When The Workshop Is Over

When the last person left the workshop at the Creative Arts Center, all I could think about was locking up, blowing the clay dust out of my nose and quenching my very dry throat with a glass of wine. I was exhausted.

In this workshop, we sculpted in clay from a live model. It's kind of like a figure drawing class except working in clay instead of charcoal and paper.

Because this was a free workshop, the participants felt that they had nothing to lose by take a chance on something new, which was the whole idea behind offering the workshop, although I was hoping it would draw a bigger crown from outside the CAC umbrella.

Here is the class room break down: 10 people signed up for the workshop, 2 of which didn't make it to class. Of the 8 attendees, 6 people had taken other classes at CAC, but no one had ever taken a figure sculpting class before. 6 had never worked from a live model, 6 had never worked with clay in any form, and 1 person was surprised to see a nude person standing in the middle of the room.

We worked from the same pose for the whole 3 hours. I was really happy to see how each person kept working and reworking their sculpture, dramatically changing it to refine the form as they began to really see what was in front of them.

Seeing, THAT is the first step to working from the figure. Seeing what you are really seeing and not working from what you think you know. It's hard, and it takes work and concentration to override your brains' constant insistence that it knows all the answers.

Out Of The Loop Fringe Festival Opening Night

It was a great turn out for the Out Of The Loop Fringe Festival opening night party, and art exhibition. I walked in and shook a few hands before making my way up stairs to where the food and apparently most of the local theatre critics were hanging out. Anne Bothwell from Art And Seek introduced me to Mark Lowry from Theatre Jones. We then proceeded to recount dramatic tails of live theatre from seasons past.

Eventually I realized how late it was getting, and that I had not taken a single photo. So here are 2 from the blurry dozen that I took.

Fortunately the WaterTower blog has posted a very nice photo of CJ Miller and I standing with the Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin.

Sketchbook Project 2011 Hits The Road

The reports are that the opening for the Arthouse Co-op Sketchbook Project 2011 at the Brooklyn Art Library was a big success.  There were over 28000 artist signed up to create a 40 page moleskin sketchbook. I don't have the final numbers yet, but if even half for the artists followed through on this project, that's still 14000 sketchbooks. Arthouse Co-op has created a web page for each of the participating artists. Here's the link to my page, which also has links to some of the artists that I like. There is also a very nice Arthouse Co-op blog too.

But the project doesn't stop there! The small staff at Arthouse Co-op are now boxing up all the sketchbooks and shelves into a moving van, and taking the project on a 9 stop tour across the United States, which includs a stop at the Austin Museum Of Art, March 12 (During the SXSW Festival) in Austin TX.

 

Getting Ready For The Thursday Night Workshop

With the workshop just 24 hours away, I spent some time in the clay sculpture studio at CAC looking over supplies and thinking about how to pose the model we will be working from.

Glo Coalson was there teaching a make up class because of the snow storm a few weeks ago.  We had a great conversation about figure sculpture, and hit upon the idea of the two of us hosting a sculpture restoration workshop some time this summer.

Workshop, The Expressive Figure in Clay

I was going to send out a notice about the free figurative clay workshop that I am leading at the Creative Arts Center, but it has already filled up. YEAH! Thank god. My nerves hate spending time in limbo. Give me the stress of deadlines, due dates and real problems any day. Worrying about things like missing a airplane flight or if an art class is going to make or not, drives me crazy!


Anyway, if sculpting from the figure sounds interesting to you, the Spring classes at CAC start on March 7th. Still plenty of time to register. I'll be teaching The Expressive Figure in Clay on Thursday nights and possibly Thursday mornings, too. 


Here's the class description:


The Expressive Figure In Clay
During this live model sculpting class, students will explore expressive ways of capturing the figure in clay. The basics of human proportion, sculptural form and the physicality of clay will be highlighted, but the focus on the class will be creating a personal artistic voice. We will explore slow and rapid ways of describing the figure in clay, from drawing on slabs to bas relief to free standing sculptures. This class is open to all skill levels. First day of class, bring any sort of tools or utensils that can manipulate or poke clay. 


