Ekaterina Konovalova

David Cerny: My Art is a Side Effect of Nuclear Radiation

2011-11-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

David Cerny is a talented and provocative sculptor from Czech Republic. His sculptures can be seen in many locations in Prague as well as outside Czech Republic. I particularly like his Metalmorphosis fountain – a rotating giant head at the Whitehall Technology Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.

Being intrigued by his work, I scheduled a Skype talk with David in October. I asked David about his creative path and why he decided to become an artist. David attributed his creativity to the side effects of radiation treatment he received in early childhood. David also told me that his mother was killed in a Bolshevik camp and he was born premature at only five months. His mother was exposed to nuclear radiation during pregnancy and when he was born he was chemically treated as well. David said, “Growing up as orphan… I was basically unwanted child and used by Communists for experiments. They used some chemicals. I don’t know what it was. The Russians were using really hard staff… and [some parts] of my brain became more active.”

At the same time, David warned me that he is “usually lying, so it really depends on what kind of lie you want to hear.” When I Googled David’s biography, there were indeed numerous articles saying that David often fabricates his own biography.

I am not a biographer, historian or an investigator, and my purpose was not to validate all facts of David’s past, but to get to know him in person and learn from him. I realized that David’s work as well as his persona provide great material for journalists and the media. His work is provocative yet clever; it delivers a clear message that resonates with many. For example, look at his Klaus and Knizak sculpture at the Futura Gallery in Prague: two huge bare naked butts inviting an observer to climb the ladder and stick his/her head in the butthole. Inside there is a video of two Czech politicians feeding each other slop to a soundtrack of 'We are the Champions.' Most of David’s art is very political, and if you trust his self-told biography, it is very personal as well. An embryo trapped in a sewer, dark babies with the giant blank heads climbing the tower; men broken into pieces are only three of the many sculptures that reflect a difficult childhood and lots of pain. Reflecting on the Metamorphosis sculpture, David said, “This is how I fell; it is a mental self-portrait.” Also, when the times were especially gloomy and hard, I asked him what kept him going, he said, “Dissatisfaction and rage.” That anger and dissatisfaction helped him to shape a unique persona: shrewd, bold, and provocative. Therefore, my dear aspiring artists, here is a tip for you: if you would like to be favored by the media and generate a lot of buzz, create a marketable and enticing personality and/ or instigate the audience with your art.

My second major lesson from David is to become business smart. David mentioned over the course of our hour-long conversation that sales skills are extremely important if one wants to make it to the art world. He witnessed over ten empty-gallery “exhibits” or “one microscopic dot in the corner” positioned as “art” and sold over the last ten years or so. Thus, business skills and an ability to sell your art are crucial for success.

I noticed that many David’s sculptures are very technical and complex. Some of them employ motion. David told me he studied electronics before he studied art, and an engineering skill set came very handy in executing his creative ideas and supervising his projects. He also lived and studied in the USA in mid 90s, and we had a nice chat about the American landscape and art programs in New York.

David agreed it could be challenging to acquire big art commissions if you are not in the epicenter of the art market. For example, there are fewer opportunities for an artist in Prague than in New York City. Nevertheless, David has already established his reputation and is well-known internationally. Therefore, investors and media find on the internet in spite of him living in Czech Republic.

I asked David to tell me a little bit more about his early career and how he had acquired commissions when he was only starting. He said investors always found him and he wasn’t chasing the deal. David also told me about his commission process, “You have the investor, you have the budget, and of course, the best inspiration is a deadline.”

At the end of our conversation, David surprised me again and told me about his favorite ice cream flavor. Guess what it was? A beer ice cream, proudly brewed and frozen in Czech Republic. Why not? An original artist has an original taste. I wish David good luck in his further projects and I hope one day he will visit Dallas or I can meet him over a bowl of beer ice cream in Prague.

Charles Phu: The Creative Genius Behind the Okhta Center

2011-10-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

Okhta Centre

This time I am going to deviate from my usual gamut of fine art, performance art, and photography and share a story based on an insightful interview with a highly creative and talented architect Charles Phu. I was introduced to Charles by my sister who met Charles in London, UK and I spoke with him via Skype for about an hour.

Charles’ projects vary from opera houses to museums to trade centers. Some of his famous designs include King Abdulla Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; China World Trade Center Tower III (330m) in Beijing, China; Saint Petersburg Modern Art Museum and Opera House; Beijing Financial Street; and, of course, the highest soon-to-be-built skyscraper in Europe, Okhta Centre (including the 403-meter high tower and concert hall) in St Petersburg, Russia, for which he was the Chief Design Architect.

Charles Phu

Okhta Centre was a big deal in Russia. St. Petersburg is considered the ‘cultural capital’ of Russia. The city preserves the historical feel and normally does not even allow changing old roof tiles if the change does not match the ‘historic requirement.’ A proposal to build an enormously high contemporary skyscraper in the center of St. Petersburg evoked a big controversy. There was a lawsuit, a wave of protesters, opposition from Russian celebrities, lots of media buzz, and finally, government intervention. Even comedians picked up on the Okhta Centre project controversy – I vividly remember watching an episode of Prozektor Paris Hilton, a prime-time comedy program on a major Russian TV channel that revolved around Okhta Centre project. Finally, in December 2010 Okhta Centre was suggested to move further from St. Petersburg‘s historical center, and this projects is still in the process of negotiation.

Okhta Centre Concert Hall

Yet, let’s step back from Charles’ current achievements and learn about how he made it to the world of design and architecture. Charles was born in Taiwan forty something years ago. He came from a very artistic and musical family: his father was a tenor and a Western pop music singer; his mom was an accomplished ballerina who performed for the President of Taiwan and other big politicians and officials; finally, all his three sisters learned to sing and play numerous musical instruments. Charles was expected to become a musician too and he even took a few piano lessons, but he never envisioned music becoming his future career. Nevertheless, Charles developed deep appreciation for music, especially opera. Driven by his passion for opera, he later designed beautiful opera houses all over the world. In addition, Charles created opera and ballet stage sets, lighting, and costumes for several prestigious opera houses.

St Petersburg Modern Art Museum

When Charles was approaching college age, he took a National General Exam (that reveals one’s talents and career inclinations similar to an American aptitude test) and was advised to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering. Charles enrolled in the top engineering school in Taiwan, the National Cheng Kung University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Structure and Civil Engineering with honors in 1992.

China World Trade Centre

While in college in Taiwan, he began to fall in love with architecture. He was also captivated by 3D objects, and he finally set his mind on pursuing a graduate degree abroad. Charles has always dreamed to live and work in Europe, but it seemed more realistic to continue his education in North America. He applied to several high-ranking schools in the USA, and was admitted to quite a few of them, including Harvard. Yet, Charles realized Harvard’s tuition was too high for him at that time. Therefore, he decided to play it safe, and he enrolled in the Masters of Architecture program at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). He later fulfilled his dream to study at Harvard and while at Harvard, he completed a residency program with a well-known architect in Massachusetts, Charles Rose.

Beijing Finance Street Offices and Theatre

I asked him how he was not afraid to take financial risks: college tuition in the USA can be quite expensive and there is no guarantee he would earn his money back in a timely manner. Charles said, indeed, it was one of his concerns but luckily he was offered financial assistance from UT Austin after he demonstrated his academic excellence and hard work.

Equipped with top-tier college degrees, Charles began his professional career. He worked for architectural firms in Boston and in San-Francisco for several years. He felt he acquired enough experience to start his own business, and he moved to Hong Kong, China to start his own company. Coincidentally Charles was offered a position at RMJM Asia in Hong Kong as Chief Designer and after completing a few prominent projects in China and India. Charles moved to London to continue growing his own business and also to continue working on projects with RMJM. “UK was my dream land…London is so culturally rich and very open-minded,” Charles told me.

State Tax Bureau

After reviewing Charles’ story, I realized that all his big dreams and aspirations eventually manifested in his life. Thus, he wanted to experience the academic environment of Harvard and the unique context of the university and its people, and he eventually completed a post-graduate study and residency in Architecture and Archaeology there. He was captivated by opera and instead of becoming an opera singer, he became involved in opera and ballet stage set design. He wanted to live and work in London, and he is currently living his dream in his dream city. Yet, Charles told me he didn’t have a dream of becoming an architecture designer. He just followed his heart and passion, followed his interests and that is how he discovered a profession that made him successful.

Zhuhai Museum

Charles had given a few advice to aspiring creative people.

1. Work really hard. By working hard Charles means spend more time than an average person on what you are doing; learn as much as you can about your profession. Charles said he missed a lot of opportunities to have fun while he worked and studied, but it was a conscious sacrifice.
2. Be open-minded. Be open to anything. Learn to be a good listener and learn from the experts. Absorb as a sponge the wisdom of others.
3. At the same time, be authentic. Charles said he stopped reading architecture magazines since his mid-twenties because he didn’t want to get too much influence. Charles gains his inspiration from observing people, learning about the history and even sometimes looking at ugly buildings.
4. Finally, don’t pound on the door or push too hard when you don’t get the results you are looking for. Maybe, it is not the right time yet or you are not ready yet. The door will eventually open and you will meet the right people when you are guided by your passion. Just keep doing what you love doing, and the success will follow.

At the end, Charles added, “Culture and humanity is usually the key for a good design and anything we do today. I think it's a pity that it is what's missing in most of things around us nowadays. I always believe in that.”

Greg Piazza: Finding the Right Niche for Your Art

2011-10-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Greg is an accountant by trade and a visual artist at heart. He doesn’t sit in the corner and wait “to be discovered.” Instead, he creates his own opportunities. He found a niche for his art in the arena of the contemporary design art. Greg also focuses on pricing his art whereas it is obtainable for young professionals and budding collectors alike: “I focus on high-end furniture retail stores as conduits for my art ... They can sell art as a whole package. They can assist a buyer with a room design and provide great options to meaningful art."

When I asked him about representation in the galleries, he said “I don’t really focus too much on being in the traditional galleries, I think the majority of my buyers do not frequent these establishments."

