Northwest Florida Arts Association
Artist Spotlight
Graffiti Art at the NWFLAA
Nov 7th
Thanks to all who came out to the Graffiti Show and demo in October. The graffiti demo, by DVK’s Zink and Smerk One, was an inspiring art piece to witness in action. The finished piece is located behind Closet Swap in downtown FWB for those who would like to check it out. A special thanks goes out to these graff writers (artists) for meeting with our members and for agreeing to be the judges for our Graffiti Show. They commented that, “Graffiti isn’t always about being the best painter or artist, but more about ‘representing’ who you are and what you believe in.” Congrats to Helen Harris for taking 1st place with her own “Personal Graffiti.” They also awarded Mark Bonner with 2nd place for executing beautiful graffiti techniques in his piece titled “Kate.” The Graffiti Show will be displayed in the Art Lair for one more week, so we welcome those of you who missed the show to come by and check out artwork by our members along with a collection of works by artists in DVK.
DVK:
Dam Vandal Kreations is a collective of artists ranging in fields of art from painting to tattooing, music, and screen printing: all with roots stemming from graffiti, by which the collective was founded upon.
What was formed in 2006 by two friends in a makeshift art studio in a garage, has transformed into a group of artists from all over the world with different backgrounds in the art world.
Guest Artists Bios:
Zink
Originally from Phoenix, AZ
Lived in Fort Walton Beach since 1993
Age: 34
Type of graffiti: 3-D
Years graff writing: 5 years
Crew: Dam Vandal Kreations
Influence: Street Art Period
“Art is a mood, an expression…some sad, some happy…some bright, some dull.
It’s the act of creating that brings me back.”- Zink
Smerk One
Originally from Houston, TX
Lived in Fort Walton Beach since 1993
Age: 34
Types of graffiti: 2-D, Wildstyle, Characters, Realism
Years graff writing: 20 years
Crew: Dan Vandal Kreations
Influence: Life
“We want people to understand that what we do, we try to make it a positive impact
on the individuals that see our art.”- Smerk One
The “Act Here. Love Now.” Tour
Sep 14th
Who says cool stuff only happens in big cities?
The “Act Here. Love Now. Tour” is coming to downtown Fort Walton Beach…
Act Here. Love Now. is a book that follows the journey of 11 student photographers who had a vision to change the world. They traveled through 36 countries documenting the lives of those they met. As they took photos and heard stories, they were overwhelmed with the needs that confronted them along the way. But as the days wore on, the girls realized they could make a difference, every day, with simple acts of genuine love. This book is a culmination of their stories, photos, and practical ways to impact your own community, city, and world.
Tonight at 6pm at the Art Lair, Savannah Chastain will be sharing stories of her journey, excerpts from their book and exhibit some of the photography they captured along the way. There will also be books for sale =)
Hope to see you there!
Photojournalist and Guest Speaker: Savannah Chastain
Sep 11th
I am very excited to announce the guest speaker for our Photo Club meeting on Wednesday. Savannah Chastain, an artist who is part of a non-profit organization called Photogenx, which uses media (mainly photography) to bring awareness to social injustice issues around the globe. She and 10 other student photojournalists, just spent the past year traveling the world encountering situations of poverty, human-trafficking, misused refugees, and many other injustice issues.
Savannah says, “During our trip we realized that it was not so much the shock of injustice that we wanted to address, but instead the truth that daily actions of love and justice can make a change in the world. We have written a book, called ‘Act Here. Love Now,’ that is full of personal stories from people living in dire situations, to our own reflections on injustice. The book is full of photos and art, and our message is that you don’t have to take an epic trip around the globe to make a difference… you can start in your own neighborhood.”
Savannah will be sharing stories of her journey, excerpts from their book and exhibit some of the photography they captured along the way.
Check out more information and view their photography at:
and
This is an event you won’t want to miss! It is FREE and open to the public on Wednesday, Sept. 14th at 6pm in the Art Lair.
2011 Fall Festival of the Arts Poster Contest Winner : Pat Roberts
Aug 7th
With the Fall Festival of the Arts approaching in a few months, the NWFLAA board was presented with many amazing entries for the poster contest. It was a difficult decision but after much thought, the board decided on a painting by the local artist, Pat Roberts. Thanks to all the talented artists who participated in the contest and congratulations Pat! We look forward to seeing more of Pat’s work displayed at the Fall Festival of the Arts on November 12, 2011 at the FWB Landing.
