Terrestrial Globe in Florence

I was thrilled to discover this historical gem on my last visit to Florence. I had never gone into the Palazzo Vecchio before, with the exception of poking my head in the door to look at the Putti fountain. My friend who lives in Florence recently visited the Palace for the first time and highly recommended it. At the end of a stunning walk through rooms of wonderful frescoes, floors and gold leaf I was in a massive room and through the doorway I spotted this magnificent globe by Egnazio Danti . It was an amazing object and I immediately wanted to know more. Here is a snippet from the Friends of Florence website:

The Terrestrial Globe by Egnazio Danti that we find in the Guardaroba or Sala delle Carte Geografiche (the Map Room) in the Monumental Apartments in Palazzo Vecchio is an extremely rare piece because of its size of more than two meters in diameter and the era in which it was made. It was constructed around 1567 on orders from the Duke of Florence, Cosimo I de’Medici. It was part of a larger project for furnishing and decorating a room that would celebrate the patron and his well-known interests in the physical and natural sciences. It depicts the world as it was known to and imagined by the men of the Late Renaissance: the seas are furrowed by sails and infested with sea monsters, there are graduated circles and the names of the winds, and the entire globe is embellished with gold inscriptions and highlights.As of today, we have no first hand sources that describe the techniques Danti used in making the globe. He did say that it was reinforced on the inside with iron and 'made with such a new technique, that such a large machine can be moved in all directions by a finger and the poles can be raised and lowered with the greatest ease.'

If you're interested you can read more here

Neil Gaiman reads Graveyard, just in time for Halloween...

Hurray! I love great stuff available to everyone for free on the internet. First Joss Whedon releases his Dr. Horrible, and now Neil Gaiman reads his newly published 'The Graveyard Book' and puts the footage online. You can listen to the book in its entirety here
The Graveyard Book also has an excellent website, including high resolution images of the book's illustrations by Dave McKean.

New work in progress.

Finally found some time to put up pics of my recent painting in progress. It has a feeling of pulp melodrama, which I find interesting.  Its going to be very important to finish it in a style with strong brushstrokes to keep it from looking too illustrative.  Well that is my goal anyway, we'll see how it progresses!

Review: The Mona Lisa Curse

In spite of my scepticism that this series would be a pulpit for Robert Hughes to preach his traditional art views to the public, it in fact made me contemplate many aspects of the art world. Mr. Hughes tells not only the story of art over the past 50 years but more interestingly perhaps, his story. Showing footage of him today interwoven with footage from the 60's and 70's in NYC with artists like DeKooning, Jasper Johns and Rauschenberg made me feel some nostalgia for those early days when artists actually had studios in Manhattan.

This tale is mostly about how big art prices are on a path to ruin the creation of 'good' art as collectors sway public opinion by forcing their taste on the public through museums and auction houses. Mr. Hughes feebly eases his way onto a couch with aid of his cane before giving renowned collector Mr. Mugrabi an arty verbal pummelling the likes of which Mr. Mugrabi will not soon forget. It was painfully obvious at that moment that many of these big collectors have very little conviction for, or knowledge of the art they buy and how scary is that considering they are affecting the market and the production of art? Watching the massively annoying art agent scamper her way through the armory art show looking at weak instant art made me feel a bit sick. I have been to several of these art fairs and indeed it takes a strong stomach as an artist to listen and watch the chaos within. I certainly don't see eye to eye with all of Mr. Hughes's views, or his opinions on what constitutes art but I love his conviction. This is something that is becoming a rare thing and it is my hope that diversity and passion prevail and that the collectors with the cash don't become the dictators of taste.

Watching

Watching. 2008 Acrylic on canvas. 116 x 89 cm
I finally finished the painting. Time to prepare for the next one, off to Nice now to pick up my new canvas.

Illustration Friday

Each Friday illustrators can upload a theme related image to illustrationfriday.com. I thought my 'Laughing Bats' characters would be perfect for the theme this week...Clique.

The Mona Lisa Curse

I was first introduced to the video series 'Shock of the New' in the late 80's. It opened my eyes to a kind of critical art theory that I had never been exposed to. I'm not sure I fully appreciated the series at such a young age but regardless, it left an impression. I have yet to see the New Shock of the New shown on BBC in 2004, however I won't be missing the latest tv essay by Robert Hughes on Channel 4 this Sunday Sept. 21. The Mona Lisa Curse is about how the world's most famous painting came to influence the art world and how the production of art and the way we experience it has changed. Hughes is no shrinking violet and he has brewed up a storm recently in the media with his open criticism of art world darling Damien Hirst. It will be interesting to see whether he manages to validate his opinion or if its going to be like an episode of 'Grumpy Old Men'. Stay tuned for the review next week!

Getting Closer - Work in progress

I'm at the stage where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with my latest painting. I can finally visualize what needs to be done before it is finished...more or less. Its going to be a busy weekend working towards the end!

