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Art Students League Creative economy

The word “economy” refers primarily to the movement of a nation’s resources; and secondarily, to an attempt to spend less. This sums up President Obama’s “balanced” approach to stimulus and deficit cutting, in that order. Polls show this agenda is favored by a majority of Americans.


The GOP-dominated Congress has a radically different set of priorities, obviously, and we won’t go into that now, other than to note that more Americans favor a Communist takeover than favor Congress right now.

‘Nuff said.

The underlying issue, when to spur on, and when to rein in, spending is one every household and small business faces daily. For example, it would be counter-productive for me to stop spending on nice new frames for fine art prints, though I’d love to spend on nice new art books. So it’s off to the library I go.

Ironically, it’s schools and libraries and art museums that are the first to feel the blind GOP hackings, but I promised not to get into that.

So when non-profits come soliciting, it’s easy to reflexively squeeze the coppers, but there’s solid evidence that that’s the worst thing we could do.

Here’s a few facts:
* Colorado’s creative enterprises employed 122,000 people, according to a 2008 study. Another 64,000 worked in creative occupations in other sectors, for a total of 5 billion in earnings.
* This ranked as the 5th largest cluster of jobs in the Colorado economy, almost at large as IT and Biotech, and larger than Agribusiness.
* Creative occupations were expected to grow by 30-45% in the next 10 years, exceeding the state growth rate of 25%.
While these numbers undoubtedly pre-date the Bush recession, the potential for creative enterprise to help us climb out is clear. So I’m asking you to consider giving to the creative sector on Colorado Gives Day, Dec. 6th.

And here’s why: A consortium of Colorado foundations, including the First Bank Incentive Fund, will be increasing each donation. For this penny-pinching artist, that’s an offer I can’t refuse. Shall we call it “Gold Tuesday”?

And since’s it’s my blog, I’m going to tell you where the Squish’s hard-earned fun tokens are going. The Art Students League of Denver, which employs many creatives itself ( ahem), and which goes a long way toward filling in the gaps left in the state’s education budget. I can tell you first hand that many who come to the League on a lark, wind up contributing to the state’s creative economy.

I won’t quibble with those who contribute to any charity, creative or not. It’ll put money in circulation where it’s needed most, and take people off the street. That’s leadership! Just promise me we won’t start acting like… Congress.

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Art Students League

What a Day for a Daydream

Art Students League Summer Art Market is my biggest show by far each year. This year was no different, as a more spacious layout made for a more pleasant experience, and the traditionally perfect weather made a return, after last year’s chilling drizzle.


I really enjoy this show on many levels, though its ability to pay bills certainly colors my perspective. But the people, many of whom are now longtime friends, really make for an enjoyable though exhausting weekend. And friends and family seem to have picked up on how exhausting, yet important the show is to me. I get lots of offers to help schlep art and equipment, bring me food, or just to come down and say high during the long days. Thank you to all from the bottom of my heart!

But the show has become a validation, for many of us in the struggling artist brigade, of what we are trying to accomplish. The art has gotten stronger, sales steadier. Even on a most basic level, it’s refreshing, while standing 10 hours a day on hot asphalt, to see so many people starting to get it. Buying original art is a very different thing than buying a giclee reproduction, or decorative object.

When you buy art, not only do you put cash into the local creative economy, thus making it stronger, more innovative and more able to contribute to the region’s educational and cultural needs, but you make the art itself stronger. Money is time, and more time spent by experienced artists in the studio means you won’t have to fly to NYC to see great art; mature, well conceived and refined.

While you are doing that, you can bask in the mountain sun, drink a beer, and talk to those same artists in your flip flops. How they got in your flip flops, you’ll never know.

My next street fair show is July 16-17 on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Stop by and say hello.
Categories
Summer Art Market Workshops

Blue Fox


Just to wrap up on my previous post on a series of sketches I’d been doing in the print studio. Here is the final version, at least for now, as I’m not sure how or whether to pursue the idea.


I’m already working on a different thread, and you can get a preview of small work-ups for that over on my Facebook page.

