ART ATTACK 2013

“The word 'museum' gets its origin from the Greek word “mouseion,” meaning “seat of the muses.” It originated as a place to discuss philosophy, mathematics, science, and politics.”

(Wish I could remember where I found this quote.)

  Art Attack (location, dates & hours below) is a lot of fun. Who knows? You just might find yourself discussing philosophy, art, books, et al. We’re a diverse collection of artists, and the folks who visit our building are even more so.
  What’s new this year? Glad you asked. A few months ago, in a rare moment of cleaning, I came across the catalog I bought at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum  in Taos.
Her in-depth and thoughtful renderings of flowers, combined with the botanical watercolor classes I’ve been taking, inspired me to try my hand at flowers in oil. (That would be painting them in oils...not dipping them in WD40.) The result is a series I’m calling “Georgia On My Mind: An Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe.” (Ya gotta have a title, right?)
  You'll find me and gallery mate Darrell Hagan in Gallery 427. (Take the elevator near Dock 6.)
  Also new this year -- Sun Gallery (Studio 451, just down the hallway from me)  plans to become exclusively an online store. All items in the store will be reduced by 15% to 70% for this sale. They will continue to offer Chinese art and antiques and consultant services.  The Sun Gallery is as close to going through a Chinese museum -- in China! -- as you’re likely to get. This is an amazing place!

ART ATTACK

NORTHRUP KING BLDG

1500 JACKSON ST., N.E.

MPLS., MN 55413

FRI., NOV. 1   5:00 -  10:00 PM

SAT., NOV. 2   NOON - 8:00 PM

SUN., NOV. 3   NOON - 5:00 PM

ART ATTACK 2012

The Northrup King Building celebrates

15th annual Art Attack

Over 200 artists working in nearly every art medium

open their private studios for this weekend long event.

This year the artists are joined by

REwork Participatory Art Projects.

Featuring a truly unique art experience.

~ Explore hibernation positions 

~ See your dreams performed

~ Draw a real/fake figure model

~ Eat dessert with art loving strangers in another city

~ And more!  

FREE EVENT, FREE PARKING

for more info go to

www.northrupkingbuilding.com

AVOIDANCE AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Into the Woods
5" x 5"
acrylic on canvas
$125 framed

I wrote on October 2 about artist collaborations and the first of a monthly meeting with travel and food writer and old friend Donna Tabbert Long. That first meeting set a fire under my (fill in the blank). I hung one show and submitted a proposal for another. I finished six small acrylics. I sketched a thumbnail for a graphite drawing of milkweed pods. I’m close to completion of two spirit houses. (More on these later...maybe.) My gallery is ready for this weekend’s big art crawl. What I didn’t complete was my assignment: to write about my creative process.

The backstory: As Donna and I talked, it became clear that our creative processes needed more structure. Past experience told us that committing to 25 pages a day (Donna) or a painting a week (me) would get us nowhere. Nope...we needed something more tangible, more concrete. Donna’s assignment for me: To write about my painting process.

And thereby lies the irony. I discovered that I get a lot done when I’m avoiding the one thing I’m supposed to do. So, while I completed more work in a month than I usually accomplish in half a year, I avoided the “gotta do” -- write about my creative process in order to understand it better. Oh. I just did that, didn’t I? Clever sneaky Donna! I think I owe her a cappuccino.

ART ATTACK 2011

"International Harvester"

acrylic on canvas
5" x 5"
framed $125
unframed $85

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., in “Strength to Love,” 1963.

I smile every time I read this quote. I’m hardly capable of saving humanity but I sure do feel “creatively maladjusted,” especially when I head to my studio, a place where an ADD specialist would find a enough material for a PhD. thesis. I’ve finally decided to ignore other people’s urgings that I stick to one voice/one medium -- and the work I’ve done over the past several months reflects this joyful rebellion. The result? Glad you asked. I’ve continued with the hands portraits...but nothing’s finished yet. The botanical watercolors have morphed into ink and oil monoprints. I’ve fallen in love with something called “spirit houses.“ I hope to have a couple of ‘em ready for November’s Art Attack (see below). What is finished is a series of framed 5” x 5” acrylics that are really cool, if I do say so myself. If you're thinking about holiday gifts, you might want to consider a gift of art. I'm offering gift certificates in any amount to be redeemed by the recipient whenever he/she gets around to it. You'll find 3" x 4" prints on miniature easels ($12), oils in the same size on easels ($25), framed and unframed watercolors ($45 - $75), framed acrylics ($125), and unframed oils ($400 - $600).
ART ATTACK The Northrup King Building http://www.northrupkingbuilding.com
200 artists, one location
NOVEMBER 4 5:00 - 10:00 pm
NOVEMBER 5 noon - 8:00 pm
NOVEMBER 6 noon - 5:00 pm
You’ll find me and studio mate Darrell Hagan in #427. We’d love to see you!

ART ATTACK 2010

NORTHRUP KING BUILDING
NOVEMBER 5 5:00pm - 10:00 PM
NOVEMBER 6 noon - 8:00 PM
NOVEMBER 7 noon - 5:00 PM
1500 Jackson St., N.E. Minneapolis, MN 55413
CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

November is comin' on fast and so is Art Attack, when the 200+ artists, clothing and furniture designers, photographers, and sculptors in the Northrup King Building open their studio doors to visitors and collectors alike. There'll be lots going on. I'm excited about what the Northeast Journal called "The Chamber of Steel. "Windowless Studio 459 is wall-to-wall galvanized steel...the perfect place for a huge magnetic poetry gig. According to Gregory J. Scott, Northeast Journal reporter, "...Minneapolis resident and wordsmith Dave Kapell spent a recent afternoon slapping hundreds of oversized word magnets on the chamber's cold sporadically mineral-stained walls. Kapell invented magnetic poetry--well, as much as one can invent the process of cutting up phrases in order trorearrange their words...." After you've placed your creative writing on the wall (or just enjoyed the random thoughts of others), wander down to the gallery (studio 332) where you’ll enjoy “The Nature of Ice.” This multi-artist exhibition captures the ephemeral beauty of ice in nature will be on display the entire weekend. The gallery is only a few steps away from Studio 343 where studio mates Loretta Bebeau (works on sheet rock) and Gloria Cooper (Hebrew script in acrylics) and I would love to see you and to have you see our work. I'm moving away from the hands I’ve been painting for three years and into botanical water colors. I’ve also created a lot more of my miniatures in oil. These little gems, none larger than 3" x 4", come with a wooden easel. They make great hostess gifts and stocking stuffers. And at $25 each, they're also a great way to start your own gallery of orginal art at minimal investment.