ArchivesAuthor: dena nord

I made my own App!

I have always struggled with a way to merge my love for technology and art. For a long time I have wanted to experiment with the latest software and app development for a way to create new forms of fine art. In the past couple years I have seen technology for linking information explode. It started with QR codes, the black and white boxes that are pretty ugly but link to a simple web address. Quickly it jumped to augmented reality, which has not caught on yet for the masses, but I predict it will only be a matter of time. Augmented reality is like a QR code on steroids. It can link to anything from a web address, to a transparent video, to interactive flash file and even 3D landscapes. And it is only going to keep progressing. Google is even developing their own glasses that allow you to see these tagged objects around you all the time. And you know when google is involved, things are going to move fast.

Last summer I heard about a company called Aurasma on a Ted Talk, who was coming out with an app that you could tag your own images in augmented reality. They wanted to be the first company to give this technology to the end user. At that time, it was only being used by big advertising companies who would do tagging for a client for a hefty price. I immediately downloaded the free app and started playing around with it. You could take a picture of an object, overlay a stock video over it and save it. Anyone else with the app was able to come over to the object and scan it with their device and the video linked would pop up and overlay animation right in your screen. It is like another world of information is being seen through your smart device’s camera. It wasn’t long before I realized I wanted to tag my paintings in augmented reality and really test the possibilities of the here.

I knew I wanted to experiment with adding animation and other video effects to a 2-D flat surface. I wanted to push the real capabilities of this as a new medium. In September of last year, I worked with Aurasma to develop my own free skinned version of the app on both Apple and Android devices. It was an amazing opportunity that I was so happy to receive. They are no longer doing this free app skinning service and I can’t believe I got in on the ground level.
 
 

Since September I have been working on new body of work made specifically for this app. I will be debuting the work on April 19th on Gallery night as the first ever augmented gallery. Milwaukee Odyssey curated me into a fantastic space at Gallerie M. All of the paintings will be tagged and will be linked to either time-lapse process videos or fun animations.
 
 
I have made a page on my website for the app details located at DenaNord.com/AugmentedGalleryApp. And you can check out all the event details at DenaNord.com/AppLaunchParty. I can’t wait to share this with Milwaukee and the art world. It is an exciting time to be both a designer and an artist. Especially with all the attention the art scene in Milwaukee has been getting this past year.
 
 

Download the App to try it on this trigger image above.
Go to DenaNord.com/AugmentedGalleryApp for download details.

Please share this with friends who might enjoy it and I hope to see you at the April 19th show to see this all in person.

I will be posting more tagged paintings and details about the event as it gets closer. Go to the app details website to download the app today on any smart device. You can see sample trigger images and start playing around with augmented reality. It is going to be a great show and truly a new innovation in the way we look at art on a wall.

Jessica O’Hearn

I found Jessica O’Hearn when browsing around the web for artists to use on the next Friday Spotlight. She had recently shown her work at the Grey Matter Gallery here in Milwaukee and like my last Friday Spotlight, I was sad that I missed it. I need to be more on top of these things, but either way I was glad to get to know her work for this post. Her work deals with contrasting natural and man-made elements that come together in a unique balanced harmony. She is a professional artist and her work has been shown around the country. I was drawn to her work after seeing the first image of her carpet and shelf creations and can’t wait to see them in person some day.

Read her Artist Statement Here:

“I do build my sculptures in a very organic way, slowly building around structures without much of a preconceived idea of what the form will look like. Since there is so much available to consumers to simulate nature in and around the home, I like to play with the idea that these synthetic materials can actually ‘grow’ and overtake a stable material.” –JO I love her concept that even non-natural objects can seem to grow around us. She does not always go into a sculpture knowing what it will become. She embraces the materials she has found and uses them to show that even synthetic materials can seem to grow over and take over stable materials. I love that I can relate with her on how getting older in life changes your views on your own work. In an interview with Glasschord, she talks about getting older and having less control on life and letting that be in influence in her work. She embraces letting go of the controlled aspects of her work. I often feel life is so serious, that my personal work and my large scale paintings are the only opportunities I have to let go from all of my plans and to-do lists and just let things happen in the most impulsive way.

While a lot of her work takes the 3D form, she also works with 2D mixed media drawings, which are also very lively. I have been able to see these works in person at a past gallery night. They are really organic from a distance and seem more structured as you near. I love the attention to detail in the drawings and really appreciate her time she spent. That is a concept I find myself being drawn to more and more in other artists–time spent with the work. I am also pursuing this in my own work. My hope is that people think of presence of the artist when viewing my work, my larger pieces in particular. When I spend hours with a tiny paint brush doing a pattern over and over again, I want people to feel a connection with the me and the pattern. In Jessica’s drawings, you can tell she must has spent a lot of sweat and tears to get the paper collage portions to seem so effortless. I like thinking of her work ethic and patience while I enjoy her beautiful creations.

