A good time, this lull between Christmas and New Year’s, to tidy up the old email inbox, phone messages, and court summonses and find out what’s on your minds.
First of all, best of the season to all. And, in the spirit of inclusion, I urge this wish with equal feeling upon all my fellow beings, be ye Regular, Oily or Dry and Damaged. I know. That’s large-minded of me but I’ve always been the kind who sees beyond the shampoo category to the human being inside. Oh, here, take my hanky.
Second, thanks to every one of you who has read this column over the past year, even if only to find the secret coded messages that some believe are encrypted in it, possibly holding the answer to the European debt crisis as well as up-to-the-minute traffic updates and chess tips.
Several of you commented on last week’s column about Audrey Traini’s painting, for which I modelled as the Hatter figure in her tea party tableau. It hung in the Louvre in Paris for four days earlier in December.
Among the remarks, John Henley’s taught me something I never knew.
“Now here is the bone of contention,” writes John. “There is NO character called the Mad Hatter.
“Why do I know this? Because I had a company in the U.K. and I wanted to call it Mad Hatter Jokes and Tricks but didn’t want to run afoul of copyright laws so I actually went to an exhibition of Lewis Carroll books and was allowed to look through a first edition of Alice in Wonderland.
“There is the Hatter but absolutely NO Mad Hatter. People have spliced Mad as a Hatter or Mad March Hare onto the original name, but, as a character, the Hatter is just that, the Hatter. So, in the nicest possible way, please accept this email as an update.
“Other than that, Jeff, I love the picture.”
Some of you asked what you could do to help with Robin McKee’s building of a new roof for his friend Maurice Rondeau. I wrote about that in the fall and how Robin arranged the shingles on part of the roof to form a smile.
Well, the SAGE and Main programs at Strathcona School came through big time, donating roofing supplies to Robin and now the job is done. Maurice’s house is dry again.
Congratulations to Martin Hering. You may remember him as the fellow who so faithfully and beautifully restored the Hambly House, a classic example of Streamline Moderne architecture, in Westdale. I wrote about this in the spring. Since then he has received quite a bit of ink and Internet coverage, and in November the Hambly House won a 2011 Urban Design and Architecture Award.
2011年12月25日星期日
2011年12月22日星期四
Editorial Review of PD Artist
PD Artist 2 is a program for digital painters. The focus is on brushes, paint media, and special effects. PD Artist ($79) really tries to recreate a feeling of painting on canvas, paper, or any other surface you select, but what it's best at is creating organic and fluid digital art. Unfortunately, it's difficult to learn; you may find comparably-priced programs a better investment of your time.
With PD Artist, you work purely in raster (pixels); there are no preset shapes and forms to manipulate like in vector drawing programs like Adobe Illustrator ($599) or Serif DrawPlus ($99). You choose a brush and get to work.
PD Artist's Brush sets are thorough, and include non-brush tools like Airbrush, Pen, and Pencil, in addition to media such as Oils, Tempera, Pastels, and Watercolor. Just like raster painting program ArtRage Studio Pro ($80), and most other digital painting programs, the brushes aren't so realistic they don't allow you to watercolor over oil paint for example, but for the most part they create surprisingly good results. However, unlike ArtRage, setting the brush style is not intuitive in PD Artist.
The number of brush effects is unlimited, because you can make your own, much like in Adobe Illustrator. PD Artist includes a few hundred to get you started, including Smudge and Smear; Organic effects like grass, leaves, flowers, rocks, and sparkles; styles like Impressionist and dry brush; and odd additions like the brush that piles on photo-realistic rocks and one that paints beautiful wildflowers.
To help you with your painting, PD Artist also includes a multitude of transforming filters, such as Blur, Sharpen, Noise, Artistic, the interesting 3D perceptive and Lighting tools. There's a lot to learn. Unfortunately, just like with real painting, with PD Artist it's difficult for anyone to tell you step by step how to achieve a particular result: There are multiple ways of doing it. This makes it hard to learn PD Artist, even with prior experience using other painting programs. And with no searchable help in PD Artist you can get stuck, even if you are trying to work with one of the many tutorials found online.
If you're used to any other drawing or painting program, layers in PD Artist can be a little confusing to start. They work more like transparent overlays. You can store images and use a swap buffer feature--- essentially a replacement for saving multiple drafts---as if you're taking a fresh piece of paper. The upside of this is that you can go back to a previous snapshot of your work and also merge different images. It's like a combination of Adobe Photoshop's History and Illustrator's Layers, but it takes a while to get the hang of.
PD Artist doesn't have photo manipulation tools. You can open your photos most common image files and turn them into part of your artwork, but if you're interested in adding or removing parts of photographs to incorporate them into your art, you may want to try Paint.NET or RealWorld Paint, both free raster painting programs that are less brush-focused and easier to use.
