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 Thursday, August 23, 2007
Simpsonizing our contributors
One of our contributors, Michael Chesley Johnson just sent me this Simsponized version of himself which I find totally hilarious.  We plan to Simpsonize the entire TAM staff, but it will take a slow moment (rare around here) before we can do it. In the meantime, I imagine the world eventually becoming a cartoon version of themselves.   And now we bring you Deborah Secor Simpson...
By Lisa Wurster | Random Thoughts
8/23/2007 1:54:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Give Me Your Art Blog Suggestions!
Every morning when I come into work, the first thing I do is log into Google's blog feed service, Reader, to see what's new on my favorite sites. It's super simple to set up, especially if you already use Gmail. You can add any Web site that has an RSS feed to your Reader account and see instantly when a new post is added. And when you ignore it for the weekend you come back to 100+ messages Monday morning. Surprise! Seriously, it sounds like a lot, but Reader makes sorting through the sites so manageable. If a post doesn't grab you, just scroll down to the next in the list. If you want to save something for later, you can add a star, or e-mail it to a friend.
These are some of the streams I subscribe to:
Art News Blog
CRAFT Magazine
The Smithsonian's Eye Level
The New York Times' Art and Design section
Do you have any more suggestions for great art-related blogs to read religiously?
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
8/22/2007 3:06:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, August 20, 2007
Art Behind Bars
We get a fair amount of correspondence from incarcerated artists. So when I saw yesterday's New York Times article about Alfredo Santos, who painted six murals in San Quentin State Prison while an inmate there, my interest was piqued.
Santos was serving four years for heroin possession when he won a competition to paint the murals, each about 12x100 feet. He credits his time in the clink with his development as an artist. (He's owned a number of galleries since his parole in 1955.)
Five decades later, the murals are at risk. San Quentin, which isn't in the best shape, is one of the most dilapidated prisons in California. Although a study called for preserving the murals, no suggestions were made as to how that would be done.
Watch this sweet slide show to inspect the massive murals for yourself.
By Grace Dobush | News
8/20/2007 3:05:19 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 16, 2007
Daily Painting Revisited
Last fall, The Artist's Magazine included a piece on Duane Keiser's painting-a-day blog. He aims to create a small-scale work every day and puts them up on eBay, where they fetch quite a few pretty pennies. (If you missed it, you can read the whole story in the September 2006 issue, for sale here.)
Other artists got inspired. The Daily Painters Art Gallery, founded last September by Micah Condon, now showcases more than 120 artists.
They must maintain a painting blog, updated at least a few times a week with new pieces, for a few months before applying. After they're accepted, their work appears on the site in the daily update with information on the artist and how to buy the piece. Most days there are upwards of 50 new paintings for sale, almost all smaller than a square foot.
It seems like a great exercise in technique and discipline. Have you tried daily painting? Do you think you could keep it up?
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
8/16/2007 10:42:53 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Cover survey...and a magical journal
For those of you who receive our e-newsletter, you're familiar with the cover survey that just went out, and thus the choices between what I'm calling "the smoking cover" and "the drag queen cover." Anyhow, the email comments which resulted from the survey were more numerous than anyone could have expected—try over 1,000! Clearly, people are opinionated. And we wouldn't have it any other way!
I took a break from opening emails to speak with Carol Wax whose work will appear in the November issue. Wax is a pro at mezzotint and is about to set off on a three-day drive to teach a class in Michigan. She mentioned being a little anxious about the journey, but having her "magical journal" to keep her company. The journal is used to record moments and experiences that hold or convey some feeling of magic. I thought it was such a brilliant idea, I was inspired to start my own. Now, I just have to wait for the magic to begin. In the meantime, here's a preview of Carol's art for the November feature "Ars Ex Machina": 
By Lisa Wurster | Notable Artists | Shows and Events
8/15/2007 2:20:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Artist-Friendly Legislation
Currently, the U.S. tax system allows collectors to take a deduction for the fair-market value of works they donate to nonprofit institutions. However, artists may deduct only the cost of materials such as paint and canvas used for pieces they donate. How is that fair—or even logical?! You can encourage your representatives to co-sponsor bipartisan legislation that will treat creators and collectors equally. The Americans for the Arts E-Advocacy Center makes it easy for you. Find out more here.
