life,death, food, and art

Sounds like a name for a pretentious "artsy-fartsy" movie doesn't it? Well, I *love* "artsy-fartsy" movies! Especially "artsy-fartsy" movies about artists.

Either being a bio or a made up artist, anything that sheds some light on the odd inner workings of artists is always a welcome thing. Now I do confess that some older movies like to play up the cliché' of the starving artist who is nothing but a misunderstood pariah of the upper crust art collectors/gallery owners/ established artists who are really nothing more than puppets of the "Man".

Yeah, ok those storylines are fun but not everyone necessarily had a Van Gogh lifestyle. He is my hero though and will always be. Movies such as Pollock, Frida,Theo and Vincent and even American Splendor ( bio of the underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar) are truly wonderful for the simple fact they show more aspects of the artists and the people in their lives.

Take for instance, a lot of people- artists and non-artists alike- heard of Jackson Pollock...but oddly and sadly enough none had heard of or knows much about his wife and manager ,Lee Krasner.

She was one of the most motivated and original women artists of that time in my humble opinion. It is also a shame that there had to be division of artists by gender. Many collectors and agents took few women seriously in the visual arts.

Luckily light has been shed on them then and now.

Hmm, now why do I have food in the title? Mostly for two reasons. One of my housemates from a long ago past era was (still is maybe) an experimental cook. All us were are all in my old  household are coming up with inventive ideas for us and for "feasts" at SCA events.
Thinking of our simple but oh-so-good feasts had my mind wander to food artists. I am sure some of you have watched them on channels such as the Food Network in those competitions where they create the most amazing sculptures with edible mediums.

I see that as viable as art as I do the Mona Lisa ,and more tasty I am sure.

Back to my "artsy-fartsy" movies. Some may view all things on film as art. I love action movies and I fully am aware of the talented artists who made possible. Actors,Directors,Gaffers,Props People,Writers,Wardrobe,Background Art and/or Miniatures.

Strangely enough I don't see such movies like Die Hard as "art"...even though artists made it. How odd. It then occurred to me that it is the same thing as commercial art. Who looks at a can of peas, a layout for a tool catalogue, or newspaper ad for a department store and thinks...."Wow..now that is a beautiful art piece?".

Not many do; even other artists. Especially the elitists who sees it as beneath them. The person who designed that billboard or vacuum cleaner ad is a real artist too. They know how to draw. They know composition and colour theory.

Being a former commercial artist ( who in fact had designed all of those products) it is no fun. Yes it is a nice, steady source of income. Yes it allows you to apply your talent to a viable job. But your name is never known except in the advertising circles and then only if you're damned lucky.

So this makes me ponder as to why I am such a hypocrite when it comes to your average Action movie made by anything but average artists.

It seems the one unifying element is the masses of consumers being happy and spending money for an active economy; especially padding the pockets of Producers ,Studio executives, and Stockholders.

So does economical viability make a product, be it an ad, jingle,talkshow, or summer movie less of an artistic endeavor?

In some ways I think it does. Maybe it all comes down to that ideal of selling out; even if it merely a subconscious act. We all fall for it too.

So lets go back to the Action Movie. Is it art? Is it art after all of that knowledge of who made it make it art? My pragmatic mind says yes. I do justify my words and feel comforted by the fact though art can be art but not always "good".

Many people compare Kandinsky to their 3 year old's scribbles. You know what, I find many scribbles of some 3 year olds pretty damned good. As I see it raw talent has no age limit.

I put death in the title too. Well, I don't plan on babbling on about some metaphysic thought or tossing out words of wisdom. I think the subject of death- be it literal or metaphor- threads throughout this entry.

And now I will do what a Nihilist thinks of death. I will just stop now.

Kristof

Breakfast in the French Quarter

 
 My day was busy, productive and pleasant.
Of course now I am worn out...and wish to magickally produce dinner !! 
 The weather today was a bit breezy and cool but not intolerable at all, until the sun started setting then that wind off the Mississippi got a bit chilly. I try and keep an up to date sketch diary every time I go out ( grocery shopping doesn't count really). Today's quick painting was where I had breakfast and coffee. This is my view from my table at La e Divina's cafe and gelateria off of St Pete's ( right off Pirate's alley). That cool green front of a shop across the street was an antique dealer, M.S  Rau Antiques off Royal. Perhaps this may be a larger painting some day. I would love to capture better how the morning sun shone through the red-orange tarp over the cafe tables.