In PD Artist I found it very difficult to recreate my artwork, an important step when you are learning how to use a program. When I was unhappy with my painting, I could follow the steps involved in creating it, but even keeping tool settings the same, I never got the same result twice. Maybe this is deliberate---like true painting---but I found it made PD Artist frustrating, and there's no work-around other than trying again and again to get the effect you're happy with.
I also had problems with PD Artist not responding while my Intel dual core processor practically melted down, even when doing something mundane like adjusting brush properties.
PD Artist 2 is powered by Project Dogwaffle version 6. Version 1.5 of the Project Dogwaffle software, originally created for Windows XP is still available for free, and installed and ran on both Windows 7 and Vista with no problems and no error messages … which is more than could be said for PD Artist. If you're not an expert in ActiveX controls or fixing things in the command line, you may get stuck before you even start painting with PD Artist.
PD Artist includes some interesting special effects, but if you want to learn to digitally paint, or even if you're a painter and can't afford costly supplies, PD Artist is frustratingly difficult to learn and achieve the effects you envision. Unless you're an avid Project Dogwaffle user, I'd suggest sticking with more intuitive painting programs like ArtRage Studio Pro or Paint.NET.
With PD Artist, you work purely in raster (pixels); there are no preset shapes and forms to manipulate like in vector drawing programs like Adobe Illustrator ($599) or Serif DrawPlus ($99). You choose a brush and get to work.
PD Artist's Brush sets are thorough, and include non-brush tools like Airbrush, Pen, and Pencil, in addition to media such as Oils, Tempera, Pastels, and Watercolor. Just like raster painting program ArtRage Studio Pro ($80), and most other digital painting programs, the brushes aren't so realistic they don't allow you to watercolor over oil paint for example, but for the most part they create surprisingly good results. However, unlike ArtRage, setting the brush style is not intuitive in PD Artist.
The number of brush effects is unlimited, because you can make your own, much like in Adobe Illustrator. PD Artist includes a few hundred to get you started, including Smudge and Smear; Organic effects like grass, leaves, flowers, rocks, and sparkles; styles like Impressionist and dry brush; and odd additions like the brush that piles on photo-realistic rocks and one that paints beautiful wildflowers.
To help you with your painting, PD Artist also includes a multitude of transforming filters, such as Blur, Sharpen, Noise, Artistic, the interesting 3D perceptive and Lighting tools. There's a lot to learn. Unfortunately, just like with real painting, with PD Artist it's difficult for anyone to tell you step by step how to achieve a particular result: There are multiple ways of doing it. This makes it hard to learn PD Artist, even with prior experience using other painting programs. And with no searchable help in PD Artist you can get stuck, even if you are trying to work with one of the many tutorials found online.
If you're used to any other drawing or painting program, layers in PD Artist can be a little confusing to start. They work more like transparent overlays. You can store images and use a swap buffer feature--- essentially a replacement for saving multiple drafts---as if you're taking a fresh piece of paper. The upside of this is that you can go back to a previous snapshot of your work and also merge different images. It's like a combination of Adobe Photoshop's History and Illustrator's Layers, but it takes a while to get the hang of.
PD Artist doesn't have photo manipulation tools. You can open your photos most common image files and turn them into part of your artwork, but if you're interested in adding or removing parts of photographs to incorporate them into your art, you may want to try Paint.NET or RealWorld Paint, both free raster painting programs that are less brush-focused and easier to use.
In PD Artist I found it very difficult to recreate my artwork, an important step when you are learning how to use a program. When I was unhappy with my painting, I could follow the steps involved in creating it, but even keeping tool settings the same, I never got the same result twice. Maybe this is deliberate---like true painting---but I found it made PD Artist frustrating, and there's no work-around other than trying again and again to get the effect you're happy with.
I also had problems with PD Artist not responding while my Intel dual core processor practically melted down, even when doing something mundane like adjusting brush properties.
PD Artist 2 is powered by Project Dogwaffle version 6. Version 1.5 of the Project Dogwaffle software, originally created for Windows XP is still available for free, and installed and ran on both Windows 7 and Vista with no problems and no error messages … which is more than could be said for PD Artist. If you're not an expert in ActiveX controls or fixing things in the command line, you may get stuck before you even start painting with PD Artist.
PD Artist includes some interesting special effects, but if you want to learn to digitally paint, or even if you're a painter and can't afford costly supplies, PD Artist is frustratingly difficult to learn and achieve the effects you envision. Unless you're an avid Project Dogwaffle user, I'd suggest sticking with more intuitive painting programs like ArtRage Studio Pro or Paint.NET.
2011年12月21日星期三
Oil Trades Near Weekly High on U.S. Economy, Shrinking Supplies
Oil traded near its highest in a week in New York on signs that the U.S. economy will be spared a recession and amid growing pressure on Iran to curtail its nuclear program.
