ONE WEEK 'TILL HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

One week 'till Halloween...so that means that all three shows (President Harding is a Rock Star, Diamond Dead, and Spooktacular IX Heart of Darkness...) are in full-on panic mode. So, I will only give you two small tastes of what is going on:

The Final Version of Harding...AND...A very big part of the upcoming spooktacular....

CRABS, STILETTOS and TIKIS

Do you like the direction the designs for President Harding is a Rock Star are going? I was working on a redesign and I started thinking that Obama has been called a "rock star" by those McCain ads with Paris Hilton...so what is the icon that has symbolized Obama's Rock star status? Why the Shepard Fairey "Hope" prints (stickers, etc) of course:

I have redesigned the set a tiny bit to accommodate the new direction, but I don't have drawings for you because I am going to have the darn thing built soon enough...Hopefully Landless will see fit to use the new graphic in their advertising...hopefully capitalizing on the Shepard Fairey excitement going on in DC right now...

Anyway, this has been a off balance week, which is why I am posting this late on a Friday. Last Saturday, KT and I went to the biggest Gay event in the DC area (perhaps the East Coast?) Here's a link to a video to give you an idea of what zanyness we stepped into

Gobo for Miss Adams Morgan Pageant in the "Hinkley Hilton"

We were rooting for our favorite Miss New Jersey, Donnatella Nobody...who was unfortunately unable to take the title this year (Miss Alaska won) but is only a few broken kneecaps away from being queen...

The other homefront news is that my cat cant poop (although an awesome name for a punk band....Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Cat Cant Poop!) Anyway, its costing me big bucks to have him irrigated from time to time...and it is a bit wearing on my psyche too...

Concerning the Halloween party, I have made lots of progress painting the tikis you saw the designs for last post. All of the following are 3 foot wide and 8 foot tall on black velour...and will be available for rent for your upcoming tiki party, right after they are used in the Karaoke Cave at Spooktacular IX, Heart of Darkness...

Fangs

Rummy

Doc

Fezzy

Two weeks worth of postings...

Okay, so I am a slacker and I took a week off. I'm sorry. I have had trouble getting another post out because of the amount of time it takes for me to respond to all of the angry emails saying: "why didn't you post last week?" "I'm lost in this world without your blog!" "your lack of postings is causing the stock market collapse!"...so, again, I apologize.

The Dutch Oven Oktoberfest went splendidly. I was even publicly singled out as the creator of the backdrop...that showed some real class on the part of the Dutch Oven! Its not every day that I get applause for the work I do, and it really felt good to hear such enthusiastic support. (he says wiping tear from eye)...unfortunately, my photos didn't turn out so well...but hopefully some of the photographers at the show will start posting the images soon, and we can get a better pic than this one:

Dutch Oven Oktoberfest backdrop
Palace of Wonders, Acrylic on Black Velour
(now available for rent for your German themed party! I'll even paint you a new barrel head!)

Well, now since its October, the annual Halloween Party announcement should be making the rounds. This year's theme is Heart of Darkness, so I whipped up a heart eating monkey as this years logo:

Spooktacular IX, Heart of Darkness Logo
Watercolor and Photoshop

Some folks that wont be attending this years shin dig are our good friends Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey (they are training in the danger room in an undisclosed location in Vermont) but they have been able to keep the Halloween spirit nonetheless:

But more to the point, I will be designing a show for them when they return this winter. Here, is a sneak peek of the first sketches for this top secret show, codenamed "Mumbo"

Mumbo First Sketch
Watercolor on Paper, 12"x8.5"

Looking forward into the weeks ahead, I will be working on lots of elements for the Heart of Darkness, (there is lots planned, a spooky walkthru, a karaoke tent, a giant carnival game, etc) so, postings and sketches may be lost in the shuffle in the coming weeks (not to mention that President Harding is a Rock Star and a remount of Diamond Dead opens the same weekend as the party) so I will show you what I have, when I have it...like these sketches for some large velour tikis for the karaoke tent:

Heart of Darkness velour tiki designs
Watercolor on Paper 12"x8.5"

These are first sketches...and I may try to make them a bit spookier for the Halloween party (but then again, I like the idea of being able to use them at other tiki parties over the course of the year...) so they may need to be reworked a bit before I commit them to the full 8 feet of velour. I have tentatively named them (from Left to right) Fangs, Fezzy, Rummy and Doc.

