artist of the week :: jillian erhardt

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not many things give me more pride than seeing my 'kids' go out into the big bad art world and start to make a difference... and make art that builds off of (and far surpasses) what they ever did in my classroom.
one such artist is jillian erhardt.
she recently set up a website, and its deserving of a look. she is using her talent for the greater good - as part of a social design design collective at MICA. they are working on helping to educate the public about good hygiene, std's, as well as a variety of other community-based projects. its pretty awesome...
so, check out her work below, and if you are so inclined, you can see more at www.jillianerhardt.com





so... hopefully there are other alumns out there reading this - if you have a newly created site, or a new body of work to share with the world... shoot me an email, or better yet, bring it along to the reunion on wednesday. i would love to get you all up on my site!

david choong lee :: interview

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saw this on upper playground's youtube channel. if you liked david choong lee's work, or if you like painting in general, you should watch it. he's pretty funny, and his artwork is amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBHUaOEknOk

"ever since I started combining some mixed media or street art — the ‘there’s no mistake’ kind of idea — it makes me much more free."
-david choong lee

artist of the week :: kent williams

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from his website :: "primarily a figurative painter, williams' work explores, in both bold and subtle ways, and often through a suggestion of narrative and woven symbolism, the thread of life that ties us together as human beings. embracing our virtues while not shying away from our faults, he shows us portraits of ourselves, intense and penetrating."

the snow falls, its time for the black keys...

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i woke up this morning at 5:21.
it was december, and there was snow on the ground.

i've been listening to "we brave bee stings and all" by THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN for the past few days on heavy rotation ((highly recommended))... but the blustery morning seemed to call out for THE BLACK KEYS last album, produced (and heavily influenced) by danger mouse. its called "attack and release".
it was the perfect choice for this morning... some garage blues, some sludge, and just enough aged texture to make it sound as if it had been around for longer than 2 years.

i'm looking forward to the drive home.

jeremy fish studio visit

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i was searching the web for info on this week's artist of the week - david choong lee, and in my lengthy web-travels, came across this jeremy fish studio visit on fecalface.com. terrible website name, great website.
they often have studio visits with contemporary urban artists, showing images of their workspaces, the artwork (sometimes in progress), and video interviews. its pretty awesome. i particularly love looking at the studios themselves - it gives you a glipse not only into their mind, but it lets you put together how they do what they do.

here are some pictures of jeremy fish's studio:




artist of the week :: david choong lee

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David Choong Lee was born in 1966 in Seoul, Korea. David arrived in San Francisco from Seoul, Korea in 1993 with little money and speaking very little English but found a way to study art. While studying he lived downtown where he was surrounded by homeless people who became the focus for his painting for many years). They became his friends, helped him with his English and in turn he used his formal drawing skills to capture very moving portraits. He found that he was very interested in the art of young people after his graduation from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, in 1997.
After seven years of focusing on the figure, he began to explore different concepts, such as mixed media, sculpture and graphic design. He's been influenced by such diverse sources as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Sukdo, and underground music DJ scenes. He ended up creating his own artistic style that is a combination of graffiti, collage, portrait, and classical realistic skill with bold graphic elements. As you can see by the release of his products, he has combined many different forces to create his own, distinctive style.

see more of david's work on his photostream or his website

thanks to matt lucci for the heads up on this week's artist.

new show at the memorial art gallery

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there is a new painting exhibit at rochester's memorial art gallery - finally, something worth getting really excited about!

the show is called paint made flesh, and it brings together 34 powerful american and european works, all created since the 1950s, that explore the biological, psychological or spiritual volatility of the human figure. the works, by such painters as georg baselitz, hyman bloom, willem de kooning, eric fischl, lucien freud, alice neel, pablo picasso, jenny saville and julian schnabel, employ a wide range of painterly effects to suggest the carnal properties of human flesh, as well as its metaphorical significance. MAG is one of only two tour stops for this show.

AP drawing students - we'll be taking a field trip there on december 11th. thanks go out to the arts in education committee, and our PTSA for giving us the money to make it happen.

a love letter to you from stephen powers.

