The Best Of The Most Popular Vinyl Art Posts

I've been meaning to assemble a list of blog posts that have been popular and that I enjoy the most. I know that the prospect of not only keeping up with reading a post a day, but digging into the archive unguided is overwhelming. Your time is precious, and there're some posts that, beyond having a neat painting are, for different reasons, not worth that time and thought.

So I figured that I could at least share the posts that more people have checked out, those I think are worth your time.

The most trafficked posts are the one with JFK's famous line from his inauguration speech and the one with the discussion of my favorite funny people because of the reference to SNL's 101 top moments. These are found by searchers looking for something completely off-topic from my work. So I wouldn't count these, or point you to them.

After those, my introductory post with a painting of The Beatles is the most read. Good! That's the best post to get a handle on what I do, what I'm about and the point of this blog.

Next is one of my more philosophical posts with a painting of Tom Waits. I like this post a lot too, so I'm glad it gets seen. The painting is being used for the poster of this year's Vinyl Killers show, and Waits himself posted a tweet complimenting the piece. What I say in it is worth the read, I think, as well. About value and people.

Following that is my contest post with the painting of David Lynch that he then autographed to auction for his foundation. I received some amazing entries to that contest and this post shares my interest in stories, your stories. Stories persist, facts fade. It's still a good post, and hey, if you send me your story still, I'll send you a sticker.

Skipping a couple more posts popular only because of wayward searchers, my reproduction post with the painting of Santana that, along with John Lennon and Mariah Carey, eventually was reproduced for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel is a good story. The result of my adventure certainly was positive. I do still have to frame the copies I got.

Next is another great story post with my philosophical and practical thoughts about the largest record collection in the world and how to find a buyer for it. It's always a matter of the value. Not monetary. Human.

That is indeed why I paint Vinyl Art, to celebrate and find value in humanity. The creativity that I bring together, from the album cover artist to the photographer of the photo I draw inspiration from to the musician and the production of the album to me is very cool. With a simple portrait, I hope to share the meaning of all that combined contribution to humanity.

Something meaning more than it simply is, by being simply what it is.

Do you have a favorite post of mine?

Peace.

Ahh, Life

Santana is one of the honorary members of the advisory board of the MPP I talked about yesterday. It'd be amazing if he got to see my pieces of Bob Marley, or even better, one of himself, someday.

He's really one of my favorite guitarists. The passion that comes out of his instrument is overwhelming. Certainly not simply excellent technique. I feel like my work shows more than just technique, but only you can know if it does when you see it.

That's the beauty of human creativity, it has global, eternal meaning based upon individual, ephemeral connections. For example, among other events, Woodstock solidified Hendrix's unbelievable mass connection with our culture, but it truly relied upon the presence of all the people there. Such is Life, the Universe and Everything.

I continue to marvel at how Life works, things happening when they're supposed to, people playing their role in the grand scheme. This isn't to say there isn't free will, which I've talked about before, but things happen for a reason and people are in your lives for a reason. Lessons to be learned, your Life to live.

The trick is to be open to what Life has planned, and enjoy the ride and your part in it!

Peace.

Original Copy (Or Don't Spoil The Broth)

Can you tell which is which?

I received the artist's proofs for this project along with the originals. Upon opening the box, as I wasn't sure what they'd sent, when I grabbed the clear plastic sleeve with the proofs in it and it flopped around I was confused. I thought the proofs were the originals! Holy crap! The scan even captured a bit of the shadow cast by the record onto the sleeve and the grooves are visible at the right angle.

I don't know how I feel! Man, I'm blown away at the quality, so I'm really hopeful the Hard Rock likes the result. At the same time, though... I'm just glad this is a very limited edition in scope. Not because I'm unhappy I did it, but because I feel like I let a little control go over my art.

I know I didn't really because of the stringent contract, but I'm used to doing everything, making every decision and controlling every step. I'm the kinda guy who doesn't ask for help. So this is probably good for me, learning to trust others to do what they do. I mean, I don't try to take control of how a meal at a restaurant is prepared beyond making sure my order is taken accurately.

Fortunately, for this first meal at The Repro Diner, the restaurant manager, the waitress, the cook, and the ingredients were all top notch. And the menu description was appealing and accurate.

Peace.

What A (Re)Production!

Well, I've passed under the limbo pole without dislodging it or killing my knees. My nose did brush it, making it wobble for sure. For an afternoon, yesterday, it seemed all would fall apart due to a bunch of reasons. Let's just say communication can be challenging.

