best of

Recent paintings by Deborah Scott

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Bitter Seduction by Deborah Scott
oil and mixed media on canvas, 40" x 24"

I just wanted to post a couple of new paintings by Deborah Scott. I love her modern takes on classic stories. In Bitter Seduction, Daniel Carrillo stands in for King Midas at a Starbucks.

Postnuptial by Deborah Scott
oil and mixed media on canvas, 40" x 24"

Here's one of me as Bluebeard, an aristocrat known for killing his wives. I've tried to draw this silk smoking jacket repeatedly and always abandon it. Of course, Deborah nailed it--in oil paint no less!

Path with Art Showcase / Henry Art Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:28:00 +0000

image via Henry Art Gallery

Path with Art is one of my favorite local organizations in Seattle. If you're unfamiliar with them, their mission is to give, "...marginalized adults the opportunity to engage in the creative process as a unique means to improve and rebuild their lives." But what ends up happening is so much bigger than just making art.

This Saturday from 2-4pm, The Henry will be hosting a showcase which, "...celebrates the energy and creative output of 40 Path with Art poetry, creative writing, and performance class participants." You should really check it out if you want to be inspired!

Seattle artists!

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:36:00 +0000

This is pretty awesome! Juxtapox is highlighting four local artists in an Eye on Seattle series!

Orbital Emergence by Michelle Anderst, oil on canvas, 12" x 12"

Eye on Seattle: Michelle Anderst

"She Takes Him To The River (to bring in the the spring)" by Chris Sheridan
oil on canvas, 60" x 22

Eye on Seattle: Chris Sheridan

by Stacey Rozich

Eye on Seattle: Stacey Rozich

"I didn't do anything" by Chris Crites, 15" x 13"

Eye on Seattle: Chris Crites

by Robert Hardgrave

And related, the art of Robert Hardgrave has been all over Booooooom lately!

ONN/OF "a light festival"

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:19:00 +0000

A festival of light sounds just about perfect this time of year! If you agree, head over to Ballard this weekend for ONOFF "a light festival" curated by Jim Demetre, Susan Robb, and Sierra Stinson. They got lots of activities planned for the 2 day event, beginning with a sunset toast Friday at 4:45. There will be workshops, installations, live music performances, a pop-up market, brunch and more! Check out the full schedule and list of participating artists for more information.

Jeremy Mangan

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Dancefloor, 2011, by Jeremy Mangan
acrylic on panel, 18" x 24" (image via artist)

I've always really enjoyed Jeremy Mangan's work but I guess I haven't checked his website in a while because he's got all this new work up that I'm just loving.

Bonfire, 2010, by Jeremy Mangan
acrylic on panel, 12" x 16", (image via artist)

They still retain their Americana charm, but he's introduced more mystery/weirdness. I can't quit looking at them.

Notorious, 2010, by Jeremy Mangan
acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10" (image via artist)

He's included in Tacoma Art Museum's 10th Northwest Biennial that just opened up. I'm not sure which pieces are in the show. You can also check him out in the most recent Pacific Coast edition of New American Paintings. He'll also have a show at Linda Hodges this September.

Moon Lantern (The End of the Beginning), 2010, by Jeremy Mangan
acrylic on panel, 9" x 12" (image via artist)

Workshop with Wynne Greenwood today

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Wynne Greenwood (image via Henry Art Gallery)

Henry Art Gallery recently added Erwin Wurm's One Minute Sculptures to their collection.

This humorous and poignant video reveals the artist and others attempting to create sculptures using their bodies and a range of commonplace things. As they hold poses and become momentary objects, their actions stir up thoughts about the sculptural and performative properties of the everyday. The work also spurs viewers to think about the potential for sculpture to be a temporally-bound, instruction-based, or performance-oriented medium. (via)

To celebrate this addition, the Henry has turned their lobby into a laboratory of experimentation by inviting artists like Mike Pham, Cat Clifford, and Karn Junkinsmith to hold workshops on creating one minute sculptures. Today, multi-media artist Wynne Greenwood will be presenting her free workshop from 2-4pm. Participants are asked to bring the following: "... a working lamp with lightbulb, a dish of some sort (plate, bowl, cup, mug, etc), preferably one decorated with a pattern or image and a pillow with pillowcase or blanket. If you can't bring all of these objects, please bring what you can."

