Art Presentation, Video Postings, Art Show Submission, Classes and the Andre Breton's 'Manifesto of Surrealism'.

Well, it’s been a busy and artfully fulfilling couple of weeks since last I wrote for both Martha and me. With all the work we’ve been up to our ears in with our remodel project it’s a wonder we’ve had time for anything else, but somehow we have.

Martha, for starters completed the series of classes she was teaching for the Icicle Arts Gallery in Leavenworth at the Barn Beach Reserve. She loved doing it and the students really had a great time and a lot of budding artist got some good exposure to making art and getting in touch with their own creativity.

At the same time she got her flier out for her upcoming class to be held September21st in Soap Lake for the Art Guild there at the Las Brisas facility and folk started calling about it this week.

Here at our home studio her students have been making progress on their clay animal figures and Martha has really made some great forays into animal sculpture with the two horses she has been working on. I really like the bust of this horse.

Meanwhile, I have been getting a few things done myself.  I finally got the video of the Artful bike ride of the Apple Capital Loop Trail submitted to Go Wedia the local video sharing site where most of the likely viewers will have the opportunity to see it. And, that just days after I posted a very short video clip on Facebook of folks running in the Color Rush fundraiser over the weekend which I took while riding again on the loop. That was a surprise and kind of a hoot coming off of the Pipeline Bridge only to find a bunch of crazy looking people running and walking with colored flour all over themselves. People tell me they were intrigued by the video clip but were really wondering what in the heck was going on… can’t blame them. I was wonder myself as I shot the video.

But, of greater artful significance for me was my getting my submission into the Orange County center for Contemporary Art this past week. I really hope they accept one or more of my works for this show which is titled ‘Compass – Navigating the Journey to Self-Identity.  Amy V. Grimes, who has degrees in both Art History and Psychology, will be the guest curator for this show. For inspiration she offered this quote from Andre Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism 1924:

"So strong is the belief in life, in what is most fragile in life - real life, I mean - that in the end this belief is lost. Man, that inveterate dreamer, daily more discontent with his destiny, has trouble assessing the objects he has been led to use, objects that his nonchalance has brought his way, or that he has earned through his own efforts, almost always through his own efforts for he has agreed to work, at least he has not refused to try his luck (or what he calls his luck!).  At this point he feels extremely modest: he knows what women he has had, what silly affairs he has been involved in; he is unimpressed by his wealth or his poverty, in this respect he is still a newborn babe and, as for the approval of his conscience, I confess that he does very nicely without it. If he still retains a certain lucidity, all he can do is turn back toward his childhood which, however his guides and mentors may have botched it, still strikes him as somehow charming. There, the absence of any known restrictions allows him the perspective of several lives lived at once; this illusion becomes firmly rooted within him; now he is only interested in the fleeting, the extreme facility of everything. Children set off each day without a worry in the world. Everything is near at hand, the worst material conditions are fine. The woods are white or black, one will never sleep."

That being digested and politics being one of the described subsets to Identity that were described in the prospectus, I decided to submit three of my Peace Art works.  The exhibition will take place in October and November at the OCCCA in Santa Ana, Ca.  The days to physically submit and accepted works coincides with the time we will be in the O.C. for family events; so the timing couldn’t be better. Let’s hope Amy V. Grimes appreciates my work. 

On a much lighter and entertaining note, last night Martha and I went to Soap Lake to the local Art Guild’s 3^rd Wednesday event at which I was to be one of the three presenters for the night. The other two being Wally Kluver an Abstract painter from the town of Wilbur and David Michaelson a photographer who has taken on the chore of photographing what he described as the ‘passing history’ in rural Grant, Adams and Lincoln Counties. David is also and author of fourteen books including a cook book, a children’s book and several mysteries. Both were very entertaining presenters talking about how they went about their art and told some funny stories along the way.

I was the middle presenter of the three and was able to make what seemed a pretty coherent description of how my art has progressed from simple nature photos to abstract but untouched (no Photoshop) creations to embracing digital photo alteration to the extent of using it as a means to create digital paintings using my own photos as the palate from which I paint, to even returning to brush painting and physical collage based upon designs I created digitally.  

The folks in the audience many of them artists and photographers themselves were very interested in what I presented and came up and asked many questions during the break and at the end of the evening. Some even described how my talk had given them some new inspiration or how they had experimented with some similar

techniques. All in all it was a rewarding evening both as a presenter and as an audience member listening to the other presenters and chatting it up with so many interesting folks. One might even help us redo our websites to be more accessible to phones and Ipads and such.