By Chris McHugh | News
8/14/2007 4:48:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, August 10, 2007
Who do you love?
Earlier this year I took a trip to Detroit to visit a friend who works at the Free Press. I was stoked to see her, of course, but I was secretly equally excited to finally visit Hollander's, an incredible bookbinding supply store where I've shopped online for years.
I'm not sure how I managed not to max out my credit card on that trip. I left Ann Arbor with a tube of beautiful Japanese chiyogami paper and a renewed will to create.
Do you buy your supplies online? I went with Hollanders sight unseen just because their prices are so good, but I have to admit there's no replacement for being able to feel the weight and texture of paper. Add a comment, and tell me where you get your art supply fix!
By Grace Dobush | Random Thoughts
8/10/2007 5:30:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
All-Media Paint-Off
Once again, the Paint-Off has generated some great paintings! The voting is now underway for the "Lands Unpainted" prompt. Take a look at our finalists here. Choose your favorite of the four and follow the directions to cast your vote.
Also, a reminder that a new painting prompt has begun, this time a challenge to paint from a photograph. Visit the ArtistsNetwork.com message board, log in and check out the All-Media Paint-Off forum.
Good luck to the finalists!
By Lisa Wurster | Shows and Events
8/8/2007 9:47:55 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
My debut
I have to admit that I've never put anything on my walls that I didn't make myself or that didn't come rolled up in a tube from Target.
Until now. Last week I bought a woodblock print from Paul Roden at La Vie Gallery in Pittsburgh. The Nashville native achieves incredible detail in a difficult medium (my own experimentation with woodcuts was not nearly as pretty).
I fell in love with this 27x32 beauty, History of the World IV:
And hello, by the way -- I'm Grace, The Artist's Magazine's new assistant editor. I've got a background in printmaking and bookbinding, and you'll be seeing a lot more of me!
Notable Artists | Random Thoughts | By Grace Dobush
8/7/2007 2:19:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 02, 2007
Fairy Tale Art
OK, call me a hopeless romantic. I cry every time I see the final scene in Casablanca. I indulge myself with novels that renew my faith that, despite the struggles and heartache in the world, we can emerge wiser and stronger individuals with hope for the future. And I'm always blown away by the beauty of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. The tenderness of the couple’s embrace. The beauty and wonder of the world they share together. Just can't help myself. (And I’ve been happily married for 33 years.)
I recently saw a reproduction of The Kiss (1907-1908) when I was paging through Gustav Klimt: A Painted Fairy Tale, one of the books in Prestel’s Adventures in Art series “for the young and young at heart.” The book gives a concise, easy-to-read explanation of Vienna around 1900, influences that shaped Klimt’s evolving style, and the Vienna Art Nouveau and Secessionist movements.
The book also says that Klimt was known to wear a long artist’s smock that he didn’t wash very often and that must have smelled pretty nasty. TMI—and not very romantic, Gustav! But that won’t prevent me from enjoying the lovers in gilded, flowing robes and the flower-strewn meadows you painted. –Chris Here's a link to the painting (though a computer screen just can't do it justice).
Here’s a link to the book.
Here are links to more information on Klimt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt
http://www.expo-klimt.com/2.cfm
By Chris McHugh | Notable Artists | Random Thoughts
8/2/2007 3:11:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saul Steinberg
On Sunday a friend and I stopped in at the Cincinnati Art Museum for the exhibit, Saul Steinberg: Illuminations. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, you may recall Steinberg's charactersitic line on the cover of numerous New Yorker magazines.
Steinberg may be best known for his humorous cover A View of the World From 9th Avenue. All told, the Romanian-born artist did 85 covers and 642 drawings for the publication. On view in the show were 60 years worth of drawings, paintings, collages and even sculptures. One drawing ran 33 feet (although, for some reason, not fully shown under glass).
One thing I found so refreshing about the exhibit was that one could see the pencil lines in many of the drawings, gouaches and watercolors. Some of the drawings didn't completely make their way to the cover—they were edited. In one drawing that played on the use of acronyms (Steinberg considered himself a writer who happened to paint), the letters "LSD" ended up on the cutting room floor.
Anyhow, it's nice to see, not really the mistakes an artist makes, but the progress. To know that even the hand of a genius wanders.
