The Art Space that Grey Built

Over the past year I've talked a lot about how we are building out our home to accommodate our arts also. I get asked a lot to describe the layout because it doesn't seem possible to do all we are doing with just a house and no retail space.

So I decided to create this layout so people could envision better what we are trying to achieve.

When we moved here in August of 2018, we could instantly see the potential for the space. While the house itself is not wide, it is deep, with 7 rooms that are set shotgun style (this means the rooms are stacked in a single row).

Once we settled in, we went about making the front room into both a living room and a showcase room for various pieces of art.

Once I had my indoor studio set up, I went about planning for the outdoor space. I saw the potential for three things. One was a small outdoor art gallery which both myself and others could show there work. The second was a teaching and projects area where I could hold classes and work on larger projects without any space issues. The third was an outdoor photography area which I could use for clients who wanted custom portraits and that I could use to photograph my own work.

The Digital Storyteller

One of the most fascinating aspects of digital art for me is the ability to tell a story within it. This can be done with any art form. But digital art allows for infinite subtle details where the artist can fill the digital canvas with the tiniest and most intricate of plots. I say plots because like a story, you don't have to have just one plot, but establish many within the same piece of art. 

I think that this is still a very unexplored aspect of the digital art format. 

Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Diana Whiley

Author: Diana Whiley
Adelaide, South Australia


10/10/19

As I touch an old ornamental fan, wooden slats painted with violets, memories open and unfurl of my Great Aunt’s house steeped in Victoriana. 

I was seven when I stayed with her and picked walnuts from her garden. Opened them to reveal halves like a map. She’d travelled and mapped her life with her husband, a diplomat in India. She’d brought back a silver tea set and brass vase (now mine). 

It ignited my enduring fascination with the legendary Silk Road and trade. 

Her sister, my Grandma used stars as her guide. She often won at the race track when she was guided by Astrology.  I went with her one day and watched the horses run, entranced by the beat and flash of the jockey’s colours. 

We shared an orange, its juice stabilizing her diabetes, the memory of its segmented pieces overlaying her skin, a drop of blood and needle. 

With another needle she stitched together my love of textile and pattern. She died when I was nine. Another connection, another loved one gone.  

I often wonder if that was the start of the longing -a longing for what could have been - that added layer of family knowledge lost in time. 

I’m sure it influenced my reason for writing fantasy. In the creating new worlds and other races, I could explore my characters sense of belonging - be it a place, a people or the seeking of its meaning.  

It’s a journey also I wanted to express in my art. 

I started sketching first, enjoying the intensity of the light and shadow; the marking with dark lines like map making. A map of joy and passion, of life and death, of light still shining through like I’d seen in the Old Masters - Monet, Turner and Vermeer. Monet in particular liked charting the light of the day in his famous haystack paintings. The changes in colour inspired me to experiment. 

I tried digital art and found it suited my style. Using a black background I bring in light and colour to give atmosphere. Pick a face, an object or landscape and with a seeming randomness at times, meld the layers.  And like bark, layers come off too, leaving behind the final piece.  

Creating something new is like my experience of watching a cello being made. 

The body exudes twists of complex muscle. 
Inside a hollow palpable silence;
It is still young.

Nodes are inserted. 
Without them, strings have no tension
And tension draws the best from fingers.

Lacquer is applied with slow precision. 
Gloss in the long sweep of curve 
 Hardens to a sunset resonance.

The imprint of hand and heart
transforms sound. Its first voice
raw; transcendent.

Inside the City of the Dead

It is not often that we get a chance to glimpse inside the sealed up tombs of the dead.

Louisiana, because of its high water table, is one of those southern states that long ago preferred burying their dead in crypts rather than in the ground.

During Hurricane Katrina many of those who were buried in the ground went for a trip and floated out of the cemeteries and into the streets. The Days of the Floating Graves are well known to us.

