Episode 8: Opposites Attract (Challenge)

From Bravo: "The artists are paired and must create works about opposing forces: Heaven and Hell, Male and Female, Order and Chaos."

[See the full recap and extras on the Bravo site HERE]

Our challenge: Obviously we can't be paired off, so let's (on our own) create works depicting opposing forces. Feel free to use one of the opposing forces given to the contestants on the show, or come up with your own opposing forces to illustrate.

As always, have fun! And get submissions to lindseysmo(at)gmail(dot)com by Monday!

Episode 7: Child's Play (Works)

Artist: Timothy Forry
Twitter: N/A
"Sibling Rivalry:

Medium: graphite, colored pencil and crayon

When I was a kid my older sister had a Spyrograph and would make these elaborate designs and color them so beautifully, but mine would never turn out as nice as hers. In this piece I was trying to evoke the frustration I felt at not having the same skill level."

Artist: Nikie Brown
Twitter: wishnikiphoto
"Materials: Pipe Cleaners, Vintage Cameras, Pom Poms, felt on poster board.
As long as I can remember, my grandfather always had some type of still camera or movie camera with him. I loved playing with them. As I got older, my grandfather and I would have conversations over cameras. I always enjoyed these talks. My grandfather was very forward thinking and ahead of his time. He was an artist, sculptor and photographer. He loved new technology while still not leaving the old behind. In my creation, I made the vintage cameras contemporary, by stylizing them with glowing edges. This represents my grandfather's vision of the future. Although I did not inherit his talent for painting, I hope that I have some of his creativity."











*Click on boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"For this week, since I have been working with sound, I decided to do a version of a children’s song. And since for me, it is all about trying to say something with every piece, this time I tried to express my feelings about this time of the year. Since my birthday is in early July, the week after July 4^th, it kind of bisects the summer very neatly and cleanly, or at least what my perception of “summer” has always been. Once it gets to this point, particularly the end of July, I start coming to the realization that this beautiful weather, and the whole summer deal is so fleeting, and is going to be over really soon. Especially when I start thinking about school starting in a month, and the zucchini in the garden just about ready to pick (pumpkins will be soon after). I love summer, and I love fall… I just wish they didn’t have to end. I know, I know, how very tortured artist of me. The song that I chose is a song called “Come Little Leaves”, and here is the text:

Come, little leaves, Said the wind one day; Come to the meadows With me and play. Put on your dresses Of red and gold; For summer is past, And the days grow cold. Dancing and flying, The leaves went along, Til Winter called them To end their sweet song. Soon, fast asleep In their earthy beds, The snow lay a coverlet O'er their heads.

It is from a poem by George Cooper, and the music is by Thomas J. Crawford, although I adapted each slightly. I was going to get it recorded, but unfortunately Holden’s run in with a glass topped table, and the ensuing trip to the ER put a damper on that. Maybe next time!"

Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"Break Through:
Everything and everyone who can encourage a person's creativity can also beat it down. Sometimes the same person or event can do both. I'm a writer, but I see similarities between my early efforts, growth, and confidence as a writer reflected in how I came to paint.

For this challenge, I took a papier-māché box and painted it in solid colors inside and out. One side is painted but left blank. On one side, I've mimicked my childhood drawings. One side recreates my adolescent doodling. One side has an account of a day at a friend's house that could have come straight out of my ninth grade diary.

In junior high, my best friend and I began to work on separate collages together. I might have been cutting other people's words and images from magazines, but I was deciding how to combine and arrange them. And I was letting someone else see and judge my work. Recalling that, I made a collage for this piece showing forces that can foster, hinder, and/or judge our creative efforts and also uses words and phrases personal to my creative experience.

My pipe cleaner girl goes through all that to push off the top of the box. The outside of the box top reflects the use of color and technique that I use now in my paintings. But the inside box top shows that those were there all along. I had to take that movement toward expressing myself and understand the power of collaboration (whether with a companion, an editor, a fellow creative person, a cowriter, a mentor, a critic); accept the necessity of putting effort and persistence into it; and be willing to let my words or paintings go out into the world, to be judged for good or ill."




