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Crazycool AUDIO Newsletter, Cooper Studio

by Cooper on 10/28/2010 2:38:36 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. I am so pleased to announce the completed publishing of my studio newsletter. And it's one of those crazycool audio kind. It's all about bicycles, from the Cooper point of view. And so the title is, of course:

  Pedal: The Cooper Studio Autumn Audio Newsletter       (click on the red text to watch)

Have fun with that! And thank you so much for stopping by!

Later, Karen

And of course, even the cover letter needs a little color. The painting: Healthy Alternative, on an wonderful 30 x 30 inch canvas, and available in my portfolio.

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Favorite Color: Rainbow

by Cooper on 10/20/2010 8:00:09 AM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.

A niece just posted on her facebook page that her five-year-old had announced her favorite color as rainbow. What a concept. Having it all. Color to the max. Seeing them all, all at one time. Whew, potent stuff, that five-year-old's point of view.

When a person get to their mid-50s, we hear the words sophisticated color. Like it's a badge. "Look at me". "I am mature and select colors to prove it". "I chose taupe and gray". How uplifting. Maybe mature people can't handle rainbows?

I am still thinking about the youtube videos (click on the red to watch) I recently watched, about the banishment of beauty, by Scott Burdick. Thinking about people in important places telling us what to believe. And then thinking about the "us" in the prior sentence, just following along. Thinking about someone painting an entire canvas solid blue. And then finding an important person to tell us it's great art. And then, back to the "us" in that second sentence of this paragraph. Following along, just following along.

Taupe and gray. But they sound so appealing and important when you call them sophisiticated. And then important people say it's so. Maybe I should follow along. Maybe. Maybe not.

Later, Cooper

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Give Them Your Best Stuff

by Cooper on 10/13/2010 9:15:42 AM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.

Today's verbal enlightenment regards artists putting it out there, you know, art and the marketing that goes with it. You might note I've titled this post Give Them Your Best Stuff. I am pretty sure there is not a FASO artist amongst us who has not written, or at the very least read, a blog about art marketing. They are numerous with a capital N. We don't even need to mention that there is way more art out there than blog posts marketing it, do we? We are all involved.

That agreed upon, I need to veer sideways and give you a comparison point for my theory regarding Give Them Your Best Stuff. It came from an apple orchard. I promise you, I will draw the connecting lines between apple orchards and art marketing so convincingly, that you will be self-amazed that you ever doubted my ability to do just that.

The Coopers are fairly knowledgeable about the best apple orchards in the west half of the state of Iowa, and where to find them. No brag, just fact. However, this year's orchard adventure involved several family members who live way southeast, so I did some internet looking for an orchard in that corner of the state. Iowa has had some pretty unusual weather this past summer, and the net result for apple growers is that the season was about three weeks early. I called several orchards in our target area. They responded that they had apples in the shop, but pick-your-own was done for the year. A very few said they did have a couple of "late" varieties still on the tree, open for pick-you-own. And one of those spiced it up with a hayrack ride offering as well, so we chose them to visit.

We arrived at the orchard. The day was stunningly beautiful, and the orchard was complimented by the color of that other fall tradition, the pumpkin. The promised hayrack ride took us along a path that led past neat rows of well cared for trees, already picked clean. Then we got to a different part of the orchard, definitely older, probably scheduled for replacement in the next year or two. Here, the grass had been mowed between trees, and that was about all. Broken limbs from storms gone by were still hanging from the trees. Vines of unknown ethnicity were crawling up into the tree tops. What apples we did find were small, very small. We couldn't find enough good apples to fill even one basket.

Because the trip was with family, daughters, son-in-laws, granddaughters, we enjoyed the outing anyway. And because the Coopers know apples :) we understand the problem of what weather can do to seasonal timing.

However. As my husband and I were driving home, we realized we wouldn't be visiting that orchard again. They had put their work out there, but it wasn't their best stuff. Their best stuff was already gone. The portion of their orchard that they had led us to, showcased the worst of their stuff. Time not spent. Care not taken. Maintenance not done.

What about the work that we put out there? Is it our best stuff? Is the new painting one that we think adds to the body of work? Is there camera glare on the image of that new painting? Did we take the time to remove it from the frame, or at least crop the frame out of the image? That blog that's supposed to aid in art marketing, do we take the time to proofread, to spellcheck? Do the links really work or do they go to that annoying message about "page not available"? Are we so lacking in care that we start a sentence with "i think" instead of "I think"? With both the art and the publishing, are we just filling up space?

Maybe we need to consider the lesson of the apple orchard. Take care, give time, do maintenance. Consider that to do otherwise might cause us to lose a patron or two. Or fifty. After all, who wants to see or read your worst? Give them your best stuff.

Later, Cooper

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Everywhere, Everywhere, Art

by Cooper on 10/10/2010 8:13:07 PM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. Today the subject is art availability, or everywhere, everywhere, art. And of course it is. Let me explain.

