What makes an White Elephant

The standard definition of a White Elephant is something that you have received as a gift that clearly demonstrates that the giver has absolutely no idea who you are and/or that the giver is seriously out of touch with the basic concepts of quality and good taste. There is also the possibility that the giver lives deep inside a world of their own making.

The unwrapping of a truly bad White Elephant gift often shakes the social etiquette of the receiver as a flood of emotions, questions and helplessness washes over the receiver's face. This often resulting in stuttered statements such as "Oh my, how very interesting." "Wow, where in the world did you find one of these?" " You made this yourself, No, Really?"

Surprisingly we often remember those White Elephants more clearly than most of those really good gifts we have received over the years. A backpack made from old dirty smelly blue jeans, The Jolly Monk, who pees in your face when you open his robe, the box full of juicy mold that was at one time a loaf of banana bread...

Above is a seed picture that I did using lentils, rice, and mustard seeds. It was created for the Gorham's Traditional White Elephant party. A party where all the guest are encouraged to regift some of the their more painful receivings. Among this years offerings/dumpings was an indoor dog poo pad, a portrait of a Spanish conquistador on black velvet, and and baby juicer (the kind that you use to actually juice babies with)

So be happy this new year.

Drawing app for iTouch

I read an interview in Art in America with David Hockney. He talked about his new large scale paintings of the English landscape, and how some of the original drawings were done on his iPhone. I have downloaded 3 apps to my iTouch: Doodle Buddy, Fountain Pen Free, and MyPaint Free. Each are fun to play with. The above drawing was done with Doodle Buddy.

Our Printmaking Workshop is just around the corner

Well the Holiday Card Printmaking Workshop is this Sunday. Susan and I have collected all the supplies. We are going to make a couple of prints this week just so we'll be on the same page with the instructions and any possible printing issues.

Artist Made Holiday Cards

Halloween has pasted and even though Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away I feel it is safe to say that I have already designed and test printed this years holiday card. Don't get me wrong, Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday, but making Christmas cards is a Smith tradition that goes back 56 years. And this year Susan Giller and I will be teaching a workshop at the Creative Arts Center on hand made holiday cards using a quick and simple block printing method. For more info you can go to the CAC web site.

Posted on http://bradfsmith.blogspot.com

Designs for this years Holiday Card

The Smith family has a tradition of making holiday cards which was started by my parents while attending OU way back in 1946. Over the last 56 years at least one person in the Smith family has maintained this tradition. Last year, I regrettable did not make a card, but this year I am going to make up for it by teaching a workshop with my friend and fellow artist Susan Giller at the Creative Arts Center. The workshop will focus on a quick and easy block printing method. I'll blog more about it later. Above is a sketch of this years card.

Things Look Different in the Morning Sun

It has been a long spell of rainy and overcast days here in Dallas. 2 weeks without a decent patch of sun shine anywhere, and for a thick blooded Texan like myself, it's been like spending 2 weeks buried under a compost heap. I was feeling damp, moldy and pale. But this morning, the clouds parted, and the sun pored into my studio filling it with light, shadows and contrast.

After Sketching: Evening #4: Draw, Drew, Drawn

For the last night of Sketching in the Galleries at the DMA the group was kind of small so we drew from artwork in the All the World's a Stage exhibit, focusing on a selection of small works on paper, most of which are not put up for displayed very often.

We discussed local galleries like Public Trust, Dunn and Brown, Mighty Fine Arts and art magazines such as Art On Paper, Juxtapoz, Hi Fructose that focus on drawings and works on paper. Also places that offer figure drawing sessions and other museums that have drawing from the collection programs such as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (Sundays @ 11:30). The Nasher and the Crow Collection say they have drawing programs but those are never reliably listed, so no body know when to attend. The Meadows and the Irving Art Center are rumored to have programs, but I see nothing listed.

We also talked about next weeks program, the first Thursday Night Multi Media program held in the Center for Creative Connections. There was a lot of interest in this program, although nobody had any hard info on what was happening there next week. So I looked it up this morning.

The artist hosting the month of October will be Mitch Rogers, who among other creative things, has been fabricating body parts, bloody nubs and meaty bits for TV and movies for about 20 years. I assume he will be giving instructions on mold making, life casting and spurting buckets of blood. Just in time for Halloween! It sounds like it will be a lot of fun.