Halfway there

It appears that I’m not so good at blogging.

The artventure however, is going very well.  I’ve been sketching often, every day, and I have around 50 sketches completed so far.  I’ve seen some amazing places on my journey, and I can’t wait to share the sketchbook when it’s all done.  Until then, here is a little preview of a few of the places that I’ve been:

Bright, blue pools at Eureka Springs, Arkansas

I saw the White Sands National Monument and I buried my toes in the sand.

From the top of South Mountain I saw Phoenix, through the smog.

I took in a few Phoenix attractions: hot air balloon tours and Hole in the Rock

It begins… part two?

Day 1 of the Artventure is officially in the books! (intentional pun)

I left home today a little later than planned, about 3:30. I was able to pick up some work in South Dakota and Nebraska so for the next few days the travel route will depend on where my work schedule asks me to go.  This is alright with me – a little extra cash for the Artventure can’t hurt and I’m always a fan of taking new roads that I haven’t had a reason to drive on before.

Today I did a little sketching near Highmore, South Dakota.  For the last ten years I’ve been driving by a large wind farm and the turbines fascinate me.  Each time I see the location I want to sketch there so today, thanks to the Artventure project, I did.

Tomorrow will be a bigger day of driving, and a bigger day of sketching too.  Stay tuned!

Sketching at: Glendalough Minnesota State Park

Hi friends!

I have just 24 hours left in my kickstarter campaign to fund the Artventure.  I’m very happy with the results thus far; the campaign has been funded and I’ve gained about 30 new fans from around the globe.

I’ve also started sketching!  I wanted to post a few photos of my work… remember there are still 24 hours left to buy a sketchbook featuring hundreds of sketches just like these that I will create over the summer.  You can expect to see a wide variety of landscapes, maybe a few portraits, bright colors, social commentary and if I’d had one more day in the canoe you would have seen a Bumblebee Loch Ness Gary Monster.

Did I mention that I was sketching from the canoe?

Okay, now for the sketches.  I plan to go back into a few of them and add more color bursts here and there.

I plan to go back into this one and add greater detail – it works as a sketch but not as a portrait so much. I’m off to Hobby Lobby to buy some colored pens and a few other last minute supplies.  I leave on ‘the big trip’ tomorrow already.. California, here I come!

I’m sure going to miss this Sheldon though..

It Begins..

Last night the Artventure adventure officially began!! I was treated to dinner by my friend Kevin, and his friend Greta, and we met up in Jamestown, North Dakota. I met Kevin a few years ago on the set of Dust of War, and we’ve been facebook friends ever since. Last night we tried conversation, for real.

This meet and greet was not initially part of the Artventure; in fact, we had the idea just a week ago. I was working in my basement on a painting for the Equality House in Topeka, Kansas, and Kevin came to mind. For those of you who are not familiar with the Equality House, here is a blip from their website:

“For too long, the Westboro Baptist Church has been targeting the LGBTQ community with messages of hate and discrimination. To combat their messages of hate and to support equality and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and in our community, Planting Peace has established the Equality House in Topeka, KS.

Located directly across from the Westboro Baptist Church, the House is a symbol of equality, peace, and positive change. The house, which is painted the colors of the Pride flag, will serve as the resource center for all Planting Peace equality and anti-bullying initiatives and will stand as a visual reminder of our commitment, as global citizens, to equality for all.”

I first learned of the Equality House through Kevin and his facebook postings. I loved everything about their mission, from the charitable aspects to the coy imagination of their founder Aaron Jackson, and of course the simplicity of fighting a ‘good’ fight. I’m not involved in the gay rights movement, at all, but I’m drawn to the Equality House. I need to go there to find out why.

If I go there I need to give them a gift, and I thought and thought and finally came up with a painting, Monsters of Equality. Not the greatest of titles but I love the colors, and I hope the House can use it in some way.   

Kevin came into the picture about half way through painting. I kept thinking about him, and the postings that I’ve read about his life on his facebook page. Kevin is gay, and it is not easy to be a gay man in small town North Dakota. I don’t fully comprehend his struggles – I don’t know what gay people go through on a day to day basis because I live in a hole. I’m pretty happy in my hole but out in the world, Kevin is fighting for gay rights on some level each and every day. He only wants to be treated fairly, and respected because he’s a pretty decent guy. Don’t we all?