Futures were little changed after rising as much as 1.3 percent. The American Petroleum Institute showed crude inventories dropped to the lowest in almost two years. Analysts in a Bloomberg News survey predicted the Energy Department will say today supplies fell 2.13 million barrels. The February contract surged 3.4 percent yesterday on U.S. housing data that beat estimates, unexpected growth in German business confidence and concern that shipments from Iran may be curbed.
“Oil has been strengthening as we get more positive U.S. economic data, such as housing starts, along with a recovery in the euro and the possibility of Iranian reprisals,” said Robert Montefusco, senior broker at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London.
Crude for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was at $97.28 a barrel at 1:32 p.m. London time, up 4 cents, after rising as much as $1.26 to $98.50, the highest since Dec. 14. The contract yesterday climbed $3.19 to $97.24. Front-month futures have risen 6.5 percent this year after gaining 15 percent in 2010.
Brent oil for February settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange was down 23 cents at $106.50 a barrel after rising $1.03, or 1 percent, to $107.76 a barrel. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $9.27 to New York-traded West Texas Intermediate grade. The spread widened to a record $27.88 on Oct. 14.
The Obama administration and European Union governments are seeking help from Arab and Asian allies to reduce Iran’s oil revenues. EU nations, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific allies discussed possible measures in Rome yesterday and agreed to increase pressure on Iran, the world’s No. 3 crude exporter in 2010, to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons program, according to an Italian Foreign Ministry statement.
U.S. crude inventories fell to 330 million barrels last week, the lowest since the period ended Jan. 22 last year, the industry-funded API said yesterday.
Gasoline stockpiles decreased 394,000 barrels to 213.9 million, based on the API data. The Energy Department report may show supplies probably climbed 1.5 million barrels, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Distillate-fuel stockpiles, including heating oil and diesel, are expected to have declined 750,000 barrels.
The Energy Department will release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington today.
Oil in New York has technical resistance along the middle Bollinger Band, around $98.20 a barrel today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sell orders tend to be clustered near chart-resistance levels.
Home builders in the U.S. broke ground in November on more houses than at any time in the past 19 months. Housing starts increased 9.3 percent to an annual rate of 685,000, the highest since April 2010, a Commerce Department report showed yesterday. A median 635,000 gain was forecast by 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. A report today may show sales of existing homes in the U.S. increased last month.
“Economic data is painting a better global growth scenario, and that’s clearly feeding into firmer oil prices,” said Michael McCarthy, a chief market strategist at CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty in Sydney who predicts New York futures will settle between $99 and $102 a barrel at the end of the year. “We’ll be watching the inventory data tonight following the API.”
Futures were little changed after rising as much as 1.3 percent. The American Petroleum Institute showed crude inventories dropped to the lowest in almost two years. Analysts in a Bloomberg News survey predicted the Energy Department will say today supplies fell 2.13 million barrels. The February contract surged 3.4 percent yesterday on U.S. housing data that beat estimates, unexpected growth in German business confidence and concern that shipments from Iran may be curbed.
“Oil has been strengthening as we get more positive U.S. economic data, such as housing starts, along with a recovery in the euro and the possibility of Iranian reprisals,” said Robert Montefusco, senior broker at Sucden Financial Ltd. in London.
Crude for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was at $97.28 a barrel at 1:32 p.m. London time, up 4 cents, after rising as much as $1.26 to $98.50, the highest since Dec. 14. The contract yesterday climbed $3.19 to $97.24. Front-month futures have risen 6.5 percent this year after gaining 15 percent in 2010.
Brent oil for February settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange was down 23 cents at $106.50 a barrel after rising $1.03, or 1 percent, to $107.76 a barrel. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $9.27 to New York-traded West Texas Intermediate grade. The spread widened to a record $27.88 on Oct. 14.
The Obama administration and European Union governments are seeking help from Arab and Asian allies to reduce Iran’s oil revenues. EU nations, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific allies discussed possible measures in Rome yesterday and agreed to increase pressure on Iran, the world’s No. 3 crude exporter in 2010, to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons program, according to an Italian Foreign Ministry statement.
U.S. crude inventories fell to 330 million barrels last week, the lowest since the period ended Jan. 22 last year, the industry-funded API said yesterday.
Gasoline stockpiles decreased 394,000 barrels to 213.9 million, based on the API data. The Energy Department report may show supplies probably climbed 1.5 million barrels, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Distillate-fuel stockpiles, including heating oil and diesel, are expected to have declined 750,000 barrels.
The Energy Department will release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington today.
Oil in New York has technical resistance along the middle Bollinger Band, around $98.20 a barrel today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sell orders tend to be clustered near chart-resistance levels.
Home builders in the U.S. broke ground in November on more houses than at any time in the past 19 months. Housing starts increased 9.3 percent to an annual rate of 685,000, the highest since April 2010, a Commerce Department report showed yesterday. A median 635,000 gain was forecast by 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. A report today may show sales of existing homes in the U.S. increased last month.
