Midtown makes the New York Times

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/travel/31next.html?pagewanted=1

They cover some great hidden gems like The Cove and Mollie Fountaine's. but the Lamplighter and the Buccaneer? seriously? Sure they have lots of character and i like a good hole in the wall... but i dont enjoy those two. I'm usually too concerned that I'll catch a deadly disease to enjoy the "atmosphere." Anyway, check it the article it has a great list of places.

Loren O'Laughlin and Kyle Taylor discuss Rockwagon

Loren O'Laughlin and Kyle Taylor discuss Rockwagon - a duo dedicated to delivering the greatest story ever told through the never ending tides of art. Their process involves two or more painters exploring and building out a composition simultaneously.

www.livepainters.com

Project Paul at TheatreWorks

I'm going to this on Thursday. So should you. I'm trying to get enough peeps going to get us a group rate. So get in touch with me if you are interested.

Project Paul*

*Plus a New Work by Jonathon Roberts – January 28-31

TheatreWorks, 2085 Monroe

Thurs.-Sat. @ 8:00

Sun. @ 2:00

Tickets: $20

Jonathon Roberts also returns for an encore performance of his show, Project Paul. The show explores the life of the Apostle Paul by blending film, light, experimental music and Biblical text. Jonathon says, “Project Paul is about hope. It’s about regret. It’s about faith. It’s about changing your life…and most of all, it’s about love.”

In addition to Project Paul, Jonathon wife, Emily Roberts will perform a new work based on the book of Esther.

http://projectpaul.com/

MCA to open a south main campus!?! SWEET

Memphis College of Art is looking to move its graduate school Downtown to the South Main Historic Arts District.

MCA plans to purchase and renovate a five-story building at 477 S. Main for $2.9 million where it will develop the school serving more than 100 graduate students and faculty.

Plans for the building include more than 55,000 square feet of educational space and a 3,500-square-foot retail storefront gallery. - Memphis Biz Journal

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jan/19/memphis-college-art-looking-move-downtown/

Well, thank God. I have been getting concerned ever since Jay Ekin's gallery moved out and more and more boutique shops moved in. I thought the whole art part of South Main might be on the way out. But if MCA builds a campus down there, the art is sure to stay and thrive. Hurray!

Another Journal starts and an exhibit takes shape

You might remember (or you're still following) my collaborative prayer journal project. Well, I decided to start a 4th journal circulating. I'm also going to start opening up the journals to other artists beyond just visual ones. So if you're a poet, writer, songwriter, etc., you can also get involved. I'm starting to brainstorm a collaborative, interactive, multimedia exhibit that will include the journals and open in October 2010 at LifeLink Memphis.

Help a brother out, and create some art for the journals. You can sign up to receive the actual journals or you can send me your work to be pasted into the journal. If you are going to mail me something, please contact me @ richard.fudge@gmail.com for my address. Work needs to be original and new - meaning unpublished or not previously exhibited. Got it?

Size: 10.25" wide x 5" height and remember is has to be able to fold down the middle.

Dont forget to nominate a local artist (like this guy)

Now don't get me wrong, I'd love to get nominated, but there are tons of cool artists in memphis. I love these these interesting videos that ArtsMemphis and Live from Memphis have been producing. You should really check them out.

Discover some cool new artists in 60 seconds or learn about the Flipside of memphis.

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Please tell us as much as you can about the artists(s) you are nominating. The more information you include will help your nomination's chances for selection.

You can help us to find more wonderful artists in our community by sharing the nomination form with friends, family and artists. Thanks!

ArtsMemphis TV is made possible in part through a grant from The Assisi Foundation of Memphis.

http://www.livefrommemphis.com/lfmtv/artsmemphistv/nomination

Awakening - Call to Artists

Easter is approaching and I'd like to have a themed exhibit up at The Stirring. We threw around some ideas at an artist gathering last week. Maggie had a really good concept:

Awakening.

So instead of focusing on the imagery of the cross this Easter, we're going to be exploring the concepts of renewal, rebirth, resurrection, light, celebration of new life, etc. I think I already have a concept for a painting. Please get started soon if you'd like to be in the show. We'll need to hang it before Easter. Probably, review, select, and hang work on March 27th. That's the rough idea at least.

Here's a another nice example of the theme by Anneli Anderson. It's from one of the prayer journals:

Ignite - relighting the creative flame

Ignite - just a rough and quick color study

Required listening - Pilot by Amber Rubarth

"Fuel is just a leak without a flame to heat it up inside.

I need a spark to ignite my pilot light."

I'll be honest. I'm going through a rough period in my life. If you're not feeling joy and passion in your life, it's hard to find the passion to do art. It seems like a mountain of "more important" things pile up. And I don't care for painting when it's soo cold out. But I need to get out of this funk. Time to pick up the brush and get to it.

So i took some Christmas money and bought Give Up the Ghost by Brandi Carlile. And let me say I dont know what works for you but for me, this is a funk buster!

I want to share with you some of the lyrics from the album:

I know the darkness pulls on you

but it's just a point of view

When you're outside looking in

you belong to someone.

When you feel like giving in

or the coming of the end

like your heart could break in two

someone loves you

- Looking Out

Now I'm lost in a sea of sunken dreams

while the sound of drunken screams echoes in the night

But i know this will all come to pass

- Dying Day

All your mountains turn to rocks

All your oceans turn to drops

They are nothing like you thought

You can't be something you are not

Life is not a looking glass

Don't get tangled in your past like I am learning not to

- Pride and Joy

Say it ain't so, say I'm happy again.

Say it's over, say I'm dreaming.

Say I'm better than you left me.

Say you're sorry, I can take it.

- Before It Breaks

Last night I had this cranked up "to 11." Wrapped up in the music, i kicked everything else out of my mind and did some work that really was important to me. Thanks, Brandi.

Quote of the Day

This was too funny not to share with you. I was chatting online with Jack Fox about his upcoming plans for an art exhibit at his church. I wont go into detail about it since he might not want that shared yet, but he discussed that if he's going to pull off something that big, he better get cranking. then it dawned on me that at least he's got an idea, i dont know what i'm doing for easter* Anyway, i thought this was a pretty funny exchange:

me: blah guess i should be thinking about something for my gallery's easter show

Jack: SLACKER

if you really loved Jesus you would have done it by now.

HAHAHA

*as i posted earlier, i dont know if a big easter show is worth all the effort. so i'll probably keep it low key.