Thursdays, March 10- April 12th 6:30 -9:30 pm
And possibly Thursday mornings 9:30am- 12:30pm

Hanging Up Out Of The Loop

Spent Saturday morning with CJ Miller hanging up artwork for Out Of The Loop at the WaterTower Theatre.  CJ is showing large scale paintings on canvas, and I am showing works on paper and some new sculpture.

In The Studio - Out Of The Loop

There is nothing like having a dead line to encourage spending quality time in the studio. The stimulus this time is an exhibition with CJ Miller as part of the Out Of The Loop Fringe Festival. This festival is held at the WaterTower Theatre. Here's a short snip of PR:

March 3-13, 2011

For the past nine years, WaterTower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival has wowed audiences with an exciting and unmatched artistic lineup. Featuring some of the best acts in theatre, music, dance and art from around the region, OOTL continues to bring all three spaces of the Addison Theatre Centre alive with exciting, contemporary work.

Out of the Loop Festival Passes are on sale now. Call the box office for more information.

With 59 performances in 10 days you can see that OOTL focuses on live performances, with Chris and I simply adding a bit of color to the lobby walls. Last year, OOTL drew 4000 people, so even though it is a short run, there's a lot of eyeballs mingling around in the lobby.

The photo is of a few plaster sculptures I have been working on. I'll have 5 of them finished up for the show.

Italy, Viewing a Masterpiece: Survey #4

A trip to Italy can easily become a check list of MUST SEE historic buildings and masterpieces. That said, Rome definitely has masterpieces that will feed your soul if you allow yourself to spend quality time with them.

On top of all the Must See Lists is the Sistine Chapel and its ceiling by Michelangelo. The Sistine Chapel gets over 10,000 visitors everyday. It takes 12 full time museum guards to manage the crowd flow, and to remind these people that the Sistine Chapel is a house of worship, so be respectful, be quite, don't talk on your cell phones, or take photos. (I would absolutely hate to have that job)

You enter the chapel by a small nondescript side door. The first impression is seeing a mass of people all looking up. Then your eyes move upward and there it is... and then you stumble off the stairs that you didn't notice because you were looking up.

I could go on and on about the impact of seeing this masterpiece, but there is already plenty of that on the internet. So, I am skipping to later that day, around 4:30, when we went back for a highly recommended second look. There was only 15 people in the chapel!!! There was actually setting available! We hung out for about an hour and a half, soaking up as much as possible. Quietly pointing out the beautiful details to each other.

One question did come up, What exactly were Adam and Eve doing just before the snake in the tree interrupted them?

Sketchbook Project 2011

Just Below The Surface, The Cover, originally uploaded by Brad Ford Smith.

This is the front cover of the sketchbook I sent to The Sketchbook Project 2011. SBP 2011 is an exhibit of moleskine sketchbooks sent to the Arthouse Co-op at the Brooklyn Art Library. The project includes 28835 artists in 94 countries. Starting this summer, SBP 2011 will tour 8 different cities. Stopping at the Austin Museum of Art in March.

To see more images from my sketchbook check out my Flickr site.

For more info on the project check out the Arthouse Co-op blog.

OGOP goes onto Flickr Site

OGOP Hatchie Moe, originally uploaded by Brad Ford Smith.

Downloading images of my printmaking project OGOP onto my Flicker site. These prints were made using 60 grit sand paper as the print block.

There's Trouble In The Wires, Issues With Blog Delivery Using Google Friend Connect

I have been blogging for over 2 years now. Soon I'll be posting my 150th blog post! My blog is admittedly, very much a Brad Centric point of view. I write about my experiences in the art world, and about the art that makes me think.

Several people are now following my blog using various follow apps. And that's really what this posting is all about. I have found that the Google Friend Connect app has BIG issues with delivering posts to the people who have signed up using that formate. Over half of the "Members" have never received one blog post.

So, I am going to stop using the Google Friend Connect just as soon as I contact all of my followers who are using that app. Please note that this is a very popular Follow app. So, if you are a blogger you should check your follow feed. And if you are one of those wonderful people that has signed up to follow a blog, double check to see if you are getting all the posts that blog is sending out.

