Art Blog - Paul Shampine

Fountain Art Fair NYC offsets the unbalanced art market__ As the art market continues to heat up despite the international recession, record revenues continue to be predicted for 2013. The scale is a bit unbalanced with leaders like Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch. With the Fountain Art Fair just around the corner, March 8-10, I looked for the next leader. I found Bernard Klevickas. A few words with recent Sculptors Guild inductee and NYC artist found at a local gallery near you__ PS: As a FAF veteran, if you could you sum up the FAF vibe in one word, what would it be? BK: Grassroots. The original Armory Fair in 1913 was begun with American artists picking contemporary art. Fountain is more in line with artists showing artists than the many other art fairs… Continue reading… 0 comments

Posted on: http://paulshampine.wordpress.com I just opened a new box of crayons. Can you smell that? Yep. Next to them, I have a fire-engine red piece of construction paper. Can you feel it? Yep. These two powerful items have a promise that's never broken _____" to bond and create a one-of-a-kind reflective piece of life. Just like the special bond between a parent and a child or your best friend in school who you can't wait to see at recess. When you move the crayons over the paper, the line always gets wider, just like our world, expanding and growing. As you start to mix colors, they form layers, like our memories with time. It starts to take form. It's often not what we expected....sometimes better, sometimes worse. But we created it and it's permanent… Continue reading… 0 comments

Top ten reasons why I shaved my head: 10. Humility. 9. Eliminates bed head. 8. Vulnerability. 7. Saves $519.73 annually in haircuts and hair product. 6. Empathy. 5. Triathlon performance___saves 3.14 seconds off my run, 2.718 on my swim and 4.20 on my bike. 4. Vanity. 3. Fitting in with the other inmates. 2. Cleansing. 1. Spiritual Liberation. If you're less likely to shave your head to experience spiritual liberation, then make Art, view Art or buy Art. Start now and view the Art of Mary Blum, Sara Biersteker, Linda Bladen and Helena H__tzl. Thank you… Continue reading… 0 comments

Nancy Jaffee, Weston CT, http://www.nancyjaffee.com/ When did you first discover your creative talents? I didn't really know I had any artistic talents until I was an adult. But my mother was artistic. She worked as a clothing designer and a decorator and I always appreciated the way she put colors together in her work. My sister used me as a guinea pig in grad school for her PHD in Psychology. And after taking all her tests, she said I should pursue a career in the arts but I never really did anything about it. It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I started taking formal art classes and realized this was truly something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Some visual artists describe crossing a threshold where they see new colors, shapes, forms, shadows and movement… Continue reading… 0 comments

Partially inspired by this blog and the direction it has taken, I've decided to team up with a great friend, art lover and PR Guru, Kaitlyn Siner to create a consortium of experienced art professionals and local business leaders to support "emerging" visual artists, collectively forming The Arts PR Group. We define emerging artists as "any individual, regardless of age or occupation who is fully committed to their craft. Emerging may apply to artists in the early, mid, and late stages of their career, with some evidence of professional achievement… Continue reading… 0 comments

As most know, the Northeast has experienced below average temperatures and above average snowfall. Normally not really an issue for me, but this year I'm heating my domicile with a wood stove. Yes, it's as nice as it sounds, but it has its challenges. Through waist-deep snow, I trek to my studio, dig out the door that has been unopened since the Winter Solstice to fetch chains to strap to the wheels of a snow-locked 4WD sculpture/recycling/loan-to-friend/move-that-stuff/wood truck. Mixed emotions struck hard when I broke the seal to my sanctuary and moved past half sculptures, new-found rocks from the Fall and the scent of metal. Yes, I can smell metal… Continue reading… 0 comments

The Milwaukee Art Museum (Packers) and the Carnegie Museum of Art (Steelers) go head-to-head or frame-to-frame this Super Bowl Sunday as they wager (temporary loan) one of their prize impressionist possessions -- Milwaulkee's Caillebotte, Boating on the Yerres v. Carnegie's Renoir, Bathers with Crab. The new tradition, started by last year's Indianapolis "Colts" Museum of Art and the NewOrleans "Saints" Museum of Art, finished with E. John Bullard leaving with Joseph Turner's "The Fifth Plague of Egypt" under his arm. The win marked 37 years for Bullard, Museum Director of NOMA, as he retired that year to be succeeded by first round draft pick, Susan Taylor from Princeton University (no relation to NFL Hall of famer Lawrence Taylor)… Continue reading… 0 comments

Republished, by Paul Shampine (http://theartspr.org) http://paulshampine.wordpress.com/ After reading the most recent post, Kathryn Arnold, blog interviewee forwarded a Newsweek article regarding a significant decline in creativity scoring in the American youth, "Creative Crisis." While citing TV, video games and school curriculum as "culprits" for the new disturbing downward trend, my daughter of twelve years Samantha, brings another possibilityto light. I'm calling it the MacGyver Factor. She feels that as we evolve with technology, we're not forced to use our creativity for problem solving etc. So, we're not exercising the right side of our brain as much as we have in the past. We're our own enemy. Our creative forefathers have made us right-brain lazy… Continue reading… 0 comments

