First Co-op Meeting

Well, the first co-op meeting has come and gone. I had said in my mind, if I can get at least five people to sign on I will make a go of it. As of right now, we have seven. Pretty cool huh? And I just got a phone call this evening about another interested artist.

So far the co-op's members are Jeff Ackman-drawing and stencil design, Erin Eveland-oils and watercolor, Dags Grossman-oils, Mike Cahill-photography, Kenneth Cox-mixed media, Lynn Trone-drawing and myself-tempera and screen printing.

Another meeting will take place in a couple of weeks and we have already begun planning our first show for the first week of December. This show will be a group show that will feature work from all of the founding members. I will keep you posted!

Local Connection - An Artists' Co-op

Well, the letters have been mailed out concerning the creation of an artists' co-op here in Rushville. Here are my thoughts on what this co-op will look like. It is pretty straight forward and requires only a small time and financial commitment. Honestly, the idea of an all in one day show, reception and closing is not original to me. A recent trend with artists (especially ones who do not want to pay for gallery space) has been to re purpose their living spaces for gallery space. The idea of an artist moving all of their furniture and other items out of their apartment and using it for a gallery for an evening is a very cool idea. Wise use of resources. So here it is.

Local Connection - An Artist’s Co-op

Purposes:
-To foster professional, emerging and young artists by providing a space for them to show their work and gain recognition.
-To allow the public to see that the arts are alive in our community and surrounding areas.
-To encourage and support one another in the arts.
-To provide an environment where artists are able to network with other artists as well as patrons of the arts.
-To serve as an information, promotion and education resource for the visual arts and craft community.

Opportunities for Artists:
-Each artist will have the opportunity to be involved in group and individual shows.
-A web presence allowing the work of the co-op’s members to be viewed at any time.
-An opportunity to connect with prospective buyers.
-Demonstrations and Workshops.

Membership:
-The co-op will sponsor a show/exhibit approximately every six weeks -opening, reception and closing all in one night.
-Each show/exhibit will feature one or two members of the co-op.
-Membership fee of $50 annually to cover costs of artists’ shows including refreshments, advertisement etc.
-All members would be invited to participate in an annual group show to be held either in the spring or fall. This show would include live music as well.

Sale of Art work:
-All sales would take place directly between the artist and the buyer. Any sales resulting from artwork displayed at a show would require the artist pay a 20% commission fee to the co-op.
-All commission fees would go directly back into the co-op to be used for co-op related expenses - i.e advertisement, food and beverage for shows, live music at the annual group show, rental space.

Submissions for Membership:
-A prospective member will submit 8-10 works via a portfolio, slides, or other samples of his/her work being approved for membership. Digital format is also acceptable. This could include images on CD or DVD. All work is juried by the current members of the co-op.

Duties of the Co-op’s Members:
-Participation in set up/take down and operation of shows.
-Being a voice for the arts within your community.
-Help with placement of advertisements - posters and in local news publications.
-Attendance and participation in monthly co-op meeting.

This outline along with a letter of invitation to an informational meeting was mailed out to 10 individuals in the Rushville area. I should know by the end of the meeting on the 21 of this month whether or not this co-op is going to take flight or quickly become grounded. I will keep you posted.

A few notes of interest.

This past week has been a bit of a strange one in the Ackman house. Our Great Dane of the last nine and a half years is no longer with us. Christy and I brought Magnus home when he was only 8 weeks old. He had developed some growths in his spleen and lower bowel that were causing problems with his ability to eat and digest food.

We had to make the tough decision to let him go. It was not fun for either of us. You know you have a special pet when your vet cries with you at his passing. When you have a dog that weighs 165 pounds roaming around the house, well lets just say he is hard to miss. Now with him gone, things are a bit out of balance.

On a brighter note, Maguns' buddy Zhang, our 4 year old Pug has kept us more than occupied. They were quite the pair. Magnus, this giant harlequin Great Dane and Zhang a 20 pound Pug. Passers by our home would always seem to get a laugh seeing them together.

