01/25/12

Stating the Obvious

Every now and something on Facebook gets it right and is actually worth sharing on a real website. (My appreciation to the artist who produced this drawing, PearlEden on deviantart.com)

Sure, finding something of value on Facebook happens at least once a week, but this one is really a great reminder to the general public. Here’s the message: Artists work, they are not fooling around with a “hobby” left over from childhood. It’s real work to produce art, and it’s also something that most people can’t do, so it’s valuable. Because few people can do it, it’s actually more valuable than most work. Yet, most artists do not make much from their work.
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01/22/12

Goodbye January, Hello 2012

My goal for this month was to complete at least 4 paintings, and I may get there, and I may not. Two are nearly done, two more are nearly done, and two are at least started.

Pictured above is one of the things that I did complete, a painting already half finished when I found it buried under other paper, and now called “Grizzly”.  It’s  part of my Endangered series I just started, and will be part of an exhibit this summer.  I won’t reveal the exact venue for this show just yet.

Already in 2012 I feel a bit over-extended.  I have promised 3 shows and want to be in at least 2-3 others.

So these are my three on-going series in 2012:  Endangered (endangered animals, including people) is the first,  and second is Image-inations, which is inspired by my fascination with the future, and all things steampunk and future-Victorian.  This theme was inspired by one of the greatest TV shows of all time (at least in my opinion):  Firefly.  Firefly was steampunk before it even really existed in the general consciousness, and though it was cancelled in 2002, it remains a bit of a cult favorite among its fans, to this day.  The fans of the show were called Browncoats, and I was, for a time, a die-hard Browncoat.  I even owned and operated a website devoted to Firefly art, called Firefly Graphics.  Alas, it is no more.  I am left with a more dystopian view of the future now, mixed with elements of a simpler life, driven by some fear for our climate, and inspired by different forms of travel than we use now, like steam power and airships.  This future includes people fueled by their wits, charm, persuasion, and maybe even some theft . . . . which brings us back to Firefly, which was basically a show about a band of space thieves in the future, after earth had been mostly “used up”.

My third on-going series is  called Imbalance, which will be the theme of my WARM show in May, 2012.  More on this later.  Imbalance is about the imbalance of humans in our relationship to our environment.   All of these themes are evolving and in development.  And by writing this out I just discovered that my 3 themes are from a past, present and future viewpoint.  Here they are:

Endangered — the past.  (creatures who are or who will soon only exist in the past)

Imbalance — the present.  The current situation of environmental destruction and our reactions to it.  (mostly helpless).

Image-inations — one possible future.

So there you have it, my 2012 art will be kind of like A Christmas Carol, without the ghosts.

 

 

 

01/17/12

Essential Art / Catch 22

Don't Steal This Artwork -- Buy my Freaking Stuff

The Essential Art Juried Art juried exhibit, sponsored by Visual Arts Minnesota, is currently showing at the Paramount Gallery in St. Cloud. Shelly Leitheiser’s watercolor painting “San Jose Street Scene” is included in the show, which includes approximately 32 artworks, both 2D and 3D from artists all around the state of Minnesota. You can see this show now through January 31, 2012.

The website for the show and reception is here.

The slideshow doesn’t show much, only about 4-5 artworks are shown (and of those, one painting appears repeatedly*) (and it’s not mine!). The reception also had a better crowd than what is portrayed in the slide show. I wish more people would come to these receptions, but at least go to the Paramount and catch the exhibit! Local artists are very fortunate and grateful to have exhibits like this in our city.  (The painting above is not my entry into the show, that is seen below in an earlier post.)

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01/12/12

Working and Thinking About How to Stand Out as an Artist

How does an artist stand out from all the others?

I have no idea, obviously, but I think from recent local events that in certain locations (mine) it helps to be a man if you want to be taken seriously (more on that some other day).  In a related vein, I’m sorry I missed this event, because I agree that artists are entrepreneurs.

