I had a professor once who insisted that drawing was a skill, not a talent. With the right instruction and enough practice, he could teach anyone in the world to draw, he said. And by and large, I believe him. But every now and then, you look at the ease and creativity someone puts into rendering an image onto paper, and you have to acknowledge there is some seriously impressive talent at work. Such is the case with Red Hong, who does her large-scale drawings without any traditional utensils. Instead, she uses things like paint and basketballs, or coffee rings. Seriously. If you haven’t checked out her work, you should do that now.

Ah. Another day, another of my photos in local rag The Eastside Voice (as well as a very favorable write-up of my friends at ETC‘s performance of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Link below, though, the modern world hasn’t called and told the Voice that interactive flash newspapers are no longer cool, so, grab a desktop and not a smartphone for this one.

Hey everyone. Remember when I did those cast photos for my friends, local theatre start-up EclecticPond Theatre Co (ETC)? Well, I’ve been up to those same tricks, this time doing a fair amount of photo work for their next performance, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Ironically put on in winter. oh well, warm thoughts, yeah?

Anyway, they were, as always, lovely people. Lots of new cast this time, but a few familiar faces in the mix. And, as always, I encourage everyone in the Indianapolis area to get out and support these guys and local theatre. This show will run Feb 10-11, 17-18, and 24-25. Hit the link below all the pretty pictures to learn more on their website.

The secret is that making Art, creating things, is a transformative process. The act of creation takes certain elements of our psyche, energy, if you will, and morphs it out of our heads and into the real world. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but it can be alchemized. The reason why Art works so well in therapy is that it allows for negative energy and/or trauma to be cleared out of our heads, and turned into something productive, without having to speak about things literally. Pictures can communicate energy without words, and in so doing, can tell stories that would be otherwise stuck in the murky world of the subconscious. The act of creation is akin to shining light on our shadows, (Jung again) and it enables the creator the opportunity to move on. Catharsis.

-Jonathan Blaustein

Seriously, fine art world, can we stop with the pictures of people sitting on beds and looking unhappy? They’re all starting to run together a little bit. I mean, sure, I know they’re all about Deep Issues, like you getting over your divorce, or child prostitution, adult prostitution, poverty, despair, poverty in foreign countries, sexual confusion, and so on. The problem is, I keep getting your child prostitution mixed up with your anger over your divorce, and, well… that means none of it’s working anymore. Let’s find a new shorthand for human connection and misery, k?

If you’re confused, please see here (or here), here, here, here, here, here, here, here, a whole series here, here, here, here, here, or here. Also, even Noah Kalina (who’s work we know I often enjoy), isn’t entirely innocent (see here or himself here).

Seriously people. Stop. Or my next project will just be people sitting around and looking ecstatic on beds, just to counteract all the bed misery.

Sincerely,

Zed

Thanks to Mr. Colberg’s lovely blog Conscientious for making it so easy to find so many examples of this in a hurry.

Yesterday I talked about a half dozen people to see at Oranje 2011 this Saturday that I’d never talked about before. Today, I’d like to talk about another handful of people who I have.

1. Jonathan Foerster

 

I’ve talked about Jonathan on here a couple times. And I’ll do it again because his work is just that good. Jonathan’s thing is digital work, made up of hundreds of layers in Photoshop and taking countless hours to produce. My poor laptop is shaking right now just contemplating having pieces like this produced on it. I know Jonathan through MEA, and he’s always been a reserved, soft-spoken, patient guy. You’d pretty much have to be to do what he does with pixels, I figure.

His website: http://www.atleastwedream.com/

He’s also on Twitter: @atleastwedream.

2. Kate Wagner

 

The rest of these artists I’ll mention I actually know because of Oranje 2009, and it’s nice to see them coming back. Starting off, we have Kate Wagner, whose opening sentence to her artist statement makes me very happy in its bluntness:

I like to take the shitty and turn it into pretty.        In art and in life.

Kate Wagner

Kate’s work impressed me the first time around, as does her work for Studio OTB running a progressive art studio for people with disabilites. I’m personally impressed most by her paintings, but she’s not a one-medium kinda gal and you’ll find her selling lampshades, jewelry, textiles, you name it.

