Here is a project some of you might find fun and profitable.  

I had heard about this quite a while ago, but never followed up to see how to get involved. So I did the google search and got the info on Art-o-mat.   ( from their web site ) artomat.org.

Info below is from their web site 

The inspiration for Art-o-mat® came to artist Clark Whittington while observing a friend who had a Pavlovian reaction to the crinkle of cellophane. When Whittington's friend heard someone opening a snack, he had the uncontrollable urge to have one too.

The year was 1997, the town was Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Whittington was set to have a solo art show at a local cafe, Penny Universitie (which eventually became Mary's Of Course Cafe). This is when Whittington used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Art-o-mat. In June 1997, it was installed, along with 12 of his paintings. The machine sold Whittington's black & white photographs for $1.00 each.

This art show was scheduled to be dismantled in July 1997. However, Cynthia Giles (owner of the Penny Universitie) loved the machine and asked that it stay permanently and machine remains unaltered in its original location to this day. At that point, it was clear that involvement of other artists was needed if the project was going to continue. Giles introduced Whittington to a handful of other local artists and Artists in Cellophane was formed.

Artists in Cellophane (A.I.C.), the sponsoring organization of Art*o*mat® is based on the concept of taking art and "repackaging" it to make it part of our daily lives. The mission of A.I.C. is to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form. A.I.C believes that art should be progressive, yet personal and approachable. What better way to do this, than with a heavy cold steel machine?

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So that is the jist of it. They have placed their machines all over the US and they may have one close by to your location to go check out. Anyone can get involved by submitting art for their approval in the small restricted size that would fit the machines, which would be the size of a pack of cigarettes.  They can be 2D or 3D work. Go to their site to get all the info. I will put some of these together for you to get the idea. Now mine will all be 2D paintings. I got a friend to cut me some blocks to the correct size from some old shelf material he had. You can also get these blocks from the company for either kind of work, blocks of wood for paintings or small boxes for 3D work.  

Ok so here is what I started with...

                Then I sifted through some old cards I had done. 

I decided to take some of my A6 cards and cut them down to fit the blocks including pieces for the sides. 

Here are my first samples.  I also pasted a business card on the back. 

I used mat media to glue them down and rubber bands to hold the painting to the block while it dried.  I still have to shrink wrap each one before I send them off to see if they like these or not.  Now this is no doubt not something you are going to do big time as it is a small financial return, but it is a way to advertise your art and to become known. Look at it as advertizing method and always FUN.  

I know that they have one of these machines close by to me so I am going to go to that location and get the lowdown from them to see what they think of the project.    

I got a positive response from the gallery the machine was in so after being accepted I am in the process of putting together 100 of these to send off to be placed into these machines.  

I have been telling you I made a video for awhile,  but I didn't know how to get it to you online with out big expense. I have found a way but it does not have the ability for me to charge for downloads. It was my intention that I would charge something to repay the person that worked so hard on the filming and production. I started this whole idea as a way to begin to teach classes without hauling the supplies all over the countryside.   

 New Video 

When you start a project from scratch there is so much to learn. My first videos were done for me and what I learned from that was how to write the script and assemble everything for the shoots. But this was different as now it was the video process itself that had to learned. This whole project has taken over a year of work because of the learning curve. When we started this my friend thought it would be fun so he went and got a camera, and then the fun began as he then had to learn how to shoot, then edit and of course that required a larger computer and  then an expensive software program, etc.  I appreciate all that (Neil Gray, my friend) did as my video man Friday.   

I also am using a non commercial host but one you have to pay for so I can't charge to view it, but I thought that I would put up a PayPal link on my site for anyone to offer if they want to help with a donations, but it is strictly just as the spirit moves you basis.  I try to offer a lot of information and I have not ever charged for it on my site. But realistically funds would help.  

This video is over an hour long and I hope it will give you good information in one chunk instead of in bits an pieces.  I did it on a very small table to show that this can be done anywhere, small apartment, to an RV. You do not have to have a studio.  Here is the link for the video. 

Wax Painting

    I do believe it is about time to turn this newsletter into a showcase for all of your art. So why don't ya'all start sending me your images so I can post them here for all to appreciate.  

 Sean Bajek is someone who has been sending me his images and I really like this monochromatic black and silver piece he did on an A4 size stock. I see a mountainside with a sky above, very dramatic then again it could be a tree limb against a stormy sky. Isn't wax great in grabbing your imagination and pulling you into the picture. Keep up the good work Sean.

A lot of times when I get a check in the mail from someone who has purchased supplies I also get some of their art work as a card along with their check. I of course like to do that when folks order supplies from me and I will include several of my A6 card stock as samples.

 Bonnie Willliams is someone who always includes one of her cards and I thought I would include one of her wonderful flowers for you to enjoy.  Thanks Bonnie

I posted this image before and told you I poured Plaster of Paris on a board and then waxed and collaged this piece.  I did another one like this one but I put a Kleenex top over the wax and pattern and then I painted it with Luminart mica paints to grab onto the exposed Kleenex. I used the stylus to score a design into the surface and rubbed mica power into that. Then I took the cut shell and painted that and glued that unto the surface.   

Here is the previous surface. 

   And here is the new one that had the same background pattern but you can see the new look with the Kleenex in the wax. 

 The end result looks like this!

is the option that is 100% and I  have also decided to use an online art auction site to post it and normally this site would have the buyer send the funds to the artist and the artist would take out sales tax and shipping and send the rest to the fund raiser.  I will choose to have the buyer send direct to the fundraiser and PWA will only subtract the shipping cost if it is not local and also there would be no sales tax as it would be a direct donation. This way I am out of the loop and I like that better.  Fundraiser For Japan
This was the Press Release that was in the paper here locally.
Here is the picture called Return Of Hope that I used.
Perhaps you could help by linking this to anyone you know that might be gifting a large amount to this effort and would like to have this painting in return.
So far this has not resulted in a bid on the painting so my next attempt to make it work is to contact a local business that is also fund raising to see if I can join in with their efforts.
 


Here is an offer
For every $100.00 in supplies this month I will send you 5 of my A6 cards painted just for you. I sell them in the gallery for $10.00 each so that might just be motivation to start Spring painting.

Opps!
We just became parents again and this might cut into some painting time.  Here is Max our new addition.

 

 That is a wrap for the month.