BIG UPDATE!!

....of the website plus Atelier Artista are now on FB!!!

A special thanks goes out to Melissa Cole who is spending hours to update the website and give it that read over and touch it definitely needed. It is more cohesive in its design and presentation. Plus all the content has been reviewed and edited. Take a look atelierartista.com

Atelier Artista is now on Facebook!

 Our first big event listing is for the 1 year Anniversary party! So please like and follow our page, and keep up to date with all the happenings at the studio through Facebook.

Please give me some reviews, We already have 2. Woohoo!

A picture says a thousand words

20% cooler & have 30% more time.

Before I quit Facebook, they require you give a reason as to why. "It was taking up too much of my time" was definitely the least intrusive of the options.  Stalkers and threats etc being the other reasons. I feel good about my graceful exit, like a tremendous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Every time I pick up my phone and have nowhere to go to, no app to select. It is kind of strange yet strangely gratifying to have my life back. I did manage to get a coffee table book published with some of the content and tagged pictures as a back up plan.

Teenagers using Facebook said it was 30% of their lives. Adolescents growing up with todays connectivity and technology face new problems that us adults can barely rectify. It is implicit that mature people are responsible enough to make healthy decisions and yet it is still challenging.  But what about the developing mind and morals of youth? Daily activities surround the pictures they planned to take to post. It was like they were maintaining this other life. Preteen girls dress up in a highly provocative and sexualized way and post them to their online avatars. I am not sure they have an idea of the gravity of what their were doing. It may just be an innocent way to attract boys. Or a means to bolster self confidence. Or that by maintaining this status quo that invented persona will influence who one will become in 'real' life.

I have found myself in this vicious cycle. The persona people think I am is nothing like who my closest friends know me to be. One is real, the other surreal. We always aim to put our best foot forward and to portray ourselves in the best light possible. I kept an internal rule to keep everything I post positive. But we only show what we want others to see.  We are our own censorship mechanism to some degree. Maybe they don't need to be broadcast to the world. But then again is there really any privacy?
Those embarrassing pictures of drunken debauchery will continue to bite you in the ass.  Society is not forgiving. Life and technology seem to spin so quickly out of control these days.  Our decision and our mistakes are what make and help us grow as individuals. Failures and mistakes are often good. After all, we are just human.

On a lighter note. The holidays were good to me. My family has never been really close and we don't get together as often as I would like. Especially for dinner…….. my mom is an amazing chef. Family and friends are the most important to me and we are continually making efforts to constantly improve it amidst all the challenges, hardship and loss. My brother, who I really haven't seen in a decade made a real positive leap this year and sent us all a care package. He combined what he loves doing, making chain mail armour combined with a bit of online research to see what might be an appropriate gift for me.  He made made me a chain mail guitar strap for my new cigar box guitar that I got myself for my birthday. I really appreciate is his effort. To me its the best gift I could have gotten this holiday season, though it is as heavy as the guitar it is strapped too.

RIP FACEBOOK. Open mind – close Facebook.

I spent 7 years of my life on Face Crack, and for what?

Am I any better for it?

1691 “friends” and 528 likes on my artist page.

Swiping past photos of strangers.

Is this what it is to be connected?!

The reason I am taking the first step is to regaining some semblance of my life, time and relationships. It is enough of a reason that the new users agreement gives up our rights and freedoms. What worries me more is that we are so attached to this time waster of an app that we are so willing to trade off our personal information and freedoms to corporate interest, for me personally, this is the last straw. An impetus for personal change.

Many years ago I banished the Nestle corporation from my life. I had to drop my favorite chocolates and candies, carnation, Delissio frozen pizzas, my favorite cologne and bottled water. At first it was difficult. Nestle is a powerful and pervasive corporation, interested in privatizing the worlds water supply.  Yet in a short period of time it has not impacted me negatively in the slightest.  1 me stands for what I believe. I don’t think exodus from Face-Crack will be any different.  I need to be free once more. Fingers crossed.

2014 was a very challenging year. I lost many friends, family and acquaintances.  An inevitable reminder of our inescapable mortality. It feels to me like life is slipping away and I need to regain it with all my fight and fervor.

Exactly a year ago this time, I was forced out of my studio. Which has taken away my ability to create art leaving me feeling dulled. I have been without my temple of creation and it has been more than difficult. That being said, I have saved the same amount I would have spent on rent and I now wonder what to do with it.

I drew myself out of life, hiding away and battling the doldrums. I intend to put the effort back into this blog, my website but mainly my artwork and I hope a return to this brings the benefits social media could not.  I feel naked and alone these days. Vulnerable and lost. I need to find myself in all of this craziness. Re-read favorite books. Turn off Netflix. Pick up one of my many instruments instead. Spend my time, my most valuable asset, by building amazing new memories.

