Propaganda Arm of ArtbyJared Goes AWOL During Month of February...Few Notice...

Yeah, I took a month off from the blog...lots happened....I might tell you about it, but because so much is happening right now, I think we should just stick to the Headlines:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog opens at the DCAC! Scenery Appreciation Night will be Saturday March 12th, Get your tickets HERE

DC Premiere! Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" name, literary material and characters and musical compositions used by permission from
Time Science Blood Club, LLC. (c) 2008 Time Science Blood Club, LLC

March 3 - 27
7:30 pm

DC Arts Center, 2438 18th Street, NW
(in the heart of Adams Morgan)

The internet sensation comes to Washington, DC.

Don't miss it!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the hit made-for-the-web musical miniseries of 2008, comes to the stage in a production by the Landless Theatre Company. Co-created by writer-producer Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly), it follows the tongue-in-cheek adventures of aspiring arch-villain Dr. Horrible; his nemesis, the hunky Captain Hammer; and love interest, Penny. The show, directed by Andrew Lloyd Baughman, kicks off Landless Theatre's 2011 "Season of Horrible Taste."

For tickets and information visit the Landless website at: www.landlesstheatrecompany.org!

Of Course, for you loyal BTT readers, I can share with you the design of the the set:

The show is going to be awesome, and not just for you Whedonheads...So buy your tickets today!

The next Headline on the agenda is: What are you doing for Fat Tuesday (NEXT TUESDAY 3/8)? Well, if you are like me, you will be going to the Claendon Mardi Gras parade. Once there you will be able to vie with the throngs in order to receive beads from...THE YURI'S NIGHT FLOAT!!! Below is the super top secret plans for the float...don't tell anyone!

And just in case you thought I was kidding...here's the poster for the event (designed by Richard Thompson!)

Speaking of Mardi Gras...I just wanted to share a Mardi Gras project from a few weeks back...it was for the DC Mardi Gras in the Dupont Hilton...I just painted the seafood, but I think it turned out pretty good (despite the crappy cell phone camera photo)

On Sunday I will be attending the WATCH (Washington Area Theater Community Honors) Awards...Seems I am nominated for two awards...both for Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical...Reefer Madness (Dominion Stage) and The Producers (Arlington Players)...this will be my 8th nomination with no wins...Wish me luck!

I did sell a painting this week...He's a collector of my work, and kinda a monkey enthusiast. Anyway, he surprised me when he showed me a tattoo of a piece of mine that he bought:

That shady looking monkey is "the spy" from 2006...I like how the nipple looks like the sun rising over the "near east" skyline...

And Speaking of Monkeys...I have been working on a monkey painting for Yuri's Night....I can share some progress shots with you, so you can play the "I remember it when" game...

This is the very first stage of the painting. Its a larger painting that I am used to (in fact, the table top easel is not working for me because I cant reach the top of the painting!) but at 30" x 36" its child's play compared to what I do for theater!

Here's the painting after I've blocked in the color. Its going to be called "Monkey Moonshot"...so it is only natural that the monkeys would try to go at night when the moon is out...I am having a lot of fun playing with the light from the moon, spotlight and match...Hopefully I will be able to get it done by the drop off date for C2YN in less than two weeks!

Just in case you haven't heard, here's the scoop on C2YN (and check out the video below!):

C2YN (COUNTDOWN TO YURI’S NIGHT)

TUE MAR 15 –SAT APR 30, 2011/FREE/MEZZ GALLERY

OPENING RECEPTION: THUR, MAR 17, 5:30-7:30PM/FREE/MEZZ GALLERY

18 artists exhibit work centered on the theme of Man’s journey into space. Exploring both science-fact and science-fiction, these artists deliver unique perspectives on the cosmos. C2YN (Countdown to Yuri’s Night) launches the 50th anniversary of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first human spaceflight, which will be celebrated at the Artisphere on April 9th 2011. Some of the exhibiting artists include: Chris Bishop, Stephen Blickenstaff , Scott Brooks, Jared Davis, Alan Defibaugh, Dana Ellyn, Elstabo, Todd Gardner, Linas Garsys, Sherill Anne Gross, Rob Hornung, Emily Greene Liddle, Rob Lindsay, Dave Savage, Matt Sesow, Michael Enn Sirvet, Steve Strawn, Andrew Wodzianski.

www.outofthisworldparty.com

Jared Davis (Countdown to Yuri's Night) from Artisphere on Vimeo.

My Staycation

I took a staycation. That's right, I took time off from the scene shop, and just stayed at home and relaxed. Well, I didn't really relax, per se, because KT took time off from Olney too. So, we spent the week fixing up the house, and generally getting stuff done that we normally don't have time to do. It was a needed respite after the whirlwind of stuff that happened in April.

