Well Google My Socks Off!

Sketchbook page circa 2002

I think Google is weird. I've had total strangers say that they googled me. Just like that. "I googled you." No shame or shyness. Once, I met with a professor to inquire about the UW's MFA program. The whole time we talked I kept expecting him to want to see my portfolio. In the end I had to ask if he wanted to see it. "I googled you," he said. Sheesh. I guess it makes sense, but it still feels odd.
Anyway, I'm proud to announce that I am the top Michael McDevitt on Google. Hang on to the confetti, because I don't feel like vacuuming.
While I was googling myself (I feel dirty just saying that), I noticed that 'Just Like Any Other Morning' is exhibited on the Circo dell'Arte website. It is kind of a stark photograph, but it does not suffer from the glare problems that mar the image I posted. I'm kind of surprised that the website is still there, but I suppose these things tend to linger.
So, let's drink a cup to all the other 'Michael McDevitt's (+) (+) (+)and get back to our googling.

Grimm Spots

Recently, as you may have noticed, I've been posting odds and ends both recent and old. I'm working feverishly on my upcoming shows and thought this was a nice way to keep the content flowing.
These images are spot illustrations for 'Grimm: An Illustrated Collection,' which was (is?) to be published by the Richmond Illustrators Club. A number of illustrators collaborated to put together a handsome volume of selected Grimm tales. I did illustrations for "The Willow Wren and the Bear" as well as for the back cover. The story is silly, and you should read it.

The Gnat is the spy for the army of winged creatures.

Here, the Bear bows down before the little palace of the willow wren.
Both of these images were executed in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet (my digital weapon of choice). It's amazing what can be done with the graphics tablet. Still, I must confess that I spent great deal of time on my computer fussing unsuccessfully with the faux celtic knot-work, Eventually I threw my hands up and went to my favorite coffee shop. I sat down with a pencil and a cup of coffee and banged it out in 15 minutes. Just goes to show ya what the old #2 can do...

Fog & Other Mysteries

Fog #3
Acrylic on Canvas
10"x8"

Sold

This image will be featured on the promotional postcard for my upcoming show at Gallery 070. The reception will be on the first Friday of May (5/2) from 6-9PM.

I am also proud to announce that I will be participating in a show at the Gage Academy's Rosen Gallery. It will feature the work of the Kang-O'higgins Painting and Drawing Atelier. It also opens May 2nd 6-8:30.

I encourage all of you to attend both openings simultaneously via the 4th dimension. Just remember... even though you'll be in two places at once, drinks are cumulative. Teleport responsibly.

Music and Tomfoolery

I'm at home and under the weather, so I thought I'd post a couple of odds and ends just for fun. These images are all digital, though most are reworked from some sort of physical sketch.

This is the poster for the second Hard Candy night at the Showbox SoDo. The organizers wanted the poster to feature a naked man this time. I'd just spent weeks drawing from a plaster bust of Hermes, so I brought in the obvious choice. I based the figure on a conglomeration of two statues of Hermes, one by Praxiteles and one by Giambologna (actually Mercury). I nixed the wings, swapped the rod for a lollipop, and called it a day. Originally he was tossing candy to the crocodiles, but I liked the simplicity and ambiguity of the image without the candy.


It's at this point that I confess that I not only have an imaginary record label, but a whole gaggle of imaginary bands. It's a fun game that I play to keep myself amused and interested. This is the CD art for the debut album of Hermes, a prog rock band from the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota. They signed to Pepperhouse last year and are touring with the Null Set, whose third album is due this summer.

I did this T-shirt design on spec for Sixer, a band that actually exists. Evidently, they are the Greatest Rock Band in the World. I used to work with Casey back in Richmond. He asked me to do an image of a guy digging the grave of Rock & Roll. Hey, sure, whatever. I don't think they ever used it, but it was fun to draw.

I sure do hate traffic. Don't you? Someday maybe I'll get shirts made from this design. There's a second image for another part of the shirt. It has a tiny, yellow chick preposterously seated on a mountain bike with a doomful Latin banner. I'd post it, but I never fully rendered it.

That's all from the land of incipient illness. I hope I didn't breathe on you while you were reading this.

...And So Forth

Death by Musette performing "Ushti, Ushti Baba" live at Frostburg's Mountain City Coffeehouse and Creamery, October 20, 2006

I am a regular reader of Christopher Reiger's blog, Hungry Hyaena. Aside from being an old and respected friend, Reiger is a voracious reader, astute art critic, and skilled writer. In a recent series of posts(+), Reiger wrote about his participation in the online, curatorial experiment "And So On..." The project asks artists to select two works by different artists who then select two works by other artists... and so on. What patterns would emerge in the organic network of aesthetic taste? I was intrigued and surfed right over to have a look.

To my surprise I discovered that the work of Michael Lease was among those selected. Lease collaborates with five other artists to create the online project, Sametime. Each night at 7:15, the artists take a photo and submit it with a caption. The result is more than a collection of beautiful photos. It is a small window into six lives-- humorous, mundane, and sometimes incredibly touching. Lease is a Richmond artist whose acquaintance I had the pleasure of making two years ago.

To my amusement, I not only knew two of the selected artists, but had actually once caused them to be in the same room. In 2006 I saw Michael Lease perform at opening of "Waiting..." as part of the duo Death By Musette. I was lucky enough to book them to play at the opening of my show "Lost In the Park." Christopher Reiger came down from New York to see the show. Thus on the night of April 7th 2006 Michael Lease played the accordion several feet away from where Christopher Reiger snapped photos and drank wine.

While it's a pretty small item on the grand list of coincidence, it still makes me smile. There's a nice bit of symmetry between "And So On..." and the informal relationship of Lease, Reiger and myself. I wonder what other relationships exist behind jpegs on the screen. I don't expect that I'll ever know, but I take comfort in knowing that the relationships exist.

Ahem...

I recently discovered that I have accidentally had the comment feature disabled on all posts published after January 2007. Ahem... sorry 'bout that. I wondered why I stopped hearing from folks. I'll be going back and manually fixing the problem post by post. I hope that you will all feel free to comment on prior posts or on posts in the future. I value your feedback and take great reassurance in knowing that you are, in fact, out there.
Thanks for stopping by, and sorry for the mistake.