I can be proud of my constant self-reflection, or maybe my overtly self-critical nature inherent in any artist.  Social media has become an addiction, an addiction to immediate gratification. I find myself reaching for my device every morning, which battles the importance practice of writing my morning pages. In this I worry I am dissolving and losing the parts of myself that I love most and make me unique.

I have kept up a daily practice of sending “♬ ♬ ♬ H a P p Y b I r T h D a Y t O y O u ! ♬ ♬ ♬ .... and many more....” because it is as important as knowing somebody’s name to the bearer.  Every now and again the rare and deeply satisfying conversation or connecting to friends from the past.  It gives me a constant flow of news I don’t need. “Comments” and “likes” being fished for to build up ones ego. Hundreds of events I cant remember or attend. Yet I feel this alone has set a huge wedge between my true self and this other "internet-identity".

It seems to me that my interactions have become less and less sincere. I keep putting in my effort but as I look around, I see people around the table, at the club and in the mall, their fingers punching frantically, their eyes lit by little glowing screens.

I turn off my phone when I drive, and keep it off when I share a meal with friends, which does not seem to be the norm. But the thing I’ve missed most as of late is real connections with people. I’d rather have one close person in my life who really knows me deeply than 1600+ “friends” who when I encounter in person seem to loose eye contact after the first surface hellos. We really never really connect deeply. I want real connections, not “likes” and text messages. 

I don’t think dropping completely out of society is a solution, but I feel like those I interact with, or date should equally respond with an enthusiastic attitude of “FUCK, YES!” If not, then there is no real reason to go forward. Recently, I tried to make every effort to grow some new friendships.  I consistently put in energy but it was met with apathy and indifference. Why have I wasted my time struggling for no reason? It seems my lesson lately is to move onto things that really matter.

Like a hungry ghost my taste never ceases for an adventurous and passionate life. For people with a shine in their eyes and a fire in their hearts. Maybe along side my art I should elevate my drives and desire to write, to love and to eat amazing food. I desire connection and love, just like you. I reach out here, I invite you to be part of my world still but in a more real way, if you say “FUCK, YES!” you know where to find me.

Real life is better…..Farwell Facecrack!

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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and farewell facebook!

Integrity and artwork pricing

or Show some respect!  My uphill battle selling art.

I premiered my latest creation "The Wheel of Deluded Existence" at Derek Bisbing and Jim Laing's House Gallery show titled Horror 2. I feel it was a tremendous success, so much so that two drunken attendees insisted they love my painting, and had to have it even if it was unfinished. I was highly flattered.  Then one of the ladies became really belligerent referring to herself as a  "bitch" <---(her words not mine).  I was stone cold sober, so I can say with great confidence that it was mostly over the price tag.

Fact: There was no price. I simply stated how many hours had been put into the piece so far. 50 hrs. to be exact.  I explained that the work was not complete an that the final price would reflect the additional hours I hope to put in in order to make the work exceptional. She went as far as telling me, the artist, that I would ruin the work if I kept working on it more.  Expect at least 30 hrs. more on this one!

 Above: The Wheel of Deluded Existence @ 50 hrs.
Photo by Derek Bisbing

They said they wanted it anyway, as is. I couldn't let it go unfinished especially at the price they were willing to offer. Now at this point is when I realized that some people are going to be cheap and really low ball you and disrespect you to get what they want. These are not the type of people I want to deal with, and especially not the type I want owning a Brian Batista original. I asked how much my 50 hrs. were worth to her? No reply. So, I asked what 50 hrs. of her time would be worth. Hell, she could even trade something....No answer. I said if she wasn't willing to offer anything remotely close to $1000 for my 50 hrs. (that is equal to $20 per hr. -art materials) She should not bother talking to me about it.

That's why I don't just put a price. People scoff and judge the work differently if the price is too high or not high enough. Its a real art killer. There was no resolution, just dancing around the issue of me not listing a price. "Make me an offer."  What resulted was pussyfooting. However, they were so emotionally attached to the fact that I put my hours of labor over a definitive numeric value that they just couldn't let it go. It did not help them avoid embarrassment with the small change they were willing to trade.  They insisted that since the painting wasn't finished it should be cheaper. Seriously?!

