If You Ask Me How My Diet Is Going...

I'll kick you in your teef.

Support Women Artists.......NOW!

Ahhhhhhh! I just spent 24 hours working on my website. I actually worked so long in front of the computer that I got leg cramps that were as bad as the ones I got during my flight to Tokyo. But here it is: The new and improved version, ready just in time for SWAN day. Never heard of SWAN day? Here, I stole this text from their website:

SWAN Day/Support Women Artists Now Day is a new international holiday that celebrates women artists. It is an annual event taking place on the last Saturday of Women’s History Month (March).

Please join us for the Second International SWAN Day on Saturday, March 28, 2009.
By focusing attention on the work of women artists, SWAN Day helps people imagine what the world might be like if women’s art and perspectives were fully integrated into all of our lives.

To check-out what events are in your area you can go to the Events Map thingy. They even have an International Event listing. Oh, Oh, Oh and take a wild freakin’ guess at what country is curiously missing from the global list of events. Hmmm. I might just do one myself next year to save face. Jeez.

So, since there are no SWAN day events to go to I’m heading over to Art Metz to check out some art. If you re-call, Art Metz is the annual art fair that I was in last year. It was great, but it was a lot of work and I decided that I just didn’t want to do it this year. I am however looking forward to checking out other artist’s work. French artists are crap when it comes to marketing their work. There. I said it. So, we’ll see how many cold shoulders and snubs we manage during the opening night.

*rolling eyes and pretending to be a snotty french swan*

And The Winner Is…

Jess, from Southbend, Indiana, USA…come on down! You are the winner of a new car a lovely art print. (Y0u gotta love a girl who wears rainbow colored toe socks with her flip flops and then says: “Don’t hate.”) Jess, please e-mail me at madamek at ymail dot com (not geee mail) and I’ll ship you your artwork on the double!

For those of you who posted but didn’t win, have no fear. I have a bit of a consolation prize for you. I’ve set up a small on-line shop for all of my works on paper. At my In Studio Store you can see more works from the “Fly Away” series. There are about 20 prints available in total. Also, over the next few days or so I’ll be posting other works on paper there too. Most of the artworks are small mixed-media paintings on paper like this one:

Fly Away Home #10, 2008. Mixed-Media Painting on paper.
Image size: 23 cm x 23 cm. Mounted on archival paper measuring 40 cm x 40 cm.

In the course of making any new series of work I inevitably end up with quite a few smaller pieces on paper. I love doing them, but they almost never end up in an actual gallery show with my photographs or works on canvas. There are just too damn many of them …which is kinda tragic considering that they are much more affordable than my gi-normous 2 meter by 3 meter paintings and frankly they are just as nice. So, the In Studio Store is kind of like a “trunk sale”. I figure, why let my beautiful babies collect dust in storage when I can pimp them directly to you, at wholesale price, without having to give a gallery their 50% cut. (Yeah, they take 50%.)

I’ve never really sold work on the interwebz before, so we’ll see how it goes. I think I’ll keep the shop up and running until I get bored of it. Which, let’s face it, could be in like 5 minutes. But in the meantime, go take a look around. Plus none of these artworks are on my website, so even if you are familiar with my work, it’s probably stuff you haven’t seen before.


Besides, it won’t you anything to do some window-licking.

So-Called Art Give Away Contest.

Today's the day. Or as the French say "C'est le Jour J"! (What the fcuk does that mean exactly?) Anyway, only five four dumb questions stand between you and an addition to your art collection. Bonne Chance!

1. How many Fashion Models has this dude been married to?

2. Beaujolais Nouveau is officially released for sale on the _____ Thursday of November.

4. The apartment that I currently live in is commonly referred to on this blog as:
“The ______ __________".

5 . Complete the following nonsensical paragraph using information from your own life. (Feel free to cut and paste. Also feel free to lie for comedic value.)

“Hi, I’m from ____________. I speak ____ languages. I am wearing _______ colored socks right now. I (am/am not) allergic to peanuts. Today I'm feeling a bit______________. "

OK. That’s it. Get ta commentin’. FrenchBoy will pick the winner Sunday night and I’ll post the winner Monday…..so don’t forget to check back to see if you won. Also---no brainer---you can’t post anonymously. Duh.

