West of Chelsea: Waaaaaay West of Chelsea!

Constructed Drwaing 00401 © Heidi Van Weiren

One of the great pleasures of my gig at the New York Times Local, is having a chance to meet all sorts of interesting artists and art professionals. Heidi Van Weiren is no exception.

Heidi’s work has been on my radar for a while; I’ve been drawn to her dreamy landscapes since first seeing them at Margaret Thatcher Projects in Chelsea a few years back. I imediately felt a kinship with her use of glue as a medium (the very first paintings in my Nowhere Here -2006 series were composed using glue as the layering medium).

Heidi — a native to western Michigan as well — will be joining me and over 1200 other artists in Grand Rapids, Mich. later this month, as we all take part in this very interesting experiment that is ArtPrize. I thought it would be interesting to look at what it takes to break into the New York art market as an outsider.

Read what she has to say…

Badlands 00701 © Heidi Van Weiren

Tags: ArtPrize, Grand Rapids Michigan, Heidi Van Weiren, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York Times, Nowhere Here, West of Chelsea

West of Chelsea: Chat with Rick Devos about ArtPrize

The man with the plan! Courtesy of Brian Kelly

I was delighted to interview Rick Devos this week, for my usual West of Chelsea feature on The New York Times Local. He’s the brainchild (and bucks) behind ArtPrize.

It’s not uncommon for big money to support art — but what he’s got going really does shake things up. You go Rick!

Check out the interview here!

Tags: ArtPrize, Grand Rapids Michigan, New York Times, Rick DeVos, West of Chelsea

ArtPrize: How the Heck Do I Vote?

I’ve been asked the question regarding ArtPrize, so often; “How does this voting thing work?”

It’s all so new, and I didn’t quite understand it myself. But, I found these very helpful instructions on the ArtPrize web site, and thought I’d share them with you:

Anyone 16 years of age or older who registers in person at the ArtPrize event can vote. You cannot vote without registering at the event. There will be no charge for voter registration.

How to register

Attendees will be required to present a valid government issued ID in person at a registration station
ID can be drivers license, other state ID or passport
Pre-register on artprize.org (coming Sept 14) and save time activating your voter status at the event
There will be voter registration stations throughout the city September 23-October 7

Rules

Week 1 Voting – All Artists
Voting begins 6:00pm, September 23, 2009
You can vote on more than one work
You cannot vote more than once for the same work
Live results can be viewed online
Week 1 voting ends 11:59pm, September 30
Top 10 finalists will be announced evening, October 1
Week 2 Voting – Top 10, ONE vote
Voting begins after announcement of the Top 10, October 1
You have only ONE vote during Week 2
You may only vote among the Top 10
You may change your vote until voting ends
Results are concealed during Week 2
Week 2 voting ends 11:59pm, October 7
Winners will be announced at a gala event October 8

How to vote

Voting is entirely electronic (Instructions coming soon)
Vote online at artprize.org
Vote by text message (SMS) from your mobile phone
Vote by iPhone app
Note: Venues are allowed make Internet access and/or computers available for visitors to vote online
Vote by mobile browser

See you at the Gala!

Tags: ArtPrize, Grand Rapids Michigan, Peaches Bed and Breakfast, voting

A Side Trip to Yesterday — on Our Way Back Home

A highlight of our day was watching this singing group under a shade tree — Sweet Adeline…

Sadie and Lily in the garden of a darling tea house/cottage

What's this? Matthew on his Blackberry!?

Demonstrations run all through the day — here we watched glass artisans create a snowman — hot!

On our yearly camping trip to Michigan, we almost always make a stop at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich., on our way home.

Greenfield Village, and the Henry Ford Museum next door, make up the nation’s largest indoor-outdoor history museum complex. Walking into the Village is a like walking into the past. There are nearly one hundred historical buildings; including the Wright brothers’ bicycle shop and home and Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park Laboratory. They’re all set up in a pretend town, with people dressed in period costumes, talking like they just stepped out of another century. For transportation, you can take a ride on the steam train, a Model T or a horse drawn carriage. You can even eat an authentic lunch at the Eagle Tavern, where they serve from an 1850′s menu. All in all  — very cute!

