The Foundry Needs Your Help! .....To Win $50k Grant from Pepsi Refresh Project

The Foundry for Art Design and Culture has applied for $50k from the Pepsi Refresh Project. Voting opened today and we are ranked 25th in the $50k category out of 204....not bad, but not good enough. They award only the top 10, so we desperately need your help.

We are asking our friends and supporters to vote once per day starting today through Feb 28 at http://www.refresheverything.com/thefoundry. We are listed in the $50k category. Our project is described on the Pepsi website, but I've included a video here that describes our idea. Your support is deeply appreciated. Please feel free to spread the word, and to stay in touch with us in the following locations:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cohoes-NY/The-Foundry-for-Art-Design-Culture/275357838222?ref=ts

http://twitter.com/thefoundrysite

Moving Along...

As you know, things have been changing for me.

I got a 4.0 this semester, five A s!! I am excited about my future for the first time in 20 years...

I am moving on....

My future blog posts will be HERE ... feel free to subscribe. I will be focusing alot more on art and how it affects our world and how our world affects art.

Feel free also to add me to your friends in Facebook. The badge on the right will take you there.

Peace and love to you all, I send you the most positive of energies.

Vicki Bower ~ Artist, Mother, Student, Protagonist!

UFO - Unintentional Fertility Object - Conceived during a blue moon

Who Will Pick Up the Peaces? acrylic on 45 record

Acrylic Paint and Sealer on 7 inch 45 rpm record.

so Surreal

Inspired by the Surrealism unit of my Art History class...

on the "Bloom of the Rose" or Fading Beauty and Richard Wright wins the Turner Award,

"Beauty is only ever truly valued when it is desired,

Not possessed, just admired,

When not attainable or when it has past.

The beautiful don't know they are until last.

The fragility of beauty is its certain death,

It rests upon a numbered breath." - Vicki Bower



Being 40, I have been entertaining my newly stimulated brain with some mortality-type internal convos lately.


I saw this wonderful artist, Richard Wright, with his gorgeous gold leaf wall painting after he was featured in guardian.uk for winning the £25,000 Turner Prize Dec. 6th. (Click here for that article.) The fact that his gorgeous, luminous gold leaf painting is so.... mortal, really struck a nerve in me (I have left many a mural in my wake and sometimes miss them like old friends).

Here also is a link to the telegraph.uk article with a title I really love, "Art Is Beautiful Again," where there is a video of the artist Richard Wright himself introducing his work.

the Louvre On Strike!

This is appalling...
The LOUVRE! C'mon, now, this is ridiculous..

"There are things one cannot privatise. Art and culture are one."

"If you were planning a Parisian break in the next few days and weeks, check that your favourite museum hasn't angrily closed down...

The most visited museum in the world, with 8.5 million visitors in 2008, the Louvre offers clout to the strikers, alongside international media coverage. And it gives the French government, which thought it could force one more so-called reform on yet another set of French workers, cause for concern. This time, the government is facing a strike which could impact massively on the economy.

With France being the No 1 tourist destination in the world, and Paris the most visited capital city with 16 million visitors in 2008, the closure of landmarks such as the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, the Arc of Triumph, Notre Dame and the Musée Rodin, in the run-up to the Christmas holiday could further harm the country's image. The Picasso Museum in Vallauris and the ramparts in Carcassonne and Aigues-Mortes, among many other attractions in provincial France, are also closed to the public."

For more of this article by The Guardian UK, click HERE .

Happy Holidays and Stupid Mom Tricks

My kids like to get me to perform. I have been their favorite entertainer since they were little. So of course I ended up in this photo yesterday, while putting up our tree... The outfit is my fault, but otherwise I was coerced....

Yeah....
Happy Holidays to all of you from my family and I and DrawnNQuartered and RavenaRelics.

Christmas Giraffe and Merry Christmouse set of Two 3x5 Christmas Prints

Two high-quality art prints of my original ACEO drawings on printed with archival ink on 70 pound acid and lignin-free glossy photo paper.

Shipped next day or sooner via US First Class (4 days or less to you) in a sturdy mailer and blank greeting card envelope for regifting.size approx. 3x5 inches each

Ahhhh, art Prints!

