GJ Willis' Art Notes

Today, I was almost late for work. My bus arrived five minutes late. I also just nearly made it to the light rail train on time. It was ready to pull up to my stop as I ran to catch it. I suppose that on rainy days or from now on I should just walk down to the light rail station. I don’t like a lot of drama in the morning. I used to walk to the light rail station last year when the weather was warmer. It’s a 15 to 20 minute walk for me depending on how fast I walk.

In work news, I made incentive again. I don’t quiet know what to make of it. I still feel as though I could loose my job at any minute. I hate this uneasy feeling I have. I’m not sure if it’s because of the economy or the constant terrorist warnings I hear about in the news.

Also I have not heard from my nephew, Little David in quiet a while. Monday was his fourteenth birthday. Usually, he calls me up and tells me what he wants for his birthday. I haven’t heard a peep from him. I have to get him something because he remembered my birthday when no else did. I found this really great birthday card for him at the Gallery. It’s a card that lists everything that was going on in the year he was born, 1990.

In art news I’m still working on my vessels. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to make out of the polymer clay I have. I also haven’t decided what design I’m going to paint on the box. I think I might go for a metallic gold color over the bright blue.

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

I don’t usually watch TV much. In fact the only time I turn on the television is to watch DVD’s on Sunday. So just for the heck of it I turned on the TV last night and I watched the most funniest show I’d ever seen. I believe it’s called American Superstar or Superstar USA. What ever it’s called it was on the WB. It was like the reverse of American Idol. I admit I’ve never watched American Idol. I hear a lot of morning shows talking about it but I’ve never seen it. They never seem to announce what time it comes on, thus I’ve never seen it.

Anyway, back to the WB’s talent show. It was simply hilarious because they picked all the worst singers to go on to the finals. The judges included, Tone Loc, Vitamin C and this guy I have never seen before. My favorite line of the night was when the unknown guy said in response to one of the horrible performers, “Call 911, cause you just stole the show!” The performers were so bad it was good.

Last night I also watched a bit of The Swan. This was my first time ever watching it. It was kind of like a beauty contest. However, I didn’t watch long enough to see who won. To me all the contestants looked normal. They didn’t look as extreme looking as they say they do on morning talk radio. It just looked like a normal beauty contest.

Also, I worked a little on my vessels for the upcoming, ebsq show. I bought a small wooden box from Michael’s. I’m going to paint a design on it. So far I painted the box a bright blue color. I hopefully will be adding a design on it tomorrow. I’m also working on sculpting another vessel in polymer clay.

My future ultimate artistic goal for 2004 is to be a part of the Art Exposure Shows that are run by Ann Wiker. I tried to do it a couple of years ago. The main reason I couldn’t participate was that the forms that Ann sent me were sent to me in .doc format. My Macintosh can not read .doc formats. Recently, I went back to her web site and found that the forms were no longer in doc format but in easily down loadable pdf format. So I think I’ll give it another try.

Today at work Brian called a meeting in Dave’s office. Dave is Brian’s supervisor. It was a very eerie other worldly Twilight Zone experience for me.

I was immediately shocked and horrified by the office decor. I found it eerie because as I looked around his office I saw a number of things that I own and in the same exact color and design!

I saw a Currier and Ives mug. I own that same exact mug. Same design everything! I saw a candle warmer on his desk. I own that same exact candle warmer it’s called the Cozy-Up Warmer. I bought it at Michael’s. However, I imagine that he probably uses his Cozy-Up Warmer to keep his coffee warm and not to warm up scented candles. Also there was a small purple fan in the corner. I own a small purple fan just like it!

However, eeriest of all was that on a file cabinet sat a bright blue embroidered box that I knew contained Chinese Meditation balls. I know this because I own the same exact box in the same bright blue color! I know that if you opened the lid the interior of the box would be a bright red color and two meditation balls would sit inside.

I have never been inside anyone’s office where I had so many inanimate items in common. It was like being in an episode of the Twilight Zone!

