Hellion Gallery Grand Opening!

For the last couple months, hubby Matt has been showing artwork from Japanese artists, but it was all just backstock and extra pieces from older shows. Tonight, he has his first 'real' show, with a theme and everything!!
The show is called "Bridge and Bashi" and it features artwork from 8 Portland artists, collaborating with 8 Japanese artists.

Hellion Gallery is located at 323 NW 6th, near Everett Street Lofts, so if you're out and about for the First Thursday art walk, please come by and say HI!

(I'll be in the little gallery in the back, while Matt tends to the big show out front!)

Come see me, why dontcha?

So, hubby Matt decided over the summer that it was time to open his own art gallery, which should be a great help to my 'Art that Makes Me Wanna Write a Book" posts! As you can probably guess, the gallery is focused solely on the Japanese artists he has developed ties with over the last several years.

If you live in Portland, come swing by and see me tonight, at the gallery! He is having a soft opening this month, with pieces from a wide range of his artists (December will be the grand opening, with a show of all new works).
So if you're out and about for the First Thursday art walk in the Pearl, come on by Hellion Gallery! We're at 323 NW 6th, between Everett and Flanders.

And no, I'm totally not getting any writing done tonight....oh well, I'm being inspired by art instead!

Art that Makes Me Wanna Write a Book!

Hello again, here is this weekend's installment of 'art that makes me wanna write a book', even though I didn't get it posted on Saturday.... (houseguests. you know how that goes.)

Anyway, today's art is by one of my favorite Japanese artists, Shohei. I've posted his work before, and talked about his famous animator father, and his colorblindness, and I'm still blown away by the fact that he uses only ball-point pen to draw....

Yah. It's sort of shocking to see someone draw like that with a ball-point pen....

Which leads me to one of my favorite pieces by him: "Ping-Pong Geisha"


I love the movement, the playfulness, the details... She's so modern and so traditional all at the same time. I want to know why she wears sunglasses and who put a lock around her waist. I want to know why she plays ping-pong instead of practicing shamisen or dance. I want to know who the person on the other side of the table is. Maybe she is being controlled by a gangster... maybe she is sick of being a geisha and is breaking free.... So many possibilities and story ideas come to mind!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Recovering from Olympic Fever/ Saturday Art

Sorry I've been away from my blog for a couple of weeks here... I've been suffering from Olympic fever, and have been rabidly following Johnny Weir's great performances (oh, the politics of judged sports! He was robbed....)
Anywho, now that I'm back, it is time for a contest!! The details will be later in this post :-)

Also, starting with this, I'm only going to be posting one art piece. On a rare occasion I may put up more than one, but I've got to be a bit more measured in posting the art, or I might run out!


This piece is an interesting one for several reasons. First, it is a collaborative piece. Naoshi (an artist from Japan) did her work first, and then Martin Ontiveros (a Portland Artist) finished with his painting of the monster. Second, while Martin's part is painted, all the rest of the piece-- the cake-head girl, the background-- is done in colored sand. YEP! Colored sand. It is an old Japanese technique called Suna-e, and if you go to Naoshi's website, she has drawn out a tutorial on how it is done. It makes it seem easy, but really, all those perfect little lines...hard!!!
I love that the piece, being made of sand, is so sparkly that you kind of want to eat it. And I am amazed that Martin could paint his monster so perfectly over the sand, and somehow keep it sparkly too.
Each time I look at the poor cake-headed girl being tickled under the chin by that colorful monster, It seems like the middle of a children's book to me. Kind of like the spot where Red Riding Hood realizes that the wolf is in grandma's clothes.
It is a dangerous scene, where she just might be eaten!

So now, on to the contest!
CONTEST RULES:

1. contest begins now and ends 8AM Pacific, next Saturday.

2. to enter, you have to add a comment on this post.
3. adding a comment on this post= 1 entry
4. being or becoming one of my followers= 2 more entries
5. mentioning and posting a link to this contest on your blog= 3 more entries
6.getting someone else to comment that they followed your link here= 4 more entries for you, 2 more for them

After the contest is closed, I will use the Randomizer thingy online, pick a winner, and post it by 9AM!

Good Luck to all!

Saturday Sculpture!

Today's "art that makes me wanna write a book" is the work of Portland-based artist Brian Elliot . Brian's work is amazing, combining found objects and hand fabricated parts, done with painstaking attention to detail. Much of his work has a sly sense of humor, and all of it seems to have a secret story. You're always left thinking about the piece and its story, which is exactly what I love, and why it fits the theme of my Saturday posts.


Above is a piece from his raygun series (click picture to enlarge). Brian did write out the storyline for this series, but in his talented hands, it leaves me imagining even more.





Currently, I am obsessed with two projects of his.
First up: the" Aries 2010 Time Capsule", which was commisioned by Nike to debut at the 2010 Olympics. It was just installed at the Boardroom Snowboard Shop in Vancouver BC!
I think part of what is so striking to me on this piece is Brian's perfect details. Like the way he took a bright, shiny, 'finished' piece and dented and chipped paint and scuffed and added grease stains, bringing out the sense of time in this time capsule. A lesser artist wouldn't have known to add that layer of complexity, but Brian understands that great art, like a great book, needs that.


