Filed under: Drawing, Sewing | Tags: animation, anne toebbe, art, barbara moody, boston, joe fig, mcsteez, sewing
The school year is wrapping up, and I’m in panic mode thinking about what I’m going to do with my son before his camp begins. I know that letting him eat candy all day whilst watching cartoons is NOT an option. Hmm. I also know that joining him to play Godzilla with his toys is also NOT an option, unless I want to go completely koo koo and wind up institutionalized. I don’t do “imaginative play” with figurines well. I don’t know why. I can’t do it. Build with blocks…yep. Draw with markers…yep. Action figures…nope. Can’t do it. I always end up doing something silly/hilarious, which makes my son mad. Play is serious business! I can’t play with action figures in a serious manner. I just can’t.
In order to try to get some art exposure before the dreaded post-school/pre-camp weeks arrive, I went with a friend to First Friday in Boston. We always have a good time checking out what the galleries have up. We have an even better time getting the required “post-gallery-beer,” but I digress… Barbara Moody, our studio critic for the A.P.T. program, had an opening that night at Kingston Gallery. It was great to see her and her new work! This is an image from the Kingston Gallery website:
Barbara Moody at Kingston Gallery
She creates wild landscapes that overrun fragments of architecture. I love the color palette! I love the marks, the layering, and the overall energy and vitality! She also has a series of very small works that are bold collages of imagined landscapes. Those were also wonderful. Go see this show, as it will close on June 29.
We stopped by Steven Zevitas Gallery and saw the work of Ann Toebbe.
Anne Toebbe at Steven Zevitas Gallery
I loved her work! She creates these flattened out domestic interiors from collaged paper. Each one made you wonder who’s room it was, and whether they were all from the same house, or different houses…
Anne Toebbe at Steven Zevitas Gallery
Aren’t these great???? My photos are terrible, so you have to go and see it for yourself. Her work will be up until July 5. Go see. Now.
We also caught the work of Joe Fig at Carroll and Sons. Joe Fig wrote a great book, Inside the Painter’s Studio, where he interviewed famous artists and then recreated their studios in miniature. LOVE IT. Here is what Leonardo Drew‘s studio must look like:
It’s hard to appreciate the detail of Fig’s work. Here is a bit of a close up:
This is TINY. Can you believe it??? Look at the messy paint cans! Look at the extension cords! HOW DOES HE DO IT??? Anyway…I have his book, so I was thrilled to finally see on of his works in person. I also love Leonardo Drew, so it was cool to have a peek into his world, even though it’s mini. I really could have looked at this for hours, but then I didn’t want to get too many nose marks on the plexiglass case. I should show this to my husband just to prove to him that I’m not the only messy person on the planet. Joe Fig would rather eat one of his models than have to recreate my household chaos in miniature.
Besides making nose marks on plexiglass, I haven’t been up to much lately…except for THIS…CHECK IT OUT!!!
WOO HOOOOO! Yes, that’s a friggin’ SERGER! Mwahahahahh…I’m sooooo excited. Now, I plan to dash off shoddily made items with reckless and foolhardy speed. 1,500 stitches per minute! Imagine what kind of trouble I can get into!!! Here’s my first serger project:
I know…I know…I should have ironed it…but remember? I’m ironing-challenged! I love this day-glo tomato color. Side view:
I look like I’m falling over. Hmm…probably had the camera crooked. ANYWAY…notice the ruching at the side seam???? My first time trying that out…it turned out okay! Because this isn’t Vogue magazine, I didn’t Photoshop my backside to make it smaller. If so, I would have posted this:
Don’t I look more skinny? Ahh…the alchemy of Photoshop! I hope that they incorporate that feature into the new Google glasses. That way, everyone would look as they would like. Kind of like beer goggles…but different. I think that I’d make myself look like Zooey Deschanel, even though that change would be pretty traumatizing if someone took off their glasses. Oh well.
Not bad, right???? The pattern is one I drew up based upon I shirt that I already have. I suppose that’s cheating, right? The whole thing is so simple that it doesn’t seem like THAT original of a design…hmmm. I’m a long way from Project Runway…especially as they would spit upon my serger. BUT WHO CARES???? I love it. It’s “quick and dirty” sewing. Actually, based upon my housekeeping skills, mine is mostly “dirty”…
So, my husband recently discovered the work of Hombre_McSteez. He does AMAZING animations on acetate(?) held in front of some actual scene. Please watch THIS VIDEO on Youtube to see some of his stuff…
You also have to see his instagram feed…HERE.