Oh How the Arts Move Us Around and Around

It quickly becomes obvious how fluid the arts are when you start sending out Press Releases. Having gone through this process quite a few times, I have come to expect the "Failed To Deliver" E-mail responses. News papers, magazines, and online editorials have become a turnstile of writers and editors. Culture centers trade out employees as if they were sports teams.

I updated my contact list back in September while sending out Press Releases for the SculptCAD Rapid Artists show. It is now 4 months later, and I am doing the PR thing for the sculpture class I am teaching at the Creative Arts Center.

This time around, the Failed To Deliver E-mail responses reminded me of how many galleries are simply gone, and how many friends have moved on to other lines of work because of the continued downsizing of News Papers, Radio, TV, Museums, Non-profits, Schools, Historic Agencies, Government Supported Organizations...

It all makes me very concerned for the future of our culture and the long term loss of history.

So, I would like to send out a big THANK YOU to all the Cultural and Historic centric people out there that have worked so hard to promote and support the inspired side of human nature.

All the Best to each of you in 2011!
Brad

Rome, Bits and Pieces of History: Survey #3

It didn't take me long to realize that beneath every step I made in Rome, I was walking on top of history. The Roman Forum is one of the more famous historic holes dug around the city, a city that is passionately linked to the history buried under its feet...

or incorporated into its buildings (Theater of Marcellus)...

or simply given right of way because it was there first. This respect for the past is because modern Rome knows that the dirt and stones they walk on are the embodiment of tradition and family.

This respect leads to the preservation of ancient fragments no mater where it might be found. Midway up a wall in the sub-basement of the Capitoline Museum or...

as a subterranean window boxes in a Metropolitana station.

Shortlisted for the Artpace Artist in Residence Program

I received this letter from Artpace just before we left for Rome, and then it got berried in the accumulated pile of vacation mail so I am a bit late opening it up.  It says I have been Shortlisted for the Artpace Artist in Residence Program in San Antonio. And that there is a possibility that the Guest Curators will request a studio visit in the near future. So, I should clean the studio, or keep it the rat nest that it has become.

                                                          Studio with Mammoth Tusk


On another note, the Texas Biennial turned down my application with a We Regret to Inform You e-mail.  It would have been really cool to be a part of that event... I'll just add it to my stack of rejection notices from other organizations such as TEDxSMU, The Lawndale Art Center, The Drawing Center, The Idea Fund, Henderson Art Project, and don't forget the Texas Biennial 2007 and 2009, and Artpace 2007 and 2008.

Of coarse I have been accepted into several great art programs and art shows. I ramble on and on about each of them here on my blog. And don't think I am belly aching about getting rejection notices. It's all part of expanding beyond the studio walls. To be turned down by some of these organizations is something I sometimes wish I could put on my resume.

Wow, Mr. Smith, the quality of your rejections indicates that you would be an excellent candidate for our multi million dollar artist grant!

Rome Art, Sculpture and Food: Survey #2

I get the feeling that every trip to Rome could result in the creation of a travel book on art, history, and food. I know I filled up a moleskin with drawings and notes. Brought home a few pounds of post cards and magazines. And I still haven't finished sorting out the hundreds of photos.

So to help me get a handle on some of this information I'll be posting some thoughts and photos over the next few days on things that stand out for no obvious reason.

These photos are from the Capitoline Museum. The first 2 are marble fragments from the colossal sculpture of Emperor Constantine the 2nd. I've wanted to see these detached body parts since I was a little kid. Next is a giant bronze hand, also of Mr. Constantine. 

These are just some of the large sculpture fragments I saw scattered across Rome. It just goes to show, if you make it really big and flashy, future generations may only remember you by the sized of your toenails.

A New Class to Teach

I recieved the CAC catalogue in the mail today, and there, in black and white is the listing for the sculpture class that I will this teaching in January.

