Jauary 9, 2009

Photo by Sharon Lee
Shadyside, Pittsburgh

Am acquaintance once was talking about art as having two subcategories before all others; "High" or "Low". I've always disagreed with this sort of pronouncement as I know the creativity behind the "low"art is done by the same caliber of artists as tackle the "high" arts-both groups are blessed with good and bad artists. Myself, the distinction is unclear. Having worked on a feature film, several commercials as well as paining as a "High" artist I use the same creativity skills to accomplish the task.

Peace Always

Sharon

October 24, 2008

Yesterday, accompanied by a friend who owns a pick-up truck we headed to Pittsburgh (2-1/2 hours southwest) to pick up my artwork from the Fein Art Gallery. Showing at this gallery was an expensive though useful experience and had the article in this issue's, Art Calendar about "vanity" galleries come out a month and a half sooner, I might have learned the same thing at a much reduced cost. Anyway onward.

As we were driving through the dark mountains away from the city to our rural community of darkness we imagined my art work in the bed of the truck, in particularly the menstruating puppet from the Menstruation Theatre, flying out of the bed and landing in a well lit (preferably) intersection (Super Sheetz, McDonalds, strip mall at a stop light). I recreated the scene in the road in front of my house to pass on the full illusion.

Peace Always

Sharon

August 31, 2008

Besides getting ready for the show at the Fein Art Gallery in Pittsburgh, I have two pieces (framed and ready to go) for the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Biennial, and a small solo show at a local coffee shop, Websters on Aaron in State College during the month of December. The space at Websters is fairly small and I'm planning on making at least a couple of paintings site specific (one of the line at the coffee counter and something reflective of life in State College, PA). I also would like to show some of my photographs, most of which are nature photographs taken either at the local state game lands or in one of my backyard's gardens. My plan is to have 10-15 photos double matted at the frame show and then find simple pre-made frames that will suit the photographs. Because the space is small I also would like to paint a few "tiny" photographs. The photo at top is the size and simplicity of the statement the paintings that I see myself doing for this show. Today I had some editing experience as I selected music for the background of "The Making of the Wall" DVD that I am showing at the Fein Art Gallery. There were about 100 options in the library music I was looking through. At first it seemed slightly overwhelming and then I began to get a feel for what was needed and I choose pieces that felt right to the scenes the music will serve.

August 30, 2008

Final few crunch days before pieces have to be delivered for show at Fein Art Gallery in Pittsburgh. I dug out an antique ipod to load on the sound track for the Menstruation Theater, purchased a portable dvd player to present "The making of the "Wall". I went back and forth with whether or not to show this dvd as there will be no monetary transaction for either me or the gallery as the actual piece is unable to be shown. Finally decided it could offer a painting break should someone need to divert their attention a bit.

Tomorrow I need to chose some music from a music library to play softly underneath the original soundtrack which is talking and tool noises. Also an audio transfer from cassette to cd will be made. My final chore of today is to recheck my list of things to bring to painting drop off including: artwork, staple gun, dvd player, ipod, headphones, tape, epoxy and directions.

August 8, 2008

On Monday my one and only child will celebrate her 19th birthday. Those of you who have kids will know what I mean when I say that my daughter has grown in a heartbeat. Meagan is a gifted dancer, has great style and a flair for the dramatic.

This weekend my daughter, her friend Carrie and I will be going to Pittsburgh to accomplish three goals: Have Ethiopian food, shop at a great consignment shop in Squirrel Hill and pick up her Gluten-free birthday cake from Gluuteny (a gluten and dairy free bakery in Pittsburgh).

On the actual day of her birth my daughter and I follow the tradition of "birthday spa day" which we do twice a year on her birthday and mine. She will be having a manicure, pedicure, facial and I most likely some waxing. I on the other hand am looking forward to a long massage. We began this tradition of "birthday spa days" several years ago when no one was around for her birthday. Summer birthdays are difficult in that people tend to travel in the summer and tend to be away in August.

August 6, 2008

Part of today was spent pricing art work for the two person show coming up. The Gallery I will be working with gets 50% of the total price. I decided on a price for one of the larger paintings which is sized at 38" x 38". Next I multiplied 38" x 38" to get the square footage of the painting which is 1444". Assuming that a painting of this size could sell in the Pittburgh art market for about $3000 I then divided 1444 into 3000 which is 2.07 or $2.07 a square inch. I then had this formula to go by for pricing the rest of the art work.