Sunday, May 23, 2004

The above picture is yet another painting that I dropped off at the Carriage House, yesterday for the Sowebo festival. Yesterday when I got there I was surprised to see that Scotty was there. I was even more surprised that he recognized me. He said he loved the poster I dropped off a couple of weeks ago. He even described it in vivid detail! Wow, he has a really good memory.

Like a blast from the past there was a black dog there that followed me around. I’m starting to think it’s some kind of a tradition there to have a black dog around the place. There was lively music playing people talking. There was this woman who I assumed dropped off art. She was with this British guy they wanted to know how Scotty made the photos of the posters. They were simply amazed about how he could get a picture up on the internet. I believe Scotty said that he took a picture then fixed it up in Photoshop. Which is the standard procedure for putting photo’s up on the web. It’s what I do even thought the photo’s I take with my digital camera are horrible.

I have to admit that while there I felt frightened and wanted to flee. There was so much noise and action going on. I wanted to run for my life but somehow I made it through. I could barely make out what people were saying to me. I just wanted to get out of there. I also hope that the frames on my paintings do not fall apart. I bought them at Walmart, real cheap. Walmart, provides the frames for every piece of artwork I have. The single mat that usually accompanies my work comes from Michael’s.

While at the Carriage House a woman there told me to put my artwork alongside the wall. I think she told me to leave it in the bag so that it can be protected. I’m not sure. Like I said I felt overwhelmed and wanted to flee. I went a little to the back and placed the paintings alongside the wall.

There were quiet a few paintings there. They all face the wall like misbehaved children. The only thing you could see of the other artwork was the back where all the wires and hooks were. Were most of the artists embarrassed by their work? It was like they sent their artwork off to be punished.

Even though I submitted work I do not expect for it to sell. No one goes to Sowebo to buy art. You go there to party. This year I will make an effort to actually spend a few minutes there. Maybe, I’ll kind of hang out at the Carriage House. I guess I would sort of have to go there because on the form that I filled out it said I had to promise to spend a little time guarding the artwork. I feel this is silly. No one steals artwork by Baltimore artists. If you’re going to steal something it’s usually a big ticket item not local artwork. No one in Baltimore I feel really cares about art or artists. Were kind of like circus freaks.

Saturday, May 22, 2004

The above a painting is one of the two that I will be submitting either today or tomorrow for the Sowebo gallery.

Today or either tomorrow I will be dropping off my artwork for the Sowebo festival. I’ve chosen two pieces of artwork. One is of a woman with two Elvis impersonators. The other is of a woman with a big hat smiling on a rail. I don’t know if I have to attach prices to theses pieces or not. Allegedly because I participated by submitting a poster I get to exhibit for free. I believe that if you did not donate a poster you have to pay either 3 or 5 dollars per painting. The maximum amount of paintings you can submit to the show is three.

Several years ago when I was working at Maryland General Hospital I submitted artwork for the festival. The only way I knew about it was that there was an ad in the City Paper. Back then the paper used to have a listing in it called art opportunities. It was were artists could submit there work. That column has long since been eliminated.

Back then I had to go to this place called Gallery M to drop off my artwork for Sowebo. I recall there was a very long line the day I came to drop off my painting. I had no idea there were that many artists in Baltimore. I remember a guy name Gabriel was in charge of it. He had a big black dog. When I finally got in the gallery, Gabriel’s dog kept sniffing my butt. It was very unnerving. I remember I had to pay either three or five dollars for the painting I submitted. I recall that when I finally got in the gallery, Gabe looked admiring at it and said he liked it. At the time it had no name. I told him it was called, The Searcher. Right there on the spot the painting had a name.

I remember when I came to pick up the painting I felt proud. The painting was on the gallery wall and it looked like it belonged there. I felt like I was a real artist. I believe the gallery that I went to is no longer around. I recall it was somewhere on Hollins Street. That day was my first time ever in that section of town. All I knew about that part of town was that a lot of artists lived there. When I got there I found it scary and desolate looking. I’d never seen so much abject poverty. Little did I know that I would end up living there many years later....