04/11

Have several projects going on - mainly been setting up ways to promote and sell my work on different sites including:

• Tumblr: http://becklane.tumblr.com/
• Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/becklane42
• and, although we set up a Facebook page dedicated to the show, I have a newery new solo show page set up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.101832766565384.3677.100002159828818&type=3#!/pages/Beck-Lane-Living-in-a-Culture-of-Disregard/117743535024871

Posters/prints of paintings are available Etsy, fuller descriptions of the work and my intents behind the different pieces on Tumblr and Facebook.

Okey dokey, back to work.

"I am" - 04/09/12

"I am" is the 2nd painting hung in my one man show at the ReBar gallery space, the Walkway, in Brooklyn NY.

"I am" is my personal favorite in the show. I have 3 absolute favorite paintings but "I am" reflects a part of me I often times can't  recognize....maybe because I'm not good at holding myself in a still, stern, quiet, dignity filled stance like the subject of "I am".

The subject of "I am" came from an apparent WWII, black and white photograph of a woman standing on her porch in her Japanese kimono. Her head is up, her chin chutted out as she stares down the photographer daring him to capture who she is. I fell in love with her stance and aggressive chin jut. In our new world full of Snookies, talentless celebs and screaming super hype - I find painting people who have quiet inner power a complete relief. Like so many people in my portrait-ish paintings her gaze demands that we recognize her. While I was painting her I imagined her saying in a deep, soft, firm voice: "I am. I AM. I am and I will have your acknowledgement and respect."

"I am" hanging 2nd to last at the far end of the wall.

"I am" on the Walkway wall.

Maybelle - 04/08

I think I'm going to duplicate a project we have going on on Facebook here on the blog - I know some readers don't subscribe to FB but may fidn the project interesting.

On Facebook we have a page dedicated to the show - it's an "events" page. In theis case the "event' is writing about the work in the show - we're picking a painting a day and doing a short, descriptive essay on it. Yesterday's featured FB painting was "Maybelle" a 36" x 48" oil on acrylic and aerosol with oil pastel portrait of a woman in a garden. She's surrounded by (primarily) indistinguishable fern and  energetic chaos. I fell in love with a small, found, blakc and white photo of this woman because of the way she holds her torso - in the photo, she's a slight woman whith an extreme curve in her back. I gave my Maybelle a bit more beef, browner hair, and a face with weight. My Maybelle is a solid woman, not very cautious in her nature, unafraid BUT she has one slightly bruised and swollen eye. Her name is  a contradiction of who she is - she is neither a May(be) or a Belle - she is a solid force to be considered. Like all my people she has her own character building stories that was can feel seeping out her pores. She completely embodies the theme of my portraits "Ick ben heir (I am here) and living in YOUR culture of disregard.

"Maybelle" is hanging way down the wall on your left.

 There she is....hanging under a light switch!

"Maybelle" as photographed by Fall River photographer Chuck Pappas.  12" x 18" color prints, made with Sarah at Just In Advertising in New Bedford MA, of Chuck's photo are available for $20 each. Email me at: becklane@ymail.com to order.

If you'd like to follow the FB event page directly go to: http://www.facebook.com/events/265209666906081/

Jeepers - one month later so much has happened!

I can't belive it but the show is up, we had our opening and I haven't posted a single thing on my blog. Sorry!

And today I have to get going but I promise to start posting again. However, if you want a quick look at stuff that's happened please visit the following links:
Kickstarter: http://kck.st/xcgP15

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/265209666906081/  - the"Culture of Disregard" event page. We're featuring a painting or print a day on this page. The pics are accompanied by a short essay describing the work and the thinking or intent behind it.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Beck-Lane-Artist/100002159828818 - my Beck Lane, artist page

Will post more asap....promise.

Concentrating.....hahahaha.

03/18 - Last day of Kick campaign

Well, we reached my goal but there's still about 8 hours to go. If you've thought about funding the project but have been on the fence please watch my last Kick vid update - there is a twist:

http://youtu.be/YMPUzeWzWJ4


Whether you pledge $5, $10, $25 or $1,000 - your help is appreciated.

Okay, back to work. So much to do before delivery in 13 days!

03/13 - Kicks

Only 5 days left so if you haven't checked out my Kickstarter page please do so:

As of today my Kick project is 42% funded I have a ways more to go and every dollar will make a difference in how successful my show ends up being. The costs of printing, producing, designing, the supplies, the hardware involved in hanging the work, etc has taken this venture into completely overwhelming territory.

