The Good Foot

The Good Foot
11" x 14"
Oil on Canvas
$300

This painting was a lot of fun to do. I see more of these in my future!

An MBA's Answer to the Selling of Art

This is an incredible business article concerning art. If you are an artist or if you know an artist, this article it for you. This article, written by Yong Joo Kim, guest blogger for Artbizblog.com.

Here is the first part of the article, with permission from the Artbizblog. Finish reading it at their site. It's an amazing read!

Conversation with an MBA Grad

 written by guest blogger Yong Joo Kim.

In school, I got the impression that “selling” was “below” artists. “How do artists make a living?” students would ask. “Teach” was the most flippant answer. So I did. And it was wonderful. But it was not sufficient to make a living. To live off of teaching, you had to be a full-time professor. And full time positions in art is scarce, not to mention highly segmented.

While contemplating my options, I got to talking with my friend with an MBA.

“Why aren’t you selling your work?” he asked
“Sell? That’s not what artists do.” I responded.
“What do you do then?” he asked.
“I make art.” I responded.
“Then what?” he asked.
“I send it off to exhibitions or galleries.” I responded.
“And what? Hope for the best?” he asked, sarcastically.

“Sure.” I responded as-a-matter-of-factly.
“That’s the most uncreative thing I’ve ever heard of” he exclaimed.
“What?!” I responded, shocked and annoyed.

“You call yourself an artist and that’s the most creative business model you can come up with?” he continued.
“What are you talking about?” I responded, offended, not even knowing what a business model was.

“MBAs would kill to be in your position.” he said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“You see, our passion is in making businesses, not products. But businesses sell products or services. So when we graduate we are going crazy trying to figure out what to sell. Artists like you already have that problem solved. So it pains me to sit here watching you parked on your ass hoping for the best.” he exclaimed.

“You just don’t understand! Art is not for money.” I fight back, feeling the need to defend myself and the discipline of art.

“Who said anything about money? You’re thinking about large corporations. Not all business is infatuated with money. Money is a natural byproduct of a business exchange. It is the currency of business. But business, at its core, is about forming reciprocal relationships.” he said, firmly.

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Keep going! Check out the rest of the article at http://www.artbizblog.com/2012/09/mba.html

A Live-Action "The Year Without a Santa Claus"

It's been awhile, I know. Nineteen hours of school will do that to you. I would apologize, but it seems incredibly uppity to apologize to you for not providing my own insight into the world. As if you have been sitting around in some post-apocalyptic world waiting for someone to bring fuel or water or electricity or the cold virus (I think I managed to cover every post-apocalyptic movie ever made with that one). Instead, I'll just hop into one of the things I was mulling over the other day:

TheWife and I were watching The Year Without A Santa Claus. She had never seen it. Can you imagine never having been exposed to this:



Well, the whole time I was watching I kept thinking about how amazing it would be to create a live-action version. I mean, who wouldn't run out to watch it? It would be in instant classic, like A Christmas Story 2 or  A Home Alone Christmas.

So, who would play these iconic characters? Who is worthy? Don't worry. I'll tell you!!

Oh god, is Santa dying??? Nope. Just a punk.

First, we have Santa and Mrs. Claus. Santa decided to puss out on Christmas. Apparently old St. Nick had the sniffles and decided the world could go screw itself. Santa can be a real whiney bitch sometimes. But Mrs. Claus is having none of it. She plays the heroin of our story. Sort of. So, who do we get to play this downer of a Santa and the upbeat Mrs. C? Well, when I think of whining I automatically think of Hayden Christensen, but I've sworn that if I have my way he'll never work in movies again! That leaves only one person:

Ricky Gervais as Santa? Well, only if he in't on screen very much!

Ricky Gervais has been whining his way through life since before the original The Office. Give him a shock of white hair and put a dab of red on his wee little nose and BOOM! Instant Whiney Claus! And to counter balance all that wine, how about a little class?

Does Helen Mirren sing? Could Shirley Booth???

The only way to salvage this is with some grace. She'll never sign onto the project, but we could ask. Because without her, it's doomed!

If only Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise could do this!

Then, we have the two actual heroes of the movie, Jingle and Jangle. These two elves are hilarious. Think Laurel and Hardy! Think Martin and Lewis! Think Scarecrow and Mrs. King! We need real comics to play these roles, not some wanna-be comedians like Eddie Murphy or Zach Braff. It's 2012! Let's mix it up a little:

Cross dressing elves? Hey, it's 2012! Get your head out of your ass and let this happen!

Mo'Nique is going to bring the funny!

These two would hit it off great. People have been waiting for this combo forever, even more then Will Smith and Kevin Kline. Dare I say, even more than Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson! Plus, I could see them becoming a very powerful Hollywood couple. We'd call them Eddique. Moneddie.

No, I have it:  Mo'Nizza.

Now, to the people that make this movie happen. The real stars of the film. The actors who are going to propel the movie into the top 10,000 movies of the world. At least! Without them, we won't be able to pay anyone. The movie will never make a profit. But when we bring these two in: BOOYAH! Every studio will be wanting to sign us up. Every producer will throw money at us! (Is that how movies work? I don't actually know. Let's assume.)

First, in the orange corner: weighing in at 247 pounds, the always angry ruler of the south, the master blaster, the Southern Heater, the hot-blooded check it and see gotta fever of a 103: The Heat Miser!

Wait til they get a load of him!

And, in the blue corner: weighing in at 123 pounds, the footloose and fancy free ruler of the north, Chilly Willy, the ice man who cometh, the cold-hearted snake look into his eyes - oh oh he's been tellin' lies: The Snow Miser!

This movie is his birthright!

And there you have it. The greatest Christmas movie ever not-yet-made. Just give me awhile. I'm sending letters to all of the actors involved. With a little luck, and a few Christmas miracles, we might just be able to get this baby off the ground!

Geraud