:(

So, it's 4:22 and guess where we should be... at an art show!

We were supposed to be going to a cool art night at a coffee shop in Riverview, FL (30 mins SE of us) and were really looking forward to it, but my car battery officially bit the dust. We tried for 20 mins to get it to start, but nothing. It's going to start at 5 and there's no way we'll make it now. Bummer!

I had been working my butt off too trying to get everything ready for it!

~Joe

Tampa Museum Of Art Gig

I had a request this weekend to create a piece for a one-night show at the Tampa Museum of Art. This will be the first time one of my papercuts has been shown at a large museum! The show is called "Kick Start My Art" and features vintage scooters (vespas) and related art. I met a great couple, Suzie and Chad, at the Tampa Artist Emporium where Chad displays some of his awesome art a few feet from my display. They liked my style and medium and thought I'd be a good fit for the show they were curating. I already have an idea in mind for the design and I really can't wait to work on it. Need to finish another piece first, but there's plenty of time.

Show info:

Kick Start My Art

Friday, July 18

8-11pm

Tampa Museum of Art (Interum location)

Sponsered by Starbucks

http://www.myspace.com/kickstartmyart

Featured at Florida Craftsmen!!!

Hi everyone,

This past saturday was really rough- I had a confrontation with a fellow artist at the Saturday Art Market who accused me of taking his spot (had no idea), then the first person to come to my display called my work "boring", "static", and declared that I "must not be able to make a living from this" and "the only people who would ever buy them would have to really like traditional stuff". Yeah, my work is SO traditional. If by traditional she means a traditional art form, then yes, papercutting is old... but so is painting...and sculpture, and drawing, and and and. My work is nothing like traditional papercutting! Anyway, the final straw was that half my display blew over breaking one piece (not damaging the papercut fortunately) and doing some nasty damage to my largest and most expensive piece's frame (which the display fell on). Going to need to replace both frames, but at least the cuttings survived and the nice UV protection glass on the large lighthouse piece remained intact. I called it quits for the day an hour into the show because I just didn't want to put up with it any more. I mean, that all happed in two hours, what else could happen?

I went to the Craftsmen Gallery, where my work was supposed to be hung by then, and to my surprise and delight after the rough morning, all four pieces were up and actually very prominently placed behind the register in the center of the gallery. I actually saw my pieces when I first entered the place and thought "oh, look they put up new stuff behind the register" before it really hit me that they were mostly my work:).

I took a REALLY crappy picture with my cell phone. The woman on the left (standing in front of my piece Iris) was really nice and is the assistant manager or something for the gallery. There is a huge glare, but the other three pieces are Brooklyn Bridge, Segrada Familia, and Chrysler. The place looks really empty in the photo, but there are tons of amazing pieces there (see photo Jen posted below).

Just Imagine...

This is just too much fun! According to a survey that we conducted recently, most people were interested in hanging one of our framed papercuttings in their living room. Sooo... Here's your chance to see how they would look in "your" livingroom!
These pictures are setups used by Pottery Barn to show off their new Benjamin Moore paint colors (something else that we love) but they do a great job of showing how well these black and white originals match any existing decor! Too bad Pottery Barn doesn't really use our art for their photos- anyone know a rep. who'd be interested? (just kidding...)

Even when I start getting a little careless with my photoshop-ing you still can get the idea. They really do go with everything. I speak too from personal experience, since we've moved several times, and always have them hanging in our apartment (in Augusta Maine, Boston MA, and Tampa FL).

If there's anywhere else you'd like to see them (some people said bathroom...?? You realize it's paper though, right? sounds soggy...) just let me know and I'll throw another picture up so you can see.

From the Archive

Just ran across this photo of Joe at work. Had to share! I love these pictures (not just becuase I took them...) because they make being an artist look so funky and cool. I wish I was that funky! I wish I was that cool! At any rate, I thought they'd be fun to share: it'll probably be as close as we get to an actual self portrait.

Also it's cool to see him actually cutting out all those pieces. Lots of people ask how he does it- almost like they don't believe that its' really cut from paper. People call them prints all the time. But no, they are each cut by hand. All of those tiny tiny pieces. All of that time. Crazy Joe!

New Website

So now for the big reveal! Ok, maybe it's not that big of a reveal, but I did just want to mention that Joe's been working on getting the website up to speed. There's a new format that makes it more fun to browse around and looks a little more graphically interesting than the last website.

*****
New Website Link
*****


We're still going to add some links, Joe's bio, contact info, a pricelist, and a fairly detailed descirption of what papercutting is. If you guys think of anything else to add just let us know!

Personally I love the color choices Joe used- those deep yet warm colors that you'd love to have in your bedroom or living room. Very calming, but still moving. Does that make sense?

Completed

The final installment of our Work in Progress Series, this is the framed, completed piece, now titled "Scroll" and listed on Etsy. Hope you enjoyed seeing the process from start to finish.

Here's a brief recap:

Gallery Number TWO!!

We are delighted to share that Joe's work was just accepted into a second gallery! His work has been on display at the Tampa Artist Emporium in Downtown Tampa, and now it will be on display at the Downtown St. Petersburg Florida Craftsmen Gallery!
Here is a description of the gallery provided on their website:

"Florida Craftsmen, Inc. is Florida’s only state-wide non-profit organization representing thousands of Florida’s established and emerging fine craft artists. For fifty three years Florida Craftsmen has advanced and celebrate Florida’s fine crafts, in St. Petersburg and around the State, through exhibitions, workshops and educational programs. Our mission is to empower the artists, enrich the community and engage the next generation. We are Florida’s most important destination and primary authority for fine crafts. "

Joe's work will be available inside the retail gallery, for sale all through the week. Here is a sneak peak of the inside of the gallery

Follow Up

Remember that picture we showed last week of Joe's sketches for a new piece? Here are some photos of it completely cut out with his new swivel X-acto knife.



Now we just have to frame it and we'll be ready to go

Mark your calendars!

Tampa Artist Emporium April Art Mixer

Our Hyde Park Village gallery is welcoming 15 new artists with a special reception April 12 from 5-9.

Join us for $5.00 photo shoots with Photographer Deborah Muller and a complimentary wine bar.

The event also introduces our new Charity Wall, this month featuring artwork by disabled men and women from the MacDonald Training Center, Inc. All Charity Wall art sale proceeds go directly to the partner charity.

When: Saturday, April 12, 2008 5pm-9pm
Where: Tampa Artist Emporium
Hyde Park Village
(Across from Restaurant BT)
1618 Snow Ave
Tampa, FL 33606
(813) 254-3443