Glassblowing Adventure!

Hey Art Fans!

Just landed back home from spending a few days in Newport, RI and wanted to share a great little place where you can have a fantastic experience, while you have an artistic adventure!

Thames Glass is one of those places you stumble upon and never want to leave. I could stay for hours watching the artists make amazing pieces of work out of molten glass.

Our family and a friend ventured over to give it a try during one of their "make your own" classes and the results left us happy! We were helped out by Shane, who is a talented artist and master instructor. He was able to help our soon to be 10 year old daughter make two stunning ornaments and she had a blast. She was so inspired and hooked on the process, she is asking for a glassblowing birthday party this year.

My wife also tried her hand at making an ornament and her results were pretty good also!

Finally, this one is mine. I am so thrilled with the way this turned out and want to explore the art form more and more. It is one of those things that is an easy addiction and the only limit is the depth of your pocket!

For me, I think the new thing when I travel will be finding a glass blowing shop to make and bring back a little something to remember the trip. For this one, we were close to the ocean, which is my favorite place to be, and this ornament will remind me of watching the waves break.

If you are in Newport, RI please stop by and tell them I sent you! I promise you will not be disappointed! They have items ready for purchase that will make you happy to bring home, if you don't have the desire to make your own!

Be well and happy, until next time!

Jerry's Art Hanging This Week

I believe the world can change one art piece at a time and that it only takes the artist a moment to find a way to make it happen.  It is my personal motto and mission to make the world just a little bit better using the little talent I have as an artist.

The art you will see on the walls at Jerry's Artarma is being sold to raise money for needy schools, specifically the Native American schools hit the hardest by the government imposed sequester. The pieces have been created using National Geographic magazines and Citra Solv to alter the magazines.

Each piece starts from an organic endeavor, searching for something on the page to highlight, enhance or allow to stand on its own. Some pieces do not have embellishments, simply because the art created does not need anything else. Some pieces have been used as a backdrop for sketches and some have been embellished to highlight the paper.

100% of all profits will be donated to help students affected by the sequestration.

Please take a moment to look at the art and if something speaks to you, pull it off the wall and take it to the front to make a donation. The prices on each piece are considered a monetary donation which will be pooled with all the other donations and sent as a single contribution to the receiving charity. You will not receive a donation form and the donation is not tax deductible.

In case the sticker has fallen off, the pieces are priced as follows:

Any of the (7) 2.5 x 3.5 pieces                    $15 each                

Any of the (14) 5.5 x 5.5 pieces                  $25 each                

Either of the (2) small shadow boxes         $30 each                

Any of the (30) 8.5 x 11 pieces                   $35each                           

Any of the (24) 5 x 7 pieces                        $40 each                

The 12 x 12 piece                                        $50

The 10 x 10 shadow box                             $75

Gallup-McKinley County Schools

Hey arties!

I wanted to give you a quick update. I have contacted Mr. Ray Arsenault the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, in the hopes he can direct me about making a donation to the schools after the art sale starting July 1st at Jerry's Artarama. I will provide more information as soon as I hear back. I may split the donation with the Tuba City Unified School District, which was featured on NPR,  if I can find the contact information and find out how to make it happen.

In case you have not been following the story, because of the idiots in Washington, DC the sequester has really hit the Native American population. Here is a quote from Dr. Heather Shotten, President of the National Indian Education Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the education of Native American students.

"For our Native students in federally impacted schools, the effects of sequestration are devastating because these are real dollar cuts in real time from district and school budgets," NIEA President Dr. Heather Shotton said. "Since these districts are often serving our children on reservation as well as federal property that the districts cannot tax, these districts cannot simply find other sources of funding to make up for lost dollars."

I truly believe each of us can make a small, yet positive impact on others. For me, the way to do it is through my art. I am donating 100% of all profits from any art that is sold to this school system in the hopes they can use the funds for something critical they need.




I can provide 100% of their budgetary needs, but I can send them something to show I am behind them and that I hear their frustration as a fellow human being. I can extend my hand in friendship and understanding in the hopes they will not give up. The children and communities need some love right now, and there is an endless supply of it, if you can open your eyes and hearts to see it and send it.