Ever since moving to Jefferson, about a year ago, I have been in love with a painting way high up on the wall of the Jefferson post office. I didn't ask the appropriate questions about it, I just plain old enjoyed it.

Then, I was at an art event in Illinois earlier this summer where someone was bragging that his father was friends with one of the artists who had been commisioned in a WPA program to create art for public buildings. WHAT???!!! How could I have lived through two entire years of art history and not heard of this? And it happened a long time before I graced the grounds of the University of Nebraska, so don't make any "old" jokes for my benefit. Surely the professor knew about this. Why weren't we told?

So I took a little self made art history course the other day. The painting in the Jefferson, Iowa post office was painted in 1938 by a man from Fort Dodge, Iowa, named Tom Savage. The painting, "The New Calf" is an oil on canvas mural measuring 14' by 6'10". It was installed April 21, 1938. The post office was brand new, as well, being built two years prior, in 1936. Surely you are eager to see it. Did I mention that it was WAY up high on the wall, and even though I am taller than average, and held my camera as high as I could---well, you guessed it, this image is, sorry, slightly skewed.

Mr. Savage also painted, "Breaking The Colt" for the New Hampton, Iowa post office, and "Cotton Farm" for the Eupora, Mississippi post office. A protege of Grant Wood (you know HIM as Mr. American Gothic, of course), he worked with him on a series of murals in Ames, Iowa. The then First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt, must have appreciated his work as well, as she selected a Tom Savage painting to hang in the White House, now a part of the permanent collection of Fort Dodge, Iowa's Blanden Memorial Art Gallery.

And to think, one of his paintings is hanging in my post office. Wow. It's fairly easy to find information about the entire WPA art project, once you know it's there. It seems Iowa lucked out and had quite a few of these commisioned arts, 34 according to one online list. I think it would be fun to see how many of them I can visit :) I wonder if I'll enjoy them as much as the one in my post office?!

And then, have you heard about:

They were inspired by the public art project “Play Me, I’m Yours,” which has placed pianos in open spaces around the world to challenge people to interact.

http://thegazette.com/2010/07/20/pianos-give-downtown-iowa-city-some-heart-and-soul/

More art. Everywhere, everywhere, art. This time, audio. Musical. A piano right out on the sidewalk in Iowa City, Iowa. Actually, two pianos, one on the pedmall, one in front of MC Ginsberg Jewelry.

Have I mentioned daughter Abbie is a pianist? So the piano in front of MC Ginsberg rocked out a little Beethoven Pastorale Opus 28 sonata #15. And then two cute little girls, daughter Lindsey's contribution :) rerouted the piano sound to "The Wheels On The Bus".

But hey, it's all art. And it's all around us. Everywhere, everywhere, art. Pay attention. You'll want to enjoy it. I'm sure.

Later, Cooper

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Taking Synthesis To Life Drawing

by Cooper on 10/8/2010 2:21:31 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, on a stunning Iowa fall day. We are blessed for sure.

Have I mentioned with the advent of the fall semester at ISU, that life drawing sessions are back on the schedule as well? At the same time, I am revisiting a book on figure drawing, Art Of Drawing The Human Body, one of those books that doesn't seem to have an author, but this one does have a translator, Edgar Fankbonner. Apparently it's first outing was in Spanish.

Anyway, synthesis and life drawing, how can there possibly be a common denominator? ---Sorry to bother you with the dictionary, but really we must, because they lead me to believe if you are actually in synthesizing mode, then you are taking little things and making them into one big thing. As in the able definition of dictionary.com:

the combining of the constituent elements of separate material or abstract entities into a single or unified entity

Now isn't that just a little bit contradictory with what we are taught as artists? Supposedly we are supposed to start with the BIG PICTURE, and then work for the little parts. If necessary. Ha, right away on page 12 of Art Of Drawing The Human Body, Mr Fankbonner translates from Spanish to English that we have to do the synthesis thing, when we are drawing the human figure. Does he really want us to draw all the little parts and then put them together? Surely no. But here's the quote"

Synthesis, or reducing forms to their essential content, is a key factor in drawing correctly.

Maybe Mr Fankbonner is a glass-half-full kind of man, or maybe it's the Spanish to English translation he had to effect to get this thing published, or maybe he's just a little dyslexic, but it sounds to me like he IS saying start with the big picture and draw in the details, not start with the details to get the big picture. Or maybe artist synthesis is a totally different ballgame than normal people's synthesis. Whatever. I'm still pushing for the big picture. Maybe after I get that figured out I can go for some of the little parts, eh?

And then of course, at last night's session, I worked on a small sketch pad, so after all that talk about big, here's a little sketch for you:

Thanks for stopping by and wondering about synthesis with me.

Later, Cooper

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