But even in a staycation duty calls. To start the week off right, I had my site selection for Artomatic on our first official day off. KT helped me find the perfect space:

KT is excited about my space...8th floor, Area 5, Space 8....or the Northwest corner of the 8th floor, on the end closest to the stairwell...

One of the reasons KT is so excited is that she realizes that my space is facing (well, my row, at least) the national mall, and therefore has a good view of the fireworks on the 4th of July. I like the idea of seeing the fireworks from inside an air conditioned building that is serving beer (unlike those poor suckers on the mall, who have to get sauced before they left home)

The view of the Washington monument from my row...the fireworks should go off between the Washington monument and the crane

...and just for kicks, here is the view if you look to the right of my wall...isn't our city pretty sometimes?

Shortly after selecting the space for Artomatic, we went to the "scenery appreciation night" for Walmartopia. Landless has agreed to institute the "Jared" discount on certian "scenery appreciation nights" so that my friends and family can come, er, appreciate the scenery on a given production for a reduced rate! So, J-Rod, Mike and Jaya were able to see such a quality show for less than what you plebeians have to pay...KT said that Walmartopia was "better than Batboy"...which is high praise from her...

The next day Walmartopia was struck and a small production meeting was assembled for Spooky Dog and the teenage gang mysteries...I should have some sketches (if not progress on building the actual set) for you to see next week.

I also became an NRA member that day...and then got kicked off the range...but hey, that's just how I roll...

On Monday April 27th, I saw Star Trek. That's right suckers, I saw Star Trek almost a full two weeks before you did! (Thanks Paramount, partial sponsors of Yuri's Night 2009!) My review: IT WAS AWESOME! I am going to see it (ahem, again) in IMAX this weekend!

So, other than the home improvements (clearing out the evil plants under our front porch, painting porch railings, installing new lattice, putting 1600 lbs. of decorative rocks under the porch, etc) the week went pretty uneventfully, Until...

My meeting with Red Bull and the Georgetown restaurant Mei N Yu about a photo op commission that they want for their big summer event. They asked me to design something like the "muscleman cutouts" you would see on a boardwalk on coney island...except Asian and with Red Bull...So, I made three sketches:


They seemed to like the last one best. I happen to agree that three terra cotta warriors from china is the most direct "photo op"...that is, you wouldn't have to explain as much to people about photographing with them...plus they can take one away if there are only two people...The Red Bull people have decided that they want to sculpt the armor out of red bull cans, and have already lined up a Baltimore artist to embellish my designs...you should expect to see pictures of these leaving the shop sometime in mid June.

And Lastly, my Staycation was rounded out with the strike for Follies. It could have been much worse (in fact we had planned for it to go very badly) but in reality, we were done with everything by 3am...we had filled 2 1/2 dumpsters with the tiny cut up pieces, but we were done....Follies was one of those landmark shows for an organization like TAP (you can check out the DCtheaterscene article here) and I am proud to have been part of it. But in the end, I am relieved that it is over...

THANK YOU FOR A STELLAR YURI'S NIGHT!!!!!

This year's Countdown to Yuri's Night was the best one yet! Thanks so much to everyone for coming out and filling the Warehouse with your intergalactic alien love! (we didn't even mind the probing this time!)

So, predictably, I ran out of battery juice when I started to take photos that night, so I don't have very many to share (except for this provocative placeholder photo of Lil' Dutch)


So, in the meantime, I want to encourage any of you BTT readers out there that attended Yuri's Night to send me your best photos! We want to compile a bunch of good photos to post on the www.outofthisworldparty.com "2009 photo gallery" so we can give people in the 2010 event something to shoot for!

I will post Yuri's Night photos here also, as I receive them...

Out of the frying pan into the fire...FOLLIES opens this weekend! The Arlington Players have a really good show on their hands...the only problem for you, loyal BTT reader, is that the superb lighting design (by Hal Crawford) looks great in person, but does not photograph well with my equipment...so I offer these shots as a mere taste of what a fantastic show it really is...

Follies Act I Set Design
Pencil and Photoshop 1/8"=1'

Follies Act I

Follies Act I (Buddy's breakdown)

Follies Act II "Loveland"
(hey, where'd that giant fan come from? see the show to find out!)

Also, I must put in a plug for Walmartopia (it closes on the 26th!!!)...I was able to rustle up some photos from Amanda that show off what the Washington Post calls "Spartan" scenery...but what DC Theater Scene says is:

...I feel as though I have watched a theatrical bar mitzvah. At the end I wanted to stand up and say “Today, you are a theater company."

So, it just proves that art is subjective...and that Walmartopia is probably a good show for you to see if you like Spartans or bar mitzvahs...

The somewhat creepy opening number...

With co-workers like this, who wouldn't want to work at Wal-Mart?

One month to Yuri's Night 2009!!!!

Do you like the new party logo that Alan Defibaugh created for us? you can see it in all of its vector glory at www.outofthisworldparty.com!