It's a figurative sculpture class that works from a live model. It's just like a figure drawing class, but I think that working in clay from a model is much easier than drawing. For one thing you aren't started off with that old tired mind set "I can't even draw a straight line". You also don't have to learn how to translate a 3 dimensional world into 2 dimensional pencil marks. All you do is make this round piece of clay look like that round piece of person. That is of course an over simplification for demonstration prepossess.

Anyway, as you can guess, if the class makes, I'll be blogging about sculpture a lot in the next few months. The name of the class is The Expressive Figure in Clay, and you can click HERE for more info on the class.

Rome: A Quivering Woman and Monk Bones: Survey #1

We arrived in Rome with only the normal inconvenience of having the live on air plan food for 7 hours. We have a small apartment not far from the Spanish Steps, and not far from a small moldy church that happens to be where Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Taresa is located.

And around the corner is the Cappuchin Crypt. I got a big snort full of moldy bone dust but no photos. A lot of the churches don't allow photos, but they have post cards for sell, which are better quality than anything I can snap with my dime store digital.

Tomorrow,  good food and the Roman Forum.

A Damn Good Interview By Aja Martin

Half A Cord Stacked Up High

Anybody who has been following my blog knows I have done a lot of artwork and volunteer work with La Reunion TX. I find it a great way to get out of the studio and out of my studio frame of mind.

Aja Martin has taken on the task of interviewing artists involved with LRTX, and then posting it on the LRTX web site. Well, She just posted my interview last week. Aja did a great job of keeping me on topic, and did an amazing job at researching before the interview. It was a strange experience to have someone I have never met before tell me about my own artwork, and also add insightful comments about my history. It was like having a little taste of being a famous artist.

In the past I have often been disheartened by interviews or exhibition reviews that have resulted in not quite right information or even just plan misleading. Take a look at some of the press around the TEDxSMU SculptCAD Rapid Artists exhibit. Having trouble finding it? That is because the name of the show appears written 10+ different ways. Grrr.

Now you may be asking why a man with dyslexia would be coming down on someone else's misspelling. It's because in some of those articles they have misspelled the name 3 different ways in the same article. That's just not... well I could go on and on...

Back to today and the happy results of the LRTX interview. Thanks LRTX for doing a GREAT job of getting it right, and to Aja for all the work she put into the interview. Her other interviews for LRTX are great too. Read them all.

On Board the CADD Bus Tour

I would never dream of comparing myself to Julie McCoy on Love Boat, but after my experience as the Cruise Director for the first CADD Bus Tour I now know why she smiles so much. It is really fun to guide people through an adventure.

When Brian Gibb from The Public Trust asked me to be part of the CADD Bus Tour (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas), and was explaining that they needed someone on the bus to introduce each of the galleries and to help keep the bus on schedule, I was saying "Yes, This sounds like great fun" but I was thinking this sounds a lot like that TV show where they went on a tour, a 3 hour tour, and that turned out pretty badly.

Anyway, after saying yes, I hit the local websites and blogs to brush up on the galleries, artists and collectors that were on the tour. That was pretty easy because I always try to stay informed about local art and culture. What was difficult was the nights I spent dreaming about being on a bus filled with cannibals and a bus driver named Wrongway Feldman.

Eventually it was Saturday morning, I got up, channeled my inner Julie McCoy, drove over to Photos Do Not Bend Gallery, picked up my clipboard, and put on a smile.

The tour started at PDNB with coffee, donuts, and 3 photography exhibitions. I really enjoyed the iShow. But duty was calling, and it was time to get this crew of 25 art loving adventurers on the road. Our second gallery was in Oakcliff, at Mighty Fine Arts. The drawings on display by Erik Tosten turned out to be my favorite things on the tour, and I think some of the best work I have seen Erik produce.

Manet once said that art is best viewed on an empty stomach. That maybe true, but this bus was stopping by the studio/home of Brian Scott and Brian Jones for a little lunch.

The Library

A Cosy Fireplace

The interior of their small wood frame cottage was a feast for the eyes. Brian and Brian have been making and collecting art for a very long time, and they don't like keeping any of it in the closet. It was like walking into a 2 bed,1 bath art installation. It was full of color and humor. The culture clutter made for some insightful juxtapositions and great conversations.