Barracks Row, and Ocktoberfests!

This week I am looking forward to finishing the "tent" season for art. I know, I only will have done two this year...but its really taxing, physically and mentally, being outside with your artwork all day, hoping that someone comes along and "gets it"...So, I will have one more this year, tomorrow, at the Barracks Row Oktoberfest. (8th St SE)

The Barracks Row Oktoberfest did inspire me to create at least one more velvet painting. I have been thinking of cool still life subjects that would translate well onto velvet, and I stumbled upon two pieces of hawaiiana that any tikiphile will recognize from their own collections...the ubiquitous Giant Tiki Fork and Spoon...

Velvet Fork and Spoon
12"x24" Acrylic on Black Velvet

Last Friday I talked to Lil' Dutch at the Yard Dogs concert at the Birchmere; and we discussed a project for her upcoming Oktoberfest show at the Palace of Wonders. She suggested that I create some scenery for the show, preferably something I could also rent out to OomPa bands during October when her show was over (slight tangent here...Remember Blobs Park closing? well check this out!) So, I spent the past few nights creating this:

Dutch Oven Oktoberfest Drop
8' X 8' (with 4' X 8' changeable "barrel lid" drop behind) Acrylic on Black Velour

Using the same velour I have been using since Diamond Dead, I have tried to paint a cute Oktoberfest scene. The problems that started to arise as I painted were that the skin tones kinda read as perhaps they are not Germans, but Black folk...This is mostly due to the nature of the "velvet painting" technique. But it is also compounded by the fact that I cannot build up heavy layers of paint onto a drop that needs to be folded and stored for a year at a time. So, unfortunately, the best I can do is try to make the whole thing look kinda dark, in the hopes that the skin tone will read as brightly as possible. The other factor was the Fraulein. She needed to be kinda sexy for the burlesque show, but also kinda innocent looking for potential OomPa bands in the future...I think I did okay trying to strike a balance...but at the same time, I think that I should have had a more solid model in mind, instead of trying to rely on my instincts to achieve this result. In any event, you should come out to see the show next week, The Dutch Oven, Friday October 3rd at the Palace of Wonders.

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"...

ADAMS MORGAN DAY THIS WEEKEND! BOOTH B35!

I am rushing this post because I am late. I need to be over to the TJ theatre at 6pm to help put the paint touch ups on the Forum set that was loaded in last night...I don't have pictures yet, you'll have to wait for next week's dress rehearsal photos for that.

I completed two more paintings for the Adams Morgan Day, Arts on Belmont (This Sunday the 14th 9am-7pm)

Benihana
Acrylic on Canvas, 16"x20

Velvet Tiki II
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 8"x10"

Both of these pieces have a sculptural quality to the paint. Benihana was painted entirely with a palette knife, so its clumsiness on the computer monitor looks better in the flesh (this was a purposeful departure for me, its slapdash-ness was an antidote for the tightly controlled methods that I need to use with velvet) I also thickened the paint greatly for Velvet Tiki II's abstract shapes on the left. In the flesh they ride on the velvet like pieces of candy displayed at a jewelery store...I hope to explore these themes more when I don't have so much going on...perhaps December?

The other events this week, aside from the completion and load-in of Forum, was the first production meeting for the (tentatively titled) Creepy Puppet Show...and I might be displayed at the Washington DC International Arts Expo this year (uh, next weekend)... and finally, the first production meeting for this years Spooktacular...where we settled on a theme for the year (also tentatively titled) Spooktacular IX: The heart of Darkness...