When one lives with a crafter

  

The majority of my "formal" art training deals in paint,pencil, airbrush and design...
I was never good at "crafts" or so I thought. I define crafts as anything that is basically not a painting or traditional sculpture. That was an elitist ideal I admit, and one entertained by most fine artists still.
 Not that I turned up my nose or saw them as lesser artists, just something I thought I'd  A) not have the skill/patience/ intertest in pursuing and B) Have the time! My family were crafty people. They crochted, sewed, made little decrorative and useful items all of the time. The kind you see at arts and crafts fairs. The kind of things now completely permeating the new market place of the internet; such as Etsy, Ebay and Pinterest and YouTube.

Remember the days for us artists , when we wanted instruction that didn't include paid for schooling we relied on video tape intructions one could order from any art catalogue or wait eagerly for your local PBS station to show Bob Ross' show "Joy of Painting" and his happy clouds or one of my personal faves,
Helen Van Wyk who hosted "Welcome to my studio" .

Now ANYthing can be learned on YouTube in the arts and crafts genre. Very inventive and fun things too! That leads me to the photos and the title of this post. I live with a very talented crafter and artist. She is obsessed ( I mean this pretty literally) with beads, wire and glitter. More so, she has opened up my pre mentioned slightly art snobby eyes to her world. One day she eagerly sat me down in front of the computer to show off her newest finding on YouTube. What things you can do with Aleene's Tacky Glue .
It seems, when Aleene was testing to see if it was flammable or not, she discovered a nifty thing and this was revealed to us with a squirrel like excitement how cool it was!. On any surface, but they used a paper bag cut out in a preferred shape, smear the glue on thickly. Have a high flamed candle and run the glue coated surface along the tip of the flame to make it soot black. ( have the item on something like s stick, wire, etc so your fingers aren't near the flame and all the surface can be heated ) Leave it a bit longer in some spots and let it bubble up like some mad scientist experiment! You can then carefully push the still soft but sooted/burnt glue around to make patterns. When it is dried more, gently rub off the soot and a smooth, volcanic glass like substance is left behind. On top of that rub in metalic paint. paste..paint..etc..and it adheres to the ridges and glosses over the smoother spots.
Then Viola! You have faux metal.
As you can see on the examples I did above it looks pretty nifty eh? Those were done on cut out corrugated cardboard. I smeared some gold and silver dust used in my clays, then spots of paint. The larger heart had coloured 24 gauge wire glued to it underneath and I simply scratched off some of the dried glue over top to reveal the red wire underneath.
You can imagine the limitless possibilities. This can be done on wood, paper, plastic..anything. The glue protects the surface underneath and you don't hold it over the candle stationary. Look up the idea on YouTube or on Aleene's site for tutorials.
The larger photo are the hearts taken under an incandescant light and the second is under a full spectrum light.
So, now I am using this glue thingy technique on EVERYTHING...and thinking of the possibilities of how to embellish ATC/ACEOs, paintings, cards, gift boxes..etc.
 THIS..is what one gets when they live with a crafter! Thank the gods...

PAX

Surviving Fallow times

January can be a tough time of transition for most full time artists. It is a bit difficult at times to come down off the holiday buying frenzy high - when it seemed everyone was commissioning items from me for gifts for their loved ones. Left and right, I was handed money, asked for more things. I was working right up until Solstice and only then had the time to actually make the things  I wanted to gift my friends and loved ones.  I loved it though. That frenzy of activity and of course, the money that went right back out into the economy to purchase extra little gifts and feasting supplies!
Now, my commerce has lowered to a drizzle of offers. I am very grateful for what I do get , of course. It is a lean time in the pantry now and after essential bills had been paid, and the last extravagance of New Year's feasting was done...it is back to rice suppers. 
However, me and the artist I live with have been just as , if not more , busier than ever in our studios. I have had a few sparse projects here and there from some internet sales, but mainly I am able to focus on two things.
 Organize and clean the newly required studio space and dream big on how someday, it will be all mine. Owned.
The other thing is to work on projects I wanted to do. Large scale paintings and smaller works, like more illustrations and ACEO/ATC cards.

