A month ago, I did a small piece for the Kemp Center for the Arts. It's a terrific historic building in Wichita Falls Texas (where we are currently located) that was converted from a library (for which it is too small, despite it's beauty) to a very relevant venue for local arts. It's got gorgeous, soaring ceilings with TONS of light for the gallery and an amazing variety of art that gets showcased.
So, back to me. The show is the Mystery Artist show and had 210 entries by about 100 different artists, and I'm totally undermining the whole concept of mystery here, but that's was weirdo, attention-hounds do! I'll talk some about my other entry later, more than anything I was thrilled to open the morning paper of my hometown and find this splashed across a quarter of a spread:
Haha! In the newspaper. Like-a-boss!
It's a silly thing, uncredited and random. Still, what an unexpected thrill to find something I considered to be poorly-composed and overly-complex (though wonderfully conceived) in the media. Now, if only anyone still read the paper. :-/
This was about coming back to my hometown after 15 years in the city. After starting a business last year, we decided to try life in some new places a shot, starting with where we came from. So it seemed like a natural to talk about some of the memories this place holds for me. The ruby slipper is an obvious homage to Baum's Oz stories while captain Ahab pilots his ship with his trusty partner, Blue Monkey. EVERYTHING in this piece means something from the acorn to the fish with legs and my brother-in-law beating me up in his front yard, from my school mascot, my first house, my first cel phone, and even some wish fulfillment. Oh, the rabbit hole is deep.
The Anatomy of Coming Home 8x10 pen and ink on bristol.
This was created as a donation to the Kemp Center For The Arts' Mystery Art Show. It was intended to be a commentary on different feelings I was having after just moving back to my hometown, but in the end turned into a jumble of memories of living here in the past.
So, run out and buy a Wichita Falls Times and Records News today. The spike in sales will encourage them to run my work on a regular basis. Now, if only there was any money in editorial!