artists - resonanteye

Jamie Lee Hartley, wiry rebel of paint and noise.

23rd of January 2014

In interview with the artist, you,

1. Most artists have a favorite medium, what is yours? If you work in multiple media, which one is the most enjoyable for you?

In the music part of my life, I like the bass as a favorite medium. I like to play it loud and proud, and with a lot of effects. I carry that same motto over when it comes to painting. I’ve never taken classes on either, and so I just kind of make it up as I go along. In painting, I like using acrylics the most, but I use oils, water colors, melted crayons, and just about any fucking thing I can find that will give me the desired effect, and hue I’m searching for.

2. Do you have any secret shortcuts? I mean, do you use odd tools, techniques, or anything else that isn’t strictly status-quo for your medium? How did you figure out that it worked?

I don’t really know of any type of shortcuts to take in painting, although I did recently discover the using pencil to sketch and idea, that I plan to paint in a lighter color, also doubles as a nice shading effect if you paint over the pencil lines inside an hour.

3. You’ve sold work before? What was the first thing someone bought from you, that you made? How did it feel to sell that piece? Are there pieces you keep hidden away, or keep for yourself, and why?

I can’t remember the first painting I sold, although I’m sure by now I’d think it was horrible. Having anyone interested in something you do as an art form is always a good feeling, so when they want to give you money for it, I say fuck yeah. I need the beer money anyway. I try not to keep anything I do strictly for me, but at the same time I don’t paint pictures solely for the purpose of selling them for money.

(more…)

Obligatory gift guide post.

2nd of December 2013

In deep thoughts, DIY, ethics, holidays, love, money, motivation, pictures, posts with links in them, you,

bird in the hand Yes, I made a gift guide. There’s a few hundred things there by now! I know SO many creative and amazing people- and every year I buy from them instead of going to big box stores. Why? Well, partly because I enjoy owning things made by hand, by people on their own time. And partly because I hated every factory job I ever had. If you’ve ever worked in a factory you know- you may do the job itself well or with some pride, but you do NOT put love into each and every piece of your piece rate. Especially since you get paid peanuts, made to work holidays away from your family, and -unless you have a GREAT union- every single thing you make is like a nail in your coffin, hurting your back, blistering your fingers. Also, handmade goods, the money you spend on them goes right back into YOUR economy, not to some CEO’s offshore hoarding pile of money. The money you spend on handmade gets spent, right back into the world.

For those reasons, and MANY more, I buy from people who make things by hand themselves, from people who create art (then sell it or get it printed and sell the prints) and from people who curate vintage things on their own. These people do these things because they love them. And all too often these people are broke at the holidays, while everyone rushes to trample and kill each other to buy mass-produced garbage they’ll forget about in a month.

You can’t buy every single thing like this, of course- but there are a hell of a lot of things you CAN. And so, you SHOULD. You will feel good, the receiver of the gift you got will love it, and unlike factory goods- it will not be set aside and forgotten when the day is over.

Go check out the handmade and small business gift guide I made.

Some of my favorite things.

17th of March 2012

In art, collaborative work, pictures, posts with links in them, posts with lists in them, stuff for sale, true stories, you,

I usually post all my own work here, and occasionally a review of an artist or a few artists.

Today is one of the days when I feel like showing what some of my friends make. I belong to a team on etsy which runs on chaos and confusion. It’s enchanting in a way. There’s none of the usual melodrama or arguing found on that site- it’s a strange and silly group of people. The only real rule is to help each other out- and to enjoy doing it.

Here’s a link to that team– if you use etsy, you’re welcome to join us (you don’t have to have a shop to join in the mayhem.)

First of all, there’s Debbi. Now, she does digital stuff, photographs. She works in NOLA, which means all her stuff has that creepy, southern vibe. But she has also given me tons of ideas for my own work, including the notion to do curated shadowboxes. She is a promotional wizard and she is also the queen of amokery, even.

Also, I love her work.

You

can check out more of her things here.

I should also say that she is soooooooo fabulous.

Anyone who likes the dirty south should enjoy taking a peek at her stuff.

Then, there’s Francesca. I know two Frannies, this one is the dark one- her work is gothic, and sometimes strange. She does a lot of things with tiny bones, with feathers. She’s totally obsessed with day of the dead motifs.