The first store that represented Greg’s art was Haven in Dallas. Greg told me, “One day I quit my job and that day I had one of my pieces in my car. I said to myself, ‘Look, I am going out there today and I am going to make good money off the art.’ And I just went over there, walked in the door, talked to them and I said, I noticed you guys don’t have any art work. Why not?’ And the guy said ‘We’ve never met an artist whose work we liked.’ I said, ‘I have a piece in my car. Would like to see it?’ and I showed it to him. He said, ‘I love this. Can you make 10 in the next week?’ And that was it, I made them ten pieces, and I think they sold 8 out of 10 pieces. I went through three different series with them.”

Greg’s story suggests that artists shouldn’t be afraid to knock on the doors and do some legwork. Greg told me, “I just approach stores and leave it up to them. They know their product and their customers better than anybody else. If they think it will work, I am happy to put my art in there. If they don’t think it will work, I don’t try to argue with them. Just say “Thank you and if you ever have somebody who is looking for something special, let me know.”

As for the further self-promotion, Greg said, “It seems like the word of mouth is your best friend out there. Once you get into a few good places, it’s really easy to expand your network and say, I show in these three high-end retailers and you have a lot of credibility.”

Greg’s art and photography are currently represented by the Jones Walker Home store, Lofty Concepts, Nest Dallas, and Parnian in Scottsdale, Arizona. He also runs an online gallery called 7 NINE. Greg co-founded Gallery 7 NINE with his friend, Jonathan Giles. Both artists were born in 1979, and they decided to name the gallery after their year of birth. Greg’s original acrylic pieces currently range between $800 and $14,000; oil paintings are between $500 and 5,000; and prints go from $100 to $500. Greg also works with two art consulting firms who sell his art to hotels. Greg’s experience suggests that artists can have opportunities outside of the traditional gallery channels if they are willing to think outside the box.

Frankie Garcia and FGIII Art

2011-09-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Frankie Garcia and Ekaterina Konovalova

Frankie Garcia III is a Dallas-based artist, creative advisor, arts advocate, and founder of FGIIIArt. He founded FGIIIArt to be an umbrella organization that instills unity within the Dallas art community and provides opportunities that strengthen and empower the individual artists in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In addition, Frankie organizes and curates art exhibitions at RISING Gallery as their creative advisor.

RISING Gallery Crew

Frankie shared with me, “I’ve worked with so many different artists for so long now, that my eye for talent has been refined… I started to use the term “creative adviser” because I do a number of things... First and foremost, I’m a painter. Second, I curate art shows and exhibitions. Third, from a project/design perspective, I’m excellent at creating color palettes for various projects, I can visualize the project and build on a budget, I’m able to distribute the work, I’m able to round up the artists, I relate to the artists and get them excited and enthused and I create incentives for both the artists and the client. From a marketing perspective, I utilize my resources to the full and collaborate when needed but, more importantly, I continually stay in the art mix. I personally participate in art related fundraisers by sitting on committees and donating artwork. I also, support our arts by attending art shows and exhibitions and assist with spreading the word to my clients and art enthusiasts in my circle. This is kind of my niche but it all stems from being an artist.”

Frankie's Art "Lavender Rose"

Frankie has always been interested in visual arts. He loved drawing as a kid. He drew on everything and when he ran out of paper in the house, his mom cut up paper shopping bags to supply him with something to release his artistic expression. Frankie says, “I’ve always had a builders mind. I collected piles of wood and I would go to a neighbor (he was a carpenter) and would ask for a box of nails. I didn’t use a measure tape – I would just build it... I made my mom shelves, tables, chairs, etc... Then I started making art: frames, canvases, utilizing various materials.” In his younger years, Frankie was enrolled in the TAG program, TAG stands for Talented and Gifted, where he learned many practical skills that he now uses in his art career.

Frankie's Art

Talking about his art career. As a self-taught artist, he didn’t believe that his art would sell early on. He worked a handful of odd jobs before he dove into art full-time. He was involved in carpentry, roofing, building, landscaping, and worked at a car body shop among other things. In 1996, he was married at age of twenty and took a job as a printer, at Millet The Printer, working sometimes triple shifts to provide for his family. He would create art after work into the late hours of the night. At that time, he had a friend who was working at a small retail furniture store and she insisted on exhibiting Frankie’s art in the showroom. Two of his paintings were soon sold for $200 a piece. Frankie was really excited over his first art sale, “I was 20 years old when I started creating art to sell.”

Two years later, he met Gary Jackson who curated Frankie’s first solo exhibition. The show was called “One Red Dot,” and they sold 23 pieces out of 32. Frankie reflected on that experience, “It was kind of a weird thing. That’s when I realized I want to do this full time. I quit my day job.”

He was doing well selling art for a couple years, but then things slowed down, and Frankie sought out employment at Rutherford's Designs, an interior design firm. Frankie learned a lot about design, balance, placement and perspective from the very talented group of designers at Rutherford’s. On occasion, Frankie had the privilege to work with Robert Rutherford directly and Mr. Rutherford taught him how to relate to high net-worth clients. “Our playground was Highland Park/Park Cities... most of the times our clients didn’t have a budget,” recalled Frankie.

Frankie's Art at the Marriott Hotel Dallas

Frankie’s ability to understand color, acquired at the printing shop, played a pivotal role in his future success in the interior design and art business. Frankie told me, “I’m GREAT with color and I know color. You can show me one shade of color and tell me ‘I love this shade,’ I’ll look at tons of other shades and review lots of variations from that shade… But, when I get to painting your space or canvas I’ll always hit it on the head and give you what you need for your space or project. Your color or color palette has been embedded in my brain and I’ll remember those shades forever.”

While working for the interior design firm, he began to create paintings for his clients’ homes and spaces. “Sometimes clients didn’t like what I personally painted but they liked my design style and my presentation, so I would continue to assist with other aspects of the project and began to collaborate, hire and commission friends and other artists. And that’s how all of this “artist unification/collaboration” thing started… I’d work with other artists and they’d ask me to work with them…” Since then, Frankie has been responsible for organizing numerous projects, events, exhibitions, fund-raisers and group shows including OFF THE GRID, ART+Advocacy, an art auction benefiting Dallas Children's Advocacy Center, and Artists Against AIDS art auction among others.

OFF THE GRID

Frankie believes that “We creatively find a way to make a white canvas pretty. I’ve always said this, ‘If you are an artist, you should creatively be able to tackle anything in any aspect of life, if you want to.’ Cause, it is all white canvas, and it is just what we make out of it. From an artist perspective, it is all out there for our taking. We are fortunate to be in this country and have a freedom to choose to be artists. There are a lot of countries where you can’t make this choice.”

Frankie's Art "Well Versed"

His biggest advice to young artists who ‘want to make it to the art world’ is be friends with technology. Create your website, blogsite and Facebook page; update them regularly. Reach out to people. Frankie says “Create your own path, just like you create your own art piece.” To illustrate the power of networking and social media, Frankie told me a quick story: “I just met with someone who said “Frankie, I tried to meet you for a year.” I asked him “What took you so long?” And he said, “I don’t know.” I said, “Just send me a message on Facebook, and I’ll respond to it.” But people don’t do it! If you want to meet somebody, Google that person, and send a Facebook friend request with a message “My name is so and so, and I am a local artist. I would like to meet for coffee, I’d like to sit and talk. I enjoy your work, I enjoy what you do, I enjoy the gallery – whatever it is. And when you sit in front of this person, who knows what they could bring to the table.”

Andrey Bartenev: He’s Got the Balls. The Balls of Art...

2011-08-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow artists, photographers and just creative people! I am thrilled to share an interview with an artist whose work I admire and deeply respect. Andrey Bartenev is a unique gemstone on the world’s scene of performance art. Andrey was one of the pioneer artists in Post Soviet Russia and he quickly expanded to Western world, performing in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Austria, France, and USA. His ideas, looks, and performances are always provocative and mind-blowing. He is also one of the best-spoken people in the arena of art, who constantly invents new words and verbal constructions.

In spite of his celebrity status and huge success, Andrey spent over an hour of his time answering my questions via Skype. I discussed with Andrey his early career and evolution of his work. Andrey also gave me some advice on how to succeed in the art world. It was a pleasure to get to know Andrey Bartenev and business partner Alexander Khromov.

Andrey was born in Norilsk, an industrial city in north Russia. The city is covered with snow for about 250–270 days a year with temperature dropping occasionally to −72 °F. Andrey said he “lived in a contrast between black sky and white snow; everything seemed exaggerated: black polar night and blazing stars; the snow hills looked like sand dunes.” These natural phenomena influenced his psychology and perception of the world. Andrey developed “sensitivity under the radar of the forces of nature” as he felt how paltry a man could be before the severity of nature.

At age fifteen, his family moved to Krasnodar (the south of Russia). Everything seemed to be so petty, and Andrey missed the majestic vastness of Norilsk. He also had another unpleasant revelation: ethnic enmity. Thus, in spite of extreme cold in Norilsk, social climate was warm and amicable. In contrast, Krasnodar was very hostile. Andrey said, “I was very naïve, and Krasnodar was my contrast shower. I experienced nationalism for the first time when I discovered that people can beat each other’s faces only because they come from different ethnic backgrounds.” Andrey also noticed that people in Krasnodar were obsessed with the material side of life, and they were fixated on a subject of money. Sure enough, as a native citizen of Krasnodar, I asked Andrey lots of questions about financing his projects and self-promotion… :)

In Soviet Russia, all college graduates were assigned to a job according to their major for a few years. It may sound like a blessing unless you are sent somewhere in Siberia working in a mining camp. Luckily for Andrey, his job was in Sochi, a nice sea resort town near Krasnodar. Andrey enjoyed the view of the Black Sea and fresh fruits while he worked there as a theater director. Yet, Andrey didn’t stay in Sochi for a long time, and six months later he moved to Moscow.

Andrey became famous for many things, but most of all for his outrageous outfits. In the best traditions of Leigh Bowery, Andrey could wrap himself in a flamboyant fabric from eyes to toes and show up like this at a serious analytical TV program. I asked Andrey when his provocative style was born. He told me that even in Soviet Russia he wore bright green mohair pants with a label “Chicago,” a dark blue woolen coat, green socks, and a pink tie. All this beauty was adorned with Andrey’s ginger bob hairstyle. Even now it sounds a little bit radical; in Soviet time you could be arrested by the police if you wear such outfits outside circus.