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artist steve powers, along with the philadelphia mural arts project, has been working on text-based murals along the elevated train line to and from the city of philadelphia, as well as along some of its more run-down areas. the project is called a love letter to you, and it was a collaboration between powers and the community in which the murals are painted - including ideas and stories from the residents themselves.

i am impressed by the sentiment of the murals, along with the great effect that such bright bold colors have against the worn down textures of the buildings.

check out more examples of the murals here

thanks to amy bonner for the heads up on this great project.

jake adams interview.

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the following interview is from the newsletter and website of the alliance for young artists & writers.
jake adams is an 08 grad of WTHS, and was a member of the AP class his senior year. he now attends MICA for painting. check it out!

How did a once aspiring farmer become an aspiring artist?
And what goes on inside the mind of a young surrealist painter?
Just ask Scholastic Art Award alumnus Jake Adams, currently a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Adams was recently featured as a Celeste Prize candidate (an international prize for contemporary arts recognizing works in painting, photography and digital graphics, video and animation, installation and sculpture, and live media) for a new multimedia piece entitled Friends, about the impact of digital social media networks on friendships (seen below). Recently, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers caught up with Adams, who spent his summer break in Montecastello, Italy. He tells us how his work has changed since winning a Scholastic Award and what, as a young artist, he sees as some of his biggest challenges.


AYAW: Athletes usually have a stretch, prep, or warm up routine before going out onto the "field." Do you do anything special before going to work in the studio?
JA: I analyze many things and a lot of writing usually occurs. Thumbnails and mini-sketches are also very important to me. I need something to work from because everything from my mind accumulates and I cannot control it. It's like a broken bag of pebbles spilling into a moving stream. It is very hard to catch every thought.

AYAW: How did you end up in Montecastello, Italy, and what are you working on over there?
JA: I had a desire to do different things. [In Montecastello,] I have been painting landscapes and I go out every morning at very early hours and climb up and down mountains to find compositions. It has been a fantastic experience, and I have a new perspective on painting. You could say I have learned how to see better.

AYAW: Does location (such as a foreign place) or physical environment (such as weather) have a major influence on your work?
JA: Here it does. Montecastello is another universe. It's pretty much been the same here for hundreds of years, which I think is what makes this place beautiful. I think I am-- or any artist is-- forced to just see and think about seeing. The art work I make here is completely spiritually based because of this. It is unavoidable.

AYAW: How do you feel your work has changed in the last few years? Is there anything you're especially proud of?
JA: As a student, I am still learning. I don't know if I am proud of any one piece but I always feel good when I try new things. When I do that, I usually discover something within that process which I can then use in a series or concentration of work in progress. I also believe that as an artist I shall never be completely satisfied. Making a piece of art is like trying to catch a butterfly that is too high above you. You may try and try, but you will never catch it. That's how you make the most beautiful work. If everything was "finished," then no one would have anything to talk about.

AYAW: What's the most important piece of advice you would give to people who are applying for a Scholastic Art & Writing Award, or who are thinking about applying?
JA: Make sure your work is somewhat unified. You can have different media, but keep it all together process-wise. Let it say something as a whole.
She Is Land, He Is Sky (2008)

AYAW: What do you see as one of the biggest challenges facing young artists today?
JA: It's going to be very hard to be inventive. Many things have already been done. But if you still wake up in the morning with a desire to create, then that means you should probably just keep producing. Chances are you will make something that nobody has ever seen before if you keep working.

fall playlist.

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i finally remembered to change the 'playlist' widget on the right side of this page. its only taken me, oh, 6 months.
some great fall albums in heavy rotation right now... some new, some old... but all great music to follow the changing leaves.

  • the avett brothers - i and love and you (the format + folk music)
  • pearl jam - backspacer (classic pj sound... + piano)
  • tom petty - wildflowers (a forgotten classic. make it to the end... "crawling back to you" is awesome)
  • david gray - draw the line (perfect autumn music. full of textured acoustic instrumentation)
  • wilco - summerteeth (not my favorite wilco album, but perfect for right now)