Artist: Brad Dumm
Twitter: N/A
"When I was a kid I didn't like to rough and tumble and play sports like most boys my age. My sister and I preferred to play inside with our toys, our dog and watch the television. My mom was a teacher with a special interest in art, so she taught us to paint and draw. In this piece I wanted to show my reluctance to be close to athletes, yet wanting to be a part of that world. Art bridges these gaps for me.

Artist: Sean Kramer
Twitter: N/A
"I honestly have no idea when my artistic expression began. While growing up, I always seemed to be doodling. My notebooks were always my favorite spot for it. Of course I didn't have pencil colors with me in class, but I usually ended up doing the same thing every time alongthe margins. Usually I'd try to come up with a cool way to make my initials look like a great logo (I don't think I ever succeeded).Ragin Cajuns (for the University of Southwestern Louisiana at the time) was for where I dreamed I'd go to college. WHS is where I went to high school, and #72 was my football number. So this is where I think most of my artistic expression came from. Oddly enough I think most of it came from being bored in class! I am glad to say that I'm not sorry for that. I'm happy with the way my artistic expression has changed over the years."

Episode 7: Child's Play (Challenge)

From Bravo: "The artists find themselves in the Children’s Museum of the Arts, filled with finger paint portraits and crayon collections. Their challenge is to create a work that is symbolic of the moment their artistic expression began, using only kid-friendly materials to create an adult masterpiece."

[See the full recap and extras on the Bravo site HERE]

Our challenge: Hooray! This one is actually transferable! So, same challenge for us: Create a work that is symbolic of the moment your artistic expression began, using only kid-friendly materials to create an adult masterpiece.

This week is gonna be fun. I can't wait to see what everyone produces. And I will TOTALLY have something this challenge. I'm sorry I've been so swamped, you guys. Let's pick it up and everyone submit this week! Send submissions to lindseysmo(at)gmail(dot)com by Monday!

Episode 6: Open to the Public (Works):

Artist: Rhonda Rubin
Twitter: The_Rhonda
"Exultation -- Pencil, colored pencils, pen & ink on sketch paper:
Nestled between the Houston Museum District and the Texas Medical Center lies Hermann Park, one of Houston's many green spaces. Hermann Park includes a golf course (because all big city parks need golf courses), the Houston Zoo, the Houston Museum of Natural Science/IMAX Theater/Cockrell Butterfly Center, and Miller Outdoor Theater. The latter sits in front of Hippie Hill, a grassy knoll that allows free access to theater and musical performances for those of us willing to schlep blankets, wine and food up the hill from our cars. During the day, kids and adults play and roll all over the hill, under the watchful eye of this little fellow, perched atop the hill, and looking down at the theater. Or away from it. It's really hard to tell. But I digress.

The last time we went to a performance at Miller, I remember thinking, "Wow, that sculpture just ate a fish." Did I mention there was wine? Then I thought, "It's totally standing there like Yul Brynner in 'The King and I.'" Then I imagined spikey-headed subjects just gathering around him to worship him. Because, Hello? Wine. Naturally, when challenged to pick a public art installation, I thought about my king of the hill, and imagined my Rasta stick figures being attracted to him as a leader, much like the Martians' reaction to Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story." Why yes, this is how my brain normally works. No, I am not under the care of a mental health professional. Anyway, I researched the sculpture and learned this: Atropos Key refers to the Greek Goddess of Fate, Atropos, (the cutter of the thread of life). According to Greek mythology, Atropos, and her sisters Clotho (the spinner of the thread of destiny) and Lachesis (the measurer of the thread) were responsible for human destiny. Well crap. He's not a king. He's not even a guy. But she is a goddess, perfect for worshipping!"