“Economic data is painting a better global growth scenario, and that’s clearly feeding into firmer oil prices,” said Michael McCarthy, a chief market strategist at CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty in Sydney who predicts New York futures will settle between $99 and $102 a barrel at the end of the year. “We’ll be watching the inventory data tonight following the API.”
2011年12月20日星期二
National Park Service uses artist’s paintings
Three National Park Service interpretive panels featuring the artwork of Cherokee artist Dorothy Tidwell Sullivan were dedicated on Nov. 5 as part of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association’s fall meeting.
The paintings show the aftermath of the forced removal that occurred in 1838-39 when Cherokee people depended on supply depots to provide provisions while they waited for their first harvests and built new homes.
One painting titled “The End of the Journey” shows Cherokee people outside a depot receiving supplies, while the other painting titled “Home in the West” shows a Cherokee family around a campfire cooking.
The NPS and TOTA commissioned Sullivan’s artwork for the panels. She said she received background information from the two organizations for the paintings.
Sullivan said for the paintings she used the likenesses of local Cherokee people. She added that the paintings were given to the Cherokee Heritage Center on permanent loan by the NPS per her request.
“I just thought it would be a nice thing to be able to give them to the museum,” she said.
Sullivan, of Oklahoma City, said she painted the pieces in honor of her Tidwell family, specifically her great-grandmother Versonay Marie Tidwell, grandmother Cellie Lizziebeth Tidwell and her father Harold Tidwell, who lived northwest of Stilwell on allotment land.
She said she thought of her late father while creating the paintings. A Cherokee Nation citizen, she said he was proud of his heritage and would take her and her sister to visit her grandmother’s home site.
The Tidwell family is descended from Young Deer or Indian John Tidwell, who arrived in Indian Territory from Georgia during the forced removal, she said.
In honor of her Tidwell family, Sullivan donated a framed print on canvas of “Home in the West” to the Stilwell Depot Museum.
“I just wanted it go there because that’s where they lived,” she said. “It was my gift to the museum because I think so much of it.”
Sullivan said “Home in the West” was also inspired by the Webber family, an Old Settler family who lived where the Stilwell cemetery is now located. Old Settlers were Cherokees who arrived in the territory in the early 1800s.
The Webbers established a plantation where the cemetery is today, Sullivan said. A supply depot for Cherokee people was set up at the Webber home site.
“It was one of the main ones. More (removal) detachments went to it than the others,” she said.
The NPS created three interpretive markers from Sullivan’s paintings. A marker using the “Home in the West” artwork sits outside the depot museum, while two markers using the “End of the Journey” and “Home in the West” artworks are at the Stilwell cemetery. The markers also provide background on the Trail of Tears and supply depots.
“What I try to do with my paintings is the more you look…the more you learn,” Sullivan said. “I used to be a teacher, so it comes out. I can’t help it.”
Sullivan said she’s been creating Cherokee-themed paintings for more than 20 years, using her love of history and father’s stories. She said she didn’t grow up immersed in the Cherokee culture but researched along the way to add authenticity to her paintings.
The NPS and the TOTA have partnered to promote preservation and awareness of the Trail of Tears. Each state where removal detachments originated, and those through which they traveled, have formed state chapters marking and dedicating trail sites.
The Oklahoma project locates and marks the graves of those who survived the trail. The newest project dedicates the ration depots and places historical marker signs at the sites.
The paintings show the aftermath of the forced removal that occurred in 1838-39 when Cherokee people depended on supply depots to provide provisions while they waited for their first harvests and built new homes.
One painting titled “The End of the Journey” shows Cherokee people outside a depot receiving supplies, while the other painting titled “Home in the West” shows a Cherokee family around a campfire cooking.
The NPS and TOTA commissioned Sullivan’s artwork for the panels. She said she received background information from the two organizations for the paintings.
Sullivan said for the paintings she used the likenesses of local Cherokee people. She added that the paintings were given to the Cherokee Heritage Center on permanent loan by the NPS per her request.
“I just thought it would be a nice thing to be able to give them to the museum,” she said.
Sullivan, of Oklahoma City, said she painted the pieces in honor of her Tidwell family, specifically her great-grandmother Versonay Marie Tidwell, grandmother Cellie Lizziebeth Tidwell and her father Harold Tidwell, who lived northwest of Stilwell on allotment land.
She said she thought of her late father while creating the paintings. A Cherokee Nation citizen, she said he was proud of his heritage and would take her and her sister to visit her grandmother’s home site.
The Tidwell family is descended from Young Deer or Indian John Tidwell, who arrived in Indian Territory from Georgia during the forced removal, she said.
