IT'S ELECTRIC FINALLY OPENS TONIGHT!

That's right, IT'S ELECTRIC finally opens tonight. After being snowed out, and numerous other snags and barbs we are finally getting our robots out of the lab and on to the dance floor of the Electric Maid! Come on by 7pm-11pm TONIGHT!

This week has seen lots of great progress for Yuri's Night...I finished a floor plan of the Capitol Skyline Hotel (yes, we can fit 200 people into the Hall of States, thank you) and we spend last weekend shooting a promotional YouTube video...Which will hopefully premiere tomorrow night when I, and perennial Miss Universe contestant, Southern Hemisphere, will be interviewed on the Larz from Marz show...

Yet another year goes by without a clear Lucite trophy from the WATCH Awards (that's 7 nominations and no wins for those of you counting)... We'll get 'em next year!

Oh, did I mention that High Fidelity will be extending their run....at the Warehouse?! Its true, check out the screenshot from their website:


So, if you wanted a second chance to see this great, Helen Hayes Recommended show, here it is!

I also spent my day off this week driving to and from Lyndhurst NJ in order to get a great deal on Gridwall. What is gridwall you may ask? You've seen it before, its a steel grid mesh that comes in 2 foot wide and 7 foot tall sections used by craft fair artists everywhere to hold up their art for display...so now, the artists of Yuri's Night can be secure in the idea that their work will not be sitting on the ground during the show!

And of course, last but not least, I finished painting the drop for Illuminopolis:

Illuminopolis backdrop
Acrylic on Black Velour, 12'x10'

YURI"S NIGHT FLYERS ARE HERE! 30 DAYS TO LIFTOFF!

The flyers from Yuri's Night have arrived! Thanks to the stellar effort of Alan Defibaugh, or designer, for getting all that text into one slick package! We do have lots of stuff going on at this party, just check out the back of the flyer:

So, look for these around town....and buy your tickets today!

Countdown to Yuri's Night
T-Minus 30 days(!)

The other big news this week was the announcement of the rescheduled IT'S ELECTRIC show at the Electric Maid in Takoma Park. Since we were snowed out the first time, we have had to reschedule for Saturday March 20th. In anticipation of the re-opening, I have started to create some new black velvet robot paintings...

Black Velvet Robot, Red
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 8"x10"

Also, this week I will start working on the backdrop for Illuminopolis, the light inspired burlesque extravaganza presented by Yuri's Night performers Miss Joule and Malibu. You can get tickets and info here.

Illuminopolis backdrop sketch
Pencil and photoshop

See you next week when I will have more robot paintings for IT'S ELECTRIC, as well as photos of the finished Illuminopolis drop...

IT'S ELECTRIC! and REEFER SCENERY APPRECIATION NIGHT

I'm as excited as the jerk in the photo above that tonight is Scenery Appreciation Night for REEFER MADNESS! So, if you know what's good for ya, you'll come on down to tonight's closing weekend shows! You can get tickets at the door or from the Dominion Stage Website.

This weekend I will be gearing up to finalize the last two paintings I am creating for It's Electric. What's It's Electric, you ask? Here's the flyer:

Chris Griffin curates a Robo-Art Show featuring the works of local artists Michael Auger, Jared Davis, Todd Gardner and Steve Strawn. The opening reception is Saturday, February 6th from 7:00 - 11:00 PM. There will be 'botting poppers Gwo and Frequency and DJ Anne Dreud (yep, rhymes with Freud) will be spinning! Please come and boost your "arti"ificial intelligence!

The deets:
It's Electric! Opening Reception
Saturday, Feb. 6th 7:00 - 11:00 PM
The Electric Maid
268 Carroll St., N.W. (a short block from Takoma Metro)

I will give you loyal BTT readers a sneak preview of one of the three pieces in the show:

The Devil and the Broken Man
Acrylic on Canvas, 24"x20"

I don't know why blogger seems to make this image much darker than any other program does...so, you will just have to come see it with your naked eyes in order to get the full impact!

The build for High Fidelity has just started, and I have progress on a major piece of the scenery to share...Its a counter for the record store "Championship Vinyl" that figures prominently in the show.One of the good things about High Fidelity is that it is getting a lot of good buzz. We already have been getting previews from the likes of DCBroadwayWorld.com DC Broadway World previews High Fidelity

EPIC SCIENCE FICTION WATERCOLORS!

Chris Griffin, (no, not the Family Guy character, you cretins) who is ever the busy bee, has seen fit to include me in a small group show at the Electric Maid in Takoma Park. Its going to be a robot-themed show called "It's Electric". I will have some paintings there hanging next to the work of Todd Gardner, and Steve Strawn. The opening will be on Saturday February 6th, 8-11pm.

Unfortunately, I don't have any robot paintings on hand (they sell like hotcakes, and the last ones I made went for stocking stuffers) but I have decided to take up the challenge to make more Robots! Its actually kinda fortunate, because I was already gearing up to make some Science Fiction paintings for Yuri's Night. You see, I came to the realization that Science Fiction is best when it is telling an epic story. Star Wars is a prime example. It is well known that George Lucas was highly influenced by Joseph Campbell's "Power of Myth" Books. The epic story, with its archetypal characters and universal themes is what made the backbone of Star Wars so strong. Not long ago, I decided that I wanted to incorporate this idea into my Science Fiction paintings. So, with this Robot show coming up, I began to implement the plan. First I decided on some of the archetypal characters (e.g. the hero, wise man, sea monster, etc) and then I started pairing them off in order to see what sort of pictures were inspired by the combinations...I did some quick sketches, and then started a watercolor sketch in my sketchbook as a study for what might become a final painting. The first of these pairings was The Birdman and the Magic Cow:

The Birdman and the Magic Cow Watercolor sketch
Watercolor on Paper, 10"x8"

Since I am working towards making paintings for the Robot show, I have been doing my best to make all of the roles robot-oriented. I don't know why this was the image I saw when I put these two characters together, but somehow a winged cereal eating robot on a craggy planet, getting his milk from a giant flying robot cow just seem right...

The Devil and the Broken Man Watercolor Sketch
Watercolor on Paper, 10"x8"

This paring seemed to me like an obvious one, because you can always link the Devil to temptation, and temptation is how most people become "broken". In epic terms the "broken man" is the private detective who is too drunk to take the case, but sobers up just in time to solve the crime...perhaps someone like Han Solo, who has lost (perhaps never had) his idealism...but in this interpretation, the robot in the sidecar is more like CP-3O in Empire Strikes Back, being toted around, literally in pieces, by Chewbacca. I allude to the sin/drunkenness by having the robot arm in the basket holding a liquor bottle, but that might be too heavy handed. The Devil as "trash picker" is appealing for the obvious reasons, but I particularly like the glee (and style) with which he is willing to facilitate the removal of the broken man...

We have been doing a full court press on the space search for Yuri's Night...we might wind up with a very swanky event this year...stay tuned...

This week has been crunch week for Reefer Madness. You can get all sorts of cool insights on the show from Dominion Stage's Reefer Madness blog. Be sure to check out the videos of work in the shop...there are some really cool time lapse videos of the scenery being painted. I'll announce when Scenery Appreciation Night will be next week!