Artist: Sean Kramer
Twitter: N/A
"I was inspired by the Williams Waterwall in Houston. It is an amazing place to go sit and relax.
My thoughts were to create a giant clock on the ground. There would be 12 stone fountains on the outside of the circle. On the top of the hour, the fountain will shoot up. At 4o'clock, it will shoot up four times. At 8 o'clock, eight times. The fleur de lis on the face of the clock represents light and life."




Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"On the east wall of Houston's Wortham Center are seven 70-foot stainless steel columns, artist Mel Chin's Seven Wonders. By day, the sun illuminates them. At night, they're lit from inside. Each column uses art work designed by local children cut into 150 metal panels. The young artists were all born in the year of Houston's sesquicentennial, 1986, and their art illustrates specific themes relating to Houston's history.

My canvas, "Two of Seven," uses dark green and blue backgrounds in acrylics, a dusting of black and silver body glitter on the blue for the night sky, and torn and painted aluminum foil to represent two of the seven columns. To pay homage to the children's work, I designed rectangles of rough stencil art to represent some of the images that make me think of Houston: the Texas state silhouette; a butterfly to represent not only the city's gardens but the Cockrell Butterfly Center (and by extension, Houston's great museums); logos for the pro basketball and baseball teams; the longhorn as a symbol not only of Houston's past but the significance of the Livestock Show and Rodeo; a Live Oak in honor of all those that grace the city's neighborhoods; a Lone Star; the city's downtown skyline; and the shuttle to represent Houston's leadership in the space program."












*Click boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"This piece is based on an installation at one of the Maine capital area buildings. The Maine Arts Commission has made a concentrated effort to get more public art works there, and this is based on a stained glass installation on the Williams Pavilion. I tried to capture the sense of the light dripping through the glass, and creating these fantastic shapes and images on the floor of the building itself."

Episode 6: Open to the Public (Challenge):

From Bravo: "The remaining artists are challenged to create a large-scale, outdoor installation piece. The artists must put egos aside and collaborate effectively in order to create a public art masterpiece in just two days."

[See the full recap and extras on the Bravo site HERE]

Since we can't exactly all get permits and have access to the materials needed to create a large, public installation piece, we're going to do the next best thing. Our challenge: Find a public installation piece or work of art somewhere in or around your home town or city. Create an art piece inspired by your found public installation and its space. Use the visual or performance medium of your choice! Have fun! Get inspired! Enjoy the hunt!

And as always, get those submissions in by Monday to lindseysmo(at)gmail(dot)com.

Inspired:

You guys! This is awesome. One of our dear Work of Art followers was inspired by last week's challenge to exercise some creative writing. I love that!
I give you a poem, by the one and only, Michelle Gardner:

Rush Hour Houston

Four lanes across creeping, crawling
Slow progress
Lights outta sync
Strategic maneuvers
Seek the open space to get ahead
Right lane?
No!
Mind the bus!

Wait, why are you braking?
Oh, I see. Because the car beside you braked…
Moron.

Green light and most cars race forward
There’s always one
Keep up!
Don’t impede our progress.
Pay attention.
Move along.

Oh dear, is traffic interfering with your phone call?
Boo hoo.
HANG UP!

Waddaya waitin’ for – an engraved invite to turn?
Red light
Open lane
Turn right
GO!

Two cars moving side by side
Finally one gives ground
Squeeze into the open slot
Empty lanes ahead…
Floor it
Fifty. Sixty-five. Seventy.
Eighty
ahhhhhhhhh

Episode 5: Art that Moves You (Works)

Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"Houston, Texas: Materials: Acrylic, glue, ink, and four 2.3-inch canvases on one 18x14-inch canvas.
Statement: No matter where I am inside my adopted city, or coming home to it, my heart lifts EVERY time I see the downtown skyline. I love the skyscrapers and the colors of Houston's parks and landscaping which are visible year-round. I'm a five-minute drive from downtown, a five minute drive from several fantastic parks, and as if that's not enough, I'm less than a ten-minute drive from the works of many of my favorite artists. I've tried to mimic some of their canvases here. I never dreamed I'd live where city streets could take me to Rothko, Picasso, Braque, Pollock, Monet, Van Gogh, Ensor, Mondrian, Newman, Cézanne, Magritte, Jasper Johns, Klein, Miró--a visual feast."



