PINEAPPLE ma pizza

I eat lots of pizza, an odd side result of my job as a performing musician. Common menu offerings include lettuce-topped Mexican, Greek, thick-crust Sicilian, Californian, the New York slice, the ubiquitous pineapple Hawaiian, and of course, deep-dish Chicago style. There are many others, but these are the standards. I love how, outside the area for which they are named, they consistently have similar the toppings that aren’t always grounded in anything more than habit. Did you know California-style always has sun-dried tomatoes? Do you know why? Me either. Food stereotypes are funny & often well-intentioned, but odd & often very abstract. This next Call wants the abstract, but don’t send them pizza. The deadline looms…

Check out this Call for Entries from Marin Museum of Contemporary Art (Novato, CA) for AbstrAction. This gallery is located in Hamilton Field, a beautiful, historic space, and you know how I love a museum show. Take a look…

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CALL for ENTRIES:
AbstrAction from
Marin MoCA

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ELIGIBILITY: Open to all U.S. resident artists 18+

MEDIA: Open to all media

THEMES: Abstraction “We encourage work that demonstrates techniques in abstraction that move us forward. Innovative use of materials, color, shape, line, texture & subject matter can reveal or energize new movements in art. Show us what Actions & reActions are occurring in your work.” MarinMOCA

DEADLINE: August 25, 2017 (PST)

NOTIFICATION: September 9, 2017

ENTRY FEE: $35 for up to 3; $50 for 4-5 ($30/$45 for members)

JUROR: Catharine Clark, Owner, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco & New York (est. 1991). Catharine Clark Gallery exhibits the work of contemporary artists working across a wide range of media. The gallery has pioneered the presentation of new media art in San Francisco and is the first commercial gallery in the area with a dedicated media room. Exhibitions are hosted on a six-week schedule and generally feature solo artist presentations in conjunction with media room installations. The gallery’s program has garnered critical attention from numerous publications, including the New York Times, Artforum, Flash Art, Tema Celeste, Art in America, ARTnews, Modern Painters, and Art Review.

AWARDS: 1st Place $500, 2nd Place $300 & 3rd Place $100. Non-monetary Honorable Mention awards may be given at Juror’s discretion.

SALES: Marin MOCA will retain 30% commission on sales.

For complete details, Read the Full Call!

PIZZA mio!

Choosing a Featured Artist is not about separating the good artwork from the bad. It has become about the challenge of picking from amongst ALL of the good work. Thanks for that. (*Editor’s Note: The Featured Artist program was retired in 2015 and replaced by the Artist of the Day program.)

Like many of you, my life is frenzied and full of things that I love… and things that I don’t. So, I have a soft spot for visual places to rest, for work that makes me smile. I am tickled pink when I later find beautiful theory behind the work afterall.

This month’s artist has brought a ray of sunshine into my gray February.

The Featured Artist chosen from January’s entries is painter Deanna Bowdish. Bowdish’s work is a happy place. The work is like a challenging tromp uphill through the daises… in 4″ heels.

FEATURED ARTIST:
Deanna Bowdish

Deanna Bowdish was born in Solon, Ohio in 1976. As a toddler, flopping her red paint-soaked body across moms green shag carpeting, Deanna’s father was assured of his daughter’s innate sense for color and balance. A trip to France and Italy at age 16 to study the great masters compelled Deanna to give up her parents’ hopes of her going into the medical field. After considerable negotiations with her parents and the promise of an “employable minor,” she was able to follow her dreams and concentrate on a fine art career. Bowdish painted in the Minneapolis metropolitan area for seven years featuring works in several shows and galleries.

In 2002 Deanna stumbled into the Lowcountry of South Carolina to house sit for her sister and began exhibiting at The Gallery in Beaufort, South Carolina. Bowdish subsequently purchased The Gallery in 2004 fulfilling a long-held dream and creating one of the most dynamic and eclectic assemblies of art in the region.

She is always experimenting with a new material or a new way of achieving a different outcome with the same materials. She loves to challenge traditional methods and break the rules. But when Isuggested her work might be mixed media, I found that she really considers herself a painter. Take a look at her beautiful commissioned pieces of functional artwork pictured below at the Breakwater restaurant in Beaufort, SC.

“I consider my work painting and myself a painter, my process just happens to incorporate mixed media right now. Once I am happy with the painted surface, I then begin the destruction of my creation, usually the most stressful part as I am always hesitant about cutting up such a magnificent creation, but then I quickly recover and go to town with my exacto knife.”

Her work is an explosion of color and texture, creating a frenzy of energy and movement, very much like her own life. Deanna seeks to find harmony and balance amongst the frenzy.

Learn more about Featured Artist Deanna Bowdish! “The large surfaces are cut down into smaller components in preparation for the next stage in my process. These pieces are either woven or sewn back together depending on the final piece that I am creating.

The ripple series is woven then mounted to a permanent surface and covered with resin. The quilts are sewn back together using the sewing machine. The final construction phase for both processes is quite exciting as I see a whole new painting coming to life before my eyes.”

“I feel overwhelmed by all the infromation that is thrown or forced at me; emails, mail, texts, television, tweets, facebook alerts, radio ads, billboards, its everywhere coming at me from all angles.”

My life is a game of dodgeball —
me against the information age.

“The frenzy and frequency of this information could be crippling, but I choose to challenge the waves of information and reintroduce it in my own painted language.”

Art therapy for an optimist.
I may be in love.

From the Ripple Series by Featured Artist Deanna Bowdish! But what about the food? This IS, afterall, a food-themed art blog. I don’t know if I just attract foodie-artists or artistic foodies. Or, maybe artists just think that food is the way to my heart because most of the artists I interview have phenomenal culinary tastes. When Bowdish’s secret tastes were probed? Pizza and Hawaiian kettle chips. No joking. Her honesty is as refreshing as her artwork.

There are a few questions I’m going to have to quit asking… What school of art do you think your work falls into? The answer is always “an eclectic mixture,” but I think Bowdish’s influences, living and deceased, may be more telling than the amalgumation she claims. Deceased influence? 20th century abstract expressionist painter Richard Diebenkorn. One of her living influences? Painter turned sculptor, Laura Lloyd. I see how the pieces fit together.

I am really restless for Spring. I want to walk shoeless through cold grass, and Deanna Bowdish got me as close as I can ask. Thank you!

Tag: pizza