MAGNUM OPUS will revolve around the ecological themes of creation and self-preservation.  It will feature selections from my Goddess series and new themed artwork by Christopher Michael Zenger, Gary Randall, Gina Rathbun, J.Alfonso, Jason Moriarty, Jedd Lancaster, Jeff Cinco, Julia Ozimek, Kat Wilson, Katy Alderman, KLAAREN, Linda Alexander, Mary Martinez, Matt Moore, Melia, Melissa Fair, Nelani Palomino, Robert Wegmann, Rory O’Neil and Warren Gibson to debut at the event.

Over 80 local artists will be on display with all artwork available for purchase by the general public.

Show times for the MAGNUM OPUS stage shows will take place from 8pm to 9pm and 10pm to 9pm and will feature original performances by Bella Danza (Artistic Director: Maria Capitano Pardo), Enigma Dance Kru, Kinetic Dance Group, HEMISPHERE Dance, a Wear To The Tear Fashion Show (with the Bentley Salon), Disco Dolls, Anye Cole and Jeremy Gloff. Jeremy Gloff will hold an album release party and performance for his upcoming 16th studio album, 21st Century Love Songs, in the side Royal Room from 9pm to 10pm.

MAGNUM OPUS will be open to the general public of all ages. Guests are encouraged to wear the colors green and white to the event. There will be an optional $1.00 donation at the doors of the event to help benefit Dalmation Rescue of Tampa Bay. Reserved Seats for $5.00 each and V.I.P. Tables for $10.00 each will be made available for purchase by visiting Square One’s Magnum Opus event info page.

It is not a deep wine to read poetry to, but rather a wine to play. A subtle sweetness delights even those who prefer dry wines because it is modest and dominated by the strength of the Chardonnay. The flavor is like a bouquet of fresh fruit with a lovely finish.

The wine is easy to drink and just tends to flow with pleasure. She reminds me of the natural beauty of California Sun. Grapes on gentle hill sides and and dreams fulfilled by moonlit nights. For each grape takes on the feelings of the culture where it is grown. Her spirit reflects upon the soil she calls her home.

The wine is bottled at Folie A Deux Winery in Napa Valley, California.  In browsing the winery’s website, I came across a wine fact sheet that explains the wine making process on their 2008 Menage a Trois White:

Each variety is individually harvested, gently crushed and cold-fermented in small stainless steel tanks to preserve freshness and character and retain the juicy fruit aromas. The Chardonnay is rich and firm. The Muscat is wild and exotic. The Chenin is soft and supportive. Together they make the perfect threesome.

Natalie and I will be taking part in The Progress Energy Gallery’s newest exhibit, “Myth, Mystery and Religion.”  The exhibit will feature images inspired by spiritual and cultural tapestries, ritual, and religion throughout the ages of our shared human history. See what happens when artists attempt to interpret the divine and place that experience on canvas, in steel, or in clay.

The opening reception will be held on October 2nd, from 6 – 9 pm.

Natalie is creating some new pieces inspired by the last few photo shoots we have done that will be exhibited in the upcoming opening.  Its been quite a bit of fun how things are turning out.  Not too long ago, our friends and acquaintances we posing for Natalie to use as reference material for a pastel.  Recently, we started working with some talented models whom we met through Model Mayhem.  We eventually developed a work flow.  Two of her most recent paintings that will be in the exhibit are Nyx: Goddess of Night and Amaterasu along with some of her other work.  I was honored when she asked me to exhibit with her.  A couple of my photographs from the photo shoots are going to be exhibited to showcase the creative process.  Natalie is then able to take the images we get during the shoot and then use them as reference or an inspiration for a new piece of artwork.  Its very cool to see her work.

Natalie spends quite a bit of time preparing for the photo shoots.  She plans nearly every aspect, from set, to theme, and costume. Then we spend the day photographing reference shots that try to find the essence of the goddess Natalie wants to bring to life in her soft pastels.

This last photo shoot we worked with Mai Dang, a model we met through Model Mayhem.  Mai is a runway model who has quite a bit of experience in fashion modeling.  She was a joy and a pleasure with which to work.  Highly professional and very punctual.  We were impressed, from an artistic perspective, at her ability to take direction.  She was eager to get the shot just right.  She brought along costumes and really spent time studying and reading up on the goddesses Natalie wanted to portray.  Everyone involved worked long hours.  Mai endured costume changes, and constant hair and makeup. She really put her all into the shoot.  What an adventure!

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During the shoot, our good friend George Tau serendipitously was able to attend.  Natalie really wanted to capture the essence of  a goddess in action so she decided to have Main in some poses with traditional weaponry, from swords and blades to staffs and spears.  George acted as our weapons consultant that day.  Mai was very eager to learn the proper poses and forms for each weapon and George provided his extensive martial arts training to create some very dramatic shots.  He was very creative with the poses, superimposing traditional goddess poses with weaponry and a sense of action.  George has is Black Sash in San Soo Kung Fu , a Krav Maga artist, and is also available for Tibetan Bowl Sound Therapy.