This sounds like a great way to spend a grey afternoon!

Sea-Cat 2

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:44:00 +0000

Sea-Cat 2

Sea-Cat 2 is officially out and chock full of goodness. You can read more about this great project by Matt Offenbacher, Wynne Greenwood, and Gretchen Bennett here.

Literary Book Bag by Mike Pham

I love these customizable Literary Book Bags by Mike Pham! $100 gets you a super cool/unique tote!

American Fag by JD Samson

Or how about JD Samson's American Fag hat ("Made of hat, tampon strings, and (in some cases) Rit dye. One size fits all." $150 and it's yours!

You can download the free version of Sea-Cat 2 here. I have 2 projects included: Blanket drawings and a not-yet created Owl Light. Sea-Cat 2 was also included in TAM's recent 10th Annual Northwest Biennial.

Swing by Hedreen Gallery on Tuesday, January 24 from 5-8pm for the Sea-Cat 2 opening.

The strange story behind Grizzly Adams

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:36:00 +0000

TV GUIDE, Jan 28, 1978

Yesterday, I was reminded about why everyone has such warm feelings for the tv show Grizzly Adams. The short answer is manipulation but longer answer is a fascinating read about a Mormon producer, computers, and extensive test-marketing.

Charles E. Sellier, Jr. was a Mormon producer with a predilection for family values. In 1971, he began developing an elaborate system which could test-market ideas/scenes for commercials, tv shows and films. His process was so successful that his, "...techniques enabled him to achieve a commanding 52% success ratio in the domestic theatrical market, during a time when the major studios only averaged one in seven."

image via SuperMag

Everything was test marketed, down to the type of bear (Grizzly), likeability of guest star faces, plot points and the frequency of humans.

“Our audience, Sellier says, "likes waterfalls, pretty vistas and high mountain ridges, preferably with actors and animals as part of the scene. They dislike snow, except at Christmas. What they like is eternal summer in the primeval, womanless wilderness.”

I had always just assumed that this amazingly tender show about nature, animals and kindness was an unavoidable result of the good energy of the 1970s, as if Americans needed this show so badly that our collective subconscious had willed it into existence.

Even the real life character Grizzly Adams was based on needed some improving. (Actually, he sounds like a jerk and probably did need some 'softening'.)

“Our audience,” Sellier says, “dislikes animals being violent to humans and to other animals, and humans being violent to animals and other humans. They dislike hunting, either for sport for food—Grizzly can fish but he doesn't hunt and he doesn't eat meat. He's portrayed as one of the first vegetarians. He wears only homespun clothes, never any animals kins. It's not whim, it's all tested.”

Perfume Genius

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Pitchfork posted the new video, Hood, by Perfume Genius this morning. Using gay porn star Arpad Miklos as a stand-in for his boyfriend, singer/songwriter Mike Hadreas explains that, "This is about when you feel like if someone really knew you, they would leave." It doesn't get sexy; it's all very sweet and tender. He wanted to use a big, burly man for the video because, "If I just got my boyfriend to be in there with me, people could just pass it off as cute because we're both boyish. I like the idea of not having things be so obvious." *

Learning by Perfume Genius

Hadreas talks a bit about each of the songs from the forthcoming album over at Matador Records. AWOL Marine sounds like a beautiful art piece.

"AWOL MARINE: This is from some unedited homemade basement porn I watched, with an old man and some hustlers. You can see or hear them doing drugs off camera. They leave the camera running before and about ten minutes after the "scenes", and I am sort of obsessed with watching the before and after. One guy told the cameraman he was just doing the video to get money for his wife's medicine. Then there is a close up of his face. The old man always explains that he will edit out the guys' faces but he never does."

