Arts Night at the Pavilion…
Can you spot the original?
Arts Night 2012 is currently on exhibit at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences, no dates have been announced for the artists reception, I’ll let you know when its announced, and all work will be auctioned off to benefit the work and programs of the Pavilion on May 2nd.
Brookings, I hardly knew you….
I came across this image a few weeks back from one of my last showings, which was posted by my friends at the Brookings Arts Council, anyhow, it looks great!
I’ll be bringing these works from ‘Dakota Requiem’ to Aberdeen next month for one last time as a collective whole, after that, I’ll only be bringing bits and parts around, as the body will be broken into a few different galleries and collections over the winter. I’ve had a good run with these, and I’m glad to have been able to share them with all of you, and thanks to the South Dakota Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts for providing the funding to make them a reality.
A few things direct from the Badlands…
Just came back from a trip to West River, anyhow, the Badlands are back on my mind, and that’s a good place for things to be.
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These works measure 6 x 18 inches, Oil on a Stretched Canvas, Gallery Wrap, maybe dry enough in another 2-3 months.
‘Fresh Picks’ from the crates…
Let’s take a peak into a few crates of fresh work, as I ready for Artists of the Plains in the coming weeks…
Now, that’s some Grade A, blue ribbon, farm fresh produce, ready for market, I could go on…but let’s save it until Sioux Falls.
How about a ‘review’…
A few of you may have noticed a new feature over the past days, or rather page, called ‘review’. It’s essentially a few images and details of my new work, ‘Dakota Requiem’, with far better image quality and clarity than most of the snapshots I tend to usually post and pass as art. For instance, check this out…
Nice lighting, sharp and crisp, truer color, what more could you want (well real art, but this is a digital world after all)
Anyhow, take a glimpse, and enjoy! (and check out all the fresh design updates to this fine blog too)
Pink, or was it Mauve?
Well, I made it home alright, but it got late, and the clocktower really lights up the Sioux Falls skyline.
Last Friday I delivered myself to the Paint the Night Pink reception, which is a really great benefit for the Avera Cancer Institute, and hosted by Perspective, Inc, an architecture firm in Sioux Falls. It’s a real first-class event, perhaps one of the best I’ve been part of, and probably the best reception I’ve ever seen. Honestly, these folks have their act together, which is a welcome change for sure.
Anyhow, I met a few friends, and met a few along the way, and drank a Coca-Cola too (it was an open bar, but I had to drive home, such conflicts..) It was a real powerhouse show, by the looks I brought a knife to a gunfight, as there was some real credible work to be had. It’s probably, and as the organizers claim, the biggest gallery in the state for one night, and that’s had to dispute. (I actually appologized to the organizers, just wait until next year, cause I’m bringing a shotgun…)
So, now for the dirty part of the evening, I’m still left with 3 works, which were made for this event, and even have a pink theme to boot (perhaps I should of used yellow since Lance will be here this week) There was actually 5 in the series, 3 were accepted, and all now find rest in my home. (folks, you’re supposed to buy art from the artists, not stare, really)
If you’d like to still purchase these works, they can be had for $125 each (plus tax) or all 3 for $300 each, and if you want, I’ll toss the other 2 in as a bonus. Now that’s a bargain for sure, but next time, buy the art, it’s what you’re supposed to do afterall. (especially when half of the sale went to cancer research, you wouldn’t want to disappoint Lance would you?)
Postcards coming to a Salon near you…
I’ll be heading towards the Eastbank Gallery Postcard Salon this November, down in Sioux Falls. Each of these fine cards is available for $30 each, with half of the proceeds to benefit Eastbank and the other my back pocket. A reception will be held on November 5th at Eastbank, and the cards will be on display throughout the month.
Anyhow, Eastbank is making an incredible contribution to the region, and that’s great to see happen. In fact, Steve Larson now calls Eastbank home, and that’s just fantastic for us all.
Each work measures 4 x 6 inches, and is completed on a quality tonal paper with colored pencil. Enjoy!
It’s a statement…
As an artist, at least that’s what I tend to pass myself as, we have the often difficult challenge to actually talk about the very work in which we create. Now that tends to horrify most, as how do you capture the visual into the written form, we’re painters, not poets, right? When was the last time you heard anything life-changing from the jaws of a painter, as we have the responsibility to command the visual first, after all, that’s the goal of this pursuit.
I’m reminded of a past expression a man from Missouri once shared, “I’m from the show me state, don’t tell me, show me” which was often followed by a chain of expletives better left out of this fine outstanding blog. This statement applies best to the actual creation of work, the forms, the colors, the getting it out of the head part that leaves to those late at night wanderings. What it doesn’t do is make the product stand, the actual work itself, as the need to communicate your honest and truthful intentions is often the best justification for your work, and the best singular way to do just that is to write it all down.