Micheal also acted again as the sun.  I love having him around for shoots, he is always willing to do whatever it takes to make for a successful shoot.  He is really getting good at the lighting rigging.  We’ll probably have to get him some strobe lights and soft boxes soon to play with.

Also, we again had the services of the lovely Georgette Khaziran of Verdecia Salon.  She was incredible.  Not only did she do amazing work through four costume changes, several hair changes, and plenty of makeup changes, she stayed on set during photographing process to do constant touch ups and the make sure Mai was present as best as possible for the camera.

We had a great time with this last shoot and we absolutely pleased with how everything came out.  We are very grateful to all the people who worked so hard to make it happen and look forward to the next shoot.  I can’t believe its already time to start thinking about the next one…

Georgette Khaziran is available for appointments at Verdecia Salon in Citrus Park,

call 813-852-1509 to schedule an appointment.

George Tau is available for Tibetan Bowl Sound Therapy sessions, visit

http://www.tibetanbowltherapy.com to learn more.

Raleigh Michigan Studios - Artist Model of Planned Development

In a recent article published by the New York Times, a tax incentive that was approved by the govenor, Jennifer M. Granholm, in April 2008 is beginning to have some results in Michigan.  The tax incentive provides a 40 percent tax credit or cash rebate for studios on their business tax returns.  There is also a 25 percent infrastructure credit, which is applied against expenditures on construction of a studio and its contents.  The article highlights a couple recent purchases of auto plants by film executives including:

Linden Nelson, 49, chief executive of Nelson Ventures, a private investment company, has started Michigan Motion Picture Studios, doing business as Raleigh Michigan Studios, for $75.8 million…After looking at about 100 abandoned buildings, including an airplane hangar, the Pontiac Silverdome (the former home of the Detroit Lions football team) and vacant auto plants, Mr. Nelson and his partners chose a location within a former General Motors complex in Pontiac….The three-story, 369,000-square-foot building was built in 1999 for $55 million, and 3,000 G.M. truck and bus engineers once worked there. Raleigh’s goal is for a similar number of people to be employed at a range of film industry jobs.

As a former resident of Michigan, it is uplifting to hear that this approved bill is having a positive impact so far.  Even excluding the recent collapse of the auto industry, Michigan’s primary means of business in manufacturing has been in decline the past thirty years.  More tax incentives such as these will need to continue to be passed to help bring additional types of business to the state and help reduce the unemployment rate that was 15% as of July.

Michigan is a beautiful state with some of the nation’s best produce, universities, and landscapes that change with each season.  While it’s a great place to visit, there is definitely a need to create more jobs so visitors can become full time residents.  It will be interesting to see what films come out of the state.  Possibly they might even create a film festival to help bring more tourism into the state.

For this most recent Asian Goddess shoot, we had the  talented and beautiful local runway model, Mai Dang. She brought a full suitcase of various traditional Asian outfits.  Prior to the shoot, I had a brainstorming session with our hair/make-up artist,  Georgette Khaziran of Verdecia Salon, who came up with a complete list of hair styles and make-up combinations that would complement each goddess.

We also had our two friends, Michael and George, on site that provided tech support.  In addition, George was able to put his martial arts training to work by demonstrating marital art poses and forms for the model during the weapon shots that ranged from holding swords of all sizes and lengths to daggers and even an axe!

For my first Asian goddess painting I decided to paint Amaterasu, who is known in Japanese mythology as a sun goddess and the most important Shinto deity.  Her full name is Amaterasu-o-mi-kami (天照大神) which means “glorious goddess who shines in the heavens.”

In this soft pastel painting, I illustrated some of her symbols including the rising sun disc, which is also shown on the Japanese Flag. The sword or blade represents might and honor.  I also incorporated Japanese Kanji characters which, when translated into English, reads as “The Goddess of Sun”.

The goddess Amaterasu called out to me because of her diverse character.  As a sun goddess, she oversees the Japanese fields of rice.  She was also known as an accomplished weaver of stunning satins, silks, and brocades.  And for those of you interested in reading more about the myths written about Amaterasu, you can find more information at Goddess Gift, a site dedicated to “celebrate, to nurture, and to share understandings of the goddess in every woman.”

Her inner strength is part of her beauty, and thus, I thought it appropriate to include this work in this week’s theme at Illustration Friday, “Strong”.

Long ago, she uploaded the image to our Flickr account and was recently approached to to use one of the images from the kit’s creation for the cover of a new book entitled “Discovering Words” by author Julian Walker, to be published by Shire Publishing.  Natalie, being the utmost and consummate perfectionist, decided to create a newer, and higher resolution image for the book.  The book is an exploration of etymology of the English language and the origins of common words.  With excellent communication from the publisher, she created a new version of her original image that showcased some of the words that are explored in the book.

Shire Publishing describes the title as a “treasury of word histories, showing the variety of ways the words we use have evolved. The book is arranged into subjects, within which a selection of words are traced back through the stages by which they came to be part of the English language, and through more recent changes over time in form and meaning.”