Outdoor Art Studio 2.0

In the spring of 2019 after having moved into a new home in New Orleans, I began the transformation of the outdoor space around the house into an art space where I could hold shows and teach classes. I worked my ass off to get the space finished before the summers heat began. For those not familiar, New Orleans sits in the middle of one of the hottest most humid places in the United States. Since I wanted to create the space before my wedding to Poppy Z Brite in June, I hustled to put it together. 

Through the summer, the space has not been in active use, awaiting the once again cool months which always come at the end of October. 

What I was not able to accomplish was the second part of this build out. This house is very long. While the front art space takes up a large chunk of space, there is another large area further back. My intention was to build the public space up front, but the back space was for me. This space encompasses another large double alleyway that goes 40 feet back into a totally enclosed private backyard completely covered with a large tree and totally private due to a screening of bushes and fencing. 

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #4)

The Abstraction of Humanity series is an exploration of humanities interaction with art. This conceptual art project is conducted in sessions involving body painting, abstract art and graffiti balanced. This is session #4 

All art is the creation of Grey Cross Studios unless otherwise designated as the work of one of our collaborative artists.

A complete list of links is located to the left of this page.


Session #4 - Models: XXXZombieBoyXXX & The Bodacious Banshee
New Orleans, Louisiana 

Get Ready Crafters, It’s Fall Vendor Season - By Abby Holt (Guest Writer)

Image via Pixabay

Selling arts and crafts is a time-honored tradition in the fall. With popup markets popping up all over most towns and cities, there are tons of opportunities to showcase your very best. But, if you’ve never taken your goods on the road, there are a few things you can do now to ensure that you’ll never miss a chance to impress a potential customer. Here are the basics of getting ready for an event, trade show, or craft fair. 

Amazon Discount Codes Should be Part of Your Setup Plan

No matter what you sell, you’ll need a surface to showcase your wares. This starts with one or more folding tables, and you should plan to spend between $40 and $100 for a six-foot table. And because you only have so much space, you will also need other ways to display your wares. This might come in the form of clothing racks, jewelry stands, or table-top shelving units for smaller items. Consider Amazon a primary resource to find the best price on folding tables and retail display products, plus you’ll get free shipping if you already have a Prime account. Often, you can find cashback offers (like this one) for buying certain items from Amazon, which can help you save even more.

Now that you know where your products will be displayed, you’ll need to get to work ensuring your booth stands out. This is where your printed marketing and branding materials come into play. This should include, at a minimum, a large display banner, business cards, and brochures. Most of these items can also be ordered online or at your local print-marketing company.

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series - Introduction and Working Notes

THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED FREQUENTLY. PLEASE GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO FIND THE LATEST UPDATES

At the request of several of my artistic colleagues, I've decided to post my working notes for the summer body painting series here as we proceed through the series. With that in mind, I'll update the page each time I add new notes to it. Please feel free to comment or place questions at the bottom of the page.

Background

For those who have not either participated or seen photos of previous sessions, I'll give you a bit of background. 

When a body painter works, their focus is traditionally only on the painting in front of them. Some painters create abstract body art, others create elaborate creatures, or designs upon the human form. 

For me the process is a lot more complex. The painting of the body is only one step in a long process. 

I can break down that process into four stages. 

Burning Man 2019 - Low Res Art Project

You can see other Burning Man art at: The Ghosts of Burning Man's Past. These are a work in progress for 2019. New work will be added when its ready.

These images are not for sale and are open source. For more information please contact the website.

Hurricane Katrina - One Artists Journey Towards Landfall

In 2015, I wrote the article below on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as an hourly journey of the night before landfall and remembrances of what many of us in New Orleans were going through.

Now that it is four years later (2019) I find that many have completely forgotten. Even though there have been tragic storms in the past few years with thousands of deaths, we still choose to ignore what is right before our eyes. 

But a lot can in 14 years. 