Really, it’s not all that bad, but it’s honestly a task not to pass over lightly too, and it some respects it defines a professional artist from another sunday afternoon amateur. Yes, that might be a bit harsh, but actually, if you can’t find the words to at least describe your work, or start the conversation about your work, then this art thing might not be for you. At the very least, we have the responsibility to step out from the shadows, share a few thoughts, give a little direction, express our narrative even, and then exit stage left.
‘Dakota Requiem – Works from the Extinction Layer’
I have worked over this past year to visually capture and explore first-hand a unique geological signature, the lasting remnants of a major extinction event, which can be found within the Badlands of Western South Dakota.
The result of a series of meteor impacts, dating to at least 65.5 million years ago, this relatively thin band of darkened and iridium-enriched earth, often referred to as the KT Boundary, pierces the Dakota landscape. Defining the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the modern Cenozoic era, this event essentially marked a definitive shift of life, and the dynamic end of the era of non-avian dinosaurs.
These collective works are first and foremost introspective, rather than simply representative of a place or an event. Yet, it is my intent that these abstracted forms draw from the landscape itself, and the visual identity of the fossilized life and energy captured within the earth.
Throughout these works, I have strived to bring both a sense of vibrancy and harmony, transcended against the immediacy and strain of this event itself, while capturing the geological moment transfixed in time.
It is my intention that these assembled works will continue to redefine the possibilities, the visual language, and overall awareness of the Dakota landscape.
Chris Francis (that’s me) is a recipient of a 2010-11 South Dakota Arts Council Artist Project Grant Award. South Dakota Arts Council support is provided with funds from the State of South Dakota, through the Department of Tourism and State Development, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
In the dark of the night…
I’ve made a habit of late-night studio sessions, as those early morning hours have always held a grasp on my senses. Perhaps it’s the lack of sleep, which in its own right leads to a lack of inhibitions, and thus, a sense of clarity, or at least the feeling of acceptance of the inevitable. Regardless of the logic, I find myself drawn to the darkness, and it’s pull has never seemed stronger, and that’s a good demon to have in your corner afterall, when you’re looking to make something happen on canvas.
Last month I posted several initial images of my current work, ‘Dakota Requiem, Works from the Extinction Layer’. They just didn’t seem finished, more so, they seemed distant to me, and that’s not a good direction to be headed with a new body in the works. So, I went back to the shadows for a bit, hence the darkness, late at night mindset, to look for a fresh way out. Not only that, but to try to make a way out from the sameness, as the plain half-spun feel of these works bothered me, more so, they nearly sunk the prospects of the entire project.
Now, I feel that these assembled pieces have a greater sense of belonging, a stronger visual directive, and coherent language too. It’s an ongoing process, and as I continue to work in the coming months, it’s my intent that the work will develop into new and unforeseen directions, at least that is the hope, and what makes me stay awake at night.
I’ve labeled these as ‘Works from Series One’, I have a tendency to avoid individual titles, they often seem to forced, rather, I’m drawn towards the collective body, hence the simplified titles. We’ll call them as they are, 1, 2, 3, and go from there, it’s like pages in a great novel, Series One is just the first chapter to ‘Dakota Requiem’. I hear it’s a real page turner too!
Anyhow, as so far as the technical, these works measure 30×40 inches, on a 1 3/8 stretched 10 oz canvas. Be sure to take notice of the heavy impasto, the introduction of several new tones and colors, and look for the unexpected too. (ignore those messy spots too, they’re fresh from the easel afterall)
First works of Dakota Requiem…
Here’s the first few works from ‘Dakota Requiem’, a small part of ‘Series One’, as things have started to come together, at least this past weekend.
These works measure 30×40, on a stretched canvas, 1 3/8 deep, with a deep brown primer too. I’ve used so-called ‘Artists Paintstiks’, which I tend to call ‘Oil-Sticks’, which is a mixture of wax and oil, which dries in a quick 2-3 days, as opposed to a not-so-quick 12-18 months, and thus makes things easier to live with. (as the smell and toxicity of traditional oil painting can cause some issues in the home-life)
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be going into factory mode, otherwise known as the time in which I’ll crank out as many fresh works as I can. You gotta act when things work right, or at least when you think they do, we can but try!
I’ll be bringing some fresh canvas and Oil-Sticks to DrawnTown this Friday, at the Eastbank Block Party (8th & Railroad Center), starting at 6pm in Sioux Falls. We’ll see how it goes, working in oil on the road could be a challenge, but I’d like to cause a little trouble, and besides, who else is willing to try this? (look for the messy hands, and be sure to shake, it’s only polite after all) (Image Correction- New images uploaded, now that’s color!)