They've been doing lots of touring this past year (including a recent segment with Beirut!). The new album, Put Your Back N 2 It comes out February 21. You can catch Perfume Genius at The Crocodile on April 19.

American Censorship Day

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:24:00 +0000

image via

Pretty much anytime the ACLU and the Tea Party are in agreement, it's serious business. We live in an amazing and important time. When I graduated high school, I don't think I had even heard of the internet (and I had a Commodore 64 at age 10, so it's not like I was always a grandpa.) and now 20+ years later I can't even imagine a life before it. I mean, I know there was life before the world wide web but it just seems so...barbarous*? Unfettered access to the weird, wide web is one of my favorite things on earth. I'd hate to see it get nipped in the bud before we even get to see its full potential. Many major websites like Wordpress, Wikipedia (their first protest since they started over 10+ years ago), Reddit, Boing Boing, and Seattle's own Cheezburger network, will be going black today in protest SOPA/PIPA legislation.

Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder, justified the blackout by saying that “This is an extraordinary action for our community to take - and while we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world." via

*not really barbarous, but I'm just saying--thank goodness the internet was invented!

The Blanket Show / Joey Veltkamp

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:57:00 +0000

This past summer, I began a series of drawings about blankets. This near-automatic explosion resulted in over 125 blanket drawings, most approximately 8" x 10". This is by far the largest series of multiple objects I've done yet. Previous obsessions have included cows, flowers, cans of Pabst beer, owls, and ghosts.

Blanket #81 (Evel Knievel), 2011 by Joey Veltkamp
colored pencil on paper, 8" x 10"

For the Blanket Show (Feb. 1 - March 31), I'll be showing nearly 50 of drawings (including 4 new larges ones, 19" x 24") which pull from a cluster of sources such as expressions of comfort, childhood fears, ghosts, and transitory states. The show will evolve during the 2 months as purchased drawings are replaced with new ones. For you impatient types, you can take your art home as soon as you purchase it.

Blanket #77 (Tropical delft), 2011 by Joey Veltkamp
colored pencil on paper, 8" x 10"

This will be the first time I've shown at Cupcake Royale since they opened over 2.5 years ago. That was a fun show and I think this one should be a real good time, too. The reception is Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 5-8pm at their Capitol Hill location. If you visit between the show between 1st and the 14th, I highly recommend trying their newly reformulated Baby Deathcakes. So good...and if you're rich and/or collect art, pick up a blanket drawing (or 3) along with some Baby Deathcakes and you'll make your Valentine very happy! (Plus, I'll be super happy! It's a total win/win!)

Blanket #91 (Ghost Mountains), 2011, by Joey Veltkamp
colored pencil on paper, 8" x 10"

The Blanket Show

February 1 - March 31, 2012

Cupcake Royale, 1111 E Pike Street

Opening Reception: Wednesday, Feb 1 from 5-8pm

Snow in Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:19:00 +0000

Seattle, you are ridiculous! Your continued ability to surprise and confound us with mercurial weather patterns just might be one of my favorite things about you! 48 hours ago versus today...

David Scott Little

Julia Hensley

Jesse Higman & Motzo Bozic

Emily Glassman

Bran Thorngrave

Andy Burgess

Annabelle Allen

YOU’VE GOT A SMILE LEFT IN YOUR HAND

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:34:00 +0000

Untitled (detail), 2011, by Bradley Rubenstein

Sharpie on Arches paper, 36”x24”, image via SEASON

If you're looking for an art fix, SEASON has a new show opening up today from 3-5pm. YOU'VE GOT A SMILE LEFT IN YOUR HAND includes drawings by Bradley Rubenstein and sculptures/paintings by Ian Toms.

Untitled (Hard Language), 2011, by Ian Toms,

Oil and enamel with Sharpie on canvas, 72” x 56”,

image via SEASON

"Talking shit about a pretty sunset."

