"Downtown Cats" Mural by BZTAT in Canton, OH

I am a big fan of public art.

I create it. I enjoy it when it is created by others in my own hometown. I seek it out in other cities to which I travel.

Why?

As an artist, I like to paint big.  I also like to include other people in both the creative process and the appreciation of my artwork.

As an arts enthusiast, I believe that art should be placed where everyone can experience it.

Lets face it. Only a small segment of the world goes to museums and collection galleries. A work of art that is located in a public place has the opportunity to touch and impact many more people.

As an enthusiast for community development, I recognize that public art makes a city more interesting, bringing more people to an area, enhancing its economic potential.

I think that more businesses should consider commissioning artwork for public view as a way to demonstrate their commitment to the economic development of their communities. (It is an added bonus that a public artwork with your brand’s name listed as the sponsor is very solid marketing.)

My city, Canton, Ohio, has an amazing display of public art in the downtown area. There are several large scale mural installations, painted trash cans and flower pots, large sculptures, etc.

It is even more amazing when you consider the fact that Canton has been beset by considerable economic hardship and unemployment during the same time frame that the Canton Arts District has sprung up. The passion of the artists, the county arts council (ArtsinStark), and the Canton Development Project has made it all happen in a relatively short amount of time.

And it has helped to revive a blighted area.

I frequently have out of town guests to our city stop by my studio and marvel at all the creativity here. Friends that I meet from all over the world through social media are astounded when they see and read about what is happening in Canton.

One would assume that the people of Canton would be busting with pride.

Many people are, but the critics and naysayers are there, loudly voicing their dismay.

I don’t get it, to be quite honest.

There are those who come from an academic and cultural perspective, claiming that there is no coordination and no review process for determining how public art gets commissioned and placed around town. Basically, if a building owner, funding body and an artist agree, and their are no architectural safety concerns, the work goes up.

There are also the wannabe big city “street artists” who are rebels without a cause, “tagging” public places with their version of graffiti art, pretending that there is some big “establishment” squelching their self expression.

The general public is surprisingly quiet on the whole matter.

To those critics on both sides of the issue, I say, GET A GRIP.

To the academics  — We are not New York City, for gosh sakes. It is not like we have to have masterpieces on every corner. (Although, to be honest, I think some of our public art pieces could hold their own in some of the cities around the world known as art centers.) And it is not like we have any works that test the sense of public decency. We do have quality work that is interesting to the people of Canton and out of town visitors.

To the wannabe street taggers — Grow up! Graffiti art is SO YESTERDAY. And no one is standing in your way of expressing yourself. Break the rules of art, but follow the law. If it isn’t your building and you don’t permission to express yourself on it, find a place where you do have permission.

Or else you can join the ranks of those who create prison art.

We need to have creative freedom, but we also have to have some degree of limits to maintain order. Every notable center of creative energy is going to have some tension between the two concepts.

But we could easily throw the baby out with the bathwater.

We could overreach and put too many regulations in place, which would put an end to this burgeoning, yet still fragile arts renaissance that is emerging in Canton.

We could allow a bunch of thugs to spoil it all for everyone by falling for their “bad boy” claims of creative restriction.

Lets just use some common sense, shall we?

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

Custom Pet Portraits / Contemporary Artwork of Cats, Dogs and other Animals

BZTAT Studios - In the heart of the Canton, OH Arts District

This post originally appeared here on April 1, 2010. Since I am going to the second BlogPaws conference in Denver, CO next week, I wanted to share it again (with updated links). It is especially poignant for me since I will be speaking at and creating a mural at BlogPaws West.

When I was child, I was painfully shy. I am talking pathological anxiety, excruciating and terrified of people kind of shyness.

Even though I have been a mental health therapist for 19 years, I still do not know where the shyness came from. I do, however, know what saved me from it.

Animals.

Having family pets gave me friends of whom I was unafraid, and who showed me unconditional love. My pets also gave me something that I could talk about with people, alleviating some of my social anxieties.

I am 48 years old now, and I now feel fairly comfortable in most social situations. I even have found comfort in speaking in front of large groups. Even so, I still rely on my love of animals as one of my mainstay conversation topics.