Her stuff makes me smile. I know she also, like me, LOVES skulls.

You can see more from her here.

I’ve talked to her quite a bit, and her tastes are really similar to mine. She likes dead things, tattoos, and good music.

What I would call good, anyway.

People who like my stuff will probably like her stuff A LOT.

And Brittany. She makes cute kid stuff- usually.

Which means that I don’t need it, given that I have no kids.

BUT! I got her book on bullying for my nieces and nephews.

AND! she also makes this scary guy!

Well, not scary. just goth. I think she’s going to make some more of these,

I really hope she does. This one sold right away.

She is like Mary Poppins, ever so polite, kind, and decent. It’s kind of funny that someone like that would be my friend. but she is! You can see more of her work here- and you should definitely check it out if you have/like/know any kids.

daniblu makes cool things too.

AND

she is very sweet, and kind.

Of everything she does though-

I am in LOVE with these.

They’re just big enough for plugs. and just soft enough to keep things from breaking.

Holy crap.

You can find the rest of her work here.

I also like Shayne’s work a lot. He does chicks, hot chicks. More day of the dead stuff. Zombies. Vampires.

And

he’s goofy as hell.

I think he would like to be serious at times but he is just…not.

He lives near some friends of mine out in the desert, so I’m hoping on my next road trip I get to meet him and kick it a little.

You can find more of his stuff here.

He reminds everyone all the time that he’ll make prints in just about any size…so I’ll say that for him too. The man has drive.

I’ve got about ten more people I WANT to include, but I will wait until next time to write about them all. I’ll just leave you with a few pictures to click on, that go to more things made by each person.

I’ll be posting some paintings later on today- I’m almost done with the sasquatch, so even if it fails I will put him up!

All these folks are awesome people. I mean it.

making art, making life.

3rd of February 2012

In artwork, deep thoughts, female tattoo artist, motivation, painting, personal, pictures,

The world is a very grey and dismal place at times. There are deaths, horrors. We are all alone in these little bodies, floating around, disconnected most of the time- from each other and from the ground we stand on. Most people DO live quietly, desperately, working and thinking and amassing a thousand new worries each day.

Most people walk around afraid, nervous. Or angry. Or just focused on the task at hand, which for more people all the time involves merely surviving the vicissitudes of economy and thrift, of bad jobs or no work. Of struggle. Life is mostly struggle and concern for most people on earth, and for the rest it can be even worse.

It’s our job, as artists, to show people that there is more. I am not a religious person, nor even a spiritual one. I do not believe that there is a sky-man or any kind of conscious entity watching over us carefully, or interested in our problems. I do not believe. BUT- I do believe that the world itself is a being of grace, and by truly seeing it, and being within it, we can lighten our weight. This entails details.

When one is in a chain gang, there will be a beautiful weed sprouting in the ditch. When one has lost hope and is starving, there will be the smell of dry morning air, and the sunrise. When the worries about the future become too much, there is still the present.

I know this doesn’t make up for any of it. I also know that there are times for all of us when we realize our solitude, when we are alone and in pain, in the dark. Cold and possibly hopeless. In those times it is art’s job to expose the alternatives, to bring the world into us and that way bring us out of ourselves.

Art doesn’t have to be “good” or skilled or perfect or even beautiful to do this. It will be a different view for each artist and a different piece that speaks to each viewer. Sometimes the crude and the ugly do this much more effectively than the pretty and the sweet- actually for me, when I am alone and in pain in the dark, it is the reminder that others have been there as well that helps. And art that speaks this way is often NOT beautiful to look at.

I need to sell art to live- to pay rent. To eat. If I could give it away and not be homeless I would. But the necessities of the world insist that my work must be valued at a number. I know that for some the value of their work is low and their hours are long and hard; that they must do work which is difficult, upsetting, dangerous. I am lucky to be an artist, I am privileged in ways not many are. I love my work. That alone is a stroke of fortune.

People who hate their work but must do it deserve my best efforts, because I know that at times my work, seeing my work and interacting with it, is their release and their reminder. Artists have an obligation to try their damnedest to do that, and to do it as best they can every time.