You Know You're an Icon When...

For one of my homework assignments this week, I decided to make the point that the Mona Lisa long ago surpassed being a mere portrait. I did this, in part, by stenciling the word "recycle" over the image. It has passed into history as an artistic icon. I'd also say it is officially in the realm of symbol and metaphor...that people all over the world use time and time again. You know how to tell if your work has reached this level?

You know your painting is more than a painting when....

Lego's has built a representation of it,

Miss Piggy...

Lisa Simpson ...

The Far Side cartoons ...

Kim Possible ...

and Madame Tussuad's have all imitated it. And that's not even the tip of the iceberg! I used probably about 100 images of interpretations, parodies, recreations, and reinventions of the Mona Lisa for my project. And there's so many more out there. It's infinite.

I have my BFA in illustration and have quite a few years of art history under my belt. I know all the Mona Lisa history and even some of her "secrets", and I'm still not really sure why it is so popular.

I studied for a winter in France. I went to the Louvre. There were other paintings by Da Vinci that I found much more interesting hanging right outside the door to the gallery that the Mona Lisa was in. Yet, the crowd was so thick around this small portrait that you could barely get through. I might get some backlash for this, but....though it was nice to see it in person, I wasn't super impressed. I wanted to go look at Da Vinci's ginormous painting of Saint Anne, Mary, and Jesus outside in the long gallery:

Gorgeous, right? And no one was standing in front of it except me with my sketchbook. Sigh. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the Mona Lisa. It's just that people miss out on a lot of fabulous work when they narrow their view on art history down to a couple paintings. What are your favorite (non-iconic) paintings?

Mail Art

The image above is one of Ray Johnson's mail art pieces.

For the past year, I've been interested in ATCs (artist trading cards). I even spoke with a fellow Etsian who referred me to the ATC group that she participates in. The problem is that with school, I don't have too much time to create and trade mini works of art, as much as I'd love to.

As I mentioned a couple blogs ago, I recently saw the documentary How To Draw a Bunny which reignited my interest in mail art. Though at the time I didn't know it had a name, I used to do this my friends. I don't think I could keep up with ATCs right now, but I do think I might be able to send out the occasional mail art piece.

Much to my delight, I found a thread on the Etsy forums posted by sparklerama who had also recently seen (and been inspired by) How to Draw a Bunny. We're making plans to send each other some mail art. I'm pretty excited about the prospect.

I'm wondering if anyone out there is involved in an organized mail art group? I've been able to find ATC groups, but just started wondering about mail art. If not, I wonder if it would be possible to get some sort of mail art group together. How would that work? Would you have to send a piece to each person in the group all at once? Or do we all take turns sending one piece to a different person each time? If anyone can enlighten me, I'd be interested to hear it. (o:

The Museum of Bad Art

I spend a lot of time on here talking about really wonderful artists, illustrators, and craftspeople. Sometimes, to better define a thing, you must take a look at its opposite. And by this, I mean bad art. Ahem. Take, for example:


Acrylic on canvas by Sarah Irani, 1995
24"x30"
Donated by the artist

"The flesh tones bring to mind the top shelf liqueurs of a border bistro. With an astonishing emphasis on facial bone structure, the artist flirts with caricature and captures features of Mamma's face which remind us of a Presidential candidate. The upright marionettish pose of the babe hints that the early bond between mother and child is as formal as it is familiar. Good old fashioned parental respect is at the center of this celebration of color and contour." -MOBA

Both the painting and the review above are from The Museum of Bad Art.

Yes. Oh yes, The Museum of Bad Art (otherwise known as MOBA) is a real place. It's located in the basement of the Dedham Community Theater in Dedham, MA. I've been dying to go for years, but still haven't made the trip. If you live nowhere near MA, you can visit them online. There are samples of the collection, information about the museum, and even an online shop. You can even buy their Museum of Bad Art coffee table book which (you better believe) is going on my Christmas list this year.


Often times, what is "good art" can be totally subjective. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and all of that. You might ask - by those standards, how can one can even define bad art? I have a handy tool for you. The Museum of Bad Art's submission guidelines are a good start. They read as follows:

All submitted work must be original works of art (no reproductions). The pieces that we look for would never hang in a museum or commercial gallery, yet they have some quality that draws you to them -- or perhaps grabs you by the throat and won't let go. As a rule we do not accept:

•Works painted on velvet
•Paint-by-number
•Any of the well known kitschy motifs (dogs playing cards, big eyed kids and all that) unless they break new ground in a startling way.