The First EVER art print of Garden Fence, numbered 1 of 100, signed, and framed in oak and glass. 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

Sure to cheer the dreariest of days! This is printed on Kodak Acid-free glossy photo paper with high quality Vivera inks that are said to last a century or more.

Shipped Priority mail and Insured. Please email with any questions. We will gladly make additional prints for you.

Horizon original acrylic painting - A Collaboration with Ray Noble

Horizon

We spoke of art.

He said he could see something, and put it in my heart.

My hand held the brush...I felt a rush...

I was just a vessel to his vision, and as he spoke, my body translating with each stroke

Our melding...A solitary mission for two, a thread of blue.

His imagination-

emanation, flowing from his heart to my hand and now to your soul.

Christmas GIRAFFE original ACEO

lol

"CHOMP" Original Acrylic Painting 5 x 4 inches

Original Acrylic 5 x 4 inches.
Available at http://drawnnquartered.etsy.com/

In the spirit of the Season...

I wanted to post these cute art cards from my shop, DrawnNQuartered on Etsy:


"Wrong Turn" and "Kitty" ACEOs






Mr Bones' First Date" and "Wicked"original ACEOs

All Art Cards measure 2.5" by 3.5" (the size of a baseball or playing card) and come shipped in a protective plastic sleeve and rigid mailer.

Visit DrawnNQuartered for more of my original pieces.

Come see me at The Hudson Valley Comm. College Teaching gallery this weekend!

Come see me!

I will be the resident "Gallerina" at the teaching gallery at Hudson Valley Community College this Saturday, Oct. 10th and in Troy, NY this Saturday, from 12 noon until 2 pm. Click HERE for directions.

Anyone within traveling distance, come see Jennnifer Dalton's thought-provoking exhibit and get a free bracelet, a piece of chocolate and a nice brand new scrumptious HVCC Teaching Gallery pencil!




I PROMISE this exhibit will be like none you've ever seen before, and best of all, it's FREE to SEE!!


I hope to see you there...

my mind is maxxed out

OMG my mind is maxxed out bc I am learning sooo much!

I can't believe what's happening to me. I am but a babe in this world, and I feel as if I knew nothing at all and have so MUCH I want to know!

Anyway, I have been doodling and have also started a new my-art-only shop on Etsy besides the one you all know about...

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7924192 Also just got an awesome new professional printer that I can make art prints with, feel so excited to be here :)

Punk, if you read this, your painting is here propped up by my desk and as soon as I get a minute I'll put it together (oh yeah, it's also part collage!). Everyone else... I will post pics and possibly sell prints as well :)

I want to hug you all, I haven't even twittered in like two weeks, haven't blogged but am just starting to get acclimated to the student/mom/partner/oh yeah artist/thing!

I hope you are all well and being good to yourselves...

Goin to HVCC

So I haven't posted since last week bc my brain got it's butt handed to it on a platter.... um what a visual, I'll have to draw that.

Here's my school ID!

Anyway, I have Western Civ I, Intro to Gallery Management (which is my major), and Modern Art History and Survey to Art History II, which are online, and with the same teacher, but she is really good, so it seems doable...


My first Discussion question was basically "What is Art, what is it to you?" and then we had discuss three different materials that we were assigned. We also had to say which art classes we had already taken.


My answer:
Up until this point in my life I have defined “art” as a physical representation or material “placeholder” that enables the viewer to step inside the artist's perspective and experience a “slice of life”, whether it be a perfect apple, an agonizing scream, a calm, uniform cool palette of color, a sample of that era's architecture, or a political moment in history.

Hands on, as an artist, I see art as a medium of communication where I can share what's in my heart or head without fear or reproach or need for excuse, at times a selfish pleasure in just being myself with no regard for civilized or social restriction (alas, precious freedom!!).

I would say that my view of art relates closely to Britannica Online's ”use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others” as quoted in the intro of the “What is Art” Modernism Essay. For example, I had said art could be as simple as a representation of a cool palette of color, such as demonstrated in Josef Alber's “Homage to the Square: 'Ascending'” (shown on page xli of our textbook)- the colors chosen for this painting evoke the feelings of a foggy morning sunrise or the sun emerging from the rain; a cool/warm aesthetic experience unfettered by language or literal thought without representing any specific subject! As the gorilla says in the video, when comparing the painting elephant to the poo-throwing monkey, it's all about “Living the experience”.