Andrey’s art evolved over the years. From performance art and papier-mâché moving sculptures in 1990s he transitioned into 3D sculptures and teaching at the institutions in Western Europe and USA. Andrey commented on this transition as “My inner inquisitiveness and curiosity no longer wanted papier-mâché, my soul was tired, and in 2000 I began to experiment with sound, light and sculptures.”

I asked Andrey how he was able to finance his projects. Thus, in the early 90s Andrey was selling his graphic works and invested the money in making props for his early performances. Many of his friends and relatives helped him as volunteers. Then, in 1993 through 1996 Andrey and the work group Bartenev Art Productions including Natasha Sharumova, Igor Rudnik and Alexander Khromov brought his performances to the night clubs. Night clubs was a new phenomenon for post-Soviet Russia, and Andrey’s psychedelic performances fit well with house music and rave culture. In mid 1990-s, it was a great way to keep performance production going. Andrey and his team no longer perform at night clubs. He now accepts commissions from established art institutions, participates in art shows and biennales, partners with show business stars, works with movie directors, and creates performances for Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center in NYC among others.

Andrey gave me a few tips how to succeed as an artist:

●    You should always develop your talent, constantly innovate and reinvent your style
●    It is very important to be in a creative atmosphere; surround yourself with like-minded people
●    Find your audience. If you feel that your art does not attract enough attention, find that verge where your work meets the right audience.
●    Do not averse to volunteer opportunities. Thus, “if your fellow artists ask you to help them twist the ropes, agree to twist their ropes.” You will energize each other and give a birth to new creative ideas and inspiration.

●    Financial doors have a tendency to close: try all possible ways to get financing for your projects.
●    Attend all kinds of seminars and workshops. “When you are immersed in a context of new programming, your mind might recognize completely unexpected things”
●    Finally, and most importantly, “you have to be incredibly smiling and remarkably genial person. Also, be literate, read a lot of poetry and invent new words and theories because the new era of artist-poets is approaching.”

William Brui: I Work For Eternity

2011-07-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

William Brui, USSR born Jewish artist based in Normandy, France. His works can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), The Museum of Contemporary Art (NYC), Guggenheim Museum (NYC), The Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris (Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris), The Center of Georges-Pompidou (Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, Paris), The National Library of France (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris), The Russian State Museum (St. Petersburg), and in numerous private collections.

I owe my introduction to William to my sister. My sister called me the other day and said she met an interesting artist with memorable twirled whiskers at a social event in London. He later invited her to the Sotheby’s art auction - he was selling one of his paintings that week. William returned to his residence in Normandy (a region of France) shortly after the auction.

I dialed William’s number not knowing what to expect. What if he has a French maid who’ll answer ‘Bonjour Madame’ while I have only Russian and English in stock? Thank God, William picked up the phone and greeted me in Russian. I spoke with William three times that week, and every time he showed me a different facet of his complex personality.
William grew up in an interesting family; their home was a hub for gathering of the most progressive people of that time: scientists, musicians, poets, writers, and other great people. Little William absorbed the wisdom of his mature counterparts, and pondered on the meaning of solitude, oneness with God, and other mysteries of life.

William discovered a talent of a visual artist and his creative vision early in childhood. At the same time, as many artistically gifted people, he had a hard time in a grade school. His grades were low due to dyslexia. He was a slow reader, and he could read the same book over and over again. One day his mom lost her patience watching him struggling with a book and exclaimed “You look in a book and see a fig” which is a common expression in Russian that means reading a book and missing the point. William did not understand his mom; he thought that he literally had to find that ‘mysterious fig’ in every book he read from then on. Obviously, there was no ‘fig’ in novels of Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, but William was persistent to discover one. It forced him to read each book thoroughly and often reread it several times which led him to developing strong skills of critical analysis.

William began to demonstrate his artwork to adults since he was eight. At thirteen he sold his first artwork. At fifteen he became an apprentice at an engraver’s workshop, and soon participated in a group art exhibit in Leningrad (former St. Petersburg) for several consecutive years. He left Russia at age 24 and immigrated to Israel. While in Israel, he was interviewed by a journalist from the New York Times.

The article in the New York Times in 1971 made him famous overnight. William told me that he never sought out people’s attention; instead, he said “people always found me.”After that remarkable article, one of the major museums in New York bought a few of his paintings. William recites that transaction as the following, “They called me and asked to show some of my work. I brought a few of my paintings. They asked me ‘Would you like to sell them?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’d love to.’ That’s it – so simple and unpretentious as if one just bought a bag of apples on a farmers market.

William lived in Russia, Israel, USA, and France at different stages of his life. Yet, most of his years he spent in Paris and later, in Normandy, France.

He moved to France from Israel because he “wanted to go to London, but had enough money only for a ticket to Paris.” He was in his mid-twenties, married, with two children. It was a difficult time for him and his family: very little money, uncertainty, and a new cultural environment. In addition, he never formally studied French – he had to pick up language by hearing other people’s speech. In spite of the challenge, William soon adapted to a new situation. He accidentally acquired wealthy clients (such as Madame Rothschild and her friends) by exhibiting his paintings in a local café. He also met an influential couple in the world of art and fashion: Alexander Liberman, Vogue's Art Director, and his wife, Tatiana Yacovleff du Plessix Liberman. They became William’s patrons and connected him with French elite.

William emphasized in our conversation that he never sought out fame, nor did he ever look for clients on his own. Word of mouth and referrals brought commissions to him, including an order from the Paris City Hall Administration. An architect who built a public school in 33 Rue Miollis district was a fan of William’s art. Government allowed spending 1% of the total cost on the décor of a building, and William was happy to leave his mark in Paris and paint a mural on the school wall. The school principal often invited William to explain the mural and share his vision with the students in the beginning of an academic year.

When I asked William about his price negotiation process with his clients, he told me a funny story when he accidentally spilled “I do not work for money, I work for eternity.” He intended to say his paintings were priceless but, due to the language barrier, it turned into this pompous statement that in fact, did help him sell his work for a better price.

When I asked what kind of advice William could give to young artists, he recommended studying thoroughly art movements, genres and styles, and then “try to forget everything as if you are a white sheet of paper. That’s when an inspiration, a Divine Force will enter your body and penetrate your art.”

Right now, William Brui is in his sixties, lives happily with his young wife in his estate in Normandy and continues to paint and exhibit his artwork in Europe and Russia.

William had massive ups and downs in his life and he shared some of these stories with me. The format of my blog does not permit me to publish all of them. The bottom line is William considers himself a fatalist and attributes ‘lucky incidents’ as well as down times to the Fate and God’s Will. William believes that if one destined to be successful and famous, so it will be. What I have learned so far, is that what one believes becomes one’s reality.

I know most of my American readers and myself are more comfortable with the idea of being in charge of one’s own destiny and reality, creating opportunities and attracting the right people and circumstances into their life by focusing their attention on the desired outcome. My purpose is not to object William’s point of view, but to reflect on what he thinks helped him to arrive to the current point in his life. I am convinced he is an eccentric and provocative gentleman with a deep artistic vision and philosophy. He is also kind and genial in treating people with respect and consideration. I am grateful I had a chance to get to know him and learn about his life and artistic career.

Emil Cerullo: A Mysterious Mister “E” behind the E Gallery Studios

2011-06-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Emil Cerullo didn’t go to art school. Emil Cerullo didn’t plan to become a gallery owner. Instead, Emil Cerullo was a successful entrepreneur in the medical business: he owned four diagnostic imaging centers in Texas and managed about 140 employees several years ago.

With high rates of obesity in the US, Emil saw a lucrative opportunity in providing services to people recovering from lap-band surgery. Emil consulted with physicians and learned that the risks for patient’s health were minimal, the surgery was already in the process of FDA testing, and it was a matter of time before someone would snap up the opportunity of offering the first lap-band surgery and post-surgical care in the USA. In addition, since the surgery and recovery take only one day, it could be done at a surgery center and not necessarily at a hospital. Emil bought air time for a radio show on CBS radio to promote this new business. That’s how he met JD Miller who was selling radio air time at that time.

His collaboration with JD Miller grew into a strong friendship. JD Miller became Emil’s mentor in the arena of hosting a radio show and in the arena of art (see my post about JD’s art). Emil often saw JD working on his three-dimensional oil paintings. Five years ago, one evening JD suggested that Emil should experiment with paints as a way to release stress. JD liked Emil’s spontaneity in painting and encouraged him produce more artwork. Sic, Emil became a visual artist in his early forties. Emil and JD partnered in Reflection Fine Art gallery in Dallas, TX. In six months, Emil painted 25 oil pieces and sold 18 at his first show. Yet, he was skeptical about his first artistic success, “I’ve been successful in business and friends came that had money: attorneys, accountants and people who were clients of mine… I felt like they gave me a gratuitous like, ‘I’ll buy your painting; I’ll buy your painting.’ At that point I wasn’t sure if I could do it.”

However, at his second show he had a brand new customer who made Emil believe in a worth of his art. “We had catered the event and there was a young guy who was a bartender and he really liked my art.” During the second show, “The bartender kid came back, and he said “I really want to buy this painting.” I felt like this is the first person I had actually sold a painting to that couldn’t afford it but was moved by it.”

Emil has created a lot of artwork that touched people’s emotional string. For example, the painting “War” emerged from Emil’s attempts to repaint a canvas a few times, made one of the gallery visitors cry. Even though it is an abstract work of art, that gentlemen who was so moved by the painting exclaimed “I was there! That’s war!” It turned out he fought in Afghanistan years before, and the artwork reminded him of the dusty, bloody battlefield.

There was another story that taught Emil to appreciate his art. In the beginning of his artistic career, Emil sold one of his paintings that took him about 30 minutes to make for $3,500.00. Emil felt he almost robbed the client, while his buyer turned to him and said “I robbed you, Son.” Indeed, that artwork became very popular and Emil reproduced the high-end prints of it five times.

Emil and JD Miller ended their partnership at Reflection Gallery several years ago and now each of them manages his own gallery. JD co-owns Samuel Lynne Galleries with Philip Romano, and Emil Cerullo owns E Gallery Studios. E Gallery Studios is a working studio for local artists, a creative space for art events, and, of course, an exhibition space. Emil’s beautiful wife, Wendy helps him to run the gallery.