So it is no wonder that I gravitated towards pet lovers when I stepped into the vast sea of social media.

Through my blogging cat Brewskie Butt, I have met hundreds of pet lovers from all over the world, and I have developed friendships that are very deep and meaningful through online interaction. I have even had the opportunity to meet some of these people face to face, enjoying a more full experience of our shared love of animals.

Next week, I will get the chance to  meet many more of these people and other new friends at [BlogPaws West], the [second] ever pet blogging conference, being held in [Denver, CO]. I can’t wait!

I am looking forward to the event as an opportunity to expand my professional network as a pet portrait artist and blogger, and I am hoping to learn some new skills to enhance my online presence.

More than anything, though, I am looking forward to meeting people who share the love that I have of animals on a personal as well as professional level.  And, I am looking forward to meeting some of their pets also, because many people will be  bringing their animals with them to the conference!

Robert Brault said, “The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude.”

I believe this to be true. We allow pets into a very special place in our hearts that is unguarded and unfettered. Friends who understand this best are the ones I most want to allow in my company.

So you see, painting pets is more than just a niche art style for me. It is something that connects me to the world from a place deep within my soul.

And that is why meeting up with fellow pet lovers at BlogPaws is so important to me.

I hope to see YOU at BlogPaws!

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

Custom Pet Portraits / Contemporary Artwork of Cats, Dogs and other Animals

BZTAT Studios - In the heart of the Canton, OH Arts District

Digital Art by BZTAT

Can you help me out?

I want to use a dog and cat image for the mural that I will be creating at BlogPaws West.

Last night, I was going through zillions of photos of critters to use as reference images for the mural.

Then someone posted this sweet pup named Lorenza on my Facebook wall.

I thought, “She’s Perfect!”

Lorenza was found in Canton, OH and is looking for a home. The person who found her volunteers with Second Chance For Animals, and she has offered to pay the adoption fee for anyone who is one of my Facebook Fans.

Please let me know if you are near Ohio and are interested. I will connect you with the volunteer.

Now I need a cat…

Do you have a photo of a cat that is available for adoption that I could use for my mural along with Lorenza?

If so, post it on my Facebook Fan Page with some information about the animal and how it can be adopted by Friday September 3, 2010.

I will choose a cat to be featured in the mural from the photos I receive.

Since a big part of the BlogPaws mission is to Be the Change for Pets, it seems only right to feature pets in need in the mural.

I am looking forward to painting the mural, and I am looking forward to meeting you at BlogPaws!

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

Custom Pet Portraits / Contemporary Artwork of Cats, Dogs and other Animals

BZTAT Studios - In the heart of the Canton, OH Arts District

Dat Dawg Sam with his painted portrait

I never met Sam in person (or in paw-son, as it may be). I have met his human staff twice when she came to Columbus, OH for trade shows this year and last. We have become great friends, despite the distance between Ohio and her home in San Diego.

I felt as though I knew Sam from following his feline brother’s adventures on Twitter (@PerrytheBirman).Perry always referred to him as “Dat Dawg Sam” on Twitter, often in unflattering terms. Nonetheless, you could tell the cat loved the dog despite himself.

I also painted Sam’s portrait last year. Spending many hours painting an animal endears you to the creature in a way that I cannot describe.

So when I learned of his passing this past Wednesday, I wept. I wept for the loss that I knew my human friend was experiencing, and I wept from feeling my own sense of loss.

That happens to me when animals who become a part of my artistic menagerie go to the Rainbow Bridge.

Sam came to live with my friend and her husband and Perry when his previous owner succumbed to cancer a few years ago. He suffered from various neurological symptoms and Cushing’s Disease that finally got the best of him. he had many challenges in his last year of life but still managed to give lots of love to his human family.

My friend shared with me that the portrait I painted last year has helped her and her husband through their grief. Seeing an image of him when he had the spark of life before he became ill has had a healing effect.

I am so happy that I could be a part of helping them through such a hard time.

I know your family will miss you horribly, Sam. I will too.

Keep things smiling there at the Rainbow Bridge, OK?

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

Custom Pet Portraits / Contemporary Artwork of Cats, Dogs and other Animals

BZTAT Studios - In the heart of the Canton, OH Arts District