Well, that’s probably enough for now as I really need to get out there and Help Martha with painting the trim of the house. Have a very artful day and if you have time reread that quote by Andre Breton.

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Bike/Art Video, Awards, Classes and More

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oh what a busy and wonderful few weeks it has been for art and artful living for Martha and me. While I have been riding my bike like crazy but still getting art into that activity as well… more on that in a bit, Martha has been teaching art like crazy and other art projects have been progressing… some slower or faster than others.

From July 8^th through the 12^th Martha was up at the Barn of the Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth teaching her ‘I am the Earth’ art class to a great bunch of kids and her two helpers as well. Some real talent may be developing in this group. After that from July 22^nd through the 25^th she was teaching clay modeling, painting and drawing at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center in Wenatchee. And, as I write she is preparing to teach more classes in Leavenworth today.

On the 17^th of July we headed on out to Soap Lake for the Soap Lake Art Guild’s Third Wednesday presentation for which Martha was invited to come to be one of the presenters. There, we met a tremendously talented young artist who was also presenting that night by the name of Michael Bosnar. We expect to see and hear more of him in the future. He is not only a wonderfully creative visual artist, though, admittedly still developing as to his own style and focus; he is a very good presenter and public speaker. On the way back from Soap Lake we stopped in Ephrata to get a glimpse of the large movie themed mural he is in the process of doing on the side of the movie theater

there. Later that week I rode my bicycle from East Wenatchee to Ephrata to get a photo of the movie mural… it was worth the ride in the heat.

In the middle of the month we went out to Prosser for the first time in order to meet Carol the owner of the 6^th Street Art Gallery, who was in charge of the art walk portion of the wine and art walk event they were having there. We were invited to participate but we had too many obligations to prepare for that, but will likely participate there next summer and Carol wants to exhibit Martha’s art in her gallery in the meanwhile. While there we visited with David Vasquez who has moved out that way and was participating in the street event.

One of those slower art projects referenced above was the production of a movie of the video clips and still shots I took on the day of the Two Rivers Gallery Plein-air Paint-out which I took from my bicycle. The paint-out was to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Apple Capital Loop Trail. The video was completed yesterday, and it is now up on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1QpNZuedtY&feature=youtu.be  It took a bit of editing to get 27 minutes of video down to a manageable 4 minutes or so and get the right mix of action while still showcasing the artist and the great venue that is the Loop Trail in our valley. And, of course the rock’n music pulls it all together.

And, on a related note, the day of the paint-out I had a print made of a digital art piece I had created a year ago of Dr. Ed Farrar riding his hand powered trike on the Loop trail. This I matted and framed and delivered to him at Arlberg’s Sports Center where Ed keeps his trike. He and all the ‘B’ Team riders were very happy with the water color like digital photo.

Later in the month on the 28^th of July to be precise, we took a few of my photos out to Soap Lake to enter into the Art Guild of the Soap Lake Area’s Smokiam Photography Show 2013. Then, on Friday August 2^nd while attending the First Friday reception at Two Rivers Gallery in Wenatchee, we bumped into Rose and Al Lundberg of the Soap Lake Art Guild, and Al dropped a hint that he might have to ‘mention my name’ at the award ceremony for the photo contest the following night. So; of course we made sure we made it out there on Saturday. As it turned out we walked in the door just as Al was announcing my name as the winner of the Best Traditional Award for my 'Pelican' photo. Hey, that was great and what timing.

We had a grand time visiting with the other artists like Brent Blake and the great young photographer Gavin Seim who as it turns out has an interest in opening a gallery in Leavenworth. Best of luck Gavin on that and please keep us updated on the progress of that too. Later Al and Rose invited us out to dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants and we were treated to all the latest updates on the progress of the Giant Lava Lamp project as well as a fine dinner – Thanks, Al and Rose. I really hope that Lava Lamp project happens. From what we heard, it seems that they have made some serious progress on design, engineering and drawing up contracts and gaining rights etc… It just comes down to the mayor signing the final contract. WOW! There could be a giant 60 foot Lava Lamp in Soap Lake’s future yet. That would really put Soap Lake bake on the map.