After lunch, we drove back across the river to The Public Trust for a preview of the Blakely Dadson exhibit. There is an interview with Blakely in the October issue of Arts and Culture DFW. Brian Gibb gave out CADD gift bags and special edition t-shirts.

A few glasses of wine, and a quick drive through Hollywood Heights brought the CADD Bus to the home of Dee Mitchell. Dee is involved in multiple areas of culture. I know him best from his art reviews in the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Observer, and now at Arts and Culture DFW. If you Google his name, you will find several artists' websites that link to art reviews that Dee has written. He supports what he likes.

The Library

A Cosy Bedroom

Dee gave us a tour of the his home which Ron Wommack built to showcase Dee's art collection. The works on paper above the bed are by Thomas Nozkowski. I absolutely love them. On the bus ride back to PDNB, the contrast between Dee's collection and Brian and Brain's, generated lots of discussions about  collecting art, living with art, and personal styles.

As we pulled up to PDNB,  I asked for comments or recommendations about our first CADD Bus Tour. After a hardy applause, one person said they had a great time but wished the tour was longer. I pointed out that tour had lasted 4 hours and 15 minutes. Everyone was very surprised. When your having fun, time flies. Later, 2 couples said they were new to Dallas and that the tour was a great way for them to see galleries and meet other people interested in art.

After turning in my clipboard, I drove home with a big smile, opened a lovely bottle of Lexicon Malbec and raised a glass to the Dallas art scene, Rightway Charlie (our driver), and to a total absence of cannibals.

Shout Outs and Link Love

One of my favorite resources for art information in the Dallas Fort Worth area is Art and Seek. On Thursday they posted a short article which included a shout out to my blog! The post also noted 2 other local art blogs Art This Week and This Week In The Arts, both of which I highly recommend, and are now listed on my Blogville Link List.

In honor of Art and Seek spreading the link love, I am highlighting 2 Texas artists from my Artists of Note list. Each have created wonderful sites.

Brad Tucker - His site begins with a standard artists website title page, but as you dig into it, you realized he is having lots and lots of fun making all kinds of wonderful things.

Tracy Hicks- It starts with frogs in jars, but it is so much more than that. This is a wonderful collection of art. Really beautiful to look at and think about.

Also in the spirit of supporting artists, bloggers and online art magazines in my own small way, I am creating a page on my blog that is dedicated to cultural linkage. So stay tuned for that.

Thanks again to Art and Seek. You Rock.

Manet Mash Up

As I was driving to Sulfur Springs yesterday I started listening to the audio book The Judgement of Paris by Ross King. The story revolves around two artists, Ernest Meissonier and Edouard Manet. In the book it mentions that Manet used the figure of Adam from the Sistine Chapel in his painting Luncheon on the Grass.

So here I am, Sunday morning playing with photoshop to see how it looks. Then I came across the album cover for Bow Wow Wow's Go Wild in the Country, so I had to add Annabella Lwin in to the scene.

Putting a Name to the Photographs

I mentioned in the last post that TEDxSMU had a really good photographer at the TEDxSMU salon SculptCad Rapid Artists exhibit. I just found out it was Kim Ritzenthler. Here is the link to her website and the link to the TEDxSMU flickr page.

Thanks Kim for catching the moment.

After the Art Salon Talk and Opening

It turned out that the TEDxSMU salon for the SculptCAD Rapid Artists exhibit sold out. The attendees were of very diverse back grounds. I think linking up with TEDx brought in an intellectual segment of the population that usually do not attend art openings.

As for the art talk, Nancy Hairston gave a strong powerpoint overview of the technical process. Shawn Smith then talked about developing his sculptural idea, followed by Heather Gorham with images of her sculpture being fleshed out. I presented last with a bit of babble about creating without touching. The acoustics in the One Arts Plaza lobby were so bad my voice bounced back at me in a foreign language. Thankfully for me and the audience I only had to talk for 5 minutes. Afterwords several people approached me with some great questions, so that was great.