So, please be a part of making this show a success - like, share and or pledge. There are rewards for every level of pledging whether it's $5, $10, $25 or more. A $25 pledge will garner a limited edition, hand pulled silk screen print and more.
Check out the project, project updates, videos and rewards on

Kickstarter:   http://kck.st/xcgP15

03/12 - Print-o-liscious

Been working my butt off printing silk screen illustrations at AS220 in preparation for my upcoming NY show. The opening is April 5th, work has to be delivered March 31st and we hang on the 1st....can't believe it's almost time. Can't believe I've been working 4 months, almost non stop, to produce work for the show and here we are! Yow!

If you don't know, getting my work in a NY gallery was my primary goal for 2011. My entire focus for 2011 was working towards having the necessary materials to approach galleries in the big city, In the end, I was invited to have my own one man show.

However, the costs of the show have mounted so, 3 weeks ago, I turned to Kickstarter for help -  Kickstarter is a web site where people who have creative projects can appeal to the general public for financial support. Although a large number of people with projects apply to Kickstarter, not everyone is granted the right to post their projects and campaign for financial pledges. There is a vetting process but if your project is accepted you can post a profile with videos, updates and links that will help you reach out to other people who will then (hopefully) help you reach your stated goal.

I posted my Kick project on Feb 17 and with the stated goal of $2,500 - I've gotten people to invest in my project (the last leg of getting the NY show done and delivered) but I  need more Kickvestors to succeed and I only have till Sunday March 18th before my Kick campaign is done. I've posted where I can - I've got posters up from Brookline to Brooklyn, my FB friends are receiving almost daily reminders, there's this blog (....which I've kinda been neglecting lately in lieu of working on work...sorry), and I chat it up with people wherever I go. I've gotten some really great comments, emails and messages from people but I still have a ways to go to have my project fully funded. Yeh, it's embarrassing and frustrating to have to keep asking but there we are - when you need help you gotta keep asking for help till you find it.

As of right now, my Kick project is 41% funded, I only have $1,055 to go BUT, and there is a but, if I don't reach that goal by 5:00 (???) March 18th I don't receive any funding at all. None. The investors accounts aren't charged for the pledges they made to my project and I don't receive any funding. However, if we reach or exceed my goal by Sunday I receive all the funding and I can breath a little easier.

I've spent a tremendous amount of money over the last year getting things in place before I could even approach people about being considered for a NY gallery. Once I was booked for this one man at ReBar I got straight to work but have spent a huge amount of money getting work done. At this point, I'm down to the nubbins trying to make sure I get all the printing done and mounted, finishing up my paintings, getting the paintings ready to hang, and then there's the cost in delivering all the work and the 4 trips involved with the show. This venture entailed expenses beyond anythign I could have foreseen so I'm asking for support.

To view my Kick project page, see an outline of the expenditures, visit links, pics of the work being done, more videos and to get more info on the show and project visit:
http://kck.st/xcgP15 - like, share, register and pledge!

To view a video update on my Kickstarter project go to: ttp://youtu.be/Pedjv25M0gA
Finally, I'm really, really proud of the silk screen work I've been building for the show - I've been playing with layers of colors, mediums, old silk screens and text to create the looks I  wanted. My prints start off as pen and ink drawings, are transferred onto clear acetate but fun for me starts with the backgrounds - I love added and taking away the backgrounds with water and mediums to produce an old tyme photograph feel. A lot of what I've been doing has been experimental but I've had a number of experienced printers, at AS220 print shop studios, asking me what I use to achieve the effects I've been able to produce. Their support of my work has been extremely flattering.

Here are a view images of the work I've been printing for the show:

"Family portrait"

"Out"

"Fleeting" - 2 panel version

"The weight of my sister" - the idea is based on a black and white painting I did a few years ago by the same name. I feel our relationships, whether familial or thru community, are a responsibility we're given. How we handle that responsibility has consequences. 

"Ich nich nichts. Ich ben heir, mit ihen" Translation:
"I am not nothing. I am here with you" OR "I am not nothing with you. I am here"

"Madame seated" - this is one of several portraits I've done of Madame Soong May-ling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soong_May-ling. I've been obsessed with depicting her face since I first saw it as a child. The background is made of a mixture of colors with iridescent silver paint - streaks and splotches and bubbles in the ink make the print exactly what I want it to be!

Okay back to work.....