Gawker Artists

What a great start to the day...this morning I discovered that I am a featured artist on Gawker Artists. I'm very flattered, as there is a lot of great work selected for this site.
visit Gawker artists site

Eric Fischl interview with A.M. Homes

Bedroom Scene #6 (Surviving the Fall Meant Using You for Handholds) by Eric Fischl

I've had many discussions with painters about the act of painting. Some tell me they escape into another world and time just flies by because painting is such a joy, but I am from the other camp. Painting for me is certainly rewarding and I am addicted to expression and the journey that I fall into when I am 'in the zone', but it is also an incredible battle. I get excited to continue and loath to start all at once. I have to be calm enough to see direction, but energetic enough to give the work real emotion. On more moments than I care to admit I sweat, rant and swear like a trucker, but this is the way the process is with me... pushing and pulling to get through it all. I like to know that other artists have similar struggles and revelations, especially artists that I greatly admire, like Eric Fischl. Here is an excerpt from an interview with the wonderfully controversial author A.M. Holmes.

A.M. Homes: In writing, in order to pull a story out you go so far into your mind that when you come out you feel you’ve traveled through time and that either you’ve been somewhere incredibly different or that the world has changed. And that’s a good day’s work, but it’s not necessarily a pleasant experience. In painting, where do you go?

Eric Fischl: You go into the painting. I mean it’s the same thing, I would imagine.

AH Does it hurt?

EF Well, every day there’s the technical side of the discipline and there are good days and then bad days where the painting is giving me resistance and I don’t know how to paint anymore. But there’s also the emotional side of the work, the psychological side where you go in and explore feelings and relationships and memories. Often times you find things you’re not ready for and you can’t bear that this is in front of you. I assume that’s the vulnerability you’re talking about. I certainly have times where I walk around in my studio thinking: “I can’t paint, I’m not as good as I think I am, I’m certainly not as good as everyone else thinks I am.” And I’m freaked. The other side is when you’ve opened a door and you feel the weight of the responsibility. There’s something sacred about paint. You make a pact with the painting, you will be responsible for whatever you’re putting on it, what you find out.

AH I make a pact with myself that despite how I might frighten myself, I’ll keep trying. I’m not going to compromise the work because I’m scared. I think your paintings are scary.

EF What paintings? My paintings?

AH Yeah.

EF If you think things and hear voices, that enters you, it touches you but the image can evaporate in some way that when you actually see it in front of you it becomes terrifying. Your imagination can invent and conflate and interpret. Some of it is from what you’ve experienced, but a lot of it is from things you’ve heard, things you’re imagining could happen. When I went to more realistic representations . . .

AH How and why did that happen?

EF I wasn’t good as an abstract artist. It wasn’t fun to paint. A good abstract artist doesn’t feel the limitations I felt. Also, I went to representation because I wanted a broader audience. I didn’t like the pedantic language the formalist painters used. I wanted people to know what they were looking at whether they liked it or not. And then of course, in moving to representation came the question, What are you going to represent? I never felt confident talking about anything I didn’t know much about. I didn’t see my source as being greater than myself, my experience.

Eric Fischl interviewed by A.M. Homes for BOMB magazine.

Samsung Packaging Promo

If you have an interest in tech gadgets you know how important packaging and marketing is in their popularity. There are loads of videos online showing keener geek types opening the box of their desired gadget to give you the full effect of what to expect when you get your new (monitor, iwhatever, gaming console, media player, camera) home. Usually I am not very impressed when companies try to throw a piece of viral marketing out there in you tube land for exposure, but I really loved this one...

Underpainting

The underpainting wash for my new piece is finished and I'm now ready to get going on the rest. I took this photo just before finishing it off. For me doing an underpainting is a warm up exercise, it gets rid of the white canvas and allows me to really be free with the brushstrokes and familiarize myself more with the composition. I also like to leave a little bit of the background exposed in the final painting, how much depends on the concept and composition. Its especially important for me take advantage of the bright undertones in the more monochromatic palettes, which is the case with this painting.
Below is a sample of two of my works where the underpainting is prominently exposed.

Australia implements artist royalties.

I was told that the droit de suite was one of the reasons the art market in Paris lagged behind cities like London. However with the UK now having its own royalty program firmly in place what impact will this have on the market? Today I read that Australia has also now followed suit having put in place its own royalties program. Its a great debate, and I actually fall on the side of the argument that living artists should not collect royalties on sales. For living artists high resale prices increase the value of new work, so as long as the artist keeps producing they will benefit. If an artist is deceased I believe the artist's estate/family should benefit from the resale of the work. To get the details of the laws and read the pros and cons you can visit the following links:
Artnet article on Art Royalties
Public discussion on art news blog
Australia's Artist to be paid for every sale. From Sydney Morning Herald

Sketchbook

This week I made some sketches for my new painting. Its going to be a bit different from the last two I completed as the composition has a relatively short depth of field, so I will have to explore tonal values a bit more to add interest to the background. I've started to draw on the canvas today and I should complete that and continue on with the underpainting in the next few days.

