Dropping off my (noun) to be hung

Artomatic has opened and things are moving briskly. I've sold some pieces, and have completed my three volunteer shifts. I was interviewed by the media twice about my work (one was for WTOP, and I dont think he used any of my soundbites...the other was for Arlington TV, and since I don't have cable television in Arlington, I don't know when, or if, it will air). I think I will try to make it to Meet the Artist night this upcoming Saturday...so that I may meet some of the other artists (I'm always looking out for new folks doing stuff that fits with Yuri's Night, or EBFC for that matter)

Otherwise its been a quiet couple of weeks...still trying to rebound after all of the Yuri's Night/Children's Ball/Red Palace Sign/Artomatic drama...

Of course, this weekend is the drop off deadline for ART LIBS (curated by Sherill Anne Gross)

 So, you get the idea from the postcard above...I was selected to provide a noun-singular....so, of course its going to be somebody like this guy:

Noun-Singular (title withheld due to Art Libs rules) Mixed Media on Paper, 11"x 14"

ARTOMATIC OPENS and RED PALACE SIGN and RAPUNZEL'S TOWER

Yup, that is a really poorly stitched together photo of the ABJ&AW room on the 11th floor of Artomatic...(BTW, I apologize for the photography in this post, all photos are from my smartphone...) Artomatic opens this weekend, and the above is just a small sampling of the awesome/horrificness that AOM has to offer....come on by this Friday, I'll be doing one of my volunteer shifts opening beers behind one of the bars!

Also I should mention that all of the work in room 1145 is available for purchase via QR Code (that square barcode thingy that you can scan with your smartphone)...so if you like something, just scan the QR Code and it will take you directly to PayPay to purchase it! (or you can always just go to the Artbyjared.com Store page and buy stuff there...)

The other milestone for this week was completing the backdrop/logo for the Red Palace this past Monday:

Red Palace logo backdrop in progress. Its 8' wide and about 7' tall, acrylic on luan.

Much to my surprise, the install went very smoothly....

Expect to see this in the background all over Flickr for the next few years...its okay, you wont have to mention my name or anything...(although that'd be nice...)

The other major post Yuri's Night Milestone is the completion of the Children's Mini Ball at Imagination Stage. It was really fun to once again transform the classrooms into scenes that the kids could interact with. This year's theme was centered around Rapunzel, which is the show currently in production right now....so, they were going to teach the kids sword fighting, so I transformed the Dance Studio into an armory:

And they had a gypsy magic show planned, so I painted a "hopefully not too spooky" gypsy wagon backdrop:

Gypsy Wagon Backdrop, 8'x12' acrylic on muslin

Gypsy Wagon Backdrop during the Children's Ball

But the coolest thing (that photos do no justice to, BTW) was the Rapunzel tower. It's a 19' tall tower in the lobby of Imagination Stage. I had Jason Krznarich build this monster and he delivered it to me to paint a couple of days before install. We had to go really slow down the GW parkway because Jason had the roof section on top of his pickup's roof rack, and it was just about 12'-8"....and the bridges on GW parkway are supposedly only 13' high!

Rapunzel Tower seen as you enter the building

There is talk of selling it to the highest bidder after Rapunzel closes...but we will likely have to destroy it...unless we can find someplace to put it up permanently...anyone want a tower in their backyard?

Rapunzel Tower as seen from halfway up the lobby stairs...

Artomatic roomies and a 18 foot tall tower

I have had lots of roommates in my life (I have a little brother, so it started early...) and I can add one more to the list: Andrew Wodzianski. That's right, I will be sharing a room at Artomatic with the ArtbyJared "Head Puppeteer"...


Check out a view from our room:

And here's a diagram of the same space...yep, its going to be a very small pillow fight...

I have another diagram for you...its of a Rapunzel tower that will be going into the lobby of Imagination Stage...

Here is the proposed tower in an early color sketch

Hopefully this time next week I will be showing you the final product!

 
And now, for no particular reason, a picture of a very happy Sookie:

POST C2YN PHOTOS! A SELECT FEW FROM THOUSANDS!

Boy, I ain't kidding about that post title...we had lots of pics this year, and they just keep rolling in! Today's post will just incorporate some of BYT's fantastic coverage of the show (you can read the round up HERE...THANKS RACHEL!)

The rest of the photos are from Jared Rodrigues, who you may have noticed roving the party all night...THANKS JARED!

I present these in pretty much no order, and without comment...other than to say it was an Out-of-this-world event this year, and that we are already planning for next year! WOOT!!!