Coming attractions...a blog of sorts

     3/1/07
Coming attractions... huh, shoot. some times there is stuff here. Not now, not really. You can check out past attractions by taking a look at my first artshow. Other than that I can tell you that I'm currently working on a pastel portrait of a Welsh Terrier named Gabby. You'll dig it. I'm also working on an oil painting of a, "lifesaver plant". After that, I'd like to start an over-sized oil of Zettie, one of my favorite young bitches.
   Other than that, I've found that drugs won't kill my day job, so I've been working on a secret new business, (nothing illicit, I assure you) to replace it. I hope to be at some art shows in the near future, also some hippy shows, and amusement parks.
   Featured on the right is my most recent pastel portrait, "Jagger", my wife's Belgian Sheepdog. I gave it to her for x-mas. Jagger is available for breeding. check him out at Aleron Dogs

0 comments

COMMENTS

5/14/08
I Just read the entry below. "Delusional" is all that comes to mind in any case, quite a bit is new, and I'll cover some of it eventually. The newest thing is the total overhaul of this website, It's being completed as we speak. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Stay tuned for the rest.

0 comments

COMMENTS

5/15/08
I've had some brain problems. A couple of permenent blindspots, and in past couple of years, and onslaught of migraines that last for weeks, some with odd visual effects, and most recently, a constant ringing in my ears. I can handle the migraines, and deal with the stuff accompaning them, but I fear for my vision. When I noticed the first blindspot 7 years ago, I was tested by many specialists, and never recieved a diagnosis. I began a new round of testing at the Cleveland Clinic two weeks ago, where they went to extremes to find the blind spot problem in my eye. I stumped them. They wanted me to see a neurologist, which I did today. She wanted to address the migraine issue, and suggested lifestyle changes, and to come back in four months. I'm with her on the lifestyle changes, but I was hoping to get or schedule some brain scans to make sure the damned thing hasn't gone soft. I should have made that clearer. I tried, but I wasn't insistant. I was this lady's last appointment of the day. She had to pick up her kid, and we were a half hour late, as alot went wrong on the nearly 100 mile drive. On the way back, I saw a Siva-Vishnu Temple, and pulled right in. As we circumambivilated, we came upon a Brahman chanting to Ganesh on behalf of a young couple, after which he gave the couple some holywater, and fruit from Ganesh, which he also gave Nikki and I. After we left I wondered if the true purpose of the trip wasn't to recieve fruit from Ganesh, the destroyer of obsticles.
Om Guru Ganapati !

0 comments

5/17/08
Just between you, me, and the fence post, rumour has it that there is some sort of secret crypt within this website where there are weird happenings

0 comments

COMMENTS

5/19/08
I've just completed an application to be involved in, "The Zadok Street Art Festival" held June 27-29, in Salem, Ohio. I haven't extended myself for such a thing in a couple of years, as all the previous events I've participed have been a costly disappointment. Learning experiences. Just because someone thinks they can, "artsy-up" PerchFest, a celebration of beer, and fresh fish, doesn't make it so, and my fragile sculptures are already broken, so onward and upward. Tonight Nikki and I are going to Bridgewater Pa. to see yet another Scott Blasey solo show. I'm bringing the video camera, so the will be more video on my, "myspace", and "Yahoo" videos.

0 comments

COMMENTS

5/25/08
This past week I worked like a mad fiend on video projects. I made a few videos from footage I shot at Scott Blasey's monthly gig at the Rhythm House in Bridgeville Pa. I also gave The Bedspins, "Baby Blue Ice Cream Song", the full treatment. Evetually you'll be able to see them on my videos page. Until then, Peace.

0 comments

COMMENTS

6/5/08

What's new? Loads of Crap. I finished those videos. They can be seen on myspace, yahoo videos, and my newly spruced up youtube channel. I launched my new daily art blog, one day, tell your friends. Sadly I recieved word that The Zadok Street Art Festival Wouldn't be having vendor participation, due to lack of funding. I had been looking forward to that.

0 comments

COMMENTS

COMING ATTRACTIONS
A blog of sorts.