Then, on top of everything else Soap Lake related, the Guild have invited me to be one of their presenters at the August 3^rd Wednesday presentation. So; I will be showing some of my traditional and digital photo art and the progression from one to the other and how I am now doing in some cases digital painting using my original photos as the palette from which to paint.

Well, that probably is enough for now as it is time to hit the trail and pick up my training for my grand tour bike ride… more on that at another time.  So; bye for now and have a very artful day and keep in mind the words of Oscar Wilde who said, “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If, he did, he would cease to be an artist.”

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Saturday Plein Air Paint Out along the Loop Trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, Saturday July 13^th was quite the day for art in the valley.  My art day began as soon as the Tour De France ended. Combining my love of cycling and art I packed the bike in the back of the truck and headed out to Two Rivers Gallery.  There with perfect timing I arrived just as the well known and nationally recognized local artist Lynn Brown was just arriving to sign in for the Loop Trail Plein-air Paint Out.

 

Then after snapping a few pictures of Lynn, Harold Jones, Jan Theriault and Russ Hepler and few of the other artists who were still dropping in to register before heading out to their chosen spot along the trail to paint their hearts out with inspiration provided by the wonderful surroundings that our valley provides and that little extra incentive that a prize for the winner would add.

 

My plan was to ride the loop all the while taking pictures of the various artists as they worked on

their master pieces with the intent of documenting the event and hopefully make another bike and art themed video to put up on Youtube and our own local GOWidea video sharing site. So; with that in mind I briefly handed my camera over to the trustworthy hands of TRG President Jan Theriault so he could get a few shots and some video of me riding up the bike bridge right next to the Gallery. That done; I retrieved my camera and began my loop ride heading north along the trail.

 

I didn’t have long to wait till I found the first artists painting away near the fifth street area and extending to the boat house in the Linden Tree area along the river. It’s such a beautiful area and there were so many good spots from which to paint. Some artists were clearly focusing more on the trail itself and others appearing to be more attracted to the river and the wonderful views that water, sky and the hill to the east provide.

 

Continuing on I found longer stretches between artists and took to shooting more and more live action of the ride itself documenting my own joyful experience on the loop trail. The views going over the Wenatchee River while riding the loop trail bridge there are always gorgeous and forever changing with the ever changing flows of the river as it meet the mighty Columbia just next to Confluence State Park.

 

I’m hoping the action sequences of my speeding along the trail at what appear to be break neck speeds (I wasn’t really going that fast but on camera it looks faster than it is… kind of like your car mirror that says “objects may appear closer than they are…”) will make for good viewing when seen in the final cuts of the video. As I sped through the area north of the State Park heading toward the Odebasion Bridge I couldn’t help but recalling the last time I shot video there last spring when the river had flooded the area… that made for a fun bike riding video which is titled Bike Surfing the Swamp

 

Crossing the North End bridge to east side of the river was fun and dramatic as always and then just as I was almost across I spied a pair of intrepid artists down below on the new loop underpass addition to the trail. So; as soon as I got to the cut off to that part of the trial I sped up to where I had seen art happening or as it turned preparing to happen. Stopping to visit a bit with these TRG

members while getting photos and video, I learned that they were organizing their material and were just about to head off trail a bit to find their perfect spot to paint… right on and congratulations to the Knox’s on being the most outgoing of our participating artists.

 

Further on near the 21^st street entrance to the loop where there is good elevation and views of the Wenatchee side of the river and the Cascade Mountains to the west I passed by Lynn Brown as she concentrated on her piece. I can’t wait to see hers and all the other works our local artist submitted for this paint out.

 

Continuing on, I felt the joys of passing by numerous beautiful areas being enjoyed  by bikers, walkers, joggers, people with pets, people alone and in groups all having a wonderful time on the magnificent local attraction that is our Wenatchee Capital Loop Trail. The scenery is so varied all along the trail especially on the east side of the river where it changes from lightly wooded at the north end to dry shrub desert conditions even with sand dunes to lush forest conditions that flood with the rising river waters where the trail is shaded by trees that could be hundreds of years old.

 

As I rode across the Pipeline Bridge I couldn’t help but stop to take a few pics of the Osprey nest that sits atop the high girders of the hundred plus year old structure. What a great piece of engineering that bridge is having been built by locals to be the first then drivable bridge across the Columbia River that now carries millions of gallons of irrigation water through the pipeline that takes the whole north side of the concrete surface while leaving plenty of room still for all us riders, walkers and joggers to enjoy throughout the year.

