Art For The Day

(c) Rebecca Grantham - Plein Air Art Puzzle

 

Ohio Plein Air Art-o-artist Rebecca Grantham used a really cool concept for her art-o-mat pieces that she has dubbed "53 Pieces, 2 Paintings, 1 Artist. This photo is of one piece but there is a different painting on each side. How cool is that?! What Rebecca did was used 53 wood blocks, ( now keep in mind that these blocks are the size of a pack of cigarettes) and she has painted not 53 individual painting or even 106 individual paintings but she has painted a section of two larger paintings onto these blocks. I get dizzy at the thought of having to keep up with which piece went where as she embarked on this. Nonetheless she has done it and I think it turned out wonderful.

Rebecca has been an art-o-artist for almost a year now. Her art-o-mat's are currently located in the following machines:  Ursus Gallery in Ohio, The Clevelend Center of Contemporary Art in Ohio, The Kentucky Center For The Performing Arts in Kentucky, Dacing Eye Gallery in Michigan and  Pop Deluxe in Wisconsin. To get more information on these locations visit Art-o-mat.org 

One of the fun things about being an art-o-artist is hearing from buyers and Rebecca has heard from two buyers and has had the opportunity to swap with one other art-o-artist.

Thanks Rebecca for taking the time to talk to me. To see more of Rebecca's work visit her website at http://www.RebeccaGrantham.com and to read more about the art puzzle and to see if you can figure out where this piece goes visit her blog at http://pleinairlandscapes.blogspot.com.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

PS Don't forget I'll be talking about art-o-mat artists for the next couple of weeks so do stop back by. And again if your city is artomatless contact your local officials and demand a machine be installed immediately! 
 

Art For The Day

©Took Gallagher - 2007 Cat People Collage

Michigan Art-o-mat

Michigan artist Took Gallagher is the host of the Michigan Art-o-mat as well as an art-o-artist. She was kind enough to send me 16 pieces of art from her machine since I was unable to attend the Anniversary Party and Swap Meet in August. Took does collages of Cat and Dog people.

I imagine that being a host makes it very difficult not to have a vast collection of art-o-mats. I think she has shown restraint by only having 150. I asked Took some questions about her art and her experiences as a host and here's some of what she had to say:

Where is the Michigan Art-o-mat located? The current location of my first machine is Dancing Eye Gallery in Northville, MI...about 30 miles wnw of Detroit. Since I do not have a venue of my own, my machines are considered "Community Machines" by Artists in Cellophane. My first machine is considered my "permanent" machine and stays at at location at least 6 months, while my second machine will be a "temporary" machine, staying at venues for
various lengths of time.

How long have you been an Art-o-artist? Since 2000 but I did not become very active until 2004.

Are there other machines that your art is located in besides of course the Michigan Art-o-mat? Egg Design in Lexington, KY, Kishwaukee College in Malta, IL, The Whitney in NY, Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville, KY, Clients & Profits in Bonsall, CA, Bucks County Library in Doylestown, PA. I know one of my first locations was Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco, CA.

Have you heard from any buyers? Only one in the very beginning. Other AOM artists have written though.

Have you collected or traded with other Art-o-artists? I have done one trade
with an Art-o-artist from MySpace. I have bought larger pieces from several Art-o-mat artists. I have been an Art-o-mat collector since 1999. I have quite a collection!

Is it a blast being a host? Oh, Betty -- being a host is a dream
come true! I get to see all kinds of art, new art, new artists. I get
to talk about Art-o-mat to anyone who will listen (LOL) and promote the
project. I have been interviewed by several local newspapers and
magazines. I have been contacted to do an early morning radio
interview. With the acquisition of the 2nd machine I will be able to
reach even more communities. (She is waiting for her second machine to arrive any day).

I am planning "Submission Sessions" to show interested artists how to
submit their prototypes to get accepted the first time through. I feel
that I have a lot to offer in that area, being a sort of a "triple
threat" -- host, artist and collector -- I can see 3 sides of an
artpack from 3 points of view. I am really looking forward to hosting these
sessions! My goal is to be able to have one column in each machine
dedicated to Michigan Artists -- but I need to do some heavy duty
recruiting (smile). I have SO many ideas for prototypes/series and I
cannot possibly make all of them, so I am very happy/eager to share
some with my fellow Michigan Artists.

Oh -- as a host, I am also getting involved as a sponsor of Detroit
Derby Girls. Yes, flat track roller girls!!! I will get a banner at
their bouts, an ad in their programs and be linked to their website. I
am very excited about this!!! Some of the girls came to the Art-o-mat
Party at Dancing Eye Gallery and we had a blast!



I had such a great time "talking" with Took about Art-o-mat that I could not possibly include our entire conversation here but I hope that you will get as excited about Art-o-mat as we are.

If you are interested in being a host or an art-o-artist you can find more information at artomat.org. You can also find locations of the Art-o-mat machines. If your city is artomatless please contact your local officials immediately and demand that a machine be installed.

