Fashion and Business tips

I'm back in town again. The Laurel Mountains were great. I was there for ninjutsu training with Shidoshi Fetterman followed by training with Brian-San. Good stuff.

Yesterday I took a long walk through the Strip District. What a great place to be - so many specialty shops. Next time you need a place to get lost, take a drive to the Strip. My only disappointment was when I found all the Italian stores were sold out of my favorite bottled coffee. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the disappointment continued into the evening- I went to Atria's for dinner. The food was excellent- outstanding. The service was horrible though. It was so bad, that after basically being ignored by the waitress, I even had to locate my own car, the valet was no where to be found. I did notice all the guys with khakis and penny loafers were getting pretty good service though. I guess I needed to be wearing a golf outfit to be taken seriously.

Here's my fashion tip for the day: Khakis don't look good on anyone. My business tip for the day: treat every customer equally.

I might go to the Carnegie Museum today... that's the beginning of a perfect day. Starbucks is a must.

Peace!

Time for a quick hello

I've been in Ohio for a few days for the Jamboree in the Hills. Craziness- pure craziness. The fans were awesome, the staff, the venue, the celebs... it was just a great few days. I also spent some time with broadway singer Somer Lee Graham. She is a rather amazing person- look her up, a great talent and drop dead gorgeous.

Tomorrow I head to the Laurel Mountains, so I may take another day off from the blog, but I will be back.

Thanks for the emails in regards to the Model post. I am responding to each.

Peace!

Fresh Faces

I hope everyone is having a nice summer. Mine has been fantastic- soo relaxing. Almost too relaxing. I'm not getting to the gym very often, (something I have to fix) and I am not producing the quantity of art that I hoped to accomplish. I know - quality is better than quantity, but I have to make a better effort to increase production in the coming weeks.

One thing though, I need more models for the works in progress. That's always a tough one. No matter what style of art, it's best to have a model. The model doesn't have to stand still for hours either, they could stay still for moments while the artist snaps a few photos in the needed poses. Acquiring models is difficult. I might see someone who would be perfect... how does one approach another and ask them to pose without sounding like a stalker, creeper, psycho, etc?? If you ask people you know, you risk weirding them out as well.

Aspiring model? Email me.

New Art Book!

A new book is on the shelves called "Stencil Nation: Community, Graffiti and Art". The book is a collection of artists from 28 countries, compiled by Russell Howze, published by Manic D Press. An experimental artwork I did a few years ago for a gallery in San Francisco is pictured.

Publishers Weekly wrote A " vibrant exploration of a sub-sub genre...., this volume crosses the globe for a swift tour of the world's best artists, making it a handsome and insightful introduction to the form".

It's exciting to be included and an honor to be in the group (especially after hearing that description!).

That's my news for today. I'm going to make it another late night. I have so much drawing to do for this new series and am just too anxious to wait. Talk to you all soon!

Bittersweet Harvest

4:30am.... I'm not ready to sleep yet, so I am surfing the internet. When I do that, I am usually looking at art, artists, galleries, etc. to see what's new, what everyone is doing and what is being exhibited..... I'm an art junkie, even when I'm not doing art! It's in my DNA.

So.... I stumbled across this great blog that covers the Pittsburgh art community in a very thorough manner. There was so much content that it was like reading an online magazine. I was quite surprised to find that a post was made last month on my art: http://bittersweetharvest.blogspot.com/2009/06/james-wodareks-vectors.html.

Go check it out! Add this blog to your favorites so you can make frequent visits to stay updated on the Pittsburgh art scene. Thanks again to the mysterious owner of this blog- identity unknown.

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. 4th of July is always a nice holiday. It's a good feeling holiday. The kind that makes you feel warm and fuzzy! Plus-what beats grilled hot dogs?? Yes, I know there's gross stuff inside... but who can resist??? And then there's the fireworks. The fireworks display in Pittsburgh was fantastic. I usually could care less about fireworks. They bore me to death... unless it's the 4th of July. Then they are significant. Significant and meaningful. What an amazing story and what an amazing group of visionaries the Founding Fathers were.

Who is your favorite founding father? I know that's a nerdy question to ask, but I have always loved American history!! Thomas Jefferson was always a favorite of mine. Architect, inventor, philospher, archeologist, author of the Declaration of Independence, founder of the University of Virginia and so much more. Although, my pick for most bad ass founding father is George Washington.

Always in the front line of a battle, he was the driving force behind the most improbable victory in history. The man was fearless. In a letter to his brother, he described what it was like to be in the front line under attack in this way: "I heard the bullets whistle and, believe me, there is something charming to the sound of bullets." Need I say more? Looking for a good read this summer? Pick up any of the biographies based on Washington's life and then you will join me in saying George Washington is the most bad ass American in history.

Happy 4th to you!

Pseudo-Camping

I have been in the Laurel Mountains for the last few days. How relaxing. Now, I know what you're thinking- what was I doing in the mountains?? There's no way in the world I'm sleeping in a tent! If you know me, you know I'm a city boy. I stayed in a log cabin equipped with air conditioning, full bath, cable television and kitchen, so there was no camping involved. I didn't 'rough it'. I did build a fire, but there was a fire pit- so it was pretty easy!

It was a very peaceful couple days with nothing to do but relax, go hiking, eat and drink... but now I'm back. Lot's to do. I have two galleries waiting to see my next series of artworks, which means I have a lot to do. Maybe I will stay up all night doing artwork. I haven't done that in awhile.

It's rainy out, but I like the rain. Enjoy it. Ciao!