I contacted Kevin about a week ago and asked if I could donate the Equality painting in his honor. Because of his (facebook) friendship, I’ve been exposed to the day to day life and times of a gay person, something I didn’t have access to as readily before. Of course I know other gay people, but I connect with Kevin on a spiritual level (through facebook), and I feel more clued in to the world than I was a few years ago because of what he has to say.

Kevin was honored to have a painting donated in his name. He suggested we meet up for a photo op; actually he wanted to road trip to Kansas with me to deliver the painting, but since the painting is part of the Artventure project that really wasn’t in the cards. I was happy to meet up with him in Jamestown though, and I got a two for one when introduced to his friend Greta. I enjoy hearing the stories of new friends, and I’m thankful for the evening that we all shared.

I am still not 100% sure why I’m donating a painting to the Equality House – it could be one of those things that just makes sense ‘some day.’ I’d like to meet up with Kevin and Greta again in the fall.. as per usual with interesting friends, one thinks of a hundred questions to ask after the occasion. I asked Kevin if there was anything that he would like me to say to the friends at the Equality House; any special message that he would like for me to deliver.

‘Just keep fighting the good fight’ was his response. ‘Just keep telling the world that God doesn’t hate us; God loves everybody.’ I believe that is true, and after an evening with Kevin, I don’t see how anyone could ‘hate’ him. He seemed like a genuinely loving guy.

Volunteering at…. The Grace Foundation

The Grace Foundation of Northern California is an animal rescue and rehabilitation ranch. They provide critical care for abused and neglected horses, and hold equine therapy programs for young people and adults. They’ve been closed for a short time, but are working to reopen by the fall. I will spend about a week at the Grace Foundation and am looking forward to helping out in any way that I can. Perhaps I can even lend an artistic hand??

The Grace Foundation has made national headlines on a few occasions, and is home to a very famous spokes-pup named Beyonce. Beyonce, or ‘Tiny B’ was born so tiny that she could fit into a spoon. She had no heartbeat, but was resuscitated by her doctor and my cousin Beth. I had the pleasure of meeting Beth and Tiny B last fall, and I can’t wait to work with them again this summer!

Gift Giving Artventure… What is That?

 

Last summer after our annual watercolor sketching class, my friend Joan suggested that I come up with a creative challenge for myself to keep me motivated artistically throughout the year, while I’m living in a geographic location where art is not prominent.  I decided that if I made art for friends of mine who lived far away, I could take the paintings to them and make a vacation out of the delivery during my summer layoff months.

I LOVE making the perfect gift for a friend.  Historically, I make gifts for ‘new friends’ or people who come into my life and have an impact in a big way, if only for a short time.  I think I’m pretty good at making perfect gifts, so I chose some ‘new friends’ from the back log and set out to create a painting that was perfect for them.  

I came up with around 7 friends that I’ll be giving art to.  Most of the gifts are smaller paintings, either done in oil, acrylic or watercolor and taking up to 10 hours each to complete, but one painting is quite large and finishing it seemed to take forever.  In fact, 13 days from the start of the Artventure, I’m still not quite sure if it’s ‘done.’  

Working on these paintings has been such a joy.  It feels so good to create the perfect gift for a friend; if you’ve never done it I would encourage you to try it sometime.  I hope the ‘friends’ that I’ve selected will enjoy receiving their painting as much as I enjoyed making it for them.

The ‘Gift Giving’ was the purpose of the Artventure; then I sprinkled volunteer work in there so I could give a little more.  The Artventure sketchbook is the third and final reason to complete the journey and I can’t wait to capture all that I see, in sketch.  In the future, after the Artventure, I can look forward to creating more art for more new friends that have come from this kickstarter campaign.

Volunteering at… Salvation Mountain

Hi Friends,

I want to tell a little bit about some of the places that I will be visiting and volunteering at during the Artventure.  I’ll start with Salvation Mountain in Niland, California.

Located in the heart of the Imperial Desert on the outskirts of Slab City and just a few miles away from the apocalyptic Salton Sea sits Salvation Mountain, the glorious creation of one Leonard Knight. In the early 1980’s Leonard found himself at this spot and decided to build a small monument to God before continuing on his way. He never left; he stayed there, constructing his mountain for over 20 years.

Leonard is now in a long term care facility by San Diego, but I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly a few years ago. I’ve had a fascination with Salvation Mountain since I first learned of it, and after seeing it in person I feel compelled to return, and to offer my services to help preserve this incredible work of art in any way that I can.

