How do you know?

Ok, here's a question and I'd like your opinion. I'll get to the question in a moment.
What makes artwork gallery worthy? Is it quality or subject matter, or both or neither? I have a big problem with celebrities who feel the need to express themselves beyond their comfort zones by presenting themselves as artists (painters, ceramicists, etc). Now, some are quite good and some even went to school for art but chose another career path. Others, however, seem as though they have this "I'm (celebrity name) and I draw perty pictures. LOOK AT THEM and tell me I'm good" kind of feel to them (to me, at least). They are not very good, though but still get attention and even gallery exhibits because of who they are. Bob Dylan recently unveiled an exhibit of his artwork (where I don't remember) and got international attention for it. I saw only 2 of his pieces, and they were good. I like them. But are they gallery worthy? How is his art different from artwork hanging at Enchante Gallery in West Branch, other than the name attached? The work doesn't stand out to me like you'd expect of an internationally published exhibit. BUT, I could be wrong, and I'm sure I am, but why aren't the artists displayed in Enchante Gallery getting such attention?
What work is gallery-worthy?
What piece is better? This one

Or this one?

What about this one

Compared to this one?


Are any of these gallery art? Why or why not? PLEASE give me your opinion!!

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.

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!

View My Saved Places in a larger map

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.