Lisa
By Lisa Wurster | Notable Artists | Random Thoughts | Shows and Events
7/31/2007 3:33:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Simpsonize Me
I've joined the masses and jumped on the Simpsons Movie extravaganza bandwagon by "Simpsonizing" myself. The website I used for this transformation is sponsored by Burger King and is so popular you have to check back often to try again, as the page gets overloaded with users. But it's truly worth it to see yourself as a Matt Groening-styled cartoon.
Here's me... 
By Lisa Wurster | Random Thoughts
7/26/2007 10:51:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Art of Meditation
In a unique (and relaxing) conjunction with its current Asian-inspired exhibition, Stefano Arienti: The Asian Shore (on view through Oct. 14), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is holding in-gallery meditation workshops Aug. 7, Sept. 4 and Oct. 2.
Participants will sit on rugs dyed by the Italian artist and will be surrounded by zen-like black-and-white drawings of Isabella Gardner's former Chinese Room. Boston spa Exhale will have wellness experts and licensed acupuncturists on site to conduct the guided meditation and "vibrational therapy" which uses a tuning fork to produce a "unique physiological response."
The Gardner Museum is home to world-class art by Rembrandt, Degas, Michelangelo and Raphael. After the meditations, guests are welcome to peruse the three floors of outstanding art. The sessions are free with standard admission, but reservations are needed. To learn more, click here.
I don't know about you, but I'm already starting to feel mellow.
Lisa
By Lisa Wurster | Notable Artists | Shows and Events
7/25/2007 4:30:09 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Podcast on Hopper Painting
After editing Sheila Hollihan-Elliot’s article “Edward Hopper: Composing for Impact” for our July/August issue, I was intrigued about some things I’d learned about Hopper’s private life, about the role his wife Jo played in his painting—and he, in hers. So I ordered Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography by Gail Levin (Rizzoli International Publications, 2007). I thought I could find some compelling anecdotes to blog about—for example, what was going on when Hopper was working on such-and-such a painting. A week later the book arrived—a 2½-inch-thick, 777-page tome left balancing precariously on top of the huge stack of proofs in my in-box. Maybe I was intimidated by its heft, fearful of blogging about a book I might never finish; perhaps locating those tantalizing bits of their lives seemed more difficult than I’d originally thought; or, after spending 10-hours a day working on the magazine and related duties, it could be that I was more attracted to lighter, “summer” reading, gardening and walks in the park. At any rate, it’s three months later and you’ve seen nothing from me on this Hopper biography—rather, I should say, you’ve seen nothing from me at all. Yet I remain interested in Hopper's work and his life, and, if I ever get to it, the book promises to be a fascinating read. But for now I thought I'd share this Metropolitan Museum of Art Special Exhibition Podcast that sheds some light (no pun intended) on Hopper’s A Lighthouse and Two Lights. I hope you enjoy it. - -Chris McHugh
Learn more about the book here.
View the painting here. Listen to the podcast here. | Notable Artists | Random Thoughts
7/19/2007 3:49:36 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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A Bridge That Sings
Imagine a man with mallets striking the suspension ropes, the metal plates, the rails and grates on a bridge. Imagine the attendant sounds as cars whoosh across the bridge and rain pelts the steel cables. Joseph Bertolozzi is at work as I write this. He is recording the sounds he can derive from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Bridge so he can replay them and create a 45-60-minute suite called "Bridge Music," which will have its inaugural performance next year. An orchestra of percussionists will, in effect, play the bridge. I love this image and I love that it's not imaginary. An esteemed composer and Grammy winner, Bertolozzi makes his living as an organist. "I only play big instruments," he says. His initial idea, actually his wife's, was to play the Eiffel Tower. The civic leaders of Poughskeepie, at first skeptical—they in fact "wondered whether he had his head screwed on straight"—are now besotted, won over by a performance of a preliminary compostion called "Bridge Funk." (This piece is available through http.//www.josephbertolozzi.com)."Bridge Music" in performance will celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's trip down the river Walt Whitman called "the lordly Hudson."--Maureen
By Maureen Bloomfield | Random Thoughts
7/19/2007 9:57:36 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Summer Sun
It's mid-summer and you'd think the sun would be shining to correspond with the 90 degree weather (and 90 percent humidity) we've been having. It's always sunny in my workspace though as I have art by Patti Brady hanging around. How is it that some images just brighten your day immediately?