Much of the works in the museum have been found on the side of the road next to trash bins, discovered in flea markets, inherited with a house, or donated directly by the proud bad artists themselves. The museum reviews and "critiques" each work almost like a classical museum would. The only difference being the outcome is hilarious.

If you get offended at people poking fun at well-intentioned (albeit completely unskilled) art, I suggest you don't visit the site. However, for those a bit more lighthearted, go take a peek. You wind up kind of loving each painting for it's badness. I know it always gives me a smile. Enjoy!

Outcome of the contest I entered....

UPDATE:

I got a call on Friday while I was at work. It was a woman from the art contest I entered. I won third place in the professional category...for my woodblock print that I did 8 years ago. NOT the portrait I stayed up all night painting this week. I knew I shouldn't have painted on the glass - it really detracted from all the work I did on the portrait. I was trying to be innovative and creative. By the time I figured out that it wasn't working in my favor, it too late to buy a new frame. Oh well. You live, you learn. I still think it's worth experimenting.

In any event, this particular contest is really traditional. You won't see anything really avante guarde or innovative. Most of the awards go to still lifes or pretty landscapes. Yep. "Pretty landscapes" is the major recurring theme. Aaaand which of my pieces won a prize? You got it. The pretty landscape. LOL. However, there is a silver lining to this mini-fiasco...at least my dad's father's day present is finished. He can re-frame it however he likes. Hopefully without that stupid glass in front of it. Sigh.

The awards ceremony is next Thursday at 4:00 at City Hall. (o:

Note to self: start painting for next year's contest NOW. Lol.

Hello...? *crickets*

Yesterday I finally posted pics of my painting and...not a single comment from the peanut gallery. )o: I hope you guys aren't going by the "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." mantra. I would love some feedback. Even if it's just a critique on what I could've/should've done.

On a happier note, I was featured in yet another treasury!

And profiled (interview and all) in a lovely blog by fellow Etsian, Princess Tiffany's Creations. Read it here!

Painting Pics

Just a quick disclaimer: these photos stink. I was taking them at 2:30 in the morning after I'd been hovering over this thing all day. I'll get "real" snapshots when I get this painting back in August. But for now, here you go. The first image is just of the portrait portion of the painting. At this point, it was probably about 50% completed:



Those are Edith Piaf lyrics around the edge. It says, "Si un jour la vie t'arrache a moi/ si tu meurs, que tu sois loin de moi/ peu m'importe, si tu m'aimes car moi je mourrai aussi...Nous aurons pour nous l'eternite dans le bleu de toute l'immensite/ dans le ciel, plus de problemes/ Mon Amour, crois-tu qu'on s'aime? Dieu reunit ceux qui s'aiment!"
I don't know how to type the accents over the letters in Blogger, so you'll just have to imagine I put them there.

The next sloppy picture is of the finished product. Please pretend you can't see all those godforsaken smudges on the glass...or my poor husband forced to hold this thing while I take pictures with his camera that I kidnapped:



The portrait based on a photo taken of my grandparents at their 50th wedding anniversary. You can't really see the drawing on the glass in the above photo, but that portion is based on my grandparents' wedding portrait from 1940.



I know this pic is completely blurry, but you can see the line drawing a bit better without the flash.

So that's it, folks. That's what I've been slaving over all week. I hope you're not disappointed. I'm still not sure what I think of my own work. I like the portrait part of it, but the rest...uhhhhhhh. Either that painting on the glass is a tiny bit edgy and unique, or it's a hot mess. I really don't think there's an in between. This morning, I was definitely leaning towards "hot mess". Then again, I hate every single thing I do for a little while after I finish it. Maybe in two days I'll love it again like I did while I was working on it.

I wish I had the time to post pics on my blog before it was due, ask my readers' for critiques, and then submit it to the contest. But, as we all know, I am the reigning Queen of Procrastination Land and seriously lack in all kinds of time management skills...so that wasn't going to happen.

Instead, let's do the next best thing and be Monday morning quarterbacks - what should I have done? Leave the portrait as-is? Or do you like the glass painting thing? Either way, it's going to belong to my dad after this is over (those are his parents), and he can do with it what he likes.