 

As I rode through the PUD Boat Launch area just east of the new Pybus Market I found local artist and sign painter Terry Johnson having a great time painting not far from the new boat dock which as it turns out sports a custom sign above its entrance which was painted by none other than Mr. Johnson himself. Later I came back to take another swing through the area looking for more artists and found Marla Bailley comfortably seated on the lush grass just south of the boat launch as she worked on her landscape painting for the paint out.

 

What a day it was for me and all the artists from Two Rivers Gallery who chose to put themselves out there to paint live in this phenomenally beautiful valley that we call home. And of course I did drop off my own digital painting titled " 'B' Team Trikes" at Two Rivers Gallery where I had the luck to stop in just as the Judge for this show Jerry Kinney was there. As it turns out he and his friend are friends with Dr. Ed Farrah the main subject of my piece. How cool was that.

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Birds, Bistro, Dancing and Painting, Classes and Vedeos of Art on the Avenues

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it seems like forever since I last published a blog on the art exploits of Rod and Martha and indeed it has been too too long and much has been done in the past several weeks.

Since last I wrote I made a video of Martha presenting a lecture of an Artist Trust presentation that we then submitted to the Artist Trust for their review as sort of a video audition if you will for a contract to do such presentations to artist across Central Washington. Just yesterday Martha had her phone consult and review with the folks at A.T. They were very happy with the video and only had a couple of instructive comments. Looks like we will be doing another video with an audience next and then further training for Martha and then she’ll likely start making presentations from Wenatchee to Yakima, Ephrata, Moses Lake and elsewhere.

This past Saturday on June 15^th, Martha did her clay modeling class at Two Rivers Gallery. It was a great success.  Jan Theriault, the Director and President of the Board related to me that it was the best turn out for any class they have offered so far.  Yeah! Martha.  I only turned up at the tail end of the event, at the end of a 25mile bike ride, just in time to see all the happy faces of the participants and the finished products and most importantly in time to clean up and put away all the materials.

At my end, this past week, I received the call from Terrie Henson the owner of the Black Bird Gallery in Leavenworth, WA firming up plans to have a show of my abstract photos there in the month of July. So; on July 1^st, I’ll be taking a collection of my ‘Reflection and Refraction’ photo works to the Bistro. This is good timing as we need to get up to Leavenworth right about then to pick up the rest of our art from Icicle Arts Gallery and the Icicle Brewery that were part of the Bird Fest / Birds and Their Habitat shows.

And, lest I forget, I produced a video of Martha Painting and Dancing live at the Icicle Arts which at my last writing had not successfully uploaded to YouTube. Since then I have reproduced the video and submitted it successfully to both YouTube and to GoWedia our local video sharing site.

Earlier this week I attended a meeting, in Martha’s stead, for ‘Art on the Avenues’. This is the organization responsible for the phenomenal collection of public art in downtown Wenatchee. Some of the works revolve and some are part of their permanent collection. As it turned out they were very interested in my videos and blogs and the fact that I have already published a video showcasing the Art on the Avenues sculptures. That being the case I was asked if I would like to be part of a working group involving technology and communication and of course they want Martha to come to the next meeting to be in one of the other work groups.

As I write Martha is now preparing to head up to Leavenworth for a meeting with Alicia McKee the Director of Icicle Arts Gallery at the Barn Beach Reserve regarding multiple classes she will be teaching up there during the month of July. Busy, busy, busy!!!

The other cool thing coming up in July is that Martha will make a presentation at the Third Wednesday event in Soap Lake and the Art Guild there has expressed an interest in having Martha teach some art classes up there as well.

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Icicle, Fish, Flowers and Birds, Dancing and Painting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well this has been some crazy kind of month for Rod and Martha’s art. Martha did a lot of volunteering for everything from the Washington Elementary Schools Fish themed fence mural project at which she helped the kids and painted one of the Fishies along with a number of other notable local artists to helping with projects at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center where she helped kids from the Columbia elementary School learn to draw flowers, animal and landscapes.

And, of course we can’t forget Birdfest in Leavenworth where Martha and I both have a number of pieces in the Birds and Their Habitat Show at Icicle Arts Gallery. Martha did her painting and dancing live to Latin music thing again on Sunday. WOW! That was a treat. I had planned to have a link to a video of that event ready to put into this blog, but alas, after several hours of work on that movie it couldn’t save properly due to some memory errors. I’ll have to start from scratch and put the link in a later blog. ARGGGHHH technology!