2/19/09

Hello.
Pardon my absence, but just because I haven�t been around here, doesn�t mean I haven�t been doing art. I fell off the bandwagon with the daily paintings just after my brother and I made an unplanned trip to see my mother before she had surgery. That was late last summer. I have remained as, �art involved� as ever. I didn�t jump right back in with the daily paintings for a few reasons, foremost being, as some of you may know, I�m experiencing a degree of vision loss that is both vexating and depressing. I�m able to compensate for it, but it�s a struggle, and that makes it difficult to get excited about detailed work. I do have some daily paintings yet to post from last summer. Before x-mas, I made several necklaces to give to the ladies as holiday gifts, as well as about 25 gallons of wine including blush, blackberry, sparkling strawberry, sparkling pineapple, apple, and grapefruit. I�ll post pictures of the necklaces, as far as the wine goes, see me in person. I also did a fabulous woodcarving I�ll be showing you, so please stay tuned!
0 comments

COMMENTS

8/7/08

I paid a hundred bucks to be apart of an outdoor artshow a few years back. It was a two day festival on Lake Erie, so we rented a room. The lady in charge assured me that people bought like crazy the year before. It was called, "Perchfest". A festival of beer, and fish.I sold some dog leashes, and jewelry. I didn't quite break even. To be accepted for that festival, I had to participate in an obligatory, "Art in The Park" the week prior. No one came to that, and I didn't sell anything. The next spring, I thought I'd try it again. There was an art show in a well-to-do suburb near-by. Outside again. After setting up, the wind decided to show me what it thought of my efforts smashing my work on the ground, broken glass everywhere. I made about $60.00 in the sales of a couple of prints, and dropped and smashed one of my best scupltures that I was asking $250.00 for. I promised myself I was done with the outside artshows.
Recently I was invited to participate in, "Youngstown Rocks The Arts" The first annual outdoor art and music festival put on by the newly founded, "Art Youngstown Inc." They waived their fee for me, so I decided to give it a go. They said the space they would provide would be under a large tent, so what could happen? When I got there, I was immediately apprehensive. There was a strong, constant wind blowing, and low, and behold, there were no sides on the tent. From the start, the struggle was on. I set up my new cardboard display. (stop laughing). The wind whimsically flung my paintings about, as I wove a spider web of string around my display in a futile attempt to secure it. Then the hard rain came, and reduced my display to a soggy heap of paper. The paintings got wet, but were alright, just most of the 23 frames they were in got ruined. The rain stopped, and we called Steve to see if he would bring my old display(rolled plastic fence). While we waited the two hours for that to arrive. I hung my paintings from a string in clothesline fashion. just as they were all up, the rain came again. It continued to rain off and on into the evening. I finally set to split at 11:00p.m. as another thunderstorm was kicking up. After I packed up, the vendor next to me came over and said, "Oh, I didn't see you packing up, I wanted to buy a dog leash!" I offered to lay them all out for her to choose, but she wasn't very picky, and bought the first one she came to. I thanked her, and told her she was my first and last sale of the day.
Don't get me wrong, the offer from Art Youngstown was gracious, and I appreciated it. I certainly can't hold them responsible for the weather. They did a good job gathering local artists, and musicians, just not the art buying public. Even that may not be their fault. The art buying public may be a myth. I wouldn't know. In the local newspaper they said of me, "Jeff Puccini of boardman was glad to be an oil painter and not a watercolor artist when the rain came down. "They should be alright" he said reffering to the paintings he stowed in a box under the large artist's tent. Still he was disappointed to see the clouds roll in. "It barely got started" he said of the festival. The last time he did an outdoor show he vowed it would be the last. Have his feelings changed about subjecting his work to the weather? "I really don't like outdoor shows" He said.

0 comments

COMMENTS

7/22/08

Much is new. I'll be trying to sell some artwork this Saturday at Youngstown Rocks the Arts
If You're out there, alive, and reading this, maybe you'll come and say hello. I've been working on more fun videos and daily paintings.
I'll keep you posted. I'm planning on a, "Primitive Puccini" page to add to site. It will feature, "immature" works from my high school daze, doodles, and other sick, old and ruined stuff. I worked on a secret, "flower" around x-mas time, and felt I wanted to do more with it. I just revisited it, and decided it was done. I'd like to post it. It's very naughty, and very nice. If I post it with the other, "flowers'', no one may ever see it, as they are kept in the crypt, and not too many ever find there way down there.

0 comments

COMMENTS

4/16/09
HEY
RHONDA'S KID!
Hi
I remember you when you were a little kid.
Do you remember me? You used to call me, �Peach�.
Good times.
You should send me an email.
My email address is:
shemekalikashenice@puccini-art.com

COMMENTS

5/01/09
Hang With, Smell Like
�I wouldn�t belong to any club that would have me as a member�, the comedian said. People shouldn�t be so hard on themselves. I�m proud to say that I currently have eight pieces for sale in The Fine Arts Gallery at The Butler Institute of American Art. Those pieces include two 11�x14� Pastel Butterflies; Blue Pansy, and Common Orange-Tip, and my six piece 8�x10� Oil Painting Series, �Snow Dogs�. Stop by there, and support Y-town art.

COMMENTS

5/10/09 Secret Smile
The Trumbull County Community Art Projects Foundation Has embarked on a, �Mosaic Masterpiece project. They split the Mona Lisa into 70 pieces. 70 local artists are taking a piece and personalizing it. Nikki and I are collaborating. We are calling our portion, �Classic Youngstown�. It features some of our favourite local architecture. Below is the piece we�re modifying, and a, �rough� of what we�re planning to do.