JD Miller: a Reflection of Pura Vida

2011-06-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Pura vida means Pure Life. JD Miller taught me the meaning of this expression when I visited him at his studio at Samuel Lynne Galleries about a week ago.

JD Miller is a reflectionist artist, a musician, and a co-owner of a successful contemporary art gallery in Dallas, TX. JD was a professional musician and worked on the radio when fifteen years ago he discovered his painting talent. “I decided that I will work, save and do whatever it takes to become a professional artist. I was painting 30 to 50 paintings per month when I started.” JD’s first art show happened at his house: he sold about 60 paintings that night. “I knew I was on the right path.” Later he was discovered by Janice Meyers who owned Florence Art Gallery in Dallas, TX.

When Janice retired to spend more time with her kids, JD founded his own Reflection Fine Art gallery. “About seven years ago I quit my job, cashed in my 401 K, refinanced my home -basically gambled everything I own on starting my own gallery. And it worked out. I did that for four years and I met Phil Romano who owns restaurants and we formed a partnership about three years ago to open this place, Samuel Lynne Galleries.” JD and Philip named the gallery after their kids: Samuel is Philip’s son and Jaime Lynne is JD’s daughter.

JD’s art went 80 times up in value in the last fifteen years. Thus, he sold his first paintings for $50-250, while now the same artwork worth between $15,000 and $20,000. JD is determined to rise to the top of the art world, and he clearly understands the value of promotion and building a brand. Thus, when I came to his studio, he was working on a bunch of small paintings – promotional gifts for producers of TV and radio programs. JD believes that the more that is published and written about you, the more you are collected by major collectors and museums, the more notoriety you acquire as an artist. A combination of all these things raises the value of your art. “That’s why as a gallery, we don’t buy advertising per se. We rarely purchase an ad. What we do is we invest our money into PR. We have a PR company in Dallas, TX and we have a national company based out of Las Vegas that handles our national and international PR. That’s what we invest in.”

JD confessed, “I’ve never painted to sell. I paint what I love. Don’t worry about it. I found, fortunately, that if I like it, the other people tend to like it too.” I know some artists are obsessed with perfectionism, and I asked JD how often he destroys his work. “I’ve painted close to 2500 paintings now and I had probably ten that absolutely didn’t work.”

“For my philosophy, I coined a term ‘Reflectionism.’ Being a reflectionist, first of all, is to recognize the Law of Attraction. I’ve lived that my whole life and I didn’t know what to call it until I saw the movie The Secret. That movie did a really good job, in my opinion, explaining what is like the Law of Gravity – you may not believe in the Law of Gravity, but guess what: you throw something in the air, it’s going to fall on the ground. And you may not believe in the Law of Attraction, but in my opinion it’s there, it exists just like the Law of Gravity. Essentially, what you put out in the Universe is what is reflected back. Myself and the other artists I work with that follow this philosophy, we choose to put out really high vibration energy: love, joy, happiness, beautiful things. And then what happens when you do that, the Universe reflects back beautiful, joyous things. And so what we do is record that. And I do it as a painter – I do it in three dimensional oils which is a technique that I’ve developed, but it can be done with anything. You can do it with music, you can do it with dance… I was in the music business for nine years and my music partner lives in LA. He and I are actually started an idea of reflectionist movement. His name is Chris Brickler. He does it in music, and I do it in art.”

JD Miller believes that the reflectionism idea is very relevant today. “There is a lot of negativity in the world today. I am not a believer of putting negative art out there. I’ve seen a lot of that in the last fifty years, and I want to put out beautiful things and associate myself with beautiful things. That’s my goal is to continue down that path and spread the word about reflectionism.” JD said, “Once I knew that this is my destiny, I didn’t rest until I was doing this. And there have been some challenging years, but it’s really paid off. The last few years have done very, very well. So I am very fortunate doing this and following my dream.”

Blakely Dadson: I Make My Own Money

2011-05-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Remember the scene from the movie Coming to America with Eddie Murphy “And, baby, when I tell ya the boy has got his own money, I mean the boy has got his own MONEY!” and the father shook the money bill with a portrait of Eddie Murphy’s character. I bet every one of us at some point thought how awesome it could be to make your own money. Well, Blakely Dadson went beyond wishful thinking and DID MAKE HIS OWN MONEY that he later exchanged for US dollars.

The story goes like this; Blakely was a graduate Fine Arts student at TCU, a private college in Fort Worth, Texas back in 2004. He just got engaged to his sweetheart and began to think about financial responsibilities that family life entails. At that time he was working on a painting of big heads of Native Americans on a panoramic canvas and just watched a documentary on printing new money. All these things came together as cooperative components and transformed into the money idea. Blakely says, “I didn’t have any money, really. I was a student, just supporting myself. I liked an idea of when I made something it was translatable into the means of supporting myself and my family… That show happened in the spring and we were able to move to New York with my wife.” The money paintings were sold for about $5,000 to 7,000 a piece at that time.

Now Blakely is represented by two galleries: Chambers @ 916 (Portland, OR) and The Public Trust (Dallas, TX). His prices range between $2,000 and $14,000 per piece. He currently lives in Portland, OR with his lovely wife and does art full-time.

I asked Blakely how he entered the galleries and what advice he can give to artists who are looking for a gallery representation.

His first gallery partnership happened when he still was in a grad school. Gallery owners toured students’ studios. Talley Dunn, a co-founder of Dunn & Brown Contemporary (a prestigious gallery in Dallas, TX) offered to represent him at her gallery in Dallas. Later, when Blakely moved to Oregon, it took him almost a year to find a gallery that was a good fit with his art. His representation in Texas changed recently: the Public Trust gallery offered him a better exposure and he moved from Dunn & Brown Contemporary to the Public Trust.

Blakely advices to get familiar with preferred format and submission instructions before you send your portfolio to a gallery. Blakely said, “Submitting something without asking how they want it to be submitted will just get your staff put in a pile.” It sounds like a no-brainer, but it is amazing how many people fail to do that. Every gallery is different, and the review committee wouldn’t even look at your work if it is not in a right format.

Second advice is to get an artist wing-man. Often, an exhibiting artist who has an established relationship with a gallery owner recommends a new artist with fresh ideas and a selling potential and helps to get his fellow artists’ foot in a door.

And finally, don’t underestimate a power of networking. Networking, networking, and networking!

Even if you don’t like the art exhibited in local galleries, it is still beneficial to visit art show openings and to mingle with gallery owners, curators, artists and other art professionals in your area.

Cynthia Chartiér: Art Has Always Been First For Me

2011-04-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

In the past, I believed it is just a small world. Now I know the Law of Attraction miraculously arranges ‘serendipities,’ ‘coincidences’, and other ‘surprises’ in our lives. One of my biggest revelations about life is that you don’t have to know how you get where you want to be as long as you are actively pursuing your goal. As long as you know your final destination, the events, people and experiences will come to you flawlessly as you release resistance.

Here is an example. When I lived in Dallas last summer, I met Todd Guttmann while I worked at an advertising agency. Even though Todd and I are visual artists, neither me, nor him were doing creative work there. Todd told me about a few of his fellow artists who are well-known in the Dallas art scene. One of them was Susan Sales (you can read my interview with Susan here), and the other person was Cynthia Chartiér.

In September, life brought me back to Austin where I planned to stay happily ever after. However, before I left Dallas, I scouted a gallery district on Dragon Street, looked at the exhibits, and talked to some gallery owners. I especially remembered Samuel Lynne Gallery, a supreme and spacious gallery with beautiful artwork and sculptures. I didn’t have a chance to talk to the owners that day and I left to Austin shortly after. However, the name ‘Cynthia Chartiér appeared again – she was one of exhibiting artists in that gallery.

Don’t ask me why I ended up here, but I am in Dallas again. We were having dinner with my friends, and one of them starts telling me about “this artist, Cynthia Chartiér… who is well-known in Dallas. She also teaches art classes that help ‘non-artists’ to discover their creative genius.” Well, three’s a charm, and I contacted Cynthia right after the dinner.

We met with Cynthia in a coffee-shop in downtown Dallas. She has a calm voice and a beautiful smile. She is very charming in her shyness. I asked Cynthia how she developed her painting style. She said the best way to acquire drawing skills and to develop your style is to start imitating artists you like. When she was starting out, she attended various museums and tried to replicate great masters’ techniques.

She had an art teacher at age eight, Sister Vincent de Paul at Notre Dame Art School and she studied with her all the way through high school. Cynthia still remembers her first lesson with trepidation. “I would never forget my first lesson…She [the teacher] gave me a paper and paints and asked to cover the paper with a paint. I chose this little tiny brush and began to do my little tiny thing in the corner. I was very shy as a child. She took the brush out of my hand and threw it away in a trash basket. She looked at me and said: “My dear, that is not a brush! That is a mouse’s eyebrow. I want you to take this brush and I want you to fill the entire page and I see what you can do.”

I asked Cynthia how she decided to become a visual artist. “I always knew that the only thing I am going to do is becoming an artist. I am very versatile and whatever I can find that is creative I am going to do it at present moment… Until my paintings started selling, I would just get freelance work: I worked in the theater, I painted murals, I freelanced in advertising, I worked in films, I designed flowers... At one point I delivered newspapers: I got up at 3 o’clock in the morning so I can live on the beach and paint during the day… I never worried about that. I always knew it is something I wanna be doing and eventually I will become successful, I just need to move forward and I kept developing my skill, my art and my talent.”

She also shared an intriguing story from her past. A while ago she struggled with smoking: she wanted to quit this worrisome habit but couldn’t. She saw an ad of a hypnotherapist who helped people to overcome addictions. The hypnotherapist helped her to get rid of smoking and soon they became friends. When he heard that Cynthia is a visual artist, they soon made a deal. He would hypnotize her to paint incessantly and would support her financially for one year with an agreement that he will own half of all paintings made that year. The plan worked well: Cynthia recalls that she painted obsessively - she slept three or four hours at night, could skip meals and do nothing but paint. That’s when she honed her artistic style.

