Congratulations Sandy Hall!!

Sandy won the "People's Choice" award at the Small Packages exhibit opening.

See details here.  http://crazylakeartgallery.blogspot.com/2010/11/peoples-choicelog-jail-at-riley-park.html

Artist Spotlight: Cagney King

Every few weeks, the Artists Upstairs blog will feature one of the artists.  The following is a short interview with the fabulous Cagney King:

How long have you been involved in art? 

Art has been a part of my life since I was old enough to hold a pencil or crayon in my hand. I have forever felt as if my view on the world was different. The way I saw things, or even the way I saw things other didn't notice. I think there is a section of my brain stamped with creative execution orders. It has always affected and effected my sensibilities. I have used art as my constant companion throughout my entire life.

Was there a particular event that caused art to become a passion?

Not an event per se, more of a recognized emotion. The minute I not only recognized that I created something out of nothing, but was able to experience it as well; I was hooked. The way a line fluctuates and communicates its own existence, the way a colour insists its own shape and spread...all of this comes from me, but I can't own it, I can only encourage it and push and pull it in the direction it is leading me. This constant back and forth communication happens with everything I create. It is a conversation happening in a universal language albeit on a very personal and private level. It is this dance, and this language in conjunction with the ever growing tree of ideas in my head, that feeds my passion.

What kinds of things do you do for inspiration?

I'm an incessant reader. I read math books, science books, medical journals, novels, philosophy, anything and everything I can get my hands on. I also study art books from every period. Looking and studying the brush strokes and the palettes and the techniques...trying to imagine painting it myself. I also do a great deal of experimenting with different textural medias to see what new textures I can achieve and what I can and can't mix together effectively . . . . I also like to play video games.

What words of advice do you have for 'budding' artists?

I don't know if I understand what a budding artist is...but the advice I have can be applied to anything really. Explore, test, challenge and conform only to your own ideals. Do not allow anything, or anyone, or any public opinion to sway your vision or your desire. Create for yourself first, and own always what you create. Work hard, know your tools, explore your medias and your options and never say you have mastered it, because at that moment you need to quit because you don't get it at all.

What new things have you learned about yourself as you grew as an artist?

It's Okay to fail.

Do you have any particular artists that inspire you and your work?

Many. In most cases it is not their subject matter or their whole body of work but it is their technique and execution. It is also their commitment to the exploration that is creating. Besides myself there is Antonie Tapies, Lucian Freud, Paula Rego, Jenny Seville, Larry Rivers, Goya, Artemesia Gentileschi, Basquiat, Karen Luke, Herakut, Jason Myers, Guy Denning, Banksy, Whistler, Vermeer, Ashley Wood, Deborah Colter, Lee Tracy, Natalie Ritchy, Denise Goodrich, Steve Smith, Jeanne Ziegler...on and on...The bottom line is, I can find inspiration from anyone that is as serious about their craft as I.

Any other unique things you'd like people to know about you?

 They will figure it out over time.

On Display

The Poe Paintings from "Black and White and Read All Over" are now hanging at the

 Hancock County Public Library.

Make sure you take some time to visit the library, check out the paintings . . . and a book!

Successful Painting Event!

If you didn't make it to downtown Greenfield for the "Black and White and Read All Over" event, you missed a great time.  It was beautiful weather, and lots of people stopped by to watch the excitement.

Stationed out in front of the Creative Arts and Event Center were 5 red canvases.  Groups of 2 or 3 used Black and white paint to create a group work of art honoring Edgar Allan Poe (who consequently died on the day that James Whitcomb Riley was born.)

The supplies were spread out on a table (including "abSINthe" which was actually tea). 

The painting began amidst laughter and the awed voices from the crowd.  "Wow.  This is cool."  "How artsy!"  "How much would someone pay for a painting that size?"

As the the sun went down - the paintings neared completion and all were in amazement.

The crowds gathered to watch and comment and be inspired.

And they were . . .

The paintings will be on display at the Hancock County Public Library for the remainder of October during their month long Poe celebration.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Join us Friday!!

Join us on Friday, October 8, at 7:30 PM for a live painting event, "Black and White and Read All Over", honoring Edgar Allan Poe and co-sponsored by Hancock County Public Library.

The Artists Upstairs present their second live painting event this Friday, in front of the Art Center during the Riley Festival.  Five teams of two artists will each attack a separate blood red canvas using only black and white pigment and a lot of imagination!

See you there!!

(text from the Creative Arts & Events Center Newsletter)

Where to find us! (Studio Floorplan)

Creative Arts & Event Center

2 West Main Street, 2nd Floor

Greenfield, IN 46140

Black and White and Read All Over

Black and White and Read All Over

On Friday, October 8, deep in the (telltale) heart of Greenfield’s Riley Festival, the Artists Upstairs will pay tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, who died on October 7, 1849. The tribute, “Black and White and Read All Over”, will be a combination of performance art and group painting. From 7:30 PM to 9 PM, five teams of artists will meet in front of the Creative Arts and Event Center at 2 West Main Street to paint five blood red canvases using only black and white as their palette colors. Each team is free to choose their own style and methods, from abstract expressionism to realism, but all their choices must refer to Poe and his work. Even the soundtrack played in the background will echo Poe, his works and the long tradition of the macabre in popular music from the author’s time to the present day. Selected paintings from the evening will hang in the Hancock Public Library during the month of October. The evening is sponsored by the Hancock County Public Library and the Creative Arts and Events Center.

Friday's performance is the final event of the Hancock Public Library’s own “Black and White and Read All Over” Edgar Allan Poe celebration, which naturally concentrates on the more literary aspects of Poe. But Poe has inspired much art throughout the years, from Leonard Bernstein’s symphonic “Tales of Edgar Allan Poe” to the Simpson’s wacky interpretation of  “The Raven” where “Nevermore” becomes “eat my shorts”.  Similarly motivated, the Artists Upstairs, which is an association of fifteen artists who have studios on the second floor of the Creative Arts and Event Center, is looking forward to their public tribute to Mr. Poe, the dark genius of American literature and to sharing a bottle of Amontillado amongst themselves afterwards.

Synopsis:

Black and White and Read All Over:

A Group Painting Performance in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe by The Artists Upstairs (the studio artists in the Creative Arts and Event Center)

Sponsored by:  Hancock County Public Library and the Creative Arts and Event Center.

When:  Friday, October 8, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9 PM

Where:

Creative Arts and Event Center

2 West Main St., Greenfield

For more Artist Upstairs information please contact:

Jeanne Zeigler