03/05 - Tryin'

So, I went to Brooklyn the pother day to work on finalizing a few things to do with the show, walked out feeling confident but very quickly lost my giddiness - I dropped my camera, water the waterfront area near Water Street, and bustled the lens. Seems small but things have gotten so tight I don't think I can get another one. Need the camera...need to record the work so I can post it online on my various blogs and networking sites including FB and Kickstarter or I can't promote my show and garner support - a camera used to be an option but now it's an essential. I gotta find a solution....soon.  everytime I look at y broken camera I think "nah, you're not really boken. I can fix you. Just haven't figued out how yet!" But it is very, very broken.

On the upside, I'm working as much as I can to get the prints together. I spend approx. 5-8 hours a day, 4-5 days a week printing out silk screen illustrations. My head, however, won't let the work I've done go - it's always looking for a way to improve what's been done...which is good. The process can also stymie my ability to work on new stuff which then gets me feeling like I'm not moving forward, which then triggers my OCD and depression which then leaves me to believe that everyone knows I'm not doing my best and am headed towards complete failure. Lately, it's been hard keeping my head from going downt that road. A small set back, like the broken Fuji, can get me spiraling. I gotta figure out the camera situation - I have to have recorded proof that I'm making progresss.

I'm tryin' here. I'm really tryin' to stay on schedule - I've only got 10 more days left to work on the print project so .... get up, get moving.

02/29 - Over the river and to New Bedford and then off to New York we go...

This afternoon I head to NY for first Thursday gallery night in DUMBO http://www.facebook.com/DumboCulture411, to meet with the curator of my show (CAM http://www.craiganthonymiller.com/) in the first of several trips leading up to my show opening next month. I can't believe it's almost here! 

Have a lot to do today (pick up prints at Just In Advertising, pick up paintings at storage and Muse Studios, drop off work at UGLY, get my hair cut, come back to Prov. pack, make veg juice, etc ) but before I go I want to post the print I made yesterday. I'm incredibly proud of this one:

Do to the nature of silk screen, each print is it's own individual work.

Please note: Prints of this work are available as part of several pledge/investment packages in Kickstarter thru March 18th, 2012: http://kck.st/xcgP15

Okay - gotta go!

02/27 - Just got photos back from photographer

Took some work to my portfolio photographer Chuck Pappas and I'm really excited. Chuck knows how to make the colors in my work POP! His work is incredible - I'd be sunk without him.

As a reminder - copies of the work are available as part of the rewards program for investors on my Kickstarter page: http://kck.st/xcgP15. However, both prints and the original works will be available at my one man show this April at ReBar, 145 Front Street, Brooklyn.

"Stay out of the pool" - oil on acrylic and aerosol, chalk and oil crayon on 4' x 5' canvas $4,800

"

"Un simple soldat" - oil on acrylic, pencil, marker and oil crayon on 4' x 4' masonite $3,400

"Waiting" - oil on acrylic and aerosol, oil pastel, chalk and pencil on (one of a two panel piece) 3' x 5' canvas. Price to be determined.

"Men in bear suits, men in jail" - oil on acrylic, and oil pastel on canvas 16" (?) x 24" (?). $850

02/27 - A little worn down

A bit exhausted but have to keep working....just posted my 5th blog update on Kickstarter http://kck.st/xcgP15 - I'm really excited I get to start working on my new brochere and having posters/color prints of my work made because my photographer just called to say "I'm all done!". I'm also psyched bc I have 9 Kickvestors - 20 days to go and the project is 18% funded!

Have tyo go showere and get to the photog's studio but here's some picks of silk screen work I've been printing and reworking at AS220 this last week:

I've added, in pencil, the title:  "My toe points me in the appropriate direction" up the side of the print. 

Title - "Private property: Not for use without expressed permission from owner"

"Un bridled enthusiam" and "Pride. I am a man" drying on the rack.

"Ek het ongebreidelde entoesiasme wat nie verlore

gaan, maak nie saak wat jy doen vir my" ( I have unbridled enthusiam, that cannot be lost, no matter what you do to me)

"My toe" on black

"Pride: I am a man, I am here, I am here. And everyday I earn my place" - finally fini!

Untitled for now. Working on appropriate text - they are boys who dug for coal during the depression. Rethinking the print though....it needs a little brown...

1/2 of "Waiting" - just like the oil painting, the print "Waiting" is a 2 panel.

2nd 1/2 of "Waiting"

Oh, so tired but off we go to get on with the projects of the day....

02/21 Tuesday at AS220

So, after doing repair on a damaged canvas I headed off to AS220. Only got one piece done but for the show and as a Kickstarter reward but there we are...

