PPF - boats, Turner, and Kickstarter Campaign

Am linking this to Paint Party Friday - though it is a piece I finished a while ago, it is one of a series of 90 I intend to create - if I could receive funding.

To say this fundraising process has ruined my life is probably a little extreme, but it has been one of the more unpleasant experiences of my life. I don't think I will ever try this again.

I utterly despise bugging others to notice what I do, let alone ask for funds. The timing was horrific, coming just weeks after Xmas and a lot of people were going through some bad stuff in the process. And there's a lot of back end I just did not do to ensure a success.

But I have gotten other things, such as belonging in a fun online community of artists ('kickstarted' by my desire to draw traffic to the thing, but in essence its own reward), and the chance to produce some video or other. I also had the chance to craft an A - to - Z artists proposal project.

So saying, since I don't particularly have anything much more remunerative going on, I will continue pushing this thing till the bitter end.


http://kck.st/tC9jLX

I only have ten days to fund it. As you can see, it's a marathon painting process. I intend to paint 90 Turner reproductions in 90 days, starting mid February, if I can receive funding.

Some interesting tidbits:

• already have had 2 local media mentions (Madison County, NC)
• have received an interesting friendly email from the Tate Museum, regarding the project
• have a private investor stating his willingness to front $1,000 if I can manage to raise the rest. So, in the end, all I really need is to raise $2,000 to make my dream come true!

So, please, if you thought supporting the arts in this very tangible way - above all the great things you already do - please consider making a small donation to my campaign. Or, if you know any person or institution who might find my project interesting, please send it along to them.

I have also updated the video, since I got feedback that it was waaaaaaay too long. So everybody please go take a look.

Turner in Madison County

As an artist, I am inspired by the wonderful landscape work of J. M. W Turner, the British Romantic landscape painter and printmaker. He revolutionized landscape painting and developed luminosity through colour to an almost equal degree that Vermeer did.

I own the following book, “Turner at the Tate”, which profiles 93 of the paintings that this prodigious artist produced. I have long studied these works in my own artistic quest.

Lately I have decided to honour the work of Tate by reproducing each painting in this book on a piece of found driftwood. I find that the ragged edges of the wood match Turner’s lively imagery in a spectacular manner. At some point in the near future (depending on funds and timing) I plan to paint all 93 paintings from "Turner at the Tate" on found driftwood. In order to complete this project, though, I will seek funding (probably through Kickstarter or something) in order to bring it to fruition. Reasons as follow:

Each one takes me over 3 hours - longer, if I am choosing to apply an indirect painting method. Therefore, in order to begin the project, I need the capacity to dedicate a good chunk of time to the enterprise. In addition, I need additional materials: more oil paints (running low on Prussian Blue), more paint thinner (running low), and gesso. In addition, I will need a steady supply of driftwood and found-wood panels - all cut, sanded, and gessoed - all in advance, so that I can just start painting right away. I already have a source of wood, who will charge approximately $3 per piece. If I have a budget, I will want to hire someone (and stimulate the economy, ha ha) to have an assistant who will gesso the wood for me.

I will do something with this series something I've never really done before: take time to present the work in an appropriate manner. I will need to invest in appropriate varnishes to preserve the wood. In order to effectuate that, I will either need to take a course or hire a consultant, since I understand that presentation is my weak spot. I will also explore (and possibly invest in) different framing techniques.

Additional ambitions attached to this project might be a dedicated, one-a-day blog, audio/video when appropriate, and hiring some sort of marketing consultant (online or otherwise) to see where I could take this further. Ideas include contacting the Tate museum (the institution that houses Turner's work), and otherwise finding a 'real art venue' that will allow me to have a show.

But all of this is happening in some undefined future. For now I have finished the first three of this series, seen currently at Common Ground, a great vintage/repurposed art locale in Asheville.