Oh! I just remembered...I wanted to show you my poor neglected second entry into the contest. It's a semi-abstracted ukiyo-e woodblock print that I did years ago after a trip to France. It's a view from a path on Monte Sainte Victoire. That's the mountain that Cezanne painted over and over and over...



Now...what do I want to work on next? (o:

Done.

I did it! I finished my painting!

I started working at 8 a.m. yesterday morning and wasn't done (and in bed) until 2:30 a.m. this morning. I swear, I think I'm the slowest painter on the planet.

I might've mentioned this before, but the painting I was working on is a portrait of my grandparents on their 50th anniversary matted and framed. Along the edge of the mat are some of the lyrics to the Edith Piaf Song "Hymne a L'amour". (My fam is French Canadian). On the glass in white, I painted an outline of the portrait of them on their wedding day.

While I'm painting, I zone out in a major way. My brain is just on an entirely different plane. Yesterday was no different. I swear, I'd work a little bit, look up and the clock said two hours had passed! This happened all day.

I was really happy with the thing while I was working on it, but wasn't so thrilled with it when I finished. This always happens to me. When I'm in the middle of something, I'm rockin' and rollin' and feel like, "I'm awesome!" But by the time it's a finished product, I hate it. After all was said and done, I showed the finished painting to my husband. I was like, "Is the painting on the glass obscuring all the work I did on the portrait?" He shrugged and said, "Kind of." Great. Now I don't want to show it to anyone. Too late for that now.

This morning before work, I dropped off my two pieces with the contest people. I was also dropping off two photos for my dad. (He entered too.) The group of people who were tagging and collecting the work were cheery and laid-back. There was open ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the various pieces of artwork coming in. (Don't worry, these folks are not the judges.) From the little I saw, it seems that there may be stiffer competition this year than there was the last time I entered two years ago. Of course, they've opened the contest up quite a bit since then.

The woman helping me enter and tag all the work I brought in finally got around to tagging my painting. I had the artwork part facing me so that she could sticker the back. She asked, "Can I see?" I turned my painting around, and felt the heat creeping up to my face. I was totally embarrassed! What the heck??? One of the other ladies helping tag items said, "That's interesting. How did you come up with that?" I just shrugged and stammered out an explanation of what it was and that it was supposed to be a Father's Day gift for my dad last year but that I just finished it this month. (I didn't mention anything about being up til the wee hours of this morning!) After everything was stickered, they told me the date of the awards ceremony and wished me luck before I high-tailed it outta there!

I was so confident before, but now I'm having doubts I'll win anything this year. (Two years ago, I got second place in the Professional category.) I suppose even if I don't get anything, my work will be hanging up in City Hall for the whole summer. *Shrug*

I didn't get a chance this morning to upload pics so I'll try to do that when I get home tonight. If my studio isn't suffocatingly hot, of course. (I haven't been able to venture up there for 3 days now!!!)

There is an awards ceremony on Thursday, June 26 at 4 p.m. at City Hall in Manchester. The show will be up from that date until early August for those of you who want to stop in. I'll give more detailed info in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'll be waiting for some sort of phone call over the next two weeks. Last time, I got a message on my answering machine saying they were pleased to announce I won something (no mention of what, however) and inviting me to the awards ceremony. I'll be waiting! Lol.

Down to the wire!

Just wanted to update you guys really quick. I took a personal day off of work today so I could finish my painting and turn it in for judging tomorrow. It's 8 a.m. and I'm feeling fairly confident that I can get this thing done today. I'll be back with pics and an update when I'm done. Wish me luck!

Transparency

Either my readers are incredibly astute judges of character, or I'm completely transparent. The following was my favorite comment received on my blog this weekend (I've left out the name just in case this person wasn't interested in being mentioned!) This cracked me up:

reader: Honeydew-congrats to your friend-but get painting!!! The deadline is looming, and there is a piece of work waiting to tell it's story... :)
Cheering you on!