Her website: http://www.artifolio.com/missionart/gallery

More about Outside the Box and Studio OTB here: http://www.otbonline.org/

3. Cameron Oehler

 

I first talked about Cameron back here. He’s a wood craftsman, making wood pendants as well as highly decorative but functional cutting boards. And, if you’re much of a geek at all, you’re probably already familiar with his Legend Of Zelda Triforce cutting board. And, from what I’ve seen, this year promises more of his high-quality work for your eyeballs and kitchens.

His site: http://1337motif.etsy.com/

4. Mike Altman

 

Mike was a favorite of mine back in 2009, but it took a while for his website to get up so I could talk about him. I’ve since seen him at various places around Indy, including Locals Only and Strange Brew. His work is always highly cartoony and whimsical, often featuring robot, ray guns, or robots with ray guns. It is bright, bold, colorful, and fun. More of it over at his website.

His website: http://mikealtman.com/

5. Stuart Sayger

 

Last up we have Stuart Sayger, who I wanted to talk about before but apparently forgot about. I’m not sure how, since my friends have two of his pieces in their living room. Stuart is a comic artist with a lot of chops. We’re talking the better end of comic art here, the sort that graces covers, cards, and limited run one-offs, not the daily grind kind of illustration work so often thought of by people. He’s also the creator of the comic Shiver In The Dark.

His website: http://www.stuartsayger.com/
 

 

 

So, you’re thinking about going to this Oranje thing. You’ve heard people yamemring about how cool it is. Probably me. You’ve heard it’s a massive festival of 45 artists and 30 musicians. And you have no idea what exactly any of that means, and what you should go to see.

“But, Zed!” you exclaim. “You’re an artist…of sorts…right? This stuff probably makes sense to you. Who would you go to see?”

Aww, shucks… I think….

Me? There’re several people I’d make sure to go see. Some of them I’ve talked about before, some are new to me. Today, let’s start with the new ones.

1. Joseph Crone

 

Starting us off is a nice dude I met during set-up, name of Joseph Crone. Joseph’s thing is among them I admire most, as I’m least able to do it myself: photo-realistic illustration. This level of work requires a lot of time, a steady hand, and an astounding attention to the actual world around you. In short, it’s fucking tough to do, and he does it well. That’s a good place to start, if you ask me.

His site: http://josephcroneart.com/

2. Mike Graves

 

It’s somewhat surprising that I’ve been in Indy as long as I have and not put together who Mike Graves is before I saw him setting up in the booth next to mine. I mine, I’d seen his work around, like this sculpture in the Murph at a First Friday, and I’d certainly heard of his BRIDGE Collective, although I’ll have to talk with him some because their description is so vague and sterile I’m still not sure what they actually do. But, point is, I’d seen him around and been impressed, and I’m a bad person for not committing the name to memory sooner.

Mike works in two basic modes: rough, figural “junk” sculptures that all seem hewn and welded from scrap, and big paintings that draw obvious influence from various street and graffiti movements, often featuring notable pop culture icons. Especially from comic books. Both modes are very visually distinct and memorable, and I can’t even do describing them justice. Luckily, going to his website and looking at them can.

His website: http://bridgecollective.org/section/149643_Mike_Graves.html

3. Bruce Loewenthal

 

Next up is a bit different. Moving out of the “fine art” world and momentarily into the “functional art” or “design” world, we have Carmel-based Bruce Loewenthal, whose work is gorgeous, organic metal sculptures that function as hat racks, coat hangers, etc… He’s a trained architect and professor, and you can tell that he brings a lifetime of that experience to bear in these elegant, simple sculptures that mimic natural forms but with the clean balance and symmetry of European-flavored design.

His site: http://www.silverwoodbuilders.com/

4. Diana Childers

 

Diana is my other booth buddy, and a very friendly lady in my experiences. Patient, at least, because boy there was some fuss about getting our shared wall up so she could get going with her side, and she was very patient as me and mine slugged through the problems on our side.

Artist-wise, she’s a photographer. Her photos have a vaguely mysterious atmosphere, and are filled with distant and striking female models. Often, she employs a light high-key style (which she does in just the way that I’m a sucker for), which only increases the impression that you’re looking through some sort of haze, like a memory.

