In the sea of craziness that is craigslist, you will see a wide range of characters. We've all heard stories (both horror and amusing) of the experiences you can have when trying to sell things, of people standing you up, or trying to scam you, or when you check the personals or roommate listings, every entry reads "Just looking for someone normal?!". Craigslist is its own little microcosm of the internet world, and so entertaining that two gals, Katie Goan and Nitra Gutierrez, actually crafted a play called Kidnapped by Craigslist.
"Death's Waiting Room" - I will be directing Sartre's No Exit this summer, and this is exactly how I pictured the room. Saving this one! My next favorite piece also reminded me of a scene I imagined.
OK, enough love of Mellon. I also want to take a quick moment to appreciate San Francisco artist Hiroko Sakai. Here are a few teasers showcasing her varied styles, but you'll want to check out here website too. A great example of modern surrealism, with a twist of humor.
Well, the artists' section tends to follow the same pattern, with a significant portion of the promotional listings leaving you feeling a little confused as to what you just saw.
Today, however, I was browsing happily along, because I ran across a few awesome artists!
Vegas artist M. Mellon spoke to me on several levels - please be sure to check out his website, as I only have room to post a couple here. I often have the discussion with non-classically trained artists (whether it's visually art, music, anything) about why training is important, and usually the argument is that the untrained artists are worried their pieces would become too polished, and uninspired, just clinical or technical.
Mellon here is someone I admire for being that well-rounded artist. He has managed to master technique, demonstrating a understanding of anatomy and communicating through his figures' posture and gesture. His figures in ink and acrylic are equally matched with his more fluid and abstracted watercolors. He maintains technique and understands his media, while still keeping originality.
Three of my favorites:
"Death's Waiting Room" - I will be directing Sartre's No Exit this summer, and this is exactly how I pictured the room. Saving this one! My next favorite piece also reminded me of a scene I imagined.Below is "Pleased to Drown," which, with that title, I can only hope to imagine that great minds think alike. I immediatly thought of the final scene of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Having moved apartments several times, I've finally settled down enough to unpack my boxes of books from
high school. Getting to revisit some of this literature has been a joy, and even more of a joy to discover these paintings that so closely matched my imagination!
high school. Getting to revisit some of this literature has been a joy, and even more of a joy to discover these paintings that so closely matched my imagination!And, "Internal Landscape Six."
An alien seahorse. Clearly.
OK, enough love of Mellon. I also want to take a quick moment to appreciate San Francisco artist Hiroko Sakai. Here are a few teasers showcasing her varied styles, but you'll want to check out here website too. A great example of modern surrealism, with a twist of humor.
Ugh,
ReplyDeleteI've had my fair share of trials with craigslist. The latest snafu occurred just before we were set to move from Santa Ana (CA) up to Seattle. I had a small rubber plant that I posted for $5 on craigslist. I posted a picture of the plant and pasted a giant price tag onto one of the leaves. A woman called and said she wanted the plant; she'd come pick it up. I said "great", it's on the front porch, drop the $ in the mail box when you leave. I got home that night to discover the tiny plant still on the porch but my landlord's GIANT 50-pound potted tree missing from the porch. There is no possible way to confuse the two. We're talking 18 inches vs. 5 feet tall and a weight difference of about 48 pounds. So not cool! I called her up and she stated that a) she couldn't return the plant cause she had borrowed a friend's car (and the friend was now out of town) and b) the giant tree would die up in the cold climate of Seattle so it was better off with her. I called the police and would have reported it as a theft had we not been moving up to seattle two days later. Time was on her side. We ended up going over to her house, bringing back the tree, and only later admitting the entire episode to our landlord. He thought it was pretty funny. I am only now beginning to laugh about it. After all that though, I still love craigslist. It's a great way to get rid of stuff at the local level.I've never looked at the arts section though; I'll have to check it out!
Funny story!
ReplyDeleteFYI, I found these artists through the "community" --> "artists" section, not the "art" under "for sale". You sometimes have to dig through a bunch of calls for artists and other random things, but sometimes do find gems!