Ike, Mike and Mustard
Presenting Ike, Mike & Mustard: three new paintings created for the May 2nd Grand Reopening of DNA Galleries in OKC’s own Plaza District.
Ike, Mike & Mustard: Ike. Acrylic on wood panel, about 6 x 5 inches, 2013 by Sarah Atlee.
If you’re a Robert Downey Jr. fan, you might recognise these names from a bit of dialogue in the 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Ike, Mike & Mustard: Mike. Acrylic on wood panel, about 9 x 7.5 inches, 2013 by Sarah Atlee.
A bit of Internet research reveals several possible origins for this phrase. “Ike and Mike” are diner lingo for salt and pepper. Next to which you will often see a bottle of mustard. There’s also Mike & Ike the candy, perhaps named after a comic strip written by Rube Goldberg (but not officially connected).
“Ike, Mike and Mustard” is also a category of off-color jokes, often featuring characters by those names.
Ike, Mike & Mustard: Mustard. Acrylic on wood panel, about 10 x 12 inches, 2013 by Sarah Atlee.
Ike, Mike & Mustard will each be available at DNA Galleries starting this Thursday, May 2.
Ike, Mike and Mustard In Progress
Progress shots of three new paintings for the Grand Reopening of DNA Galleries in Oklahoma City’s Plaza District.
Ike & Mike, in progress. Acrylic on wood panel, 2013 by Sarah Atlee.
Dylan and Amanda Bradway cut these teardrop shapes out of wood, and invited artists to embellish them for the upcoming show. Here they are sanded and prepped for painting.
The teardrop shape is from DNA Galleries’ new improved logo.
Mustard & Ike, in progress. Acrylic on wood panel, 2013 by Sarah Atlee.
I decided to reorient two of my three teardrop panels to point in different directions.
Mike, detail, in progress. Acrylic on wood panel, 2013 by Sarah Atlee.
I’ll post more pictures when the paintings are finalized.
Mark your calendars; the celebration will be on Thursday, May 2! Details below.
The Lady Victory – Poems by Jane Vincent Taylor
Ennis Quadrangle, Patron Saint of Honne and Tatemae, acrylic and collage on stonehenge paper, 2009 by Sarah Atlee. Some rights reserved.
I am pleased to announce that my friend Jane Taylor has a new book of poems available, published by Turning Point Press.
The Lady Victory is a wonderful collection imagined within the walls of a home for unmarried pregnant girls. This is the setting for Jane’s poems, but that tells you nothing of the warmth, love and humor to be found among the pages.
Jane chose my painting Ennis Quadrangle, Patron Saint of Honne and Tatemae for the book’s cover. She and I talked about things that go unsaid, either because they are forbidden, or maybe just thought of as dangerous words. I can imagine many things going unsaid inside Victory.
See my previous post to learn more about the meaning of Ennis Quadrangle.
Here is one of my favorite poems (reproduced here with permission):
- – - – -
from Part II: Dear Little Flame
the Love Letters of Sister B.
26
Dear little wind behind the rain,
I wonder if you received the crocheted hat I made
for you. I should have saved it for your birthday, but
my favorite is Thanksgiving.
They probably think these gifts come from your
mother. She would have sent you pink but I thought
purple. She would have dressed you in leotard and
tutu.
Little violet, your mother loved to dance.
She had all the Victory girls doing the Pony on the
screened-in porch.
I secured permission for her to stage a mini
Oklahoma. Mother S. insisted they leave out Ado
Annie’s song – Can’t Say No.
In my three year stint at Victory only your mother
knew what to do with guilt and shame.
She made everybody love her.
If you ever feel like dancing, you best not fight
against it. Everybody’s born to something.
Born to write to you,
Sister B.
- – - – -
The Lady Victory is available at Full Circle Books in Oklahoma City, or from Amazon. Jane is the featured author and will read selected poems at Full Circle’s Final Sunday Poetry Reading on 24 June, 2012. (See Full Circle’s Events page for details.)
Later this summer, Jane is teaching a writing course titled The Poetry of Home at Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center. There are still spaces available – I wish I could go.
Flat Stanley, Cheap Markers
Clement Gets Abstract, ink on paper, 2008 by Sarah Atlee. Some rights reserved.
In which I discover that cheap markers are just as useful as the expensive ones.
A poor carpenter blames his tools, right? I often draw with Prismacolor markers, known for their vast chromatic range and luscious blendability. And I’ve been known to paint with a W&N Series 7. But I also love tools and supplies I find for cheap or free. It’s all in how you use them.
In 2008, on a whim, I picked up a 36-pack of thin markers from the kids’ aisle at Hobby Lobby. They turned out to be some of the best pens I’ve ever used. These off-brand beauties had soft tips, a variety of colors (that tended toward the magenta end of the spectrum), and showed surprising versatility. Not long after I began using them, they dried out and began acting more like colored pencils. Suddenly I could layer, layer, layer. Just like using washes of acrylic paint.
Alas, Hobby Lobby changed their off-brand-brand of cheap markers (the newer ones have chiseled tips that don’t play well) and I haven’t found another set of these since then.
Clement Gets Abstract was created in July 2008 as part of a community journal project about Flat Stanley.
Which Art Student Are You?
This series by illustrator and art educator Chuck Dillon (his website, his blog) speaks directly to my art school experience. I’m not sure which category I fit in to, so I’ll just go with the one that happens to look EXACTLY like me, down to the paintbrushes stuck in the overalls pocket:
Brownnoser by Chuck Dillon. Click image to view source.