New Art in Zazzle Store For 2013

New Art in the Zazzle Store for 2013… I’ve been busy.

New Stuff

Lots of fun stuff available on the art of vikki zazzle store :) 

Astrum Vita Postcard for the #twitterartexhibit

It is done. I have scanned it twice and taken three photographs, but I can’t seem to capture the subtle sheen as the light hits the paint nor how it looks to my eye. Which is a perfect excuse to not mail it yet… I refuse to give in to any more artistic excuses! It’s going off in tomorrow’s mail to the Exhale Unlimited Gallery, gosh durn it!

Astrum Vita Paullus

Astrum Vita Paullus | Acrylic on paper | #twitterartexhibit Los Angeles

The blues are deeper, the purples shine more and the oranges… oh maybe you will just need to see it in person.

See ya’ll in LA :)

Well, not actually *in* LA… but I’ll try to stay up late enough to attend the opening via Twitter…

twitterartexhibit
Exhale Unlimited Gallery
Art Division
David Sandum

#twitterartexhibit postcard in progress

This is my postcard in progress as my entry for the Third Twitter Art Exhibit.

I woke up very excited this morning! Couldn’t wait to get back to it.

I am not used to painting in such a small scale. When working with my preferred medium, acrylic paint, my favorite canvas size is 16″ x 20″ or 11″ x 14″. Sizing down to 6 inches by 4 1/2 is a learning experience.

Oddly enough, I am enjoying this scaled down paper canvas with my tiny brush. Which just goes to prove that moving out of one’s comfort level can often be a moment to embrace.

I so desperately want this to be good. So it will sell. But not for me. This one is to help someone else. All money raised during the exhibition will go to Art Division, a nonprofit (501)(c)3 organization dedicated to training and supporting underserved youth (18-25) in L.A.’s Rampart District. I want this little postcard to be good enough to raise money to fund Art Division. I NEED this little postcard to grab someone’s heart so together we can perhaps heal a young artist’s soul.

If you haven’t heard about The Twitter Art Exhibit yet, check out the official website http://twitterartexhibit.org/                                                                 Art+Talk Interview with #TwitterArtExhibit founder David Sandum

 

Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles

Call for artists – #twitterartexhibit

WHAT: Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles | Benefiting Art Division
WHEN: Saturday, January 12, 2013 | 7-10PM
Show runs January 12 – February 10, 2013
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, January 4th, 2013
WHERE: Exhale Unlimited (E.U.) Gallery | 953 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012
CURATED BY: Nat George, Virginia Arce
FOLLOW: Website: www.twitterartexhibit.org | Twitter: @twitrartexhibit | Facebook: /twitterartexhibit

Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles is the third installment of an open international exhibition of handmade postcard art for charity, donated by hundreds of participating artists from around the globe.

While the first two exhibitions were held in Moss, Norway, the Los Angeles show marks a global launch for the concept by founder David Sandum, a Swedish-born artist who conceived the Twitter Art Exhibit as a vehicle for doing good through social media and online community-building. The idea is simple: artists from all over the world receive a call through Twitter social media to create original postcard-sized art, which they mail to a local curator who then exhibits and sells them to benefit a local charity. Artists must have a Twitter account and interact with exhibition organizers to help seed the event.

In its first year, Twitter Art Exhibit received postcards from over 260 artists in 24 countries, raising funds to buy 221 new children’s books for a struggling library in Moss, Norway. The second installment received entries by 360 artists in 32 countries, raising $4,000 USD for an abused women’s shelter, also in Moss.

With the Los Angeles show, Twitter Art Exhibit hopes to expand the concept to support small, local nonprofits around the globe while opening new markets and exhibition opportunities for participating artists. The L.A. event will be held at E.U. Gallery on Chung King Road in Chinatown’s Arts District, neighbor to Coagula Projects, The Company, and Charlie James Gallery.

The event will be highly publicized and well attended by art buyers and enthusiasts, members of the press, local artists and the community, as well as members and young students of Art Division.

Of course, social media plays a major role in the Twitter Art Exhibit. It’s our intention to tweet, share, seed and promote our artists to thank them for their participation, and to make this event a huge success.

For details on submissions, the Gallery Show and such, check out http://twitterartexhibit.org/callforartists and follow @DavidSandumArt and @twitrartexhibit on Twitter.

Abstract Artist known for colorful glyphs

Acclaimed Washington artist Tom Green dies of Lou Gehrig’s disease at 70

Jonathan Newton/THE WASHINGTON POST - Artist Tom Green in his home studio on November, 3 2011 in Cabin John, Md.

By Michael E. Ruane ~ The Washington Post

Tom Green, the acclaimed creator of colorful and inventive abstract art and a longtime teacher at Washington’s Corcoran College of Art and Design, died Sept. 3 at his home in Cabin John.

He had been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and died in his living room amid a regular Monday gathering of local artists and friends, his wife, Linda Green, said. He was 70.

Mr. Green, who taught at the Corcoran for 40 years before retiring in 2009, was influenced by the Washington Color School that emphasized abstract, geometric paintings in bright colors.

He is perhaps best known for his large paintings of colorful “glyphs” — big, curving, figures that resemble letters from a mysterious alphabet. His paint-spattered home studio was filled with them, and the American University Museum hosted an exhibition of Mr. Green’s work last year.

In 1988, former Washington Post art critic Paul Richard described an enigmatic Green painting as “like a comic strip for Martians,” but with understanding “just around the corner . . . one train of thought away.”  Continue reading

Artists: What’s Your Potential?

Don’t underestimate your possibilities. They’re greater than ever!

By Carolyn Edlund

Over the past few months, I’ve talked to many artists, and heard some self-defeating comments, like:

– It’s not like it was back in the 1990’s; you just can’t make money like that anymore.

– I’ve never been able to take my business past being a start-up.

– I know that the market is saturated for my type of work, so I can’t make much money. I don’t want to price my work any higher, or I won’t make any sales.

– I get frightened that I’m not thinking the right way, or making the right choices, and so I freeze and do nothing.

Have you been thinking along the same lines? It’s easy to fall into that trap. Many artists aren’t born businesspeople. Creating business plans and marketing strategies are not familiar activities. Fear of rejection and lack of confidence combine to grind everything to a halt. You “freeze and do nothing.”

There is very good news, however. Is the market shrinking? No. Are opportunities going away? No way. In fact, with today’s global marketplace, there are more possibilities than ever to sell your work and make money as an artist. The key is to understand those potential opportunities so that you can unlock them and position yourself. Continue reading

New painting

It is done. Pondering a title.

Pardon the flash...

You know, I don’t think I do anything “right” when it comes to the Art World. I often thin my acrylic paint down to almost the consistency of water colors, and I use my water colors more like India Ink. And colored pencils really are just crayons for adults, except when I shave them and grind them into the paper with a Q-Tip i.e. cotton swab.

Don’t get me wrong; humans have rules for a reason. I look both ways before I cross the street. But when it comes to creation, who needs rules?