TEDxSMU had an event photographer there, Sadly I didn't get her name, but when I do I'll post it. Anyway, her photos are now posted on the TEDxSMU Flickr site. Check them out.

TEDxSMU Salon and SculptCAD Rapid Artists Exhibit Opens tonight

As of last Saturday 140 people purchased tickets to the salon talk tonight. That's a pretty large group of people, and I must say more than I was expecting. It's 4 days later and the media has hit the wires, So now the event has changed from something fun to do, to something very serious. That means I now have to reconsider what I was going to wear as I give my portion of the art talk.  Of course when I start to think about it... what I am wearing is the least of my worries. I so hate the feeling I get just before I talk in public. But I know it's all going to be fun and I'll have a great time.

The Nature Of Sketchbooks

My use of sketchbooks began with a journal in high school. Journaling was a way to sort out and examine all the unexplainable actions and reactions that occur while coexisting in a building filled with hormone driven teenagers. Over the years my artwork and my journals have merged, resulting in sketchbooks filled with images that are maps through a world that still seems to be driven by questionable actions and reactions.

For a long time I used my sketchbooks as a kind of petridish, place to compose my thoughts and images, and then transfer that information to an outside medium such as painting or sculpture. Two things occur by doing this, first there is a shift from the reactionary thought process to the mechanical mind, a change from what do I think about this, to how do I reproduce this. Secondly, processing the imagery remove some of the personal baggage associated with that imagery. This makes the artwork more comfortable to display in public

The sketchbooks have a symbiotic relationship. I work in multiple sketchbooks at the same time. Some of them I have been reexamining and reworking for years. Others seem to fill up over night. All of them feed from each other to expose new possible relationships and directions.

There is a rawness inside the sketchbooks that is related to the subconscious grittiness of reactionary thought. Because of the imperfections and flaws associated with this rawness, the sketchbooks have always been held back from public viewing, but I have come to realize that this rawness also conveys an honesty and truth that is after all the foundation to all great art. 

A Museum in the Dark

Segal and Me

Once a month the Nasher Sculpture Center stays open until midnight. They have all kinds of things happening after dark like movie screenings, live concerts, guided tours...

Burton Chairs in Moonlight

...But what I like best is that it gives me the opportunity to see some of my favorite sculptures literally in a new light.

Night Time Boolean 

Of course I just play at taking photos. The subdued lighting in the sculpture garden results in mostly blurry grainy images, but I like the way that shifts my perspective.

Water Works

There is also the James Turrel "Skyspace" which I didn't photograph. If you have never gazed up through that square hole at the night sky, you have miss out on a psychedelic experience.

TEDxSMU SculptCAD Rapid Artists Salon + Exhibit Opening

The Press Release for the show is finished and is being sent out to, well the Press.

TEDxSMU is partnering with SculptCAD on the Dallas premier of the SculptCAD Rapid Artists sculpture exhibition. Twelve Dallas artists have diverged from their typical mediums to explore the boundaries between sculpture and the high tech world of 3D computer modeling. On display will be their final creations, each sculpture having been created and produced using ground-breaking 3D printing processes in materials ranging from bronze to plastic.


The exhibit will open at One Arts Plaza with an evening event co-produced by TEDxSMU and SculptCAD. Please join us for the exhibit and a TEDxSMU Salon with Nancy Hairston and a panel of artists involved in the SCRA project. Afterwards the artists will be available for one-on-one discussions about their sculptures, inspiration and the experience of working with 3D modeling technology.


Tuesday, September 14                                                                                   
6:00-8:00pm | presentations at 6:30
One Arts Plaza Lobby
1722 Routh Street, Dallas, TX 75201
Exhibition runs through October 16


Tickets: $15 in advance / $20 the week of or at the door  http://www.tedxsmu.org/events/

Participating Artists:

Heather Gorham, Ginger Fox, Shawn Smith, Dave VanNess, Mark Grote, Jay Sullivan, Tom Lauerman, Albert Scherbarth, Heather Ezell, Brad Ford Smith, Shane Pennington and Nancy Hairston

