Harumph!

There's a filthy rumor going around that today is my birthday. Well, it is. To celebrate, I am not doing anything productive. I would prefer to work in the studio, but it's not an option, so I'm dragging my butt instead.Here's me with my traditional birthday Yorkshire Pudding.

Remembered

Today's the date that brought the death of a great musician almost 20 years ago. Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of my favorite musicians in rock and blues. His voice, guitar and writing are very powerful to me. I've seen footage of him performing and my God, he was such a talent. What angers me about his death is that he cleaned up just before he died. He kicked drugs and booze, released a Grammy winning album ("In Step", with a somewhat autobiographical song "Wall of Denial") and should have continued a fantastic career. Much like Ronnie Van Zandt of Lynyrd Skynyrd, SRV died due to a plane crash. And like Ronnie, Stevie Ray kicked some habits that would have eventually killed him, only to deny the world another part of a powerful music career because of a plane crash. One other celebrity I enjoyed died as he got his act together and kicked drugs- Sam Kinison. He was on his way to or from his honeymoon with his new wife and got in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
I can't play music and can't sing the songs, but I try to show my appreciation for certain musicians through my artwork, and these are tributes to the Great Stevie Ray Vaughan.

End of Summer Deal

For the next WEEK (8/26-9/2) I am offering 11x14 drawings for ONLY $30!!This is for any subject(s) you'd like. The price usually runs $77! For $30 you can get a 2-subject graphite or charcoal 11x14 drawing! If you'd like more than 2 subjects, it's an additional $15 per subject. Contact me here or on Facebook, at Nuttall Art Studio or e-mail me!

Big ol' update post

Alright, I'm back from vacation and feel less relaxed than when I left!
My hero, my idol Sergio Aragones will be appearing (from the neck up) on FUTURAMA tonight on Comedy Central!
I was hoping to enter an art battle in Hale, but the vacation soaked up all my funds, so I might not be competing.
The West Branch Artist Pool art show at Kirtland, according to the curator, is on his schedule for October, not September. He's supposed to get back to me this week.
The studio will be open this Friday during Fabulous Fridays in Downtown West Branch from 5-9pm. This FF is honoring the Veterans and those who've fallen.
I haven't heard anything about displaying my Popeye series during the annual Popeye Picnic, although I can't afford to go to Chester, Illinois anyway.
The documentary about me is on hold until, well, basically, I and my art career gets more interesting!
I think that's all for right now. Please remember that it's not too early to set up for artwork for Christmas. It's $50 to start a project and you can either pay here and there or pay the remainder upon completion of the project.

YOUR opinion matters! But not really in this case...

I've gotten some positive and negative reviews about my current POPEYE MOVIE series. What do YOU think of it? Visit here and vote!
This series is really for me and for fans of Popeye and/or the Popeye movie from 1980. Just like my Nicholson series is for me and if Jack fans wanna look at it, that's great. Sometimes an artist has to do what the ARTIST wants, regardless of critics, public and so on. But, I'm just curious, anyway.

Why I Draw Jack

I guess I haven't posted the work from my "Jack Nicholson" series. I thought I had. Well, here it is.
I have been a huge fan of Jack Nicholson since my dad made me watch "The Shining" and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" when I was around 12. Since then, I've been mesmerized by his look, his acting and his personality. I do feel that he is a fantastic actor. I may have been disappointed in some of his movies, but never his performances. He inspired me to want to act. Then my lack of talent and memorization of lines inspired me to stick to my artwork.
I did my final speech in Speech class in high school about Jack. I did a clay bust of him in college (I had to throw it away because I messed up the plaster cast and the clay would've just dried out). I want to portray him away from the typical images of him, or overused images. I will NOT portray the scene from "The Shining"! Or him in "A Few Good Men"! I feel they've become too cliche. Only if the role or scene means something to me will I portray it. I'm still working on the series, but here's a few pieces of said series. What do you think? Oh, and there are some pieces I haven't posted, and you'll have to come to the studio to see them!! So THERE!!!

New paintings, same ol' kids

I figured I'd post these images of the oil paintings I did of my son and daughter. The photos were from a couples years ago, but the paintings I started before this summer. These and many other new pieces of work are at the studio.

I'm back, but then, I never left...

I know I haven't blogged alot lately, and it's (1) because I've been teaching off and on and (2) not much has gone on lately. I have one more week of teaching this summer at the Midland Center For The Arts. I taught last week during the C.O.O.R. MEAP summer camp thing at Kirtland Community College. I was the Photography instructor. Usually my wife teaches it with me, but she was in Midland teaching Ceramics. So I was solo, with help from a couple other instructors who admitted they were photography-blind.
This was the last year for this MEAP program due to budget cuts. I've taught every year for the last 9 years. It's a shame, because I get parents come up and tell me their kid was in my class and now he/she's taking photography in high school or college. And every instructor in the program has similar stories. It's one week that the kids and their parents tend to remember for a long time. And in the case of kids in my class, it's been a positive memory for them. Some kids had siblings in the class and ask me if I remember them. HA!! "I don't even remember YOUR name, and you're wearing a name tag for the class!" was my recurring comment this year. You see, the reason both my wife and I taught was because every year, we have up to 35 students in the class. The average has been about 29 for 9 years, so I've taught roughly 261 students, and it's one week out of the Summer. I can't remember last YEAR'S class, much less 3 or 8 years ago! The sad thing is, most of the years, we would have run-ins with kids, parents or instructors that would sour our interest in teaching the next year, but these past 2 years have been the best kid-wise and all around feel-wise. And now it's over.

More visits than I can shake my blog at!

Since I've added the counter on the blog, I've gotten OVER 400 visits! Thank you readers! Please spread the word about my blog, my art and anything else that's gotten YOUR attention from me and/or my site! I'll be heading into the studio in an hour or so. Michigan Artists will be coming by to check out the studio and maybe take some photos. I figure I should probably "purty" myself up a bit: (curls moustache)
THERE! Perfect!

A Moment to segway from my usual malarkey

I haven't made this very vocal, but I want to mention that I'm trying very hard to break a horrible lifetime habit & I hope, if you practice it, will try to stop, too. I'm abolishing the word "retard" from my vocabulary. I don't get serious about things like this often, but I take this to heart. This isn't a... re-post, this is ME, Jason, writing this. If you know me, I'm NOT PC. Break the habit.
What once was deemed retardation has been categorized into many factors and diagnoses & the word is more insulting & cruel than anything. Don't say something's "retarded", or your friend's "retarded". There are those in this world, in our c...ommunity who have Downs Syndrome, Autistic, or have mental/physical disorders who've been unfairly deemed retarded their whole lives by ignorant people. It is EXACTLY like using a racial slur. I've used the word my whole life off and on, but as I grow older, have kids and see things differently, I see how I have to change that. Nuff Said.

PS This is how I see it. It's not fact. I didn't study this. Feel free to comment, but remember that I'm not evenly REMOTELY implying I know what I'm talking about. Just how I feel about it.