VARC = visual artists' resource center on the 6th floor of ArtOMatic.  ArtOMatic ends this week on Father's Day.

Picking up with Jack Whitsitt whose 6' x 6' self-portrait, upon closer examination, is made up of 8100 "much smaller, happier 'me's."  This is't always immediately noticeable, so Jack put arrows in front of his work urging folks to move in closer.  Jack, on his catalog page, says:  "Writing code to help me generate a self-portrait struck a chord with me because, besides art, computers have been a huge part of who I am."

Angela Kleiscalls her display " Blur" because she specially chose only blurred photographs for it.  Not as easy as you might think, she notes, because some of the photos were hard to print out.  The work is a wonderful mystical, dreamy approach to photography and Angela notes she assembled it as a reaction to the seeming need for perfection in art.  For me it is a great reminder that perfection is often a story we tell ourselves, and its measure something we have inherited without discernment.  Angela's work is a great example to me of stopping to reconsider what I consider perfection, and whether or not an attitude adjust is in order.

Michael Augerbrought along a hand-held black light so give us a great look at his whimsical creations.  While he has black light lighting on his partition, the closer hand held light really makes the special paint "pop."  Michael also does wonderful "serious" (his word) in watercolor, pencil and scratchboard that he displayed at the vendors marketplace last Saturday, and his best seller is a deck of cards he designed with all of the state capitals which would be a great game for anyone on a lazy summer beach listening to waves (ok, it would be great other times of the year too, but vacation is fast approaching and that's what's on my mind at this particular writing).  On his catalog page, Michael says his paintings "are unapologetically bold, colorful, and fun" and "feature an assortment of characters that seem to have both a slightly off-kilter quality as well as a childlike charm." 

[oooookaaaaayyyyy, I just tried to save this to draft so I wouldn't lose the whole thing again, and away zipped the last two postings.  Today, however, I am gallery sitting, using a computer I've never used, and photos from a zip drive which I've never used, so I have tons of time and plenty of patience.  Onward (again)  (and yet again.)

Danny Phantomsays:  "My influence has always been between the lines of graffiti and comic strips; it is a style that is all my own with no known genre…it feels good to color outside the lines."  And Danny does that and finds his home here at ArtOMatic for just this kind of experimentation.

On a blog post, Danny says that he "didn't have a theme to how I wanted the wall to look; I just wanted skulls on my wall.  After that it was just one design after another…" and then he thanks his fiance for all her organizational skills for the accompanying "price listings, a table, and guestbook (stuff that I would have forgotten).

Joseph (Joe) Jones is a native of Baltimore, MD, and received his BFA in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art and Design and his MFA in Visual Communication from The George Washington University.

Joe spoke passionately about his feelings of creating art with a purpose – his art is a rich reflection of diverse sources, true to his title, "Gumbo" – that wonderful southern concoction with no set recipe that includes a little bit of whatever is at hand. 

Joe draws inspiration from Mohandas Gandhi'sexhortation to be the change we wish to see in the world…"I understand it must first start with me."

It took 3 years and 40,000 tab pulls to create Brad Taylor's "chair."  And more yet for the artwork behind him, some of which he says is not finished.  Surprisingly to me, I was drawn to his tab top canvasses because of their color and "movement" and can imagine living happily with one in my home to contemplate (but we've already spent our art money on Brian Hamill's "Life Lot" so I must enjoy them from afar).

You can see close ups of the canvas work on his catalog page.

Brad says:  "The Can Tab Chair is a very good representation of my artistic philosophy.  I'm all about visual impact.  I'm not generally interested in trying to get a point across or make a statement with my art.  When someone sees something that I have created, I want that person to say 'wow.'  Okay.  WOW!  Can you imagine doing this?!

[ha! it did it again!  but this time I had the html copied…a suggestion from Leah…and am off to see if that worked…i hope i hope]

Morgan Johnson Norwood says that she is "fascinated by family traditions, stories, and memories that each of us conceal in our day to day experiences, and how much of our past affects our present."

If you read this blog much, you know how intrigued I am with stories and how pulling/changing one thread can make a huge difference, so of course Morgan's work resonated for me.  The picture she is standing beside turned into a working through of grief for her father's death, and came in pieces rather than all at once.  The little red box to the right (you can't see but I'll tell you anyways) is a reflection on the stories women inherit and incorporate without thought from the society around them..Morgan referenced my own talk at Body Politics when speaking about the box.

Last but not least on our tour is Sherill Anne Gross who says:  "…my artwork is what happens when you run with scissors.  It is only created with paper, clue and patience."

I was happy to stop by this display because I had not noticed prior to Sherill's explanation that each of the small renderings was made up of lots and lots of pieces of cut paper.  Sherill spent 2007 doing a piece almost every day (209 pieces) and called out attention to how her own skill developed over the year.  She even has a book with the works in order!  All of which encouraged me to look again at doing something every day because it grows one as an artist, and to look again at Blurb, the software for making your own books.  I have the time this year – I should do it!  There's an excellent close up of piece 204 on her catalog page.

[and HAHA – it did work!  gotcha you sneaky little sucky new version of typepad software!]

thought for the day:  if at first you don't succeed, try try again.

another thought for the day:  We receive two kinds of education, says E. B. Szekely, the one someone else gives us and the one we give ourselves.  Anyone can read a book and intellectually assimilate its contents.  That is the kind of education provided for us by schools.  In school, we sharpen our skills at intellectual abstraction.  We learn to play back what we have been taught.  After the test, we often forget what it was we knew.

The education we give ourselves is deeper.  That's because it is driven by emotion.  Our deepest memories are cradled in powerful currents of feeling….Emotionally assimilated memories are tenacious.  While intellectual memories easily fade, emotional memories cling to our consciousness.  That which has an emotional base becomes the force which drives our actions….You will see that your actions are the result of your most powerful feelings. [italics in original]  Pamela Eakins, Ph.D, Tarot of the Spirit

[so for today's count, Typepad would have erased my post 3 different times, and did, but I have learned new ways to beat it.  perhaps some day it will get back to the good old days.]