Hinton Geary Accepted to Society of Illustrators

Normal, OK: Hinton Geary, ink and collage on found fabric.

I'm pleased to announce that Hinton Geary from the Normal, OK series has been accepted to the Society of Illustrators 51st Annual book and exhibition. Ever since I learned about the S of I, I've wanted to be a part of it. My painting Let's Make Some Undies was in the student show in 2005. This will be my first time showing at the Society (or anyplace in NYC) as a professional.

Hinton will be in the Book Illustration category, representing Normal, OK: The Book (which you can order by clicking here).

The exhibition opens at the Society of Illustrators in NYC on January 28th 2009. The awards ceremony for the Book and Editorial categories will be on February 6th. God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be there.

Cassie Stover and Sarah Atlee at 611 Creative, 11.21.2008

Flyer design by Dylan Bradway.

611 Creative is a sometimes-art space at 611 N Broadway in Oklahoma City. My friends Amanda and Dylan Bradway curate a show every month, with a one-night-only opening. Come visit us this Friday!

Red Shows Saturday 11.15.2008 in OKC

This'n: Red Dot Show, an annual fundraiser for the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery (IAO). 811 N Broadway Ave, Oklahoma City. Saturday November 15th, 7-11 pm. Click here for ticket information. At the Red Dot Show, in addition to auctioning artists' works, IAO does something different. A group of artists (myself included) [scratch that, I wasn't included] has agreed to auction "blank canvases" -- that is, they are selling commissions. When a buyer purchases a blank canvas from me, the artist agrees to paint them a commissioned work.

And That'n: The Red Show: What Makes You See Red? An annual fundraiser for the Red Line Foundation, a local organization promoting education and awareness about HIV/AIDS. AKA Gallery, 3001 Paseo, Oklahoma City. Saturday November 15th, 8 pm to midnight. Tickets available at Moda Salon, The Velvet Monkey Salons, the 42nd Street Candy Company, or at the gallery door.

My friend and colleage Ashley Griffith is a cofounder of Red Line, and is lending us her Paseo gallery space for this exhibit of red art. (The show guidelines stipulate that works must be at least fifty percent red.) Below are the three paintings I made for this show. I have included in-progress shots to give an idea of how I build layers in a painting. (Secretly I hope that in five years I look back at these and think, "Gracious Aunt Betsy, what was I thinking? I am SO much better at layering now.")

I began with photos of my subjects, which I doctored in PhotoShop to shift the color balance toward the red end of the spectrum. I drew very basic pencil outlines on my blank canvases. The underpaintings are thin layers of red (cadmium and napthol), yellow (cadmium and naples), and sienna.

This is one of my palettes at the beginning of a painting session. I use styrofoam takeout trays. When they get full of paint, I let them dry and then apply a thin coat of gesso. Top row: burnt sienna, cadmium red light, cadmium red dark, napthol pink (mixture). Second row: burnt sienna (liquid acrylic), Golden glaze in rust, Golden glaze in yellow ochre, Liquitex portrait pink (mixture). Third row: burnt umber (liquid acrylic), van dyke brown, unbleached titanium (mixture), cadmium yellow. Bottom row: payne's gray (liquid acrylic), neutral gray, titanium white. Not pictured: alizarin crimson.

This is a different palette, after a painting session.

Recently I am taking a more painterly approach to my work. Looking back at the last couple of years I have felt like a drafstman who uses paint. I've missed the tactile and aesthetic pleasures of pushing paint around, building layers of color, and laying down single, decisive brush strokes.

The Dave painting was not fit to be photographed at this point. In the final piece, you will see that I changed direction somewhat. As a professor of mine says, every painting goes through an ugly stage.

Charlie: Stripes, acrylic on canvas, 2008 by Sarah Atlee

Dave: Red, acrylic on canvas, 2008 by Sarah Atlee

Trent: Halvsies, acrylic on canvas, 2008 by Sarah Atlee

A warm thank-you to my sitters, including Mr. Trent Lawson.

Stephen Harper Portrait Contest

From Art Threat, via Drawn!

Framing Harper: A National Portrait Contest

Since Stephen Harper cancelled the National Portrait Gallery, we decided to create our own in his honour. We’re inviting artists to submit their portrait of Canada’s Prime Minister for inclusion in the Stephen Harper Portrait Gallery, and their chance to win (minor) fame and riches!

The Conservative Party has made many, many cuts to the arts, so our jury will be looking for portraits that best embody Stephen Harper’s “commitment” to the arts and culture in Canada.

The contest is open to Canadians and non-Canadians alike. Let's help our northern neighbors out. (Heck, we know what it's like to be underappreciated by our government, don't we?)

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.