I plan on posting something longer tomorrow, to show the art I have for sale along with the prices and ways to purchase. I set up a mobile banking option for ease of payment for those of you outside my area. If you want to discuss a piece of art, please contact me via the buttons on the right side of your screen.

Until next time, peace and well being.

CJ

Damn Did I Have Fun!

Yesterday was a great day!

What made it so great you ask?

I had the best participants come by and check out the demo that an artist could ask for in all the world. They seemed to have walked away with some really good images, and seemed happy and hooked on the process. I also had a young lady show me a new trick using salt, like you would for water colors. I am going to try it out!

I ran out of magazines, and the store sold Citra Solv, which means people are going to try it at home. I ran out of business cards and I see I have a few new people stopping by here to check out the space, which means I have to be better about updating the blog.

I asked everyone to send me pictures of what they end up with and how they incorporate it into their art, which I truly hope they do based on what I saw yesterday.

I also sold 5 pieces of art, which is a first. I usually donate the art, so it was a weird feeling have someone hand me money for something I created. But the good news is that 100% of the proceeds will be going to a Native American school in NM, which have been hit very hard by the sequester. So, the art is still helping others, just in a different way. The schools were featured on NPR and it kills me they are always hit first and the hardest. I can't stand injustice and want to do my little part in helping set it right.

Brittany, at Jerry's Artarama in Austin, has also offered to let me hang the rest of the art, for sale in the store to help out with this little fundraiser, so if you are in the area and want to check it out, please click on their link for the address.

I also want to give a shout out to Melissa Zeitler at Citra Solv. She does an amazing job supporting artist who use their product for such an alternative purpose. The company has an artist page and really work hard to promote the artist and this artist is very appreciative.

If you are interested in any of the art click here and scroll through, each piece is priced at $30 and all proceeds will go to a school, that really needs basic supplies like pencils and paper. If you want to purchase, please contact me and we will work out the details for shipping.

Thanks for stopping by and supporting me. Here are a few pictures of the pages I had turn out yesterday.

 

As always,  thank you for stopping by and taking a peek at what I am doing. I will be working with the images above in the next few weeks, and bring them back around for sale soon.

Peace and well being!

Update for April

Hey Arties!

I just wanted to provide a quick life update for you, since I have not posted much the past few months. I have been really busy with several projects in the works for various schools all across the country and have had no time to really sit and write or post. I am hoping the new iPhone app will help me with this problem, as I can now post photos from the app and post a blog from time to time as well.

In other news, I am in the process of selling my house, which has taken away my art studio for the time being. I had the entire second floor dedicated to making art, but needed to put everything in storage for awhile, until I am settled in a new location. This means I am working out in my garage, or in the kitchen, neither being ideal for working in long stretches.

At the moment my walls are bare of any art, and the walls have been painted white, which is not my favorite thing. It makes me itch to paint something right on the wall, but think that would be frowned upon....

I have contracted with a local school to help them with their first art gala and auction. It is on a very limited budget and I will most likely sponsor the art supplies we used to create the projects, but it is all worth it. I love working with the kids and watching them light up, when they contribute to a class project or a school wide canvas. The pictures from the last post are the items they created for the auction and I am hoping they do well. 

So, stay tuned and thank you for stopping by and sticking around or subscribing. It means a lot, when you give me your feedback. I will try to do a better job of trying to update this site, even if it is a non art related topic.

Until next time, here is some personal art I am working on. This one seems to change colors, depending on the way the light hits it. I am not quite finished with it, and have not decided what the next piece of it will entail, but I don't want to lose the affect.

These next two, were custom pieces created for a couple of schools to use in their upcoming auctions. I used Citra Solv altered National Geographic magazines for the first one. The second one is my attempt at a sketch.
 

I started playing around with some sketching options with my Silhouette machine and loved this old barn. I may sketch it out on white paper and then use water colors to color it in for a finished look.

So Arties... that is all for now. I hope I have given you a good reason to check back soon. Peace and Love!!