WARM member Robyn Hendrix recently attended Giant Steps, a one-day, interactive conference of inspiring folks forging their own paths and designing their own vision of work and life. Robyn shares how the day filled her with food for thought and left her digesting inspiration.

Giant Steps: So much food for thought, my brain has a tummyache.  In a good way.

What is Giant Steps?  Giant Steps is a remarkable one day conference for creative entrepreneurs of all types, founded by Susan Campion of Camponovo Consulting and M.anifest.  It brings together creative professionals, artists, foodies, business owners, consultants, freelancers, nonprofit and/or arts administrators, musicians, dancers, photographers, filmmakers, and anyone else who wants to be at the table.

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12/19/11

Pretty Much Done or in Progress

I have three art shows next year that are not part of art crawls so I have a lot of work to output in these next five months. I am not panicking yet but I probably will be doing just that in about two months.

Meanwhile, I am doing some small things just to have a few things to store and use if I need them (they are not necessarily what I’ll be putting in any show, but they very well may be used.)  The first is above, called “Solar, Duh” for now. I’m sure I’ll name it something better later. The second is below, and I’m calling it “Memories of Ice”.  It will have a companion canvas finished soon. They are both in 3D!  (But you don’t need the zany glasses to appreciate them).

This is 8″ x 8″.

The third is below that and has no proper title yet either, because my brain has already moved on and now I’m painting a steampunk spaceship in a purple sky. (And believe it or not, doing absolutely no drugs of any kind, except caffeine of course).  This is 8″ x 10″.

I don’t know if I’ll post again before this weekend because I’ve been lazy at blogging  lately.  I’ve been working on my new website called MN ART BUZZ and trying to design that with a look that is more exciting than the current one.  If you know of Minnesota artists who should be featured on it, let me know.  And I’ve been trying to get some of my paintings posted around on all the internet sites I exhibit on. This is frustratingly slow and requires me to have something to say about everything, and sometimes I have nothing to say about a painting at all, believe it or not. So I have to come up with some fascinating gibberish and that’s not always easy.

So anyway, if I do not write more before this weekend, Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all ! who stumble upon this blog.  May your 2012 be wonderful and happy and all of that.

12/13/11

Is Any Idea Art?

There are very few people I have had this discussion with and I’m not sure of the answer. Can any idea be art? For example, here is an idea using “found objects” i.e., garbage, or what would be trash, only it’s been glued to a surface to make a new object.

This item sold on an art website as a piece of art.

I’ve taken many art history classes so just to be clear, I’m very aware of the many art movements from the last century and before that have used trash or found objects and used them for and as art work. But my question today is more of the nature of wondering whether basically anything, associated with an idea, can be declared art.
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12/7/11

Water Based Dreams


I’m painting more ocean scenes, mainly because I like them, and like a lot of northerners, I wish I lived by the ocean — somewhere in the south. Specifically though, I have always felt an affinity and connection to oceans. Here in Minnesota we are 100% land-locked, though we have a lot of lakes. Lakes are pretty, but they are not the sea. They are totally different, more like ponds compared to an ocean. The closest thing we have is Lake Superior, and that is 300 miles north of me. Every now and then I try to take a trip of some kind to visit the ocean, but it’s too expensive to do that every year.

These are smaller paintings. Rough Seas is 12″ x 12″ and Purple Seas is 8″ x 10″. Both are acrylic on canvas, and both are for sale. I will have them listed for sale on Fine Art America soon. I plan on starting a lot of small paintings this month, mostly having themes of sky, storms and night skies.

Purple Sea

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11/30/11

Planet Earth Art Exhibit

The local arts organization sponsored several themed juried art exhibits this year, and the last on the list is the Planet Earth exhibit. My painting “Erosion” (which you can see here) was juried into this show, which you can read more about in that previous post too.

Below are more photos from the exhibit.