Artist: Nikie Brown
Twitter: wishnikphoto
"I live in the country and what moves me is when I come home at night and look up at the night sky to see hundreds and millions of stars. This is the night sky at my house on an extended exposure. This is one of my many attempts with the plan being to keep my shutter open all night."




Artist: Rhonda Rubin
Twitter: The_Rhonda
"Escape, Mon: Charcoal, pencil, colored pencil, and ink on sketch paper. I am two things. Well, I am many things, but for the purposes of this challenge? Two. First of all, I am a city girl through and through. Seriously, if I prick my finger, I will bleed Starbucks and concrete. Also, I am a Taurus in almost every sense of the word. As such, I love the ground. I love playing in the dirt, and I love rolling down the road on my motorcycle, on my bicycle, and in my car. That's my mental floss. Though I love living in the shadow of downtown Houston, when I roll down Allen Parkway, on either four wheels or two, I hit the gas and just fly around the curves toward sweet, sweet freedom. By way of Starbucks."











*Click on boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"This composition is a serenade for strings and piano, and I tried to capture a bunch of prominent features of my home town. For one, there is this Episcopal Church on a hill overlooking the whole area that has bells that go off every hour. You can hear them everywhere when they go off, and that was the big inspiration to this piece. Second, is the Kennebec River, which runs through all of the surrounding cities, and as it passes by the house where we live, it is about 250 feet wide, and flows very strongly. It floods every spring, throwing the whole area into a mini panic. Finally, I tried to give this piece a sense of scale, since there is a lot of really picturesque moments, like the sun coming up over the river, or the view overlooking the valley from some of the surrounding hills."

Artist: Timothy Forry
Twitter: N/A
"Litchfield, CT: Acrylic on Canvas.
Litchfield, as a town, is a paradox. It is at once in love with its history and traditions, yet the thinking is very forward and cosmopolitan. To express this, I chose to do an abstraction of the iconic steeple of the 18th century church in the center of town--which is the most photographed church in New England. I think the completed piece successfully illustrates the paradox."



Artist: Jennifer Mathis
Twitter: JenXer
"My tribute to Houston street artists: Weah, Give Up, 2:12, Ack!, and Eyesore."



Artist: Micki Brown
Twitter: N/A, but she food blogs HERE
"I created a photo collage about driving. I have had two accidents in the past year, neither of them were my fault—but the experience has left me shaken. I have always been a cautious driver and now, I am a freakishly nervous driver as well.

I took a lot of close-up photographs of my car with a completely different concept in mind, but found myself gravitating to the wheels and break-lights and their crucial role in car wrecks. So this is the unexpected result—you might even call it an accident."

Artist: Brad Dumm
Twitter: N/A
"These are ink outline tracings from two different photographs I took of downtown Los Angeles. I used the copy machine to take the color out. I wanted to convey the feeling of urgency and energy as you drive into the middle of my city."



Artist: Sean Kramer
Twitter: N/A
"Peace of Mind: One thing I love to do is get in my car and drive. If I need to clear my head or just get out of the house, I get in my car and drive. It is one of my favorite activities to do around Houston. When I first moved to Houston, I would go get myself lost just to learn the city. Even with the numerous roadsigns and constant traffic, I can still find peace of mind driving around."

Episode 5: Art that Moves You (Challenge)

From Bravo: "An artist’s city often serves as a source of inspiration, and for their elimination challenge, the artists must create a piece of work that is reflective of their experience driving through the streets of Manhattan."

[See the full recap and extras on the Bravo site HERE]

Our challenge: Let's create a piece of work that is reflective of your experience(s) driving through the streets of your home city. This is a pretty broad challenge. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

And again, submissions due by Monday, 11:00AM to lindseysmo(at)gmail(dot)com.