In honor of her Tidwell family, Sullivan donated a framed print on canvas of “Home in the West” to the Stilwell Depot Museum.
“I just wanted it go there because that’s where they lived,” she said. “It was my gift to the museum because I think so much of it.”
Sullivan said “Home in the West” was also inspired by the Webber family, an Old Settler family who lived where the Stilwell cemetery is now located. Old Settlers were Cherokees who arrived in the territory in the early 1800s.
The Webbers established a plantation where the cemetery is today, Sullivan said. A supply depot for Cherokee people was set up at the Webber home site.
“It was one of the main ones. More (removal) detachments went to it than the others,” she said.
The NPS created three interpretive markers from Sullivan’s paintings. A marker using the “Home in the West” artwork sits outside the depot museum, while two markers using the “End of the Journey” and “Home in the West” artworks are at the Stilwell cemetery. The markers also provide background on the Trail of Tears and supply depots.
“What I try to do with my paintings is the more you look…the more you learn,” Sullivan said. “I used to be a teacher, so it comes out. I can’t help it.”
Sullivan said she’s been creating Cherokee-themed paintings for more than 20 years, using her love of history and father’s stories. She said she didn’t grow up immersed in the Cherokee culture but researched along the way to add authenticity to her paintings.
The NPS and the TOTA have partnered to promote preservation and awareness of the Trail of Tears. Each state where removal detachments originated, and those through which they traveled, have formed state chapters marking and dedicating trail sites.
The Oklahoma project locates and marks the graves of those who survived the trail. The newest project dedicates the ration depots and places historical marker signs at the sites.
2011年12月19日星期一
Mythica: Fashion Show Adventures
Creating a fashion event is a huge amount of work. There are so many elements that go into it. So many people. So many places for things to go wrong. When it comes to show time most people in the audience have no idea what the event planner went through to make it all happen. They are just there to have a good time, and look at pretty girls. Then they leave.
Since I have been doing the body painting for some of these events I have noticed some things that seem to be the “norm” for the shows. It seems that several or many models cancelling is an absolute certainty. You never book exactly the number of models you need you book more so you can get the number you need. Another absolute certainty is that something that belongs to the models is going to be stolen. Sometimes it is a wallet, phone, cash, outfits, shoes, or anything else they brought in the door. Somehow it magically disappears by some invisible means by the time they get off the runway.
Everyone is hoping to get their big break. The hairstylist will do shows for free until someone sees how amazing they are and pay them for their artistry. The make-up artists are in the same boat and so are the photographers. And of course the models. So the guest artist event I did last night should have cost the show $500 at a minimum (everyone involved getting ONLY $50, plus paying for supplies). The models should have gotten $100 a piece. The hairdresser normally gets $150 for a photo shoot. I normally get $200 plus supplies. The photographer is normally $250. We also bought pizza since we started at noon and the show finished at 10pm. There was also a run to Walgreens for other supplies. Each of the models also had to buy underwear for the shoot. So in order for everyone to be paid their normal fee, it should have cost somewhere in the ballpark of $900.
Like I said. I think most people have no idea. That was just for two models! I know that before I started doing this I had no idea, which is why I wrote this.
Which brings me to my second point. The assumptions of these events are that stealing is normal, saying you are going to be there, and not showing up, is normal. Not in my world! I want to create events where people participating, in general, aren’t afraid that their things are going to be stolen. I also want everyone to get paid something! This has got to change! Lastly I want the audience to stay and actually talk to everyone! I mean people should get to meet the human beings who put hours of their life together for two to three minutes of runway time! These are artists! The models are NOT just bodies, they are people. We have to start caring, and I want to create special events where everyone WANTS to participate they are treated like real people, they are respected, their things are safe and don’t go missing, they get paid for their time and effort, and everyone stays to talk, dance, and have a good time past the runway show.
How is that possible? Easy. Relationships. You spend time getting to know the people that are on time, show up, do good work, and have awesome attitudes on and off the runway. Drama queens, flakes, lewd audience members and jealous boyfriends can go to other people’s shows. The idea is that the people who do all the bad behavior may want to get into my show, but it requires them to be better than anyone has thought possible of them before.
Since I have been doing the body painting for some of these events I have noticed some things that seem to be the “norm” for the shows. It seems that several or many models cancelling is an absolute certainty. You never book exactly the number of models you need you book more so you can get the number you need. Another absolute certainty is that something that belongs to the models is going to be stolen. Sometimes it is a wallet, phone, cash, outfits, shoes, or anything else they brought in the door. Somehow it magically disappears by some invisible means by the time they get off the runway.
