artprize voting opens

We finished installation for my ArtPrize entry, Shades of Gray, with an hour to spare before the opening deadline. The fun kicked off at 12 noon yesterday as official exhibition centers opened their doors for people to register and start voting for art.

People here in Grand Rapids sure are friendly. The staff at the Amway Grand Hotel have been wonderful, responsive to our every need. From the minute we arrived on Sunday, the Front Office, Banquet Services, and Engineering staff have been terrific.

Massive relief when my shipping crate for ArtPrize arrived from Germany (photo: Donna O'Brien)

They effortlessly moved into place and opened my 200-pound shipping crate. And didn’t blink when we asked for lock cutters and two strong guys to do some last-minute adjustments to the metal armature for my sculpture.

Shades of Gray has been given a perfect location beneath a couple of nice spotlights. Like a dancer on stage, the piece practically glows as you catch a glimpse of it down the length of the Amway’s Pearl Street lobby.

People stopping by to see the work have been kind, expressing interest and asking lots of questions. Here are some my answers:

8,000 paper flower petals

2,000 paper flowers

1,000 paper feathers

600 hours of work

Thank you to WZZM reporter Stacia Kalikoski for including me in her ArtPrize story on last night’s news.

artprize gratitude

Now that the funding campaign has closed, I can't thank everyone enough for the support.

We raised 128% of the funding goal, plus donations made through other channels, for a total of $4205. Thank goodness, since shipping came in above what was budgeted.

The final push got us to the goal and over the top, thanks to:

Paul Emerson, Mary Clark, Leon Lowe (again!), Bill O'Brien, Donna O'Brien (again!), Carole Sebenick, Andrea Howe, Katie Engen, Robyn Polzin, Rennie Beauchamp, Cindy Lowe, Annemarie Mowery & family, Sandy Clinton, Linda Germain, and five other Anonymous contributors.

Because of you, my entry for ArtPrize is safely on its way...I can feed my volunteers...our material costs are covered...and we have plenty of marketing materials to raise visibility for my entry with the crowds about to descend on Grand Rapids.

Rest assured that your thank-you perks for contributing are coming. It will take a little while to pull things together, but I will get them to you! Everyone gets an e-copy of the exhibition catalog, which I'll create after we get good images of the installation and event. Other goodies will need to be made after I return from the US.

In the meantime, I'll post updates here, on Facebook and via Twitter of how it's going in GR. I leave for the US this Friday, my volunteers (Mom, Dad and Mandy Gordon) arrive Saturday, and we begin installation next Monday morning.

artprize: rock the vote!

As ArtPrize draws nearer, there's plenty afoot for the big shindig in Grand Rapids. You can follow the growing list of events here. And if you're anywhere near GR, please register to vote for my entry:

Vote Code: 53118

It is, after all, election season! Dear friend Mandy (and ArtPrize team member) cleverly pointed out the relevance of my entry, Shades of Gray, to the current political culture:

Amidst the flutter of campaign rhetoric and the often extreme positioning of our two parties as they pit themselves against one another, here's something refreshing. Shades of Gray. My dear friend and gifted artist, Kelly O'Brien, seeks through her work to explore what lives between black and white--something I'd love to see more of as the campaign moves forward. She's raising money to fund Shades of Gray's entry into ArtPrize. Check it out. She doesn't have a super pac and needs every dollar of generosity out there.

Thank you, Mandy. And thank you to anyone who gets out there to vote - preferably early and often.

artprize: in the homestretch!

With only days to go until I ship my work from Frankfurt to Grand Rapids, things feel on track. Thanks to a flurry of recent activity, we are in the homestretch on two major fronts: funding and my sculpture.

Contributions came in this week from long-time friends and new supporters. Thank you VERY much to: Merike VanZanten, Diane Wirono, Mary Cook, Sandra Barnett-White, Joe Kopanski, and Arlene & Allen Hatton. With only eight days left to meet my fundraising goal, your support gets us 81% of the way there!

Homestretch: final flower production and dancer's paper crown awaiting Swarovski crystalsEarlier today, I finished the work that will be installed for ArtPrize (a tiny studio celebration ensued, and now I'm back to work). The past few days have been a blur of flower-making to hit my goal of wrapping things up this weekend. There will be finished touches on the other end, but for now, it's ready to go.

"Shades of Gray" sculpture pieces ready to shipI learned on Friday that international art shipping is a lot more involved than I realized. Not only do I need to have custom shipping crates constructed, I must use an airfreight forwarding company because the dimensions of the boxed work are too large for FedEx or UPS to handle the usual way. The good news is that it looks like the combined expenses will be comparable to what is budgeted.

