I.F.

Wilderness

for Illustration Friday
and the final page of the traveling sketchbook
(You can click on the image to see it larger)

Thenthitive Artith

Musically this won't rank on any play list of mine, but it is silly and relevant.

I'm forcing myself to be less sensitive (okay, less misanthropic is what I really mean, ahem) and get out of my hermetic shell lately, first by getting 8 inches of my hair chopped off. It's not as though I was attached to my long hair as much as I don't like strangers touching my head. But getting the haircut was actually endurable, pleasant even. The hair stylist was a guy and we talked about how "terrible it is that in new Xbox game 'Modern Warfare', the violence is so realistic you can see brains splattered on windshields and stuff". No girly talk. Phew. But he did show me the proper way to style my hair, which I immediately forgot because there is no compartment in my brain designated to store fashion/hair information.

Next thing I did was enter a local juried art show. It's an annual show in our city gallery I've been meaning to enter for 10 years, but never pay attention to the deadline. It's the earliest (and simplest) goal for this year for art making and art showing. I won some sort of award for this piece.

I don't know which award, I have to go to opening night to find out. My reclusive self would rather not, but my ego will be pushing me out the door. I'll go and take pictures and try to be more entertaining. In the meantime, I suggest you go read Chris Rywalt's (author of NYC Art) hilarious post on some of the inane art making and art criticism in the NYC art scene.

Santa Claus and Killer Bunnies

This picture is from Awkward Family Photos, a hilarious and addictive site, go take a look.

Several years ago while shopping for Christmas gifts for underprivileged children in my town, my 3 three year old daughter made the inevitable logical connection and asked, "but Mommy why do we have to buy them presents, why doesn't Santa just bring them toys?" I hesitated for a moment, then gently told her the truth. I hate lying to my kids. Also, growing up in an Estonian household, the whole Santa myth is alien to me. We celebrated everything on Christmas Eve. Having Santa show up while you're nibbling your Estonian Christmas Eve dinner of blood sausage, head cheese and beet potato salad would be a tough trick to pull off (but a good distraction given the menu, bleh).

I've come across parents who seem to want to keep the belief in a magic fat old guy alive up until their kids are filling out their college applications. Many of those same parents have instilled a belief in their children of really goofy things, like the Easter bunny. I listened incredulously to a 7 year old and her parents talk about the giant rabbit that comes down from the mountains on Easter morning to bring her chocolate. Now that is f*cked. Because if that's the kind of weirdness we're having our kids believe, this could be equally just as true.....

Yes, more crows

"Unravel"
acrylic and aluminum
Ellen Sereda

It took a week, but I was able to finish the painting I mentioned in the last post. I think I spent as much time carving in the lines of the fossils at the bottom and the cityscape as I did painting the rest of the piece.

Focusing my spare moments on art has made me almost completely non verbal online. Actually, who am I kidding. It makes me non verbal in my day to day life as well. I just walk around mumbling and forget to comb my hair and button up my coat on cold days. It is good I have kids to bring me back to reality with their constant daily needs and chatter.

I did catch a recent video on TED highlighting Edward Burtynksy's photographic series on the landscape of oil. These jaw dropping images do remind me I should park (or do away with) my stupid minivan. Who says art doesn't have some real life impact.

The Last Day

Today is the last day of daily posting. I was a bit of a slacker. I managed 24 out of 30 posts. Looking back I realize that makes up over half my posts this entire year. It was a quiet year.

Today was a sad day too. It marks the end of my beloved road kill coat.

Road Kill Coat
R.I.P 2009

Road kill coat's tragic end came after hugging one of these things, a sweaty one.

I'm not really a horse person, so I don't know what overcame me. I think it was because the horse was sweet and patient and good to my daughter during her riding lessons and deserved hugging. I was cruelly punished for my loving gesture because road kill coat smells horrible now. I have no problem walking around looking scruffy, but smelling like Sasquatch's stinky lair is where I draw the line.

I so wanted to conclude this month with a spectacular post but I've been plagued with a migraine most of the day. I did get a little painting in. This is an early stage work in progress, some blocked in paint and the chalk lines are still visible. I'm figuring this one out as I go. I'm thinking it will end up being a fairly surrealistic painting.

In a few hours the busy holiday month begins. Nothing better to kick off the chaos with this holiday classic, Tom Waits', Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis. Love it. (thanks Tracy).

The Little Post

After watching this charming video I want to fill up the rest of my sketchbook with hand drawn pop ups. Listen to this lovely song, Lisa Hannigan's Lille...

A Dog Day

My dog Gracie is 13 today. I'm dedicating this post to her and to my friend Andrea, artist and dog lover whose hand injury has left her temporarily unable to paint. So to all dog lovers, lovers of dog art, here's a few links to keep you busy.

Photos of People Taking Photos of My Dog. I really can't explain my love of this site, because the title is the only thing this blog is about. Homer, a french bulldog, likes to sit and sleep in the window of his owner's gallery in Chicago. Passerby's take pictures of Homer and Homer's owner takes pictures of them. And that's it, but I like it.