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:43:00 +0000

A friend took me out for a birthday dinner tonight so I didn't check Facebook for an entire 6 hours (gawd, I'm pathetic!) and what a delightful surprise when I got home. Facebook was full of all these gorgeous images of Seattle's sunset. I didn't ask any of these folks if I could use their images (so lemme know if you want me to remove yours) but I just thought it made such a pretty set. Seattle, how can you possibly be so beautiful?!

by Holly Hinton

by Erin Frost

by Steven Miller

Paul Heppner

Jeanine Anderson

Shaun Kardinal

George Froehle

Sarah Littlefield

Paul Townsend

Steve Pew

Jo David

Matty Harper

Genevieve Gaiser Tremblay

Mira Crisp

Jennifer Towner

Kyle Johnson

Juan Alonso-Rodriguez

*I had to update because I missed a few on FB last night.

New SOIL members...

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:48:00 +0000

'descending cover', 2011, Allyce Wood
hand cut paper, pins - 10' wide

Allyce Wood

Geographics: Forest Fire by Serrah Russell

Serrah Russell

"By tickling Columbine's feet, Pierrot makes her die laughing." by Amanda Manitach

50 x 38 inches, graphite on paper

Amanda Manitach

100 Senators, installation view, 2010 by Paul Komada

Paul Komada

Frederick's Awning Shop by Seth Damm

Seth Damm

Sharon Arnold / The Firm

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:45:00 +0000

"Mapping an Irretrievable Field of Memory" (detail), by Sharon Arnold
image via artist

Sharon Arnold has an opening for her exhibition, "Mapping an Irretrievable Field of Memory", this Saturday night (January 14) from 6-9pm at The Firm in Georgetown. Sharon's obsessive process will be on display in a 24 foot layered drawing. She gave us a tiny preview this past summer when she showed at Cornish Alumni Gallery.

Birthday pics...

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Mira, Catleah, me

Holly, Jenn, me

from the balcony

suzie (photographer of all these pics!) and me

"My God, it's full of stars!"

My friend Suzie took all these wonderful pics from my 40th bday. Full set here.

Studio Sale at Lemon Lime Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:36:00 +0000

sampling of items for sale (L-R, Jeffry Mitchell, JM, Alfred Harris, Joe Park)

Have you been wanting a piece of art by Alfred Harris, Jeffry Mitchell or Joe Park but can't quite afford their current prices? You're in luck! Lemon Lime Studio will closing and they're having a Studio Sale this afternoon. They don't want to move it so they're selling a lot of their older work with steep discounts. Some seconds, lots of treasures.

What: Studio Sale: Alfred, Jeffry & Joe
Where: Lemon Lime Studio (411 Yale Avenue North)
When: Sunday, January 8
Time: 3-6pm

I'm 40!

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:20:00 +0000

I'm 40! Under a sweet banner by Jeffry Mitchell

If a person is measured by the friends they keep, well, let's just say I'm incredibly lucky to have the group of loving friends I have. To have you all come out last night to celebrate with me as I turn 40 was quite an honor. My only regret is that I felt like I never got to spend more than 5 minutes with any one person. I'm not very good at "working" a room.

Rainbow Babycakes by Cupcake Royale

My dear friends Emily, Holly, Jody and Kim helped me put together a super fun party at Sole Repair, one of my favorite places to have gatherings in Seattle! My buddy JT dj'd and kept the energy up all night! Thank you for repeated playings of Rock Steady by Aretha Franklin.

My birthday cake! (This was seriously as big as a 5 gallon bucket!)

I already have everything I could ever possibly hope* for so the only thing I really wanted was a rainbow cake. My pal Jody's team of bakers (I'm looking at you, Niq!) went nuts and put together this amazing bear cake (it even included my ridiculous bear paw tattoo on top!) and 200 rainbow babycakes for the party! If I could give every human a present, it'd be the joy of cutting open a rainbow cake on your birthday!