Even though the threat of Climate Change has been upon us for many years, I think I can say that 2018 was the first year that its really struck home to people. Its no longer just a talking point between the left and right. Its real. From the fires in California, to the heat in the Europe, to the melting ice in the Arctic, things are changing and will continue to do so. I cannot help but think that there may come a time when I am on the other side of this calamity, where everything has changed. Ours coasts are gone. Many of our cities have vanished and we are either shivering or melting in a world that humanity made.

Where will you be? 

~Grey~

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #3)

The Abstraction of Humanity series is an exploration of humanities interaction with art. This conceptual art project is conducted in sessions involving body painting, abstract art and graffiti balanced. This is session #4 

All art is the creation of Grey Cross Studios unless otherwise designated as the work of one of our collaborative artists.

A complete list of links is located to the left of this page.

Session #3 - Model: Jeff K.
New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Changing Faces of the Evolution Cube

The Evolution Cube was first created as a single wall backdrop for the Abstraction of Humanity series. As its name states, it quickly evolved into something different.

Every day since its creation a month ago it has gone through a slow change, where some elements are added and others are removed.

In its current state it now has 4 graffiti covered walls, as well as a graffiti covered floor and ceiling. The cube is bigger than it looks, stretching 7 feet in width and depth and height. When the fourth wall is added, it creates a completely enclosed space.

The purpose of this strange metamorphosis is to still function as a staged setting for the body painting series, but also to stand alone as its own unique piece of art.  At some point in the future the cube will be dismantled. But then it will transform once again. As the walls are made from canvas, they will eventually be cut into sections and mounted on multiple frames as wall art.

But for the moment the cube will serve multiple purposes. I think its most important function will be to serve a point of inspiration. It is its own environment.

I would like to see other artists working within the cube to create their own unique art either on their own canvas, or directly onto the walls of the cube or even by staging still life within it, such as the photo below. Whatever its use, it is a multi-faceted object which is both art and a place for art. We will see what its future brings.

The Abstraction of Humanity Art Series (Session #2)

The Abstraction of Humanity series is an exploration of humanities interaction with art. This conceptual art project is conducted in sessions involving body painting, abstract art and graffiti balanced. This is session #4 

All art is the creation of Grey Cross Studios unless otherwise designated as the work of one of our collaborative artists.

A complete list of links is located to the left of this page.

Session #2 - Model: M. White
New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Work of Artist & Photographer XXX Zombie Boy XXX (New Work Added 08-22-19)

To bathe in venom

Love the reptile

Embrace of fangs 

Drift as Lilith 

Shadow play in the void

Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Jerry Randolph Gilmer

Poet: Jerry Randolph Gilmer
New Orleans, Louisiana USA



08/22/19

LYRICS

I woke in the middle of a string of lyrics.

Nattering on and on.

Simplistic imagery describing the architecture of troublesome experiences.

I had to write them down.

Tracking them by the circles they were racing around me.

Vainly attempting to pin them in place.

Practicing the last impossibility: The uncensored, not reflected upon intact retelling of a Dream.

You know Precisely what I mean.

In this, possibly Only this, does all sentience collide.

We've all been driven to frustration by the idiosyncratic recounting of a Dream.

We've, each of us, stood on either side of this the most inaccurate, and therefore infuriating attempt at communication.

Because we Want to communicate it.

It Is important.

It Is a message.

It is most decidedly not Just a Dream.

Artists are our pinprick glimpse of this.

At best a keyhole view.

But people fear this.

"Lest Ye Be Vexed."

What a stupid fucking warning.

Life is vexing.

I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing when I'm awake.

When I sleep?

When I sleep Everything is compelled to follow my whims.

And my whims are legion.

It's at the crossroads where it all goes to Hell.

And not the groovy, chaotic Heironymous Bosch version.

Not even the vaguely frustrating order implied by Dante.

No.

It's the path leading out of wondering at it into floundering about in it.

Those whisper thin threads of symphonic sanity into the iron bars of inanity.

I spend a great deal of time pretending I can't find my passport.

Stalling.

So as to covertly scribble down all I can.

The sly shorthand of a poet on the move.

And more often than not I cock it up.

Witness: