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.