Welcome all newcomers from the Tempe and Woodland Hills shows! I must say - this list is growing pretty darned huge - with another 72 added just from these two shows.

     Among other swell happenings and whatnot in Tempe, I just had to get this shot (right) of my kilted brethren in the Tempe Police Pipe Band as they marched and musicalized around the festival. I ran into lots of friends at both shows, and got a lot of great response to the "cans-o-paint" piece - which is very exciting. I'm presently constructing two different sized reproductions of that piece, which will have variations on the "3D layered" element (the splattered paint & paintbrush).

     In other news - I'd like to share one of the most flattering compliments I've received for my work. I was recently juried into an online exhibit and one of the jury panelists commented as follows "I was worried at first about being duped into voting yes for a set of photographs until I realized that even if these were photos I would have voted yes anyway! I was blown away by the compositions and lighting."  THAT'S JUST PLAIN FUN!!! And it demonstrates something that I like to claim sets my work apart from other photo-realists.

(left)     Woodland Hills saw some action of a different sort as Sunday morning at approximately 3:00 a.m., a drunk driver plowed through Warner Park at high speeds. What a BLESSING that it was in the middle of the night when the only person present was the security guard, who felt the rush of wind as the car sped past him right before smashing to an abrupt halt at a cluster of palm trees. The inebriated driver appeared to escape with little injury, and was apparently unaware that she had completely demolished all of the artwork, canopies, and displays of five artists. It took a couple dozen early arriving artists nearly three hours to clean up the mess and cover the shattered glass littered area with tarps.   

     Below, is a piece I painted between these last two shows. It started while attending the 4th Ave. Street Fair in Tucson a couple weeks earlier. I did some timed exposures of various antique fixtures and furnishings at the old Hotel Congress, and amid these carefully executed photographs, I chose to just grab a quick shot with the on-camera flash. This resulted in "flash-faucet".

     I'd like to devote the rest of this issue (as well as possibly some of the next few) to my new alternative avenues for collecting REStevensArt. I notice that a whole lot of people following my artwork are rich in taste, yet nevertheless working with limited budgets and this has inspired the introduction of two ideas for acquiring my reproductions more affordably.

     OPTION 1: Un-stretched Canvasses. Purchasing a reproduction as an un-stretched canvas saves you in two ways. #1, since it is less material and labor on my end, I can sell them at a discounted price. #2, a rolled canvas in a tube ships for much less than a mounted, and boxed piece. This canvas is numbered, signed, and varnished, and can then be taken to any local frame shop and stretched on either standard or 'gallery wrap' stretchers for a minimal cost. Check your local area, but my research thus far has revealed prices ranging from $30-$45.

     So for instance, only for those receiving the noozledder and only for a limited time, I will offer my full size giclee's which are normally priced at $895, for ONLY $595!!!! and my smaller $495 giclee's are priced at ONLY $295!!!! AND, during this introductory period I will even INCLUDE SHIPPING within the continental U.S. This is a savings of over 35% PLUS no charge for shipping! This does not apply to originals, or 'deconstructed' pieces, but to just about every other reproduction at the website - www.restevensart.com .

     OPTION 2: 0% financing for 6 months! Yes - just like those jewelry and furniture stores and whatnot! As long as the artwork is bought directly through me with a credit card (not via PayPal), I will simply divide the purchase price into 6 equal monthly payments. This means, you could have a  full size  - 24"x36" of "Sunset & Harley" for just $99 initially, or a 20"x20" of "soap" for only $49 (custom colors of "soap" are an additional $80 ttl.).

     I'll be gradually building this into the website, with a self-contained shopping cart, and all that groovlicious stuff, but to roll this out, I'll be offering it only through the newsletter at first.  Simply send me a note to roderick@cinema-vista.com, or call (323)353-8202 and let me know which piece you're interested in and whether you want to take advantage of OPTION 1, OPTION 2, or both - and you'll have a piece of artwork shipped out to you as promptly as possible!