I hope everyone in the central Minnesota area can make it to see this show. Studio C is in the lower level of the Paramount building, which is directly downtown near the Falcon Bank. You can’t miss it. It’s an unusually strong show, in my opinion, and not because of my painting but because of the other artwork in it. There are some very unique pieces and I’m very happy to see St. Cloud art shows branching out into accepting more mixed media and collage and unusual things in general.

11/26/11

Visit a Local Art Gallery for Small Business Saturday

You have probably heard of Small Business Saturday. It’s a day when people are promising to visit a real small business (not a Mega-Mart) and buy at least one thing in that small business. I would like to extend this to include small local art galleries. Not the big Mega-Galleries, but the small galleries where local artists (small business people) are displaying their work. Hint: they want you to buy it. I, and a lot of other good artists, am in two local art exhibits at the moment. One is called Planet Earth (pics of that one in the next post) and the other one is called the Wrap Up show, sponsored by the Great River Arts Association in Little Falls, Minnesota. These exhibits are good examples of small gallery shows that lots of artists depend on to show their work and hopefully, some day, if the stars all align properly, make some art sales. So when you are considering which small businesses to give your business on Saturday, and other days in the future, consider the small local art galleries. Visit them, and maybe even buy something.

Below is a good preview for you of just such a small gallery, this one in Little Falls at the downtown art gallery. This is part of the Wrap Up show and it will last through December, until January 5th. I have four paintings in this exhibit.

11/20/11

Art Crawl St. Cloud

I didn’t take a lot of photos Friday night during the art crawl, but I did get a few. We had a much larger crowd of people after these were taken so I didn’t have time to take more. It was a good art crawl, though I was expecting more people. But there was a time period of about an hour when the building was very crowded with people looking at our work. The cookies and food were a big hit too, of course.

Inside Shelly's studio, Suite 206

Art Crawl November 18th -- before the bigger crowds came

The next art crawl isn’t until March 2012. If you saw something you liked and wanted to come by to purchase it later, just contact us using the contact forms above.

Next time I should have the ability to accept credit cards so that should make it easier for everyone to get the paintings they like and not worry about paying on the spot. We did sell a few things, but not as much as we had hoped. I talked to someone afterwards and suggested it might be because we don’t accept credit cards so finding a way to accept credit cards will be a priority for me for the next art crawl.

I also have a painting in the Planet Earth exhibit in Studio C at the Paramount. It’s titled “Erosion” and there is a photo on my website here. Please visit the Paramount to see the whole exhibit.

More of our artwork can also be seen in Little Falls at the GRAA art center downtown during their Wrap Up art show.

 

11/20/11

Erosion for Planet Earth

This is my painting  Erosion that I did both for my environmental series, and for the St. Cloud Paramount ‘s “Planet Earth” juried art show. This painting was picked for this show by a juror who is a potter, or ceramic artist, and I’m not sure what to think of that. I know at least one other artist who believes that 3D artists should not be judging 2D work. As a 2D artist, I know I could not honestly juror 3D art and feel fully qualified, because it would not be the type of art of my choice. But I can’t complain about this particular juror because he liked my painting.

This is a 24″ x 26″ painting done in acrylic on canvas.

Continue reading “Erosion for Planet Earth” »

11/17/11

Art Crawl on Friday November 18!

Be sure you check out the last art crawl in central Minnesota before the holidays… the November 18th Art Crawl. This is the first time that Artists at 701 (Dona Koshowany and myself) are officially participating in an advertised capacity. As a result, we have a new website for Artists at 701.

You can meet us and see our art (and more) this Friday, November 18th, at the next downtown St. Cloud art crawl. Come and see us at 701 West St. Germain, from 4:00-9:00 pm. on the 2nd floor.

There will also be a guest artist for the November art crawl — watercolor artist Deb Vander Eyk. All of the artists you can meet this Friday at 701 work in water media, which means acrylic and watercolor, but our work is very different and varied.

We will also have things besides paintings at the art crawl to look at and to purchase, such as cards and other hand-made things, and a few good things to eat too. Yes, that means cookies. Stop by!