Hey everyone, I have moved over to Wordpress. You can now find me at www.artyfartyblog.com
It is new, streamlined, and now anyone can leave comments without having to be a Vox user. Sadly I did lose years of comments on posts thanks to Vox not having a way to export them -- what can you do?
See you on the flipside.
My friend said to me, "when are you going to get a REAL blog?" and she is right. The layout of these Vox blogs is a little too busy, and it really is annoying that non-members can't comment on posts without registering. You also can't add as many links to your sidebar as one would like -- very limiting indeed. I've emailed the Vox team about this twice and no responses as of yet. So the question is, do I go and get myself a proper url and transfer years of content over? Or keeping waiting? I started up on this site as a fluke; also because I hated Blogger. Hmmm, decisions, descions.
11x14" oil on panel, I wish you could see the details in her black hair, but it is very subtle and didn't photograph well. Anyways, finally was able to make up a bio for her...
Lady Eugenia (1480-1544)
Daughter of a little known diplomat and his stage actress mistress; she
had published her first novel at age 15, thus becoming an amusement of
sorts within literary circles at cafes and parties. Her short marriage
to a Lord and travels to their many homes around the Continent provided
the material for what would become her second novel - fortunate for the
Lord he died of consumption before reading the unflattering portrait
she portrayed of him. After many failed affairs with renowned writers
more than half her age, she retired from writing after her 9th book,
and fled to Scotland where she purchased a small cottage. She never
wrote again, and instead collected stray cats
Just another quick update of various exhibitions and shindigs going on...
Saturday, July 11th: 7:00pm - 10:00pm Knitgrrl Studio / Arabella Proffer Studio @ The Screw Factory 13000 Athens Ave. 2nd floor, suite C288 Lakewood, OH 44107 Phone (216) 712-POOP Come out to our official launch party for my new space with Shannon Okey. What's the space all about? I needed a painting studio without cat hair and the distractions of watching daytime court TV. Shannon needed a new space to teach felting, spinning, dyeing and messy stuff. We're both going to be selling things, and you’ll be able to see the stuff I’m working on for my upcoming show in the D.C. area. In short, it's going to be fun with drinks and all, so come check it out.
Friday, August 7th: William Rupnik Gallery in Cleveland presents an exhibition that will be a one-night only event "Oh, That Is Sooooo Last Year". This will be an amazing group show with Derek Hess, Chris Ryniak, Tes One, BASK, Mallorie Freeman and Andrea Heimer and more. There will be a reception at the gallery 7-10 PM.
Saturday,
August 15th:
"Innocence and Arrogance" a dual solo show with painter
Brandi Read @ Art Whino Gallery in National
Harbor MD. I'm doing more surreal work for this show, but be sure to
expect from both of us plenty of punks, goths, muses, models and royalty.
Opening Reception 6pm - midnight with special guests DJ Rick Taylor
(We Fought The Big One) and DJ Sequential (Screen Vinyl Image)
Friday, August 28th: "The Tattoon Show" a group show about tattoos and cartoons @ Eclectix Gallery, El Cerrito CA.
September
15 - Oct. 10th: "Splendor & Safety Pins" a
solo show @ Box Heart Gallery
in Pittsburgh PA.
Opening Reception on Saturday, September 19th from 6-9pm
As always, more info and updates can be found at www.arabellaproffer.com
Spent the holiday weekend out in Ashtabula drinking, eating, and hanging with some British ex-pats celebrating the fact we still pay taxes despite our independence from their country. We stayed over at place many refer to as "Camp David", the home of our pal Dave. Dave was in a rather awesome band throughout the 90s, and on this trip I noticed a new piece of decorating in his kitchen: the damn band poster my boyfriend had over his couch when I was 15 -- we used to make out under it all the time! And there's Dave in the picture, all posing.
While out in the country we visited a fabulous winery in a barn (the wine wasn't bad actually), and enjoyed a private fireworks display for a party of 60 people. This stuff was insane, and way better that what most cities could pull off. The word "permit" gets laughed at in these parts; all the neighbors compete with eachother as we could see through the trees and hear booming noises echo through the hills. Here are some photos...
The topic of censorship has come up for me recently. Let's just say that a nude I did combined with "inappropriate" and the phrase, "families read this publication" happened, and although I knew this would happen I thought, maybe, just maybe they'd be cool. Guess not.