Planet Arlington 2008 is in the history books now...And new Still Lives

This year's planet Arlington was not as well attended as last years (and the first year we had to deal with hurricane Ernesto...) but all in all it was a good show. As you can see, the World Playground Drops complement the Iwo Jima Memorial quite nicely (in this photo you can see the memorial just to the right of the center banner)

The crowd was pretty into the music...(viewed from the SR Monitor Mix Tent)

Once it got dark, the last band (of 4 total), Solas, hit the stage and got everyone excited for some good ole Irish music...

Despite the pressure of having to Stage Manage a 10,000+ concert I found time to get some painting in. I stretched some larger canvases with velvet (16x20) and set up two still lives:

Head Hunter Still Life
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 16" x 20"

Studio Still Life
Acrylic on Black Velvet, 16" x 20"

(Here is the usual disclaimer that the photos don't do the velvet justice)

These canvases are yet another example of the discoveries I am making with the new medium of velvet. I am finding that I am being very careful (someone at TikiCentral said that it was like artistic tightrope walking) and that is affecting the quality of the outcome. I must say that I enjoy reproducing objects directly from life, however, I have started to stray from my original thesis of making the paint sculptural in places...I only have one more good painting session scheduled for between now and Adams Morgan Day, so I still have one more shot at making some work that fulfills my original intentions...(I only have one more session because I am closing in on the last days for painting Forum's set...after load in on the 11th, I will only have three days to get all of the "non painting" stuff together for the tent...BTW does anyone have a Wi-Fi Internet card for a laptop that I can use on Sunday the 14th? I'd really like to offer credit cards as a payment option, but I don't have a good way to get Wi-Fi to my laptop out on the street...)

PLANET ARLINGTON, or the reason I never get labor day off...

I finally got finished with the Planet Arlington World Playground backdrops, just in time for their big debut tomorrow! I had some technical issues with the paper sticking to the back (I thought I had the problem licked, but it still occasionally comes back to bite me in the ass) but other than that I think that they will look great! Hopefully they will be able to brighten the atmosphere at the festival...seeing as the weather is predicted to be a wet half hearted rain all day...

World Playground drops on the shop floor

Planet Arlington represents one more piece of the scheduling puzzle being knocked down, so I can concentrate on the other big looming projects...like Forum...

Painters Elevation for Funny...Forum
11" x 27" Watercolor on Paper

Completing the painters elevation was a huge step for Forum last week. I am now able to give direction to my (quite small and ever changing) painting minions. Next week should be the big, final push for painting the show. (we load into the theater on September 11th)

Progress has been made from last weeks photo...

And Lastly, this week I was only able to produce two more small velvet paintings (so I am a tad behind schedule for filling up a whole tent...but I always have Mr. TIKIHEAD to fall back on!) Also, I am learning more and more with each velvet painting I make...For example, this week I learned that painting sexy babes on velvet is really cool, but also that the faces are really hard to do on such a small scale...I have gotten a really high quality velvet, so the nap is very tight...but on a face that is the size of a quarter, each stroke is highly visible (and you cant make any mistakes with velvet...because you cant just repaint a section that has been "soiled" with paint!) I intend to paint more Space babes and Tiki babes...but on larger canvases...

Space Babe 1
Acrylic on Velvet 8" x 10"

Tiki Babe 1
Acrylic on Velvet 8" x 10"

I have a larger still life in the works this week...which may or may not be finished by next posting (I am learning a great deal from this one too)

Just a quick mention of some stuff on the horizon...I had the first production meeting for President Harding is a Rock Star this week...so designs for that are coming up soon...and I have been talking with Trixie and Monkey about designing scenery for their upcoming (perhaps traveling show), codenamed "Mumbo"... I am totally psyched about that project...I just hope I can squeeze it in between all the other stuff between now and...does it ever really end...?

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...

REV. LOVESEAT PREMIERE PERFORMANCE THIS SUNDAY!!!!