Everyone is hoping to get their big break. The hairstylist will do shows for free until someone sees how amazing they are and pay them for their artistry. The make-up artists are in the same boat and so are the photographers. And of course the models. So the guest artist event I did last night should have cost the show $500 at a minimum (everyone involved getting ONLY $50, plus paying for supplies). The models should have gotten $100 a piece. The hairdresser normally gets $150 for a photo shoot. I normally get $200 plus supplies. The photographer is normally $250. We also bought pizza since we started at noon and the show finished at 10pm. There was also a run to Walgreens for other supplies. Each of the models also had to buy underwear for the shoot. So in order for everyone to be paid their normal fee, it should have cost somewhere in the ballpark of $900.
Like I said. I think most people have no idea. That was just for two models! I know that before I started doing this I had no idea, which is why I wrote this.
Which brings me to my second point. The assumptions of these events are that stealing is normal, saying you are going to be there, and not showing up, is normal. Not in my world! I want to create events where people participating, in general, aren’t afraid that their things are going to be stolen. I also want everyone to get paid something! This has got to change! Lastly I want the audience to stay and actually talk to everyone! I mean people should get to meet the human beings who put hours of their life together for two to three minutes of runway time! These are artists! The models are NOT just bodies, they are people. We have to start caring, and I want to create special events where everyone WANTS to participate they are treated like real people, they are respected, their things are safe and don’t go missing, they get paid for their time and effort, and everyone stays to talk, dance, and have a good time past the runway show.
How is that possible? Easy. Relationships. You spend time getting to know the people that are on time, show up, do good work, and have awesome attitudes on and off the runway. Drama queens, flakes, lewd audience members and jealous boyfriends can go to other people’s shows. The idea is that the people who do all the bad behavior may want to get into my show, but it requires them to be better than anyone has thought possible of them before.
2011年12月15日星期四
Pottery Painting Pops Up in Wilton
Budding Calders and Chilhulys now have a local Wilton studio where they can start their pursuit of artistic expression. Art on Fire, a paint-your-own-pottery studio, has relocated from Ridgefield to a bigger space at 991 Danbury Road, next to Toozy Patza.
Owner Joe Criscuolo is eager to welcome artists of all ages who want to paint, create and be elated with art.
“After five years in Ridgefield, we decided to expand to offer more things. We don’t want to be just a pottery place—we want it to be an art place. We wanted the opportunity for someone to come here and do something and just take it with them in that moment, like mosaics. Mosaics are a lot of fun—you spend 20 minutes to half-an-hour doing a craft and you have something to show for it immediately, and it’s quick turnaround gift giving.”
Perfect for the rapidly approaching holidays, Criscuolo is also offering a stocking-decorating craft as well.
Of course traditional pottery painting will still be a core project at the studio—glancing at the well-stocked shelves customers can choose from platters, mugs, animal figures and a seeming unending array of ceramics on which to unleash creative energy. Art on Fire supplies the paints, tools, kiln firing, expertise and music in the studio.
“Everything is individually priced, per item, and then we apply a one-time, $8 studio fee per painter. It’s not time based or item based. We don’t charge you any more than the $8, you can paint as many items during the time you stay there,” explained Criscuolo.
He noted that Tuesdays will always be “free studio time” and the $8 fee will be waived. “It’s something we do for customers who want to come in and paint regularly.” They’ll also have a Wednesday Holiday incentive, offering 50-percent off a customer’s entire check (ceramics and studio fee combined).
In addition to traditional kids’ birthday parties, Art on Fire hosts other kinds of gatherings.
“Senior citizen residential centers can have an outing here or we can bring things on-site. We do fundraisers in the studio for non-profit groups like the PTA or scout trips—we can put together auction items or donate 50 percent of the net proceeds of an event here. Invite all your friends, we do all the work, they get a check, it’s a no-brainer,” said Criscuolo. “We also do corporate team-building and ladies’ nights, from 7-9p.m: We cater the food, or we can do a wine tasting night, and you come in with everyone; we play some cool music, you chilax for a little bit and paint and have fun.”
The other major focus of the art studio will be after school and toddler enrichment programs, as well as summer camps. Criscuolo said the full schedule of programs for different age groups offers some extras.
“We provide free food and a safe environment and they can paint and socialize and have a great time. We also have a playroom that we’ve expanded so it allows kids to burn off energy if the painting isn’t doing it for them.”
Owner Joe Criscuolo is eager to welcome artists of all ages who want to paint, create and be elated with art.
“After five years in Ridgefield, we decided to expand to offer more things. We don’t want to be just a pottery place—we want it to be an art place. We wanted the opportunity for someone to come here and do something and just take it with them in that moment, like mosaics. Mosaics are a lot of fun—you spend 20 minutes to half-an-hour doing a craft and you have something to show for it immediately, and it’s quick turnaround gift giving.”
Perfect for the rapidly approaching holidays, Criscuolo is also offering a stocking-decorating craft as well.
Of course traditional pottery painting will still be a core project at the studio—glancing at the well-stocked shelves customers can choose from platters, mugs, animal figures and a seeming unending array of ceramics on which to unleash creative energy. Art on Fire supplies the paints, tools, kiln firing, expertise and music in the studio.