Know the Art Market

Wanting to get ahead as an artist means doing a lot of research and knowing the market. You have to assess where you/your work fits in. I do a lot of reading online with sites like London Times Online, artnet.com news section, artkrush, artforum etc. Its important to find where you want to be placed in the market and find resources that give you the information you need. One tip for researching galleries is to find artists that have similar styles and look at their exhibition history. They had to start somewhere, so while internationally recognized artist may now be represented by galleries that are impenetrable for emerging artist their cv's reveal which galleries took them on early in their career. Its also worth visiting different art fairs to get an overview of galleries. While it can be challenging to approach the galleries during the fairs, as they are quite focused on selling, you can easily get business cards. A card gives you not only the gallery details, it gives you the ever important name for a personal contact.

Watching Olympics Online

Don't want to miss your favourite olympic event or want to catch tv coverage from other countries? Wired.com has a great wiki on how to watch the olympics online.
Also for those living in Europe eurovisionsports.tv offers live streams in many languages from many countries with quality channels like Rai Due Italy and France 2, 3, 4.

California Academy of Sciences

The countdown is on...in 53 days the new California Academy of Sciences will open. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano the new space in Golden Gate Park is poised to become the most innovative new museum in America. To read more on this progressive green space visit the following links:
Cal Academy site
Wired.com multimedia feature
Vanity Fair article

Photographing Artwork

The best way to reproduce your artwork for your portfolio is to hire a professional photographer, but for artists on a budget or on a deadline that is not always possible. I have finally found a way that I can reproduce my work myself to a level that can be printed in catalogues or used for promotional purposes. I use a digital camera that can shoot RAW images and a software like photoshop that enables me to open and edit these images. A lens effect filter is also helpful to remove any distortion. It is also important to find a good area with diffuse light, and I found that photographing my paintings in a local courtyard between 7 and 8 am gives me the perfect light I need. I always leave a small border around the painting to reduce the distortion as its much easier to photograph it a bit farther back then use the crop tool to edit out the background.


For printing the final images I use l'instant in Monaco. The print quality is exceptional and Jean Baptiste has a large selection of fine art papers which gives a fair representation of the original. Photographing artwork is a necessity of being an artist, and even though I find it depressing to see my large works scaled down and reproduced when its done properly it can be the best way to present work to galleries or clients when showing the original is not an option.

Walking and Waiting

I've finally finished my two recent works 'Walking' 116 x 89 cm and 'Waiting' 116 x 89. They took a bit longer to complete than I thought, its always tricky figuring out how much time its actually going to take to finish the pieces. Currently I'm working on new compositions while I wait for my canvases to be delivered. Its a good time for sketching as its very hot in the studio and the acrylic paint dries so quickly.

Exhibition - St. James's Place

4 of my filmscape paintings are now on exhibit at St. James's Place new Monaco office. They will be on display until October with an opening planned for September. The works included are: Fête nocturne. 3ème arr., The twilight of Cathy Whitaker, M. escapes to dream. and William in pursuit. Photos and details of these works are available on my website.

Peyton Photos

Painter Elizabeth Painter will be exhibiting her photographs at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. When I first saw samples of her photos and read the NY times review I immediately searched the internet to find the corresponding images. I am not sure whether the photographs hold up on their own, but they certainly make me appreciate her fresh and lively brush strokes which transform these relatively banal images.

Work in Progress - Part II

The painting on the wall is finished but there is still quite a bit to do on the second one. I hope to complete it by the end of next weekend. These two paintings are individual pieces yet they are meant to compliment each other which is why I am working on them together.

Alvin Hall's World of Money

Peter Doig - White Canoe. Peter is one of the artists in Alvin's collection>

Last year the financial adviser Alvin D. Hall presented a radio series on the world of art. In the series he spoke to artists, gallery owners, collectors, critics and art agents. As a collector himself his insight was very interesting and relevant. On the Royal Academy site he has tips for purchasing art and his new series Alvin Hall's World of Money starts today on BBC Radio 4

Tech Dirt - Net PC's

If your laptop is dragging you down and the thought of being connected anywhere anytime is appealing to you, look no further than the new range of mini laptops or net books emerging this summer and fall. I'm looking for one that could also run photoshop, so I have less options. The top brands out there now are as follows:
MSI Wind PC
ECS G-series G10IL (coming soon)
ASUS Eee PC
Classmate PC
Lenovo Netbook (coming soon)
Most of these will be sold through a mobile phone service provider along with a usb key modem and an internet plan. However the ECS model will already have a 3G module onboard. The sizes range from 7 - 10 inches and you should be paying anywhere from 300 - 500 US dollars for them. However if you have time to wait there are rumours of Sony, HP and Apple all launching netbooks. It will be interesting to see which brand will rule this new market.