Another great story Cynthia shared with me is how to overcome your fear and what to do if you think ‘you made a mistake.’ Thus, when Cynthia was very young she happened to have a memorable and inspirational encounter with Martin Sheen, a famous American actor. Cynthia said, “When I met him he was in the beginning of his career, nobody knew him. I worked as a waitress, my first night and I was terrible at it. I hated it. But I was doing it anyway. I was in between my theater jobs and I met him when he was with his girlfriend. I had two tables that night. The Couple next to them was dressed so beautifully and when I was delivering their plates, my plates crashed on the floor. I was standing there in tears. I was talking to Martin Sheen before that happened. So Martin said, “Cynthia, come here. You know what? You probably made those people feel something good in their lives. You did a good thing.” I always remembered that statement.” Interestingly enough, the story repeated a year later. This time, a friend of Cynthia who performed on the stage with Martin Sheen at the theater where Cynthia worked as scenic artist, accidentally stepped back and fell over. Cynthia repeated the same words that Martin said to her when she worked as a waitress not realizing that he stood behind her. It gave them a good laugh.

Since then, Cynthia adopted a perspective that “there is no such thing as mistake. As long as you try, and as long as you’ve learned from whatever you do, you are going to move forward and it is going to turn out to be better. And you won’t be at the point where you are now unless you made that what you call a ‘mistake.’” Cynthia quoted Thomas Edison, who “never failed once. It just happened to be a 2000-step process” and “we now know one thousand 999 ways not to build a light bulb.”

Right now Cynthia is represented by three galleries: Samuel Lynne Galleries (Dallas, TX), Art on 5th, (Austin, TX), and Connor/Summers Gallery (Newburyport, MA). She is the founder/Artistic Director of Art Class Dallas. Her painting workshops are held at E Gallery Studios and are designed to help people to tap into their creative potential. She says that Reflection Fine Art Gallery, and after that Samuel Lynne Galleries escalated her success, yet “up until that moment it was trial and error, to see what will work.” However, “if you follow your instincts and trust yourself, you will become successful.”

Cynthia believes there were quite a few people who inspired her and helped her to become a professional artist. Thus, she mentioned her sister, Nancy Chartiér who is an actress and acting coach, JD Miller, a good friend, talented artist, and co-founder of Samuel Lynne Galleries, Joe Sigel, Owner of Art on 5th Street Fine Art Contemporary Gallery and Jody Fernandez his Gallery Director, Cym Lowell, a talented writer; Charlene Russell a good friend, and of course her art teacher Vincent de Paul among others.

Richard Gorn: A Burst of Creativity

2011-04-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hello, my fellow artists.
I am very excited to share this interview with you!
This time we had an insightful conversation with Richard Gorn, a versatile artist and a founder of Pop-Gorn ballet.

Richard is based in Kiev, Ukraine. I found one of Richard’s videos on Facebook, checked out his work and became very interested in what he is doing. I found his work refreshing and provocative so I contacted Richard and we scheduled a Skype talk. We covered a lot of topics, from Richard’s childhood ideas and aspirations to his current accomplishments and life philosophy to his future plans.

It is hard to describe everything that Richard does with one word. He is a performer, a dancer, a costume designer, a visual artist and a painter, a showman, a director… This list can go on and on. We agreed that I’ll call him an “artist.” What is the most important is that he is the one who gives a birth to ideas and then brings them to life as they come along.

Richard said, “An idea is a string, and everything else is beads that you put on that string. Every project will come together as long as you have an idea, no matter if you have or have not money or other resources at that point of time.” For example, he told me a story of how a video “Poisoning by constructor” was born. He had an idea in mind. He planned to rent a professional studio, set the lights, acquire expensive video equipment and edit the video using the best available software to implement that idea. However, he suddenly found himself completely broke at that point of time – the money he was making with his performances stopped coming. That day, he even didn’t have food to eat. All Richard had was 400 grivnas (Ukrainian currency, also called “hryvnia”; 400 grivnas is about 50 USD) that he spent on Lego constructor and other necessary expenses for that project. He invited his friends to assist him, set the table in his kitchen, laid a piece of white paper, put a reading lamp as a lighting equipment, and used his old point-and-shoot camera to take snapshots of him consuming Lego pieces. Then, he edited a video on his old laptop using a basic Windows Movie Maker program.

Often, childhood experience has a profound effect on our later life. Richard was a quiet child and has always been painting, cutting paper, and playing with plasticine (similar to an American Play-Doh). He was a shy kid and would rather play by himself on the loft than socializing with other kids. He wasn’t satisfied with the toys he was given in childhood. He couldn’t understand why Soviet toys are so disproportionate. Thus, why a tank toy is smaller than a staffed goat, and why dolls and staffed animals have such big heads? I can relate to his frustration – most Soviet toys indeed were very unattractive (if not creepy), and I didn’t like them either. Therefore, little Richard began to make his own toys. He made an entire paper village with houses and horses. He also became obsessed with making a “notepad animation.” He spent his pocket money on the notepads that had 44 sheets and therefore, 44 frames. Later in his life, he began to experiment with the still frame animation on the computer. He recently realized that his childhood handmade toys, sketches and animated images are now manifested in his creative work.

One of Richard’s aspirations is financial success. He grew up in a relatively well-off family. They had a two-story house and Richard had his own room as a child. In Soviet time it was a luxury (just FYI, what is a norm for an average American kid is still a luxury for an average Russian or Ukrainian child). He got used to nice things and comfortable lifestyle from early on, and it kept him motivated to provide well for himself. Thank God he doesn’t have the non-supportive mentality common for many folks from the former USSR that “a true artist is doomed to be broke.” Richard appreciates beautiful things, good food and comfortable living.

I know many “well-intended” parents define a career path for their kids trying to convert them to lawyers, doctors and engineers. Luckily, Richard’s parents didn’t intervene with his artistic ideas. When he turned 17, he left his parents home and began to provide for himself as a dancer. He was making his own eccentric consumes but he never envisioned costume design as a business that can bring any reasonable income. Then, a few years later, he had a serious health challenge. While he was on tour in Turkey, he had a severe poisoning and was rushed to a hospital in Kiev on the plane. He spent 1.5 months at the hospital and was prohibited to dance for two years. Richard realized that he needs an alternative source of income and ventured a costume atelier. As money began to pour in, he learned that you can make money virtually with anything, as long you love it. He also became a night club director later on and directed numerous show programs in Kiev night clubs. Nevertheless, he has always been attracted to performing, and he eventually founded his own contemporary ballet, Pop-Gorn where he stars as a lead dancer.

I’d been reminded in our conversation that it is extremely beneficial to invest in yourself and to follow your own path. Here is an example from Richard’s life: a few years ago, he sketched a lot of costumes that, surprisingly, nobody wanted to buy. When he’d accumulated a pile of these sketches, Richard decided to make them for his own ballet. These costumes and images became a big hit in a flash. The lesson: if you knock on the door and nobody answers, maybe, it makes sense to build your own house.

Richard believes that people who don’t pursue their passion are simply making excuses. There is always a way to realize what you want if you are motivated. His own story is great evidence to it. Richard is now a very popular figure in Ukraine and is coming to a Russian market and collaborates with many celebrities in Eastern Europe. I wish him and the Pop-Gorn ballet a tremendous expansion and world-wide recognition. I admire his determination and versatile skills, and I am sure he is on the way to a grand success.

Annie Ray: A Life of the Party

2011-03-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

I met Annie Ray over a year ago. It was a fun event – one of my friends had a kickoff party for one of his startups in downtown Austin, TX. Annie installed a fun photo booth at that club and was taking pictures of the guests of the party. I remember it was a lot of fun not because of the pouring alcohol, but because of Annie’s unique ability to open people up and make them laugh. Annie has a precious gift of connecting with people.

When we met with Annie at the local coffee shop in January, she told me a story how everything started. She discovered a talent of a photographer in her Senior year in high school. Her grandfather, who passed away when her dad was twelve, was a professional photographer.Her dad told her stories about her grandpa, but she never had a chance to meet him in person. Nevertheless, inspired by the family history, Annie began to take pictures of her friends and random people on the streets. Sometimes, she would dress her friends up in ridiculous costumes accompanied by a silly makeup. Yet, people’s real personalities were always shining through disguise.

After six months of experimenting with her camera, Annie decided to submit her photographs to a contest at the University of Texas at Austin. To her surprise, she won the first place leaping ahead of 600 contestants.

As many creative people, Annie struggled with a traditional school system. For instance, she suffered greatly with English classes. She was also diagnosed with a learning disability at first grade which simply means that she needed to learn in a different way. Richard Branson, Tom Cruise and many other successful people fulfilled their dreams in spite of the learning disability stigma. So did Annie.

Annie was told at early age that she would never learn a second language. As an old proverb says, never say never. And as Frank Sinatra added, the best revenge is massive success. Annie excelled in many areas including her fluent bi-lingual skills. She now speaks English and Spanish. And her heart nearly missed a beat when she saw the front page of the Austin Statesman with her photographs placed on the Wall of Fame at her middle school to show other kids that they CAN accomplish anything they dreamed of. She believes that “if you work really hard and you can see what you really want, you can make anything happen.” Annie says that her parents were and still are a big inspiration and support for her. Her mom always cheers her up and reminds her to dream big and to overcome her fears.

I was curious to know more about the photo booth project. Many Austinites are now looking forward to the parties where Annie shows up with her camera and props. Annie said that she started her photo booth project about three years ago at the local club during Austin City Limits Festival. At first, it was very intimidating. She went to the party hoping that she didn’t have to do it. Later that night, she became comfortable with taking pictures of people at the party. When she returned home, she thought to herself “This is amazing!” She recognized an opportunity and created a unique niche of capturing cheerful moments and real people being silly at the social events. There are a lot of party photographers but nobody takes portraits like Annie. Even though her images are so contrasted and bright, she does minimal Photoshop processing. She uses the shift lens to focus on people’s faces and also blur the background and edges of the frame.

It is a brilliant model of gaining exposure and driving traffic to a website of a photographer. Hundreds and thousands of people are attending these parties, and everybody sees Annie and her work. Annie usually hands a card with her website after she photographs people. A few days later she uploads the images from the party, and people can save these web-quality silly portraits and share them via social networks. In fact, I’ve seen so many Facebook profiles with Annie’s images that I lost the count. People are welcome to purchase the high quality prints from her website as well.