Almost As Good As “The Price Is Right”.

If you’re a loyal follower, reader, lurker of this blog you know that tomorrow is the big contest day. So I thought I’d do a post about what you’ll be competing for. After all, if it’s not to your liking, the 3 readers in Australia might as well sleep in!

Papillon Noir #13, 2008. Mixed-Media Gocco serigraph on paper.

Image size: 12.5 cm x 17.5 cm. Printed in an edition of 100.

Mounted on watercolor paper measuring 20 cm x 30 cm.

Now let me explain a bit about the process. The color in each work is added by hand in several layers of acrylic ink and Gouache. Then once the color has dried the image layer is added using a Gocco screen which is pretty much a silk-screen technique. But what makes Gocco prints so special now days is that they are no longer in production (as far as I know) and eventually it will be impossible to keep producing them without the set of special supplies that are needed to use the printing apparatus.

Anyway, this particular print is one of two prints from the “Fly Away” series that I started working on about a year ago. I often allude to flight in my work. Lately the people in my work have grown wings. I’m also a super huge fan of "The People Could Fly". I’m not sure if it’s obvious in the jpg image but the image is of a silhouette of a little girl who has butterfly wings. Can you see that?

I intentionally scanned the image at a fairly low resolution to prevent some Chinese sweatshop from turning my work into a poster for IKEA, so much of the subtlety of the washes of color and the overlay of the image have been lost in translation. So you’ll just have to take my word on how booo-tiful it is.

As indicated, it is number 13 in an edition of 100 prints. However, since each print is hand colored, no two prints are actually alike. And contrary to what Tyler Durden says, each print is a beautiful and unique snowflake, and I only have a handful left.

OK, enough already. Good Luck and Godspeed!

Tomato, tomato, keffiyeh, shemagh. Let’s call the whole thing off.

For the past year or so if France I’ve been noticing a curious fashion trend especially amongst the Eurotrash hipsters. Everywhere I go in Downtown Metz I see kids wearing keffiyeh around town with their beat up, yet insanely over-priced, Chuck Taylor sneakers. Just last month at a boutique downtown I saw an entire display done up with these carves in just about every color in the rainbow.

According to the all-knowing gods of wikipedia: A Keffiyeh is a traditional headdress for Arab that is folded and wrapped in various styles around the head. Traditionally worn by Palestinian peasants, the keffiyeh became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s. Increased sympathy and activism by certain Westerners toward Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict have led to the wearing of keffiyehs as a sign of their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

I’m a little slow, so I didn’t pay much attention to the scarves until the whole Rachael Ray Dunkin Donuts incident came out in the press. (Also, please note that I didn’t even know who the hell Rachael Ray was at the time. Still don’t kinda. That’s how big the rock I live under is.)
Now, I ususally don’t pay much attention to these University kids since all they do is stand around in groups drinking diet coke, eating potatoe chips and smoking cigarettes, but I’m totally baffled on this one.

So my question here is---What gives? I don’t hang out with many French University students so I’ve never had the opportunity to ask—is this a political statement or some kind of misguided fashion trend? Could it be that these Euro-Trash hipster ids are actually displaying some sort of political consiousness?

Well whatever, call me crazy, or maybe I’m just turning into an old lady, but a hot-pink keffiyeh on just about anyone looks downright silly!

Thoughts?

And the Crowd Goes Wild!

I don’t talk a lot about my work on this here nifty blog because I have another blog that’s pretty much dedicated to that. I mostly like to French it up over here and pretty much keep on topic as much as possible, but after much thought I’ve decided to change my thinking on the issue.

So many of you already know who I am in “real life” and the rest of you sneaky buggers are clever enough to have found out on your own without much effort. There’s no real reason to not talk about my work seeing as how it’s a pretty enormous part of my life here in France. Also, whenever I have those long blog absences it’s usually because I’m busy with work. Writing about work here is better than just going MIA for weeks on end right?

