Inside Out Inspiration with Coffee

Inside Out Inspiration

Sit with a good cup of coffee in the early morning and notice the world.... just think... what you could do

Sitting on the back porch, in the early morning sun, Hawaiian Macadamia Nut with a shot of espresso in my cup; the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing; the dogs are playing when I notice the lawn is long and weedy after the showers of a few days ago. A lone squirrel scampers across the yard, the dogs bark and chase, the washing machine a distant whirring, my easel stands at attention beckoning me.

Pieces of bark, used guitar strings, record player parts, blown out tires and a long plank of plywood; inspire me. Perhaps, I could assemble them into something interesting, something pretty and new; thinking about what I can do. Another sip of coffee, it’s a great brew; with fresh cream and a touch of Splenda, too.

An assemblage piece of art... that's in my heart... oh yes, it's a good start... (left dangling, on purpose)

Yours truly,

Jean Bourque

4/24/11

This was in my draft box and I thought okay it was spring when I wrote it... but that's okay, you can just picture it being early spring...

Call For Sculptors, Opportunity

Sculptors Opportunity

Title: Kissimmee Sculpture Experience

Description: The purpose of the Kissimmee Sculpture Experience is to promote and market Historic Downtown Kissimmee as an up and coming art and cultural destination by displaying original sculptures around Downtown Kissimmee in the form of a walking tour. This event promotes awareness of the arts by giving people, who would not normally have access to a museum, an opportunity to view and appreciate art. As part of the Sculpture Experience, Kissimmee Main Street, which is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization, will actively promote the sale of all sculptures on display. We have created a comprehensive strategy to market the Sculpture Experience that utilizes brochures, newspapers, radio, magazine and internet advertising. This gives each artist excellent exposure to potential proprietors taking the walking tour. We also host and end of the year gala to present the artists awards, and two Sip n Stroll events per year where we invite the public to take a walking guided tour, stopping at each sculpture. All submissions will be juried by an expert panel for acceptance and chosen sculptures will be eligible for cash awards such as Best of Show, People’s Choice and others. Qualifications: This event is open to all artists from across North America. Submissions must be suitable for extended outdoor display. The deadline for entries is September 1st 2011 and placement of sculptures will begin on October 22 and 23. How to Apply: To submit an entry please visit www.kissimmeemainstreet.com and download our call to artists form, or email us at nthalmueller@kissimmeemainstreet.com and we will send the form directly to you. The form is to be printed and sent to 421 Broadway Kissimmee FL 34741 along with a $35 entry fee, resume, a short description of the sculpture, and 3 color photographs of the proposed entry.

Do you love Mark Twain; Call for Writers

Call for Submissions
for Spring/Summer 2011 Issue (Vol. 2, No. 1)

The Village Pariah, a bi-annual literary journal sponsored by the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum, is accepting submissions for its second issue. We publish poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, and other works inspired by the writings and life of Mark Twain, his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, the Mississippi River, the Midwest, and small town or rural life in America.

Our theme for this issue is: TRAVEL. In Tom Sawyer Abroad Huck said, "I have found out there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." Sound familiar? Send us your travel memoirs and miseries in prose, fiction, poetry, or journal format. You might also find some inspiration in Twain's words from The Innocents Abroad: "Travel is fatal to bigotry, prejudice, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad wholesome charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Each issue will also include an introductory essay by an established author, poet, artist, songwriter, etc who speaks of Twain’s influence on his or her art or life. We welcome writings from established writers, as well as those who are new and unpublished.

Electronic submissions only. Please limit poetry to five poems and prose to 3000 words. Entries should be sent as a Word document in an email attachment. Please include name, contact information, and a short bio along with your submission. Our reading period is now open and entries will be accepted untilAugust 1, 2011.

All proceeds from the journal go to support the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum.

How "The Artist Way" became my Way of Life!

About...

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

This is the book that made Ms. Cameron famous. She has written many since, which I have listed on this blog so you can check those out as well. Her suggestion that we write morning pages and make an art date weekly has proven to be great advice in my life and I am sure many other artists will agree. Several years ago a local art therapist sponsored a group in West Columbia for artists and others to explore "The Artist's Way". As a member of that group, along with my peers we explored many issues a visual artist faces.

We wrote morning pages...

For those of you that do not know what morning pages are, I will explain in my own words. Every morning when you get up before you do anything else, take a few minutes and your notebook or your laptop and start writing. It's like downloading your thoughts without editing.

You do this everyday and within a month, you will notice your art improving and your thoughts are clearer.

We had weekly art dates...

Think about art, write about art and be active in your art community, attend art functions, research galleries, museum, art history, art quotes and learn more about your favorite artists.