I asked Annie if she feels that she has become an Austin icon now. She responded that once she saw a TV interview with a famous photographer David LaChapelle who said “Every photo shoot I do I always realize anybody can do that. I am not anybody special.” Annie was deeply impressed by how he sees himself “I think it is such a human thing to say. He is incredible!” Annie said she could relate to LaChapelle’s viewpoint. Her credo and a message to creative folks is “being yourself and being comfortable with what you do and knowing that you are not perfect.”

Manure Grows the Best Flowers: A story of National Geographic Image Collection Photographer Greg Davis

2011-02-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

I met Greg Davis through a mutual friend of ours. My friend promised that I would be bewildered by Greg’s story, and she was right. Greg lost it all before finding his calling. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are in a mood for a fascinating roller coaster tale or need a boost of inspiration, then this story is for you.

Greg was born and raised in a small town in East Texas. When he was in high school, he didn’t really know what he wanted to do with his life. His dad sent him to Baylor University to earn a marketing degree. After college, he started to work in the sales department at Dell, one of the largest computer companies in the world. For over ten years he was selling computers to IT executives using his splendid conversation skills. And then, tragedy hit. In early 2000, Greg lost several family members, was laid off from his job, and soon thereafter, learned that his girlfriend was cheating on him. “I found myself at home, unemployed, brokenhearted, three family members had died and another in a bad shape. I wasn’t doing very well.” It was then that a friend of his called and arranged for a job interview at Compaq, now Hewlett Packard, in Colorado Springs. Two weeks later Greg flew to Colorado for his new position. “It wasn't long after I arrived in Colorado that I was attacked by a gang and nearly killed, which was weird. Colorado…. hippies, snowboarders, peace, love.” He received forty stitches to the ear and neck from a bottle being broken over his head during the attack. Emotionally, he was lost and began to drink.

After a few months, he began dating a young woman who was a Reiki master and massage therapist. A couple of months into the relationship, she offered to give Greg his first massage. He gladly agreed. During the massage Greg felt something unusual: a warm and loving energy that flowed through his body. Greg told me more about his experience, “Never having been aware of what Reiki was, I didn't know what I was experiencing at the time, but it was the most amazing thing I ever felt in my life. I was raised to believe that God sat on a cloud, wore sandals and a robe and judged us. Through this experience, God came down and started living within us, all of us, in all living things. For me it was my spiritual awakening.”

“At that point I hadn't stop drinking. I was still drinking pretty heavily, still running from all of the pain that I was feeling. Brooke [his girlfriend at that time] was in Alcoholic Anonymous and had been sober for seven years. She was attracted to me but at the same time, she was disgusted by me because she saw her old self in me.” One day, his girlfriend eventually said, “Greg, you need to stop and look in the mirror.” Greg: “Without my love and respect for Brooke, I would have said “whatever,” but she had given me this gift of awakening, so I listened and looked in the mirror. I quit drinking in January 2004 for six months and although I still drink, I now drink for different reasons. Back then it was to ease the pain. As soon as I made the decision to get sober, I started to recognized what I call ‘God winks" or coincidences. I started following these my 'God winks' instead of just saying ‘Oh, that's weird, what a coincidence!’ Once I started recognizing them, it was clear to me that I was suppose to quit my job, sell everything and travel the world. So that’s what I did. I had to make a lot of tough choices. I had to give my dog away, (I had raised Lacy since she was seven weeks to a year and a half). There was definitely a sense of anxiety, but you have to trust to what you are being 'told.' It wasn’t clear like ‘Dude, I need you to do these things,’ but I felt that I had gone through so much, that this was a gift to myself. Fortunately, I had no debt, no wife, no children and a little bit of money saved up….I was free to go.”

With $17,000 to survive for a year and a simple point-and-shoot camera, Greg departed for his trip around the world. He spent every dime, came back broke and started all over again. He said that he experienced a big cultural shock upon his arrival to the US. While his peers were having families and a career, he started working as a bartender at a local bar in Austin. In spite of all the difficulties and sacrifices that the bar job entailed, it was during this time that he discovered his photographic talent.

The owner of the bar heard that Greg had just returned from a trip around the world and asked if he had any photographs from the journey that he would like to hang up in the bar. Greg printed a few of his images, placed them in simple frames and hung them on the walls. A week later somebody stole one of those photographs. Greg perceived it as a compliment – jokingly "If it is worthy of stealing, it means that people are interested in my work." He then followed the advice of his new girlfriend and began exploring opportunities to sell his photographs. He discovered an outdoor art market on West 6th in Austin. For twenty five dollars a day he was able to rent a space to exhibit his photos. The first weekend he made about five hundred dollars, the following weekend, a thousand. Soon after, he resigned from his bartending job and began focusing more on his real path, his new life as a photographer.

In four years of consistent networking and interaction with collectors and through exhibiting his work at different art festivals and exhibitions around the nation, he has risen to the level of National Geographic Image Collection Photographer. Greg is now a full time photographer and independent artist.

Greg has exhibited his work at various museums as well as been published internationally in England, the United States, Papua New Guinea, and Mexico. His work has been published by National Geographic.com, PDN Magazine, Professional Photographer Magazine, MSNBC.com, Itchy Feet Magazine, Today's Machining World, Insite Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, and the Austin American Statesman, among others. He is also a founding member of the Austin Center for Photography, a member of the Texas Photographic Society and Professional Photographers of America.

Jett Butler: How to Run a Successful Design Studio

2011-01-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of nice places in Austin. One of them is Malverde, a contemporary bar/club in downtown Austin. They had a grand opening about two years ago, and I have attended the club quite a few times ever since. In fact, I met a lot of great people there, including one of my best friends who organized a kick-off party for one of Austin’s magazines back in the day. Malverde’s branding was designed by FÖDA, a design studio founded by Jett Butler.

I read about Jett and his studio in Austin Magazine. Shortly after, we met at the coffee shop in mid January. Jett has a very charming, soft-spoken manner of carrying a conversation. He later shared that in any business involved personal sales (attention, my dear artists and photographers) you have to be a good psychologist first and listen to your client carefully, picking up all clues, including the client’s word choices. We agreed that there are a lot of talented and skilled creative people around the world, but if these guys don’t learn how to understand the needs of their prospective buyers and don’t master the art of sales, in most cases they are doomed to fail financially.

Jett was born and raised in the USA, but found himself on a freelance assignment in Sweden in 2003. This trip inspired the creation of his studio. FÖDA is a Swedish word that translates to English as “to conceive.” Jett was driven by a desire to treat “architecture as art,” and after spending a few years working for architecture firms he decided he would not achieve his creative goals staying solely in that field.

Jett borrowed money on his credit card to buy a laptop and to print business cards. In the beginning he did a lot of low-paid or free work just to build his portfolio. When he started out, he didn’t know how much to charge for his work. A year later he met with his uncle, a successful entrepreneur who ran a construction business. They had the following conversation. The uncle asked Jett, “What would you like making this year?” Jett gave him his number. His uncle: “Double it!” Jett: “I thought, Ok, I’d be happy with that number. But then we did a math, added taxes and overhead expenses to that number and divided by hours you work per year, and this is your rate.”

Since then, Jett’s studio won numerous awards. He was invited to give lectures at universities across the USA. His work was featured on the cover of ArchiCAD 9, a software package for architects made by Graphisoft.

The best advertising for Jett’s business is word of mouth. Thus, he said that in any client acquisition there is always a triangle: 1) he and his studio – 2) a friend or a past client – 3) a prospective client, referred by the friend or by the existing client. Even though only one or two out of ten meetings turn into a partnership, Jett never misses an opportunity to meet with everyone who expressed interest in his studio.

Another brilliant promotional idea that Jett kindly shared with me was to organize an annual party for all existing clients. Jett hosts a private party once a year at the venue his studio designed and invites all his clients. Clients often bring their friends to the party. Besides cheerful celebration, such event is an avid demonstration of appreciation of Jett’s studio and its work. People see that there are a lot of other distinguished folks who have used FÖDA’s services and are happy with the designs. It also turns into a great networking opportunity for all attendees. Therefore, clients look forward to this annual event.

Jett loves his job and what he does on a daily basis. I asked him whether he sometimes feels overworked: in spite of having a few staff members, he still does all of the sales, runs the business, and serves as creative director and principal designer on most projects. He does feel that sometimes he’d appreciate more rest; yet, Austin is a highly competitive environment and he needs to keep going to retain and expand his business. I wish Jett great success and am looking forward to see his new projects.

Christian Tagliavini: Ritratti Perfetti

2011-01-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

As usual, while looking for some inspiring work online, I found a new gemstone. This time it was Christian Tagliavini and his series of work “1503”. After doing some research on his work and finding his “Dame di Cartone,” “Cromofobia” and “Aspettando Freud,” I couldn’t wait to talk to him! He was also featured in the 500 photographers blog by Pieter Wisse.

I contacted Christian by email and while waiting for his response, I went to Houston, TX for a couple days. I stopped by the Contemporary Museum of Art and guess whose photo was on the spread of the first book I picked at the Museum store? Sure enough, it was Christian’s image of one of his exquisite Damme di Cartone :) I assume the Law of Attraction works…

Christian is an Italian/Swiss graphic designer who currently lives in Switzerland. He does graphic design for a living and makes photography to nourish his soul. He moved to Switzerland because there are more opportunities for his business and life quality.

What is admirable about Christian is his humbleness and determination. He taught himself photography and graphic design. His photographs are unique, eye-catching, and memorable. The quality of his work is amazing, the models are authentic, and the sets are designed and hand-crafted by Christian. Yet, he is extremely modest!

Christian is inspired by and admire the work of great photographers, Luigi Ghirri, Arturo Ghergo, Larry Clark, and Erwin Olaf. He says about his photography, “I'm only a beginner…I see myself as a craftsman and I’m not feeling like an artist.” He made his first photo series in 2006 called “Aspettando Freud” ("Waiting for Freud"). Then, he had a few publications in the “important magazines, two group exhibitions, but the big one [hasn’t arrived] yet.” I noticed that very talented people are often fairly humble and approachable with no shadow of a conceit or arrogance. I was happy to discover that Christian is one of these people.

Christian is aspiring to do commercial work for advertising agencies and to have more presence in galleries.When we chatted about his future plans, he said he would eventually like move to a big city such as New York.

