Show And Tell

http://thegoodfoot.com/gallery/exhibit/43/daniel-edlen

This past weekend, Vinyl Killers 7 was open and is now online. My 5 pieces are still available and can be bought online.

The show looked HUGE! Every year it keeps getting bigger. This year, Jason used my Tom Waits from last year for the poster. Very cool.

The nice thing about these group shows is the new audience that gets exposed to the concept. Recently it's become apparent how helpful taking advantage of every opportunity for exposure can be, online and off. Profiles with online galleries I created long ago have brought new customers while the new video has done the same.

All it takes is one person at a time. I've said that before, but it deserves to be mentioned again. I really don't pay much attention to the ups and downs of the numbers of people following me on various sites. That doesn't have any impact on my business. I sell work to one person at a time. Heck if someone sees my work online somewhere, gets the concept, and moves on, that's great! If they bookmark it, share it, or contact me, even better. But I don't expect people to follow all that I do. That'd take, well, as much time as I take doing it!

So I show you what I do, as I do it, and tell you about what's going on that's relevant. If you get hooked, cool! If you say to yourself, "Hey that's neat!" and think about it months later when figuring out a birthday present, awesome! If you go, "Wow!" and then tell all your friends right then, beautiful!

That's how the ripples spread, and that's how that one person connects. That's how I get to do what I do, that I love SO much. So thank you for what you do that helps. You, one person.

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

How Dare I?

Paint on a Nick Drake record? Am I nuts? Well, it is a reissue, but still! It's my one reservation about what I do, rendering records unplayable, at least on one side. Especially when it's music I love. So how do I justify it? How can I say I love vinyl so much that I ruin it?

Well, I can buy another one on eBay for $25 since it's a reissue. But, more importantly, I like what I create. I'm repurposing something mass produced into a unique piece of art directly celebrating the original art of the album. To make the record collectors out there gasp, after all it is just a record. It's not like I'm depriving the world of Nick Drake's wonderfully wispy voice. Also, there's something cool about using a physical representation of the actual music, the record, to pay hommage to the creator of said music with another physical representation, the portrait.

This past week I've been prompted to rethink the idea of reproducing my work. Sort of paying hommage to my own creation? Seems egotistical a little. I'm still not 100% sure. I'm opening up to the idea of editions of prints limited in scope and number, on something other than vinyl, by a very reputable outfit. I wouldn't want it done on records. I know that. Not on random records, blank records, or records by the subject of the painting. Maybe on wood panel or metal? How would that even look, a record with grooves printed flat?

It would open up the possibilities for more sales, more quickly. But both of those aren't really my end goal though. My goal is to make individual meaningful connections that give people a way to share their music, their culture. More more more, faster faster faster isn't my style. Hmm, in the right context maybe, so it's different sales, with rigorous quality?

I'm just not sure. What do you think? Is it selling out in the short term or smart business in the long term? I'd really appreciate help here!

Peace.

SOLD - Nick Drake 01/13/09

Rock & Roll Never Forgets

I feel bad. I just found out my friend Robert is having financial problems, may lose his house! I don't know if I can help much, but what I can do is point you here, his blogger profile. The website link there will take you to his main site where he offers his vinyl collecting ebook for donations.

This Bob Seger is a gift from a wife to her husband for his "man cave" which has picture disks and such on display. She also bought my John Lee Hooker for her mother-in-law.

If you're thinking about commissioning one from me for a holiday gift, you can go to Robert's site too. He's offering a 15% discount on my framed pieces, and he gets a referral. So everybody wins!
Peace.

SOLD - Bob Seger 11/10/08

Every Picture Tells A Story

Part of the reason I don't want to reproduce my paintings is to preserve the unique story each piece will have and its original connection to me. It definitely is due to my ego as an artist, but each piece is a part of me, and I like knowing that that identity will remain intact.

This blog will hopefully serve some role in creating kind of an electronic provenance, a way to connect the pieces with their date of creation and something of my thoughts at the time.

So every picture will have a story to tell. If you own one of my pieces of Vinyl Art and would like to leave a comment here and/or on the post of the blog with your painting, I would be thrilled. You could talk about you, why you own the piece, and any stories or anything else associated with the portrait. Your comment will add record of the link in the chain of your piece's story.

Let it be known.

And if your piece doesn't make an appearance on this blog, let me know! Send me a picture of it as it hangs in your home and I'll make a point to mention it, keeping your anonymity intact if you want.

Peace.

Rod Stewart 10/27/08

The Long And The Short Of It

Handpainted. Yep, white acrylic basically dabbed on a record. With a brush. In my hand.

It takes effort. Effort and energy focussed by skill and practice, motivated by passion.

Effort means a long-term commitment. The Chili Peppers have travelled a long road, with pain and anguish along the way. From very rocky beginnings on this, their first album, through a very rocky middle with tortuous drug problems, to a still rocky present saved perhaps by family responsibilities, Kiedis has actively grown as a singer throughout.

Sustained effort. Driving passion, in it for the long haul.

Peace.

Red Hot Chili Peppers 10/08/08

Keyword Conundrum

When people go into Wild About Music and see this painting of Page and Plant, they're already in the frame of mind to see music-related merch and art. When visitors land on my site and particularly my blog, I suspect they aren't as prepared for what they see.

Keywords are causing this to happen. For example, when E! reruns its 101 top moments of Saturday Night Live, my 2 posts about it get a bunch of hits from people looking for information about the show, not my list of favorite comedians or review of Knocked Up. I don't know if this is a problem to be resolved or just a normal occurence for blogs, but I'm always trying to fine tune my keywords.

How did you find me?

Now that you've found me, what words would you think to use to find me intentionally through a search?

Though artwork on record albums is becoming a bit more popular, I don't think most people would even think of the concept when looking for a gift for a music-lover or for cool unique things to add to their own collection of music-related stuff. I get a lot of people searching for "vinyl art", when they're really looking for vinyl art toys or vinyl window stickers, so I also get a lot of people not even remotely looking for what I do.

So can you help the right people find me?

Peace.

SOLD - Page and Plant 08/22/08