Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

A huge thank you to all the people who contributed Apple computer products for my most recent assemblage! Here it is: Steve Jobs- made completely from Apple products, pieces, and parts. It will be on display at Artfields in Lake City, SC, April 19-28th at Fairview Framers, 102 East Main Street. For more information, go to www.artfieldssc.org.


I chose to create an image of Steve Jobs not only because he has made a huge impact on our culture through his work at Apple, but because of his artistic sensibility. People will remember him as visionary and innovative, and for his relentless pursuit to create products at the highest standard. As an artist, I am inspired by his passion and creativity and recognize that each product is a work of art.


The pieces you don't recognize come from inside the various products- I spent a lot of time taking MacBooks, mice, keyboards, and various adaptors apart. (Note: The background is made up of microprocessing chips which are the brain of the computer- as Steve Jobs was the brain behind Apple during his time there.) I have developed a deep respect for the quality and construction of all of the products. When I began collecting material last Spring, I thought it would be easy to find what I needed through e-cycle programs. I prefer to use post-consumer materials and am happy to use what no one wants or needs anymore- including broken devices. I had no idea it would be so difficult to get my hands on Apple products and hit a wall everywhere I turned- until I turned to the community. There is no way I could have done it without your help! 

Thank you: 

Wegener Media (Where I hit the jackpot searching through Dave's warehouse!!)

The Smart Phone Medic

Silicone Solutions

L2 Technologies

Evans Jenkins

Sharon Licata

Shannon Chapman
 
And thank you to the folks who left things at my studio door
anonymously- I'd love to add you to the list!

LOOKING FOR EYEWEAR

I am in search of unwanted eyewear to debut in my next Assemblage which I will create this month. I have a vision of what I want to create but the idea cannot fully form until I see what I have to work with… (all puns intended!) So, if you have unwanted eyewear that you no longer need or use, please consider having it made into art!

As one of the feature artists at Frame of Mind for December and January, I want to create a piece that has a relationship with the gallery where it will hang. The eyewear shop at 1520 Main Street is the place where the First Thursday Art Walk began, through the vision of its owner, Mark Plessinger. It has now grown into many galleries (or retail shops hosting art) along several blocks of Main Street. On the first Thursdays of the month you will find a bustling crowd moving in and out of the shops, with street performers and musicians also participating. And this holiday season, there is a temporary ice-skating rink set up in Boyd Plaza, in front of the Columbia Museum of Art...which is right across the street from Frame of Mind.

The show will open tonight, December 6^th, and I will be collecting eyewear for the next couple of weeks. The new Assemblage will be displayed at the First Thursday opening on January 3, 2013.  

Happy Holidays Mother Earth!

Frame of Mind has never been SO green!  Get ready to enjoy this two-month FOM Series featuring my Assemblage work: turning consumer waste into fine art!  These items destined for landfills have found new life in 3-D paintings.  And, they’ve never been SO blue.  What lies beneath will fill our gallery for your viewing pleasure.  Water…everywhere!

Inside:

I will present a two-part exhibition of work created almost entirely from post-consumer materials collected from friends and family.  During the December FOM Series, I am asking the community to participate in an assemblage I will create by donating eyewear that you no longer need.  I plan to unveil the new work as a part of the January FOM Series during First Thursdays on Main.

Without this determination to cherish and protect our community, our state, our nation, and our planet by reducing, reusing, and recycling, we won’t be able to enjoy the waters which refresh and sustain us.  So, as a fitting complement to my recycled art, Frame of Mind is proud to introduce you to the work of one of Columbia’s favorite alternative performers and renowned local grower of coral, Chris Carney.  He describes his plans for this two-part FOM Series this way, “There is another world beneath the skin of the ocean. A place that covers more than half of our planet still remains a mystery. This is what I strive to capture. Vignettes of a place many will never see with their own eyes and few will be able to describe. These are not glass boxes; these are snapshots to a world I love, a place I'd like you to know. Dive in, explore.” 

A graduate of the University of South Carolina’s Marine Sciences program, Chris owns A Fish Store, a full-service fish and aquarium shop specializing in saltwater fish/aquariums, freshwater fish/aquariums, corals, ponds, design/fabrication/installation/maintenance services.  He is also an assistant SCUBA instructor with Wateree Dive Center.  For the FOM Series installations and exhibits, he plans to showcase mostly tank-raised livestock/corals.  His work will be available for purchase, but custom options are available as well.

Outside: 

For our outdoor entertainment, FOM is proud to feature Columbia’s own DJ Deft Key of Entropy Studios, Raymond Howard. Deft Key’s shows are full of the energy and sounds of global beats and dubstep, and this month, we get to hear some holiday themed tunes, as well! For a sampling, check out his music on http://soundcloud.com/deftkey. His CD is available for purchase at our December event. Entropy studios is a recording/production studio that was founded in the fall of 2011 by Raymond Howard, Timothy Miller, and Jeramie Conrad. A unique type of studio with services ranging from simple recording/tracking to full production including song creation, adding audio to film, voice overs and foley, their mission is to provide a fully operational studio capable of facilitating any and all audio needs for musicians, film producers, theatrical directors, and voice actors both regionally and internationally. Their menu of services include: recording, tracking, mixing, mastering, voice-overs, composition, songwriting, foley, DJ services, live sound/lighting, post-production audio for film and video, album art, logo design, photography services, merchandise design, band photos, business cards, and flier design. Please visit Deft Key on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/deft.key.3?fref=ts or Entropy Studios on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheEntropyStudios?fref=ts .