July 30, 2008

Meanwhile Back in the Congo
2005
acrylic on canvas
22" x 22"

Today I was contacted by a gallery in Pittsburgh to do a two person show during the month of September. It seems there was a last minute cancellation and my name came up as a possible replacement. As this is one of my first gallery shows I expect to learn a bit about the process of doing these types of shows. Until now the majority of shows I have participated in were group juried shows which have their own expenses and procedures.

For this show I am required to bring to Pittsburgh 20-25 pieces of art. Immediately I searched through my works and did a body count and found around 22 pieces I consider show worthy. I then remembered having a "The Wall" in storage which is quite large and will easily equal three or more pieces.

I have three pieces that I have just framed for a local show and I am considering using one or two of these pieces for the Pittsburgh show. I generally do not to pull accepted pieces from a show however the visibility in Pittsburgh is larger than that of Altoona. However the art supporters in Altoona have been very supportive of me and my work so I will carefully consider which pieces I will pull from the show.

A quick trip this afternoon to the frame shop was needed to drop off three more pieces to be framed, "Meanwhile Back at the Congo", "Summer '07" and "Jackson's Trip to Heaven".

For the next few weeks I will be dusting off paintings. picking up framed pieces, transferring the audio track of the "Menstruation Theatre" to cd, transferring the video of "The Wall" to DVD, procuring the equipment needed to play these things, making arrangements for a truck rental and assistant to load and unload artwork, collecting publicity materials and looking for the appropriate opening outfit to wear.

Over the following few weeks I will add to my daily blog any information concerning preparing for the show.

Peace always

Sharon

July 12, 2008

"I Met Andy Warhola"
1998
acrylic on linen
30" x 36"
Occasionally I get an idea for a painting from a non-important observation of human nature or something I find silly. Several years ago I had a conversation with an acquaintance, trading stories of career and family. I was very excited about having one of my paintings hung at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and shared this information with her. She then told me a happenstance she had with Andy Warhol in New York on an icy night many years ago. Both Andy and my acquaintance were walking with their heads down somewhere on Fifth avenue. They smashed into each other and both landed on their asses. "You're Andy Warhol!" my acquaintance exclaimed. "And you're a bitch" Mr. Warhol retorted.

July 8, 2008

About nine years ago, due to a rodent infestation I gutted my entire house. I couldn't stand the idea of dead rodents rotting in the walls and felt the need to strip the house to it's bare foundation. Because I had no skills in home remodeling, I wasn't sure how to approach the re-construction. One day while sitting on the porch of a next door neighbor, Mrs next-door asked if I was interested in hiring Mr. next-door to work part-time rebuilding the insides of my house. Seizing the opportunity I instead paid Mr. next-door to teach me how to do home remodeling, thus the beginning of learning new skills and a friendship that still exists today.

We fell in a pattern of working every weekend. Because we both had young families at times we were interrupted by our families whose needs did not slow down and we would often stop work to drive someone or another here or there. When I waited for my friend's return I began to paint the progress of the reconstruction on a wall in the room that was at the time my painting studio. When I learn wiring I painted scenes with exposed wires and electrical tools. There were scenes of my frustration in learning new skills. At one point I ran out of wall and considered the piece finished.

I was entering my first annual show for Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and decided that I should remove the wall and enter the wall and the mural that was painted on it. We filmed the process which took up the better part of the day. Highlights of the day include using a chain-saw to cut out the wall as the sawsall that we were using broke down and was unusable.

I never got into the Pittsburgh show but was able to show this piece at the Southern Allegheny Biennial. Currently the "Wall" resides packed away in a pole barn about seven miles from my home.

Peace Always

Sharon

July 3, 2008

Yesterday my household was without electricity. Most of the day I barely noticed its absence as I was driving to and from Pittsburgh and that stole most of my day. Arriving home just at dusk and searched the house in the barely visible light for working flashlights. I found one but nothing else so I was left with a flashlight to guide my nighttime entertainment. The night was spent reading, taking a series of photos(with incense, succulents in a flower box and flashlight) and wrote a haiku.