It’s nice to be busy in the studio in mid April (and I have been), because I find the rush of logistical and publicity details somewhat distracting as May winds down, with the first show approaching in June. That will be the Art Students League Summer Art Market, a fun but exhausting show in south Capitol Hill.

After that comes The Boulder Open Fest in July on the Mall, a gallery show at Zip 37 Gallery in North Denver in early August, and possibly, the Modernism show at the Stock Show Arena near Labor Day.

I guess I should also put in a plug for my 8-week workshop at the ASLD starting in late June. You can search my name for current workshops at any time. A Fall workshop will be announced soon, and you’ll notice a one-day Summer Sampler in August if you just can’t commit the time for the longer classes. I’ve grown quite attached to bright sunny mornings in the Art Students League print room, and I’ve made some great friends there!
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Uncategorized Workshops

Class Act

Stefan from the Tuesday morning Monotype class has been working with fields of color. This is one of his first abstracts from the workshop, and I like it because it has a very balanced color scheme ( the photo exposure may suggest a brown for the darkest swath; it’s actually a rich, wine-y red), simple composition and fresh spontaneous brayer (ink roller) work.

I posted a small portfolio of other works from the class on my Facebook page, and will have more soon. It gives me a chance to catch up with some pictures and videos of my own work that I will post soon. For instance, I have staged photos of the different phases of one of the first large works to come out of all the sketches I’ve been putting up, also on Facebook ( link at the top). I’ll summarize the project in a future blog post, too.

I may be taking on a few too many projects, but I’m feeling a burst of energy with the spring, and at this point, probably too many is better than not enough. The videos are the ones that often get pushed to the side, partially because confidence level is still tentative with the new software. But I think they’re eye catchers, especially on Facebook and other social sites, so it makes sense to learn it.

As I mentioned, I’ve posted a number of videos to the soccer fan page I manage, and also to Zip37’s page. So I guess Squishtoid is due for the next world premiere! Will begin work on that this weekend.

What I’m reading: A whole stack of histories of US and Britain, hop-scotching from James I (Simon Schama, History of Britain, Part II) through Andrew Jackson (American Lion, Jon Meacham).
Categories
Art Students League

New Work


I did get some video of Monday’s work session at Open Press, as well as Tuesday’s demo for Introduction to Monotypes at the Art Students League. I’m getting more familiar with iMovie, as evidenced by this 5 minute monster I did to promote my soccer supporters group friends.


So I should have at least a small video to post fairly soon, at least in time for the Summer Art Market, the League’s popular, signature art fair, in June. I may put up some raw footage as soon as I get a chance to sort through it.

But for now, it’s Opening Week for Colorado Rapids football, and I’m enjoying all the zany activities surrounding that. Next week, back to the grindstone, but for now, here’s another in a series of sketches (above) I’ve been doing to prepare for larger work.
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Art Students League Uncategorized

Art Star


Took a break from my own projects to go watch a favorite Denver artist do a demo at the Art Students League of Denver. Homare Ikeda has done a lot of monotypes, which is why I often bump into him at Open Press. He’s also on the faculty at ASLD. Here he was doing a painting demo, which was well attended and very interesting.


I don’t do a lot of painting anymore, and don’t usually work in the abstract when I do. I like Homare’s loose, open ended forms and his thoughtful, deliberate way of working, though. So chalk it up to networking and professional curiousity when I stopped by. I sent out a few snippets on Twitter, and admired Homare’s laid back narrative style. I do a lot of demos myself, and I can always learn.

Homare related that, as a student at Skowhegan, he’d gotten a studio visit from Komar and Melamid, the Russian Pop Artist team. K&M pronounced Homare’s work “constipated”.

“I figured that was a good thing”, Homare related with his shy little laugh. The crowd laughed too. He’d turned the potentially crushing, off hand remark into a small creative victory with his unassuming humor.

Later he tried to explain that being an artist is, to him, nothing special. He’s right, and the sometimes idealizing ASLD students need to hear stuff like that. There are geniuses in art, sure. And like many things, art can be done in an inspired way, but before that happens it’s mostly just hard work, done with commitment.