Food Outdoors: your favorites and a few new additions!

Paradise Ice-sweet treats/organic ice custard and Italian ice Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse-outside service, 2 Fat 2 Fly Food Truck, Bone-In Artisan Food Truck, KC’s Hotdogs, NNB Barbeque, Crepes and Croissants, and J Gumbos

First Thursdays Cruise In

Come check out what has become a signature piece of First Thursdays on Main's activities, the official Cruise In. The 1500 and 1600 Blocks of Main Street get taken over by classics and customs of all types, shapes, and age. For December’s First Thursday event, the classic Christmas theme will abound. As always, First Thursdays Cruise In is brought to you by Curran Stone/Cartoys Auto Spa and Mark Plessinger/Frame of Mind.

Almost Ready

Almost ready… but for what? 

My young model was about to be photographed in the attire of her choosing, in which she felt most beautiful. A red t-shirt she got from summer camp where she had her first week-away-from-home experience and a black knitted cap pulled down low on her forehead. Her ponytail was in the back and none of her hair could be seen. Not wanting viewers to confuse her for a boy, I asked if it would be okay to rearrange her hair into a side ponytail and let her long mane flow down her shoulder and chest. She kindly obliged and took off the cap, slipped off the rubber band, and began combing her hair with her fingers. As she pulled it to the side I saw the image I wanted to paint. 

                                       Almost Ready

                                       Oil on Canvas

                                       16 x 20

Working from the top down I watched as she emerged from the canvas, using bigger brushes to keep the image very realistic but also loose. For a long time I have been using brushes size 6 and smaller, often working with a size 2, making my work very tight and accurate. I want to loosen up and let my work look more “painterly”.  I liked the way it looked when unfinished, it seemed to say enough. Knowing when to stop is a challenge. One stroke too many can ruin a painting that was showing promise.  It was important to me to paint her hair because I know how long she has been waiting for it to grow, the time she takes styling it, and how she often likes to hide behind it. So I worked down the canvas and stopped before I reached the bottom. 

I needed to leave part of it unfinished, because there is always more to say. 

Saved From The Landfill

The Crying Indian
Assemblage
48" x 48"

I am excited to have this piece back in my collection after spending the last 3 months in the 4th Annual Scrapel Hill Contest and Exhibition in Chapel Hill, NC, where it won 2nd place. As much as I love this piece, I realize you have to be a certain age to know who this is! I have to be satisfied if the 30-something and younger crowd understands that this is a portrait of "an American Indian".  Little do they know the controversy around that title! It wasn't until I began work on this Assemblage that I learned the truth- that Iron Eyes Cody was born in Louisiana, the son of Italian immigrants and not of Cherokee/Cree extraction as he claimed. But he married a Native American woman, adopted and raised two Native American children, and devoted the rest of his life to Native American causes. He was generally accepted as one of them. Good enough for me! 


What I remember is the famous 1971 Keep America Beautiful ad campaign featuring Iron Eyes Cody as the "Crying Indian", who paddled his canoe up a trash filled river into a polluted industrial city, landing on a litter-strewn bank. He then walks up to the highway where trash is literally thrown from a passing car onto his feet. His wordless response is a single tear as the commercial ends with the narrator saying “People start pollution; people can stop it.”

I'm not sure when it dawned on me that he was an actor, and this commercial was a job. Having always wanted to be an Native American living in the wilderness, I related to his love of the natural world and his sorrow for man's disregard of it. The Crying Indian was the face of litter prevention throughout my childhood. In this piece, his face is made from materials that are disposed of daily, objects destined for the landfill. They have been reused and repurposed to remind us “what people start, people can stop”. I am working to teach my family to be mindful of what we use and throw away, but have to admit I still obtain much of the material for my work from home. However, the kids are learning the difference between "good trash" and "bad trash"...

A Sense of Place

Great Egret
Assemblage of Post-Consumer Materials
24"x 24"

I have always been drawn to the majestic-looking egret. As a child, I was always excited to spot them in the marsh, at the edge of the creek in the low country where I grew up. The introverted side of me appreciated their solitude and statuesque stillness as they patiently waited for the right moment to reach down and grab their dinner as it swam by. Every time I saw one, whether looking down as we drove over a bridge or at eye-level in a boat racing through the creeks, I would stop and stare until it was out of sight. There is a tranquil beauty to the marsh and it was accentuated by the egret's presence, with her snowy white feathers popping out among the darker green grasses. I cling to this unhurried image even more now as I often rush around town like a chicken with my head cut off!

I was inspired to create this piece after hearing about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.  It was the largest accidental marine spill in history and the oil flowed non-stop for 3 months. It released at least 4.9 million barrels of crude oil. And as the oil moved toward shore and washed into the marsh I thought about the animal life I knew would be affected. And I thought about the egret.

This piece is created primarily from plastic, which comes from crude oil. It includes toys, pens, bottle caps, toothbrushes, and other household items. "Great Egret" is currently on display at the McKissick Museum of Art on the USC campus and will be on sale at the Gala Fundraiser, A Sense of Place, August 24th.

Are You The Problem or The Solution