the starving artist quandry

just secured my tent for this weekend's unplaza art fair and again realized how hard it is to self-promote yourself as an artist .. sure, once the stuff is hung and everyone begins looking over the pieces, that exhaustion fades away, but there are many moments that i wonder what exactly am i doing .. sure, overall this is a long process when you are involved in any branch of the arts, but when it really eats away at your family time and personal time, it starts to knaw some .. i now know why many people have hung it up over the years .. creating artwork of any kind takes persistence and and stanuch belief in what you do .. if that can be maintained, the artwork and sales can prosper over time .. sure, i started out this jaunt in painting/photography without any money in mind - and still do - but there becomes a point that the melding of financial and personal motivations cross at the proverbial railroad track for a well rounded feeling of satisfaction .. this train is firing away forward towards that mark .. look forward to seeing you at the fair this weekend on the grounds the all souls/unitarian church & 4501 Walnut in KCMO from 10-6 on Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday .. cheers, joe d.

1st Fair and Raining Thursday

while out putting some of the finishing touches on my first booth at an art fair, i couldn't shake the all day desire to be at home with my wife and kids .. it's a classic raining london day here in kc and the soft ooze of air around here would serve much better in home quarters .. enjoy the water out there .. and if you have to - drive fast and talk back to the cops .. cheers, joe d.

slow, fair and auction imagery

things have slowed down some here towards the latter part of the year, but continue to trickle some as we approach the UnPlaza Art Fair this weekend .. i have agreed to donate for the 2nd year in a row to Accessible Arts in Kansas City, KS .. all proceeds go to art supplies for children with disabilities .. gonna drop my piece off to the appropriate drop points some time soon .. i have attached an image of the painting - cheers, joe d.

i'm the new don

afternoon .. got a nice email about my work today, but was piggy backing off me giving them business .. but, they address me by the wrong name - so, does he want my business? did he even see my stuff? you can call me don if you'd like .. enjoy this one below, joe d.

Don, Hi, I wanted to let you know I really like your art. I'm an artist as well but most of what I do is commerical art. I produce art giclees for folks like you and wanted to offer my services. You may already have someone you're using for this and if so I understand. I've got more information on my website at: www.wilsonartprints.com. I also produce canvas art bags, printing the canvas, matching it with an appropriate inner cloth liner and sewing them all in house. Information on the art bags may be found at: www.canvasartbags.com Again, great work. Keep it up! -- Paul

ray j. and bathroom art

was listening to the newest chuck pahlinuik book 'haunted' and heard an excerpt about how bathroom art in art galleries is a big thing .. or has been in the past .. it's interesting, and hell, you really wanna get into a gallery it could be the best way to do it .. but, the story reminded me of the pop artist ray johnson .. my wife and i saw a documentary on him some months back and it was burned into my brain .. probably one of the best documentaries on a person that i have ever seen .. roy was a completely insane man that mailed sketches and artwork to people all over the globe .. he's called 'the father of mail art' .. his was work was intricate, prolific and completely memorable .. the movie was called 'how to draw a bunny' .. click here for more details - click here for a site on him .. enjoy, joe d.

someone got the 'jesus'

after the cool site of the day traffic from the 15th on the www.jesuseverywhere.com, i got quite a few responses from people .. there were a handful that just thought it was awful, blasphemous and they couldn't wait till i met my creator .. other just dug the whole meaning behind the fact that it's comforting to think that jesus is everywhere, at all times .. the best response and the meaning behind my site was captured by the following individual:

' you can't find the grace of god if you take everything in life too seriously' - michael s.

thanks, michael, i couldn't have put it down better .. joe d.

vote for my site today - www.jesuseverywhere.com

morning .. my web project www.jesuseverywhere.com has been selected as the 'cool site of the day' and is profiled on their web site today .. go on over and take a look at the site, and forward it on to your friends .. vote and vote and vote to increase the cool factor .. enjoy and thanks, joe d.

spruce up kid school pictures

in an attempt to dress up our boy's new school pic, i turned the gears of computer frames to dress it up .. click here to enjoy the looping flip of zen boy's recent school photo .. cheers, joe d.