“Everything is individually priced, per item, and then we apply a one-time, $8 studio fee per painter. It’s not time based or item based. We don’t charge you any more than the $8, you can paint as many items during the time you stay there,” explained Criscuolo.
He noted that Tuesdays will always be “free studio time” and the $8 fee will be waived. “It’s something we do for customers who want to come in and paint regularly.” They’ll also have a Wednesday Holiday incentive, offering 50-percent off a customer’s entire check (ceramics and studio fee combined).
In addition to traditional kids’ birthday parties, Art on Fire hosts other kinds of gatherings.
“Senior citizen residential centers can have an outing here or we can bring things on-site. We do fundraisers in the studio for non-profit groups like the PTA or scout trips—we can put together auction items or donate 50 percent of the net proceeds of an event here. Invite all your friends, we do all the work, they get a check, it’s a no-brainer,” said Criscuolo. “We also do corporate team-building and ladies’ nights, from 7-9p.m: We cater the food, or we can do a wine tasting night, and you come in with everyone; we play some cool music, you chilax for a little bit and paint and have fun.”
The other major focus of the art studio will be after school and toddler enrichment programs, as well as summer camps. Criscuolo said the full schedule of programs for different age groups offers some extras.
“We provide free food and a safe environment and they can paint and socialize and have a great time. We also have a playroom that we’ve expanded so it allows kids to burn off energy if the painting isn’t doing it for them.”
2011年12月14日星期三
Painting stirs imagination
Unsigned art created by a small South Tampa company with an unassuming name graces many area homes, restaurants and local schools as well as the Glazer Children's Museum and Central Florida's newest theme park, Legoland.
Splat Paint creations prove the small staff does much more than paint some neat work — all without splat.
Detailed murals, custom artistic finishes, decorative metal work, hand-embossed tiles, Venetian plaster, concrete sculptures, gold-leafing and more are on the company's creative palette.
"That's why we've been lucky in this economy — we do everything," said Jeff Monsein, founder of the South Tampa-based company.
Splat Paint works with the Tampa Bay area's major architects, builders, and landscapers; but in the past the creative team has worked in South Florida, Maryland, California, even Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
That Mexican project consumed three weeks and posed unique problems that arose early in the journey.
Unknown to Monsein, Transportation Security Administration agents at Tampa International Airport confiscated all the liquid tints he packed in a trunk of art supplies for the job south of the border.
The loss of the tinting for glaze in the 10-bedroom vacation mansion of a Tampa client left little choice but to seek higher-priced substitutes in the Mexican coastal resort.
"I'm using my best Spanglish possible to try and negotiate with the locals to get enough materials to get the job done," said Monsein, finally able to laugh at the perplexing predicament six years ago.
Most jobs are closer to Monsein's New Suburb Beautiful studio. The company created murals in the media center, cafeteria and teachers' lounge at South Tampa's Woodrow Wilson Middle School and did all murals at Glazer Children's Museum.
The team used 20,000 small pieces of tile to create a 7-foot-high pirate mosaic outside the museum entrance, part of the nonprofit artLOUD project to place more sculpture downtown. Splat's interactive colorful mosaic is designed so visitors can pose behind it — their faces poking through the appropriate openings atop the swashbucklers' bodies.
At Tampa General Hospital, Splat Paint's unique mural in the Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit depicts children seemingly swimming along the 20-foot diameter ceiling.
"We painted the ceiling as if you were looking up through the ocean and saw children floating and playing in the water," Monsein said.
The mural extends to the floor via a large pillar painted like a tubular aquarium with a coral reef, colorful fish and more swimming children. The image of a curious young observer on the outside looking in completes the aquatic design.
Months before Legoland's October opening, the Splat team was working on an arcade building at the Polk County theme park, where they applied colored cement to create a look of old plaster and exposed wood.
"It was a really difficult job," working all day in full sun for two weeks, said Monsein. Additionally, the team was required to wear long pants, safety vests and hardhats in the 95-degree heat. "It was miserable."
Monsein was not always a suffering artist. For two decades he owned and operated employment agencies and trade schools in Tampa, all in the auto/diesel mechanics and truck-driver training field. When he sold the businesses he was retired — briefly. In 1990, he likes to say, he "traded diesels for easels," informing his wife, "I'm going to start painting."
He launched the one-man company by distributing door-hanger ads to 100 houses in his New Suburb Beautiful neighborhood. It triggered some jobs. "I had to learn very quickly," he concedes. "I had no art education whatsoever, but I'm pretty crazy about reading and practicing" constantly until able to do whatever the job requires, he said.
To help with the growing workload, two school-trained artists joined Monsein a half-dozen years ago, Kristen Alatorre and Timothy Innamorato. Other local artists help with large projects. Most jobs, including the third philanthropic project Splat recently completed at Alpha House Tampa, begin with the proposed design superimposed on a photo of the area where the design or mural will be painted. "It pretty much shows what you're going to get," Monsein said.