Below are other sculptures she has created that seem much more on the natural side, even though they are made from cardboard, vellum or paper. These seem more decorative then the works above, without the man made elements next to the natural you loose a lot of the conceptual contrast. But I would still really enjoy and probably find hours of viewing enjoyment from owning a piece like the ones below.

Installation: “Untitled” 2011
corrugated cardboard

Currently you can see her work at two University of Wisconsin Shows:

University of Wisconsin-Madison Class of 1925 Gallery
800 Langdon Street Madison, WI
February 1 – March 5 2013

University of Wisconsin-Waukesha Fine Arts Center Gallery
Waukesha, WI
January 28 – March 29 2013

Here are some great articles and interviews with Jessica:

Glasschord.com/jessica-o-hearn/public-series/

Arthound.com/2012/02/artist-crush-jessica-ohearn/ –I love that this is another artist like me who has “artist crushes” instead of Friday spotlights
All images taken from either jessicaohearn.com or from the articles listed above.

Enjoy!

Tony Matelli

Tony (b. 1971) is originally a local midwesterner form Chicago, IL, currently living and working in New York. I found his work when looking through recent exhibitions that came to The Green Gallery here in Milwaukee. He got his BFA right here in Milwaukee at MIAD and went on to get his MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He has shown is work all over the world from Switzerland to France to Spain. His mediums range from acrylic on canvas, to mirrors, epoxy and even bronze sculptures. His work tends to be very detailed and create really interesting narratives or scenes. One article from artnet.com called wrote, “Tony Matelli is what you might call a Magical Photorealist, making sculptures that have the uncanny veracity of a dream”. I personally am in love with his bronze work and in realism, and that is mostly what I am featuring here. The work at the top is titled Josh, 2010, silicone, foam, steel, hair and urethane. Source: Leo Koenig Inc.

Arrangement, 2012
Painted bronze, marble
70 x 20 x 28″

“The work has taken on a more philosophical position with a more open presentation,” he says. “I think I have grown to require more room for interpretation in my work.” I am really sorry I missed his show here in Milwaukee. I really wish I could have seen some of these sculptures in person from his arrangement series. In photos they seem super realistic, like you just happen to catch an odd moment in time, where a vase of lilies just happen to be thrown on top of a pedestal upside down. When asked what his art for, Tony replies with a philosophical answer: This is an unanswerable question. Art’s openness is its virtue. I wish more artists would think that way. There does not always have to be a purpose for creating art, it can just be brought into this world simply for the aesthetic and purpose of bringing more art into the world for people to see, explore and question.

When Tony was asked by Milwaukee’s Jacob Muselmann from the Journal Sentinel, what is your favorite breakfast food, he responded with “A Bloody Mary at The Pfister hotel. When I’m in town I try to have one everyday”. I thought that was pretty unique that after many years of being in New York he still holds Milwaukee close to home. Tony has many talents and is also an author and writer, you can find out more about his books at tonymatelli.com/books

Abandon,
Installation at Kusthalle Wien
2003, Painted bronze

Also in painted bronze

All photos taken from tonymatelli.com or from a recent blog post on Art City’s blog.

The past couple months I was given a super fun project to work on at the Milwaukee Art Museum. I got the chance to work on this years illustration for the Spring Art in Bloom weekend event. I had some good illustrations a long the way, before I got to the final draft, so I thought I would make a post about them to show the process. I started with playing with real paint splatter and color themes. I was also asked to somehow give a nod to the main marketing image for our Feature Spring Exhibition, Bouquet of Flowers, by Edward Steichen.

After working by hand for a week, I jumped to the computer to start the real illustration. The past couple years have been very vibrant and heavy on the black outline look. I worked with the Steichen image for get the outline and shape of the flowers in illustrator. I then took the outline into photoshop where I began to color it in. I went through many revisions on how to treat the color, but we concluded that the hot pink was working best with a side of yellow.

Each time I had an version ready I would place it in a poster layout to see how it was working (above image). The splatter in the background was one of the hardest parts to finalize. Even with the center flowers nailed down, the spatter could really change the overall look. The shape of the design was much different and the whole flow of the design depending on the background. Some ideas went a little too far with the splatter and some didn’t push it enough. In the final I ended up having a little bit of both, and had a lot of fun in photoshop along the way. I really like how the final design turned out, lots of color which is what I am drawn to when painting. The final design is really fun to play with in different layouts and printed materials. So far we have done a brochure, ads around the midwest and a poster–but you will soon it on a Large Banner covering the bridge from downtown to the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Tickets just went on sale and it is going to be a great event. Whether you love floral design or not, it is great to see what people do when inspired by the art in the Milwaukee Art Museum. To find more details about this event and to see the design live on the web, go to mam.org/bloom. See you at the event and I hope you enjoyed the illustrations!