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Sep 29, 2010

The Guild - Better Than TV

A while back I discovered a web series called The Guild. 

"The Guild is a independent sitcom web series about a group of online gamers. The show started in the late summer of 2007, and for the first season was financed solely by Paypal donations from LOYAL FANS. Since season 2, The Guild has been distributed by Xbox Live and Microsoft and sponsored by Sprint.

Episodes vary from 3-8 minutes in length, and follow the Guild members’ lives online and offline.

“The Guild” has won numerous awards, including the SXSW, YouTube and Yahoo Web Series Awards in 2008, and 3 Streamy Awards in 2009: Best Comedy Web Series, Best Ensemble, and Best Actress for Felicia Day." http://www.watchtheguild.com/

All the episodes are avilable on MSN video or Xbox

To get ya started here's the first episode:




And one of their music videos:

Sep 28, 2010

Push



Remember this giant monster from the 2010 Stutz Open House?  Its taken all summer but this painting will be DONE by first Friday so come be one of the first to check it out!  This piece is on hardboard and is four feet tall by eight feet wide.   For a blog about art, this one seems to be lacking some picture so I thought I would show a few pictures of the progress of this painting. Enjoy!







First Friday October 1st 2010

I will be in my studio this first Friday 12-5 in the Stutz Building (10th and Capital) along with many other artists.  This will be a big first Friday because the Stutz building is also hosting the Autumn Art Walk, so come down and see what all the fuss is about! At 5PM in the gallery downstairs a group show “Voices: Women of a Certain Age” is opening. A portion of the sales will be going to  St. Margaret's Hospital Guild.  For more information on this show please visit the Stutz Artists Association website. There is also a restaurant downstairs called Bearcats, named after the Stutz racing car, so no need to worry about where to eat lunch or dinner while touring the studios and galleries tonight!

After a rough few years of gallery's closing in Indianapolis, a new one will be opening this first Friday! Gallery 924 (924 N PennsylvaniaSt) will be having their first, first Friday event on October 1st. "Gallery 924's Inaugural Exhibition featuring the artwork of Ben Johnson.  Opening reception is from 6-9 pm.  Glass artist Ben Johnson's work is informed by texture, color theory, natural occurrences and the way living organisms affect one another. Johnson's first major exhibition in Indiana will highlight his current Host series.  Applying his extensive studies of glass working to contemporary sculpture, Johnson's work features raised patterns, underlying colors, and interior visual surfaces." - http://www.indyarts.org/
Find out more Here

Sep 9, 2010

Internet Scams

I recently received a fake request to purchase a piece of artwork and I thought I would share to help educate others on how to tell when you are being scammed. 

"Hello Friend,
I saw your contact while surfing via the internet. I will like to know if you have any Naturescape/Landscape/Animal painting in stock of price range not exceeding $700. Get back to me if there is any available for sale.
Regards,
David Taylor"
 
There is nothing that odd about this first e-mail I received besides the "surfing via the internet" and is there such thing as a Naturescape?  Figuring it was just a patron who did not know terms very well I sent him to my website and assuming he lived in the area invited him out to our monthly open studios.  I received this in reply:
 
"Hi Bonnie,
Thanks for your response to my request. I am interested in the one called: Aftermath:Leda and the Swan 2008 30 x 42 Inches Oil on Canvas price:$500 . As regards the payment I will give instruction to my clients there in the united states to send you a cheque in that amount. And I will be needing the address, the name to which the cheque will be issued to include your telephone number. So please get back to me soonest with all this information. Once i am in receipt of the nessesary infomation we can set up the transactions.
To let you know that I will be arranging for a pick up at your location as soon as the check cleared by your bank.
I await your response soonest.
David Taylor"

The big give away here is the "give instruction to my clients there in the united states to send you a cheque in that amount"  These overseas scams either never send a check or it is faulty, or they send you a check in a larger amount and ask that you return the excess money. They also like to use Western Union for scams. Another giveaway here is also the language used. the oddest one here is the use of the word "soonest", also the two different spellings of cheque and check.

There is very little that our government can do to stop these over seas scams and you will not ever get your money or artwork back.  My advice is to not deal in overseas transaction unless you actually know the person.

Sep 3, 2010

First Friday September 3rd 2010

I will be in my studio this first Friday 12-5 in the Stutz Building (10th and Capital) along with many other artists. At 5PM in the gallery downstairs a group show “Exploration: 2009-10 Stutz Residents Lydia Burris and Patrick Flaherty” is opening. There is also a restaurant downstairs called Bearcats, named after the stutz racing car, so no need to worry about where to eat lunch or dinner while touring the studios and galleries tonight!


The Harrison Center for the Arts is having open studios and:

"In Gallery No. 2 - Sparkles, Sprinklers and Bad Seeds - new work by Erin K. Drew and NERS. This show 'uncovers the secrets and treasures lurking in a dreamlike version of the suburban landscape in which we were reared . . . inspired by suburban wildlife, trash can plundering, air-conditioned wishes, goth garage sales, dogs in yards, huge lonely hardwood trees, throwing rocks at wasps nests, gravel driveways with acorns and seedlings, playgrounds, basements, and long adolescent nights where you can sit in the middle of the street and not see a single soul in any direction around you.'"