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.