From an art historian's point of view, I would argue that the same concepts prevail, but as a means of demonstrating history and the preservation of such in a visual sense... evoking an experience. A very simple example would be the exciting stormy hope of triumph that is experienced when viewing Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze's “George Washington Crossing the Delaware”, 1851.

I am an artist who loves art, am a curious student of the arts, and who now might even be pleased to add “art historian” to that list. The more I understand how art has evolved through the years, and it's influence on society, science, and architecture, the more I appreciate it's history. This class and the Survey Art History II class I am also presently taking are my first art classes besides a 2D art class I took in 1987.

A Quick "What I'm up to"

I'm making a cool picture for my friend Elizabeth, of Circle T Ranch Designs (on Twitter as PunkEBodin) and swapping her for some of her awesome notecards.

This is Lucky, the handsome guy I'm doing a portrait of:

and I'm basing it on this pic:

This is the sketch that I did this weekend, but then I got alll creative, so wait 'til you SEE!

It's been tricky because I never drew a black furry animal before... Hence the creative part taking over! I should have it done by no later than next week :). Thank goodness Elizabeth is patient and understanding. I think she knows it will be worth it :)

How to Make An Inexpensive Light Tent - DIY

I've been meaning to post this for a lonnng time.

So many times, beautiful art and crafts don't get the lighting they deserve in pictures and thus are not accurately represented. If you're a starving artist like me, you have no expendable income to supply a perfectly lighted photography studio, but here is an easy way to do it with common materials and it even involves one of MY PERSONAL FAVORITE actions: RECYCLING!



I found this awesome website, digital-photography-school.com and this article: How to Make An Inexpensive Light Tent - DIY by Darren Rowse

I am so excited about making my own. I actually cobbed a half of one together for a quick pic the other day, and it worked better than expected. Any creative person should not only be able to do this well, but might also enjoy it :)

Have fun with it :)

~V

"What I Am Is What I Am"

I used to love that song by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians...

I'm not aware of too many things,
I know what I know, if you know what I mean
Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box
Religion is the smile on a dog

Choke me in the shallow waters Before I get too deep
What I am is what I am
Are you what you are or what?
What I am is what I am Are you what you are or

Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks
Religion is a light in the fog ...

What I am is what I am Are you what you are or what? What I am is what I am Are you what you are or what you are and What I am is what I am Are you what you are or what?
Don't let me get too deep Don't let me get too deep Don't let me get too deep Don't let me get too deep ..................

And you know what? I still don't know if I know what I mean!

With every passing day, every drama surpassed, every hurdle cleared, I gain more and more knowledge to see things from more perspective. This makes for even more difficulty in making choices. You see, most times I know how things are going to turn out, but have learned not to project the possible negative outcome by fixating on it, etc, (insert more of my very own astonished half-witted psychobabble here).

Growing older is such an interesting experience. In all of my bufuddlement and my mental "wtf just happened?", I also have clarity. Like, it doesn't matter if I don't wear makeup to the grocery store, that no one besides those directly involved really cares if I can pay my rent or not, you can't choose your family members but you can choose how you deal with them, that almost every single person in this world is out to get the most rewards while doing the littlest possible to earn/deserve it. I am starting to understand why "grumpy" normally accesorizes"old" as a descriptor for the elderly.

Anyway, I found some things of mine that survuved my near-miss relocation to Cortland (where the kids and I packed all our really important favorite stuff and Tony took it and we never got it back), and found myself highly entertained. I have a Loch-Ness type drawing that I converted into a coloring sheet from when I was 15 that is available on Etsy and a nude self-portrait I did when I was 18 and a Dominatrix illustration I did in 2005.

I recently have been drawing what I call "sweetness and light, nice-nice"... I had stifled this other part of me. Ohhh, there was SO Much wildness (performed safely and responsibly) in my younger life. I don't deny this. I am a very nice PTA type, walk 2 miles a day and dinner's-on-the-table-at-7-every-night kind of lady now... but I bet on a sunny day, you can catch the glint in my eye.... LOL ... I have decided to embrace the fragile creature with the iron facade I once was and just leave her be, content in the past, and move on.

I no longer will stifle myself. I survived all of that (you can't even IMAGINE), and when I am 55 will be writing the novel... until then, there will be previews that slip out onto paper by way of pencil or brush :)