We had an unexpected surprise Saturday when Amy Storer-Scalia called us wondering if we knew about getting art for a charity event that was happening in 4 hours. Amy is the editor and publisher of Cincy Chic, an on line lifestyle publication for women in the Greater Cincinnati area. http://cincychic.com/An agency was suppose to have art for the event, but because of a mis-communication was unable to. She was told the person to contact was named Alison. Unfortunately, or fortunately for us, my Alison was not the same contact. Amy just knew that we were artist so she gave us a call.
I told her that Alison was not the same “Alison”, but that we would be able to donate a painting to charity for her.
She was thrilled and we were placed on the guest list for the event.
The night turned out to be a very good one and we were able to help out a wonderful charity, The American Heart Association.
Here are a couple of photos from the night at Twist lounge! You can see even more on Cincy Chic’s website. We love it when things go wrong;)
Amy said that the painting raised the most money of all the items that were auctioned off.
Thanks again Amy for the opportunity. We had a blast!
February 10, 2009
Saturdays unexpected surprise!
February 7, 2009
finished painting
so this morning, i went and dropped off the tree painting at art design consultants. the interior desiner wanted something similar to my blue wing, but with a tree as the subject instead. i’m hoping that they will like it!
the wing:
the tree:
February 6, 2009
Possible album covers for All the day holiday.
Here are some album covers Ive been working on for the band All the day holiday. They are some really great guys that you should all check out. http://www.myspace.com/allthedayholiday There album title is “The things We’ve grown to love”
Ive never really done anything like this, but I think it has been a good exercise. Its good to be stretched a bit outside of our box!
February 2, 2009
One of Alisons new paintings and my interpretation of it;)
It represents us humans resting in the spirit of Gods love for us. When we realize Gods love, it produces rest. When we are able to rest, we produce fruit, a metaphor for bringing love into this physical realm of reality. Not just love as a thought, but as an action verb. Loving and helping others, thinking of others needs first etc..
The painting is cyclical because when that happens it produces more rest(rest from fear,stress and worry, which ultimately is all just based in fear) which in turn produces more fruit.
If you notice behind her neck there is sort of a pipe that is coming into her and shooting out light from her head. That represents us being a conduit for Gods love to flow through us.
January 31, 2009
Want to be an artist?
Here are just a few tips I would keep in mind when trying to sell work and become an artist.
I wrote this in a forum for another website for artists. These are just a few of many! I also believe this can apply to any form of art.
1. Think outside the box
When it comes to showing work, there are many people that can draw or paint the same picture you can. You have to stand out. Try displaying your work in a different way than anyone else. Use different materials in your work. Really try and put on a show with what you have!
2. Look at what other artist are producing.
These days many people know how to paint and draw, but many are still reluctant to think. Put depth in your paintings, say something! Use your skills to tell a story or express an emotion. People will react to your work.
3. Be as professional as you possibly can.
Try and get to the point that you are making exactly the kind of work that is in your mind. Become a master at your practice. People notice skill and talent, and want to buy art from extremely talented people.
4. Listen to that inner voice.
I knew exactly when it was time for me to leave my job. I even got an exact date and signs as to when I was suppose to leave. Take time to be realistic and confident in what you are doing. Then listen and make the move when you hear that voice.
5. Never ever stop creating! No matter who tells you your work sucks. No matter how many galleries turn you down, never stop creating.
One thing I noticed when I was looking at one of my favorite paintings, Salvador Dali – Christ of St John of the Cross, I then noticed the date on it, 1951. Dali was born in 1904, he was 47 when he did that painting! It takes time to become a master, but if you give up, you will never get there.
Hope this builds your creative spirit and helps you to get past the hurdles that all of us artist face! Have a fun weekend.
January 28, 2009
pastels
i’ve just started a pastel drawing as a kind of study for a painting. it’s part of the ’sides of adam/ faces of eve’ series i’ve been working on for the past couple years. i’ve never really done any elaborate pastel work with the figure (just little bits here and there when teaching), so this new experiment is presenting me with fun and frustrating challenges. i’m using a combination of blick pastels and nupastels, but they’re proving themselves to be very powdery, not creamy enough for my liking. if anyone knows of a pastel that might be cheaper than rembrandt brand but comparable in quality, your recommendations would be more than welcomed! thanks in advance!
alison
here’s what i have so far:
White Death is upon us!
Looks like here in Cincinnati we are going to be snowed in for a few days. About 4-5 inches last night and a forecast of a nice wintery mix is coming our way.
In the spirit of chiling out, here are some cool websites to check out. Plus, dont forget our links page for even more!
http://blog.art21.org/
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
http://emptyeasel.com/
http://www.galleryhenoch.com/
http://www.paulmellender.com/
http://www.thisisreverb.com/
January 23, 2009
TAP is offering art classes!
The Art Pocket is now offering
Affordable Art Classes.
-small class sizes of 2-5 students
-one hour lessons for $15 and deals for multiple students and hours.
-flexible hours to meet your scheduling needs
-classes available year-round through the summer
The Art Pocket is Evan Hildebrandt and Alison Shepard, a husband and wife team with more than 30 years of art-making experience between them. From teaching to working with interior designers, Evan and Alison are skilled in painting, drawing and printmaking, and are confident to take on any artistic task placed before them. Alison has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking. She currently teaches Drawing and Figure Drawing at the College of Mt. St. Joseph.
Evan and Alison have teaching experience with students of all ages, from pre-schoolers to retirees.
For more information and to view samples of our art, please visit us at
www.theartpocket.com
Give us a call at 513-921-7511 or email Evan at evhildy@hotmail.com
We Look forward to meeting and teaching you!
January 22, 2009
A couple of new ones and a future show.
Here are a couple of new abstracts that I have done. I used quite a few new techniques that I have found. Unfortunately you cant see all of the subtleties that are in these. I used everything from saw dust, to spray paint, to tar. They were really fun to make!
Ive also solidified a show at Synthetica Gallery in June. http://www.syngallery.org/ Thanks Mason! Im really looking forward to showing my work here and they are all going to be brand new pieces. Sorry, Im not even going to give sneak previews on this blog;( Well, maybe a little sneak preview wouldn’t hurt;)
Im going to do a blend of realism and abstract paintings for it. More to come about this show in the future.
For now, here are the new abstracts!
I also want to welcome anyone new to the TAP blog. We sent out a some flyer’s on Saturday and have already gotten some responses. Feel free to write and set a date with us to talk. We are looking forward to meeting you!
January 17, 2009
the art pocket has letterhead!
after a bit of brainstorming and deliberation, evan and i came up with a letterhead logo for the art pocket.
what we came up with ties in my love of red (although it could really be any color) and our love of printmaking!
evan cut TAP (the art pocket’s cute little acronym) into a linoleum block and made a stamp–pretty cool and fun to do!
i love the hand-crafted feel of the varying ink pressure:)