Visit her website and you'll see what I mean, or take a look at one of her works on paper, Belly Button, below. I can't think of a more adorable name for a painting. Even the title makes me smile.  We feature Patti's work in the July/August issue, one of my favorite issues we've done. On the cover is a Hopper painting of a couple (alone-together, in true Hopper form) on a sun-drenched porch. Also in the issue is work by Bryce Cameron Liston. He and I spoke on the phone a while back about the state of Romantic art. Some people may find the style old-fashioned or sappy. I agree with Liston who said that romanticism is simply a filter—similar to Impressionism—another angle from which to view the world. I can deal with a rosy-tinged filter now and again. I hope you enjoy our summer issue as much as I do. --Lisa
By Lisa Wurster | Notable Artists | Random Thoughts
7/18/2007 1:55:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, July 12, 2007
Where's Artist's Sketchbook?
We've been posting many obits lately, and it seems to me things might be getting a bit morbid. So, one last (belated) obit—for a time. Artist's Sketchbook magazine was full of creativity and had a zest for life, yet met with its untimely demise in June 2006. Sketchbook was the beloved step-child of The Artist's Magazine and she leaves behind several editors (and art directors) who worked on her pages and who still inhabit these halls. We do miss her and want to get the word out that she is no more--no, you cannot subscribe. However, you can order old issues by doing a "quick search" here, on our back issues page. R.I.P. Artist's Sketchbook
 --Lisa
Random Thoughts | By Lisa Wurster
7/12/2007 3:11:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, July 09, 2007
Philip Booth (1925-2007)
Philip Booth, who studied with Robert Frost and taught at Wellesley and Syracuse University, died July 2nd. Identified with the New England landscape, especially the coast of Maine, he wrote of everyday occurrences, and while his poems are modest in intent, they are vast in their effect. To read some of Philip Booth's poems, go to http://www.poemhunter.com/philip-booth/. ("Parting" and "First Lesson," which recounts a father's teaching his daughter to float, are particularly beautiful.) I read of Booth's death today after a weekend in which my children, husband, and I serially re-read Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in anticipation of the release of the newest movie and final book. Our own little Phoenix, the starling, last week flew from my daughter Margaret's hand toward the mystery of the sky.--Maureen
By Maureen Bloomfield | Random Thoughts
7/9/2007 9:21:45 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Saturday, June 30, 2007
Charles Sovek
We're saddened to learn and report of the passing of artist and instructor Charles Sovek who died earlier this month on June 8. Sovek was an influential artist and a contributor to The Artist's Magazine whose career spanned 40 years. Our thoughts are with his family, close friends and students. You can view some of Sovek's art at his web site www.sovek.com.
--Lisa 
[From left: Jeff Swaluk, Charles Sovek and Kay Crain at a Cape Cod workshop, 2005]
By Lisa Wurster | News | Notable Artists
6/30/2007 10:38:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, June 28, 2007
El Anatsui in St. Louis, Too!
Today, while I was hurrying to a meeting, I caught sight of one of El Anatsui's signature tapestries; the photo was on the back page of the St. Louis Art Museum's newsletter, by chance on top of the heap in our inbox. Fading Cloth (2005, mixed media, 126x255) now on view in Sculpture Hall at the St. Louis Art Museum, looks like a tapestry woven in gold and raffia but is composed of discarded tops from liquor bottles. El Anatsui, whom I wrote about yesterday, creates gorgeously intricate wall hangings that comment on the history of West Africa while alluding to the traditions of Western art. The St. Louis Art Museum, as I remember it, has several striking pieces by Dale Chihuly and two versions of Matisse's Oceanie, le ciel (Ocean, Sky). Also on view now (until September 16) is an exhibit entitled Symbols of Power: Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style, 1800-1815, which features over 240 decorative objects—furniture, jewelry, textiles, sculpture, etc.—created during Napoleon's reign, plus two stately portraits that apotheosize the ruler: Napoleon I on His Imperial Throne by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Napoleon Visiting the Battleflield of Eylau by Antoine-Jean Gros. And St. Louis also has Eero Saarinen's Gateway Arch on the banks of the Mississippi River that evokes Huck Finn and Jim's meandering journey. For all these reasons, St. Louis may be well worth a summer trip!
Maureen | Notable Artists | Shows and Events
6/28/2007 2:05:47 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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