Category Archives: What’s goin’ on

By the numbers

July 26, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

With the unrelenting triple digit temperatures in Kansas City, Kyle and I are counting the days (ten) until we leave for our NorthWest tour. So being the number geek that I am, and facing a full day of writing, I decided to count a few things first.

 

Our trip by the numbers:

 

  • 38 days of travel
  • 3 shows
  • 8 days of showing
  • 5,000+ miles of driving
  • 82+ hours of driving
  • 4 hours before we run out of things to talk about
  • 10 states
  • 1 province
  • 41 feet of vehicle
  • 1,230 number of songs we have time to listen to while driving
  • 19,595 number of songs we will have with us
  • 5,920 elevation of Sun Valley Art Fair
  • 60 lineal feet of display space in Art in the Pearl
  • 130,000 patrons at Saint Louis Art Fair
  • 95 pieces of artwork
  • ??? number of days it will take to recover

So many more things I could count today, but for now I need to write 1400 words, to answer 10 questions, to prepare for Artist Inc 2.

 

There are no people like show people!

July 19, 2012 by Chris | 4 Comments

I am blown away by the talent that Kyle and I are surrounded by.

 

Katie Gilchrist

When we are traveling to shows, we are surrounded by tons of talented visual artists, some of which I have already introduced you to. But in contrast, because of the solitary nature of my studio work, when we are back in KC we are surrounded by Kyle’s people – performers. Continue reading »

Editing

June 28, 2012 by Chris | Comments Off

 

This morning, we decided that we needed to thin the bumper crop of apples growing on our apple tree. For anyone that knows anything about growing apples you can plainly see that this was a decision that should have been made some time ago. Of course we know that by decreasing the amount of apples we will make them larger, healthier, and tastier, and the overall tree health will improve. But sometimes, despite facts, pruning/editing is a difficult thing to do. This is evident in our own lives; sometimes we need to remove some of our own load to improve the health of others and ourselves. And increasingly our role as editor of our own lives is becoming overwhelming, as more and more information is coming at us and more decisions are required. Continue reading »

Art Emergency!

May 17, 2012 by Chris | 1 Comment

Yep it happens – art emergencies.

 

  • Someone has forgotten a birthday until this very moment – and they were supposed to be at the celebration 30 minutes ago.
  • A couple believes they have commissioned a piece of artwork for the dining room, they think it will be ready before Thanksgiving dinner, but neither of them spoke with the artist.
  • There is an art opening planned and publicized, but no art arrives to open.

I am happy to report that at this point in my career these are not typically my emergencies, rather I have advanced to become the solution to said emergencies. So I might not have “solve blindness” on my to-do list like my friend Christina (who, btw, should get a huge whopping bonus if she gets to mark that one off!), but I am quite capable and equipped to render art related triage.

The result of the latest triage is a show I would be happy to have hanging anywhere (even with more than 12 hours notice), but especially since it will be in my own Columbus Park neighborhood. If you haven’t seen my previous body of work, “Collective Memories”, or you would like to revisit it, please swing by this Friday, May 18th to Columbus Park’s hottest new dinner spot, Pandolfi’s Deli.

 

Collective Memories

by Chris Dahlquist

Pandolfi’s

538 Campbell

Kansas City, MO 64106

Saturday 2LiveGiantClownThin ManEmmittFortune TellerCandied ApplesSaturday 3Human Art GalleryI Fly Away

Have an art emergency or want to learn more about the Collective Memories show please contact me.

Have you had a art emergency? Oh, and have you read Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern? I finished it yesterday and it makes me want to revisit these images and treat them in a different way! The first line of the description seems to fit with my week quiet well:

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”

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Show hangover

May 10, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

You can probably imagine what the days leading up to a show look like.

Something like this:

Preparing for shows

or this:

loads of artwork

And you can probably imagine what the days after a typical show look like.

lots of miles

But one of the glorious things about doing a hometown show is that the days immediately following (which we call the “show hangover”) look something like this:

Great meals

a clean desk

a good book and a comfy hammock

and the muses

 

But as of today I am back in the studio, the desk will be messy soon enough, and the muses will have to tough it out on their own. So if you need me you know where I will be.

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Think Big, Shop Small

May 3, 2012 by Chris | 0 Comments

Brookside Art Annual – this weekend!

 

I have never been prouder to live in Kansas City, our city is filled with creativity and those that support it!

From the painter that creates in their dining room on Sunday afternoons to the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Kansas City supports the arts and it is becoming not only local but national news. But for artists that participate in art festivals this comes as no surprise. Kansas City is host to two of the highest ranked juried art festivals in the country (based on sales and attendance), the Brookside Art Annual and the Plaza Art Fair. And I am thrilled to be participating in both of these spectacular shows. Thank goodness I’m not superstitious – it will be my 13th year in each!

So while the art community continues to grow, and get press in the New York Times, and the New York Post, Frommer’s names Kansas City one of top destinations for 2012 (the only US city to make the list). Even our “rival cities” along I-70, Saint Louis and Denver declare, “Score one for Kansas City,” and “Kansas City is a cultured place.“.