The second project is called "Racehopper'. Below is a photo of the almost finished cockpit, and under that is Brian's rendering of what a Racehopper gang would look like!

I can't stop daydreaming about all the stories this grasshopper-shaped vehicle could play a part in.... If I wasn't so far behind on my editing, I would be writing a story involving Racehoppers right now!

In addition to his sculpting work, Brian also worked for two years as a rigger on the Neil Gaiman book-turned-movie, Coraline. In case you missed the movie, it was incredible. Especially so in 3-D. You can see some pictures of Brian at work on Coraline on his website in the current projects section.

Brian Elliot is just dizzingly talented, and never fails to surprise and engage his viewer.

Saturday Art!

In today's edition of "Art That Makes Me Wanna Write A Book", I'd like to introduce all of you to the art of Amy Sol!

Amy is a Korean-American artist, living in Las Vegas, and has deservedly become quite a sought-after artist over the last few years.

The thing that I love most about her pieces is the atmospheric quality. Misty and windy and rainy and moon-lit... I'm instantly transported to the other-world she's created, and always the image haunts me-- like a scene from a long-lost fairy tale.

I love to bask in all the details she paints. They way wind blows through her paintings, how mist turns into giant creatures, even the tiny details like jewelry or freckles. All of it draws me in and sends me right into her daydream!

Sigh...I feel like there is a book in every one of her paintings!
I often check out the gallery on her website for inspiration, and I love her blog to see works in progress-- always interesting when an artist shares their process.

Enjoy!

Art That Makes Me Wanna Write a Book. Also, WINNERS!!

Seriously, I am secret science nerd.
More on this in another post, possibly tomorrow, but today I know what you're really here for...

WINNERS!!!

I popped over to randomizer.org, assigned the 8 contest entrants a number for each entry they had, and out of the 40 numbers assigned, I ended up with 2 winners.
That's right, 2! The gods of Randomizer did something so... random...that I had to take it as a sign. Either that or Randomizer has stalker tendencies, so I'm just gonna back away nicely and let Big R have the two he picked . Of the top 6 numbers, 3 belonged to one person and 3 belonged to another...and they alternated.

So randomizer totally has a stalker crush on:

VALERIE (from Something to Write About )
and
STEPHANIE (from Hatshepsut: The Writing of a Novel )

Congrats you guys! but you might want to make sure your phone numbers are unlisted...
email me at: shop (at) mystudioacorn (dot) com, and tell me which print you want and where to mail it :-)


NOW, ON TO THE ART!
Today's piece is one Matt ended up giving me for my birthday because I love it so much.

It's called Fighting, by Japanese artist Shohei.
Three interesting facts about Shohei:
1. He doesn't use his last name, because his father happens to be uber-famous Japanese animator, Otomo-san, and I assume he'd rather make art without that kind of baggage.
2. He is color-blind, hence the use of black and white, and sometimes a splash of red. His mother told me she noticed the color-blindness when he was a kid-- he pointed to green leaves on a tree and said they were purple!
3. His art is done entirely with a ball-point pen. Let me repeat that. He works entirely in ball-point pen. All that shading, ball-point pen. Seriously. Watch him work on youtube-- it's freaking amazing

Obviously I love this piece, and there are many reasons, but here are the two main things:
First, the two boys make me think of my nephews-- not so much that they get into bloody fistfights with each other, but they are Japanese schoolkids and they wear those cute uniforms and leather backpacks.
Second, it reminds me why I love writing MG and YA. There is such complexity and depth to kids' emotions. Look at all the hurt and rage on those 8 year old faces!
Too often adults write off kids' emotions as simple or not important, as if adults are the only complex ones in the room because they have Responsibilities. How many times have we heard an adult tell an upset kid to just "wait until you're grown-up and have Real Things to worry about"?
I happen to think that adults are waaay more emotionally simple than kids, because they're not in the throes of Figuring Out How The World Works! Remember when you were 8, and still trying to find your place in all that mess, and how to interact with...everything without getting in trouble? And just when you started to think you were in control, hormones wreaked havoc on you and you had to learn everything all over again? Yah. Emotionally speaking, way harder to be a young person. And probably the reason so many people are drawn to MG and YA fiction, because it allows us all to remember and rediscover the incredible rush of all those synapses and neurons making connections.

Did I mention that I'm a secret science nerd?

Yeeehaaaww!! Contest Round-Up

Not sure what has gotten into all of us, but there seems to be Contest Fever going around, and even I caught it on Saturday .

For those of you who haven't caught it yet, your luck just ran out!
Remember when we we little, and a friend came down with chicken pox, and our moms were suddenly very interested in having us go hang out with the pox-y friend?

Well this is just like that.

I care about you, I really do, and I know it's better to catch this thing while it's going around-- it only gets worse if you wait until you're older! I swear, get it over with now, or you'll end up on that Hoarders show, surrounded by stacks of publisher clearing house entry forms...