After the Village, we strolled over to The Henry Ford Museum, which has some really great exhibits of American Industrial wonders! Along with a huge collection on all kinds of vehicles and engines there are some of our particular favorites:

• Buckminster Fuller’s prototype Dymaxion house.
• Thomas Edison’s alleged last breath in a sealed tube! (weird!)
• The bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• … and not to be missed, the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile!

I'd like this in my bedroom

Sadie and Lily give scale to this humongous steam engine

You'd have to look pretty cool driving down the road in this beauty

It was fun, but at the end of the day, we had to get back on the long road home

Pennsylvania's long but pretty

Tags: Buckminster Fuller, Dearborn, Dymaxion house, Eagle Tavern, Greenfield Village, Henry Ford Museum, Mich, Michigan, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, Rosa Parks, Thomas Edison, Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, Wright brothers'

ArtPrize: Fox News Coverage & Sarah Weber

Watch Sarah Weber and Jane Lovett talk about ArtPrize

Sarah Weber is one of the artists I’ll be exhibiting with at Peaches, for the ArtPrize event. I was delighted when she sent me this clip from FOX News featuring her and the owner of Peaches, Jane Lovett! You go girls!

Jane Lovett and Peaches!

I planned to highlight a few of the artists who’ll be showing their work at some of the venues; and I thought this was the perfect time to start with one of my picks: Sarah Weber.

Sarah’s work “celebrate(s) femininity and style through abstract and representational characteristics.” I couldn’t find a web site for her, but here’s a great YouTube video, where she talks about her work.

I’m looking forward to meeting Sarah, and seeing her beautiful work in person!

Update: Sarah just sent these images over — of the paintings she’s working on for ArtPrize. Thanks for the peek into your studio, Sarah!

© Sarah Weber

Sarah Weber's work in progress!

Tags: ArtPrize, Fox News, Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Michigan, Jane Lovett, Peaches Bed and Breakfast, Sarah Weber

I Married a Rock Star

I first met Matthew Rothenberg in 1989 when I was living in San Francisco, at the legendary  Nikki’s BBQ on lower Haight street. He was a transplant — like myself and most everyone knew there — from some other place.

In the following years — getting to know him — I heard a lot about the music scene he left behind in San Diego in the early ’80s. I knew he had formed and played in several bands. I was amazed at what seemed like a lifetime of stories he would tell about a scene that lasted two years at the max.

Matthew often played the guitar and sang in that casual way people do when they live close. But I hadn’t heard him play in a more professional performance, until years after our first meeting, at a party his parents threw for us to celebrate our recent marriage.The party was in the beautiful garden of their San Diego home. Matthew reconnected with the band that dissolved when he left to live in San Francisco — Three Guys Called Jesus.

I remember it well, and always will. It was the moment I realized I married a rock star.

Years have  gone by, and bands have come and gone. Life gets busy; kids, house, work. Living in the New York area has taken Matthew further away from the family of friends he had in California. So I was pleased to see him start a blog a few years ago; “The Che Underground”, to reconnect with this part of his life.

Listen: Here's a blast from the past - Matthew's band's The HoHo's desktop video of Infinite Prague circa 1994!

I asked him a few questions about revisiting these old ghosts:

What’s the big idea behind your new blog?

I started it in early 2008 as a way for a small group of musicians I’d played with in San Diego in 1983 and 1984 to share music, pictures, flyers and stories.

Where does the name The Che Underground come from?

I retroactively named our old scene and new blog “The Che Underground” in honor of the Che Cafe at the University of California, San Diego, where we played many of our best shows.

What’s the reception been?

We found people who hadn’t seen each other, much less played together, in 25 years … Then more people started finding us on the Web. Now, we’ve located practically everybody we knew from those days, we’ve attracted San Diego musicians from other scenes, and we’re pulling in 7,000 or 8,000 visitors a month.

Do you see this project taking shapes you hadn’t originally planned?

I thought this was just going to be an online reunion, but it actually inspired a real-world get-together! In late May, we put together a two-night performance event at San Diego’s Casbah club that reunited eight of these bands and brought musicians and fans from all over the country and as far away as Nairobi.

