Show Time for Greg and Dustin!

Michigan's ArtPrize has become quite the art event, attracting artists from all over the country who compete for cash prizes, voted upon by the people.

Greg and his friend Dustin Farnsworth, who is now at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, TN, are participating this year with the Grow Faster entry -- something originally created for their senior project at Kendall College of Art and Design and previously highlighted on the Gypsy HERE.

It is basically a giant ViewMaster and when you look inside you'll find his drawings that relate to war. (When you are young, you play be carrying the flag with your friends; but war finds a soldier presenting the folded flag to the daughter of a dead soldier.) There are about 10 of these comparisons, and when you click the ViewMaster, another set appears.

The s entry is showing at a location called "The Spot" in downtown Grand Rapids. (For those from Michigan who are attending, it's on Pearl Street, between Ionia and Ottawa and right across from a parking ramp. (Hungry folk: Try the Ottawa Tavern, just down the street.) Greg did the drawings and Dustin built the ViewMaster.

The gallery hosted an opening preview for the artists exhibited there, and Rick and I, and our friends Paul and Bonnie Davis, eagerly anticipated an evening art and hors d'oeuvres. (That's Bonnie and Paul below.) Greg said, "Now, wear a suit and a dress." It was fun to get the dress code from the kid!

It was exciting for us to see Greg interact in a rather sophisticated venue, speaking with strangers as though he'd known them his whole life.

And it was also fun to see the other art displayed there. This panel covered a very long wall, a detailed pen-and-ink drawing. (I'm sorry I don't have the artist's names -- none of them had been posted yet.)

This one took a 26' truck to deliver! It depicts the great world disasters of the first six months of this year (Joplin, Tuscaloosa, Japan's earthquake and tsunami) and is in oil, taking the artist two months to create. Personally, I don't see the specific disasters there, just a bunch of troubled people, but then I'm a fairly literal interpreter. The techniques, though were lovely. (His first name was Nick.)

This was my favorite, by Rebecca Green.

Becca went to school with Greg and for my birthday he gave me one of her prints. I think she has potential to be very big as an illustrator. She's very Somerset in terms of her style, which of course I love very much.

This was another favorite. This beautiful Japanese woman just jumped off the canvas.

I also was in love with this pencil drawing of a Chinese temple.

This one appealed to my love affair with cutting out tiny things. Looks like a beautiful tree, right?

Take a closer look -- it's entirely made of words and type! That's too anal retentive even for me, but I loved seeing it!

The exploding floral bouquet in this oil was a little odd, with flowers bursting from the bouquet on fire. But it was captivating and the technique was marvelous.

I loved the colors of this one. You would need a very large house to display it, though! I'm thinking office lobby only!

This was intriguing, too -- wild animals chasing people, while birds swarm above. I wish I had a tight shot of the birds, as they were outstanding.

The show wasn't limited to two-dimensional art. These three teapots were well done and whimsical in sort of a twisted way. (They were accompanied by "brass" knuckles and the gun at the top of this post in the same style.)

This fellow, Cameron, made an amazing bench, for which he was to charge $25,000. It was stunning.

And I loved this sculpture by an artist from Madrid, NM.

But back to Greg. We were so proud to see how people were responding to Dustin's giant ViewMaster with Greg's intricate drawings inside.

So, three cheers for a great evening. Lots of smiles all the way around. Let the voting for ArtPrize begin!

(Now, there was another show at this Gallery, happening at the same time, with equally amazing art to wear! That's the next post!)

NOW at Chopsticks and String: "We Might as Well Win" by Johann Bruyneel and Bill Strickland.