REStevensArt News 04 - 11/15/05

   Hi all!!!

   Greetings from www.restevensart.com !

   I wanted to start getting these things out at least a week ahead of the upcoming shows, so I'm getting this one out a week early.

   Welcome to the list all of you folks who came by during the recent Carefree and Fountain Hills shows! I want to remind everyone to check out the 'SHOW SCHEDULE' page as well as the 'LOCATIONS' page to learn where my 'stuff' can be seen. You know, it surprises me how many times someone will come into my booth and say they've seen my work somewhere. They ask if it was in a magazine, or a gallery in their town, etc. and it often turns out that they caught my stuff at the 55 Main Gallery, during a day trip to Bisbee (in Southeast Arizona)! 55 Main was the very first destination for my work when a good friend and artist - Dale Clark introduced me to Ben over there. I'd include al ink to their website  .  .  . except  .  .  . I don't think they have one. Ben? Should we talk about doing a website?

   While I'm out here - I have a request. I have a little project on which I am a-tinkerin' and I'm looking for some shiny metal 'armor' to use as props. If anyone has any ideas on where I might borrow or rent some armor-like-stuff for a little photo shoot, please email me at roderick@cinema-vista.com

   I kinda ran out of room in the last noozledder, so I can use this one to catch up on some exciting news. A couple of weeks ago I was invited to participate in the "Trail Of The Painted Ponies" project. This is a world renown project and it's an honor to have been considered for it.  I'll be meeting with them again this week to gain some more information about the project and process, and will follow up again later. Following is some information from their website, or you can visit them at www.trailofpaintedponies.com.
  
 
 

COMING UP!

This coming weekend (Nov. 19th & 20th) I'll be at the "Artfest Of Scottsdale"
then the following weekend -

Desert Arts Festival
Palm Springs, Ca.
November 25th, 26th, & 27th

Located in at the Frances Stevens Park
at 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive


 

This is Thanksgiving weekend. In fact, after tossing down some turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie with my children, I'll be traveling on Thanksgiving Day out to Palm Springs to set up for it. But then I'm taking the following weekend off, to (among other things) watch my son march in the Christmas Parade here in Sierra Vista! :-)
 
 

4th Avenue Street Fair
December 9th, 10th, & 11th
 

The Street Fair takes place between Ninth Street and University Blvd. along Fourth Avenue. Free to the public, the Fourth Avenue Street Fair brings together 400 arts and crafts booths, 35 food vendors, 4 stages, street musicians, food, jugglers, street performers, kids entertainment, face painting, balloons, and tons of other fun activities, then packs them into three days of celebration. The Fourth Avenue Street Fair began in 1970 when Fourth Avenue merchants put tables in front of their stores to attract customers before the holidays. From that beginning it has developed into one of the premier street fairs in the nation, drawing crowds of 200,000 to 350,000 and ranking as one of the top visual arts fairs in the country. There is something for everyone at the Street Fair. Come for the shopping: 400 booths featuring arts and crafts that cover the spectrum from fine art to country crafts. Glass, clay, wood, clothing, metal, jewelry, pre-packaged food, all hand made by the artist/craftsperson. The two annual Street Fairs are Tucson’s biggest events!
 
 

Check out the upcoming "Show Schedule"
 
 

The Trail Of The Painted Ponies!

     Welcome to The Trail of Painted Ponies! The Trail began in Santa Fe in 2001 as a popular public art exhibition that invited the very best artists in the Southwest to magically transform life-size horses into glorious works of art. These stunningly original artworks enchanted thousands of people and at auction generated close to 1 million dollars for philanthropic organizations.

     Since that time The Trail of Painted Ponies has expanded, putting on special art exhibitions in other states, involving artists from around the country in the creation of one-of-a-kind horse sculptures, and producing a special collectors edition of Painted Pony reproductions inspired by the original works of art from The Trail of Painted Ponies. These exquisitely crafted figurines have become one of the hottest selling collectibles in America.

     From Main Street to museums, collectors and critics are raving about the Trail of Painted Ponies. Let your imagination run wild as you discover this new American Art Movement called "Pony Expressionism".
(below) "it ain't easy". Kermit the Frog said it best - but let's face it "we're all green" -  None of us fit in, which is why we ALL fit in!!!!  This one was completed almost entirely during the Carefree show last week.


   The fact is - I loved the striking color of the lone apple, but I prefer Gala's to eat which resulted in this image. Not during the photo shoot, but rather while painting it, I felt like the  green fella seemed sadly isolated, unable to fit in. So I reassured him that there is no such thing. None of us fit in. There is no fitting in. Just be green. But I know it ain't easy. I don't generally talk to fruit, but this guy needed some love. I'm drawn to the colander of course, and I'm particularly fond of the vignette surrounding this piece. Again, I explored glazing techniques to create the saturated colors for the fruit. I hope some folks might appreciate the statement I perceive here, yet I'll be equally giddy just hearing "This would look GREAT on my wall !!!!" :-)
    
   In other news  .  . well  .  . I found myself succumbing to the forces of peer pressure and Good Americanism!. I was drawn to this little piece of Detroit born artwork like a moth to flame. The 2006 Chevy HHR's design is inspired by the 1949 Suburban. I must point out that my insurance premium decreased, this thing has more air bags than a 747, and it gets up to 35mpg on the highway. I mention all this to help relieve my guilt at buying into such an  .  .  overstated? car.  :-)   Talk about guilty pleasures.  I hang my head in shame when people who know me see me in it, but when no one is looking, I'm grinnin' ear to ear! Since I'm back to using the trusty ol' GMC minivan for the art shows, my daughter gets to drive the purty car more than I DO!!!! Aint it always the way?!? I'm thinking of doing a painting of it - maybe in time for the Russo And Steele Auto Auction in January. Whew!!!! So many ideas! So little time!

(above) Paintin' at the Fountain Hills show.

 

   Well. Much to do - mustn't sit around typing up noozledders when there are canvasses to stretch, brushes to clean, photos to take and  .  .  . socks to wash.

L8R,

RES.