Its one month until Yuri's Night!!!!

Okay, so its been crazy these past two weeks, so much so, I skipped a posting last week. Unfortunately, it has been filled with intangible (or at least not picture worthy) moments that, although productive, do not make for great blog reading...

First order of business...the Yuri's Night press releases are going out this week...complete with this emergency image of Trixie and Monkey (they are really busy this week putting the finishing touches on MUMBO, so they had a hard time finding a spacey photo with both of them in it...so I made one)

The rest of the progress this week belonged to Follies. I finally made the designs for the portals:

Woman Portals Design Follies
Pencil, Photoshop, Illustrator 1"=1'

The TAP carpenters are creating lots of sawdust cutting these 5' wide and 16' high ladies out of 3/4" plywood. Below is what they should look like during act I:

Follies Act I
Pencil and Photoshop 1/8"=1'

I promise to have more to show next week!

THE BIG NEWS!!!!

What's the big news, you ask? Well, there's lots of it to go around. First, the new Yuri's Night website went live at:

www.outofthisworldparty.com

On the website you will find that we are adding artists and performers daily...for example we just got the Atomic Mosquitoes as our headlining band! And we have the DDP drill team anchoring our performances! So we are adding to the site daily, so check back often!

How about the gratuitous countdown clock? here it is:

57 days until Yuri's Night 2009!!!!

Now for the second bit of news...Today I can officially say that I am an awardee of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artists Fellowship Grant for 2009! So what it basically means is that I have received funds from the DCCAH to continue to do the wonderful things that I do in the arts. So, lots of things that I do in DC will be just that much more financially stable, Yuri's Night, Landless Theater, Artomatic, the Spooktacular, and many other small projects I am associated with throughout the year.
One of the things that the DCCAH requires is that I post the following statement and logo on all printed materials:

Funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
So, once again, Thank you DCCAH for partially making Between the Tines possible. If you are interested in applying for a fellowship you can reach the DCCAH here.

Speaking of Artomatic...today the dates and location for Artomatic were announced!

Artomatic 10th anniversary: Capitol Riverfront, May 29-July 5

Updated Thu, 02/12/2009 - 2:28pm

Prepare to celebrate Artomatic's 10th anniversary: The trademark, one-of-a-kind multimedia arts event will be at Half Street's 55 M Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood.

Artomatic 2009 will be held May 29 to July 5. Admission to Artomatic is always free for visitors.

Registration will begin in March and will be open to all artists — including painters, photographers, sculptors, graphic designers, musicians, poets, actors and dancers. Artomatic is an unjuried event, so all artists are welcome, from professionals to beginners.

To be notified of the date when registration will open or to stay up on other Artomatic news, sign up to receive ArtoNews, the Artomatic newsletter, on this web site.

Planning for the event is well underway. Artomatic is run entirely by participating volunteers, and new participants are sought year-round. To help make plans for our 10th anniversary, e-mail volunteer@artomatic.org.

Okay, three big news items is pretty much all my little heart can handle for one posting, so on to some smaller triumphs. I have launched into full-on production mode for Mumbo...BTW, below is the info for that show (just to prove to you that it's actually happening, and not a figment of my imagination!)

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 7:30 PM
MUMBO
Baltimore Theater Project
45 W. Preston St.
Baltimore, MD
410-752-8558
http://www.missiontix.com/ or http://www.theatreproject.org/
Price: $20


SIX SHOWS:
Wed 3/18 at 7:30
Thu 3/19 at 7:30
Fri 3/20 at 7:30 and 10:00pm
Sat 3/21 at 7:30 and 10:00pm

Presented by Little Industries, Creative Alliance and Theater Project, with funding from the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts...building on two years of training at the New England Center for Circus Arts...Trixie and Monkey unveil their original evening length show: "MUMBO" Inspired by the pantheon of tragic circus elephant stories, but with a primate in place of a pachyderm. Co-starring the brilliant master of inappropriate improvisation, Bradford Scobie. With live, original music by Gato Loco- the latin-cartoon-jazz-psychedelic, NYC-based, music masterminds.

In this dark, poignantly perverse circus tale, Mumbo the Magnificent Monkey rises to fame, learning the ropes from trainer Trixie Petite. But the fate of the circus is always under the dark cloud of Monsieur Dingling, whose insatiable greed and volcanic temper threaten Trixie and Mumbo at every twist and turn. Daring feats, rampant acrobatics, incredible trapeze, shameless humor, occasional tragedy and partial nudity.

So, below are pictures of some of the progress I am making on the scenery:

Animal banner frames, cut and uncut in the shop

Detail of two banners...with the bike behind them for scale...

I anticipate that I will have the majority of the Mumbo set done by this time next week...then Trixie and Monkey will take the whole thing up to Vermont to put the finishing touches on show!