Oh man. You have me pegged, that's for sure! From now on, I'm going to leave it up to you guys to give me the much-needed kick in the pants. In regards to the aforementioned as-of-yet-unfinished painting (which has a Wednesday drop-off due date) this is how my weekend broke down:

Friday: when I got home, I immediately went to my studio. I decided to stop working on the portrait part of my piece for a little bit and work on one of the other 3 layers instead. I painted some lyrics to an Edith Piaf song around the edge of my mat. I decided to play the song while working. Bad. Idea. Ok, playing a heartbreaking Edith Piaf song while hovering over a painting of your deceased French grandparents is not a wise idea. I spent half of my evening sobbing before I decided it was time for bed.

Saturday: got up early to work in my studio. I finished painting the edge of the mat while (wisely) choosing to listen to NPR's morning programming. Car Talk and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me! are much happier choices than Edith Piaf. I also got some work done on the portrait portion of the painting. Work actually lasted into the afternoon--even though by then I was absolutely sweltering. My studio is in the loft. Imagine working in an attic with two skylights in the middle of the summer, and you get the idea. I stopped painting when I received a dinner invitation from my mom. Dinner with my mother and family friends turned into a chit-chat with everyone in her living room until 10 at night.

When I got home, I found out that my best friend had finished his album and his website (which I blogged about below). This led to a flurry of e-mailing and messaging with him. While online I, of course, logged onto Etsy. I was shocked to find that my hearts and views had exploded. I had no idea why, so I asked around in the forums. People said that one of my plush characters had been on the front page for a long time on Saturday. OMG. It's been a mini-fantasy of mine to someday make it to the front page...and I missed it!!! I suppose I can't live my entire life on Etsy, though. (Just most of it. Haha!) I was psyched though. Looks like there were good vibes for both Ryan and I on Saturday.

But...so much for finishing the painting that evening.

Sunday: tried to hit the studio again in the morning. I sat miserably in a puddle of sweat totally unable to function, let alone paint. Once the hubby woke up, I forced him to take the air conditioners out of the closet and put them to use. One goes in our kitchen/living room area and the other goes in our bedroom. I moved my painting and supplies from The Inferno to downstairs at the kitchen table. The hubs left to go hang out with one of his buddies, I watched tv, painted for a teeny bit, got lonely, and then called my sister. We had dinner, a bottle of chilled pino grigio, and watched a movie over her place. (Hey, can you blame me? The girl has central air!) Buuuut...I'm still not done my painting.

This is why I'm thinking I'll need to take a day off tomorrow. It's no big deal. I have 2 personal days that I have to use up before the end of June, otherwise I lose them. And I've got a lot to do. I still have to finish the portrait portion of my painting. The mat is at least 95% done. Then, there will be a painting on the glass of the frame. Which I haven't even started yet. Ahem.

I can do it! Really! I swear, it'll be done by Wednesday. Just watch me. (o;

Still painting...

I know I've disappeared for a bit. Apologies to those of you who actually read this thing. I'm under a bit of a crunch right now, as I have to finish that painting for the contest I entered. And you know me, I'm the Queen of Procrastination! Next Wednesday is the date I have to drop everything off for the judging. I would say I'm barely 50% finished. Eeep!
I've also decided to submit a Ukiyo-e woodblock print of Mont Sainte Victoire I created a while back. (At least that one is done. Ha!)

I won't be posting any pictures of my half-finished painting. I hate showing people my work when it's half-finished. Unless, of course, those people are other artists helping me with feedback or a critique. It's kind of like going into a dressing room. You really only need your sister or your best friend in there with you to tell you that yes, your butt looks big in those pants--don't buy them. For everyone else, though, it feels like I'm standing in front of strangers in my underwear. That's just unnessesary.

Most of the time I have a very specific concept in mind, and I find it impossible to explain it. I end up feeling like a babbling fool in front of the bare-bones of a painting. You certainly can't get the message from what's coming out of my mouth, and since the painting isn't finished - you aren't getting my message from that either. I don't want to wind up looking like one of those "crazy artists". Soooo...you'll have to wait until my painting is complete to see pictures. If I did my job successfully, you'll "get it" by looking at it and I'll save myself the embarassment of having to explain it to you. Really, this particular piece isn't that "deep", but it does have 3 distinctly different elements incorporated into it. What I can tell you is that my painting is based off of these two photos of my grandparents:


The top one is of them on their wedding day, and the bottom one was them on their 50th wedding anniversary. (The 1980s just barely finished up - hence the shoulder pads and big glasses.) Stay tuned...(o;

Tag! I'm It!