People really seem to like the idea of social networking as an opportunity to revisit social history. We got coverage on Wired.com and all over the San Diego press. And we’re seeing correspondence from other fans, old and new, all around the world.

Seems like this could translate into other “scenes”…

In fact, I’m working now on a new project that extends social-networking concepts to other rock-’n'-roll scenes, wherever they sprang up; I hope to make the magic we’ve experienced available to anyone who ever felt part of a musical scene, past or present.

Swoon!

Tags: Casbah club, Che Cafe, Eighties, Haight street, Infinite Prague, Matthew Rothenberg, Nikki's BBQ, Rock Star, rock-'n'-roll, San Diego, San Francisco, The Che Underground, The HoHos, Three Guys Called Jesus., University of California, Wired.com

Ta Da!: Make it Good

Sunshine for the inside! My new work titled "Sun Shower I"

Yay! The weekend is finally here. It’s been a very long week; full of planning, painting and having the kids around all day. I hope the weather will behave — (I don’t know about your part of the world, but New Jersey has had more than it’s share of rain this summer) and I hope to have a little fun with my family.

Here are few new painting I just finished — Sun Shower I and Sun Shower II. May they ward off all evil rain clouds!

Have a good one!

xo

Goodbye rain clouds here's to the sun! Sun Shower II ©2009

Tags: art, weekend

ArtPrize Update: I Like Carol Coletta!

Going to Grand Rapids last week got me even more excited about ArtPrize.

I had a chance to visit with Jane Lovett the owner of Peaches Bed and Breakfast, where I’ll be showing “just as many paintings as I can tastefully fit” into her lovely dining room. It was good to see the space; take some measurements and shoot some photos of the room. Great to meet Jane, too. She’s very enthusiastic about the event and I feel confident she’ll do all she can to help make the event a success. I’ll be sharing “Peaches” with eight other artists (more on this in the next ArtPrize post).

It’s hard to be back in New Jersey — away from where it’s all happening. So I’ve been searching the internet to keep up to date on news and to find out if any events are planned yet. I really want to connect with many of the artists that will be there for the event and to reconnect with the city I use to call home. (Winning the prize would be swell, too.)

I found this little clip on YouTube. I thought it was a great explanation of ArtPrize and it also introduced me to Carol Coletta — she rocks! She’s the president and CEO of CEOs for Cities and host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City. I haven’t heard the show, but the web site describes it as “an in-depth look at urban life, the people, places, ideas and trends shaping cities”.

I like cities. I like urban development. I like Carol Coletta.

Tags: ArtPrize, Carol Coletta, CEOs for Cities, Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Michigan, Jane Lovett, Peaches Bed and Breakfast, Smart City, YouTube

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

"Go team!" I think "Julia" by Keith Haring looks like a cheerleader with a little skirt. My daughter Lily thinks it looks like a shower head. What do you think?

Along with the usual campfires, beach and family fun I had last week — when I was home for our annual camping trip with my family in Western Michigan — I took time out to see some of the unique treasures in the area.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a gem! A world-class collection of gardens and art that took my breath away. Here are a few pictures of the multitudes …

Here's another one, that I don't know the name of … I think "Junkyard Dogs" fits, though.

I'd like to take this piece (titled "Mad Mom" by Tom Otterness) home.

I stopped by the Mad Hatter's tea party for a "succulent" treat.

Lovely, lovely Dale Chihuly's chandelier makes me want to go home and paint!

A section of the huge glass lighting fixture/sculpture by Dale Chihuly.

One of three figures made of letter forms by Jaume Plensa.

This Alexander Liberman piece titled "Aria" is like a song.

Tags: art, Camping, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI, sculpture, Western Michigan

Show Me How! Framing Archival Prints

One of the most asked questions on my Etsy shop is, “How should I frame my archival prints?”

There are many options:

Take your prints to a professional framer:

This is the easiest and (of course) the most expensive choice. You can go places like Michael’s craft store, the local art store or just look in the yellow pages for an independent framer near you. They will have tons and tons of choices for you to make: frame designs from contemporary to ornate and myriad mat colors and textures.

