Renewal 2011

Renewal was a blast this year, which is nice because I didn't know if they were even going to have it again, after losing their previous space. I learned about the new show about a week before the submission deadline, and managed to squeeze out a collage that got accepted (/bragging). Also, I sent in 3 of my Swirl-o-vision photos, one of which was accepted and got a lot of positive feedback at the show.

I met a lot of cool people - and I'm not just talking about the people who complimented my work (although they are empirically the coolest). There were some old school chums, professional artists, "alternative" teens or whatever they call alternative teens now (Hipsters?) Mallory was there with her crew - okay, with her parents and husband, but they moved around the show like an artsy amoeba with her as its nucleus. See, high school science teacher? I remember stuff! Nucleus!

Two traditions were broken tonight. The first is that, in my last 3 group shows, my work had been 'featured' in the corner of whichever gallery the show was held in. I like to think they were keeping it a secret so all my fans could enjoy it away from "the rabble." But tonight my collage was one of the first things people could see as they entered the main room. And my photo was brightly lit and hung with 3 fantastic pieces of the same size. Clearly I'm moving up in the... oh wait, Mallory's giant piece dominated the back wall near the band and the booze wine table. I will catch you yet, person who is more successful than me!

(Here's her site: it's awesome.)

I thought the other tradition, a drunk girl being magnetically drawn to me and trapping me in a conversation/spontaneous intervention, was going to be continued this year. But it turns out this lady wasn't drunk, she was just foreign. When I handed her a free artcard/business card that happened to have a crude globe on it, she pointed to where she was from. The blotchy squiggle on the right. "Spain?" I guessed from her Spanish accent. "Further east." She replied mysteriously. And we had a delightful conversation in which she revealed the secrets of her beautiful painting. And those secrets will go with me to the grave. Because I forgot most of them. But it was fun! We talked about Edvard Munch. Can you name a painting of his besides The Scream? We both could and did.

I also got into a nice conversation with a fellow who gave me a lot of homework photography events to check out. He's a fan of abstract photography, too. They do exist!

And by "got into" a conversation, I mean my portable gallery "Artjacket" lured them in like a bugzapper. Or some other less gross metaphor. For someone without bubbly social skills or the ability to say the word 'networking' without throwing up a little, it's great to be able to WEAR a conversation-starter. Of course, once I actually start talking, I just enjoy it so much that I totally forget about connections I could be making. Like when that nice young lady swooped in at the end of the show because she "had to" talk with the guy wearing his own art, I totally forgot that I'm looking for models for a photocomic I'm working on. Not that she would have said yes, but how do I know if I don't ask? I don't! And it will kill me until tomorrow, when I will wake up having forgotten the whole thing.

There was ONE tradition that I upheld, however. At last year's Renewal show, there was an "afterparty" at which a DJ played some dance music. And there were people standing around, almost dancing. Every once in awhile, a girl would start to move rhythmically, in the hopes of enticing her friends to do the same. No one did - so I had to get out there on the dance floor and bust a move. I was the only one. And this year - same exact thing. The DJ started playing Jailhouse Rock, and my feet, they started tapping. I couldn't help it. As the immortal Gloria Estefan once put it, the rhythm... is gonna getcha'.

See you next year, Renewalites! I promise not to call you that! I'll think up something better. I'm wiped.

A Thought About Fashion

Fashion trends tend to take useful details and exaggerate them until they are purely for show. The classic example is the pocket square:



Handkerchiefs are useful for wiping away dirt and sweat. I'd be willing to bet the first handkerchiefs were just rags some sweaty guy happened to carry around with him. Somebody else decided that handkerchiefs could be pretty as well as useful, and made a colorful handkerchief. Eventually, they became so fashionable that even though most people - other than my dad - no longer carry handkerchiefs, the distinctive sight of one tucked neatly into a pocket had become tradition. Once something becomes tradition, it no longer has to have a rational reason behind it. (Place your own socio-religious commentary here).