Meanwhile the show in Leavenworth turned out great and Martha’s large 48x60” “Flight of Ideas” was place front and center above the large stone mantel in the gallery. We each have works there and over at the Icicle Brewery as well.

Just recently Martha was invited to participate in a big art show in Posser, WA. This will be part of their July art walk.  That should be a good venue as we have wanted to get to know that area for some time.

Here in town Martha is getting prepped for a big art class she will be teaching at Two Rivers Gallery on June 15^th just after she gets back from Texas. And, while Martha is in Texas, I am hoping to get started on the remodel project on our house as I just got the permit yesterday… yeah!!!

Well, enough for now and back to work on the video for me.

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Art, Emotion and the Events of Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well the past week or so has been quite busy for Martha and Rod.

 

Early in the week we got Martha’s submission in for the upcoming Bird themed juried art show at the Icicle Arts Gallery in Leavenworth, WA. Her fanciful and imaginative takes on the theme are so colorful they just make one smile and wonder.

 

In the same couple of days we got her submission in for a show at the Arts West Playhouse in West Seattle for next year. We’ll keep our fingers crossed on that. And while these submissions were going through, Martha was busy all week teaching her ‘Fruits and Flowers’ class as a guest instructor at one of the local elementary schools. She loves doing those guest artist gigs in the schools and the kids really love it too.

 

On Thursday April 11^th Martha was featured artist at the Nature Consortium in West Seattle for the West Seattle Art Walk. It was a lot preparation for days ahead and the event was the day after we got the call that Martha’s dad in El Salvador had passed. The event went well. Martha was surprised at how many people came to the little and seemingly out of the way venue on the art walk.

 

The next day we were able to settle in and do some traveling down memory lane regarding her Papi by going through the old photos from when she and her brother were little growing up with her dad Lito  and her mom Taty.  Having posted a few pics from that era on Face book a number of folks commented on her dad’s movie star good looks in those days. In this photo of Papi Lito and Martha's brother Mike he really does look like a 1940's Latin Movie Star. When we visited together a couple of years ago I saw that he still had the painting I had done of him on horseback modeled after an old black and white photo from the 1940’s. Wish I had a photo of that to share.

 

And, while Martha had been teaching and preparing for her show in Seattle, I finished the hard copy acrylic version of the ‘Peace Dove Crying Over a Burning Monk’. This I finished by  attaching it to a repurposed ¾ inch plywood board that had a thin vinyl like shelving material on one side which I had torched to make it fit the content of the painting. In burning the board the shelving material bubbled up in such a way as to really create a great texture and patina. Where the wood showed it took on a really great reddish color and tone. The original hard copy acrylic painting I think I will hold onto for awhile and look for a non-profit Free Tibet organization to offer it at an auction to raise money for the Free Tibet Cause. The prints of the acrylic painting are available on my web site sales of which will go toward continuing to create Free Tibet and Peace Art to support the cause of freedom for Tibetans and other non violent peace causes around the globe.

 

Also, in the early part of the week, I submitted seven photos and a video to the ChelanDouglas Land Trust’s juried art show and reframed my painting of the old Cherry Creek Ranch House that was on the Land Trust land till it had to be torn down for safety reasons in the fall of 2011. The painting will be submitted later in the month. People who have seen the black and white photo of this deer in Land Trust submission really liked it.

 

Saturday, between reminiscences about Lito, I finally put together my submission for the Bird Fest show in Leavenworth. Seven photos some natural and some digitally altered to create digital paintings. It took awhile and only a few hours later did I realize I forgot to include one of a Kingfisher in a tree by the Columbia River. Oh, well next time.

 

On Sunday I was pleased to find on the front page of the Wenatchee World News Paper one of my photo images with a link to my ‘Arts In The

Valley and Beyond’ blog. That was a surprise that made that moment if not my day.

 

Well, enough for now and onto preparation for another of those life events – the wedding of my youngest son down in CA. Wow! Where did the time go?  And with these thoughts today I am pondering the words of both Paul Cezanne who said, “A work of art which does not begin in emotion is not art” and those of Henry Moore who said, “To be an artist is to believe in life.”

 

Have a very artful day.

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