I made a "white model" of Follies for a proto-drytech this week...except it was black:

1/4"=1' white model of Follies
Foamcore, paper.

And lastly, the build for the Arlington Mardi Gras started yesterday. Rob brought in some foamcore and started working on creating giant "finger puppets" of Richard Thompson's Poor Richard's Almanac finger puppets...and I helped.

Rob Lindsay, Jared Davis and Sarah Palin

This time next week, we'll be History!

Well, It was a quiet week in Lake Woebegone....

Actually, the pace has picked up considerably lately, largely due to the impending inauguration...I was able to build, paint and install the Obama Wonderama scenery (again, its actually going to be used all weekend, for four different events at the Warehouse...Saturday-Washington Film Institutes's Pre-Inaugural Ball...Sunday-Obama Wonderama...Monday-Private Event...Tuesday-Art of Change) But unfortunately for you loyal BTT readers, all I have to show you is a crappy cell phone photo of the results:

Obama Wonderama Scenery @ Warehouse Theater

This photo doesn't do the stuff justice...so you'll just have to see for yourselves (and I trust that someone will take a good picture over the course of the weekend, right?)
The much more cute crappy camera-phone photo is the one of my poor Isuzu, trying really hard to get into the spirit of its adopted homeland:


The other progress report this week is for Follies. I started to put the ideas down onto paper, and had a "first draft meeting" with the director. He was receptive to most of my ideas, and had plenty of constructive ideas on how to make the whole thing flow a lot better.

Follies "Act I" First Sketch
Pencil and Photoshop 1/8"=1'

Follies "Act II" First Sketch
Pencil and Photoshop 1/8"=1'

This show is going to be a colossal undertaking for TAP...and it still wont get me a WATCH Award nomination!

Comedy Tomorrow!

That's Right, Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opens tomorrow! Above you can see that the cast has really gotten into the spirit of the show...

The Set seen from House Left...

The Set seen from House Right

You can click here, and the flyer above for information and tickets...

In other, non theater related news, I will be exhibiting some of my new velvet paintings at the Washington DC International Arts Expo at the Washington Convention Center, this weekend! Click here or the flyer below for details...And Lastly, I have a first draft sketch for President Harding is a Rock Star, to show you:

Keep in mind that it is a rough sketch...and that the designs for any show with the restrictions of the DCAC (must strike every night, setup in 15 minutes by two women, backstage storage cannot exceed 8' square feet...) so half of the "fun" is finding ways to get more with less...but adding a band onstage has really compressed the space...so for a first draft it isn't bad...hopefully I will be able to work with the director to make it a bit more "glam rock" and less "1920's DNC"...

Loveseat Photos and More Velvet

Thanks to everyone for making the first appearance of the Reverend Loveseat, at Dr. Sketchy's such a success. L'il Dutch and Sugar Ann Spice were just fantastic, and there was a pretty good turnout of sketchers...if you have any good photos (or scans of particularly good sketches) send them along and I will post them here!

The good Reverend preachin' from the good book of bad jokes

This photo says it all...it was a very good night!

Hopefully we can talk the Palace of Wonders into doing another Dr. Sketchy's in February...we were even reviewed...

Just after posting the previous post I went to see the Jerry Springer Opera at Studio. It was some of the best theater I have seen Studio do. In fact, the guy who plays the "warm up guy" role (and another role, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for you) is top of the list for my nominations for a Helen Hayes Award...(if I could vote)

On a personal note, my Mother was in town for a recertification class (something epidemiologists need to do from time to time, I guess) and we got a chance to check out the bonsai gardens at the National Arboretum...

Mom and lots of really old, tiny trees

I can also report that progress has been made on Forum. Well, carpentry at least...

Funny...Forum carpentry progress. Lycus' house and Senex's house

And that the Planet Arlington World Playground backdrops are also in full swing (I should have final shots next week)

World Playground drop progress (Stage Right panel shown)
"World" is on its side because the shop ceiling is 11' tall, and the panel is 12' tall...

And Lastly, I have made a few more velvet paintings on the road to the Arts on Belmont art fair...

Robot 0010
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 8"x10"

Tiki Mug 1
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 8"x10"

Tiki 1
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 8"x10"

I'm having a really good time exploring black velvet as a painting surface. (let me just say again that it is very hard to get an idea of what these paintings look like "in the flesh" from these photos...my mother, a woman not given to hyperbole, described them as "lush") It really seems to combine all of the things I love about painting, and it has held my interest very well in the past week or so. Four paintings into this project and I am learning all sorts of neat tricks and getting a good feel for where I will want to go...I had a painting teacher, the late, great Al Loving who once said to me that "...the great thing about Art is that it asks you a question, once you try to answer that question it just leads you to other questions..." That is how I am feeling about these paintings. I am looking forward to going a bit larger, and perhaps less quickly once the art fairs are over...