Can't sleep bedding rough
electricity cut off
cell says one o'clock


Peace always Sharon

June 29, 2008

photograph by Sharon Lee taken in Scotia Range, Pennsylvania

Okay so once again today I will try to share my "artistic observations" which were taken from me two times yesterday by two separate computer problems. Today I downloaded Marsedit-hopefully that will avoid the problem of yesterday's lost post.

Yesterday I made the 2-1/2 hour drive to Pittsburgh from rural Pennsylvania where I live to drop off two paintings for the AAP annual group show juried screening. I have lived several places including the suburbs of New York City and Pittsburgh but since most days today are spent in the land of farms and woods I treat trips anywhere with a fresh view that you sometimes lose after living in a place a while.

My first stop in Pittsburgh was Wilkinsburg, a predominate black neighborhood on the Eastern edge of Pittsburgh. Although there are more than several windows boarded up, Wilkinsburg has not lost it's energy. There's a wonderful neighborhood feel there that I have not noticed as much in the other areas of Pittsburgh. Men, women and children are all gathered outside in the shopping district, meeting and greeting. After dropping off the paintings I headed to East Liberty where I had a balanced vegan meal at Abay an Ethiopian restaurant. After a plate of Ye' Abesha Gomen, Tikil Gomen, Butecha and Shiro Wat served on a large piece of Injera I headed across the street to Whole Foods a groovy, market with many organic and vegan options. The staff at Whole Foods is particularly cute and friendly and it makes shopping there a pleasurable experience.

My last stop was in Squirrel Hill. If you are not familiar with Pittsburgh I think of Squirrel Hill as the "garden" district with many, many beautiful old and new trees, great landscaping and lots of flowers. The business section of S.H. is thriving, catering to a diverse population. At a light I was tickled to see two pre-teen boys dressed in traditional Jewish Orthodox clothing jabbing each other while they stood waiting for a bus. The contrast of the seriousness of their clothing combined with the silliness of their actions put a smile on my face.

Since I was in Squirrel Hill per request of my daughter who wanted some Gluten Free sandwich bread from the Gluten-Free & Dairy Free bakery there. Gluuteny is a charming small bakery with Gluten and Dairy free cookies, brownies, cupcakes and breads. The bread slinger beyond the counter was a interesting mix of 90s punk with today's style and the beginning of a breast plate tattoo (I believe it was a heart but felt it rude to stare at her breasts too long to verify.

Next week when I go back to Pittsburgh to pick up my paintings after the screening I may get the opportunity to stay overnight. If I do I will try my best to get some descriptive Pittsburgh photos taken.

Peace always
Sharon

June 27, 2008

Photo by Sharon Lee taken on Walnut Street, Pittsburgh, PA

I am a member of several art groups, one being the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. To qualify you must live within 150 miles of Pittsburgh and pass a group screening. Because I live at the perimeter of that 150 miles (128), I don't often have opportunity to participate in group activities, the exception their annual juried group show usually hung at either the Carnegie or Andy Warhol Museums.

Associated Artists have a live screening, that is you bring your 2 pieces of art to a very large building (an armory or a train depot I haven't figured it out yet-now used as a church, community center, catering hall) along with the 450+ members that also want to be in the annual show. It is amazing to walk through hundreds of pieces of which only a small amount will make the final cut into the show. The show is juried by one person. This fact, to me the artist, is important to remember if one or both pieces don't make the cut into the show. Generally if a juror is an artist I have a high success rate of getting into a show. Curators generally don't chose my pieces and educators can go either way. This year's juror is an educator.

Tomorrow I will drive the 2-1/2 hour ride to Pittsburgh, drop off my pieces, stop at Whole Foods, Borders and eat Ethiopian food for lunch then return home late afternoon.

Last day for this Ebay auction! If you like my work and want to support my endeavors please consider purchasing a painting. I have just put up the painting, "A Silver Titter Stole My Baby" on Ebay. It is a painting I'm proud for artistically as well as socially. It is acrylic paint on organic cotton and hemp canvas. Please feel free to pass the link to friends and family members and if you are so inclined feel free to purchase this painting for yourself.