Road Trips

View interactive NY Times article
Being Canadian, I can say we are a nation that likes to take road trips, and these roads often lead us down to our neighboring country. I've had my fair share of road trips through the US so I am looking forward to following the New York Times series Going Down the Road where journalists document changes of old travel routes. From the NY Times article, July 15.

Retracing some of the routes of the American Guide Series, with the old books as companions, reveals how much the nation has been reshaped, from the decline of bustling manufacturing towns in New England to the rise of California into a global center. The guides were conceived as part of a jobs program, born of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. But they became something more: literary windows into an era and its aspirations.

Whedon fans - Coming Soon!

If you are a fan of Buffy and Joss Whedon, beginning this Tuesday, for a limited time only a three part internet musical will be shown online. Click the image above to go to the site.

Long Weekend - Bastille Day

My two works in progress.

Its a long weekend in France as Monday is Bastille Day. A long weekend means I have one extra day to paint without thinking too much about my design work so I'm hoping to make big progress on my two paintings. As I'll be spending most of my time in the studio this weekend, here is a photo of my space that I have also posted on the site www.artistsarea.co.uk Its so interesting to see everyone's work area.

Bobblehead Tunes for the Summer

Yesterday on the bus I was doing a great bobblehead impression while listening to my official Song of Summer: My Drive Thru by Julian Casablancas (lead singer of the Strokes), Santogold, Pharrell Williams. I defy you to not start moving around the second this track starts



Its available for free download on the Converse (yup the trainer) site.
http://www.converse.com/connectivity


My other bobblehead track of the summer is Kalise by el Guincho. He's from Barcelona and this is one happy happy tune...so break out the Sangria and play it loud!



You can download this and more free tracks from the el guincho myspace page.

Men in Suits

Detail from my painting 'Nothing happens, twice'. To see the entire diptych click here.


While working on my new paintings, I have noticed that my subject matter seems to be taking on a bit of a theme...men in suits. I've been thinking about what they represent to me, and I think its a cross between 'noir-ish' anonymity, urban professionals and security. I love going to the financial districts of cities like London and seeing all the men in suits, it is impressive. Having worked in creative industries, suits were seen as ‘conformist’ and therefore a big ‘no no'. Then the 90's were all about dot com kids and corporate casual. I think now I may have a touch of nostalgia for the days when I was little and I used to see my Dad leave for work every morning in his suit and tie.

Robert Longo's 'Couple Dancing'

In the late 80’s one of my favourite artists was Robert Longo as I was enamoured with his frozen black and white drawings of people. I hadn’t actually seen one at a gallery until I went to the New York New York exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The exhibition showcased New York artists over the years and Robert Longo was one of the artists. The works were still extremely captivating and have really stood the test of time.

To read more about the artists in the New York, New York exhibition click here.

Radio Radio Radio

Like many artists I listen to the radio or music while I work, and while sometimes I'll put on a 3 hour music mix my real lifeline is the radio…BBC radio in particular. My favourite 6 Music BBC 6 Music host Steve Lamacq is on vacation this week. Great for Steve but less great for me..I'm hooked on his show! I was even on his daily Good day, Bad day feature which you can listen to here:



It took me forever to decide on my good day track, and finally when I did submit my tracks and they emailed me to say I would be on the show I was so excited! Unfortunately the day before I was supposed to go on the show, they said they didn't have my good day track to play!! I initially chose The Flirts - Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime) as it reminded me of a perfect day with my brother, sister and sister in law in Los Angeles when my brother and I were dancing around in a clothing shop to this tune after returning from Malibu Beach. You can listen to this deeply 80's tune here:



My alternative good day track (which they played, as I was having a good day) was Release Yo' Delf by Method Man...which is an infinitely cooler track than the Flirts. However the version they played was not the best version in my opinion. Check out the version from Rebirth of Cool 5, its way heavier!

Sports Sunday

I've held off for a while on writing regularly in this blog, but I think now is as good a time as any to start. I’m working on some paintings, and usually Sunday is a day when I don’t answer phones or email and I just lock myself in my studio and get down to work. Unfortunately I was completely side tracked by an incredible day in sports. The British Grand Prix…hurray Lewis!! and the Wimbledon Men’s final. Now I’ve never been a huge tennis fan, but I was jumping around, biting my nails and thrashing pillows around on the couch watching Nadal and Federer fight to the death in almost 5 hours of the most dramatic and exciting tennis I’ve ever watched. although I like and respect Federer, I was going for Nadal so I was overjoyed at the outcome. If anyone missed this incredible match, poor you!! However you can catch up with photos and video on the Wimbledon site.
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html