A more obvious (and current) example is the baseball brim conundrum - forwards or backwards? QUICK YOU MUST DECIDE! IT IS IMPORTANT!



Like most things that are cool in America, the backwards cap was invented by black people. Like most fashion trends started by black people, it was started simply to make black people look different from white people.

The brim was invented to shield one's eyes from the sun. Wearing the brim backwards negates this, but it does send the message that the wearer is 'different' and that he doesn't go along with other people. Rational people. Still, the backwards cap is still less awkward than super-baggy pants. And more useful than other trends:



Of course, there is still a tipping point where a trend begins to point to its own ridiculousness and lack of logic:



When a fashion trend reaches that point, people soon realize how nonsensical the trend was in the first place, and move on to wearing something else that doesn't make sense and/or something that didn't make sense 20 years ago.

Mini Comics Day!

I go to 757CCC, my comic-creators group, every chance I can get now - but I don't usually post about it because sitting around chatting with my brosephs doesn't make for scintillating internet reading. Also being out in the real world is really draining.

But Mini Comics Day deserves a post, because it got everybody to be productive for once! Even our fearless leader made a comic! Exclamation marks!!!

We spent most of the time discussing the implications of making fun of the recent TV coverage of a bear being stuck in a tree. They literally ran late and cut off some of the national news because he was still up there. In the same tree. Mike B. made a comic about it, called "Bearpocalypse." It was pretty awesome.

I also unintentionally summed up my writing process for T - the human member of the group, not the anthropomorphic letter T that used to appear on Sesame Street before its long bout with amphetamines. Also not Mr. T.

"T" I said, "I was working on this comic about some underwater goth kids (called 'Gothtopus') and at first, I just had them sitting around, getting high. But then I thought - this is a comic. Something should happen. So, I dunno, demons come out of the ground."

So if I happen to die prematurely, and you are wondering how to summarize my contributions to the comics medium, remember my profound teaching: "This is a comic. Something should happen."

Also, I made microcomics:



They're like minicomics, but mini-er!



T read one in a funny voice. So awesome.

I guess you had to be there - maybe you will be there next year? Oh, who am I kidding, internet? You'd never fit! l.o.l.

I Can Haz Song?

So, awhile back I met a girl online (no, that's not where this is going). She writes music - and she said if I wrote some lyrics for her, she'd make them into a song. So I wrote some lyrics for her, and she made them into a song. Then she had to record it and tweak it and stuff and I forgot about it. But then she posted it on the youtube and now I'm technically a lyricist I guess:

you be the judge.

She has a lot more free music available at her ourstage profile: HERE.

I recommend "Losing It," "The Complaining Song" and "Smashing Dreams." "Myopia" is also excellent (especially the opening riff) but it has a lot of screaming and is not for people with heart conditions or incurable uncoolness.

What is this?

This is the artistic equivalent of writing "don't drink this" on a can of coke in the office fridge. Basically, my dad bought a piece of furniture that came with this awesome giant styrofoam insert, and I painted it green so he wouldn't throw it out. It is mine now, per the laws of the jungle.

By the way, you can see my favorite technique for painting large areas in this photo - stuffing my hand in a plastic bag to smear the paint around. I find that brushes just get in the way sometimes. The human hand is the most versatile tool ever created (barring the Swiss army dildo knife). Bob Ross used to paint the sun in his landscapes by putting a dab of yellow on the canvas and swirling it with his thumb. My professors in college looked at me funny whenever I started fingerpainting with oils or acrylics, but I passed those classes so nanny-nanny-boo-boo.


Oh yeah, and two of my artish works got accepted in the local Renewal art show. If you are near Norfolk on the 22nd, you could potentially see actual light reflected off of them back into your eyeballs. According to their official website, the address of the exhibit is The Bakery at 26th Street, 2501 Fawn Ave, Norfolk VA 23501.
However, according to my GPS, Fawn Ave does not exist - but Fawn Street does.

It is an adventure. Artventure. Good luck finding it, I mean.