the commissioned lightning rod

sometimes i just never learn .. i have officially been through the 'z to a' effect in producing work for others .. it's a very, very difficult job .. of anything i have ever had to do in regards to completing a job, getting a fully satisfied art customer is extremely hard .. recently, i went through a huge series of hallways with a customer after they 'loved' the painting i delieverd .. so, again, i come full circle to the commissioned artwork thing and have decided that it just isn't my thing .. if it's a sure fire, no worries or micro managing, i can do it .. but, it's just not my fancy .. the key to the commissioned artwork for the customer is to realize that you have to give it time to settle into your room and mind, along with never losing sight of the original notion of wanting a particular artist's work .. it really is that simple when you stop and think about it .. good night, joe d.

response to mass real estate e-mail

hey pal, your artwork made my house sell in three hours, even made my wife stop cheating on me. thanks and keep up the good work! - slam flemming from midtown, kc

the 9/11 artbox

been watching a live feed from CNN of the actual day of 9/11 and it's very interesting .. i was in venice, italy when the attacks happened and got no real time american feed .. so, i was being a bit reflective on what 9/11 did for my artwork and i found that i really haven't painted anything directly related to it .. maybe some offshoots, bits of subconscious stuff .. after five years it all seems surreal as i watch it unfold again .. here's a painting that may have been loosely related .. cheers, joe d.

zen's artcast podblast

our delightful 8-year old, zen boy, has done a podcast all on his own. he interviewed me about my artwork and the upcoming UnPlaza Art Fair. You can hear it by going to the 'media' page and clicking on the 'ZENCAST INTERVIEW - SEPT. 06' or simply click here - good sound entertainment .. cheers, joe d.

new photo greeting cards

in time for the UnPlaza Art Fair on Sept. 23-24, we are going to have greeting cards in attractive 5-packs for sale .. take a look at the photo gallery and let you friends know that they can have a nice local hallmark moment with these cards .. click here to view the photo gallery and get a taste of what these will look like .. if you have special request, let me know .. cheers, joe d.

nice post on the web site

got this post from a indiviual today about the web site:

Hey, Great site guys, love it!!! :-) Thanks for mentioning Summit Art too. Flattery will get you everywhere! Suzanne Gauch

good luck out there .. joe d.

The Bob Ross Effect & Steve Irwin

more than anything, those over the top folks like the 'crocodile hunter' keep my blood heated and red .. it's simply sad to hear that steve irwin isn't alive on this planet anymore .. if there was a handful of people that did more than their share to bring a bit of enjoyment to this existence that can bear down like a set of wet animal teeth, it was steve .. good work and the beauty is that his image will continue on and on and on until my kids speak about it to their kids .. cheers kids and walk to the precipice for steve this evening .. joe d.

first first friday

went down to the first friday for the first time in a long, long time with my wife and was impressed by some work down there .. but, there was a thought i had after walking away at the end of the night .. first of all, there used to be free wine in all galleries, and now you cannot find an ATM, a gulp of free drink or a smidge of good restaurants with open air porticos .. overall though, i see the cookie cutter mold of these gallery shows .. the herd mentaility is alive, no matter how good the stuff is .. it's all packaged the same and comes off in the same mold .. it's that whole principle that if you hate the yuppies you become a goth and when you are a goth you have a standard of being a goth that is cookie cutter and unoriginal .. same as with the yuppies .. my point is that the lack of originality is not very refreshing .. i want the originality .. that's all .. cheers, joe d.

art + real estate = pleased photo.paint

several thoughts today .. first of all, my lovely wife, Carrie, just forwarded me an article about how realators are using art to bolster sales in this ridiculously pale mareket .. take a look by clicking here. we know this first hand .. tried to sell our house over the summer and it didn't move .. it's off the market now as we prepare to figure out what we are going to do in one of the worst markets in recent memory .. tell your realator friends to use my artwork to sell homes - including mine .. cheers, joe d.

early art influence

when i was in the early throws of tossing paints around in my folks basement, i really dug up on 'the art guys' .. here is their web URL: http://www.theartguys.com/ - they came through the kemper museum of art in the late nineties and it still goes down as one of the best shows i have ever seen in that gallery .. and that's saying something becuase the kemper pulls in some quality stuff on a regluar basis .. but, check these guys - it's quality art with humor .. the way i like to see things done .. cheers, joe d.

new safe sex painting

painting baseballs

got a nice email yesterday from a woman that checked out my site .. she liked my new section on photo.paint with vintage baseball card replicas .. she said that her husband played baseball in the 50's for the St. Louis Cardinals and would be interested if something was done with his likeness from a baseball card .. i have hunted down his card and will get that done for her sometime here soon .. it'll be posted .. the 6 degrees continue to close in on me .. cheers, joe d.