Fresh work going on the road!
On the road again with East of Egan, more so, on the I-29 corridor.
Looks like a few fresh sketches from ‘Dakota Requiem’ (that’s the first mention of the title) are coming to Brookings tomorrow, for the 34th Annual Fine Arts Exhibition, sponsored by the Brookings Arts Council. I’ll be headed up to Brookings late next year for a joint exhibition, so these are meant to be a few teasers for the so-called ‘big show’.
Anyhow, this exhibition runs from August 3rd – 27th at The Community Arts Center, so feel free to check them out! There is also a closing reception on August 27th from 5:30-7:30, how about them apples?
Now for more work:
Geeking about the KT Boundary
I’ll be exploring the KT Boundary first-hand within the next few weeks, thanks to an Artist Project Grant from the South Dakota Arts Council, which I received this past year.
As I prepare for this forthcoming body of work, I wanted to take a moment to clarify a few of the basic principles and theories of the KT Boundary.
Let start with a general definition:
From the Merriam-Websters Online Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/k-t%20boundary
: the transition between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods of geologic time characterized by a mass extinction of many forms of life including the dinosaurs; also : a geologic stratum marking this boundary
Let’s review the KT Boundary time-frame and the Alvarez Impact hypothesis:
From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%E2%80%93T_boundary
The K–T boundary is a geological signature, usually a thin band, dated to (65.5 ± 0.3) Ma (megaannum, or million years ago).[1] K is the traditional abbreviation for the Cretaceous period, and T is the abbreviation for the Tertiary period. The boundary marks the end of the Mesozoic era and the beginning of the Cenozoic era, and is associated with the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, a mass extinction.[2] With “Tertiary” being discouraged as a formal time or rock unit by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, the K–T extinction event is now called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) event by many researchers.[3]
Alvarez impact hypothesis Main article: Alvarez hypothesis
In 1980, a team of researchers consisting of Nobel prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez, his son, geologist Walter Alvarez, and chemists Frank Asaro and Helen Michels discovered that sedimentary layers found all over the world at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary contain a concentration of iridium many times greater than normal (30 times background in Italy and 160 times at Stevns[4]). Iridium is extremely rare in the earth’s crust because it is a siderophile, and therefore most of it travelled with iron as it sank into the earth’s core during planetary differentiation. As iridium remains abundant in most asteroids and comets, the Alvarez team suggested that an asteroid struck the earth at the time of the K–T boundary.[5] There were other earlier speculations on the possibility of an impact event, but no evidence had been uncovered at that time.[6]
The evidence for the Alvarez impact theory is supported by chondritic meteorites and asteroids which have an iridium concentration of ~455 parts per billion,[7] much higher than ~0.3 parts per billion typical of the Earth’s crust.[5] Chromium isotopic anomalies found in Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary sediments are similar to those of an asteroid or a comet composed of carbonaceous chondrites. Shocked quartz granules and tektite glass spherules, indicative of an impact event, are also common in the K–T boundary, especially in deposits from around the Caribbean. All of these constituents are embedded in a layer of clay, which the Alvarez team interpreted as the debris spread all over the world by the impact.[5]
Using estimates of the total amount of iridium in the K–T layer, and assuming that the asteroid contained the normal percentage of iridium found in chondrites, the Alvarez team went on to calculate the size of the asteroid. The answer was about 10 km (6.2 mi) in diameter, about the size of Manhattan.[5] Such a large impact would have had approximately the energy of 100 trillion tons of TNT, or about 2 million times greater than the most powerful thermonuclear bomb ever tested.
The obvious consequence of an impact would be a dust cloud which would block sunlight and inhibit photosynthesis for a few years. This would account for the extinction of plants and phytoplankton and of organisms dependent on them (including predatory animals as well as herbivores). However, small creatures whose food chains were based on detritus might have still had a reasonable chance of survival. It is estimated that sulfuric acid aerosols were injected into the stratosphere, leading to a 10–20% reduction in sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface. It would have taken at least ten years for those aerosols to dissipate.[8][9]
Global firestorms may have resulted as incendiary fragments from the blast fell back to Earth. Analyses of fluid inclusions in ancient amber suggest that the oxygen content of the atmosphere was very high (30–35%) during the late Cretaceous. This high O2 level would have supported intense combustion. The level of atmospheric O2 plummeted in the early Tertiary Period. If widespread fires occurred, they would have increased the CO2 content of the atmosphere and caused a temporary greenhouse effect once the dust cloud settled, and this would have exterminated the most vulnerable survivors of the “long winter”.[8]
The impact may also have produced acid rain, depending on what type of rock the asteroid struck. However, recent research suggests this effect was relatively minor. Chemical buffers would have limited the changes, and the survival of animals vulnerable to acid rain effects (such as frogs) indicates that this was not a major contributor to extinction. Impact theories can only explain very rapid extinctions, since the dust clouds and possible sulphuric aerosols would wash out of the atmosphere in a fairly short time—possibly under ten years.[10]
// //
(From Wikipedia)
Check back in the coming weeks for some notes about the Chicxulub Crater, which is regarded as the primary meteor impact behind the KT Boundary.