Keep in mind that these are all original works of art and the cost is only $5.00. With the Holidays fast approaching they would make a great gift for anyone and with all the artists to choose from you are bound to find something you'll like.

Thanks Took for taking the time to talk to me and did anyone notice the other nice thing she did? She designed this piece especially for me - it has my initials on it:)

Please do stop back by during the next couple of weeks as I share with you what other art-o-artists had to say. And if you missed yesterdays post please take a look at it to see a preview of the artists that I'll be blogging about.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Art For The Day

I don't often get jealous but when I heard about all the fun that was had at the Art-o-mat 10th Aniversary Party in August I became very jealous. One of the things that the artists did was swap art. I wanted to swap some but I thought to contact each artist to ask for a swap would take way too much time so I contacted the host of the Michigan Art-o-mat and asked her to send me some. It was so hard selecting, I wanted them all but I finally selected 16. After I got them they were all so amazing that I tracked down as many of those 16 artists as I could, (yes the thing that I said I didn't want to do) and asked them about their art. I wanted to know how long they had been art-o- artists, if they had heard from any of their buyers, what machines they were in plus any thing else they wanted to share with me. Over the next couple of weeks I'll share with you what they had to say.
 
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Art-o-mat, Art-o-mat's are pieces of art, either done on wood or packaged in a box the size of a pack of cigarettes, wrapped in acetate and sold in refurbished cigarette machines around the world. There are over 500 artists that participate in this project.

This slideshow is a preview of the work that I'll be blogging about but these photos don't do any of the art justice. You cannot fully appreciate an Art-o-mat until you've held one in your hand. I hope you will come back and see what the artists had to say.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Art for the day

(c) Rose Refour - Please Watch Where You're Going! 2007 Ink on Paper

For as long as I can remember the streets in the downtown area of our City have alternated directions. So instead of 6th Street going East and West it only goes West and 7th only goes East. The same with the North and South Streets.

This city gets a lot of tourists. On any given day you can go into the downtown area and see dozens of people visiting the Oklahoma City Memorial, taking photos, leaving gifts and so on.

So because of complaints from tourists the City decided to change the streets so that instead of going only East or West, North or South, they will soon all go both directions. Recently Rose and I went downtown and turned onto one of the streets that had been only a northbound street. I saw no signage and the stripes had not been changed so seemingly out of nowhere we were headed head on into another vehicle. Thank goodness we were all ok.

I usually take a note book with us where ever we go. That way if Rose wants to tell me something she can write it down since she doesn't always speak. Well soon after this incident she got her note book, drew this photo and handed it to me......I think I scared her really bad as indicated by her big eyes and lack of hair.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Art for the day

(c) Rose Refour - Roses - Acrylics on Paper

Rose started an Adult Day Program this week. I thought it might be a good idea for both of us to get out and be more social. I grew up here but had not lived here for about 28 years until our mother was diagnosed with cancer. I know very few people here and so my plan was to get Rose into a program where she could make friends and I would work part time or do volunteer work and make friends as well. The Director of the program learned that I am an artist and asked me to teach an art class. This is what we painted and of course I didn't think to bring a camera so that I could take photos of everyones work. Rose and I both made new friends this week.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Do You Accept Art Money?

(c) Betty Refour for Art Money

Imagine a world where you can go to the store and purchase whatever you'd like and present Art Money to pay for or receive a discount on your item.

Well that is exactly what artist Lars Kraemmer had in mind when he developed the Art Money concept ten years ago. Struggling as an artist and having a difficult time making ends meet he decided that he would create "money" and take it to local shops in Copenhagen, Denmark. Some shopkeepers embraced the idea where others did not but nonetheless an idea had taken root.

Today there is a Bank Of International Art Money and over 1000 artists from around the world participate in this project. There are also shops around the world that accept it and hosts that will put you up for the night while traveling in exchange for Art Money.

I am happy to be a part of this project as well as the 10 Year Anniversary Show for Art Money on September 15, 2007. It will be held at Pressen in Copenhagen, Denmark from 1-6 pm with an after party to follow starting at 8pm.

Hmmm....I wonder if I could get an airline to accept Art Money.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Art for the day

Here are some of my paintings available on eBay. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to various charities through eBay Giving Works. To visit an auction click on the photo of the auction you would like to visit.



Have a great day everybody,thanks for stopping by.

International Online Art Exhibit

I am proud to announce the participation of Worldwide Women Artists Online in an International Online Exhibit. Thirty-four member artists will be featured.

World Wide Women's Artists Online is an international collective of women artists showing and selling their original art on the worldwide web.

Texas artist, Sharon K. Shubert is the first WWAO member to host this new series of international group exhibits on her website.

The Countries represented are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, The United Kingdom, and The United States.

The 34 exhibiting artists will be showcasing a variety of mediums and styles. Sharon has put together a creative and interesting show. The exhibit can be viewed September 1-30, 2007.

All works are available for sale. Contact information for each artist is available on Sharon's web site.

Be sure to see this wonderful international showing of creative women artists and vote for your favorite piece of art.

Have a grear Labor Day weekend everybody, thanks for stopping by.