Some Helpfull Tips

• Use Dawn or another dish washing liquid to clean your brushes.  I  have used it on my brushes since I was in high school thanks to my old painting teacher Ms. Belmont.  Dawn is a degreaser so it works great at cleaning out oils especially and acrylics.  This works great for those big paint brushes and rollers used around the house to paint ceilings, walls, etc. This is a much cheaper and more environmentally safe way to clean up!
• Got paint on you? Kiss it off!  I have not gotten a stain that I have not been able to get out with this remover.  It is called Kiss Off and it comes in a stick similar to chap stick but larger.  It is great fro getting out paint.  I have even gotten several day old dry oil paint off before using it.
• You do not need that little jar of turpentine or other solvents for your brushes.  While items like Turpanoid and Gamasol have made it much safer for artists to use, a plain old jar of watter will do the same thing.  Water will keep your brushes from drying out and will dissolve the paint some.  Water is great at breaking down matter because of the same of the molecule.  Think about it: water carved out the Grand Canyon. I picked this up in Collage from one of my painting teachers the first day of painting class and never looked back! Thanks Andrew!
• One of twice a year I will soak my paint brushes in some Brush Cleaner & Restorer It almost instantly breaks down any dried up oil or acrylic paint.  The instrustons say a couple hours but I usually leave them in over night or for a day or so and occasionally move them around.  This really helps to restore the flexibility of your brushes.  It will not get off every spec of paint but it helps a bunch.  Watch that you do not over fill the jar though because it will eat away at the paint on the brush handle.
• You can save time, get more even coats, and waste less gesso if you do not use a brush but a drywall scraper instead.  You will also get wider stokes, unless you are already using a six inch brush.  excess gesso can be scraped back into the container and clean up is much easier than cleaning out a big brush.  I have a little cheep six inch plastic one that cost be about three dollars at the hardware store but there are also metal ones too.  The plastic ones will probably slowly widdle down. Another tip from Andrew.

First Friday May 7th 2010

If you enjoyed the Stutz Open House but not the large crowd, come visit the open studios from noon to 5PM in the Stutz building.  Not all the artists will be there but many will and best of all it's free!  Opening at 5 in the Stutz building is a show called “Romancing the Page: Drawings on Paper" which focuses on drawing as a final piece.  A friend of mine is having her Herron School of Art Senior Painting Thesis Show "a Well Without" at 940 Indiana Avenue which is across the street from the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut. The Harrison Center is having open studios and I have heard that Know No Stranger will be performing in the Wheeler Arts Community. Happy First Friday everyone!
 

So what normally goes on in the studio?

Well for starters I almost never go to the studio alone.  My studio mate Amber comes with me. She enjoys watching people pass by in the hallway, laying in the sunshine, and chewing up her bone while I work.

And here are a few shots of my studio slowly getting back to normal after the open house.

Torrit Grey

Ive been using Gamblin Artist Oil Colors for a few years now and I have gotten my share of free tubes.  Back in School i loved Torrit Grey because it was the same color at the floors at Herron.  While doing some research on there priming products I came across this on their website which I never knew:

"Torrit Grey Competition


If you took all the pigments in the color spectrum and mixed them together, what color would you make?

Every spring, Gamblin Artists Colors collects a wealth of pigments from our Torit® Air Filtration system. We filter the air around the areas where we handle dry pigments so that our workers are not exposed to pigment dust. Rather than sending any of our high quality, expensive pigments into the landfill, Gamblin paint makers recycle them into "Gamblin Torrit Grey".

"Pigment dust should not go into the earth, water or landfill, but into paint," says Robert Gamblin.

The mix of pigments is different every year, so Torrit Grey is always unique and will never be repeated. Torrit Grey tends to have a greenish tinge because of the great strength of the Phthalo Green pigment, which is a dark bluish green. Torrit Grey varies from a medium dove grey to a dark earthy grey.

We are now dating the tubes, so artists can collect them from year to year and enjoy the unique qualities of each edition. Whatever you create with these popular limited edition colors is solely up to you and your imagination.

Our Torrit Grey store promotion, which runs each year through the end of April in celebration of Earth Day, not only recycles pigment dust into paint but focuses artists on the importance of recycling, studio and environmental safety. Complimentary 37ml tubes of Torrit Grey are only available while supplies last through your local fine art materials retailer. Last year, we distributed more than 11,000 tubes of Torrit Grey! Limitations are often your greatest creative assets and it is remarkable what talented artists can achieve with a color palette limited to white, or black and Torrit Grey.

The Torrit Grey Painting Competition, conducted annually in the Fall, attracts more entries every year. In 2008, we received over 160 submissions from painters willing to take the challenge of making a value based painting using only Torrit Grey and any black or white oil paint. The competition is judged by Robert Gamblin and the winners receive a supply of Gamblin Artists' materials."

Debriefing

A big thank you to all of those who came and toured the studios at the Stutz Artist Open House this last weekend.  It was so good to hear people say that they cant wait for this event and come every year.  For those of you who could not make it here are a few pictures:

So now that you know what the artist's studios look like when they are all cleaned up, come see them work every first Friday 12-5PM.  You can also view work from many of the artists in the Stutz on the Stutz Artist Association Website.  You can also find contact information for all the artists.

More New Work Just in Time for the Open House!

I just finished this piece today and it will be on display (and hopefully dry) during the Stutz Artists Open House this Friday and Saturday!

Tara Donovan

If you have not made it to the IMA to go see the new show Untitled by Tara Donovan you must.  The first room is filled with drawings and prints made on handmade paper and foam core and around the corner are series of rooms that have been overtaken by objects that have been turned into growths on the floor and huge bulky landscapes.  The show lasts until August but do not put it off, you will surely want to see it again!

For more information visit the IMA's website
http://www.imamuseum.org/art/exhibitions/tara-donovan
the pictures above are from the IMA Website