I made a commitment to do this and every week, I do at least one art date. These are things like going to the art supply store not just to pick up supplies, but to learn about new products and see ways old products can be used. Going to art events with other artists and connecting, not just to say hello but to discuss art materials, shows, what we are working on and ideas for future shows. Taking an art class, your never too old or too experienced to learn something new. Become a life long art student and your art will never stagnate and you will never stare at the blank page and not be inspired.

By being involved in that group, it showed me the importance of the art experiences I have already had and how I can best serve my fellow artists, especially new artists or returning artists. I volunteered with several artists to assist them in organizing and hanging their first shows. I set up art shows for myself and helped other artists get art shows. Two shows I set up were 2 person shows featuring myself and one other artist. I also helped several artists set up blogs and websites. Often times, I invited others to paint with me.

Now, we truly have the art world at our fingertips. Here on the internet, we can find just about any type of art and actually see and study art from all over the world. This is a wonderful time to be a visual artist as we can show our art world wide by doing research on the Internet to see where our art fits best. You may not have to ship the art anywhere, just post away on various art sites and set up a blog for your own art world.

I hope everyone has a creative streak this week and let it flow! Keep your brushes wet and have fun!

Yours Truly,

Jean Bourque

Photo: "Poker face" by c Jean Bourque

Artist Opportunity for 2012 Accepting entries now

Theme for THE CHARLATAN INK ART PRIZE 2012 for the visual arts is:

'The Emperor's New Clothes'

1.) Awarded annually to the best visual art work produced by an artist during the 24 months preceding the 29th of February 2012 entry closing date.

Value: US$ 25,000. (non-acquisitive)
Medium: oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, sculpture, photography, installations, animation and video-installations.
Other information: Art works submitted for the Charlatan Ink Art Prize must conform to each year’s specified theme. Artists may interpret the theme in any way that fits with their art practices, however the theme has to be visually present within all artistic interpretations.

Art works must be entered via the electronic ENTRY FORM (Conceptual Artists, Video Installation, All other mediums). Download CHARLATAN INK ART PRIZE 2012 rules & regulations guideline form for reference
2.) Entries for the 2011 Charlatan Ink Art Prize will open on July 1st 2011 and stay open until the 29th of February 2012. An US$ 50.00 (including TAX) handling + administration fee has to be paid for each work entered. Two works can only be entered in each year’s competition. An individual work may not be submitted more than once. Should this occur, the Charlatan Ink Partners reserve the right to disqualify the entry.

3.) There is a size restriction for works in the Charlatan Ink Art Prize competition. Two dimensional works must be no larger in size than 22 500 square cm/3 488 square inch (eg 1.5m x 1.5m or 4.921ft x 4.921ft etc). This applies also to the overall size of multi-panel pieces. Sculptures cannot exceed 3 meters/9.843ft in height, 2 square meters/21.53 square foot in area or 1000kg/2205lb in weight. Please note that the average wall height in exhibition spaces is 3.4 meters, floor to ceiling.
Video clips, animation can't exceed 5 minutes in length.

Paintings, drawings and mural project entries (mosaics, reliefs etc) must be suitably framed for handling. A stretched canvas is considered framed. Please remove any hooks or wire, as they can damage other artists' work.

4.) Neither Charlatan Ink LLC nor the exhibiting Gallery/Exhibition Space will be responsible for loss or damage whatsoever, and however caused, to any work whilst in its custody. Each competitor is responsible for maintaining his/her own insurance coverage. Neither Charlatan Ink LLC nor the exhibiting Gallery/Exhibition Space will be responsible for the costs of transport of entered art works. Each competitor is responsible for organizing his/her own transport arrangements.

5.) Charlatan Ink LLC reserves the right to display certain works from those hung in the Charlatan Ink Art Prize Exhibition at another venue. Charlatan Ink LLC reserves the right to publish any works deemed to be outstanding for the promotion of the Prize in any available public publications or on any other media organizations, like TV etc.

6.) Multi-panel pieces are accepted and are regarded as one work. Such works should be accompanied by a photo of the assembled work and clear instructions for the installation of the work if selected for the Finalist’s Show in 2012. The overall size of the work must comply with condition 3 above..

7.) The Charlatan Ink Art Prize is judged by seven International Peers from the World of the Visual Arts. All entries received by the specified closing date and in accord with the terms of the prize, will be accepted, numbered and stored electronically as jpg. and pdf. files in Charlatan Ink LLC’s website prior to judging. Pre-elimination will be done from the closure of entry to the 15th of April 2012. 100 artists’ works will be pre-selected to be Semi-finalists and will be displayed on Charlatan Ink’s website.

Announcement of Finalists (25 artists) will be posted on www.charlatanink.com on the 15th of July 2012 and be published in the ‘NEW YORK TIMES’ and ‘THE TIMES.’