He finished up with some sumi-e drawings of traditional subjects; fish, bamboo, birds. It’s a fairly unassuming art form, done by a fairly unassuming guy.

Make no mistake, there’s more than a little magic in that.

Categories
Health Care Reform Workshops

State of the Squish

Room of Remembrance, Monotype, 15×22″


I’m going to wrap up a few odds and ends as I gear up for Spring. I’ve spent most of January spamming people. Or hopefully, bac’ning them. Bacn being the kind of spam that you voluntarily sign up for because you have a genuine interest in the subject matter.


As outlined in my last post, I’ve been trying to upgrade my presence on the web, and also took on social media duties for a couple of groups I’m a member of. I have a ton of workshops and shows coming up this year, and social media can really help one get the word out. Here are a couple of examples:


As you may know, I’ve joined Zip 37 Gallery in Denver, and will have work hanging there at all times, in their wonderful back room gallery. Each member has a little space for mostly small work, and many people already use it for one-stop art shopping. I’m handling their Twitter account, too, as well as my own.


I’ll be starting my next workshop in early March, and it is registering now. It’s designed to be a good introduction to Monotypes, but I also have return students who like to continue their explorations, and I try to accommodate both. It is a great way to start off a Tuesday morning; bring your coffee!


I’ve also posted a few images from 2010 ( including the one above) on my Facebook page as a review of sorts, with my commentary. Check it out, and if you’d like regular updates on shows and workshops, as well as new work, click “Like”.


I also need to briefly update the post on the Tea Baggers’ ironic ignorance of history in the light of recent events. I don’t intend this to be a solely political blog, but the querulous effort to repeal Health Care reform, definitely affects those of us in the creative and small business economy, and so is relevant to what I am trying to do.


The GOP right’s insincere promise to abandon their characteristic vitriol after the Tucson shootings went quickly up in smoke as they moved to reward their health industry sponsors with a “repeal” of the Health Care Reform Law.


This legislative charade has no chance of success, but offered a nice opportunity to go back to the name calling (“Obamacare”) and outright lies they’d used to scare up the Faux News crowd originally. Even the name of their repeal bill (“Jobs-Killing-Health-Care”) is a proven lie.


The numbers cited (650,000) link it to a non-partisan CBO report which actually notes the potentially POSITIVE effect of people leaving their jobs when they are no longer tied to corporate-offered Health Care. For example, to start businesses; or enter the creative economy. To innovate; to follow the American Dream. There is, to be fair, also a slight effect on the McJobs portion of the economy, which look good in Government reports, but do nothing to narrow the quickly widening wealth gap.


Having paraded that dog through the House of Representatives, the right then ponied up for their ultra conservative base by announcing that next on the agenda would be yet another attempt to erode Americans’ right to reproductive choice. Not only is this narrow-minded and vindictive, it’s plain stupid. At a time when the American public has sent a clear message in recent polls that the bi-partisan progress late in the 111th Congress met their approval, the GOP insists on revisiting past defeats in the Culture Wars. It’s as if the Buffalo Bills demanded a replay of all their Superbowls.


This is a party that has completely “lost the plot”. As we are reminded on Martin Luther King Day (the conservative’s least favorite holiday), you cannot redeem the promise of American freedom without progress, and change. The Tea Baggers actually do have ways they can contribute to progress, such as in deficit reduction, which they have completely ignored when there are no elections in sight. The last President to balance the budget? a Democrat. His successor, the Deciderator, went “nuculer”, and set a record for deficits. And their only substantive response to the Tucson tragedy has been shrill screeching about proposed common sense limits on high capacity clips for automatic weaponry.


The State of the Union rebuttals? Just a photo op for every Palin wanna-be that wants to tap into the anger of Tea Bagger booboisie. The deficit will never be eliminated without tax reform that includes increased revenues from the very rich, period. Targeting discretionary spending on already stripped-to-the-bone programs for arts, NPR and education are a straw man for GOP 2012 ambitions, and Obama has beaten them to the punch, anyway, as past grudges are vented in the House.