Republished from Paul Shampine's Blog: http://paulshampine.wordpress.com/ Atypical for me, I didn't have a goal or objective when I started this blog. As a result of subscriber feedback and my personal beliefs, I do now. Simply...to celebrate and support those who have chosen to become "artists" and to encourage those who are exploring the occupation... While attending a Tom Kelley seminar, author of The Ten Faces of Innovation, Tom references author/artist Gordon MacKenzie's experience while giving lectures to grade school children (K-6). In short, when Gordon asks "Anybody here an artist?" to a kindergarten class, everyone raises their hands with great animation and enthusiasm… Continue reading… 0 comments

"Inspired" by Mr. Sadler's comments below, I've found what others have to say what "art is not..." I open with my friend Pablo and close with some reality: "Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don't start measuring her limbs." ~ Pablo Picasso "Art is not an investment" - VIDEO - Arne Glimcher, founder of Pace Gallery. "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." ~ Edgar Degas One of many collections - daughter Samantha @ 7, now 12 years old "Start by remembering that teaching children about art is not just about showing them how to recognize a van Gogh or Picasso, it's about preparing young minds for a future of invaluable experiences_art related or otherwise… Continue reading… 0 comments

"Don't talk to strangers!" In American culture, that's what you typically heard from your parents. So, when can you start talking to strangers? Some, well, all of my best friends were strangers and I recently met some really nice Friendship strangers that are showcasing some of my sculpture. Ilsa Svendsen and Joseph Keller own and operate Garden of Ideas, one of New England's finest nature destinations offering "beyond organic" produce, free range eggs and intimate woodland nature trails where your are guided by unique plant life and equally unique sculpture. I share the grounds with some creative strangers including Sculptor Stephen Cote and Blacksmith Steven Bronstein… Continue reading… 0 comments

Interview with an Artist...part 2, by Paul Shampine: http://paulshampine.wordpress.com/ I'm often asked to personally deliver a sculpture to its new home to help with placement and installation. For me, it's always a special experience to be involved in the process. I can't say it's close to bringing one of my daughters home from the hospital, but it has its similarities. It's a quiet ride. High alert. Straps are tight. Roads seem bumpier, traffic faster and driving is very defensive. A block feels like a mile and 35 mph feels like 65. The arrival is met with smiles, a bunch of ooooohs and fondling. Unloading is sacred. Then the parade. The band soon fades and the crowd thins. It's quiet again and the world spins just a bit differently. Here are three more deliveries… Continue reading… 0 comments

Scientists, land developers, farmers and I battle with Mother Nature. We all do on some level. Early on when creating metal sculpture, I attempted to preserve the scrolling texture and the organic feel metal has after forging and forming. I wanted to protect the clean deep hammer marks, the wrinkle in the bend and the abstract patterns from my 25 pound metal grinder. It's a challenge. Finished steel is the end result of a process. Even raw off the shelf, it's still a manufactured product. Rust, once my nemesis, now my friend, is the action of steel regressing to its original natural state. I don't think the process can fully be inhibited...especially if you desire a natural "metal" look. The same really applies to wood as well. It's like trying to stop time… Continue reading… 0 comments

Republished from: http://paulshampine.wordpress.com Often when I perform a task, I find myself adding a twist. Even with the ridged parameters of an excel spreadsheet, I've found art in numbers with cost analysis and business plans. As a bored teenager, I would create abstract-impressionistic patterns when mowing the lawn, and it doesn't and won't stop there. In search of answers, I turn to my genetic line. My Father was a very creative and innovative engineer who designed intricate conveyor systems that robotically handled the most delicate items to large bulky raw materials that required micro-modifications and delivered from point A to Z with precision and efficiency. My open-minded, care-free, adventurous Mother brings just that to her paintings… Continue reading… 1 comment

It's an interesting question as it relates to artistic style, choice, influence, direction and...inspiration. It's not my goal to debate this topic, nor do I have any scientific data to support any conclusions, but to what extent is there a heritable component to individual artistic differences? What direction would Picasso's daughter Paloma, now a designer for Tiffany & Co., have taken if she was separated at birth? Did her father's fame discourage her from becoming one of the next best painters in the world? Would we have experienced another Cubist-like movement? Or is artistic style a straight act of transforming individual emotions and experiences? Here are some more "inspiration" essays. I will publish one more round next week… Continue reading… 1 comment

Re-published from Blog: http://paulshampine.wordpress.com Every time I travel, I'm reminded of how vast this world is. When I take a wrong turn (which is often) and find myself far from where I'm destined to be, I see a part of someone else's small world, just as unique as mine. I like getting lost. It's a very intimate question "What inspires your work?" You'll read some intimate answers from a diverse group of visual artists. Here are a few of many intimate worlds. "I capture shifting perceptions" - Kathryn Arnold Kathryn Arnold, San Francisco, CA: "It, my inspiration for creating, began at a young age. Sitting on the front porch of my childhood home in freezing cold, I noticed the deepness and richness of the color of the winter sky and felt alive… Continue reading… 0 comments