Speaking of budget, if you're considering a contribution, now is the time to do it! To hit my minimum funding goal, I need $550 more by no later than this coming Saturday, September 8. I'm grateful for any amount - so please, support the arts and get a little thank-you gift in return.

A number of contributions have come in through friends of friends, which means that sharing the campaign with your network through Facebook, Twitter and email does work. If you copy and post this link: http://goo.gl/OGJuY, the rest takes care of itself.

ArtPrize details:

Shades of Gray at ArtPrize©, Grand Rapids, MI, USA. September 19 – October 7, 2012.

Click here to donate.
Click here to visit my ArtPrize page.

artprize: steady progress

With two weeks until my work ships from Frankfurt to Grand Rapids for ArtPrize, we're making steady progress on several fronts:

First, a BIG THANK YOU to recent funding campaign contributors for taking us over the $2,000 mark! They are: Alison Sigethy, Susan Trivers, Kenneth O'Brien, Mary Ann Rudy, Laura Rozenberg, and Moira McCauley. Your contributions will go to fund onsite marketing materials and travel expenses for one volunteer. 

The dancer's vellum tutu is finished. I'm pleasantly surprised by how sturdy the vellum becomes once pleated and stacked. The costume is now resting upright on a pillow for me to work on the top surface, and the tutu remains uncrushed.

"Shades of Gray" costume in progress I've started laying out the design for the costume, using hundreds of paper flowers for the pattern. This phase tends to progress intuitively and quickly, once a general direction emerges.

Using paper flowers to design "Shades of Gray" costume

Work on a metal stand for the dancer has begun, too. Pennsylvania craftsman Gary Rider is creating a minimalist black metal frame with graceful "legs" to support the costume and head. More later on Gary with photos of his work, as things progress.

It feels great to have family, friends, and new acquaintances involved in this project. The moral and financial support really make a difference. At 57% of the way in, the campaign is 66% funded through IndieGoGo, plus another $225 directly. If you are in a position to contribute to Shades of Gray, please do. Every little bit signals your support, boosting me through the day as I work in the studio.

ArtPrize details:

Shades of Gray at ArtPrize©, Grand Rapids, MI, USA. September 19 – October 7, 2012.

Click here to donate.
Click here to visit my ArtPrize page.

artprize: spotlight on giving back

Exactly one month from today, ArtPrize 2012 in Grand Rapids officially opens! If everything goes smoothly, we'll be putting the finishing touches on my piece, Shades of Gray, in the Amway Grand's lobby.

The work is coming along nicely now. I am currently screenprinting and hand-folding hundreds of sheets of vellum into tiny fans to build the tutu of my dancer's costume. A professional dancer's tutu is typically made with thirteen layers of tulle, which is my design for the paper version.

Screenprinted vellum folded into tiny fans Building the tutu for the dancer's costume

Generous contributions to the cause have also continued to roll in. At 37% of the way in, the campaign is 55% funded through IndieGoGo, plus another $225 directly. Thank you so much for your generous donations to Elizabeth Smiley, Emily Ryan, Sas Colby, and Donna O'Brien. Your funds mean that I can now cover expenses related to materials for the metal fabricator who is welding a frame for Shades of Gray, and important marketing materials to create visibility in Grand Rapids during the three-week exhibition.

Astro, rescued from Friends of Homeless AnimalsOne thing that I've been asked is what I would do if I won an award at ArtPrize (I'm thinking positively!). An important priority for me is giving back. One of my favorite causes is animal welfare.

Several years ago, we rescued our dog Astro from a no-kill shelter, Friends of Homeless Animals. They keep animals alive, no matter how long placement takes. They also "sweep" high-kill centers (such as Prince George's County, where Astro was), and move the most promising animals to FoHA in Northern Va.

Two other organizations are the Animal Rescue Fund and Second Chance Wildlife Center. Both fill important voids. ARF raises funding for shelters that don't receive government funding, and SCWC rehabilitates injured or sick wildlife before releasing them back to nature.

I have happily received several "I'm back in the woods!" postcards from injured squirrels and birds that I'd taken to SCWC for treatment.

If you are in a position to contribute to Shades of Gray, even just a little, please do. Every dollar and euro help defray project and volunteer costs, while getting the team one step closer to having a shot at an award with funds to give back.

Thank you to those of you who are spreading the word, as well!

ArtPrize details:

Shades of Gray at ArtPrize©, Grand Rapids, MI, USA. September 19 – October 7, 2012.