I know he is only a dog, but he was part of our family. He will be greatly missed.

Plans are finally underway for an artist co-op here in the big city of Rushville, IL - pop. 3300.
I have come up with a simple, yet solid outline for the co-op. A letter along with the outline will be sent out to those I believe would be interested in becoming involved with this venture. Like I have stated before, this is something I just can't shake. I really see it as something I have to do.

Lots of new sketches for paintings. I can hardly wait to get back to working on them again. The house is almost finished, and my glass work is pretty predictable for the next few months. This means that I can start carving out some time to get back into the studio.

I will do my best to keep you posted.

Onward and Upward,
Jason

Here They Are.

These are the new paintings I have been meaning to post for a while. All of them are based on this abstract idea of a bridge theme. My girls want to play Go Fish, so no time to discuss them right now.

Oward and Upward.

new photos coming soon

not nude photos. NEW photos of some paintings will be posted in the next few days...or so. The paintings are considerably more abstract than my previous work.

They are all of this bridge theme I have been tooling around with.

Installation project.

I have been thinking quite a bit about the idea of doing some type of installation exhibit. I have a couple different ideas rolling around in my brain. I don't want to disclose too much because I want it to be an experience. That may seem weird but I have thought quite a bit about this(being up on scaffolding and ladders for hours at a time allows a guy to think). I am wanting to create something that allows the viewer/participant to be involved in the work.

The ideas I have been thinking of possibly elicit a very deep emotional response from people. I know the ideas have impacted me deeply.

Bridges, backpacks and baggage. That is where all of this stems from. Like I said I don't want to reveal too much. So there you go.

Also been sketching out several different ideas for new paintings and prints. Most of them seem to happen during sermon time on Sunday morning. Now this is nothing against my good friend and preacher, Mike Cahill. No, it is actually quite the opposite. His sermons typically trigger more thoughts than I have time to process.

And this is when my sermon notes become artwork notes and sketches. I suppose we all do that is one way or another depending on a variety of things including our current mood, emotional state, etc. My wife calls this type of thinking "rabbit trailin' ". Kind of like when you are reading something on a web page and the next thing you know you have clicked on a link to another web page. And then you do it again...and again....and again. You get the point. You are far removed from your original web page and the next thing you know you are no longer reading about how to put together the simple bookshelf system you bought at IKEA and now you are reading a blog written by a guy who is really unable to communicate his thoughts in a meaningful way, much less make a lot of sense.

Anyway you get the idea. I will try to keep you posted.

Onward and Upward,
Jason

Too Much....

stuff to do. I know that is truly a news flash for everybody. But that is exactly what is taking place in my day to day life. Art work has been pushed to the back burner for the last few months. Painting my house has consumed a large portion of my time. You may be thinking painting the house, big deal...well it'snot that simple.

I am painting my house because it is covered in lead paint. Yeah!!! Love that lead paint. Such a genius invention, ranks right up there with asbestos insulation. Anyway, wearing a respirator, scraping (not my first choice) priming, painting, clean up...and well lets just say its a slow process.

The option here was to make my own personal artwork or fix my house that has caused one of my children to test high for lead in a recent blood test. Of course, its a no-brainer.

I have been doing my best to protect myself during this process. Needless to say, it is not easy to stay clear of the lead. I have been spraying the house down with water to keep the dust down too.

Anyway...I have still been sketching out ideas for paintings and prints. I will certainly be back to work in a few months.

And to really mix things up a bit more, I am teaching two new classes this year along with the wacked out idea of starting a local art co-op/collective. I was talking to a friend of mine on the local arts council and mentioned the idea of starting a co-op and all my ideas for what I see it becoming and he just says "aren't you getting ready to go back to school?"

Of course I say, its a perfect time to add something else to my day. Well, we will see how it plays out.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Onward and Upward,
Jason