Dog Art Today is where I found the above link. It's packed full of interesting gems of art, historical and contemporary references relating to dogs, but also so much more.

The Secrets Inside Your Dog's Mind is a fascinating article from TIME about dog behaviour and the evolution of the relationship between humans and dogs.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends tomorrow. I'm using this holiday, completely unrelated to me, as an excuse to take the day off from the computer. Yes, I'm a daily blogger dropout. A 30"x40" canvas that has been painted over 3 times is staring at me accusingly, saying, "Paint me or get a job at Walmart!". Obviously, I'm projecting, and possibly I'm getting a bit INSANE and need a cyber break of at least one day. See you soon.

The Little Blue Pill of Distraction

Bleh. I struggled with writing a serious post today, but deleted it. It was triggered after hearing of the Pope's meeting this week with 250 artists from around the world. Some of his comments in his letter to the artists made me contemplate that often stated, romantic, (and IMO inaccurate) ideal of beauty as truth. What I originally wrote was: " Life is a complex balance of opposites, no growth without decay, no light without dark and a those who futilely attempt to block out suffering in their lives usually experience very little joy as well. Most of the best art reflects the entirety of human experience, not shying away from the ugly or depraved. Believing art has some kind of moral responsibility to depict, beautiful utopian ideals is usually voiced most often by those who have the greatest attachment to dogma"

Kinda smartypants of me eh?

So, aaaaanywaaaaays, as I was trying to think through my thoughts and type something coherent, the puppy was being noisy chewing on a plastic bottle, my kids were talking and the TV was blaring the local news. Then a Viagra commercial came on. It's part of a cute, cheeky ad campaign for Viagra where an older man confesses how Viagra cured him and his wife from their antiquing addiction. After the commercial ended, my daughter said, "So Viagra helps you break habits? So, if we have habits we want to stop, like biting our nails, we should take Viagra!".

Ummm....

Post over.

Wine, Chocolate and Road Kill Fashion

Here's an excerpt from an email I got today from a company wanting me to advertise some sales promotion on my blog:

"Hi Ellen,
We all love to play dress up. Who doesn’t love to express their style – one day you’re the sexy-city fashionista walking in 4-inch Stuart Weitzman stilettos and the next you’re the sporty-chic girl, complete with your PUMA yoga pants."

Wow, they have me and my readers pegged. Except they left out the predominant fashion statement I like to express- "look at me! my clothes don't stink and the holes are smaller than 1 inch, I'm stylin'!" *arms out and twirling*

Not much more than a year ago, I got my first request to do a product review on this blog. If I had said yes, I would have gotten a freebie, so I admit, I DID hesitate a little before ignoring it. That was the good old days, (a year ago on the interwebs qualifies as the good old days). Now, I get a dozen emails asking me to promote products and sales, but nuthin' in it for me. The audacity of these people, not even offering me a key chain with their logo on it. Sheesh. I don't know if I can be bought, not enough have tried. It's possible my integrity is a bit fluid. ARE YOU LISTENING? MAKERS OF BLU RAY PLAYERS?

No,I'm better than that, (ahem) but the fashion related email did give me a good laugh. It was also timely, because the weather has cooled, which means I get to wear my old, fake fur trimmed winter coat I love so much. The coat which has the ability to make my so very kind, non judgmental husband groan and say, "please, pleeeaaase, get yourself a new coat".

Ah my coat, so many compliments when I first wore it those many years ago, I looked like a Russian mafia wife. Umm, that's good, I think(?), then it became worn and tattered. Last year it looked like road kill, and this year it has gained the distinction of looking like really OLD road kill. Here, it is,in context, (picture may not be to scale) -

I proudly wore my coat to the winery this weekend. I went farm shopping and not far from me, what feels like the middle of nowhere is an organic vineyard that makes some nice wine. A little cottage winemaker in what looks like a little cottage.

The shop and tasting area is tiny, but was packed with 30 something year olds, clad in black wool with poetically arranged scarves, all looking as if they just spent a day perusing art in Soho. I was just followed around by the owners dogs. Because of my coat.

Next I went to this wonderful place, The Clayburn Store, a gourmet food shop and tea room in a building built in 1912 (which is old for this area of the world) in historic Clayburn Village.

I bought what is considered the worlds best chocolate. It is amazing. I was going to gift it to someone but oh, will you look at that, too late.

This chocolate is about revenge, perfectionism, and baseball uniforms for Venezuelan cacao farmers. Food artistry and great food writing at its best. Now, I'm off to savour a glass of wine with a tiny piece of chocolate and go paint ravens.

To end this post I wanted to link to some relevant art. Typing in a search for 'Road kill art' or 'artists who use dead animals', left me dizzy with the multitudes of art that does includes dead critters. It also makes me want to take a shower with a quart of bleach. Dead animals as subject and using them in art is nothing new. One artist I found that I do like is Marian Drew and her photographic images reframing the traditional European still life paintings of dead animals. Her work is sad and hauntingly beautiful.