Watch Burning Man Live NOW!!! - via Ustream

I just added a live  burning man feed via ustream for those of us that decided to stay home and avoid the 7 deadly hassles. Cant wait to post more mutant vehicles from this years event.

Garden Art Car Goes to Court

This garden art car is headed to The U.S. Supreme Court that will consider an appeal next month from the owner of Planet K stores over his long-running battle with the city of San Marcos about his right to display it. In 2007 Michael Kleinman paid two artists to transform this salvage special in front of his store into a painted cactus planter art car. City officials got themselves hot and bothered, claiming the Oldsmobile 88 was in violation of a city ordinance declaring such displays public nuisances. The car was removed and Kleinman is appealing a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in February that found the car-planter to be “ultimately a junked vehicle.”  Good luck with that!! via Its funny I was going to do a garden art car post a while back and forgotten about it until my dad sent me this article two days ago. As you can see these are just a few of the garden cars I found from around the world. Most are intentional, some natural and the last one is purely accidental. If you like these you might also like the Grass Art Cars also on Art Car Central.

Penguin Martini Shaker Car For Sale

This 1985 Mercury Grand Marqui penguin car is for sale for only 1000 bucks, only if you really really really want it now on craigslist. Its claim to fame, a single penguin martini shaker as a hood ornament, and a stuffed one in the back window. I think its time to cut back on the martinis for a while, I don't know, I am just saying.

Fairy Lanterns

Oil on canvas panel, 16" x 16"

Art Showing - La Bera Cafe

Over a dozen of my paintings are on display at The La Bera Cafe in Northgate.





La Bera Cafe
1000 NE Northgate Way
(between N Roosevelt Way & N 11th Ave)
Seattle, WA 98125
Neighborhood: Northgate
(206) 367-1682
Map

GEORGE BRIDGMAN'S ART CLASS

These are original student drawings from the 1911 class of the famous art teacher, George Bridgman.

Bridgman, constantly inebriated and chewing on a large black cigar, would rail at his students about the importance of mastering anatomy: "Don't think color's going to do you any good. Or lovely compositions. You can't paint a house until it's built." His students adored him and vied for his approval.

Some of the students in this class would grow up to be stars, such as Norman Rockwell, Mclelland Barclay or E.F. Ward. But in 1911 they were still ambitious teenagers dreaming of the future and striving to develop the kind of academic drawing skill that many illustrators today consider irrelevant.

The crowded classroom was warmed by the stench of tobacco, charcoal, perspiration and turpentine.

Many of the models were girls who had come to the city to work in department stores during a peak holiday season and were laid off after the holidays.  Desperate for money, they would apply for modeling work but once in the classroom some couldn't bring themselves to take their clothes off. Sometimes a young woman would attempt to pose in her slip and stockings, but she would be asked to leave. Recalled one of Bridgman's students, "she'd begin to cry and say she needed the money and what was she going to do."

These girls and their personal anguish are now just ghosts on crumbling paper.  All that remains of them are the images that shamed them.

Bridgman was a highly critical taskmaster, teaching as he did before our era of false praise. At the end of each class, he would designate one student's work as number 1. (You can still see Bridgman's notation, "1st" on E.F. Ward's drawing of the man's back, above.) But Norman Rockwell recalled a story that Bridgman would tell the class whenever he sensed that students were getting cocky about their grades:

Boys, a queer thing happened to me after I left the class last Tuesday. There was a coal wagon backed up onto the sidewalk on 48th street shooting coal into a cellar. As I passed by a fellow stuck his head, all begrimed with coal, out of the cellar and said "hello Mr. Bridgman." I said, "why hello there who are you?" Oh, the fellow said, don't you remember me? I was number one in your class last year.... The story varied; sometimes it was an iceman or a voice from a manhole.

PoxNora art

There's more I've done, but these are my favs and there're some that aren't released yet, so I can only post later on. Most of these are done last year :P

Disclaimer: I only did the illustrations on the cards, not the borders, icons nor text.

All images © Sony Online Entertainment LLC

19 Donk Cars Covered in Candy Paint

Some time ago I posted a video about a cars covered in Cheetos and Doritos vinyl graphics, and the other day I found the ultimate Facebook car called a "Donk". I got some grief over it because one of my art car friends did not think it was considered an "art car". For me its a unique form of expression that deserves some face time here on Art Car Central. They also look like a lot of fun to drive around in so I managed to find 19 top corporate brand covered cars with famous cereal, snack and drink names. These "hi-riser" or "sky-scrapers" cars have gigantic rims ranging from 22" to 30"and extremely high ground clearance that resemble urban 4x4's,  are called "Donks". The term "Donk" came from the impala symbol on any Chevy impala from the year 1971 to 1976, because the symbol looked like a "donkey". It became popular in the south to cover these cars with name brands using vinyl car wrap technology. The most popular type of car used are Chevrolet models, namely the Impala, Caprice, Monte Carlo, and Chevelle. Other models that are frequently made into hi-risers include the G-body Buick Regal, Oldsmobile Cutlass, El Camino, Pontiac Grand Prix, and Pontiac Bonneville. So for your sweat tooth, cereal and salty snack enjoyment, I present to you 19 tasty Donk car treats.