I learned a valuable lesson here after a friend turned to me and said "did I just see you NOT sell your painting to them". I nodded. I was not valued by this person, and underneath it all....... neither was my work.  Sure she loved it, but not as much as it is worth.  I'm not making stuff for a pitiful $10/hr. plus materials. At the end of the night,  she still asked me for my card. I told her to visit Market Collective where I was selling prints, where she could pick up something she could afford. BAM!

 The result of this event is helping shape my artistic business practice: 

I'm the type of artist to work on something in great detail. I do not  make short pithy ideas or contemporary "one liners" that can be sold at an inflated price. My work takes DEDICATION, SKILL, CONCENTRATION and EFFORT to produce. For this piece I tallied up the hours on the top of the painting as I went! It can take a surprising amount of TIME to paint something. So far..... 50 hrs.

I think this is the way I will label my work  from now on. This is my profession and people are constantly under valuing my skills and efforts.  On the other end are the artists who give the rest of us a bad name, selling lazy crap for millions of ddollars. I'm willing to trade my 50 hrs. for 50 hrs. in their craft and take $ out of the equation all together. It may be a luxury but it's my integrity:


I decide who gets my work. I decide if the deal is fair and I decide if the painting is done!

If you like my work and what I have to say, I just created a facebook "fan" page, click here to 'like'!


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Inspired Facebook Grafitti

Here is posts made by Ola Birch based on my earlier Facebook Grafitti  Blog.
It's awesome!

If you would like to see more of her works visit her blog  FAY MOOSE ART!!!

 

She was at the last market collective an has really amazing stuff available. 

Check it out on her ETSY site just Click HERE !!!

Revenge of the Nerds!

F*ck with your friends!

I'm sorry if this is getting outta hand, it's just way too much fun!

Facebook is going to have to change this for sure. Once this info gets out everybody will be screwing with each others profiles. I had a little fun with this Hack. If I got you it's cause I love you!

 Who's asking for it?

Awesomeness of facebook

I just put up a little razmataz awesomeness on my Facebook page and invented a new form of FB graffiti. Already many peeps have been asking how I did it. Well here's how!

~REVENGE OF THE NERD!!!~

There is a new feature as part of the FB layout, 5 of your latest images across the top.  I decided to take one of my bunny parade pictures and cut it up across the top.

1) I took a screen shot of my facebook profile page first, to get an idea of the size the images would be.

 

Really easy to do with Mac (Command + Shift + 3) 

On a PC you may have to use Grab or another program.

2) I opened this image in Photoshop(any photo alteration program should work). I created another layer, cut and copied the entire layer and out each of the squares I wanted to fill.  I threw out the original layer, so what I had left was this image with squares cut out over a transparent background.

Simply cut out with the marquee. 
The checkered background shows the transparency.

3) I selected an image I wanted to fill the squares with. I added a layer and inserted my image below the cut out Facebook template I just designed. It needed to be moved around and re-sized but in the end, I had basically what I would see on FB.

Here is the example with the layers shown at left so you get a basic idea of how it is stacked.

4) I took the Marquee tool and cut out and copied each of the 5 images and saved them as separate PNG files. No now I had 5 separate files named "Bunny- 1 - 5".

5) I went into my  Facebook account and opened a new photo album, I called it "Number 5 is Alive" so I would remember the 5 photos across the top go in  there.  Once the photos are uploaded to Facebook, comes the tricky part..... 

6) Put them in order in the new FB Album. Tag them with your name,  from the LAST image to the FIRST.  Go to the end and tag using the 'previous' button, its quicker.   I found out, if you tag them in the regular order, the pictures will be in the reverse order. The funny thing is they should replace the ones that were there. 5 across the top. 

Trouble shooting:

If someone else tags a photo of you more recently it will pop into the left most square. Now this is not really a problem actually, just un-tag them all in your album and redo the process. Hmm, this can be a mess, but it also has the potential for other things..............

Causing trouble: 

The same is true if you decide to put this up on other peoples, tag them in reverse too. He he. Geurilla  FB advertising.

MAYBE I'VE GIVEN YOU TOO MUCH INFO, HERE IS HOW TO CREATE A FB MONSTER!

I take no responsibility for how you decide to use this information, even if it annoys your friends, it is all in good fun! Who knows, enough of this an FB may change how tagging works!


To remove: All they have to do to get rid of them is un-tag themselves in my photos.

Here is bunny having some fun my poking his head into his closest friends FB pages today =;)

"I see you!" 

=;)

Week-end Warrior

I had a great week-end. It was snowing heavily outside.  I had a job to do and a big collection of movies to watch. It began first with this sketch based on an image a friend took in Thailand and posted on facebook(crack).

Two little monkeys sitting in a tree.......

followed by a joyous little pony and a Coast Salish inspired hare.