Remember the smallest of the creative businesses-

The individual artists that have long been bringing great art to the streets of Kansas City and come visit us at the Brookside Art Annual.

 

Brookside Art Annual

May 4-6 2012

Art Fair Hours:
Friday, May 4, 5pm-9pm
Saturday, May 5, 10am-9pm
Sunday, May 6, 11am-5pm

 

While in Brookside visiting the art festival be sure to visit the other small locally owned shops that make up the wonderful neighborhood. Brookside in the KC Star

Not in Kansas City? Visit my schedule to see when I will be in a town near you. Or come visit us in Kansas City for the Plaza Art Fair and see all the great things that the “Paris of the Plains” has to offer.

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Changing Hats

April 4, 2012 by Chris | 0 Comments

Being an artist requires a lot of hats and sometimes I have a hard time changing them quickly.

My creative process is less like a light switch and more like a fire that takes some time to get stoked. So a week like this is glorious – not a single meeting and big chunks of uninterrupted studio time. As last week was given over to writing, proposals, and taxes, this week is all about creating! I already have some exciting new pieces to show for it and the week isn’t even over yet.

 

progression of sizes

 

35x51

 

Now the waiting begins!

The largest pieces take 6 – 8 weeks to dry making these pieces ready to frame in mid-May. So if your name is on a sticky note on the bottom of my computer thank you for your patience. And, if you would like your name added to the list of people waiting for just the right large piece for them, please let me know.

 

Waiting for a piece? - I see your name everyday!

 

Don, I think this one might be the one for you!

 

Don’t want to wait?

Have an aversion to sticky notes? I have four great large pieces that are ready to go to their forever homes. You can see the pieces that are framed and ready for delivery here.

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A week of blah, blah, blah

March 28, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

I have been writing a lot this week.

Since I wrote to you last week about the lessons learned in my booth, I have written a proposal for a public art project, a response to my nomination to be included in the Kansas City Collection, re-worked a presentation about my work and given it, and written a new artist statement. So right now there is a paint brush in the other room that desperately needs my attention, and I really need to go make stuff! (besides I think I have run out of words, ie. visual artist!)  So here’s some of what I wrote:

Presentation slide of Edward Curtis orotones

New Artist Statement!

I approach 21st century photography with the sensibility and aesthetic of a 19th century photographer. By employing the best characteristics of both eras, I create anachronistic images of “in-between” spaces. Just as the earliest photographers, the practitioners of daguerreotype and tintype, I treat metal plates by hand, preparing each to receive its own unique photograph. I capitalize on the smooth surface of steel, a finely textured under painting, and the translucent qualities of digital pigments to create each luminous piece. My images are metaphors for the “in-between” places in our lives. The ones where we must be mindful to appreciate the subtle beauty and richness that quietly resides there.


Presentation slide of image transformation

From a Proposal:

…My photographs stand in sharp opposition to the relentless inundation of visual imagery in our daily life, which is used in the service of delivering a sales message, an advertisement, a call for consumption, and consequently a call for speed and action. I use the same delivery method, photography, but to counteract and convey the opposite message: slow down, enjoy the subtle beauty that is lost by traveling too fast. Notice and consider where you are and the impact of your actions…

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A view from the studio

February 22, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

While making a long journey, we concentrate on the steps needed along the way, careful to keep our footing.  It often isn’t until we reach our destination and raise our view that we can appreciate the surprising distances we travelled.

These last few days in the studio before leaving for a show are always my favorites, especially when it’s the first show of the season. This is the first time I get to physically see the artwork all together, when it’s finally realized, and not just how I’ve been picturing it in my mind for months.

I began planning this series and making work for this moment last October. Because of the all the steps needed and the drying time (especially of the largest pieces), I work with images that I won’t see trimmed and framed for months. Not to mention that the source photograph was likely taken at least a full year before that. That is a long time to wait!

 

There is a fleeting moment when I have arrived at the destination I have been traveling towards all winter, when I can bask in the accomplishment of the journey for a few days. After these sweet moments of reflection, I lower my head and begin to push toward the next destination.  Away we go again!

This year I have figured out a way to share the view from here! (but the view is fleeting, only until February 28th, details)

 

Warming up to spring

February 15, 2012 by Chris | 2 Comments

I added a show to my schedule and didn’t tell anyone – until now.

For many years our first shows of the season have been in Florida. With the copious amounts of sunshine, the beaches, the warmth, who could resist it this time of year? And because we do love all of those things – and we do love the patrons and friends we have made there over the years, our annual pilgrimage is still on. But why should the warm, tanned people of Florida always get the first look at the new work coming out of the studio after my winter’s creative bout?

How about those of you still in ear muffs and longjohns? Why must you wait until the sun gets high enough to warm your northern climes to claim some of the soothing golden prairie as your own?

So on the appointed day please pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the show! Let me know asap which one I can mark sold for you because on February 28th it will be packed up and on it’s way to Florida!

Warming up to Spring

Friday, February 17 – Tuesday, February 28
Right here at chrisdahlquist.com
byob