Usually the client has a theme in mind, "and we come up with a creative plan. Most of our clients give us some poetic license to create," Monsein said.
For the Alpha House patio walls, the team proposed a tropical theme and, following approval of a design of hibiscus and tropical leaves, created stencils to facilitate applying those images in colors selected by the client.
"We don't have a particular style," Monsein said. For example, a western-theme mural requested by a client will be unique, unrecognizable as a Splat Paint creation, he said.
The company itself was somewhat anonymous in its early days.
"Originally, there was no name, but I used the Splat logo," Monsein said. "My last name is totally not memorable," so he didn't want to identify the company that way. "Splat is really easy to spell and it's really memorable," he said.
Splat Paint creations prove the small staff does much more than paint some neat work — all without splat.
Detailed murals, custom artistic finishes, decorative metal work, hand-embossed tiles, Venetian plaster, concrete sculptures, gold-leafing and more are on the company's creative palette.
"That's why we've been lucky in this economy — we do everything," said Jeff Monsein, founder of the South Tampa-based company.
Splat Paint works with the Tampa Bay area's major architects, builders, and landscapers; but in the past the creative team has worked in South Florida, Maryland, California, even Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
That Mexican project consumed three weeks and posed unique problems that arose early in the journey.
Unknown to Monsein, Transportation Security Administration agents at Tampa International Airport confiscated all the liquid tints he packed in a trunk of art supplies for the job south of the border.
The loss of the tinting for glaze in the 10-bedroom vacation mansion of a Tampa client left little choice but to seek higher-priced substitutes in the Mexican coastal resort.
"I'm using my best Spanglish possible to try and negotiate with the locals to get enough materials to get the job done," said Monsein, finally able to laugh at the perplexing predicament six years ago.
Most jobs are closer to Monsein's New Suburb Beautiful studio. The company created murals in the media center, cafeteria and teachers' lounge at South Tampa's Woodrow Wilson Middle School and did all murals at Glazer Children's Museum.
The team used 20,000 small pieces of tile to create a 7-foot-high pirate mosaic outside the museum entrance, part of the nonprofit artLOUD project to place more sculpture downtown. Splat's interactive colorful mosaic is designed so visitors can pose behind it — their faces poking through the appropriate openings atop the swashbucklers' bodies.
At Tampa General Hospital, Splat Paint's unique mural in the Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit depicts children seemingly swimming along the 20-foot diameter ceiling.
"We painted the ceiling as if you were looking up through the ocean and saw children floating and playing in the water," Monsein said.
The mural extends to the floor via a large pillar painted like a tubular aquarium with a coral reef, colorful fish and more swimming children. The image of a curious young observer on the outside looking in completes the aquatic design.
Months before Legoland's October opening, the Splat team was working on an arcade building at the Polk County theme park, where they applied colored cement to create a look of old plaster and exposed wood.
"It was a really difficult job," working all day in full sun for two weeks, said Monsein. Additionally, the team was required to wear long pants, safety vests and hardhats in the 95-degree heat. "It was miserable."
Monsein was not always a suffering artist. For two decades he owned and operated employment agencies and trade schools in Tampa, all in the auto/diesel mechanics and truck-driver training field. When he sold the businesses he was retired — briefly. In 1990, he likes to say, he "traded diesels for easels," informing his wife, "I'm going to start painting."
He launched the one-man company by distributing door-hanger ads to 100 houses in his New Suburb Beautiful neighborhood. It triggered some jobs. "I had to learn very quickly," he concedes. "I had no art education whatsoever, but I'm pretty crazy about reading and practicing" constantly until able to do whatever the job requires, he said.
To help with the growing workload, two school-trained artists joined Monsein a half-dozen years ago, Kristen Alatorre and Timothy Innamorato. Other local artists help with large projects. Most jobs, including the third philanthropic project Splat recently completed at Alpha House Tampa, begin with the proposed design superimposed on a photo of the area where the design or mural will be painted. "It pretty much shows what you're going to get," Monsein said.
Usually the client has a theme in mind, "and we come up with a creative plan. Most of our clients give us some poetic license to create," Monsein said.
For the Alpha House patio walls, the team proposed a tropical theme and, following approval of a design of hibiscus and tropical leaves, created stencils to facilitate applying those images in colors selected by the client.
"We don't have a particular style," Monsein said. For example, a western-theme mural requested by a client will be unique, unrecognizable as a Splat Paint creation, he said.
The company itself was somewhat anonymous in its early days.
"Originally, there was no name, but I used the Splat logo," Monsein said. "My last name is totally not memorable," so he didn't want to identify the company that way. "Splat is really easy to spell and it's really memorable," he said.
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