Happy Halloween

I couldn't decide, so I'm going as a Viking Lumberjack Werewolf for Halloween this year...

Check Out These Projects

Several friends of mine have embarked on some really cool humanitarian portrait projects over the past while, so please feel free to check them out and show your support:

Christine Ilewski, Faces
Faces depicts children who have died as a result of gun violence. These childrens' likenesses are captured in watercolor portraits that are given to the family. Ilewski documents those portraits for the project by creating acrylic transfers on handkerchiefs, which are symbolic of loss.

Jennylynne Gragg, Grateful Hearts Project
Grateful Hearts provides 16" x 20" original framed portraits to families in Missouri and Kansas who have lost servicemen and women in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Several artists have donated their time and talent to the project since its inception.

Jeane Vogel, Dare to Touch the Face of God
Dare to Touch the Face of God seeks to put a human face to religion through intimate portraits of leaders and people of faith across religions in order to promote dignity, tolerance and understanding and to counter religious hatred and misunderstanding.

Plein Air Works on Display

I am participating again in Artfully Alton and have returned to Second Reading Book Shop after the remodel with some of my plein air paintings celebrating the Alton, IL landscape and landmarks. Please feel free to stop by and check out my paintings and note the wonderful job they've done remodeling. And while you're there, enjoy some of John Dunphy's wonderful poetry and writing about regional history.

Wearable Art

As many of you likely know, I love costuming and wearable art, having written a review for Art Saint Louis' blog on Articles of Dress and having previously posted a link to Dress-a-Day on my own blog here. Anyway, here's another cool blog regarding fashion and wearable art. Robin Barcus Slonina has been working on a project called States of Dress by creating art dresses from materials representing each of the 50 states, such as poker chips for Nevada.
http://stateofdress.blogspot.com/

I adore seeing other artists making wearable art out of non-traditional materials (the weirder the better) and have even done so myself for the Missouri Fiber Artists fashion show at the conference earlier this year, including a cape and hat of bubble wrap and crating Styrofoam (from shipping electronics) and a shawl made from woven trash bags (pictured here at Halloween 2008, this was my Facebook profile pic for awhile). I hope to continue to explore these themes and costume and identity in my own work and am currently planning a vest/coat or dress made out of old art slides in response to my earlier question long long ago on my blog here.

This Week

This week I will be doing a plein air painting event in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at Jones Heritage Farms on Sunday, Oct. 17 from 10 AM - 3 PM. This is the first time for this event, which kicks off with a workshop on Saturday and culminates in a show later this month. (I won't be doing the workshop and will just be at the paint out.) The event was organized through the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

Fibrations review

Fibrations, the Missouri Fiber Artists show that my piece, My Front Lawn, was juried into, was recently reviewed through News-Leader. My piece even got a mention. Please feel free to check it out here. I am looking forward to checking out the show myself early next week.

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201010080257/COLUMNISTS23/10080307

Fibrations
Missouri Fiber Artists
Waverly House Gallery
2031 S. Waverly
Springfield, MO
Oct. 2010

This Week

I have been kind of taking it easy lately, but I do have some work in two events opening today.

St. Charles 2010 Plein Air Competition
Sept. 21 - Oct. 1, 2010
sale at The Foundry Art Centre
520 N. Main Center
St. Charles, MO
Oct. 1, 2010
6 - 9 PM
I only managed to complete one painting in St. Charles this year, of the Lewis & Clark statue at Frontier Park.

Fibrations
Missouri Fiber Artists
Waverly House Gallery
2031 S. Waverly
Springfield, MO
Oct. 2010
My Front Lawn is included in this exhibition. Although I won't be able to make it out for the reception tonight, I am looking forward to seeing the show later on.