The right wing GOP/Tea Baggers continue to be the party of fear, demagoguery and narrow self interest. Their biggest lie of all? Calling themselves “patriots”. Real patriots would get down to work on real problems, not be staring into space on Faux News, trying to cover talking points for the next election.

Categories
Soccer Workshops

An eventful fall around here, not you all might be expected to know it, from reading the World’s Worst Blogger! Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to:


*Two workshops, an eight-week and a one-day, completed this Fall. They were well attended and a lot of fun. The next one begins early in March, and I’ll post reminders here and on my Facebook page.
*I have work in several places right now. The highlights would be the Zip37 Backroom Gallery, which will be a permanent spot to find my work, open most Friday evenings and weekend days. Also Open Press Small Print Show, open Fridays and Saturdays through the Holidays.
*My favorite football team, the Colorado Rapids, got on a major roll, and won the MLS Cup. Not that interesting to those of us who are not soccer geeks, but I took the opportunity to brush up on my video and social networking skills, and I’m now planning on posting art shows and possibly workshop videos to the web, not just ecstatic footie fans. It’s always fun to learn new software (iMovie), and I think writing and video-making are fun ways to exercise the creative muscles.
*This was also an important season politically, as everyone knows. I’ve been pretty active in writing and volunteering for issues that I think are important to creative business and other innovators, and although there were setbacks this year, I remain positive that progressive change can still happen. The politics of fear, greed and self interest are rampant right now, but I’m not ready to give up on America as a great nation.
I’ll try to keep things a bit simpler around here as I slip back into a regular posting schedule. Next up: some of my favorite work, mine and workshop artists, from the past year.
Categories
Art Students League

The Art Students League is Richardsonian, referring to H.H. Richardson, prominent early 20th Century architect who had a big influence, though most of his actual projects are in the east (the state asylum building near the Albright-Knox in Buffalo, for example).

I’m working at the University of Denver bookstore in their receiving department. It’s for all of October; the regular guy is taking family leave for his new child. They let me take Tuesdays off so I can teach the class, and I usually stay after so I can work on my own stuff. It makes for a nice break, and keeps the mental thread going until I can have my weekdays back.


I’m tracking my current thread of work over on my Facebook Artist Page, if you want to see how it’s going. I’m hoping to progress to larger and larger works by spring.
Categories
Workshops

Catching Up

The sun has gotten gold-tinged, the temps have plunged into the 80’s. I had a week recently to try and collect my thoughts after a long brutally hot summer, and I’m thinking life is good. Last year at this time, things didn’t seem quite so sanguine. I’d had an unprecedented run of shows with no sales at all, in places which made expenses hard to control. I contemplated getting job.


Over a long winter spent reading on the couch and refining my pot bean recipe, I talked my self into believing that the continual scrounging for sales and workshop participants, the legwork put in hunting down small payments and cutting expenses; the hours spent trying to figure out inexplicable Facebook and Blogger apps; were all part of the fun. I did finally find a very flexible temporary job in a college bookstore (which also figures into the recent lack of posts). I’ve now punched the clock just often enough to remind me that I was right to keep faith. Several shows in a row have paid for themselves, I’m catching up on bills, and despite what the political fear mongers say, things are getting slowly better.


This year the sales are up and the expenses down ( I stayed closer to home). The fall workshop at the Art Student’s League is underway, and with seven students feels more relaxed than the preceding two classes, with 8 and 10. Indian summer feels like what summer, and so-called retirement is all about: meeting and enjoying both old and new friends. I put in some time with my favorite comedic intellectuals at Buntport Theatre, caught a couple of Rapids games, and did a late night at a friend’s rock and roll gig.

I’ve gotten quite a bit of printing done as well, both monotypes and etchings. The etchings will probably pop up for whatever holiday show I wind up doing, while the monotypes are pure exploration right now, no real pressure to produce, for the first time in a while. I’ll post some pix soon.


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