Bike to Work Day. I'm going to (attempt to) participate in this. Anybody else planning on it? For the past few weeks, I've been training by biking around our neighborhood, to build up stamina and speed on my bike. The outside circle of our neighborhood is just about 2 miles, according to Google Maps. So far, I've gotten up to 2 miles around in the morning, and 2 miles around in the evening. I'll eventually move this up to 4 miles in the morning, and 4 miles in the evening, since my planned bike route to work is around 13 miles! I'm planning on taking the Monon and the Central Canal Towpath all the way from the Northside of Indy to downtown. Wish me luck!

Our garden at home is coming along nicely, the tomato plants have just about tripled in size over the past few weeks, and the pea plants, green pepper, and banana pepper plants are holding their own. We've been vigorously doing lawn maintenance, and the landscaping at the house is coming along nicely. I think it's about time to hack down the Forsythia's a bit.


The Spring semester at IUPUI is just about over, so I'll have a two day break before Summer semester starts. I've decided that the ES office I work in during the day needs some "sprucing up," and am planning to paint a piece specifically for my office! Since it is an interior office, with no windows, I'm going to go for something that is a landscape/nature scene. I think that this will be an improvement to the drab office decor, as well as serve as a great opportunity to show off my work to visitors.

Along those lines, I've also joined a few art forums, to get more ideas and communicate with my fellow artists, as well as monitoring ArtCalendar and ArtShow for opportunities.

Being an artist really does require more dedication and devotion than many people, especially new art school grads, realize at first. I've been reading Caroll Michels "How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul", and taking extensive notes, I'd recommend it to anyone who needs a little artistic motivation. I'll be updating my website, listing new items in my Etsy store and my print shop, as soon as I get some decent photos uploaded.

I've got a few friends who will be graduating from Herron shortly, and hope that they will stay motivated to keep making art, even outside of the artistic academic environment. Keep up the art work!

"The Nautilus" triptych is complete!

The triptych that I've been working on for the past few months is FINALLY done! I've titled it "The Nautilus." I know I slacked by not posting any in-progress pictures, but I'll try to make up for it here, by posting the pictures I took of the painting in stages.

                                 Pen and ink study for the piece.

           Pencil sketch on three canvases. Each canvas is 20" x 48".

           Starting to color the piece with light acrylic washes, and define some shapes in the tree and rocks.

Added details to the shell design, more layering of colors in the water and sky. I'd added come gold flake to the grass in the foreground, and started layering some incandescent medium in with blue washes over the water. I moved the pieces apart so that I could continue details on the sides and bottom of the panels to tie them together, as they will be hung a bit apart.

I really got into doing more cloudwork in the sky, and settled on a fiery atmosphere. Added some more greenery to the tree, and consulted with my patron about the work. It was about 90% complete, so just wanted to get their opinion on some finishing touches.

And the finished piece! This was definitely the most ambitious painting I've done so far, incorporating new techniques, lots of color, and a total size around 3' x 4'. The total time I worked on it was around 4 months, but I worked pretty slowly mainly during weekends. Had lots of fun, and learned a lot while working on this piece. Hope you enjoy!

-Joe

Art show opening delayed, Feb. 12th, 6pm - 9pm

Just a quick FYI, the Athenaeum ArtSpace's "Salon Show" opening has been delayed, due to the deluge of snow Indy is currently getting. Here is their page on FB, if you want any more info on the show, one of my pieces in the photos as well:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Athenaeums-ArtSpace/281183989691

Feel free to stop by the Athenaeum ArtSpace to check out the show on the 12th, or anytime during February!

-Joe

Upcoming show @Athenaeum, triptych progress

Some news, I have three pieces in an upcoming exhibition:

"The Salon Show"
Athenaeum ArtSpace
Feb. 5th - 25th

Opening Night is Feb., 5th 6pm - 9pm.

The three pieces I have in the show are "Mantis Religiosa," "Frontal Fly," and "Silo Study."

In other news, I've also started on the commissioned triptych piece (untitled as of now). Finally have each panel stretched properly, after adding support beams in the middle of each 20" x 60" panel. I've gotten each canvas primed, penciled in a basic design, and have even started painting the bottom panel. Will post updates/pics soon.

-Joe

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I'm also celebrating the sale of one of my works, "F15H."

I'll miss this piece, but am glad it has found a new home. The success of this piece is encouraging, as the economic conditions haven't been too hospitable to working artists. I've found that when people are having trouble paying for housing, food, and clothes, art purchases go by the sideline.

Also, I'll be working on a triptych commission, where each piece is 20" x 60." I'll update with progress, and will continue to work on large-scale charcoal/pastel drawings as well. I recently sent out my submission for the Sketchbook Project Library, an exhibition put together by the Art House Co-op, based out of Atlanta, Georgia. I participated in last year's Sketchbook Project 4, and enjoy being involved with this group's efforts in the arts.

-Joe