I hope you all are as excited as I am for this Sunday's Dr. Sketchy's...It promises to be a really great show...L'il Dutch is going to be debuting new material, and Sugar Ann Spice has a got a surprise or two in store as well...I hope that the Rev. Loveseat catches the spirit for this late night Sunday service....

In other news, this week saw the annual Yard Sale...a huge success and even quite profitable for some involved...start saving up your stuff to sell next year! (I'm talking to you, silver Christmas caribou)

I've stapled down and started to prime the Planet Arlington World Playground drops (remember those?) and will have lots of progress photos next time.

The other major development this week was of a more painterly nature. Ever have one of those painting moments where you made something and you think you have a whole new avenue open up? Well I had one of those moments this week. I have been agonizing over producing enough artwork for the Arts on Belmont in Adams Morgan (September 14th) (and I am also participating in the Barracks Row Oktoberfest the following week...September 27th) and I have had a hard time coming up with a reasonable game plan for producing enough work to fill the tent. Out of the blue, this little painting popped up:

VELVET ROBOT 0001
Acrylic on Velvet, 8"x10"

What makes him so great is something that you wont be able to find on your computer screen...the background "clouds" were created using a stencil process, but using really thick blue metallic paint. The juxtaposition of this shiny (and hard to photograph) thick surface texture and the matte, light sucking darkness of the velvet really appeals to me. The fact that I have been painting really large velvet paintings all summer has really prepared me for this sort of painting, and the goopy stencil process is a great stand-in for my cut paper process that I love so dearly...Anyway, what I have planned is a whole slew of this sort of work over the next month which has got me really inspired and excited (lately I have had too much going on to be either of those things...)

Lastly, I am going to see Studio's production of Jerry Springer: the Opera tonight...I'll send along a full report for all of you poor souls that don't have $45 a ticket to shell out...(it will be much cheaper when Landless does it, I promise)

Evil GO GO...and Popcorn Monkeys...

The All Arlington Salon was a huge success. I am told that there was a record number of people in attendance at the Ellipse on Thursday night. Unfortunately, that was also the night that DC said good bye to Candy Keegan...she leaves for a cushy job in Buffalo NY, and we wish her all the best...she says she will keep up with here blog, so she will never be far away. Another record was set that night...I was able to get four people in the cab of my truck, a personal best.

Struck has now been Struck from the Warehouse. The Mermaid Misting tent backdrop is back in Baltimore, getting ready for its second year at the Virgin Festival (if anyone sees it this weekend, please send me your pictures! Last years photos were kinda... foggy)

So, enough of the past, let us look to the future! This Saturday the Evil Come Evil Go Go Show will be at the Palace of Wonders. I have been working hard to find a suitable backdrop for the undressed undead, and I hope that they like the cemetery portal I have made for them:

Cemetery Portal Evil Come Evil Go Go Show
Painted, Cut Velour, 8'x8'

I have flameproofed the heck out of this thing...so someone better be playing with fire on Saturday night!

The other thing that has been occupying my time lately is, well, painting. I have been making an effort to get some new paintings started in order to have something to show in my tent on Adams Morgan Day (Sunday, September 14th) I decided I needed to start somewhere, so Monkeys are as good a place as any!

In order to get things going, I started (for a change) with the setting the monkeys would inhabit in the painting. I like the idea of monkeys going crazy in a movie concessions stand, so i did the watercolor above.
Here is the first refinement of that original idea. I decided that small monkeys terrorizing a poor usher was better closeup, so I tightened the focus of the composition...suddenly the picture became about the unholy union of Monkeys and Popcorn... Another change from my normal technique is that I am not cutting and pasting any paper so far...it has been a challenge for me to not use paper, because I find it makes the composition much more deliberate. But I am trying to embrace the idea that the picture can evolve during its making, instead of having such a rigid structure of cut paper...Here's a detail of the first (fleshed out) monkey:

Lastly, I want to make sure you all know about the annual YARD SALE we are having this Sunday...You can get all of the deets Here at PetworthNEWS!