You’ll never look at a green bean the same way again. At my house now, we all can’t stop saying, “I am a plant!” or “Me WOOT!”
My parting words for today are: Me WOOOT!!! Discuss amongst yourselves…
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: animation, art, decordova, Dreamworks, KFC, Kung Fu Panda, Turbo
Ack! Is it Friday already? How come my house is still a mess and I don’t look like Giselle Bundchen? Oh yes. I forgot. I’m still me. Damn.
Before I get completely sidetracked in my usual nonsense, I just want to give a big THANK YOU to Martha Wakefield and Jeanne Williamson, who included me in their recent show. Thank you so much!!!
Okay. Enough seriousness. I stopped by the deCordova yesterday with the intention of seeing whatever new and fabulous art was up. WHAT? THEY STILL HAVE THE BIENNIAL UP??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I wrote a post about it in NOVEMBER. I think that museums would get more visitors if they CHANGED THE EXHIBIT more frequently than once a year. *DRAMATIC EYE-ROLLING SIGH*
I just heard on NPR that fast food places are trying to come up with disgusting food chimeras to get you to stop by, such as this disgusting creation:
THAT is KFC’s Double Down “sandwich.” This is supposed to tempt you to come to KFC because it’s “new” and “freakish.” Brace yourself…don’t you think that the deCordova could learn something from KFC? YES! Create appalling shows that are up only for a short period of time! Why not? Or at least have two different shows that are staggered in their rotation…or maybe just offer a free Double Down to each visitor??? That might be tempting! (There’s a reason that I don’t do P.R., obviously.) No joke…change the exhibit SEVERAL times a year and people will come back SEVERAL times a year. I’m so logical, it scares me.
Recently, my husband was upset that I bought an electric can opener. He feels that it embodies the decadence and absurdity of our culture. I think not. I think that THIS SANDWICH represents the preposterous excess of our time. Am I right, or what??? Again, killer logic. Don’t tell me that you’ve stopped reading to head out to KFC right now. (Bring one back for me if you do, okay? My husband is vegan…SEND HELP!)
MOVING ON…As a result of my failing to personally see any new art for the reason just mentioned above, I’m resorting to giving you a link to cool work that I found online. If you’ve never looked at Colossal, you should. They always have amazing stuff. Such as this:
Please check out this video here. BRILLIANT! I love stop motion animation! I guess that’s a result of watching Gumby when I was little. Or was it because of Mr. Bill? Not sure. Anyway, it’s kind of soothing and zen. It almost makes me forget that I should probably be doing housework.
If you decided to read this blog because you thought that it would be interesting, stop right here. You’re out of luck.
My artist friends and I were lamenting the ridiculousness of the art world last night. Our conversation/whining was generated by this article. Yes, the Whitney Biennial…the Oscars for artists…is being criticized for its parasitic use of artists to generate money for itself. I know. Duh. That’s how it always works. The art world makes no sense. If friggin’ Dreamworks gets big profits from people coming to movie theaters to see something inane like Kung Fu Panda…then it seems OBVIOUS to me that artists showing at a venue should be making a profit from admission fees. Am I right or what??? (Say “yes” or I’ll send the panda over to mess you up.)
Seriously. What the heck is wrong with society?
Thankfully, my six year old son has not seen that movie. He did recently watch Turbo. You know…the movie where a snail competes in the Indianapolis 500?
My son got mad every time I mentioned how “cute” this snail is, zipping around a racetrack. Apparently, this is serious stuff for a kindergartener. I think that the whole premise is COMPLETELY HILARIOUS. I had to stifle my cooing and/or guffaws every time the little snail zipped across the screen.
My son drew this after watching the movie. In subsequent drawings, he has learned to spell “Turbo.” See? These movies are educational!!!
He also make this Lego version. Notice the flames coming out the back of the snail. Nice touch.
As this post seems to be turning into an inane rant about animation, I’ll leave you with the work of David Szakaly.
I think that Dreamworks or the deCordova need to get in touch with him. “Honey, I didn’t get any housework done today because I was in a hypnotic trance looking at swirling rainbows on tumblr. Sorry!!!”
slightly wonky 