 This down time also gives me space to think, plan and prepare for what I feel will be a very very busy upcoming year. The next Chinese year will be of the Snake. Black Water snake to be exact. It means more profit..but with an air of caution. This is the year to read the small print, do one's homework, and be mindful of everything.
That is sometimes an obstacle of mine. I get so excited when any offer comes I forget to sit back and think about it.
 I have this tendency to pounce upon ANY chance to exhibit my works in a stone and brick Gallery like a starving man on a piece of bread. Eager is good. Desperation is unattractive. It sends the wrong vibes and more often then not, you don't get what it is you wanted so badly.
I had currently sent my website address to a gallery in the French Quarter, Creason's Fine Art Gallery .
I come across Greg and his gallery via ART New Orleans Magazine ( which I discovered via their local PBS show). Check them out, as well as their Facebook page. 

I was thrilled to had gotten such a nice and prompt response from the Gallery owner, Greg  Creason.
Of course, I was then tossed into stomach churning anxiety as I sent my little growing website with its smaller showcase of what I considered my best existing pieces thus far. I even considered showing him what I had sold at the 2011 Fringe Festival in New Orleans....but didn't yet. I take stock in the fact he can look through all the links I offered that shows the body of work from years past as well.
So, I sit here, biting non existent nails, not knowing when he looked through my portfolios, who may had looked with him and what they truly think. Does he love it? Does he hate it? Does he think I "have promise" but will need to step up the bar and get back to them later? I don't know yet.

It is an exhilarating yet slightly nauseous process, this fallow time. I am doing my best to enjoy it and use it to my full advantage. Take stock in what I have, build up my works and prepare for anything. Mostly, ironically, the hardest thing for artists to prepare for is success. It is daunting. We have heard all our lives that as an artist we must "suffer and starve" and MAYBE get recognition after we died.
That is truly hogwash. I have spent many tear drenched hours rewiring my brain to NOT accept that as a given reality. I am ready now to accept.
The seeds lay dormant under the turned and harvested soil ; still hard with frost...but when the sun warms the Earth, they will come back. So will I.
PAX

Words from the Black Two Lips

 (The Black Tulip owner's blog)

Strength, long life, perseverance, luck, prosperity, abundance, harmony

The koi are a symbol of strength, perseverance, luck, prosperity, abundance, harmony and long life. In asian mythology the koi spend their life fighting up the Yangtze river. If they survive the journey, they become a dragon of good helping those that helped them.
 I figured the best way to begin this blog was with a strong symbol. One to bring in all those elements listed above.
Also, being born the year of the dragon I'd like to consider myself transformed. I have had many many experiences and people help me greatly all my life along this twisting and unexpected path as an artist and person. So now, I feel it is my duty, right and great privilege to return this favour, as the legend of the Koi transformed to Dragon implies.

So how do I plan to do this with a humble artist's babbling blog? It seems a very simple idea for me. I have this dream of helping to promote and showcase artists of like mind with me.

Who I am  ( or at least the image I give) is plastered all over my little bios on various social networks and on line portfolios and shops. It is here too. So I don't feel a need to repeat it again and again. One may think I have a huge ego. Well, okay, I have a healthy one I have anxiously nurtured over the years.
So again, back to my dream.  It starts with the name of My Etsy Shop. The Black Tulip. That reference is from a public room I have on the 3d chat program imvu. The reason I chose that name for that room was because of a poem I love. It spoke to me and my "gothy" vibes.

" Between the dark and the daylight,when the night is beginning to flower,comes a pause in days occupation, That is known as the Black Tulip hour "
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

So cool huh?
 Anyway, my dream.

To gather and help promote like minded artists in a virtual AND outerworld gallery. Outerworld is a fond term for the life outside of this cyber one. What most people call " Real Life". All of this is "real" so, that term is too misleading. I came to use that term Outerworld thanks to my Beloved.
What would be considered like minded artists? Well, I can't just say Gothic or dark or vampyric or pagan or spiritual , etc etc etc....that is too narrowing but that is a basic start.
Yes, I want other "goth" artists. Yes, I want others who follow the aesthetic of the classic Victorian Gothic vampyre ideal.  Yes I want pagan and/or pagan friendly types. Yes, I want eco warriors, mystics, shamans, spiritualists, theologians...of all walks of life and religions that share a common thread.
Is this asking too much? Well, no. I don't really think so.
This is a project that will grow organically and of its own pace. As eager as I am to see something "tangible" I know I have to move at the Universe's speed. It knows best. It always does.

For now, I will be content to show off my work and ethics and those I love and admire around me in the artistic field.
It is a humble start, but all acorns grow into trees eventually with a bit of help.

I'd best end this post now or ramble on like a brook.
Please, feel free to leave comments, ideas, questions...I don't mind what. Just SOME kind of feedback. It is an energy I thrive on and need for this monumental project.
Until later,
PAX
Kristof