The choices can be a little overwhelming, and you may want to start by asking the person working there for suggestions. But keep in mind, they may want to sell you way more than you need to jack up the price. I usually feel that simple is best; cream or light-gray mat with a contemporary wood frame.

Frame it yourself:

This is the much cheaper route to go, and I think it’s not all that much more difficult to do. This is how I handle most of my framing.

1. Go to an art store or someplace like Michael’s (even Target has cute frames!) Go to the section where they have “ready-made” frames. (A ready-made frame is a frame that is all ready for you to drop your art or photo into.)
2. Take your prints with you. It’s much easier to lay the print over the frame to get an idea of what size you’ll need.
3. Here’s where you’ll have some choices. I’ll go though a few options:

Here we have an 8 x 10 frame, with one of my prints that is on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. You would need to trim the paper down to fit into the smaller frame. This option doesn’t leave any room for a mat. Not my favorite choice.

Here we have the same 8 1/2 x 11 inch print, but we’re using a larger frame with a mat. This is a beautiful Nielsen-Bainbridge* frame called “Tribeca” — that I found on Dick Blick’s online store for $26.99. It’s 11 x 14 inches and comes with a pre-cut, archival mat that with an 8 x 10 opening. All you need to do is open the back; slip the print behind the mat’s opening; use a little tape to secure it into place (you can get archival tape at the art store); and put the pieces back together. You’re ready to go.

If you’ve ordered the larger prints, you can do the same type of thing, but on a larger scale. Above is one of my 12 x 18 inch print (it comes printed on a 13 x 19 piece of paper.)

This 12-x-12-inch print looks great in the Nielsen-Bainbridge Poster frame. This frame doesn’t come with a mat, so I had one cut to size. (See the questions and answers below for more on the subject of mat boards.)

* I like the quality of the Nielsen-Bainbridge frames: They have a wide selection of finishes, colors and styles, and they use all archival materials.

Common Questions

Should I show the edges of the print or should I cover them with the mat?

My prints are all intended to have the art “float” inside the mat. This is the traditional way to display prints. This way you can see the variations around the edges of the art, and and also show the artist’s signature. If you’d prefer to have the art come to the edges of your mat, please just let me know and I’ll adjust the size of your print.

Why are mats usually wider at the bottom?

Weighting, or giving more space to the bottom of the mat, gives the piece a feeling of solidity (almost like a pedestal for your art to sit on.)

What if the frame doesn’t come with a mat?

This is where I think spending a few bucks on a custom cut mat is an excellent value. Just take your frame and your print over to the framer and ask them to cut a mat to fit! The Nielsen-Bainbridge, Tribeca Poster frame in the image above didn’t come with a mat. The frame is 20 x 24 inches, but my print’s image was 12 x 12 inches, so I had the framer cut me a mat to fill in the space between. The price for this was under $10 — well worth it for a professional look!

What if the frame comes with a mat, but it doesn’t fit my image?

Same answer as the question above!

I don’t like the cheap-looking acrylic that came with my frame.

Some lower priced frames have very flimsy “glazing.” (Glazing is the term used for the clear stuff that goes over your artwork to protect it — it’s usually glass or Plexiglas.) Here is another situation where the framer is your friend. Ask herto cut a piece for you to fit — it shouldn’t be more than a few bucks.

Glass or Plexiglas — what’s better?

Glass is heavy, and breakable. I usually choose Plexiglas for all my pieces. You can even get it with a UV coating — to add an extra layer of protection from sun damage.

Ready to dive in? Here are some great resources online to get you started:

Dick Blick: They have a huge selection at all price points.

American Frame: Here you can order all your framing components in the exact sizes you want, and they send everything ready for you to put together. Not as cheap as the ready-made frames but still cheaper than having a framer do the whole thing for you.

Jerry’s Artarama Another art store, similar to Dick Blick.

Or…

Forget all the framing fuss and get one of my Posh Panel Prints instead. They’re ready to hang right out of the box!

Tags: American Frame, Dick Blick, Etsy, How to Frame Prints, Jerry's Artarama, Michael's, Nielsen-Bainbridge, Prints, Target