You Gotta Have Art

The First Annual Art Appreciation Dinner- AKA the annual holiday artsy-party- has come and gone, and a good time (and additional pounds) had by all who participated.

Well- almost all…

The theme of the event, sponsored by An Art Affair, was “You Gotta Have Art” and it was carried off with great success.

Creativity was expressed in every aspect of the event, from the abundance of gallery quality art on  prominent display, to the décor, the exquisite gourmet menu, and the very location itself- an amazing Will Bruder designed residence.

Now, sated with food, drink, excellent companions and conversation, its time to renergise one’s creative impulses and channel them productively into new work.
For an invitation to next year’s bash, or about any of the work you see here on the blog, contact
anartaffair@live.com.

Politics and Art- and more pictures

I hang my head in shame- I’ve been seriously remiss and neglectful of the poor old blog.  Two months away from it.  So much to catch up on.

Of course  I do have an abundance of excuses.  Life, the election, a hangnail on my typing finger…But be that as it may- I’m baaaaack!!!

Where to start?  I quickly worked through the trauma of Hillary being shafted, particularly once the McPain ticket was announced.  Nothing like an unsophisticated, moronic, semi-literate , bigoted,  ultra-right wing, hypocritical, provincial, Armageddon- wishing fundie fanatic potentially a 72 year old  heartbeat away from the nuclear trigger to make me a fervent Barry supporter.

Here’s hoping that after 8 nightmare years, there truly is a light at the end of the tunnel and the American electorate proves it still has a few working brain cells.

Rant over- back to art.

For those stalwart souls who’ve made it this far- your reward…a link to a slide show featuring MY WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://media.azimaging.net/JCart

Woman Power

I confess- that like  about half of the  media connected part of this planet, I did indulge in the mindlessly guilty pleasure which is Olympics watching.

AcquaMan- Michaels Phelps was incredible of course, but for me the truly inspirational and amazing swimmer was Dara Torres.   She’s 41- old enough to be the mother of  most of her competitors, yet she came away with an individual  silver medal- missing gold by only .01 of a second.  She’s a mom, she’s super hot with awesome abs and an unbelievable body –and  incredible work ethic. This is her 5th Olympics.  Dara rocks!

Dara Torres

There’s one other female athlete who I also consider way more amazing and inspiring than  Phelps.  Gymnast Oksana Chusovitina. Forget  the illegal 10 year old Chinese minis-this WOMAN is 33!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She won a SILVER MEDAL in the  vault!  That’s absolutely incredible in the gymnastics world-considering  her competitors ranged from 16-20  or even younger.  She won gold as a member of the Unified Team (former USSR) in 1992 and competed in every Olympics since, three times for Uzbekistan and now, for Germany.  That’s five Olympiads.  Most of her competitors were mere babies  when she won her first gold.

In 2002 , living in  her native  Uzbekistan,  her small son was diagnosed with leukemia. Proper treatment facilties for his condition didn’t exist there, and through her gymnastics  connexions, she managed to get him admitted to hospital in Germany.  To get the funds for his treatment, she performed in gymnastics exhibitions across the country.  She took German citizenship, and now competes for the country which saved her son’s life.                     All around  inspirational gold medal deserving performance…

Oksana Chusovitina

The Artbus

It’s possible that  sometime in another dimension, someone (or something) somewhere reading this- if such a thing ever occurs, may wonder about the blog title.  Artbus?  That’s kinda weird.  What’s the deep meaning- if any behind it? Is it a favourite indie band?   Deep homage to some tech-geek multi media  protocol?  Or the Grateful Dead?

Nope- none of the above. Quite a mundane explanation actually.  My art studio is in a bus.  A real one- an elderly former actual piece of mass transit which has been converted by loving hands far more skillful than my own, into a liveable, workable workspace. In one of its former incarnations it served for years as a friend’s home  and studio.  Now retired from its travels, it provides anideal space to create. In fact, some of the  artwork featured in this very blog was created either in the bus, or in extremely close proximity…

Not My Artbus ( but still wicked cool)

The Chunkster Rules

A disastrous war, the Constitution in tatters, economic upheaval,  a housing crisis/mortgage meltdown,  the McBama,  doing McBama-ey stuff to get media and voter attention.  None of this- not even Batman can’t compete with the new pudgy national celebrity- who proves wrong the saying one can never be too rich or too thin. And there’s a tale of personal tragedy tied into the faltering economy as well. what more could one possibly want?

Of course I’m referring to  Powder- AKA Princess Chunk, the  awesome, amazingly obese, 44 pound  homeless feline…

The Chunkster and his  slightly slimmer ( only 25 pounds)  twin, Puff were owned by an elderly New Jersey lady who lost her home through foreclosure.   She’s now living with friends, and apparently she found someone to take Puff,  but not him. Local animal shelters, already overflowing with unwanted pets had a policy of only picking up strays, so she had another friend call them and report this humongous creature wandering about.  The ruse  was successful and the media frenzy began.

