Final Episode: The Big Show (Challenge)

Hey, Work of Art followers! I am SO, so sorry that this post is extremely tardy. I've been swamped with travel preparations, a Pat Benatar concert, flying from Houston to Columbus, and playing softball in the World Series. I'm still in Columbus playing ball, but hey! I've found five minutes of free time and a mild Internet connection (thanks for nothing "Columbus Bar 41"), so that I could update this here website of ours. That said:

From Bravo: "The final contestants have been sent home to prepare a full solo exhibition. Climaxing in a large-scale gala opening, the finalists present their collections to the judging panel to determine “The Next Great Artist.”"

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

Our challenge: Since the contestants were given three months to complete their final collections, I'd like to give us one month. And since I totally suck and didn't get this posted until way late, let's start our month from this next Monday, August 23rd. We'll make the due date Thursday, September 23. Use that month to create your final collection (as many pieces as you choose, as well as the theme of your choosing). To keep us on our toes, let's create a deadline for half-way through the month. So, Monday, September 6th, submit two pieces from your final collection along with a description of your collection's theme/inspiration.

I hope you're all inspired to jump on board for this final challenge. I can't wait to get home from Columbus to begin work on my collection. More so, I can't wait to see what you guys throw down. So dive in! Get creative! And have fun!

Episode 9: Natural Talents (Works)

*Click on boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"This week, I had a lot of ideas on what to do. I wanted to do something more chaotic and free-form, to internalize a natural flow to the piece. As far as source material, I thought both about incorporating actual nature elements (bird songs, rivers flowing, wind, crickets, earthquakes, sunspots, etc). In the end, I decided to use music that was representative of natural elements, a technique which has been used in music for centuries.
"Fantasia on an operatic theme" is a piece for solo flute, based on some of the music from an opera that I am writing. Here, the flute represents an ethereal bird that visits the main character in a dream, and eventually leads him both to the woman he will fall in love with, and sings outside his window when he committs suicide at the end of the opera (shh, that part is a secret)."



Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"Unleaving (Acrylic, metallic, and ink on two 9x12-inch panel canvases):
I found these fallen leaves in the Ozark mountains and picked them up to bring home with me. Knowing they'd fade, I photographed them so I could remember their vivid colors later. Here, I want it to appear that they fell from my paintings.
Autumn, bittersweet but beautiful, is my favorite season. I took my title from a word coined by Gerard Manley Hopkins in one of my favorite poems, "Spring and Fall." I want this work to convey the beauty, humanity, and mortality found in his lyrical language."



Artist: Rhonda Rubin
Twitter: The_Rhonda
"Miasma (Graphite, pencil, ink, garden dirt): This week, we were challenged to get inspiration from our surroundings and use materials from those surroundings to create a piece of art. The last few days, I've played in dirt a lot. Also? I'm a dirty, dirty girl. Normally, I'd end that statement with "and I should be punished," but I think my mom reads this blog, so I'm keeping my dirt clean. So anyway, I started thinking about how life sometimes becomes a whirlwind of crap that just doesn't care what it picks up and spits out. Then I realized that stick figures, being relatively lightweight, would be ripe for the pluckin' for a small dust devil. Rather than call this "In a Vacuum, No One Can Hear You Scream," I went with "Miasma," because that word totally kicks ass."


Artist: Lindsey Smolensky
Twitter: smoness
"Stronger (charcoal, paint, and rocks on art board): By posing an outline sketch of a body form to shoulder a pile of rocks, I want to convey that even a shell of a person is capable of withstanding great burden. That oftentimes the seemingly weakest of human beings endure worse than those more physically able. And that if you can just hold on, keep from letting go, relief will always be there not far from reach."



Artist: Brad Dumm
Twitter: N/A
"While in Lake Arrowhead, CA this past weekend, I struggled to come up with a worthy submittal for our final challenge in "Work of Art Follow." I thought nothing would be more appropriate than to dedicate a piece to our moderator, Lindsey, who has worked hard for all of us during this journey. Thanks, Lindsey - it was great fun!"

Episode 9: Natural Talents (Challenge)

From Bravo: "The remaining four artists head out of bustling New York City to the quiet refuge of a nature preserve. Here, they are invited to draw inspiration from their surroundings – exploring the landscape and gathering natural materials to incorporate into their piece."

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

Our challenge: Create a work of art inspired by nature. Incorporate one or more found natural objects (leaves, rocks, twigs, dirt, etc.).

Submissions due Monday to lindseysmo(at)gmail(dot)com. -- Personally, I'm really excited about this week's challenge. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Episode 8: Opposites Attract (Works)

Artist: Lindsey Smolensky
Twitter: smoness
"Up & Down: Because I have very little control over what and when I eat, and because my body only absorbs a partial percentage of the nutrients I put in it, my weight constantly yo-yos. Generally, I'm very good about keeping myself at a healthy weight. But sometimes I'll hit "scary weight" status, which (beyond causing me to freak out a bit and inhale a deep fried cheeseburger dipped in ice cream) prompts me to snap photos of myself. A means of documenting what my body goes through. From a scientific viewpoint, I'm fascinated by it. From a human viewpoint I'm upset by it. The contrast of looking up through a tree's branches against looking down at its cast shadow is like looking at the exact same image that's been distorted in two very different ways. Which is pretty much how I feel about looking at my body on a daily basis."



Artist: Becky Cochrane
Twitter: BeckyCochrane
"Fists and Palms
Medium: photographs
I shot tight fists versus open hands as a metaphor for opposites: stinginess and generosity. People speak of giving without expectation; I think such a quality is almost impossible for us. We clutch, we grasp, we want. We may not ask or expect to be repaid in kind, but we hope, perhaps for love, approval, friendship, gratitude, kindness, companionship, respect. Often it seems the person who protests the most passionately that he or she gives without expectation most wants or needs repayment the most. A gift becomes an attempt at emotional leverage, and trust is replaced by fear of loss."



Artist: Sean Kramer
Twitter: N/A
"Hard/Soft: I have had a very busy week here, so I will admit that I borrowed a picture from my archives for this challenge. This is a picture I took recently while I was out walking. It just amazed me how the abundance of flowers (soft) were growing through the narrow lines of the concrete (hard)."




Artist: Rhonda Rubin
Twitter: The_Rhonda
"Candy Mountain: Opposites are, very often, two sides of the same coin. Unless you're talking about actual coins, because basic vocabulary tells us that George Washington is not the opposite of South Carolina. For this challenge, I chose heaven and hell. Sometimes, too much of a good thing becomes just a crushing mountain of cellulite and tooth decay, and one man's heaven is another man's hell."

*Photo redacted per artist's request*

Artist: Nikie Brown
Twitter: wishnikphoto
"Opposites Attract - Pleasure/Pain: "It's a fine line between pleasure and pain" - The Divinyls
My photo depicts the opposing forces by showing how pain can be an overwhelming sensation that boosts one's climax to pleasurable levels."












*Click on boombox to play*
Artist/Composer: Josh Newton
Twitter: Marquis66
"...through a forest of flowers: For my theme, I chose to deal with something really personal, after a conversation between Jen (my wife) and I about her bipolar disorder. She described what it is like and compared her depression states with the times where she feels good as “darting through a forest, noticing all the flowers, instead of the dead trees and cold stones”. I tried to symbolize that initial, cold feeling, with the sudden wave of happiness, but the shadow of that depression hanging behind it."

Artist: Brad Dumm
Twitter: N/A
"Sports and Leisure: When you think of sports and leisure, usually you think of them in the same category, but here I see a different perspective. Sports is teamwork, action and movement. In this example, leisure is an escape from teamwork, action and movement."