Click here to donate.
Click here to visit my ArtPrize page.

get a little art for yourself

This September, I'll be exhibiting my work at the world's biggest art competition, ArtPrize©, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's an exciting opportunity, to say the least. I've been working for months on my entry, Shades of Gray.

Along with this opportunity comes investment, most of which I am covering myself. So while I'm asking for a little help from family and friends, there's something in it for you: original art.

In exchange for a small donation, I'm offering thank you gifts:

exhibition catalogs

handmade painted paper flowers

origami long stem roses

handmade blank cards

screenprinted fine art papers

eternal gratitude

If you'd like to join in the fun (and get a little something for yourself), please make a quick visit to my ArtPrize funding page. I'm using a secure micro-funding platform called IndieGoGo, available to private and non-profit fundraising efforts worldwide.

ArtPrize details:

Shades of Gray at ArtPrize©, Grand Rapids, MI, USA. September 19 – October 7, 2012.

Click here to donate.
Click here to visit ArtPrize.
 
Thank you in advance for your support!

the zen of paper flower making

This is what I'm up to, these days. One petal at a time, I am hand-cutting, hand-painting, hand-assembling, hand sewing, and hand-gluing many, many paper flowers for my ArtPrize paper sculpture installation. It is aMAZing how long this all takes.

It's forcing me to slow down. To focus on the next task at hand, instead of racing (mentally and actually) to the million other things that I think I should be doing.

don't abandon my esthetic

In doing research for a project later this year, I'm reminded not to abandon my esthetic. The project calls for working in ways that are much bigger and bolder than I'm used to. However, it doesn't mean that I can't stay true to who I am in the process.

The details will remain a bit of a mystery here until the project is more official, but for now, let this fabulous video of Violise Lunn's work in paper couture be a hint and an inspiration. The narration is in French, but even if you don't understand the words, the images speak for themselves.

g40 pics and links

Kelly O'Brien, Grace in Full Bloom (detail) at G40 Art Summit (photo credit: Joshua Yospyn for Worn Magazine)Kelly O'Brien, Grace in Full Bloom at G40 Art Summit (photo credit: Joshua Yospyn for Worn Magazine)Grace in Full Bloom by Kelly O'Brien at Art Whino's G40 Art SummitA big thank you to Art Whino, microWave Project, and Brightest Young Things for pulling off an extraordinary event! I'll continue to post images here as they appear. In the meantime, you'll find some awesome slideshows of all the work here and here. Check out the party scene here and here. And a growing list of press clips about the event here.

Update on 2011-09-17 15:40 by Kelly O'Brien

Thank you, Natalie of Calliope Boutique, for this kind mention of my work, among others.

grace in full bloom

Finished installing my very first installation yesterday, for the G40 "new brow" art event taking place in DC's U Street Corridor through June 17.

My piece, Grace In Full Bloom, is a celebration of everything I love about the materials I work with and what it means to have found what one truly loves in life. I've set Grace, my handmade-papered dress form, in a paper and moss garden. Her skirt (inspired by a long dancer's tutu) is made of hundreds of dress pattern paper flowers. Butterflies - cut from decades-old French text books that I've been keeping for something special - swarm out of a closet and across the room.

This being my first installation, I had no idea what to expect. Well, the first thing was to face down the fear of doing it. When I told my friend Mandy that I got invited by microWave Project to do this and that it was freaking me out, she immediately said something like, "and you're going to do it, right?"

What is it about art and fear? That's a whole other blog post, but something I've been contemplating for a while. Anyway, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

G40 opens to the public this coming Friday, May 20th at 10 pm. In addition to four floors of awesome art on display daily through June 17, the Opening Weekend looks like big fun:

• Friday May 20th: Fatback DJs bring 3 of their parties into one space: FATBACK classic/ TENDERLOIN (slow jams in the lounge) / QUE SERA (garage rock in the garage). 10pm. FREE
• Saturday May 21st: END OF THE WORLD PARTY (in anticipation of rapture) feat: Chris Burns, All Girls Squad DJs (Ultra Nate and Lisa Moody), House of Soul (Live band), Sam Burns, NavBox, Rosario, Roger Samuel, Mike Fisher, Sarah. 10pm. $1 DOOR DONATION
• Sunday May 22nd: Special POST RAPTURE Pocket Gays Sunday School daytime brunch gathering: food truck food, st.germaine champagne cocktails, games, music etc

I'm sure there will tons of photos to post soon, which I'll do here and on TurningPointe Press' Facebook page.