Back from DrTSF 13 with a few sketches in the bag
Well, I’m back from last night’s DrawnTown 13 in Sioux Falls, which is a great gathering of creative-types and free-spirits, it’s quite cool to be part of. Anyhow, here’s a few new takes, rather rough sketches, on this forthcoming new body of work I’ve developed over this past year. Enjoy!
Check out the Graphic Content blog for even more, and catch me working too!
K-T, looking for a way out…
Here’s a few fresh sketches from last night’s DrawnTown 12, as I continue to experiment with this new forthcoming body of work, the still untitled ‘Work from the Extinction Layer’.
I’ll be headed west towards the Badlands later this summer, as I’ve recently received a South Dakota Arts Council Artist Project Grant, to create a new body of work centered around my explorations of the K-T Boundary.
I’m headed towards the K-T Boundry…
I’ll be headed towards the west this coming year, in pursuit of my newest body of work, as I’ve just received notice that I’ll be a recipient of a project grant from the South Dakota Arts Council!
I’ll be working over the next few weeks preparing for my research field-trip to the Badlands of South Dakota and beyond, in pursuit of a few layers of iridium-enriched earth, known as the K-T Boundry. I’ll be exploring this layer of earth first-hand, and creating an entire fresh body of work, which be a real challenge for sure, but I’m thrilled with the prospects all around.
Check out the earlier proposal, and be sure to follow along here on eastofegan.com, this will be a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to make the most out of this incredible opportunity!
Extra Bonus: Here’s a link to a SDPB program, Nature Adventures, about the K-T Boundry, enjoy!
Overview of my new work…
I’ve been working over the past several months developing a new body of work, roughly entitled ‘Work from the Extinction Layer’ or maybe ‘KT Boundary’ even. Anyhow, I’ve included the overview of this forthcoming project, which I completed for a project grant opportunity from the South Dakota Arts Council. Let me know what you think, the previous post includes some rough sketches which I’ve been developing in pursuit of this new work. I’ll know in a few months if this proposal will be accepted from the SDAC, should be a great project to make happen. (Revised note – I did indeed receive a 2011 SDAC Artist Project Grant)
Overview of the Project
… involves the development and production of a new body of abstract landscapes drawn directly from the South Dakota Badlands. A major component of this project is focused on a research excursion to the Badlands, to explore a significant aspect from the ancient landscape, a sedimentary layer of darkened iridium-enriched earth, called the KT Boundary.
Iridium itself is a rare element found on earth. It can be found primarily within outer cosmic bodies, such as meteors, that when impact our earth, leave traces of iridium in their violent aftermath. Indications of this element, here on Earth, often revel past cosmic events. This particular layer of enriched earth found within the Badlands corresponds directly with a mass-extinction of prehistoric life between the Cretaceous and Paleogene time-periods.
I would like to explore this layer first-hand, via a research excursion, in order to better capture the unique visual language of this landscape feature. I believe this to be a necessary venture to ensure the physicality of these forms are well translated and truthfully developed. During this excursion, my attention would be focused on creating hundreds of quick-sketches, as well as taking a number of digital still images, in the pursuit of capturing this layer of earth for later use and development in regards to this new body of work.
Within this body of work, I would work exclusively on a 2 3/8 inch gallery-profile stretched canvas, heavy cotton duct, with the medium comprised of non-traditional oil-sticks which often utilize modern synthetic pigments. This unique medium combination allows for the creation of work that has the look of traditional oil painting, yet has an average drying time of a day, as opposed to several months or even years in some instances. This will allow the exhibition of this work to the public within a much shorter period, making it more accessible in the near future.
Further added to the work, I would like to incorporate traces of the layer of iridium-enriched earth, into the actual oil pigments. This process I believe would create a more unified and real connection between the actual artwork and the ancient landscape that inspired it. I envision a bold and dynamic exhibition space, filled with these intimate abstract paintings, with large swaps of richly layered earth-tones intersected by dark piercing layers, representative of this blackened layer of iridium-enriched earth.
I believe these motifs to be a natural progression and a symbolic meeting of the themes I have pursued within all my past work: the connection between the forces of the natural world juxtaposed with the engineered world which we occupy, as well as the dominant creation and mortality themes which have remained a constant throughout my previous work over this past decade.