OMG! RAINBOW CAKE!

Thanks to everyone who sent me well wishes or came out to party yesterday. The amount of love I felt was ridiculous! I'm so happy to be 40, so happy to live in Seattle, and so happy to be surrounded by so many amazing people! xo

*Well, maybe I didn't have everything I could ever hope for. Whitney surprised me with this awesome home-made Pabst koozie,

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:39:00 +0000

If I'm going to stick to my resolution to lighten up, this is about as much politics as I can handle in 2012. And I'm pretty sure that "Hoo ha! Cherry Soda!" is going to my new exclamation of happiness.

"If you refuse, I'll haunt your prostate."

(yanked off FB. Thanks Larisa!)

Julie Alexander

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:44:00 +0000

Third Lip, 2011 by Julie Alexander, Oil on Canvas, 24x24"
image via artist

I woke up today thinking about the wonderful paintings of Julie Alexander. I feel like so much is happening in them, much of it hidden.

Kick Me, 2011, by Julie Alexander, Oil on Canvas, 24x24"
image via artist

She has a show opening next month at Gallery I | M | A and will also be doing a Jentel Residency later this spring.

Tridia, 2010, by Julie Alexander, Oil on Canvas, 24x24"
image via artist

Don't miss her works on paper either!

NAP Blog's Top Ten of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Untitled, 2010 by Alexander Kroll Oil and Ink on Mylar, 11 x 7 inches
Image via James Harris Gallery

New American Paintings just published a list of their top ten most viewed blog posts from 2011. I'm happy to see that my interview with Alexander Kroll was their 8th most read post. Getting turned on to Alexander's work was a real pleasure. His thick paint application was a big inspiration in the studio this year (along with Allison Schulnik and Susanna Bluhm).

Studio shot, photo courtesy Kimberly Trowbridge.

And Erin Langner's visit to Kimberly Trowbridge's studio rounds out the list making sure Seattle is represented. I can't wait to see lots more great posts from Erin in the new year.

Cafe (un)American on New Year's Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Still on the fence about what to do on New Year's Eve? If you're looking for a memorable evening, grab a ticket to Cafe (un)American. $100 gets you food (by Cormac Mahoney of MPC; desserts by Victoria Yee Howe, and Theo Chocolates), drinks, and entertainment by 35 performers, plus "...DK Pan and a constellation of debutantes, degenerates, aristocrats and anarchists..." Should be a good time!

contributor for DRIFT

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:27:00 +0000

Percept II, 2010 by Nif Hodgson
Multiple-plate etching, image via

I have a short little attention span but you probably already knew that. It manifests in my blog post lengths, in my artistic practice, and definitely in my personal life (I'm infamous for only scheduling my life in 2 hour blocks...). I've really loved all the different places I've written for during the past couple of years but I'd always have trouble with the pace and maintaining interest. The beauty of a personal blog is that you can write about whatever you want. But it turns out that most magazines/other blogs actually prefer to choose their own content and once the writing turns into an assignment, that's the moment I lose passion. I just like to write about what I love; that's always been the point of the blog.

In 2012, I'll be doing a series of artist interviews for DRIFT, a magazine started by collaborators E. Maude Haak-Frendscho and Sean Collins. It's been around for a year now, documenting "...the site of intersection between various modes of artistic and cultural production and the geographic and social landscape of the American west coast." It's a great publication and you can always read back-issues online. As I've said before, the interviews have always been my favorite part of the blog and the schedule (quarterly) is perfect. Plus, for the first one (coming out in late January, I believe), they'll be reprinting a previous interview. It should be lots of fun and I'm really happy to be revisiting the interview series with such a great group of folks.

Insatiable / Vignettes

noreply@blogger.com (Joey Veltkamp) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:10:00 +0000

image via Victoria Yee Howe

Victoria Yee Howe presents an edible installation tonight at Vignettes from 7-10pm. Yum.