Here's what's going on. I was approached by a gallery in California that has a relationship with the interior designer of... are you ready for it?

The Hard Rock Hotel.

I'm not sure exactly how, but both he and this gallery had found my website and were interested in my work for one of their hotels in Florida. Lots of rooms. Time crunch. Uhoh. How could I paint so many so quickly?

The lady at the gallery explained that most of these projects use reproductions so every room's decor is the same. Ahh. Ok. But I hadn't liked the idea of reproductions. Hmm. Well, it would be done by a very high quality outfit that I'd actually heard of previously, it would be contractually limited to 23 high-end suites, they would be framed better than I frame them, and they'd be enlarged a bit. Interesting. Kind of pop art-ish. Kind of intriguing. Nice exposure.

Nice exposure indeed. That was what I focussed on, that and the valid connection of context and my work. I mean, the Hard Rock! I'd sent an email to their info@ address a long time ago with, of course, no response at all. They cater directly to my audience. My signature and logo will be on each piece and the concierge will have the gallery's contact information. And the lady said most artists who have participated in projects like this get approached again.

So, do I do it? First of all, I had to do a gut check. Some of you will say this goes against this statement. But I think this project will make me more able to explore my creativity. I started thinking about it and realized that if I were ever going to try reproducing these paintings on vinyl of mine, this would be the best scenario. Their contract definitely protects the artist in the right ways, clearly limiting the scope and size of the project as well as designating responsiblity and copyright ownership. They work with this high quality company and have an impressive list of corporate clients. All that was left were details in order for me to decide yes or no.

Those details almost killed the whole concept. Who I was going to do, on which albums, reproduced with or without the album cover behind were all sticking points.

But, I say strongly to all, it pays to stick up for yourself. If you have a line that if you cross it, you won't like what you see in the mirror, don't do it. And say you won't do it. And say why. Get forceful if you have to, even if you're uncomfortable.

I'm normally a mellow guy. It takes a lot to get a rise out of me, but asking me to compromise my artistic integrity is the wrong thing to do. In the most complicated set of choices possible for the project, legal reasons of the gallery and design choices of the designer led them to propose cropping an album cover image, enlarging the remainder to the size of a normal cover, and digitally superimposing my painted record on top.

They wanted to mess with the original album cover.

The whole point of what I do is to celebrate the art and creativity of the music and its artifact, the record album. The cover is an integral part of that. A lot of creative thought and energy goes into producing an album cover. Artistic careers have been forged from amazing, distinctive cover art. The fact is, I don't own the copyright for the cover art and couldn't even presume to begin thinking about messing with one. Worse still, the part they wanted to eliminate had both the band name and album name in it. You wouldn't even know what album it was anymore. It'd look like they'd stuck a piece of stock photography behind it. Man. Pissed me off.

So I said something, first in an email and then in a phone conversation. I thought that'd be it for the project.

Then, this afternoon, the gallery called and said the designer would go for a different album altogether. A better one, in my opinion, anyway. Wow. I was surprised. This whole thing has been unexpected, and I love the unexpected.

So it's on! The final piece will be a triptych of slightly enlarged, silver-leaf framed portraits with the album cover behind, printed on rag paper. The 3 portraits will be the John Lennon shown in my online gallery on its first row, the Carlos Santana shown above, and a Mariah Carey. Odd grouping, I think. But it is for Florida.

I know this might bother some of you who've kept up with me on this blog. But I've gotta try. I've gotta try in order to fail and learn. This might be a disaster. But then I'll know and I won't try something like this project this way again. With the smallest financial and time cost to me, I'll be afforded the most reputable partners in a project I could've thought to put together to potentially get my art to reach another level of attention. I am trying to take over the world, after all.

I would be interested in your feedback about this, positive or scathing.

Peace.

SOLD - Santana 01/27/09

eBay And Feedback!

I've gotten my first comment! Woohoo! And from another artist too. How exciting. I hope more will follow.

I also have a couple pieces available on eBay for a couple more days. I thought I'd mention them here since they haven't really caught any attention there yet. I've got Buy It Now prices on them at the price that they are mostly selling for in galleries. I know 2 days notice is short, but I'm trying to make the most of my 7 bucks for posting them:

Santana - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170142992944
Jim Morrison of The Doors - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170142994102

So, take a look and see what you think! Indeed, these two are also shown in my gallery that you can see if you:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Come one, come all!