So enter as many of these contests as you can, and save yourself an ignoble fate.

First up, my Art That Makes Me Wanna Write a Book contest, wherein you have a chance to win a lovely art print for doing something as simple as one comment.

Next, Shannon Messenger has an awesome contest going where you can win 3 signed Lisa Schroeder books, and as a bonus, she will be interviewing Lisa this week too!

Steph Bowe (a YA novelist and real live teenager whose debut book comes out in September!) is running a contest that offers a "first five pages" critique. She's picking at least 5 winners!

Shelli from Market My Words is running a De-lurking Contest and as part of the Comment Challenge going on this month, if you both comment and become one of her followers (or, de-lurking, as Shelli calls it!), she'll put you in a drawing for an author marketing book.

Don't forget Kasie West's First Contest ! A totally hilarious and fun contest where you come up with a good Faerie T-shirt idea, and you can win your choice of the joke t-shirts she has posted. Or if your inner comic just isn't coming through, she'll be randomly drawing a second winner out of the commenters/followers.

NEW ! It looks like the Fever has spread to Carla Gade from Writing to Distraction , where she has started a monthly contest, "A picture worth 1000 words" with a photo as a writing prompt.

Sadly, I missed Natalie Whipple's fun contest to write a story based on one of her drawings, and I also missed Nathan Bransford's contest for The Secret Year, where everyone wrote teenage diary entries....

but anyway, enter plenty, and good luck!

Wait...is that a pox spot I see on your stomach?

New Saturday Feature... with CONTEST!!

This is it! My spectacular new saturday feature called "Art That Makes Me Wanna Write a Book". Spectacular, no?

Ok... how about if I add three awesome pieces of art instead of just one? I mean, I know I blew the surprise a little by putting up a preview on thursday, but still, it IS the first official post...

Oh alright, I'll throw in a contest too. Sheesh. NOW it's made of spectacular.

Contest Rules:

1. contest begins now and ends 8AM Pacific, next Saturday.

2. to enter, you have to add a comment on this post.
3. adding a comment on this post= 1 entry
4. being or becoming one of my followers= 2 more entries
5. mentioning and posting a link to this contest on your blog=

3 more entries
6.getting someone else to comment that they followed your

link here=
4 more entries for you, 2 more for them



Wait, now it's starting to sound like a pyramid scheme! Anyway, I'll close the contest 8AM next Saturday and then at 9AM I'll draw the winner's name from a hat, and announce it along with the satuday feature!

I bet you're wondering by now just what it is the winner wins... See the three art pieces at right? Well the winner gets their choice-- in a print, not the original. When I get published, I'll do a contest with originals to celebrate. Until then, prints!

So now, on to the art!

As I said on thursday's post, I tend to stare at certain art pieces over and over, and I finally realized that it's not just because they're well-made, but because they spark something in my own imagination.

The piece at the top of the post is called "The Journey" by Jen Lobo. The original oil painting is stunning, with incredible depth, not to mention that the wheels are shiny and golden! Every time I look at this, I start daydreaming about Gypsies or circus caravans...except now thanks to Southpaw, I'm worried about what those butterflies are doing. Still, I'm taken with that rhino!

The middle piece is one more by Japanese artist Kana Ohtsuki, and now it seems I can't stop finding pieces with butterflies in strange predicaments... what's going on there? I must have a subconcious desire to write a book with a butterfly villain that Must.Be.Stopped.

The last piece is by another Japanese artist, Ren Sakurai , who also happens to be an insanely talented tattoo artist right here in Portland. My ankle is now very pretty thanks to him! Anyway, his piece titled "Red Dress" (which has no butterflies!) sends me straight into a steampunk type of story. Even though I know it grew from Ren's love of old military stuff, I still look at that dress and the belt around her waist, and suddenly I'm jotting down notes for a steampunk novel!

Which one is your favorite? What stories do you want to write now?

Art That Makes Me Wanna Write a Book

So, I just got back from hubby Matt's monthly art opening (he curates for a gallery in town), and while I was looking at a piece from a previous show, I wondered why it is that certain pieces really grab my attention and make me go back for second or third or tenth looks. What I decided is that I'm drawn to those pieces not only because they are well-made, but because they're just mysterious enough to spark something in my own imagination.

This is the piece I was looking at, "Ayatoriebi" by Japanese artist, Kana Ohtsuki. And now I've gotta know:
Why are those strings interlaced? What's making those bubbles? What is that liquid she's standing in? Why does she have a pair of scissors on her waist? And the shrimp and butterflies...what do they have to do with it?

And then it happens. Suddenly my head is filled with scenes and stories and plot twists based on that one vivid image... which I guess is how I tend to write anyway. I usually get one shining little scene that pops into my head, and then I have to know the rest of the story.

Consider this post a sneak preview, because beginning this Saturday I will be starting a weekly feature about "art that makes me wanna write a book". Each week, I'll post a new piece guaranteed to send someone to daydreamland!

P.S., anybody got an idea about the shrimp? I'm still trying to work out whether it's a villian or a hero...