Every once in a while.....:Vincent Colvin

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Every once in a while - you have the good fortune to meet someone inspired, and therefore - inspiring. Vincent Colvin is one of the most sincere, enthusiastic, un-ashamed-ly full of wonder and curiosity, person/artist (artist=person=artist (?) (different conversation all together)) I have had the pleasure of getting to know in a long time.

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Recently relocating from Philadelphia to Austin, TX (noooooooooooooooo!), Vince has been keeping us updated of his doings over at his blog, The Benthos. Earlier this week it was a post about an Ammonoid Fossil he found in the Colorado River. Then just the other day, an investigative post on the common wasp and why it might be going rapid attack on a moth in Vince's garden (complete with 5 minutes of live footage)!

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We talk about art, the art scene, the art market, trends in art, contemporary art, art history, our individual art practices, politics, popular culture, top 40, underground, indie, folk art, DIY, crust punks, intellects, sculptors, curators, professors, meter maids, and lunch truck ladies - - - but we mustn't forget the origin of all of this : WONDER.

Why do we make the things that we do? What compels us to enter those secret and special places inside of ourselves? Why are you infatuated with old globes and snake skins? Why does the sight of a whole section of different color duct tape in the hardware store make us giddy?

Wonder: wond-der. -verb: to think or speculate curiously; to be filled with admiration, amazement or awe; -noun: something strange and surprising: a cause of surprise; the emotion excited by what is strange; miraculous deed or event; remarkable phenomenon.

You get the picture. Now go pick some up !- figure out what turns you on and hold onto it! Wonder - it's what we can do.

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Check out some of Vince's new experiments with woodcuts on his blog, here, you can also see more of his work on his website, here. Get jealous of Austin, here. Buy your ticket to visit and show up on Vince's doorstep, here.

Wednesday Work: speaking of Matte Stephens...

Rupert and Leonard wait for the tram on their Swedish holiday.

You've seen Matte Stephens' paintings and work whether it be for American Express, IBM, Disney or The Boston Globe - or from our last blog post - to name a few, but have you seen Matte Stephens' felted "action figures"?

Mr. Owl and Uncle Rutherford

Felted Action Figures.

I am not usually all too interested in those things (styles, ideas, etc) that I see everywhere. They often seem ungenuine, or at the very least less accessible to the individual, to myself as a person. They instead just become a commodity, an extension of the corporate working to establish something else, usually a product.

While I enjoy Stephens style, my enjoyment was purely an aesthetic one until I saw these little guys. These felted "action figures".

I'll say it again: felted "action figures".

Whimsical and endearing, I especially like the way they move from felted form to 2-D medium. See the felted figure above, and their corresponding gouache paintings below.

Mr Owl.

Uncle Rutherford.

Not only action figures and portrait paintings, Stephens weds his work with titles imbued with a sort of magic realism.

Titles like: "Felted Rooster School Bus and Mr. Owl".

And, "Alfred, Louis and Francios after 12 years of preparation were surprised to find a cafe at the top of Mount Everest".

I like that Matte Stephens' work consumes him.

Large Owl paper sculpture.

In this image titled "Large Owl paper sculpture", notice not only the sculptural object, another extension of Mr. Owl, but also the clock on the wall behind it. Stephens' style all-consuming of his reality.

These seem less like paintings for paintings sake, or ads for hire, and more like these characters, combined with their background stories and daily lives depicted in various paintings, it seems this is not work for Stephens, but in fact, that these are Stephens' friends.

This inspires me, not only as an artist, but as a person too. To see not only that which is before me, presented to me, available to me in my daily routine, but to see more, to create those things and those stories that allow me an outlet - that give me a little magic; it is a unique occurrence indeed.

The further on into adulthood I go, I am beginning to see just how important it is to be reminded of the potential and the magic all around us.

Thank you, Matte Stephens.

Lumberjack Breakfast.

Lillian playing with abstract thought.

See more of Matte Stephens at his blog, here. Buy some of Matte Stephens work from his etsy shop, here.

Wednesday Work: Office Art

The worst thing on a hot summer day in July?

Office work.

Check out this site Office Art, celebrating works made at work.

I especially love the image above by Maria Elena Murguia, and her description of the work even more.

"An unhappy office, two passive aggressive emails, and a crashing deadline fills one day to the brim, but later when it becomes still and dark, these melt away and become completely insignificant compared to the joy of mushing a cupcake on a scanner bed."

I'm there with you Maria, I'm there.

DEFY MONDAY: Sleep!

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Did you have a good 4th?

Are you all staying cool out there?

With mass amount of DIY home-improvement going on this past weekend (read: house interior in severe disarray = shambles; ie. clutter & crazy), this Monday all I want to do is sleep - and a cool white cube with clean white sheets sounds like the perfect place to do so.

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This work by artist Chu Yun, called for women ages 18 to 40 to apply to be a part of his installation at the New Museum, as part of their "Younger Than Jesus" (an installment of their yearly "Generational" exhibition) showing in 2009.

Women who were chosen to participate were asked to then take a sleeping pill before being "installed" into the gallery space to give their sleeping "performance".

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It looks lovely to me, but I would be mortified upon waking to find a crowd around me, like the one below. Other artists in the exhibition included Ryan Trecartin, Corey Archangel, and Liz Glinn.

You can read more about Chu Yun and the "Younger than Jesus" exhibition here, and here.

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Would you ever audition to be part of an installation?

What are your thoughts on sleeping in public?

Check out another interesting "performance" based installation by Marina Abramivic here

and a hilarious response to the piece (involving a telepathic Bjork) here.

I think my face is asleep right now.

Beat the heat, Beat the heat, my mantra as I finish painting our new apartment.

[fingers flashing peace] TW, OUT.

Wednesday Work: Linoleum Prints: Troy Lovegate

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So, I am really into acessible art as of late. Art that I think I could make too... ok, well, at least art with a process that isn't way far over my head, or way out of my ability to gain materials for.

Viola - the linoleum print, or linocut. No fancy materials, nor does one need a lot of materials. A process - that once you get past the idea of printing backwards - laying down those colors in the background first and working your way out to the front of the print - a process that doesn't seem too difficult to understand.

L-L-Love these linoleum prints by Troy Lovegate! A jack-of-all-trades, he works in painting, drawing, mixed media and installation as well.

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You can see more of Troy's work here, and here.

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And in the spirit of doing-it-yourself, check out easy to follow linolem print tutorials here, and here. The first one even has a margarita recipe at the end! (The second is more kid-friendly.)

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Who's going to try it with me? I'll post mine, if you show me yours....

DEFY MONDAY: Made With Awesome

Made With Awesome