Month: March 2011

March 17, 2011

Brew Hug for Japan: Art Auction to Support World Vets

"Brew Hug for Japan" painting by BZTAT

Whenever there is a natural disaster that disrupts the lives of people, the lives of animals are turned upside down as well. Sadly, the very creatures that bring meaning and companionship to human lives often must be left behind when a disaster looms.

Rescue efforts to bring people to safety often are unable rescue pets as well. As a result, disaster victims must endure additional loss, anguish and heartbreak when they must leave a pet behind.

Animals are an integral part of our daily lives. Their lives are of great value to us when things are normal, and their safety is important to us when things go wrong, too. It is good to know that there are rescue groups who are experienced and prepared to deal with the needs of animal victims in addition to those who help human victims.

Why is it important to help animals in the face of such human tragedy as the calamity that is facing Japan right now?

Because the animals that we see in news footage wandering the streets after a disaster have names. God forbid that those names would ever be Brewskie, Okey, Slick, Noah and Who.

The earthquake and tsunami that has devastated northern Japan is one of the worst disasters to affect modern civilization. The looming threat of nuclear contamination has complicated rescue efforts for both human and animal life. It is essential that those responding to the needs of animals in Japan have resources to meet the crisis before them, just as other rescue groups do.

In concert with other pet bloggers today, I am supporting Official Paws for Japan Day. This day has been designated to raise awareness of the animal aid groups and to help raise funds for their efforts. I am helping World Vets, a rescue group actively responding to the Japan crisis by auctioning the painting above and donating all the proceeds to their efforts. I hope that you will bid generously and donate to their cause as well.

The painting is of my Twittering cat Brewskie Butt, who often sends *Brew Hugs* thru social media to those who are sad or having a rough time. In this painting, he is sending hugs to all those who are suffering in Japan – humans and other creatures.

Here is the info about the painting and the auction:

14″ H X 10 W″ painting on wood by artist BZTAT

Leave bids in increments of $10 below in the comments section.

Minimum Bid $50 USD

Shipping: $25 USA $45 International

BUY NOW OPTION: You can buy this piece now for $170 as long as no bids have been made in the comments below. Simply write BUY NOW in the comments and send a payment of $170 + shipping via PayPal to bztat at bztat.com.

Highest bid at 11:00 pm EST on Saturday 3/19/11 wins the piece.

Winning bidder: send payment of bid + shipping to Paypal using email address: bztat at bztat.com

Please allow 4 weeks for shipping.

Please be sure to visit the other blogs posting for Official Paws for Japan Day:

March 10, 2011

My new muse and other schtuff

Okey

When I first met Beezie, the cat from whom I got the name BZTAT, I knew I had to paint her. And I did. Over and over and over again for the entire 19 years of her life. I still paint her. Over and over again.

I love painting all of my cats, but there are certain ones who really capture my artistic imagination.

Okey, is like that.

Her image is as intriguing to me as her personality is. There is just something about her that really makes me want to draw and paint her. Over and over again.

So, be prepared. There will be many, many Okey paintings to come. I hope that folks enjoy them as much as I will enjoy painting them.

I painted her the other night because I just needed to paint something for fun and free with no expectations. After doing all the January drawings, it has taken me some time to get back into painting.

You may have noticed that I have not posted much here lately. Part of that is due to computer problems that I have been having. Some of it, too, has been because my creative focus has wandered a bit. The winter here in Ohio has been brutal, and I have sorta retreated inward a bit. I am working myself out of it.

I have been working to catch up on projects that have been on the drawing table and easel for awhile. Painting the Okey picture kinda loosened me up a bit and got me back into the swing of things. I hope to share the other projects with you soon!

In the meantime, I hope you are staying warm and keeping your artistic adventures flowing!

March 3, 2011

Ripping Out the Seams at the New Creative Ohio Gallery

Artwork by BZTAT

I haven’t blogged much lately. I haven’t disappeared. I have just been caught up in a new project that was sorta unanticipated.

One of the many hats I wear is my curator hat, a volunteer job that I hold with the Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild. Truthfully, I haven’t done much with the job of late. The Guild’s small gallery, located next to my old studio, has been fairly lackluster for some time, and I have not put a lot of energy into designing or displaying the work in the space.

We have had some new volunteers come on board recently, however, and they have re-energized the gallery. We also had an opportunity suddenly emerge to move to a larger space a few doors down. We had to move fast if we wanted the space, so we signed a new lease and began the process of moving very rapidly.

The new space has two rooms. One room will be our new “Creative Ohio Gallery” and the other room a working studio space. We hope to offer classes and workshops sometime in the near future, and we plan to have featured artist shows in the gallery.

It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to seek out a featured artist before this week’s First Friday. So I decided to pull together a showing of my own collage/assemblage work that I have been accumulating for some time. Some pieces are new, and some are pieces I have had around for awhile. These works are quite divergent from my usual theme of animal art. An artist statement about the pieces below illuminates this different genre of work.

Watercolor artist extraordinaire Ted Lawson will also be featured, and unique pottery by Suzi Nolt-John will complete the ensemble. Arts and crafts from other Guild members will also be on display.

Usually you have an “opening” at the beginning of a new show, but we didn’t have time to plan one. We will have a Grand Opening for the Creative Ohio Gallery and Studio at a later date. I will share more info about that as soon as we pull it all together. You can see the first showing tomorrow night as part of Canton First Friday from 5pm to 10pm at 310 4th St. NW, Canton, OH.

I hope to see you tomorrow night!

Artist Statement

I am a “what you see is what you get” kind of person. Truthfully, though, you really don’t see, or get, that much.

Although I am known around the world for sharing openly about my art and my adventures with my five felines through social media, I actually am a pretty private person.

My collage/assemblage (collemblage) artwork gives you a glimpse of the internal drama that I tend to keep private. Only a glimpse, though. Don’t think for a minute that you will begin to understand the stream of conscience ramblings or visual symbols in these strange pieces. I don’t. There’s no code to be broken here.

Most artists will tell you that they create two kinds of art. There is art that they do because they WANT to do it, and there is art that they do because they HAVE to do it. The work that most artists do because they HAVE to is the stuff that sells. They do it because it pays the bills, not because it is creatively satisfying. The stuff they WANT to do is what they do for their own self expression and creative satisfaction.

It’s the other way around for me. The work that I want to do – fun, colorful imagery of cats and dogs – is what sells. It helps pay the bills, AND it is creatively satisfying. There are few things that I would enjoy doing more than painting your cat or dog.

My collemblages, on the other hand, do not to sell as much, but I HAVE to do them. I HAVE to because my soul won’t be settled unless I do.

They are often deeply personal and usually brought forth when I am troubled by something – an injustice or personal concern that has me stewing. Anger, fear, hurt and other negative emotions swirl around and challenge my yearning for resilience and balance. Sarcastic defiance and my use of color and texture usually help me win the battle. But reminders of my weaknesses are always present in each piece.

I often have ripped up clothing and other miscellaneous items that reappear in different pieces. The ripped clothing represents my need to shed the bonds of limitation that others impose upon me.

“There’s a hole in my jeans I only wanted to fade. I’ve been ripping out seams somebody else made tonight.” Ain’t it Heavy—Melissa Etheridge

The music I am listening to during the creative process usually works its way into the collemblage.

Caution tape warns you to keep your distance, for good reason.

So go ahead. Take a cryptic look and try to figure me out. You won’t succeed, but you might have a little fun trying. See if these artworks speak to your own internal drama while you’re at it.

Whew. Glad that’s done. Now, please. Someone hire me to paint your cat. Or your dog. Or rabbit or ferret.

Let me do art that I WANT to do.