Now it has become my tradition to give some practical tips to creative folks at the end of each post. Here are some ideas from Christian how to recruit models.

Christian has a Casting Call page on his website. I am surprised how very few photographers and figurative artists have this option on their websites. Christian confessed, though, that he receives a lot of submissions from all over the world including the USA, Australia, and many European countries but not much from Switzerland. Therefore, he sometimes approaches people on the street if he believes that people have an interesting appearance. Facebook could be also a nice resource to recruit models (especially, in the USA).

I wish Christian good luck with his new ideas and am looking forward to see his new work.

The Humor and Satire of Andrey Gordeev

2010-12-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

A Cheerful Santa stretched over a billboard. Stalin rising from a coffin. A choir with Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Roman Abramovich, Albert Einstein, and Batman. A mosquito with a condom on his nose… What do these things have in common? All of them were created by Andrey Grodeev.

His exquisite satire and authentic drawing style made me very curious about this visual artist. I sent him an email and we scheduled a skype talk on December 8th. Both of us are originally from Russia, and we chatted in our native language.

Hedge funds

Andrey currently lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand. His clients include Y&R NY, TBWA/RAAD Dubai, Ogilvy Frankfurt, LOWE Viethnam, LOWE Russia, Saatchi&Saatchi Russia, BBDO Columbia, Butter Berlin, GQ Russia, and Newsweek Russia. His work won multiple international awards. Yet, he is a very laid-back, approachable, and friendly guy.

He studied formal drawing and figurative work when he was a student on the Architecture faculty in his home town Khabarovsk. Nevertheless, most of his drawing and computer skills are self-taught. He cultivated his unique style by practicing drawing every night when he would come home from work.

Andrey has always been aspired to do creative and thought-provoking work, and he strived to surround himself with like-minded people. His ideas rarely found support in his home town. He often felt discouraged and misunderstood in his local community. However, as he started to post his work online, websites with his illustrations began to generate hundreds thousands of views in a trice. The internet gave him the right exposure and agencies and clients from all over the world began to offer him contracts. Now he charges thousands of dollars for each gig; yet, he still remembers the time when a hundred bucks felt like a lot of money…

Andrey said that he finally found his passion. He enjoys being an artist and has never regretted about not becoming an architect. Andrey said “It is a tragedy that young people in Russia have to go to college and stick to the chosen career at such young age. When you are seventeen, what have you seen in your life? How do you know what you like and what you want to do in your life? Usually, you are too green to make this kind of decision at that time, and if you want to change your course, you’ll be stigmatized as “a college dropout.” Andrey added, “I enjoy what I do, and I value my freedom. Now I want to see the world and find a place where I feel comfortable and inspired.”

The Charm of Kerstin zu Pan

2010-12-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

When I found Kerstin’s work with white models and rainbow hair on the internet, my first thought was “Wow! This is amazing!” Then I wished I have thought of this idea myself. It was brilliant, beautiful and so well done!

Kerstin is a professional photographer from Berlin. I wrote her an email and we scheduled a Skype talk shortly after. Kerstin charmed me right away.

When Kerstin was a child, everyone was telling her that she was an artist. The artistic vision came naturally to her, and when it was a time to choose college, she picked The Folkwang University of the Arts, one of the best academies for creative folks in Europe. She also studied design in London and Los Angeles.

She started as a painter but when she discovered color photography, she never touched brushes and paints again. She was a rebellious student. Eventually, some professors promised to give her a good grade if she vowed to never touch a camera again. Fortunately, it didn’t happen, and Kerstin has now become an accomplished, internationally-recognized photographer.

Kerstin is one of those rare people who follow their passion. In exchange for such boldness, life lays down lucrative opportunities before people who listen to their guts. Thus, the same professors who criticized her work in the beginning offered her a job before she even graduated college! Since then, Kerstin had been swamped by exciting assignments including advertising gigs, editorial shoots, and international travel.

Speaking about international travel… Kerstin started a series of work called Self Service. She takes a picture of herself wherever she goes while she wears a Dirndl, a traditional October Fest dress. Kerstin joked about October Fest testing my knowledge of German traditions, “It is where half-Australia gets drunk every year in Munich.” Self Service series started as a picture of her in a diving suit and a Dirndl dress in her living room, more as a joke to invite some bavarian friends for a visit.

Then she took a picture with an Elvis impersonator as a joke for a travelmagazine, and the editors liked it so much that they printed it in the magazine. In fact, they were more excited about her picture in October Fest dress than the actual shots for the story. Now she has an ample collection of 75 pictures of Fräulein Zu Pan visiting remote places around the globe. Hopefully, we will see a full collection of her traveling photos in a book some day.

We also discussed a few business questions with Kerstin.

Kerstin has an agent who arranges work for her worldwide. As a truly creative person she admits, “I am not the biggest fan of the business side of my job. I don’t like to sell myself. I like to take pictures.”

I asked Kerstin about her creative process and whether she has a favorite work. She said, “I love and hate them (her photo projects) equally.” She added, “I am a person who tends to see everything in black and white, never grey.” Kerstin also mentioned that she doesn’t like compromises. She is aware that not everyone likes what she is doing: “What kind of nightmare would we live in if everyone had the same taste?”

I asked Kerstin if she ever panicked about the bad economy and potential lack of paid assignments." I know many creative professions are quite vulnerable when the market goes down", Kerstin said, “I had that when I was studying. I think you need to have a positive attitude and I think everything will lead its way. Everything will be fine. There will be times when one feels like shit and nothing will work out, but everything happens for a reason. I have been working for such a long time, and as freaky as it seems sometimes, things happen for a reason. There is no such thing as a mistake. You are just taking a step to another path that leads you somewhere else. I would say for everybody who is in a creative business, don’t panic, just be diligent and follow your gut and passion, and you will be all right. Sometimes, I also have to remind myself of that.”

The Art of Sales from Susan Sales

2010-11-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

On my birthday, November 4th, I received a long-awaited phone call. I had a delightful conversation with Susan Sales, a self-taught painter who began her art career more than 25 years ago with the creation of two hand-painted pillows. Now her works are in corporate and private collections around the world and have adorned the covers of numerous magazines including House Beautiful, DECOR and most recently the 2008 Neiman Marcus Christmas Book.

I was introduced to Susan by Todd Guttman, an artist and my former co-worker at an advertising agency in Dallas. Susan was busy the last couple months getting ready for her show, Big Game, that recently opened at the Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art gallery in Santa Fe.

Her great sense of humor and her cheerful voice made me believe that she is maybe just a little bit older than me. Yet, she has over two decades of experience and can offer lots of helpful advice for aspiring visual artists.

Susan attributes a lot of her success to pure luck and being at the right place at the right time. However, as Donald Trump pointed out, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” I think it is true for everyone. Susan definitely worked hard to make it to the art world. She doesn’t have a formal art education, and it was hard to build connections with the art professionals and galleries. She started her artistic career at 38 years old as a fabric painter. She moved from LA to Santa Fe, a city with over 300 galleries at that time. She opened her first studio near the bakery, and the delicious smell of fresh bread attracted lots of folks as bees to flowers. People randomly popped up at her studio and she was happy to show them her work.

After consistent networking, sending her cards to the galleries and spreading the word about her work in the community, she was offered to exhibit her art at two galleries simultaneously. For example, one of her friends from interior design industry introduced her to a gallery owner. That gallery owner came back a year later and offered her a show. Eventually, Susan chose the gallery that gave her more freedom in creative expression.

After I hung up the phone, I suddenly saw a lot of parallels between Susan’s secrets of success and advices that Donald Trump shared in his book “Think Like a Champion.”

Thus, Donald Trump says “Stay Focused.” Susan mentioned when she moved to Santa Fe and opened her first art studio, she was extremely focused and treated her art as a new full-time job. However, it took her two years to get comfortable with the idea of becoming a full-time artist. She used to work in the real estate development industry during the day and was making art at night. When she moved to Santa Fe, she didn’t kill her days in the café drinking coffee and daydreaming. Instead, she stayed in the studio and experimented with paints. She discovered how to make smooth and shiny surfaces on the paintings, and it became her competitive advantage at that time. In addition, she pointed out that artists should never forget about the value of networking and self-promotion.

She said it is very important to love what you do and being passionate about it. That’s another piece of advice in Trump’s book – you should have a passion. Susan loves the process of working with paint and experimenting with various materials and patterns. We spend at least thirds of our lives working, and if we feel miserable at work, we feel that our lives are miserable too.

She recommends young artists to send their portfolio to the interior designers and to contact real estate developers. Drive around your town and look for rising apartment complexes and business real estate. Then call the developers and ask them about their interior design partners.

Susan said, “I was never shy about painting commissions. People don’t live in a gallery space.” Thus, you need to make your art available to them. Hotels, restaurants, office buildings, and luxury apartment complexes are the great venues to expose masses of people to your art on a consistent basis.

She mentioned that many corporate clients have a budget which is often fairly limited. If they pay too little, but still want the original artwork, you can choose less expensive medium, for example watercolors or gouache on paper. Sometimes, it makes sense to donate artwork to the church or another public institution. It creates goodwill, gives you a great exposure, and some tax benefits. Yet, when you donate the artwork, try to get money back to cover the cost of your materials.

She admitted that the art market nowadays is very different from when she started. It is harder to sell art today. However, you can keep your prices low as a starter, and this becomes your advantage. Many well-established artists struggle with sales now because their prices expected to go up.

If you are worried that there is too much competition among artists, below are the final words from Susan. “Do you know how many people are in the world? Don’t worry about it.” There are millions of people who need to fill out their homes with the artwork and you can always find your niche.

Valery Yershov. Ten years later...

2010-10-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago I read my first issue of Artchronika magazine. I was seventeen years old at that time. There was an article about “Silken Paradise” with a few fine paintings of animals in luxury interiors, palaces, and royal residences. I was captivated by the style, precision of details, rich colors, and, of course, the imagination of the artist who created that artwork.

When I moved to the USA four years ago, I left most of my books and magazines back in Russia including that Artchronika issue. Yet, a few months ago I asked my parents to send me that magazine. I looked up the name of the artist and his latest work online. I found Valery Yershov’s email address and after exchanging with a couple emails, we recently spoke on the phone. I discovered that he was also born in south of Russia – I am from Krasnodar and he is from Essentuki, Stavropolsky krai.