First, a little game. I got tagged today by Gina. So, here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.*
3. Find the fifth sentence.**
4. Post the next three sentences, so if my math is correct that’d be sentences six, seven and eight.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the blogger who tagged you.

Here's mine: "Trade books have become part of the curriculum because we hope they will interest children and help them become literate in the full sense of the word. Given this goal, it is important to let the trade books be as interesting as they can be. It is important not to ruin the power of trade books by turning them into nothing more than material fore exercises, mere sources of information on topics or for teaching moral lessons."

Meh. I'm at work (at a literacy-based school), so whaddya expect? Lol. I don't have time to tag others right now, so I'll have to get to that part later. Thanks for the little brain-break, Gina! (o:

In other news, I got a ton encouragement from everyone yesterday regarding entering that local art contest in two weeks. So much so, in fact, that last night I went back to work on my long-abandoned painting. I only had an hour to work on it before bed, but you'd be surprised how far you can get with a mere 60 minutes. I feel pretty good about it (so far). I'll try desperately to get it done in time for the competition. Thank you for all the support and feedback. I'll keep you all posted!

For some reason...

I'm a nervous wreck! Let me give you a little background first:

Two years ago, I submitted a painting to an annual art contest, and won second place in the professional category. (Cash prizes, folks! Woo-hoo!) I didn't submit last year because I had no finished and framed artwork to enter. This year, the contest is going on again (I just found out today) and I really want to enter. The problem? The deadline to turn in the registration form is June 9.

I kinda sorta have something to submit this year. It's a painting I started working on last summer that was put on hold (I was interrupted by 4 commissions, and then school), so it's still not finished. I have a lot of work to do on it, as it was going to be a rather complicated piece. I am absolutely DYING to submit something this year!!! The question is - can I finish a rather complex piece in 2 weeks?!?! What if I send in my registration form, but then can't complete the piece I said I was submitting???

Anyone care to help me with a solution to this dilemma? Or should I just start painting my butt off and pray? (C'mon guys, tell me I'm nuts or cheer me on! I need one or the other. Lol.)

Procrastination Station

I've been thinking about intentionally neglecting my online shop(s) for a little while. For some time, I got super-obsessed with updating and maintaining it, and all that diligence did for me was snag one very tiny sale. It's just not worth it. Not until my HGTV show airs, anyway. Frankly, I'm starting to think the real reason I have a shop at all is for the art community...because I'm certainly not making any money. I've taken all the advice there is regarding promotions and shop updates, but I'm still not making regular sales. (Sorry, Etsy. I love you, but what have you done for me lately?) I do better with commissions.

And besides, I have a few other projects that got pushed to the side ages ago that could use some TLC. The area behind my drafting desk looks like The Isle of Lost Art. One of the "lost" is a painting I was working on as a gift for my dad...for Father's Day. Last summer. Yikes. It's a tribute to my paternal grandparents. I had this grand idea to have a base painting of their 50th anniversary photo, and then paint their wedding portrait on glass over it:

There were also some Edith Piaf lyrics involved, but that's beside the point. The point is that it was never finished. It's going to be even harder to finish it now, too. Though my grandfather passed away when I was 19, my grandmother just passed away while I was in the middle of doing the painting. Guess I gotta just get to it...maybe with a box of Kleenex on hand.

Needless to say, when left to my own devices, I NEVER finish ANYTHING. I think this is why I went into illustration. This is why I need to be an illustrator. You get a client. That client gives you a deadline that you need to meet otherwise you don't get paid. Deadlines do a lot for me. I can meet a deadline, even if doing so nearly kills me. I'm good at meeting deadlines. If I invent my own project, there's no deadline. Which means I can keep working (or not) on something until the end of time. Which usually means it gets abandoned half-finished. By the time I get back around to it, the idea is so old that I've lost inspiration.

Also, my studio is a hot MESS. I would post a picture to prove it, but it's simply so shameful that I need an "after" picture to redeem the "before". Since I haven't cleaned yet there will be no pics today, folks. It's probably just as well. I'm going to make an attempt at some sort of organization and cleaning in here this afternoon. I know the hubby wishes the fridge was my priority, but I've got to organize my studio first...for my own sanity. Sorry honey. Wish me luck!