Artsplash, Art Fair, Sioux City

Good morning!

What a beautiful one it is! We will be hopping right on that mammoth weekend 'to do' list once again. But before we go there, just a few updates.

Artsplash is an art fair held in Sioux City, Iowa at Chris Larsen Park on the banks of the Missouri River. We have the dates of:

Friday, August 29th, 4-8pm preview
Saturday, August 30, 10am-7pm
Sunday, August 31, 10am-5pm

Yours truely will be located in booth space #47. Please stop by. I have new paintings for you to see: A large (40 x 40") street scene painting, a cafe scene painting, and if I paint mistake-free this week, a painting of a group of string musicians.

Also on the horizon are two publications. The DailyPalette is a University of Iowa online publication, who with a few simple clicks on their RSS feed, gives you daily artwork by the artist of the day. Sometimes it's a visual artist, sometimes a writer (yes, lots of cool poetry) Definitely you will want to have done the appropriate clicking by October 7th so the featured artist of THAT day absolutely makes it to your inbox. October 7th featured artist: me!

Coming in October I will also be the featured artist in My Home magazine. The color and photography in this magazine are truely amazing, eye candy to the max. I am excited to see how the feature turns out!

And then there is A.R.T. That's the Northwest Iowa Artisans Road Trip. The dates this year are October 4th and 5th. It's called a road trip because YOU get to take the trip and your destination is artist locations all along the 'creative corridor' of northwest Iowa. We will be exhibiting AND demonstrating our work for you. I would love to send you a copy of the road trip book, which has bios and sample artwork from each exhibiting artist as well as a map and directions of how to reach each artist. I will be easy to find this year, as I am exhibiting/painting with a painter friend at the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, Iowa. Again, if you'd like a copy of the book, just leave a note here or on the contact page on my website.

Ok, Saturday morning list, here I come.

Later, Cooper

"Tea And A Book At The Unicorn", acrylic painting, Artsplash in Sioux City, Iowa

Howdy!

It's Friday and almost quittin' time for this artist. I just got done with 3 (yup, that's THREE) photo sessions with the HP and the SAME painting. Aaargh. I wonder if that's why I need to gather up the newly finished paintings and head downtown to my favorite photographer's studio soon. He's got skills, while the little HP and I just get by. But, just getting by, means I can post a somewhat passable image of the newest painting out of the Cooper studio yet today. It's the cafe scene which at this point is titled "Tea And A Book At The Unicorn" I should share that I am just very pleased with my efforts on this one. Take a look:


So, "Tea And A Book At The Unicorn", acrylic painting on a gallery wrapped canvas, which measures a lovely 24 x 30 inches.

Later, Cooper

PS. For those of you in the Sioux City, Iowa area, Artsplash, the art fair presented by the Sioux City Art Center is just one weekend away. I am scheduled to be there, so that will be the first public viewing of this painting!

Spencer Daily Reporter story

Hi there,

I am going to commit a visual artist crime today. I am posting without a visual image for you. How can it get any worse than that, I ask you?

So today I was over at the church working on the mural, and several people stopped by and asked if I'd seen the paper (Spencer Daily Reporter) yet today. Of course not. Turns out it has a story about said mural and Sunday school project, written way better than I could have ever. So if you click, THEN you get an image, see, I'm making you work for it! :)

Later, Cooper

acrylic painting, on the easel: Tea And A Book At The Unicorn

Good morning and happy Saturday to you! It's a very beautiful one in Spencer, Iowa, to be sure.

Why do artists paint the way they do? Today, that question and often searched topic on this blog, has hidden meaning :) The Cooper family lives in a 1920's vintage home, which we very much enjoy, but every now and then, you have to do the elbow grease thing. It appears today is that day, and the list is enormous. I don't think today's paint slinging will involve an easel!


But I have been at the easel this week. I've got several images on the daily work blog, one of which is a painting well underway of a group of string musician that we saw while at the Boulder Art Fair. And here's another, a friendly little cafe scene I saw earlier this summer in Evanston, Illinois. Yup, I am working on both at the same time, and sandwiched in by the mural project, which is also progressing nicely. See, I don't just sit around!



Oh, and we are calling this one Tea And A Book At The Unicorn. 24 x 30 inches, a gallery wrapped canvas, it's progressing nicely and feeling special already!

Later, Cooper

open studio results

Howdy,

So why do artists paint the way they do? Tonight I went up to the art center (Pearson Lakes Art Center) to see a new exhibit by artist Thaddeus Erdahl, had a glass of wine, listened to him tell about his work, which was pretty interesting by the way. He has an unusual concept of communication and the breakdown (or futility?) of it.

Right after that we had a model sit for us at open studio. Very easy going kid, but I think we bored her, until we told her it was okay to get out whatever video game was in her bag :) Two quick paintings and some drawings which in retrospect are unidentifiable. I will post two paintings, but the one has a definite problem. I brought them home and sat them on the kitchen counter to take another look, and said "oh, this one needs more here" That's usually a fatal mistake for most paintings at that hour of the night. At any rate, her legs were crossed at the ankle until that moment and now they just look confused---so maybe I'll fix it and maybe I won't! Update at eleven :)

Later, Cooper

Mural, Kid-style takeoff of the Last Supper!

Howdy,

So I wrote earlier today maybe you'd get mural progress pics. Will you settle for half? Somehow even thought the whole plan is drawn on the wall in charcoal, my painting efforts to date have been confined to the left half. That's probably related to all my paint containers sitting down at that end. :) So here you are:

I think we're calling it 'Big, Big Table', at least for now.

Later, Cooper

"To The Wharf" Painting

Good morning!

Spencer, Iowa is enjoying a pleasant little rain shower as we speak. Ollie and I had just rounded the corner back into the alley from our morning run as the first few drops descended, what timing!

I spent yesterday working on the mural project, but sorry to report, no photos yet. Maybe today.

Next on the art show schedule is ArtSplash, held in the Chris Larsen Park in Sioux City, Iowa. The festival schedule:

Friday, August 29th, 4pm to 8 pm

Saturday August 30th, 10am to 7pm

Sunday August 31st, 10am to 5pm

The varnish on the latest painting is finally dry, and it has a title. "To The Wharf" is an acrylic painting on a gallery wrapped canvas, measuring a lovely 30 x 30 inches. I will plan on bringing it to Artsplash so you can see it up close and in person!

Later, Cooper