We are still looking for more artists, sponsors and volunteers
who would like to participate in the Fall Festival of the Arts.
For more info, check out:
nwflaafestivals.com
Sketch Theatre – Artist Kali Fontecchio
Feb 24th
The very first post I made on this website was a video demo by a Sketch Theatre artist. It’s about time for another. The artist is Kali Fontecchio. The music is by Deerhoof.
Digital Artist Brandon Pence giving away FREE ART!
Dec 22nd
Just a heads up: local Florida digital artist Brandon Pence is giving away free artwork on his website right now! The contest ends January 15th. Feel free to enter and win yourself some free artwork!
View more details here: http://brandonpence.com/2010/12/11/x-mas-giveaway-free-art-enter-now/
The artwork he is giving away is from his “…and all that could have been…” exhibit and is artwork that actually hung on the exhibit walls. Go check it out now!
Artist Abdi Farah
Aug 17th
Abdi Farah was the winner of Work of Art: The Next Great Artist. The prize – a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and $100,000. Sweet!
John Pugh – Trompe l’oeil Artist
Apr 1st
A friend of mine emailed me about the artist John Pugh. I had never heard of him. As it turns out, John Pugh is an amazing Trompe l’oeil artist from California. His studio is actually located in the upper peaks of the Santa Cruz mountains. Trompe l’oeil….what is it? What little I remember from my college art history classes (which seems like a million years ago) are paintings like these:
Ceiling Oculus - Andrea Mantegna 1471-74
Ceiling in the Church of St Ignazio - Andrea Pozzo 1685-94
The official definition of Trompe l’oeil is the art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear three dimensional, instead of actually being a two dimensional painting.
Below are the kind of Trompe l’oeil murals John Pugh paints:
Taylor Hall, California Stae University
Bay in a Bottle
The passer-by is part of this mural and the next mural.
Main Street
John Pugh
“I have found that the ‘language’ of life-size illusions allow me to communicate with a very large audience. It seems almost universal that people take delight in being visually tricked. Once captivated by the illusion, the viewers are lured to cross an artistic threshold and thus seduced into exploring the concept of the piece.” - John Pugh
Art Clokey – Creator of Gumby Dies
Jan 10th
Art Clokey, the creator of the clay animation series Gumby, died this past Friday. He was 88. Clokey was born Arthur Farrington in Detroit in October 1921. Tragically his father died in a car accident when Art was 8, and his mother abandoned him after they moved to California. A few years later, he was adopted by Joseph W. Clokey, a music teacher and composer. Joseph would later say that Gumby’s adventures were inspired by the adventures he and Art had on trips to Mexico and Canada.
Gumby was the result the experimental stop-motion clay animation film Gumbasia Clokey made in 1953. The president of 20th Century Fox saw the film and asked Clokey to do a children’s show.
Gumby debuted in 1956 on the Howdy Doody Show. Soon after, The Adventures of Gumby debuted. This show was the first use of stop-motion clay animation on television.
The Adventures of Gumby was cancelled after a few years. Clokey created and produced another stop-motion clay animation series in the 1960s, the sickly sweet, Christian morality show Davey and Goliath. Art used the proceeds from the show to revive the Gumby series for a few more years.
Gumby from the 1950s:
Gumby from the 1960s:
A few notes about the creation of Gumby:
Gumby was green because Art Clokey cared about the environment.
Gumby’s head shape was based on Clokey’s father’s hairstyle.
Despite the belief that “only someone on drugs” could come up with the Gumby idea and stories, Clokey wasn’t. He didn’t start experimenting with LSD and other drugs until the 1970s when he studied Zen Buddhism with gurus in India.
Art Clokey and Gumby
Michael Godard – Rock and Roll Artist
Dec 13th
I discovered Michael Godard’s artwork a few years ago thanks to my daughter’s high school art teacher. The assignment was to visit art galleries. I’ve always dragged my daughter, usually against her will, to galleries or museums while on vacation, this time it was her turn. We went to the local Wyland Gallery. While Wyland’s art is wonderful in it’s own right, Michael Godard’s work is truly amazing. Hard to believe the main subjects of most of his work are olives and martini glasses.
Matrix Martini
Card Shark
If you can get through the first thirty seconds of the horrible picture montage, his video promo is a good representation of what Michael Godard is all about.
Last Martini
Visit Michael’s website at
www.michaelgodard.com
