Artopia Recap

Well if you missed Artopia yesterday you only have to wait another 364 days until the next one. What a fun experience this event was! But let me give you the full detail of the whole day. So the night before, Michele was on her way home from Canada. After being in her rental car for about 6 hours, with a 2 hour wait at the border, and a drive down to SeaTac to drop the car off, needless to say she was exhausted. So sleeping in the next morning was not on the plans, but it happened. So being a little behind the eight ball all morning made us (me) forget a a few minor details. But not worry we got through the day unscathed. 10 o'clock and Michele and I start to set up in our zone in Georgetown. We had the tent up, clothes folded, paintings hung, and the shoes that I have been painting on were front and center.

This is a picture of our set up and our first few customers.

As the day rolled on more and more people kept piling through our zone. If you are a people watcher this would have been the day for you. There were so many different and unique people walking about. I really feel like a fielded a lot of good questions about Bherd Studios and about my art work in general.

So after awhile of painting on shoes and talking to people about Bherd Studios I decided that I need to tour the area and see what was going around me. With a handful of flyers for our next show, "Spray It, Don't Say It", I went over to Dope Emporium and checked out the Hip Hop area. Spoken word, free stylist, graffitist, and more great people watching. I didn't stay long because I knew Michele was by herself, but I am glad that I checked that area out. Later in the day I saw one of the guys that was help run the Artopis event, Gabe. I told him that I would have loved to have been a part of the live graffiti. He told me that there was a trailer one more block away from from the Dope Emporium where people were working and from the handful of people that were suppose to work on the trailer only two showed up. He told me that I should go over there and work on it. And guess what, I had spray paint with me. And this is what I threw up.

This was my first real attempt at doing graffiti and the cool thing was there was this guy that I was talking to who had been doing graffiti for awhile. I kept asking him questions and he was giving me some real good constructive criticism. Which I really appreciated. Without some of the advice that he gave me I would have looked a little more green than I already was.
So after about 10 hours in the sun Michele and I called it a night, packed up what we had left, and went home to air conditioning and nice cold glass of Reisling. We also watched this movie called "Across the Universe". It's musical with only Beatles song and it was a pretty powerful movie. It kind of explained some of the songs that the Beatles made along with the time frame they were made in.
All in all yesterday was a great day. Sun, art, and getting the word out about Bherd Studios.

New Shirts

This is our newest t-shirt. It's a long sleeve, 2 color done on white and grey. We will be selling them this Saturday down at the Artopia event down on Airport way (that's the street outside Jules Maes and if you don't know what Jules Mae's is, you need to go and check it out.) We will be on the North end of the event. See you there!

"Germany To Grenada"

Although worlds apart these two countries are well represented here in the Pacific Northwest through the work of fine artists Kenneth Susynski and Joachim McMillan. Each self taught artist will present some of their finest work at C Art Gallery at 855 Hiawatha Place South in Seattle from June 26-August 10 with an artist reception scheduled July 10 from 5:30PM-8:00PM. The exhibit seeks to capture how cultures can have an impact on the images presented but at the same time how these images have similarities through color, subject matter and passion of the artists.

Susynski's current work searches within for truths that define his own personal experience, truths which embolden and enslave him dutifully, truths which transport him freely between his past, present and future. He is drawn less to artistic influences than to the impact of those select few who have peppered his life.

McMillan, born on the Caribbean island of Grenada, has no formal art training and notes that his father has been his greatest influence. He started painting with watercolors and acrylics for galleries in Grenada. His signature work includes painting with oils and a palette knife. Each painting tells a story that will draw you in and make you want to touch the highly textured canvas. Currently residing in Portland, Mcmillan's work was recently featured at Festival Sundiata.

This exhibit continues to enable C Art Gallery to address its mission to use visual art as a means to promote cultural dialogue and minority artists. For more information contact the gallery at 206-554-9444. You may also view the artists work at www.cartgallery.net.

www.bherdstudios.com

Newest Silk Screen Print

This is the newest silk screen which I titled "In One Ear & Out The Other". It's a 13" x 9.75", magenta, black, and metallic blue print. I will have a stack of these down at the Artopia event, in Georgetown, on the 28th of August (Saturday).

Artopia 2nd Annual Celebration: Georgetown

Don't miss out on Artopia this year, Saturday, June 28th. John Osgood will be representing Bherd Studios at the event from noon - 8pm in Zone 4, where the interactive art tents are located. John will be live painting on Converse canvas shoes.



"Artopia is a multi-disciplinary event that boasts an eclectic mix of art, ranging from the renowned to the obscure to the completely undiscovered.

As you wander through Georgetown, there are surprises around every corner. The program itself is unconventional, idiosyncratic, and welcoming, all like the neighborhood that hosts us. We take over the streets of Georgetown, the parking lots, alleyways, artist lofts, and warehouses and create an urban arts adventure you do not want to miss!"

Call for artists: The 2008 CoCA Painting Marathon

The 2008 CoCA Painting Marathon Selection Committee is requesting artists to participate in the 16th Annual CoCA Painting Marathon. The Painting Marathon is a 2 day event where artist create art for 24hrs straight (that's the marathon part), the marathon is followed by a series of silent and live auctions to benefit Seattle’s Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) on the 2nd day. We wrap the event up with a rocking after party. Last year's event was a smashing success and this years will be even better.

Art sales are split 50/50.

FYI, here are a few links to last year’s event.

http://www.cocaseattle.org/marathon2007.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cocaseattle/collections/72157603079022547/

There are several spots still open at this time. The deadline for submissions is June 25th 2008. Please submit the following to be considered for the Marathon.

No more than 3 images of work (we need to see the type of work you create)
A description of the 3 images
Max dimension 500 pixels @ 72dpi
Resume/CV (Send as an attachment not in the body of your email)
Contact info
Web site link (if available)


This year's Marathon will be on Friday August 8th and Saturday August 9th at the original Rainier Brewery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. You must be available and on site from 9am Friday 8/8 through to 9am Sat 8/9 for the marathon. You need not be available for the auction or after party but ideally you can make those events too.

Artists accepted into this year's marathon will be contacted in early July 2008.

Questions? Email: submissions@cocaseattle.org or call (206) 728-1980

2nd Mask Done

This is a another mask that have been working on. I just finished it today and now it is drying. Dean and I are on a tear right now making these masks for the October show. Hopefully I will have another pic up soon of the next mask that I am making. The plan is to do a woman faced mask out of a tear drop shap.


These smaller faces are going to put together to make a ring. In between each face there is going to be an arm hanging down. The arms are going to be holding onto a piece of glass that is going to be a light fixture. I can't wait to see this one turn out.

www.bherdstudios.com