The International Judging Panel will judge via the Internet the Finalists and will do so totally independently from each other, assuring that no favorable collusion towards a single individual's work can occur. Judges will judge on a point-scale and the work with the highest number of points will be declared the winning entry. Once judgment has been made it will be final.

Call to Artists $5k in prize money DL 7/31

Call to artists

Southern Appalachian Artist Guild Annual National Juried Show

National Juried Show sponsored by the Southern Appalachian Artist Guild, juried by Asheville, NC gallery owner John Cram. Blue Ridge, GA is located in the beautiful north Georgia mountains. The show will run in the peak visitor months of October and November attracting interest from the surrounding metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Asheville, Chattanooga and Knoxville. Art works selected by the juror will be displayed in the Richard Low Evans Gallery of the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association, Blue Ridge, Georgia.

$5000 in prize money will be awarded.

Juror: John Cram has pursued his dream for the past 35 years through four distinctive galleries in the Asheville, NC area. Blue Spiral 1, New Morning Gallery, Bellagio and Bellagio Everyday have paced the recognition of Asheville as a vital center of the arts. Mr. Cram’s name is synonymous with Asheville’s renaissance. His eye for art is unquestioned and apparent in his galleries and in the vision in the Asheville art scene.

Show Dates: October 15 - November 12, 2011

Eligibility Artists who are residents of the United States are invited to participate in a juried exhibition of two-dimensional and three-dimensional works. Artwork will be chosen from submitted entries by the juror on the basis of creative excellence and quality of execution. All works must be original and completed within the last 2 years. The Guild will be the final authority on eligibility and acceptability for exhibition. Works to be hung must be wired and ready for hanging with all necessary hardware in place. No modifications to prepare a piece for exhibition will be done by the Guild or Art Center.

MEDIA CATEGORIES -All paint and sculpture mediums accepted including photography, computer art, drawing, colored pencils, pen and ink; excluding all prints.

 Photography framed, either white or dark matting.  Computer art framed, if on paper, either white or dark matting.  All Other: including drawing, color pencil, pen and ink. 2-D work normally framed under glass: glass acceptable on hand-delivered items; Plexiglas only on shipped artwork. Matting must be white (a colored inner liner is acceptable).

Size Requirements All 2-D work must be no larger than 48” by 48” including frame. Sculptures and other 3-dimensional art may not exceed 60” vertical and 30” horizontal, or weigh more than 50 pounds.

Deadline for Entries: July 31, 2011 Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association

420 West Main St. Blue Ridge, GA 30513 706-632-2144 blueridgearts@gmail.com

For prospective and further info :

http://blueridgearts.net/Documents/Prospectus2011%20Show%20color.pdf

Artists Wanted Show at Edward Hopper House NY

CALL FOR ARTISTS

A 40th Anniversary “Year of Edward Hopper” Presentation

Small Matters of Great Importance: Interior/Exterior
Exhibition Dates: September 22 – November 13, 2011

Edward Hopper House Art Center welcomes applicants to its 18th annual Small Matters of Great Importance national juried exhibition, held in two gallery rooms of Edward Hopper’s birthplace and childhood home. The exhibition celebrates small works that make big statements despite their size.

Jurors: Avis Berman & Elizabeth Thompson Colleary
Art historian Avis Berman is the author of “Edward Hopper’s New York” and many other books and articles on American art. She wrote the catalogue essay for Edward Hopper, Prelude: The Nyack Years at Edward Hopper House. Elizabeth Thompson Colleary is a Hopper Scholar and Curator of Edward Hopper, Prelude: The Nyack Years and is currently writing books on Josephine Nivison Hopper and the Hoppers’ two-artist marriage.

Eligibility: Open to all artists 18 and over and all media, including drawing, painting, photography, prints, mixed media, collage, computer art, video, wall relief, and sculpture. Artwork must not exceed 12” x 12” (or 144” square inches) including frame. All work submitted must have been executed within the past two years and not previously shown at Hopper House.

Judging Criteria: In celebration of our 40th Anniversary “Year of Edward Hopper,” the theme for this year’s Small Matters show is “Interior/Exterior.” That interplay is frequently represented in Hopper’s art, whether it is physical spaces or psychological states. As Hopper said “Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.” We are looking for work that explores the interior/exterior relationship in an original way, through whatever means of expression you find relevant.

Selections will be made per artist (rather than individual works of art); so all entries should be cohesive and express a discernable creative sensibility specific to that artist. Selections will be made based on interpretation of theme, technique, and originality.

Submissions: Each artist should submit at least three but no more than five entries. Only online entries submitted through www.onlinejuriedshows.com will be accepted. The submission deadline is August 8, 2011.

Please click on Image Prep in the navigation menu to review how to properly size your images. Your images should be 1920pixels @72dpi on the longest side. It should be a JPEG.

