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:
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| "Family portrait" |
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| "Out" |
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| "Fleeting" - 2 panel version |
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| "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. |
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"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" |
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| "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! |
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Okay back to work..... |
