The painting shared in my previous post is finished. It’s called “Bubblegum Pop,” which is a style of music as well as what occurs when someone blows too big a bubble. (As usual, click the thumbnail to enlarge.) I may paint another version down the road, one that’s a little more… spontaneous? Brighter? Fresher? The right word will come. Or maybe I’ll do a drawing; I thought of using my Prismacolor markers, but they’re still in Florida. (I couldn’t pack all my art supplies in the car and still have room for an art show.)
Acrylic, 9″ x 12″
I’m adjusting to my new studio space (aka the card table in the corner). This week, the painting table will become the proverbial drawing board as I set up for the next project–once again resuming John Churchmouse illustrations. (Poor mousie–he’s been on and off the drawing board and the writing desk umpteen times since the idea came to me in 2011. But his day will come! This could be the year!)
Once again, Ohno (L), Tackey, & Tsubasa. Why this drawing of Ohno? So you’d get the point.
Given my penchant for puns, it should come as no surprise that today’s theme has been in mind from the beginning of the series. I hope you will find it enjoyable and that you will neither shoo nor shoe me for my insole-lence. This is also the last Art Walk. Perhaps years from now, there will be another run.
Seemingly perpetual note: You will need to click images to enlarge to view a lot of the art properly.
Doggone it!
You might think this blog has gone to the dogs after reading some of these puns, but as promised last time, here are the doggies!
Cavalier (2018): A dashing King Charles spaniel. I think the ears of the tricolors and black-and-tans make them look like members of the French court, appropriate for a mutt-keteer.
Rescue Dog (2017)
Undercover Pup (2015): Not a skillful painting (just a “use up extra paint before it dries” venture), but given today’s theme, I’m not un-comforter-ble sharing it.
From under a downy cover to down under, here’s Digeridog (c. 2015).
Pirates
I’m sure I could transition with a joke about salty dogs or sea dogs, but since this post already carries a boatload of wordplay, I will spar(e) the effort.
Wok the plank: I never finished this cartoon because I didn’t come up with a satisfying set-up and punchline. “See the / cedar plank? Wok it!” may have been the closest, but I wanted the parrot to squawk (sq-wok?): “Rrraaaaah! Wok the plank!”
R: I think U get the I-D-ea.
Two Pair
Apparently paired pears pear-iodically appeared: Apparantly (2009) and panels from the cabinet project (2018).
What’s in a name?
Converse-ation Piece (2006): Tongue-tied? Comment on somebody’s shoes.
Bubblegum Pop (2017): A style of music and a sugary snack.
Ja-puns
Japanese pop culture returns to the Art Walks in full force.
Machu Pichu (2010). To readers not versed in Pokémon, think of Pichu as a baby Pikachu.
Yamapeace (2008): The back of the Yamapi birthday card I drew for a friend. The front is in Art Walk 2. (⼭ is yama.)
The Big O (2008): Oh, no, another Ohno Satoshi joke? Oh, yes. They never get Ohld. The kanji for the “Oh” (大) in “Ohno” (大野) means “big.” The Big O is an anime from the late ‘90s and early 2000s. So there you gO.
We will also travel from the past back to the future present. This next bit, a gift for a friend, is quite involved, so allow me to elaborate (without, I hope, ruinous over-explanation).
Arasheep (2022): Count them for dream!
The chorus of Arashi’s debut song, A · RA · SHI, ends in “for dream” (and sometimes scrumptious five-part harmony). Here are clear scans of the originals. The laminated ones in the photos were resized to fit the sheep better.
Ohno (blue): 大 (Oh) yeah!
Sho (red) has a clock pin on his vest because it’s show time!
Aiba (green): The sound ai can be written with the kanji character for “love,” so there’s a heart (plus the katakana ba, バ.
Nino (yellow): The kanji ⼆ (ni, 2) repeats (sleeves, lapel, shoes). “We are the Knights Who Say Ni[no]!”
Jun (purple): “Diva.” ‘Nuff said. In this case, “no pun intended” means “intentionally no pun.”
Glass container: The Japanese word for “pun” or “bad joke” is dajare (sounds like “the jar A”). It was filled with more jokes.
Thus we come full circle. 楽しかったです。(Tanoshikattadesu. “It’s been fun.”) Thanks for walking with me. All’s well that ends well.
Several months ago, I was charged with planning an art show for a large open house my workplace was to do for the greater Princeton community. As you might recall from my previous post, the event happened fairly recently (July 1), and, as the photographs below will attest, the show went on!
Really, this show came together from the ground up. I researched, found, & purchased the metal wire display panels for the organization, put out a call to artists, made signs & labels with matching designs, coordinated artwork drop-off & pick-up–all sorts of things. Big tasks right down to the details. I’m very grateful to the set-up and take-down crew. 3 of us did set-up–the perfect number for this, really–and it was quite easy to put the panels together. It took little more than an hour to set them in formation (rather like a boat shape).
It’s remarkable what good teamwork and working from a sense of completion can do. We also had a fortuitous surprise: the square pattern on the rug ended up being very helpful for aligning the bases–a discovery made by one of my teammates, who just so happened to have selected that rug for the chapel 30 years ago!
The panels were set up on the Friday morning before the event. Art drop-off was that afternoon.
14 artists and 35 pieces in various styles were showcased, including paintings, drawings, photography, quilting (note the gray quilt in the back right of the top photo — we draped the quilt over the organ console), woodworking (stool), and sculpture. You might notice a certain 4-legged helper in the background — he gave good moral support and made sure there was lots of room for doggies to run around the art show without knocking anything over.
If you are curious about any of the pieces (“Who’s the artist?” etc.) let me know. Glad to share. Here are my pieces. You might recognize a couple of them. (L to R, Bubblegum Pop, Asher, and Rescue Dog)
The whole event was well attended, and the art show very well received. Success! Ready for the next one–whenever that may be.
