Sketchbook Exchange I

Cover of All Things Conspire, collaborative sketchbook between Sarah Atlee and Karo Design.

The talented Karo and I have begun a collaborative sketchbook project. I began by making a dozen or so drawings in a blank book, then sent it to her to add on.

Left-hand drawing by Karo, right-hand drawing by Sarah. Click to view larger.

You can see some of these drawings on her blog, in this post and also this one. More of my initial drawings in this Flickr set.

Can't wait to see what she does with this one.

Refreshing the Palate: Titus

On Sunday, November 9, 2008, the Metro Wine Bar in Oklahoma City is hosting their second annual wine tasting and art exhibit, Refreshing the Palate. The Metro has commissioned twenty local artists to reinterpret the labels of their featured holiday wines. I was offered the 2006 Cabernet Franc from Titus Vineyards. How could I not riff on the deliciously gory Shakespeare tragedy of that same name?

Titus, collage and acrylic on Rives BFK, 2008. Click image to enlarge.

The artists' labels will be sold by silent auction; proceeds will benefit the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. TAMORA Know, thou sad man, I am not Tamora; She is thy enemy, and I thy friend: I am Revenge: sent from the infernal kingdom, To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind, By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes. Come down, and welcome me to this world's light; Confer with me of murder and of death: There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place, No vast obscurity or misty vale, Where bloody murder or detested rape Can couch for fear, but I will find them out; And in their ears tell them my dreadful name, Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.

TITUS ANDRONICUS Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me, To be a torment to mine enemies?

TAMORA I am; therefore come down, and welcome me.

(Thanks to William Shakespeare Info. And thanks to Julie Taymor for making the colorful film version of Titus Andronicus.)

Afterthought: The body and limbs of this character were collaged from a copy of Woman Stabbing Herself (or Woman Next to Water) by Urs Graf. If you like this style, you might also like Durer, Cranach the Elder, and Goltzius.

Normal, OK Characters Appear In Nimrod

Two characters from my series Normal, OK appear in the Fall 2008 issue of the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry. To purchase a copy, follow this link.

Normal, OK: Peoria Jenks. Mixed media, 2007.

Peoria Jenks, 72, carries on the family tradition of bootlegging. (Opteemah County is dry.) She does not sell to "drunkards." One day, while having her hair set, she overheard a call on the salon's police scanner noting suspicious activity at the Slim Pickens Mo-tel. On a hunch, she went over. Onlookers say she got a shotgun from the trunk of her Dart and walked purposefully past Sherrif Ardmore into room 112. No shots were fired. Ms. Jenks reportedly walked out shaking her head and saying, “Not in my town. Not in my town.” The headline in that week’s Porcupine read “Meth Lab Seized With Help From Locals.”

You can learn more about the people of Normal by reading the book.

My series of works titled Normal, OK was part of the Art 365 exhibition sponsored by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Art 365 travels to Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to open on October 15.

Illustration Friday: Foggy

Let Things Be Foggy, ink on paper, July 2008.

I began this sketch during my stay in Canadian, Texas over the Fourth of July holiday. I don't have any major shows planned or new projects in progress at this point, so I feel a mite bit purposeless. (It's been a long time since my schedule was this open.) Plus, I'm exploring some less graphic, more painterly stylistic ground. This foggy place is the perfect environment in which to let some new ideas germinate.

See more of Illustration Friday here.

Here is a snapshot of my desk upon completing the drawing, where you can see my collage sketch:

Puzzle Collages

Found on Flickr: Picazzle's intricate jigsaw puzzle collages. They're retro! They're postmodern! They make my head hurt, in that good way.

Picazzle also links to jigsaw puzzle art by others on Flickr.