About the SculptCAD Rapid Artists Program

The idea was to expose artists to something new, something they had never worked with and then see what would happen. SculptCAD Rapid Artists is an experimental project launched by Nancy Hairston, President of  SculptCAD, a leading provider of product design and rapid prototyping services. Dedicated to the creation of fine art, the project’s mission is for artists to explore and expand on the use of computer technology to design and produce sculpture. Experiencing freedoms from the constraints of physical media that digital processes can offer and investigating how that freedom would effect their work. SculptCAD Rapid Artists was founded in October 2009 and is based in Dallas, Texas. For more information about how SculptCAD Rapid Artists is changing perceptions of art in the physical world, visit http://www.sculptcadrapidartists.com.

About TEDxSMU

In the spirit of "ideas worth spreading," TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxSMU, where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxSMU, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

De Vinci in the Morning

The De Vinci After Dark party at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History was a big success. The museum was expecting to have a total head count for the event of about 400 people. They sold that many online by that morning. So the unofficial head count was around 600 people. (I'll have to confirm that).

In these times when museums and historical societies are suffering serious cash flow problems, it's great to be part of an event that turns out way better than expected.

As part of the, Show and Tell, I guess you would call it, I had a table in one of the activity rooms where I worked on a sculpture based on one of De Vinci's drawings of street people. As you can see from the photo above I didn't get very far, people really asked lots of questions, and then asked questions about the questions they just asked. I not only talked up De Vinci and the FWMSH, but also community collage art programs, Trinity Ceramic Supplies, the finer points of working in clay, and art conservation just to name a few. I'm a little bit horse this morning, but it was a blast.

They'll be doing it again at the end of September.

An Evening with Da Vinci

My sculpture supplies are packed in the car, and I am just about to head over to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. The museum is hosting a Da Vinci After Dark party as part of their exhibit Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Inventor, Genius. There will be 2 bands, wine tastings, a cash bar, a couple of inventors and me working on a sculpture basted on some of Da Vinci's drawings.

This will be my first time to see the new building sense its completion earlier this year. I have heard lots of good things about it.

Testing the link from Flickr to Blogspot to Facebook

Walking Man, originally uploaded by Brad Ford Smith.

I just set up a Flickr blog link that "should" connect my Flickr, Blogspot and Facebook accounts. To test the connection I have selected a photo from a work in progress: Walking Man from the Rodin in Vermont Project.

This project began while I was at the Vermont Studio Center. I am using 48 pages from an old book on Rodin's sculptures as the building blocks to create new abstract shapes.

After the Flickring at the DMA

The Dallas Museum of Art Flickr group meet up today turned into a very nice roundtable of topics. We talked about the importance of putting titles on ALL of your photos, and how nice it is when there are descriptions too. Keeping things in titled SETS is a great way to keep the images organized by subject.

Tags are important, but there is still a mystery as to keeping the words in the tag separate: Dallas Museum of Art as opposed to dallasmuseumofart, which seems to be the Flickr tag default.

There was also some discussion about connecting and building a community on Flickr. Nicole from the DMA Flickr group and Stephen from Art and Seek talked about using Flickr as an extension of various cultural institutes.

Well, I did take notes so I could go on and on, but it seems that the best way to learn about Flickr is to use it, and to go to meet ups like the one at the DMA, or you might try DFW Area Meetup. Also the Dallas Camera Club.org.

Flickr meet up at the Dallas Museum of Art

DMA sculpture garden at sunset

I have been using a Flickr account for a few years now as an online portfolio. It has been working fairly well, no real complaints, but I know there is a lot more that I could do with it. So, with that in mind, Nicole Leigh leader of the Dallas Museum of Art Flickr Group and myself are hosting a Flickr meet up. 

We are inviting all local Flickr users to come down to the DMA Sunday July 11th at 2PM, for a coffee talk and laptop discussion about tips and tricks for making Flickr a better tool. With the free wifi at the DMA, everyone who brings their laptop will be able to pull up their sites, explore, and make changes in real time.

If the results of this event are positive, we might have another meet up next month. Let me know what you think... and, if you have a Flickr site send me a link.