Robert in Seattle

Friends of mine are constantly sending me pictures of interesting cloud formations for inspiration!

Where that sticker from the back of my jacket ended up...

Since eBay first began in the mid-90s (man, does that sound like a long time ago!), I've often thought about the possibility of an online marketplace for worldwide craftspeople. You'd browse the widest selection of arts and crafts and in every price range. You'd pick and pay for the items that you liked, receiving your prized work in a short while. Well, it turns out that Indigo Arts was started in 1986 by a young couple determined to bring folk art to the masses. This labor of love has grown into a wonderful web presence that still has incredible potential for growth. I wouldn't be surprised if eBay (or amazon.com) bought an interest in their company soon. The advantages would be exponentially beneficial! PayPal for seamless international (and guaranteed) payments and a forum to vet out honest Buyers and Sellers. Art to and for the people!

A lot of you have already written to me about the sand artist at SICAF 2003! Anyway, he's a Hungarian artist named Ferenc Cako and you can get to his website here. He also has more on his sand art at another site here (unfortunately, I think any bandwidth access might crash his host!). This dude ROCKS!!!

A friend just sent me this video clip of a unique sand artist who performed at SICAF (Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival). Apparently from the credit at the end of this video, it was shot in Seoul, Korea in 2003. Maybe you can Google SICAF to find out more about this guy. He's definitely VERY unique and one of the best on-the-fly artists I've seen in a long time. Performance art? This isn't a small file (approx. 19 Mb) so you might just want to stream it instead of downloading to save.

I'm so impressed with this guy that I'm posting him up on both of my personal blogs

Well, I've been busy this weekend. With two of my large 4'X5' canvases prepped with extra gesso coats and base colors, I was itching to get working on a larger scale. On Friday, I also ended up getting a new wall and door put into my studio space for my privacy and sanity. Just in time for that First Friday Party!

OK -- Here are the two canvases and I'm just starting to paint some light cloud movements from bottom to top. The thin streams of cloud at the top are wispy cirrus clouds that occur higher up in the sky.

Another view and you can see more of the detail I've been adding to the first smaller painting. I'm thinking of using a typical Seattle skyline (Space Needle and all across Lake Union) for the horizon.

Here's a shot of the new piece by itself.

Here's the "unclouded" second canvas ready for painting: Virgin Skies!

Another shot of both large pieces on big-ass easels. I'm almost spending as much on easels right now as I am on canvases! I'm also running out of room fast in my studio (but I love it!). You can see my blank third canvas sitting behind these two.