Call Erich Neubert of Online Juried Shows at 949-287-8645 if you need help with the submission process. Artists will be notified of their status via e-mail. Please addinfo@OnlineJuriedShows.com to your Safe Senders List to ensure email notification.

Fees and payment: A non-refundable fee is due upon submission. For Hopper House members: $30 for first THREE entries, $4.00 for each additional entry (maximum five entries total). Non-members: $35.00 for first THREE entries; $5.00 for each additional entry (up to five entries total).

Awards: $500 Award for Excellence plus additional cash and other prizes to be awarded.

Publicity: Entry into this exhibition constitutes artist’s permission to reproduce work for publicity purposes, both in print and digital form.

Liability and Sales: Hopper House will observe every care and precaution, but cannot be responsible for loss or damage of accepted artworks. Accepted artists must contract with Hopper House agreeing to exhibition terms including, but not limited to, installation schedule and liability waiver. Executive Director reserves the right to reject work not satisfactorily represented by the images submitted, not properly framed, or artwork that arrives in a condition not suitable for hanging. Artists are responsible for shipping or delivery. Detailed instructions will be provided after notification. Edward Hopper House shall receive 35% commission on any art sold from the premises.

Calendar:
Submission deadline: August 8, 2011
Notification to artists: August 15, 2011
Delivery of work: September 18, 3-5 pm & September 19, 10 am - 5 pm
Opening reception: September 24, 5-7 pm
Work pickup: November 13, 3-5 pm & November 14, 12-5 pm

Please feel free to contact Hopper House with any questions you may have. Thank you

EDWARD HOPPER HOUSE ART CENTER | 82 N Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960
845.358.0774 |info@hopperhouse.org | www.edwardhopperhouse.org

Artists Wanted for SoftCanvas

Upcoming Art show taking submissions....

Black, White, and Definitely Gray”. Define what this means to you!

SoftCanvas is hosting an online curated art show. A website is highly suggested for submission.

They will link your site, so customer can contact you directly. SoftCanvas doesn't take any commission. Only a select number of artists will be selected for the show. However, every artist that submits to the show will be included.

Send your images in jpg, at least 400 x 400 pixels, file cannot be larger than 1MB.

The website you send can be a blog page or part of another art site or your own professionally designed site. No limits on type of work sent or who can enter.

Cost to submit up to 5 works is only $11. up to ten images for $15.

For more details and to get your artwork submitted, click the following link

or just go to SoftCanvas.com.

http://softcanvas.com/?page_id=118

Traditional Portrait Artists Wanted Columbia, SC

The Cultural Council is partnering with the Capital City Club on a Governors Portrait program. Please read the attached press release. The Club is seeking a “traditional” portrait artist to paint a work of 4 feet by seven feet plus/minus that will show the four SC Governors since 1988. Governors Beasley, Hodges, Sanford and Haley in a group setting most likely around a desk. The Club commissioned a large oil (artist name of Gorki –before my time) that depicted the 8 living ex-Governors at that time.

Interested artists should email me one (1) image that represents their portrait work plus a short bio. A Capital City Club jury will select 4-6 artists to visit the club, view the existing portrait, and discuss the project. The jury will then select one artist to complete the portrait. If you are interested email Andy Witt of the Cultural Council, no later than Aug. 1, 2011.

andy@getcultured.org or at andy@smartarts.info

Cultural Council of Richlandand Lexington Counties

803-231-3131

Painted three nights in a row to Live Music

LIVE MUSIC PAINTING

I painted three nights in a row and the first two nights sold the art. I didn’t have a camera or a photographer of my own any of these nights and as far as I can tell no one has posted any photos of any of this weekend’s artwork. The first night’s painting was at Tapp's Art Center during the First Thursday event to Lauren Streeter and Michael Mahoney live. I named it “Lauren Sings” and this is pictured above and is on deposit. The second night, I sold on the spot so do not have a photo at all. The new owners agreed to email me a picture, but so far that has not happened. I named that one "Cherry" and I painted it to the DUBA Band.

Last night, late night at the Art Bar, I did one of the best paintings of my career judging by viewer reaction. It is a brightly colored piece and I had several people make offers and received many compliments! The Jackaroe band that I started the painting to finished their gig before the painting was done and lucky for me Jennifer McCallister and Michael Mahoney of the Stillhouse band were playing next and agreed to let me continue painting through out their set. Just minutes before their set ended I finished it! Several people really want it especially the Jackaroe band and I really want them to have it. Since I didn’t have a photographer last night, I was happy to take it home so I could document it’s existence. Based on discussions at the Art Bar with various people, this piece will be gone soon.

I may even do prints on that one, since it was so well received.

much love and peace....

yours truly,

Jean Bourque

artsails1@aol.com