And the base illustration for a print tomorrow (below):

"My toe points me in the appropriate direction"

This work, like all the work I'm doing right now, is for both New York and in prperation for Kickstarter pledge rewards. To help support my one man show in New york this April please go to:  http://kck.st/xcgP15  and pledge. Whether it's a $5 pledge or a $500 pledge every penny will help me reach my goal and every donation has it's rewards...!

02/21 - more work on Kickstarter

Yesterday I put together a video - I think it would take maybe an hour....2 1/2 hours later and I have a video. Will have to try again but at least I have a start:

 http://kck.st/xcgP15
I also learend how to make a QR for the Kick page, which'll be made into stickers and posted around town....so much work!!!!

02/21 - Is it today already?

Although I don't really take a "day off" I'm still dissapointed that my work week has started again. I'd really appreciate having more time ot get things done....

Yesterday, Tues. the 20th, I lost most of the day making a vid for Kickstarter and then, at the end of the day, had a catastrophe happen. One of my paintings fell over, hit the back of a chair and suffered a huge rip in the canvas - it's one of the best paintings I've ever produced so I'm devasted but I'm hoping my efforts to repair the damage will pay off.

This is the 2nd time I've done this portrait and, although this one is MUCH larger than the first and has a completely different feel, the 2nd portrait has been damaged and in the exact same spot as the first, however, I'm not just going to throw the work away this time. This time I'm going to use patience, diligence, a little bit of know how and some welcome advice to repair the piece..... before falling into complete dispair and ripping it off the stretcher.

I feel like I spend 1/2 my time fixing mistakes and redoing work that should have been done right the first time - I hate wasting time. Hopefully I'll find my rhythm today - I'm headed to AS220 this afternoon to print two designs and emboss some already printed silk screen illustration. Fingers crossed that today will go smoothly......and focus, focus.

To see my Kickstarter vid, read about my Kick project and to review rewards for investing in my project please go to: goo.gl/Xzj7p

Okay off we go to try again.

02/19 Sunday - paintings

My focus is the production of 18 or so prints right now but before I head out to the printshop, everday, I spend my some time working on the production of paintings. This is what I've been up to the last few mornings:

 "Where he is eaten" is a piece I developed a couple of summers ago. I kinda loved it, kinda thought it was what I wanted it to be but after I pulled it out of storage the other day I saw how raw it really is and knew exactly what I could do to make him come alive.

The colours are pushing the image and emotions ( his sadnes, his disappointment) out - it's popped.

"Un simple soldat" is based on a picture of a young Russian soldier during WWII. He's always felt a little off to me, not quite finished but having time away from him has given me the clarity to know what has to be done to make him a completed piece -  I smoothed out some spaces that have bothered me, added text and NOW I  painting I wanted.

If Google translation is correct the text should read:

       " Alone in my sorrow, alone in war, my heart does not feel my mother's heart"

"Madame" is a portrait of Madame Chiang Kai- shek a key figure in recent Chinese history. I've been a little obsessed with her face since I first saw it as a child.

Detail of "Madame" so far.

All the work posted is being created for my one man show coming up in Brooklyn this April. For further information on the show, my progress, my plans, how you can help and more  -follow me on Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/becklaneartist/beck-lane-artist-taking-my-work-to-ny?ref=email

02/19 Sunday

So tired and so much work to get done but here's pics of what I've been up to at the AS220  Printshop http://www.as220.org/printshop/ the last few days:

Prepping paper

Blocking out 3 images to print out one color layer at a time

Work on the drying racks. Printed illusrtation of a young girl ( design is untitled as of yet) waiting for the last color while the cscreen for "Pride", on the right, is prepped and ready to go. 

"Pride", on the right, underway

Was going to add one more colour but I'm going to leave it the way it is. I like her delicate resignation.

The colours for "Pride", like most of the colours in all of my work, were a fluke - unplanned, last minute and random in choice but I like them. 

His face is more sinister than I wanted but I'm going to leave him be, let him be who he is - I enjoy accidents. There's magic in the boo boos and people have reacted well to him.

"Pirde" drying, "My pet" being printed.

The bottom grey coat of "My pet" is a silver colour. I grabbed a container of what I thought was white off the AS220 shared inks shelf, started mixing and got a silvery tone. Shocked me at first but I really like. 

The work is sitting and drying - Sunday I'm going to try to emboss them with doilies and other shapes. They feel finished but I want to take my work one step further and make it totally tight.