Episode 4: A Shock to the System (Works)

Because I am completely incapable of inserting any type of code that would make this post go behind a link (I searched the Internet for such code and came up with bupkis. if you know how to do that stuff, by all means, tell me what's what), you guys are just gonna have to roll with the fact that it's out in the open. In your face and whatnot. Consider this a disclaimer of sorts: WARNING! Shocking material below! Not safe for work! Not safe for children or kittens! Definitely not safe for my grandparents! Are you reading this, Grandpa?! GO AWAY (just this once. please. I love you).

If you're still reading, you're not a child, nor a grandparent of mine, nor do you mind shocking material. Thank you and have a lovely day.

Okay, FINALLY, the works:






Artist: Susannah Perry
Twitter: PaintingChef
"Helpless: Pencil and colored pencil on paper
A pregnant blow-up doll with severed hands. I imagine you think I should be looking into therapy right about now. But is it shocking? Depends on your perspective. After a 6 year battle with infertility that I feel I lose a little more every day, it’s shocking to me. Cycle after cycle, month after month, people in my position measure their lives in increments of ultrasounds, injections and bloodwork results. You lose your femininity and your allure in the bedroom and might as well be just another blow-up doll on a shelf. Nothing is spontaneous. Nothing is sacred.
Your body no longer belongs to you, for all purposes, your hands have been severed. Take this pill, this shot, this test. Have sex on this day and this day but not this day. Have your partner jack off in a cup on this day but only between the hours of 7 and 9 and only if he’s been celibate for the last 48 hours. But no more than 52 hours. That’s too long.
I lost control of my body and my life and my marriage last year while trying to get pregnant. I lost my individuality. I lost my sense of adventure. I was shocked at who I had become.
And yes. My hair really is that big."



Artist: Jennifer Mathis
Twitter: JenXer
"Prescription medications. I need them, I hate them. I want to be rid of them, I can't live without them."



Artist: Sean Kramer
Twitter: N/A
"The Final Thrill of Personal Extinction"











*Click boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"The zeppelin Hindenburg went up in flames, on May 6th 1937, and the radio broadcast from Lakehurst, New Jersey is one of the most famed and compelling in all of radio. I have sampled from that broadcast, combined with a series of instruments (piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo and flute) for this piece which I just call "Lakehurst.""






Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"Dealing With Diabetes:
Materials: Acrylic, ink, blood, bloody tissues, magazine collage, book excerpts, product packaging, and used lancets and glucose test strips on canvas.
Statement: Diabetes may not seem shocking in art, but it's shocking to the person who has it. Words and pictures on the canvas present the challenges of dealing with this chronic illness including fears of blindness and amputation, unfounded guilt about the illness, and the wearying necessity of being aware of the content of everything eaten every day and daily testing of blood glucose."



Artist: Lindsey Smolensky
Twitter: smoness
"Living with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome has created a number of food and body issues for me. This four-frame piece is to display desire, angst, anger, and emotional frustration toward food and eating on a daily basis. All while feeling bound and disfigured by the illness. The shower setting is symbolic of feeling trapped and flooded."



Artist: Nikie Brown
Twitter: wishnikphoto
"The Hypocrisy of Atheism: The story behind it is there are some atheists out there who rant and rave about things like, you can't say Merry Christmas or put God on the dollar bill, etc. Yet, during the holidays such as Easter and Christmas they want to get the gifts and hunt the eggs."




Artist: Brad Dumm
Twitter: N/A

Episode 4: A Shock to the System (Challenge)

From Bravo, "The artists are challenged to create a piece that is shocking and memorable, and speaks to issues that are important to them personally."

[See the full recap and extras on the Bravo site HERE]

Our challenge: Exactly the challenge posed to the contestants on the show. Create something shocking, memorable, and reflective of issues important to you. C'mon, show us what you got!

*Submissions due by Monday, 11:00AM to lindseysmo(at)gmail(dot)com.