Valery came to the USA in the midst of Perestroyka. He was already a well-known and established artist who had exhibits all over the Europe. He was offered a contact in New York City and had a huge success in America at that time. In early 90-s art dealers were very interested in Russian art. Since then, there were some turbulent times, and Valery told me a few stories about ups and downs in his career. Yet, he has always been a painter and never traded painting for other jobs. His father was a landscape painter who introduced him to the art at early age. Valery received classic training from the Graphic Department of the Leningrad Pedogogical Institute, and I am so happy that his creativity wasn’t killed in the classrooms of a Soviet art institution.

After graduation he moved to Moscow. It was a fun time: many young artists were flocking in a semi-abandoned building, forming a wild, rebellious community. At that time, Valery was a roommate with Marat Gelman, who now owns Guelman's Contemporary Art Gallery and is one of the most famous and successful art dealers in Russia.

One of the highlights of Varely’s career was his participation in Pravda’s extravaganza. In mid 90-s, Valery was a member of Art-Party “Pravda,” a group of progressive Russian artists living in America, and made some provocative sculptures that generated a lot of buzz in the US. He mixed the dough with the clay and used it as a building material, and then painted over it. There were sofas with blankets, Jacuzzis and other objects covered with erotic pictures and sensual ornaments.

His art is currently exhibited in Salamantina Gallery and Barbarian Gallery.

In addition, you can see some of Valery’s recent work in this video.

On my quest of finding the secrets of the most successful and best-selling artists, I couldn’t resist a temptation to discuss with Valery the contemporary art market, its major contributors, and players. I asked what advice he can give to the young aspiring artists starting their career nowadays. Here are a few advices he gave me:

1. Try to catch a new wave. Don’t look at well-established artists. Don’t repeat them. You may borrow the classy style but spice it up with reflections of the contemporary life. A good example would be figurative work by John Currin whose style reminds the work of Velasquez, yet is very modern and fresh. It leads me to the second Valery’s advice.

2. The time of a bare idea or a concept as a sole foundation of an artwork is gone. Technical skills and esthetics gained their value back. Try to create an art that is interesting to scrutinize: with multiple elements and lots of fine details.

3. Incorporate new media in your work: audio, video, and digital. Varery is now experimenting with 3D installations combining his oil paintings with 3D objects and digital multimedia.

I was thinking about our conversation. It is always hard to break through the dogma. Valery admitted that people generally want to buy already established art hoping that when they hang it on the wall, their friends will understand and appreciate their choice. I heard similar comments from the gallery owners when I scouted Dragon street gallery district in Dallas, TX a month earlier. An average American buyer doesn’t want to explain, justify or to be embarrassed by the choice of the artwork when friends and family members visit his or her house.

Therefore, a new artist should try to find people, who can connect with the artist’s fresh idea, and to recognize and help a rising star. As Wilhelm Uhde spotted out Henri Rousseau and Séraphine de Senlis a century ago, there should be art dealers, connoisseurs, and collectors who can escalate your success and multiply your net worth. Search and you shall find; ask, and you shall receive.

Peter Max visits Austin during ACL 2010

2010-10-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Peter Max, a legendary German-born American artist who worked with the Beatles and has painted for six U.S. Presidents, came to Austin, TX this weekend. He made a cover for the Austin Chronicle featuring ACL 2010 festival.
He had a personal art show at Russell Collection, a fine art gallery on West 6th street. I met him there Saturday evening.
Peter, who turns 73 years this month, was very approachable, yet looked a little bit tired. After a short conversation, I asked him what advice he can give to an aspiring artist who wants to achieve the same level of commercial success as he did.

He gave me a couple advices:

Don’t listen to anyone who tells you what to do and how to do it. Do what you want to do, create what feels right to you.

Surround yourself with the people who can help you. You can’t do everything by yourself. The circle is very important. I thought of a saying “If you want to fly with the eagles, don’t swim with the ducks.” Obvious but so true! Another reminder about the power of social connections…

Live Artwork

2010-09-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen these scary movies in which the paintings become alive at night? They talk to each other, terrifying residents of the house. Or, have you seen street performers in Europe, disguised as statues, frightening the life out off wandering tourists?

I was inspired by this concept, and decided to turn to live some of my paintings. In our recent project with Dee Hill, Dallas-based photographer, we recreated the Violet Viola, my water-color artwork I completed years ago.

Mysterious Ray Donley

2009-09-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

In January 2009, while on vacation, I decided to tour galleries on West 6th street in Austin. My first destination was the Russell Collection. I ran into originals of Mark Chagall the moment I entered the gallery. Impressed, I asked the gallery attendant to show me the works of local artists if any represented in the gallery. Ray Donley was the only Austin-based artist shown at the gallery at that point.

We met with Ray at the famous Driskill Bar on the 6ths street. Even if you have no idea what Ray does for a living, you’ll immediately sense his artistic nature. Ray always wears striped vest, black suit and a black hat. He likes to stop by Driskill Bar after a long working day to enjoy a glass of Guiness. He told me he works about twelve hour a day and treats the process of art making as a full-time job and a serious enterprise.

Nowadays, Ray’s work is on demand; galleries across the world compete for his art. His work was featured in the American Arts Quarterly magazine and his work is present in the galleries in the USA, England and Mexico.

Yet, it took years to get to the top. Ray told me about his first show with laughter, “It was in New Orleans in 1994, and it was a disaster – a couple gay guys showed up and talked all night long.” Then, he added, “But you have that feeling that your work is recognized.”

In our conversation, Ray emphasized that it is very important to have a message in your work. Artist needs to communicate something in his or her work. “I always wanted to say something about human condition. Anybody can communicate with another image of a human face.”

Even though, Ray lives in Texas, he refuses to paint bluebonnets and country landscapes. He says, “My art was always European. I want to create a cult audience who wants to own my art not for speculation but who really appreciates it.”

Ray also gave an advice to aspiring artists: “The longer you’ve been around, the better your artwork because you refine your imagery and sense of expression. Usually one’s latest work is better than twenty years ago.” He advised emerging artists to take small steps and increase prices as they gain recognition. “It is important to be consistent with your pricing strategy: price points should be equal across all galleries where your art is present, and, of course, your early collectors want to see appreciation of your art over the years.”

Inconceivable Angeliska Polacheck

2009-08-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is amazing how Spider-Life spins its weirdest web of human connections and coincidences!

You can go to the networking events, vigorously attend museums, exhibitions and charity events and yet don’t find more or less interesting people you’d enjoy talking to for more than five minutes. And then BAM! You meet someone special at the most unexpected place. For example, at the restroom. That’s how I met Angeliska Polacheck, a wonderful artist and a beautiful woman, who turns a daily life into a pure magic.

It was Ray Donley’s art opening at the Russell Collection: people were passing by with arrogant look, emanating pomposity. Ray was running late and while I was waiting for him to congratulate with a wonderful show, I sneaked to the restroom to fix my lipstick. Angeliska was already there, and she asked if I have a safety pin to repair her zipper. It was an immediate click. First of all, both of us looked different from the rest of the crowd. While I was wearing a silk evening dress with green jewelry, she was dressed up in black & creamy white striped costume with a beautiful rosette in her hair. I wish I had a picture from that evening! And secondly, I think any artistic soul will always spot out another artist within a mile. I met Amelia at that event later on, but it is a story for another blog post.

Sometimes I think that Alice left her Wonderland and reincarnated in Angeliska. What I know for sure is that Angel (that’s how friends call her) has an ability to create a fairy tale everywhere. Together with her friends, she started Gadjo Di sco parties a several years ago. She moved back to Austin from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, and became an avid contributor to the piggy bank of Austin Weirdness. Gadjo Disco, vintage parties and extravagant parades is a short list of events where Angel likes to dwell. I heard from our mutual friend that Angel is a great visual artist as well. She hasn’t shown me her paintings yet, and I guess my best discoveries of Angel’s creativity are still to come.

Andy Dooley is coming to Austin!

2009-08-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Andy Dooley, a co-creator of TUT (Totally Unique Thoughts) and a brother of Mike Dooley (“the Secret”) is coming to Austin! Andy is a great comedian and inspirational artist. He is the self proclaimed, "Picasso of Inspirational Art."

He will deliver two different programs: How To Change Your Life Forever In 90 Minutes - a "Spiritual Comedy" and Reclaiming Your Divinity - a day-long workshop to get us back in life's groove!

August 14th, 2009: "Spiritual Comedy"
Friday: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Cost: $25 in advance (kids ages 8-15: $10)

August 15th, 2009: "Reclaiming Your Divinity"
Saturday workshop: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Cost: $89 in advance

Location: Holiday Inn Austin - Town Lake. 20 North IH-35. Austin, TX 78701 .

For more details, click here.

How I met Chris Levack

2009-08-01T15:58:00.001-07:00

I saw a video featuring Chris Levack on the News 8 Austin by a complete accident. I lived happily without a TV set for almost three years, and it has been the most peaceful and tranquil time in my life. I am a firm believer that news, penetrated with the stories of murders, crimes and disasters, ruin our piece and distort the perception of reality. Nevertheless, I was destined to see that news block since it was the first video that popped up on youtube when I typed “austin artist.”

We met with Chris on Wednesday, July 29th. He greeted me with a cheerful smile and open arms at his studio, filled with machinery, tools, metal and wood. Chris Levack is Austin-based artist who created the Pollen Grain and Wigwam sculptures for the Mullen Park in Austin. Lately he was commissioned by the City of Austin to design a public art piece for the skating park. “Of course I always had a dream to leave landmarks, and it is just a beginning,” said Chris. He showed me the skeleton of a giant steel Wave sculpture that he is making for Austin skaters. Even though I never skated in my entire life, I am looking forward to take a slide on this Wave when the sculpture will be installed at the House Park Skate Plaza.

Chris said it took him more than 15 years to get his first piece commissioned by the Panel of Art in Public Places Program. His advice to the young artists craving for recognition and fame: “You can start with smaller gigs first, then work your way along - get your teeth cut.”

To learn more about Chris Levack and his art, go to www.texassculpture.com