2 Day Art Sale

Things have been slow and it's looking like I'm going to lose the studio. Below are pieces of artwork that are discounted until Sunday, August 2nd. If I can't sell, I have to give up the studio. This is a great chance for you to get cheap art!

Both the Stevie Ray Vaughan and the John Wayne drawings are dropped in price from $432 to $216 . Each of these drawings are $216 until August 2nd. John Wayne is 24x36 and I think the SRV is 36x48



This piece is $300. It's 24x36, I think. If so, it's usually $432. It might be bigger than 24x36.


These drawings are $100. Roughly 18x24, which usually costs $216.



ALL block prints in the studio are only $20 until Sunday, Aug. 2nd!

Contact me via e-mail or phone (989)343-1321 if interested. Thanks.

Paying the Cost to Read

Ok, I'm going for it.
When I was a wee lad, my brothers left their collections of comics when they moved out (being 12 and 15 years older than me), so I was basically born addicted to comic books. When I had my appendix removed in kindergarten (or 1st Grade. Can't remember)my dad brought me comics he and my mom bought for me. I then started using my allowance to buy comics on my own, starting with GROO THE WANDERER #7 from Epic. The comics then were 75 cents. I'd get $5/wk for allowance and would buy at LEAST 3 comics a week. It was just before the industry hiked the price to $1. Well, what's a quarter, you know?
I walked into a comic shop recently and the printed price on most of the books I wanted to pick up (being a semi-regular collector, I'm behind on story arcs right now but I'm still a full-time comic geek), only to find the high-priced $2.99 had risen to the ABSURD $3.99!!! I used to buy ANNUALS for that much! 90-120 page books!! These are 30 page (including ads)monthly books, and SOME weekly or bi-weekly, whose print quality seems no different than the $2.99 days of old. I know that when prices went up a few years ago, the reasoning was because the quality of the paper being printed on was better and more expensive. I don't remember many comic fans complaining about the paper quality before, though. And the quality THEN is the same as NOW, but more expensive! If I want to buy, let's say, GREEN ARROW #2-3 off the shelf, it costs me $8. For 60 pages! And not even FULL story pages! Ads take up a few of those 60 pages! I have been picking up trades lately, but mainly because I live so far away from a comic shop that I can't get my monthly (ok, weekly) fix. Now, I have to wait for storylines to finish, then wait another couple months for the trade of said storylines to come out, then wait for the price to drop to a number I can afford. I also feel bad for the creators who bust their asses to get a monthly book out, only for the fans to have to wait to read what they did for months after the creators finished.
Ok, rant over.

I'm excited to get back into the studio! I have new reference material for more POPEYE portraits! I just wish there was more interest in my Popeye series. Not to sell, but just general interest. Positive interest, that is! Oh, well. The series really is just for myself and Popeye fans to view. That's what being an artist is about (in part), to create for the sake of creating and do what you love to do.

What the studio's all about

I've been having trouble getting time to make it into the studio, but I will be in tonight and every Fabulous Friday in West Branch, Michigan. Tonight is "Show Off Your Iron" theme for Fab. Friday. I'm offering deals for any "bikers" who come in to the studio. I have work that needs to be done, work that I WANT to do and work that isn't finished. In spite of my sunny-looking disposition, I get very excited when I'm in the studio. It is a dream to have such an environment to work in. It is still a job, but it's my dream job. And Nuttall Art Studio is that: an art studio. Not a gift shop or gallery. I'm not in there to sell, I'm in there to work. I do offer lessons, but when I invite people to the studio, I just want to share what I'm doing and how I do it. I think having this kind of place in a community is great, and I wish there'd been something like this when I was growing up, or hell, even when I was in college! I'm more than happy just to have visitors who want to ask questions or see how I draw or make a block print or just look around! So, when I put something up about coming to Nuttall Art Studio, it's not like a car dealership where I'm going to try to schmooze you into buying something! I just want the public to know what West Branch has to offer at 105 N. 3rd St. off the corner of N. 3rd and W. Houghton Ave at the light in Downtown West Branch!

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Credit where credit's due....

CORRECTION!!!
I accidentally credited the photography to one photographer when the photo I painted the David Lauser painting from was taken by Todd Martyn-Jones!!! Sorry, Todd! I've already corrected any mention of the other to say you!

Today is tomorrow....Time to Talk SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABOS!!!

