10.23.06

Weekends at the Arts Scene

Posted in Uncategorized at 1:11 pm by April

Pretty much every Saturday and Sunday I can be found at the Arts Scene Gallery on Broadway and Maple in North Little Rock, Arkansas. All the works i have in the Arts Scene are available for sale. When I finish whatever I happen to be working on it goes up and (once it’s dry) is immediately available. If you’re in the neighborhood, drop by and say hello! I’d love to chat with you!

Here are some photos from last Saturday:

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10.20.06

Oh, no… Back on the quizzes again.

Posted in Uncategorized at 8:54 am by April

Have I done this one before? Hell, I don’t know. Maybe. I buy most of this, but there are a few things that I think are off, but for a 2 minute quiz, it’s pretty close.

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have high extroversion. You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends. You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation. Enthusiastic and fun, you’re the first to say “let’s go!” Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have medium neuroticism. You’re generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic. Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy. Your life is pretty smooth, but there’s a few emotional bumps you’d like to get rid of. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You’ll try almost anything interesting, and you’re constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

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10.19.06

30 of Me?

Posted in Uncategorized at 5:04 pm by April

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 30 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

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10.12.06

Are These Prints or Posters???

Posted in Uncategorized, Bitching at 7:20 am by April

Well, the new gallery preview party is tonight. Am I nervous? Nah. Not particularly. Not yet, anyway. I have 12 hours to wrap up the last bits and pieces. Let me tell ya, I think this thing looks freaking awesome. Very museum-like. Very high-brow. Perfect… Well, almost.

One thing that bugs the hell out of me… There are two photographers that have pretty large completely unframed prints attached to the walls of their spaces with binder clips! That’s right. I said binder clips.

Now, let me ask you something. Say you’re an art buyer (which you very well may be reading this blog in the first place), are you going to spend $400 on a (limited even!) print that’s been attached to the wall like a damn poster? No. Of course not. You want a frame. And if it’s not in a frame, you want it in nice packaging with backboard, don’t you? Of course you do. Frankly, it looks shitty. I mean, it’s a good idea in theory, because the binder clips don’t puncture the work, but you don’t hang unframed prints up in a gallery… You package them and have them in a sort bin. Have I mentioned already that they look like posters? This is not your teenager’s bedroom. Plus, I noticed a couple that were already damaged!!! The gallery isn’t even open yet! See my point?

Come on, people. Get with the program. I know. I know. Framing is expensive. But let’s face the facts and realize that a photographer who deals solely in prints needs to have the proper presentation for said prints. If you’ve spent thousands of dollars on photographic equipment (which, by the way, is the standard, not the exception), I think you can spring for a few hundred dollars in frames. Then, by the way, you just tack that cost onto the cost of your prints. Art buyers know how much is costs to have stuff framed. They understand that.

Maybe I really should be a manager. Some people have zero idea what the hell they’re doing. Wake up artists… this is a business, and as such should be treated as one. If you want to be treated like a bohemian starving artist, you’ll never be anything else. If you don’t take your shit seriously, no-one else will, either.

I’m probably just a total bitch, but if I were in charge of the gallery, I’d tell them to get some frames or packaging or take their stuff home. Period. Okay, I’m done. It’s just tacky. That’s all.

Oh, well. What are you going to do? Less competition for me, I guess.

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10.02.06

My Art is Not Porn.

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:51 pm by April

Recently a good friend agreed to pose for a semi-nude painting session. Those of you out there who are artists as well know the value of working from life. I’d list the benefits, which are many, but I think it’ll suffice to say that it really sharpens your skills. There’s really nothing quite like it. It’s harder than working from photos and sketches and studies, but you really get a feel for the way light really looks in a way you just don’t get with any other method.

Anyhow, I just hung up the phone with her and she informed me that her boyfriend is really going nuts over the concept of her modeling for me. He hates it. My understanding is that it caused a pretty major fight. This, to me, is ridiculous for several reasons, but the main one is this: This is NOT PORN, it’s fine art. There’s a slight difference. Not to mention I would never ask someone to pose for a painting and then dishonor their image, especially someone I consider my friend. She isn’t even going to be nude during the actual session (which would be helpful, but I can leave out straps if I need to) and I only plan on doing an implied-nudity painting anyway (aka nothing showing). 

So if you, the aformentioned boyfriend happen to be reading this, get over it, pal. Most people don’t get the chance to be painted and I’m sure when she’s old and gray she’ll be really really glad she was one of the ones who did. Actually, she’s pretty excited about it now. The truth is, it’s an honor to be depicted in art. That painting will outlive all of us, and when her great great grandchildren can tell their friends that the painting that is hanging in such and such museum is a portrait of their great great grandmother, it’ll be worth your (very childish, I might add) jealousy. Besides, when it sells I’m paying her a decent fee for just sitting for a couple of hours. Just be happy I’m not a photographer.

So nice to be trusted.

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08.28.06

New York, New York…

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:41 am by April

So, here I am, still in New York, and yes, still alive and kicking! haha. (Told you so!) I’m sitting at the computer in my hotel’s business center checking my (seriously overloaded) email, since I haven’t been online since I left home. The last day of the show was yesterday and I had a wonderful time, even though yesterday was rainy and nasty and I got soaking wet. Ah, who cares. I dried. Made some cash and met some fabulous people. Overall, it was an incredible experience. I’m heading home tomorrow, but I can guarantee this will not be my last trip up. (Sorry, everyone at home, I know this is bad news to all of you.) I’m falling in love with it up here. It’s just great. You really have the best of both worlds within a short drive of one another. Oh, wait. Did I say short drive? I mean short drive if you’re not stuck in traffic! Anyhow, of course I have more to say, but I’m starving so I’m going to track down some breakfast….

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08.11.06

Crap, I need a title now, too???

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:34 am by April

Now I remember why I don’t blog every day.

I sit down at the computer, stare at the blank box on the screen for what seems to be an eternity and I think. “Shit. What now?” Usually I begin a blog, get a couple of words down, and quit. Sometimes it doesn’t even make it that far. Actually, right now I’m thinking about closing this out and forgetting the blog for today, but, no. I’ll stick it out and at least post something, no matter how incredibly boring it is. It’s not as though I have nothing to say. Anyone who knows me knows that I always have something to say, but for some reason it’s infinitely more difficult to try to force it.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now. I keep getting distracted. This isn’t working very well right now… Maybe I should do myself a favor and just go back to bed.

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