Her conceptual/fashion stuff is what I’ve seen the most, and I think what she’s hitting the heaviest for her show. But, her self-portraits are also gorgeous and atmospheric, and her commercial photography is also of a calibre I usually associate with my friend Jennifer Parker (formerly seen at Oranje).

Her website: http://dchildersphotography.com/

 

5. Jim Arnoldt

 

I’m going to try and not hold Jim’s artist statement against him, although it’s definitely of the stuffy, vague, say-nothing variety that I feel do more disservice to viewers than not. Luckily, despite the stumbling block of a statement, his work is visually engaging. His work is largely non-subjective/abstract, with occasional forays into stenciled pictures. His brand of abstract seems heavily influenced by textile pattern and design, frequently using the retro motif of overlaid circles lined up in grids as focal points. (Several of his pieces keep reminding me of the cover for Greenskeepers’ Pleetch) Had I made it to last year’s Oranje, I’m sure I’d have written on him sooner. As it is, better late than never.

His site: http://www.jimarnoldt.com/

6. JP Leiendecker

 

JP Leiendecker’s work falls into what I always consider to be “visually orgasmic.” The color, the texture, the tone. There seems to be a lot of Dave McKean influence to be had here, not that this ever hurts my feelings. Leiendecker works by layering photos, sometimes 100s of them, together in fragments and parts to create rich visual vistas that aren’t photographs and aren’t illustrations, but have a mystique and charm above and beyond either anyway.

His site: http://www.perfect-tree.net/

Just a quick heads up here for all the artists in the area, today is the last day to save $5 when registering for the 2011 Art vs Art painting day. Which is tomorrow. It turns out I’ll be out of the state on the 30th when the final competition is, so I’ll sadly be bowing out this year. But, for everyone else, it’s a stupid amount of fun whether you win or lose. So go ahead, go do something impulsive and register.

http://primarycolours.org/artvsartnet/paintday_registration.html

You can also just show up tomorrow at the right place and give them cash, provided they have materials left for you. Pre-reg is a better plan.

If you don’t know what Art vs Art is, hit the link below. It’s a pretty cool annual event here in Indy. I’m a big fan.

 

 

It’s been a while since I’ve covered any art that wasn’t my own here on the ol’ site, and a large part of that’s because I haven’t come across anything in a while that’s really wowed me. Mind you, I haven’t exactly been looking too hard, either, but nonetheless. And then today, both my Google Reader and good friend Nick suggested I take a look at this post about an art student who made an illuminated copy of the Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. And that is impressive.

The capitals, calligraphy, and and illuminations were done by hand by one Benjamin Harff as project for the Academy of Arts. The text, it sounds, was digitized and laid out by him around the hand-crafted parts, and then he printed it from a Canon inkjet and bound it with the help of a professional binder.

I may not myself be a big fan of Tolkien, but I am certainly a huge fan of fancy and artistically made books, so this is a beautiful work to get to see made. The samples I’ve seen of the work are brilliant, and Harff seems to have really nailed that medieval style.

And, spoken like a true craftsman who’s had to perform a piece of great personal investment to an unsatisfactory schedule, he’s not entirely pleased with the final quality of the piece, and sounds inclined to try and make a more refined work if time ever allows:

Concerning the cover I am not quite satisfied, because I had liked to do some adornments, but the time in my exam was just too short. So for me this is a kind of alpha-version, and may be one day I find the time to do a finer beta-version.

Benjamin Harff

There’s a nice interview with Harff and more pictures over at the Tolkien Library, which you should obviously jump over and check out.

It looks like my friends over at the brilliant educational theatre start-up EclecticPond Theatre Company have got my shot of the cast for their upcoming performance of Romeo and Juliet up already. Very nice. ETC is a scrappy collection of theatre (and especially Shakespeare) lovers who’re working towards the goal of making theatre more accessible for youths–especially students–with the intent of bringing low-cost live performances to schools who might otherwise not have provided such an experience for their students. In addition to the productions they’ll be putting on at their own space in Irvington as well as other public venues. I’ve seen a lot of the people I shot in other productions here in Indy, and have always been pleased.

Romeo and Juliet will be performed on the nights of Sept 15, 16, 17, and then the 22, 23, and 24th. You’re hereby ordered to go catch one of their performances. Just not the one on the 17th. You’re still required to come see me at Oranje that night. But, one of those other five nights, give them your love. Just, not in a creepy way.