The first time I got one of my nude paintings censored, so to speak, was at Laguna Beach High School when my teacher hung it in the art room. I came back the next day to find a string of toilet paper across the area where the lone nipple was visible. I guess the principle said he didn't want the 9th grade boys to get too "excited". At my high school back in Ann Arbor, they showed my nude pieces quite often, as well as the Ann Arbor Art Association, so this was a new thing for me. After all, the mascot for Laguna Beach HS was the "Artists". Later, I was told it could not be published in the high school year book -- even though my teacher pushed for it -- again it was deemed inappropriate. We had a major meth epidemic at the school, but you can't be showing students a nipple. Totally makes sense, right?
When I moved to Dana Point for my senior year, same problems, different school. My nude works were banned from being shown in the common areas of the school in display cases. They were inappropriate. I found this hilarious, when you consider we had at least 3 teen parents at our school; two girls who were currently knocked up, and the fact I took one of the cheerleaders to buy a pregnency test so she could take it my house without her parents finding out. So yes, representations of titties in oil were to be censored, despite the fact many students CLEARLY knew how bang some genetalia together to make a baby. A gallery in Dana Point also asked me not to show my nudes because "it wasn't Christian", so you know, all those nude works by Renaissance artists must be smut, and that's why religious leaders commissioned their smutty porno peddling asses to decorate their homes and churches. She must have thought I was a real perv then; a 17 year old girl, doing these paintings of naked women? Shocking.
The final straw was when I tried to curate a group show at Artcore in downtown Los Angeles. It was to be me, Tara McPherson, Louie Metz, Staci Lande, and a few others. The woman who ran the gallery didn't want nudity. A downtown Los Angeles gallery, not wanting nudity? The board members tried to reason with her, but it was no use. This was on top of many other conditions she decided to set. That show didn't happen, obviously.
So it was weird to me, all these galleries in Laguna Beach and even Los Angeles refusing to show nudes, because they were inappropriate and indecent; and yet the people who set out these rules loved works by Botticelli and Micelangelo. I started drawing nudes when I was eleven years old! So what does that mean? I grew up with nude artwork in our home, and no, it didn't turn me into a deviant or make me full of love for Satan.
I know the MySpace police take down any artwork with nipples showing. That's insane. I'm curious to know how other people have had their work censored? Was it a gallery, print publication, or something else?
I would totally drive to Chicago for the Bravo casting call, as "The Untitled Art Project" seems like it will be the perfect blend of trash and pseudo-intellectualism. I'm sure they're looking for various versions of characters you would find in Art School Confidential, but I already have my "character" worked out -- being that this is reality TV after all.
I'm going to be the drunk and combative chick, who steals everyone's ideas, and has a dark past! I will call everyone a punk ass bitch, talk about how the judges and challenges are stupid and beneath me, and maybe I'll faint -- or have a panic attack of some sort. There's always an ambulance scene in all these shows. I will also throw out the, "I'm not here to make friends" line, as well as cry to my husband on the phone about how I, "want to go home". And yes, I'll hug everyone and cry when I'm eliminated too; ain't no way the abrasive bitch character gonna win an art related prize.
Dude, seriously. Isn't going on a reality show based around in the field you work in, or are passionate about, a death kiss to your career? I can't wait to see how many performance artists try out for this show and claim being on the show in itself is their art. Come on America, let's get stupid together.
18x24 inches, oil on panel. Kinda hard to photograph stuff that is larger and have it be "exactly" as you see in real life, but this is close enough I think...
again, the compression on blogs sucks, so click for better views.
What do you get your wife for her birthday to show you care? A custom beer order, duh! Our friend Chris wins awards with his brewing skills and we decided to go over and see the process of making an "Arabella Imperial Red". Click images for descriptions. I really didn't follow what was going on other than it smelled great...
So we did this same trip again. Only this time we reversed it and got hammered at Founders rather than a lost night of weirdness starting at Bell's. I wish I had taken more photos at Hop Cat because that place is amazing, even the bathrooms are gorgeous for a brew pub (yes I always have to comment on facilities you know). For most of the trip it was pretty mellow, the only scary part were the tween and child cheerleaders staying at our motel who had on gobs of whore make up, and hair extensions. Most were rather fat too; I thought in that line of activity a chunky physique would be frowned upon -- hello, pyramid cheer? It was just really creepy, it was like Jon Benet Ramsey meets Little Miss Sunshine meets Rock of Love. Ew! I also keep forgetting how fast people in Michigan like to drive, like desert speeds, where 95 is considered slow. No wonder I counted 22 dead deer on the roadside. It gave me sad face.
Anyways, again I am too lazy to do commentary, but you can click images and see the descriptions....
