A Welcoming Oasis

His talent is unearthly and so are his characters. Logan's drawings, paintings and caricatures make you wonder what rhelm he's really from. http://dlot.nu/loganmilesdavis/

Natively and geographically, he's a Virginia Beachian and I found him on the boardwalk back on Memorial Day weekend. He had his work organized and displayed in a tent at the end of a row of 10 or so other artists participating in this particular show, but he was hidden at the far end, near nothingness. He stood out from the rest though, not only because he was straggling at the end of the boardwalk and the only artist to present work with non-aquatic themes in a row of seascapes, Jimmy Buffet sayings, seagulls and waves, but because he was the only artist performing his wonderful craft for on-lookers to see, en plain air. This practice provokes peoples curiosity and temptation to purchase work. They are acting witnesses of a genius.

Real artists love to produce their work. They live, eat and breath for it. It would be like prying a bottle of rum from a pirates hand to keep this man from painting, even if he is selling it between strokes.



Scott Tuttle, of Stout Metal Works, (also vending that weekend) had purchased a pastel portrait of one of his caricatures. I saw that piece before I even ventured down to his end. It was on newsprint paper, matted and covered in plastic, like the rest of the work in his unconventional oasis. Of all the other artists, Logan seemed to be presenting work that he believed in, not the consumer. Having confidence as an artist in what you produce holds more value than any themed show can afford to give.



Among a very cliche collection of local beach art, Logan's work presented itself as an outcast. That's what I was drawn to and that's what I'm inspired by.

Work to Play

Another "jet-setting" weekend prevails in the life of a dreamer... Richmond to NoVa to DC to Maryland to attend my phirst Phish show, or attempt to anyway.

Merriweather, the venue, wasn't as welcoming as Merriweather, the audience. The crowd was JamPactJelliTite (the title of Jeff Donaldson's 1969 psychedelic painting below) full of radiant positive energy, which made up for being in the lawn, shut out phrom the canopied venue. My phace :D was still stuck :D like this :D.



It was amazing that I even got into the show. Originally, we were supposed to be part of the epic "Green Team" - a group of phaithful Phish volunteers to help recycle bottles and cans left behind by the rest of the phanatics. There were rookies, like myself, attempting to jump on the green wagon, and veterans that have been doing it for years. It's a give and take system. If you have tickets, bring them and share them with the team. We work together to make everyone happy and to help everyone make there way in. Because my friends and I have no concept of time, I didn't make the green list... but I still got into the show and I got to help the crew afterwards.

When I phinally made it into the venue, I got separated from my phriends. I worked the crowd solo, milking them for all the good energy I could, sharing and learning all the way. My phace :D was stuck. There was no way I was gonna let the minor gap between my phriends and I ruin the phun to be had. At that point, everyone was my phriend...

!!! WARNING !!! Don't interfere with the precious sound waves between a phanatic's ears and their worshiped tunes. In my lone venture, I met a cutie young lady (whose name I have phorgotten). We chatted, danced, shared a drink and then got shot back down by a yuppy woman with bug-eyes in phront of us, who barked that our "chattering was ruining her experience". Sorry lady, maybe you should've paid phor a seat.

Merriweather denied anyone a phair auditory performance. If you were in the lawn, you were pretty much shut out from the real show. They did have awesome TV screens that showed a good quality image of Trey and the stage, but that was like a second-hand version of the real thing; a hand-fed experience that I relied on, I must admit.

I heard a Phish performance was supposed to be a life-changing, but I feel the same. I am always inspired, though, by the thousands of people that follow this band religiously and the energy they permeate. It's a love for music, family, adventure and life that I feed off of and live for. A thrill sought after time and time again that never gets old.

I see music as the main way to bring inspired, like-minded people together.

This may, or may not have been what the show looked like, I couldn't tell ya...

Sex and Sleep: work on it

I was browsing my fave magazine and future dream freelance project, Juxtapoz, and discovered another spectacular artist (as I do with every issue). This guy caught my eye. Alexandros Vasmoulakis. It may be because he's Greek (as am I) and I was drawn to the name, but the image they chose to advertize his work is exactly the type of stuff I want to promote. It was a piece made from "junk". He's a green thinker. I admire that. Art is beautiful, and cost-worthy in many ways, but when an artist takes advantage of items that someone else threw away, I HAVE to give him props. (I'm sad that I couldn't find the image online. Find it in September's issue on p. 38)



Supported by a crickety metal shopping cart, he stacked toys, books, dolls, thoughts, dreams, "human troubles, desires, hopes and fears" (Juxtapoz, n103, p38) in an alluring and, could-be appauling manner, but I LOVE IT! Then researching him a little, that image doesn't really define the style he is most well-known for. The installation section on his site (http://www.zap51.com/pheyo/#) gives you a taste of the image in Juxtapoz.



I found an interview done by FatCap, a worldwide graffiti blog, with somewhat generic questions, which is inevitable to get to the facts, but Alexandros' answers are so amusing that it adds to the mystery of his style (http://www.fatcap.com/alexandros-vasmoulakis/). "What inspires you?" Some people are inspired by their surroundings or by other artists, but Alexandros gets his source of inspiration from "good sex and good sleep", what I call a healthy lifestyle. I can work with that.

His graffiti is blasted all over the Athens skylilne. His use of brilliant, vibrant, engaging colors and cartoonic style, both typical of the graffiti movement, liven the somber character of the buildings on which the work is placed.

But his true love is for, what he calls, the "dirty spots", because there is an "additional reason to do something". These spots must call out to him. With only a few lines and the contours of imperfections on walls, he is able to bring an image to the surface. A purposeful accident.

Alexandros is doing well in the streets and, apparently, inbetween the sheets. You dirty boy you.

Brazil Works for Me

If your nose is anywhere in the art world, you can't escape the smell of Brazilian "passion" fruit; the refreshing fruits of innovation, expression and style .

Hot and Fresh: the women, weather, and now the art. The artists of Brazil feed off each other and the multiple cultures within. Local art is digested in a simple stroll down la rue, graff and street art being a huge part of, yet not limited to, the scene and it's bleeding into the rest of the world.



"In my opinion, Brazil is still in an experimental phase of art." (Brazilian artist, Dimas Forchetti, in an interview at http://thecitrusreport.com/story/dimas_forchetti_1627). In an experiment there are so many variables, which lend to the many art forms produced there that "break traditional patterns".



Sao Paulo is the birth place, home and "gallery of the sky" for Pixacao, what looks like the common, everyday tag of early graffiti, but takes on whole new heights and dimensions, literally.



Art is a way of life and photography is a form of expression for the boys of Lost Art(http://lost.art.br/main.htm). Art, not unlike life, is deep, dark, beautiful, racy and technical, sometimes to the point where commercialism can inhibit the expression an artist attempts to communicate. Taking the commercial aspect into their own hands by creating this website, these guys are able to experiment, produce and promote different aspects of art, that many young people today are open to.

Taste life and see the world through the eyes of Brazil.