The Chunkster

After all- who doesn’t love a 44 pound cat… Especially one who seems to have such anamazingly laidback, sweet and tolerant personality.

But just maybe all this  hype will result in people paying attention to the  most innocent victims of the housing crises- pets of all manner and species being given away, dumped off at the pound or just abandoned by their families who can no longer care for them.  It would be nice if some of the many people who had offered to adopt Powder end up rescuing other unwanted animals- ones who despite not appearing on tv with annoying humans – could still be loyal, loving companions, even if they’re  not celebricats.

Still Waving- and some more art

This delightful 22×28 inch acrylic on canvas painting, entitled ‘Double Cross’, can be yours at the very  reasonable price of only $350, which includes shipping to any one of the 48 contiguous states of your choice.

Waving From the Bus 2.01

There’s a lot in this universe I don’t understand. For example- why  people consistently vote against their own economic and social self interest; why the US is the only so called civilised nation where health insurance and access to affordable medical care is considered an unnecessary luxury. The appeal  and repeated election of the Shrubinator.  Miley Cyrus- whomever she is.  Deal or No Deal.  I accept that.

But as is my wont,  I was recently perusing the wonder that is Craigslist, when an additional group of inexplicables  came to mind.  It was triggered by reading listing after listing posted by people who were moving, being foreclosed, divorcing, moving in together,  splitting up or just changing what passed for a mind.

I can  understand getting rid of furniture because  one is moving,  needs money or its a link to an ex who is no longer there. Tossing out really nice stuff- and  just plain giving it away  for free because it doesn’t match the new decorating scheme- a bit harder to comprehend.

But then there’s the inexplicable- at least to me: getting rid of ones art- or worse-pet, because it doesn’t  match the rest of the house…

I guess I’m delusional enough to think a piece of art was acquired because it was loved,  was appealing- had meaning to the buyer- not because it matched the freakin’ couch…   Naive- I know, and a sentiment not shared by a surprising number of people who can’t bear to live with something on their walls which  might not fit in with the rest of their boring colour coordinated decorating scheme.

Hey guys- if you’re tossing the Picasso and De Kooning because they don’t match your earth toned walls and furniture- can I have them?

What’s Wrong With This Picture?????????????

The catalogue for the local community college where I teach part time arrived the other day.  Out of idle curiosity I  perused the art department listings, where I came to a course offering which made me sit up and go– WTF???

The  class has the jargonesque artspeak/edspeak title of  ‘Multimedia Arts: Urban Field Studies: The Art of Finding’.  It’s worth 3 units of academic credit.  It costs $220 for the semester.

It’s a class to teach people how to go to thrift shops and salvage yards and find stuff on the street to use for art pieces…

OK, I guess I missed something.  Who in the world- at least in this universe where the economy is not only in the toilet, its already flushed- needs expensive lessons on how to go to a thrift shop and find stuff?  Who can the target audience possibly be?  Any artist I know who works mixed media is already scouring thrift shops, moving sales, even rubbish left on the street after evictions and foreclosures, to find inexpensive or free things to include  in their work.

$220 will buy a LOT of crap- I mean wonderous awe- inspiring goodies  full of creative potential from the  thrift shops and salvage yards I frequent.  And  there’s no homework or final exam if you do it yourself.

I wonder though-how would one flunk the class?  Not buy the right crap?  Pay too much for it?

Waving From the Bus 2.0

I’m  depressed.  Art in America hasn’t proclaimed me the flavour of the month. Designers aren’t clamouring to put my work on overpriced clothing or linens.  I’m not important enough for Perez Hilton or TMZ to be lurking about, hoping to find me engaged in compromising or unflattering poses.

Damn.  I guess I’ll just have to go off and work on a new painting.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

This colourfully intense  24×36 inch acrylic-mixed media on panel painting can be yours for only $350.  And that includes a guy in shorts and a cool truck bringing  it to your very own home- just as long as that home is located in one of the 48 contiguous states of the USofA…

Pele’s Spirit

Pele's Spirit

Waving From the Bus

I’m an artist. This is my blog. I’ll be writing about artsy things, as well as making pithy and often snarky comments about anything which catches my fancy.

If you like my art- let me know. If you like something enough to actually want to BUY it, for the love of all things holy, unholy and chocolate- let me know. Please.

My three adopted Feline-American children will bless you.

I'm so confused- who do I choose?

(This painting is acrylic on canvas, 30×40 inches. $750 includes shipping in the mainland US.)