It's tomorrow! With very limited funds, Melissa and I started the day heading to Midland so she could teach her class. While she taught, I did the drawing of Mona, the Waborita bass player. We then had lunch and headed to Lansing to the Common Ground Festival. I'd talked to some folks at Common Ground prior to this week (withholding names)about trying to get the artwork to Sammy and the band. They were VERY supportive and when we met with them, we each got backstage passes to the Meet & Greet with Sammy and the Wabos! We were also told we'd be "Up front Fanatics", or rather fans who get to spend the concert onstage and get served drinks. We met "Sweet5150", a fellow Michigan Redhead who won a contest to get on the Meet &Greet. He had is son who was turning 5yrs old yesterday. Oh, and it turns out that sweet5150 had a photo book that was released a couple years ago that had ALOT of pics of a painting I gave to Sammy some time back!
Anyway, we got backstage to the M/G, and when Sammy came out, he walked up to me and said "Hey, I remember you." Me, being a schmuck, said "Well, I HOPE so!" He proceeded to the contest winner and just as he was passing me, drummer David Lauser stepped out and grinned and pointed at me and Melissa. He walked over and gave me a big hug and we chatted for awhile. He told me how a couple of the drawings I've given him are hanging in his studio and thanked me. Then bassist Mona came up and smiled.
"JASON! I walked right past you and didn't even see you! How are you? How's the baby doing?"
I said "Which one? We have 3 now!" "THREE??? Last I remember there were only 2! I missed one!" Dave and Mona chatted with Melissa and I for a couple minutes and thanked me for the artwork (they loved it, and Dave recognized the image I worked from for his painting. The photo was taken by Todd Martyn-Jones. Thanks Mr. Jones! Awesome images every time! http://www.toddmjphotography.com ).
Then Sammy came back over and when he saw the drawing, his jaw dropped.
"Aw, man! You're gonna make me miss my wife! It's beautiful! I love this stuff!" He told me. He looked at the other fans and hugged the drawing, "BACK OFF! IT'S MINE!!!"
I tried telling him about the drawing I did of him and his wife years ago, but said he didn't remember. I told him I thought he'd want an updated drawing to go along with the first one. He thanked me and shook my hand. I told him that Melissa and I had come to the last Common Ground show he did and that the acoustic version of "Dreams" was the first time I'd heard that version before, and the speech he gave before playing it brought tears to my eyes for the first time in concert. I told him his words and that night inspired me to pursue my art career more seriously than before. He grinned and told me "Yeah, I think that version relays the true message of the song. And that's what the song's all about, man, following your dreams. Thanks for the drawing." I thanked him and he shook my hand and Melissa's and headed back to his trailer. Mission freakin' accomplished, baby!!
Unfortunately, in spite all the efforts of the Common Ground people, they couldn't get us onstage (too many people already), but that was alright! We stayed for the show, and left a LITTLE early to battle the 3 hour drive home.
Oh, and not only did we meet Sammy, but 2 other highlights: The AWESOME women from the Common Ground Fest, and the fact that David Lauser and Mona came out and talked to us and NOBODY else! They talked to us and went back in! Tee Hee!

How I spent my Wednesday...

I'll get into more detail tomorrow. Melissa and I just got back from Lansing. It's 2am and I am exhausted. BUT, I will say that we did make it to the Sammy show at Common Ground Festival (THANK YOU Amanda and Shelby!! AND Sammy, Mona, and David!)

Dick in the Dirt (NO! It's a HAGAR song!!!)

Well, my confidence is fleeting. Lack of funds are probably going to keep my wife and I from going to see Sammy Hagar and the Wabos at Common Ground tomorrow. I'm VERY bummed. I've been working on drawings and paintings for Sammy and the band, but it might just collect dust. But it's not just about the art, it's the energy and inspiration his shows offer. The camaraderie of the fans, teh REDHEADS, is overwhelming! Plus, just the fact that all this planning takes place, only to have 1or 3 things come up that wipe out what little money we've saved. Ha-RUMPH!

So, anyone wanna buy some artwork? :D

Lansing will turn RED

Sorry about the extended absence, by I've been REALLY boring lately.
So, Sammy Hagar and the Wabos are going to be appearing at the Common Ground Festival in Lansing, Michigan next Wednesday, so I'm busting my tuchus (yiddish, but I don't know how to spell it, for buttocks) trying to get artwork done for the show. I always feel good when I work on artwork of Sammy. I don't know why. I think it's the connection to the music and the personal connection of him appreciating the art and the fan who made it, namely me. His band, the Waboritas (Mona, Vic Johnson and David Lauser) are awesome on stage and in person.
That's the only real news going right now. I'm plugging away in the studio and teaching at the Midland Center for the Arts, so I've been busy.