COMMENTS

5/15/09 The New Baby
Meet the latest Baby. I just finished this 16�x20� Oil Painting. The subject is, �The Lifesaver Plant. I used to know it�s proper latin name, but it�s late at night. I worked from a photo of the plant that I aquired several years ago. It may have been in Chicago, or L.A. I had some of it up until 1995, and haven�t seen any since. It was an unremarkable cactus until it produced a solitary bloom ever so often. It really did look like a plum lifesaver in every way.

COMMENTS

Naughty Bits 5/17/09
Some are aware of my secret dungeon. No, not a popular s and m establishment, or underground sex bunker containing kidnapped teenagers. It�s a place that features some of my more; �exotic� works, including this relatively new piece alluded to below. If you�d like to see the whole piece, you�ll have to do some diggin�. Good luck!

COMMENTS

Feel free to leave your email address along with your comment if you'd like me to get back to you.

5/19/09
Upcoming shows
I�ll be doing a retrospective exhibition at at least a couple of places in 2009. The details are being hashed out. I�ll be filling in the blanks in the near future. In addition to that, my wife Nikki and I are putting together a collaborative exhibition featuring works in a variety of media, as well as photos. The exhibition will pay homage to endangered American pastimes. We�re looking forward to sharing some gems of the pop-culture record, and hope you�ll look forward to it as well.

COMMENTS

Feel free to leave your email address along with your comment if you'd like me to get back to you.

6/16/09
Bitter is The Whine
Who likes sour grapes? Not me. I�m usually the first one to poo poo sour grapes, based solely on principal. Are these sour grapes I offer? I don�t know, I guess I�m not sure how objective I can be about this.
I live in Youngstown, Ohio
As many know, prior to the late seventies, Youngstown was a flourishing steel town, well endowed with old money. In such a climate, art, and culture tend to thrive. When local American steel companies moved to Japan, it was the death of Youngstown. To make that statement locally, is sacrilege. The people who remain either turn a blind eye, or try to have hope beyond reason. Youngstown currently has less than sixty percent of it�s densest population. It�s estimated that every third house in Youngstown is abandoned. The city of Youngstown caught national attention by making the unprecedented motion of abandoning whole neighborhoods, and sections of town, declaring them, �no longer a part of the city of Youngstown. In the year 2000, The city elders unveiled their, �Youngstown 2010� initiative, outlining the ten year path of recovery, and prosperity for our city. As time passed, that dream faded. Now that it�s 2009, no one really mentions, �Youngstown 2010.� Last I heard, it�s been reshaped into a directive to convert, �grayspace� to �greenspace�. That amounts to replacing abandoned buildings with trees. I guess that is a, �recovery� of the most basic sort.
Among those who would like to deny that they live in a ghost town, are those that cling to the notion that art is not dead in Youngstown. With the exception of The Butler Institute of American Art, art is indeed dead in Youngstown. The Butler is a true institution, in that it is a hold out from better times, and has managed to stand in these grim times.
Aside from The art gallery in The Butler, who is proven to be supportive of local artists, there is only one remaining art gallery. I�m not stupid. Times are tough in the best of places. This is one of the most impoverished places in the country. I know the market for selling art locally is small to nonexistent. Be that as it may, being an at least adequate local fine artist with a reasonable body of work, I felt it would be good, and worth while to try to schedule an exhibition at the only independent art gallery left. I�m not what most would consider an established artist, I�m self-taught, and lack credentials. I�ve always felt that credentials were only important to automatons, and lackeys. I think the proof is in the putting. I put together a proposal for a solo exhibition as per the gallery�s guidelines and submitted it. I felt confident and certain that it was the first step towards a mutually rewarding alliance, and perhaps a statement, that amidst this desolation, hope springs eternal, and art can happen anywhere someone expresses it. I believed that the lofty whispers of those who say interest in Youngstown artists can be nurtured, could ring true.
�Thanks for entering your artwork for consideration, however the committee sees rarely an opportunity for a one artist exhibition�. That�s what the form letter said. I�m not really sure what that means aside from the obvious. Everyone rues rejection, but it�s more the implications of the rejection that I find troubling.
I have a general philosophy that can be summed up in a couple of my favorite quotes:
�Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.�-Theodore Roosevelt.
The U.S. Army Officer�s Training manual states, �Any plan, no matter how poorly conceived, if boldly executed, is better than inaction�. I�ll have my exhibition. It will be in Cleveland, or Pittsburgh. I have a great deal of confidence in a better future through art for myself. I�m sorry I can�t say the same for Youngstown.

COMMENTS

Feel free to leave your email address along with your comment if you'd like me to get back to you.