The book is currently available for pre-order via Amazon.com and also through Random House, and will be available October 9th, 2009.

You can also download a desktop wallpaper image of the original magnetic poetry design to decorate your workspace.

We’re looking forward to getting our own copy!

Natalie and I had the fortune to visit Michigan this summer and run around all over Muskegon.  Summer flowers were blooming everywhere.  Beautiful buds sprang forth on every hillside, driveway, and even on the side of the road.  Large, abundant flowers, heavily laden stalks of corn, and produce of all types were visible in fields simply by driving down a country road on the way to the next town or a trip down to the cool shores of Lake Michigan.  This time of year, Michigan was alive and thriving with vegetation of all sorts.

During our stay, Natalie’s mom and sister Sarah took us to the Farmer’s Market in Muskegon.  It was the middle of the week, so only half of the market was occupied, but we were simply floored at the variety and quality of the products available.  Corn was especially good.  I purchased a variety called “Peaches and Cream” which was an almost candy-sweet, juicy bi-color ear of buttery goodness.  We bought and ate plenty of goods during our stay.  The vendors and shoppers alike were friendly, smiling people.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time at the Farmer’s Market.  Not to mention, the best blueberries in the world were in season.

While there, the vendors were kind enough to allow me to snap picture after picture.  I tend to go a little nuts when we have the camera with us.  I took shot after shot of everything from crisp, brightly colored radishes to deeply hued and unusually shaped eggplants.  It was a culinarian’s dream come true.

The Muskegon Farmer’s Market can be found at 700 Yuba St., Muskegon, MI 49442. (Map and Directions)

The market is open May through December Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Make sure to visit the official site for information,  the special events calendar, and even a video about the market.

According to the market’s official site, “The Muskegon Farmer’s Market is a division of the City of Muskegon and is dedicated to showcasing the best in locally-grown foods, flowers, nursery stock, handicrafts and baked goods. The Market also hosts a giant Flea Market where everything imaginable is sold.”

If you ever find yourself anywhere near Muskegon, it is most certainly worth a drive.  A sea of flowers, piles and piles of the best produce Michigan has to offer, and dedicated vendors make this a must-visit for any cook or anyone that just happens to like to eat.

These are various shots of us hanging around New Port Richey and the Progress Energy Art Gallery with some of our pals. The gallery is an excellent place to see some great exhibits, give it a go if you’ve never been. They are very generous to photographers and allow and encourage snapping pics.  The artwork is neat, and I haven’t nearly spent the time I need to get all the pics I have up, this is by no means the extent of all the great artwork they have on display.

More to come!

The Progress Energy Art Gallery (PEAG) in historic downtown New Port Richey, Florida invites you to submit your artwork for our upcoming October exhibit on “Gods and Goddesses”.  Deadline for submissions is Sunday, August 16th.

To be eligible, artists must be a Florida resident.  All artwork must be clean, in good shape, properly framed and wired, and ready to hang.

The opening reception will be held on Friday, October 2nd, from 6 – 9 pm, and the exhibit will run for two months.

To be considered for this exhibit, interested artists should submit five .jpg images that feature “Gods and Goddesses” directly to the Artist Coordinator of your medium, which is listed below.  When submitting for this exhibit, please include the following information in your email:

Email Subject: Artist Submission – Gods and Goddesses

In the Body of the e-mail, please include the following information:

• Contact information: Name, email address, phone number, address, website, etc.
• Artwork Attachment Submission Details: JPEG File Name, artwork title, size, medium, year, and other pertinent info about the work sent.
• Artist resume
• Artist statement
• Short biography
• 5 .JPG Attachments: Largest dimension 1000 pixels, and no less than 600 pixels. Additionally, file size should not be larger than 250kb per file.

Artwork will be selected by our 2009-2010 PEAG Gallery Advisory Committee which includes:

Acrylic: Erica Urbanovich [e_urbanovitch@hotmail.com]

Giclee Printing:  Ron Urbanovich [nonakedwalls@gmail.com]

Mixed Media: Michelle Collins [artbymichelle@gmail.com]

Pastel:  Natalie Roberts [natalie@surrealmuse.com]

Photography:  Paula Showen [paula.showen@gmail.com]

Oil:  Matthew Ellord [mattellrod@verizon.net]

Sculpture: Sergio  Flores [mascusdegrotesque@gmail.com]

Watercolor: Jo Baughman [mjpaugh1@verizon.net]

Freya is a Norse maiden goddess of love, beauty, fertility, war, wealth, divination and magic.   Traditionally, she is captured in warrior poses with a Viking helmet  and her sword.  Other folklore imagery illustrates Freya in her cloak of bird wings.

For this soft pastel painting, I’ve captured her transformational fairy powers with dragonfly wings that create the wave effect of  northern lights when in flight.

To see more fairy inspired creations, check out this week’s Created Byhand Challenge.

UPDATE:

Here is a photogtaph of the work in progress and the photographic reference Natalie was using to create Freya.  She said it was about 80% done at this point.  -Brian