So with that in mind, I’m so so so excited to announce two things. First, many of you already know that I have two photographs in the traveling exhibition Double Exposure: African Americans Before and Behind the Camera which originated at MoAD in San Francisco. I’m pleased to announce that the show is moving onto its next venue at DePaul University in Chicago next month. If you’re in Chicago, check it out:

The two photographs I have in the show are Sweet Sisters #1 and Secret's in the House #2, both from the (Re)calling and (Re)telling series. I'm bummed that I won't be able to make the opening reception, which is actually on my birthday, and I would have loved to party it up with all my friends in the Chicago area, but I just can't see any realistic way to squeeze it into my schedule. But that doesn’t mean that y’all can’t scoot on over there and take a peek. It’s a great show.

And second. (insert drum roll here.) Friday I will be doing the very first My So-Called Art Give Away Contest! (insert clapping and cheering here.)

Here’s how it works:

1. Friday I’ll post a contest containing 5 easy Amer-Frog-MSCL blog related questions.

2. Everyone who posts a response in comments will be automatically entered to win an original artwork made by yours truly. Not a color copy, not a postcard, but a real live original artwork.

3. There will be only one lucky winner who will be chosen at random by FrenchBoy on Sunday evening.

4. You must post your answers before 12PM (noon) on Sunday March 22nd. (GMT+1) Got that? So, set your alarm clocks or mark your day planner, cuz if you had to buy this work from me at full market value you’d be writing me a check to the tune of around 80 bucks.

5. Friends and family are in-freakin'-eligible to participate in this contest. If I know you in real life, you live within 25 kilometers of my house, or we are blood related, you can’t play. This one is for the lurkers! (insert sounds of blog lurkers cheering here.)

So are you as excited as I am? Suh-weet! I also have some other neat treats to announce later this month, but for now I’ll just end with this. I don’t want to send you into a frenzy. As is, you’re probably so excited now that you won’t be able to sleep tonight. *giggle snort*

Why I Heart France Reason #14: "You're my BFF....Bitch!”

Anyone who doesn’t live under a rock knows by now that Franco-American relations have been a bit tense throughout history. At best the two countries can be considered “Frenemies”.

Over the years this has caused me to get into many enthusiastic yet completely fruitless arguments at cocktail parties. They usually go like this:

Frog: Your country eeez so bad. France is zee best.
Me: Whatever. The US sucks, and so does France. The French can be so dillusional about their own country.
Frog: Oh la la, Zeees atteeetude eeez so teeepically Americaine!
Me: Oh, so you’ve met all the Americans?
Frog: No, but I goed to New York City for holidays one time 10 years ago and I watch 'Starsky and Hutch', everyday so I understand everysiiing about zeee U.S.
Me: Oh, then you understand I’m about to kick your Froggy ass right about now?
Frog: I go outside to smoke now. Bye Bye.

(End Scene)

But I’m here to tell you folks, the world it is a changin’! Er’body in Europe got MAD love for the O-man. The French especially. In fact these Frogs love Obama so much that they are apparently willing to buy U.S. currency to prove it.

I found this ad in the TV guide. And honestly I ain’t mad at whoever thought this up. I’m only pissed that I wasn’t clever enough to think of selling a Frog a quarter "for only 3 Euros" first.

Also, not too long ago while on my way to the post office I saw this.

It’s not everyday that you see a big-ass American flag draped outside someone’s window here in my part of France. I was so astounded at the sight, that I actually stopped my car in traffic, whipped out my camera and took three photos, much to the dismay of the Frog in the Twingo that was stuck behind me. But he didn’t even honk his horn or give me the screw face. And I can't help but believe that he sat there patiently most likely because he saw the Obama bumper sticker on the back of my dope ride.

L'hibernation.

For the past month or so I have been in full-on hibernation mode. The weather here has been a steady stream of grey and the rain just kept coming with a vengeance. Add to that the fact that I really had a boat-load of work to finish up in the studio, and you get no blog posts for a month!

But alas, this week I was forced out of my bear cave for an art opening, and then a movie, and then coffee, and then cocktails. I have officially re-rentered the land of the living. So, no need to put my face on a milk carton, I’ll be back to blogging in a day or so because God knows I never tire of blogging about Frog nonsense!