Red Shows Saturday 11.15.2008 in OKC

This'n: Red Dot Show, an annual fundraiser for the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery (IAO). 811 N Broadway Ave, Oklahoma City. Saturday November 15th, 7-11 pm. Click here for ticket information. At the Red Dot Show, in addition to auctioning artists' works, IAO does something different. A group of artists (myself included) [scratch that, I wasn't included] has agreed to auction "blank canvases" -- that is, they are selling commissions. When a buyer purchases a blank canvas from me, the artist agrees to paint them a commissioned work.

And That'n: The Red Show: What Makes You See Red? An annual fundraiser for the Red Line Foundation, a local organization promoting education and awareness about HIV/AIDS. AKA Gallery, 3001 Paseo, Oklahoma City. Saturday November 15th, 8 pm to midnight. Tickets available at Moda Salon, The Velvet Monkey Salons, the 42nd Street Candy Company, or at the gallery door.

My friend and colleage Ashley Griffith is a cofounder of Red Line, and is lending us her Paseo gallery space for this exhibit of red art. (The show guidelines stipulate that works must be at least fifty percent red.) Below are the three paintings I made for this show. I have included in-progress shots to give an idea of how I build layers in a painting. (Secretly I hope that in five years I look back at these and think, "Gracious Aunt Betsy, what was I thinking? I am SO much better at layering now.")

I began with photos of my subjects, which I doctored in PhotoShop to shift the color balance toward the red end of the spectrum. I drew very basic pencil outlines on my blank canvases. The underpaintings are thin layers of red (cadmium and napthol), yellow (cadmium and naples), and sienna.

This is one of my palettes at the beginning of a painting session. I use styrofoam takeout trays. When they get full of paint, I let them dry and then apply a thin coat of gesso. Top row: burnt sienna, cadmium red light, cadmium red dark, napthol pink (mixture). Second row: burnt sienna (liquid acrylic), Golden glaze in rust, Golden glaze in yellow ochre, Liquitex portrait pink (mixture). Third row: burnt umber (liquid acrylic), van dyke brown, unbleached titanium (mixture), cadmium yellow. Bottom row: payne's gray (liquid acrylic), neutral gray, titanium white. Not pictured: alizarin crimson.

This is a different palette, after a painting session.

Recently I am taking a more painterly approach to my work. Looking back at the last couple of years I have felt like a drafstman who uses paint. I've missed the tactile and aesthetic pleasures of pushing paint around, building layers of color, and laying down single, decisive brush strokes.

The Dave painting was not fit to be photographed at this point. In the final piece, you will see that I changed direction somewhat. As a professor of mine says, every painting goes through an ugly stage.

Charlie: Stripes, acrylic on canvas, 2008 by Sarah Atlee

Dave: Red, acrylic on canvas, 2008 by Sarah Atlee

Trent: Halvsies, acrylic on canvas, 2008 by Sarah Atlee

A warm thank-you to my sitters, including Mr. Trent Lawson.

Refreshing the Palate: Titus

On Sunday, November 9, 2008, the Metro Wine Bar in Oklahoma City is hosting their second annual wine tasting and art exhibit, Refreshing the Palate. The Metro has commissioned twenty local artists to reinterpret the labels of their featured holiday wines. I was offered the 2006 Cabernet Franc from Titus Vineyards. How could I not riff on the deliciously gory Shakespeare tragedy of that same name?

Titus, collage and acrylic on Rives BFK, 2008. Click image to enlarge.

The artists' labels will be sold by silent auction; proceeds will benefit the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. TAMORA Know, thou sad man, I am not Tamora; She is thy enemy, and I thy friend: I am Revenge: sent from the infernal kingdom, To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind, By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes. Come down, and welcome me to this world's light; Confer with me of murder and of death: There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place, No vast obscurity or misty vale, Where bloody murder or detested rape Can couch for fear, but I will find them out; And in their ears tell them my dreadful name, Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.

TITUS ANDRONICUS Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me, To be a torment to mine enemies?

TAMORA I am; therefore come down, and welcome me.

(Thanks to William Shakespeare Info. And thanks to Julie Taymor for making the colorful film version of Titus Andronicus.)

Afterthought: The body and limbs of this character were collaged from a copy of Woman Stabbing Herself (or Woman Next to Water) by Urs Graf. If you like this style, you might also like Durer, Cranach the Elder, and Goltzius.

"Know Thyself" Reviewed in Daily Oklahoman

Know Thyself, a show of self portraits by Oklahoma artists, is showing at the IAO Gallery in OKC through October 10. Here is a review by John Brandenberg for the Daily Oklahoman. Snip:

Sarah Atlee pokes fun at herself by exaggerating her laughing teeth to the point viewers may think she's going to come out of the picture plane and bite them in her acrylic "Self Portrait: For the Record.”

rraarrr.

Special thanks to Romy Owens for inviting me to participate in this show.

RAINN Benefit Show Tonight at IAO in OKC

The IAO Gallery in OKC is hosting a one-night-only event of art and music to benefit RAINN, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. This effort is headed up by the marvellous DJ Ostara and includes an auction, poetry reading, DJ sets, and more. Tickets are $10.

Here are just a few reasons to support RAINN through events like this.

Betty Louise, mixed media on masonite, 2007.

Betty here will be a part of the show tonight. There's a secret little connection here that I'm going to go ahead and release. In 1994, musician Tori Amos* cofounded RAINN as a means to overcome the experience of her own sexual assault and to help others through that process. It happens that Betty Louise here is based on two themes: the suffragist Amelia Jenks Bloomer, and the lyrics of a Tori Amos b-side called Humpty Dumpty. There, it's been said.

*Yeah, Tori and me used to be real tight. We grew apart over the years. I haven't heard her latest album yet, so maybe a spark or two could be rekindled. Never say never...

Art 365 Documentary Preview Online

As part of the year-long Art 365 process, filmmakers Melissa Scaramucci and Cacky Poarch produced a documentary film about the seven artists. You can see a 15-minute preview online at Google Video. If you're new to Art 365, this is a great introduction. The film premiered in its entirety at the Art 365 opening in Tulsa last month. There will also be a screening in Oklahoma City on July 3rd.

Click here to read more about Normal, OK, my series for Art 365.

Related: Sonarta also has footage of the Art 365 process. Part 1 is below; here are parts two, three, and four.