mytarpit

The red kipper flies at midnight!

The game's afoot!

I received an email today from Jon, the new owner of Hello-dy.
I am over the moon, not just because I got a response, but because I got such an enthusiastic response! Below is how, in Jon's own words, he found Hello-dy:

 

Hello-dy  was found in Soho after I left the Animazing Gallery on Broome Street. I was actually in NYC for Comic-Con (only the third time in my life, so this whole Soho area was very unfamiliar). I authored a book about Ralph Bakshi called “Unfiltered,” and we were having a gallery show of all of Ralph’s work. We were on our way to a bar after the event when I passed by this lamppost on the corner. I noticed the bright green background high above my head and nearly passed by it. Then I stopped, stepped back a few paces, and reached up to see what it actually was. It was a canvas! How crazy is that, I thought!? I think another reason I was looking up was because we were sticker bombing Joe Ledbetter stickers all over the street (he’s a good pal, and I was bar hopping with his girlfriend – Joe was back in LA). I’m a tall fellow (6’3”), and she is rather short, so I was in charge of hitting those hard-to-reach spots. Hello-dy, while high, only took a little jump to reach. This was on Thursday night, around 9:30pm, on April 17. Hello-dy now has a warm, weather-free home on the desk in my office.

 
I could gush all fanboy-like about the fact that Jon has written a book about Ralph Bakshi, as well as his "i am 8-bit" book and gallery exhibitions but modesty forbids me....
..... Mighty Mouse is here to save the day!!!

Huge heart felt thanks to Jon for taking care of Hello-dy, and Hello-dy you behave!

Prepare to meet your Marker!

When I was trying to pull this project together in my head, I decided that I needed to produce each canvas in response to it's surrounding. A character lost and cold in a big city would act and look differently than one lost in the woods for instance. So what I needed were canvases small enough to fit in my pockets and paints. The canvases were easy enough to find, but I became stuck on the paints.
Until I wandered into Soho Art Materials (just off Broadway on Grand in NY) and the lovely Greta recommended these DecoColor pens. They are probably the first "paint" pens I have used that produce reliable results.
The colours are really bright and they HAVE got fine nibs that last, not like some pen makers whose "fine" tips are like drawing with the blunt end of a yard brush. One word of warning though, don't get smashed on red wine and push down on the tip too hard or too long, as this will cause the paint to piss out all over your sodding work!
Sadly as yet I haven't found these pens anywhere on my travels in the U.K...

Hiding in New York

I often wondered if artists/painters/whatever.... have the type of buyer and therefore the type of environment in which their painting will be displayed in mind when they are painting it, or picturing the final piece in their head. If they are at all concerned with where it will end up.

I know a lot of artists must wrestle with the value they put on their work.... what if as well as the price you could put other conditions on it? The idea of it going to a good home, to people who really get it and love it, rather than the first person to stump up the cash.

So I decided to paint a series of canvases that I would leave lying around for people who really like them to take them home. I thought I would keep this whole process anonymous but, hey, if it helps the canvases find a good home then why not put their locations on my blog.

The first series of canvases were "set free" in New York and New York state. I scribbled this blog address on the back of each of them as it would be cool to know who picked them up and why.

If you want to have a look at the Tarpitters I set free and their last known locations then click here.