The new issue of Eclectix, ”Places” has just been published and it’s time to travel!
Below: Just a taste of what’s in “Places”
Eric Joyner
Brian Martin
Irakli Bugianishvili
Posted in Eclectix, NewBrow Art, Urban Art
Tagged Brian Martin, cityscapes, Eric Joyner, Irakli Bugianishvili, landscapes, places, travel art
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down…”
Owen’s Studio
Owen is a master fine artist – a painter, muralist, mosaic artist and a sculptor. A local, whose lively works were featured in the last Eclectix “Flesh” issue, he is currently working for the San Francisco Arts Commission and teaches at the California College of the Arts. His illustrative and fine art works have graced many editorials, CD covers and magazines – permeating pop culture for at least the last 20 years. They have a vibrant, lusty feel to them, conjuring up 1940’s Los Angeles, vintage detective stories and film noir – many with a WPA mural feel, a little of the “strong worker” and the “heroic little guy”. They are distinctly American, part gritty crime drama – mutt offsprings of our sordid pasts, sensuous exploits and our brash history – adventures from the New Deal to Hunter S. Thompson. We just love his swirling world of pulp flesh!
Owen Smith
My favorite art memory from my childhood is … My twin brother Aaron and I would sit around fantasizing about what kind of amusement park we would have if we were as rich as W. Disney. We’d sketch crazy themed rides: Giant Octopus/Squid rides, Medusa vs. Jason rides, Haunted Circus rides (complete with freaks), etc…
Owen Smith
My interest in art/painting started … as soon as my eyes could focus.
Brigid - Owen Smith
I am often inspired and motivated by … being in Big Cities. There is an excitement and desperation that is infectious and frightening. That kind of energy can sometimes motivate me and sometimes cause paralysis and procrastination.
Owen Smith
If I could spend the day with any artist (dead or alive) it would be … Right now it would be Rodin (below) because I am currently obsessed with sculpture and he was an amazing bridge between traditional sculpture and modernism. And we would… I’d just watch him work. He seems like he’d be intimidating as hell. A force.
Rodin- Sculpture
The tip or art technique (a specific tidbit of craft, advice or mechanical expertise) that has helped me the most is …. Learn to draw from observation… and learn to accept one’s own drawing quirks.
Owen Smith
If I could own one piece of art, out of the world’s collections, it would be …probably a Van Gogh self portrait (below). Of all figurative work they seem the most personal and alive. Next week it would be something else. How can you pick one?
Self Portrait - Van Gogh
My favorite piece of my own art is … “K.O”… (below) because… it has mystery and sexual tension.
“K.O.” - Owen Smith
Your work recalls Thomas Hart Benton – was he an influence? Benton (below has certainly been an influence. I saw a fantastic retrospective of his work years ago in NYC. The work was amazing, some of it surprisingly progressive, some of it pure kitsch. He was quite a character.
Persephone - Thomas Hart Benton
My ultimate project or fantasy is … to design a complete environment: a building, the sculptural ornamentation, murals, furniture and so on.
Behemoth - Owen Smith
The last song I chose to listen to was … “Your Love is as Black as Night” by Melody Gardot
Owen Smith
The last book I couldn’t put down was … “Tooth and Claw” by T.C. Boyle
Sam Spade - Owen Smith
I can’t live without … my wife, kids, art…and coffee.
Dragon Lady - Owen Smith
It’s not hip, but I really love … old train stations, brick warehouses, kitsch sculptural monuments.
Owen Smith
My favorite word is …indelible, dogged, luscious, ruminate, scoundrel.
Owen Smith
You did a painting of Hunter S. Thompson for Rolling Stone years ago; I just loved the feel in it. Can you tell us a little about that project? The painting of Hunter S. Thompson (below) was from a group of photographs. I don’t think it was a particularly good likeness…but it did capture something about his personality. I didn’t get any feedback from Thompson or RS, but a famous actor bought it as a gift for his famous actor buddy…who was played Thompson in a certain movie. (hint, hint)
Hunter S. Thompson (for Rolling Stone) - Owen Smith
My favorite motto (or quote) is…. “Illegitimi non Carborundum” (a mock-Latin aphorism meaning “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”)
Owen Smith
A peek at some of his current fantastic mosaic murals, in progress, at the Laguna Honda Hospital – HERE.
FIN - Owen Smith
Owen Smith
LINK to the current Eclectix website – art news & exhibit listings
(This entry was originally posted on 4/28/11 and transferred here – as we are discontinuing our other blog site)
John Seabury
“ As awful as it sounds, streets paved with broken glass and used rubbers and populated by hookers and crack heads are more artistically inspiring to me than OSH, Ikea and brand new retro-industrial lofts ”
Pynoman by John Seabury
John (sometimes known as Pynoman) is a local Bay Area artist who has shown with Eclectix a number of times. A skilled artist, graphic designer and comic illustrator, he is also a skilled musician, playing formerly with his band Psycotic Pineapple and today with The Deep. He has a fantastic wealth of gig posters he’s done over the years, as well as larger fine art silkscreens. Some of my favorite works are included in his two books, ( his journals of collected black and white doodles and drawings) – just chock full of wonderful characters, pineapples, curves, shapes and metamorphosis.
Twins by John Seabury
Can you tell us where you were born and a little history about your childhood? I was born at Kaiser Hospital, Oakland CA. Raised in Berkeley, my father was a political science professor at UC Berkeley. As a child, I witnessed the birth of the “student demonstration” and the birth of Underground Comix.
Bimbo, John Seabury
Is there an event or experience that helped form who you are today? I think that discovering underground comix at age 10 or 11 had a huge influence. Don’t want to open up a can of worms, but by that age I already knew I wanted to be an artist, but most of the important Modern Art at the time was pretty uninspiring to me. Discovering comix helped boost my ambition. Another influence was old animation, like Popeye and Betty Boop. Some of them stand to me as the greatest fine art of the 20th century.
Popeye art
Creative and modern. That to me is the real Pop Art, not Jasper Johns and Warhol. Made for the people, not the critics. Funny thing is, kids my age were fortunate in that the TV studios in the early 60s couldn’t afford to do enough new animation, so they just showed the old ones. If I was born ten years later, it would have been Scooby Doo, etc.
John Seabury
What was first piece of art that you remember creating? I remember drawing a picture of a baseball game in kindergarten that my teacher was so impressed by that she made me go to the principal’s office to show it off. I think that was the only time I was ever sent to the principal’s office for anything “good”.
Curves, John Seabury
What inspired/prompted the vision/image for the most recent piece you completed? I am in love with curves (above)
S. Clay Wilson art from John’s collection
If there was an artist, dead or alive, that you could spend 24 hours with; who would it be and what would you do? S. Clay Wilson. (above) I have spent time with him, but 24 hours at once is probably too much. We would drink and draw. What do you like most about his work? His drawing ability, his storytelling and dialogue. His fearless audacity. He also impressed me with his development over the years. He got more “high end” without losing his original vision. Unlike some other artists. I have had a copy of a certain one of his drawings hanging above my drawing table since 1975.
Love, John Seabury
What materials, specific brand of paint/glue/pencil do you prefer to use? No. 2 pencil. Exacto #22 blade for scratchboard.
John Seabury
Is there a technique, procedure or tip that you have discovered, you could pass onto other artists? Draw every day.
John Seabury
What is your favorite word? Last song you chose to listen to? My favorite word is “the“. The last song I chose to listen to is “Man of the World” by Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green).
Melancholia by Albrecht Dürer
If you could pick one piece of art to own, out of the world’s museums, personal collections and galleries, what would it be? That’s hard to answer. I do remember being at a museum looking at bunch of “modern art” and there was Durer’s “Melancholia” (above) engraving hanging in the middle of it all. (Durer was a major early influence on me) I wanted to rescue it. I would have slipped it under my shirt, but it was screwed to the wall.
John Seabury
Of all your works, what is your own personal favorite? While there are some I’m NOT proud of, I don’t have any favorites. I’ll pick one out of the hat and say “San Pablo Serenade” (below). What was the thought or vision behind the work and why is it your favorite? I wanted to expand my range in silkscreen printing, using multiple layers of transparent colors and extensive split-fountain work. The process taught me a lot about color, as I was changing the ink on almost every pull. 13 screens, double pulls on all of the background sky, about 200 sheets. It was inspired by the neighborhood I was living in at the time (North Oakland).
San Pablo Serenade, John Seabury
Because of the real estate boom at the time, there was a lot of “improvement” going on. Many of the old landmarks, signs, buildings etc. were being torn down. As awful as it sounds, streets paved with broken glass and used rubbers and populated by hookers and crack heads are more artistically inspiring to me than OSH, Ikea and brand new retro-industrial “lofts” (condos). At the time I had been thinking of going out and taking pictures of some of the local character. There was a liquor store called “Bottoms Up” that had a great logo, a silhouette of man with an afro tilting a bottle back. I used to drive by it almost every day. When I went out to get a shot of it, there nothing but a pile of dirt. I mean, I must have seen it standing only a day or two earlier. I did get some other good shots of San Pablo Avenue signage, including the 1902 Club with the drunken martini glass inside an amoeba. I did the “Bottoms Up” sign from memory. I did also actually see that hooker flashing while stuck in traffic on a hot afternoon.
John Seabury
You seem to have a thing for pineapples , how did this evolve? Pineapples are prickly on the outside, sweet and tart on the inside, and hard at the core. They evoke images of palm trees and glorious sunsets, and hula girls. They inspired “Pineapple Upside Down Cake” for some reason. Hand grenades are sometimes referred to as pineapples. Our favorite episode of “The Untouchables” was called “A Taste for Pineapple”, about a World War One vet, an expert with grenades. Hired by mobsters as a specialist hit man. He’s a nerdy psycho, and a loose cannon. He tries to frag Eliot Ness, but only gets close. Ness however, loses his sight, even though there’s nothing wrong with him. Purely psychological.
Tattoo by John Seabury
According to legend, the origin of the name Psycotic Pineapple goes thusly: Jon Rubin and Tommy Dunbar (of the famous Rubinoos and original members of the Psycotic Pineapple) were on a long drive and started talking about the way some band names are made up, “adjective/noun” style. Like The Grateful Dead or Electric Prunes. So they played a word association game, say the first thing that comes to your head, and the other person says the first thing . Jon said “psychotic” and Tommy said “pineapple”. This was long before the band formed. In fact, the Psycotic Pineapple was originally called “Alfred Cooper”.
Moonlight Mile, Seabury
LINK to the current Eclectix website – art news & exhibit listings
(This entry was originally posted on 1/4/11 and transferred here – as we are discontinuing our other blog site)
Floral Mandala by Barbara Rockhold
Previewed the local El Cerrito Art Association’s 34th Show before the opening reception tonight. A large show full of all different media, styles and eclectic emotions. Lots of traditional realist imagery, some very masterful, a sprinkling of satisfying non-traditional with a few Eclectix artists in the mix as well. Definitely worth a long walk thru and some are worthy of extended ponders. Favorite picks from the exhibit preview are below, just a few, there were so many. With the photography and the watercolors, getting pictures was mostly impossible due to the framed glass reflections, hence my picks are unfortunately edited…
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If you live locally try to make it out, the exhibit is only 3 days long, ending October 3rd. Help support your local artists, most the art is for sale at really great prices.
For more infoclick here.
LINK to the current Eclectix website – art news & exhibit listings
(This entry was originally posted on 10/1/10 and transferred here – as we are discontinuing our other blog site)
Posted in Altar Art, Assemblage, Collage, Day of the Dead, East Bay Art, Eclectix, Folk Art, Found Objects, Mixed Media, Narrative Art, NewBrow Art, Painting, Photography, Pop Art, Recycled Art, Sculpture, Surrealism, Urban Art, Wildlife
Tagged east bay artist, eclectix exhibit review, el cerrito art, el cerrito art association, el cerrito art exhibit, el cerrito artists, exhibit review