I plan to spend about a week at the mountain, helping out with anything that needs to be done and hopefully getting to paint on the mountain itself. Some people donate money to churches; Salvation Mountain is like the mother church for me. Spending time here working will do wonderful things for my soul.  

Pre-Artventure Mini Artventure!

Yesterday I decided to take the Artventure sketching gear on a trial run.  I had to go to Wyoming anyway, so I took the opportunity to pull off the road and sketch in preparation for my summer. 

The trial run was a success!  I completed 5 sketches and covered 300 miles with scheduled stops.  I realized a few miscellaneous supplies that will need to be picked up between here and the Artventure, but I’m almost ready to roll!

I decided to detour to Devils Tower since it was only 42 miles out of my way.  Above you’ll see my first glimpse of Devils Tower in the misty rainy fog, and below, I got a little closer.

Wyoming is so beautiful, and I wanted to stop to sketch every time the scenery changed.  I was seeing red rock canyons, and then a few miles later I was into purple and blue sage and cattle grazing on the open range.  I even found myself in oil country on the way back home.  

So that was my yesterday… it was pretty great!  After such a successful trial run, I am even more looking forward to getting on the road for real. 

In Business

Last night I ordered business cards to promote the Artventure.  What do you think of the design?

What am I doing?

Today is Day Two of the Kickstarter campaign.  I decided to try to post a link to my project on every craigslist in the nation.  I’m not sure if that’s something to be proud of or a thing to hide, but I got through California and then took a nap.  I’m a little more proud of that actually… posting on every craigslist in the nation seems like it could be a crapshoot and a real waste of time.

When I woke up, there was a message in my inbox from a Kickstarter social media promotor… so I’m now in the process of deciding if I should purchase a ‘package’ to promote my project in better ways than I can do on my own.  I’m probably going to give it a go.  I might lose $60, but I could gain viewers and if I don’t try I will never know.

 

What Am I Doing?

So what am I doing, what is this project, and what is all this for?  For over a year I’ve been watching my artist friend Joan initiate and complete creative challenges with her artist friends via facebook.  When I told her that I sometimes had a hard time finding a reason to make art, she encouraged me to try a creative challenge of my own.

I decided to make art for friends of mine who lived far away, and then I’d deliver the paintings to them during my summer layoff.  I chose places to do volunteer work at along the way, and tried to squeeze in as many off the wall tourist attractions as I could find.  There are things I’ve always wanted to attempt to do, like skateboarding, surfing; I might take a music lesson…

The last and only two attempts at sailing have been cut short; third time’s a charm?

So I filled my summer with all these things, jam packed in between camping and the Heartless Bastards concert in Fargo.  I named it my Volunteer Road Trip Gift-Giving Artventure and I started finalizing the details.  I’ll be away from home for 45 days which probably won’t even phase me… but I was afraid that I would be doing so many activities that I would somehow ‘miss’ them all.  Like, I would blink and summer would be over, and I would have photographs but fuzzy memories.  

There was another thing that was bothering me about the Artventure.  Summer is for sketching – make art while the sun shines, right?  I didn’t want to spend my whole summer on the road, in the car, and not have time to paint.  I need to keep moving if I want to complete all my goals, but I can’t see all of these unique locations and not paint them.  I decided that I could maybe keep a sketchbook… and do a few quick sketches every day or something.

If you’ve ever attended watercolor class with me, you probably know that speed is not my forte.  My ‘quick’ sketches take two hours, although I think I’ve trimmed that down considerably in the last few years.  I went out to my Dad’s farm, my go to when I’m home, and I tried ‘quick sketching.’  For real this time.

I got a few things that I was pretty happy with, and then a few things that I was really happy with.  Hooray!  I did the same thing every night for a week, and soon I had an idea.  Why not share my summer sketches with the whole world?

 

What am I doing?

My Artventure sketchbook project launched on Kickstarter on May 15 at 10 a.m.  Here is a link if you haven’t seen it:  

 Basically, I’m offering an opportunity to buy the sketchbook that I produce over the summer, and I’ll use the proceeds to fund my summer trip.  I DON’T want this to be a ‘friends give me money’ type of thing, but it’s probably going to start out that way.  I really want people to like my sketches, and I think people do like my sketches, so it’s time I shared them with the world.

 

What am I doing?

I’m learning as I go.