Art O Mat Collaboration Preview

This is a sneak peak of a few of the blocks I collaborated with Took Gallagher for Art O Mat. There will be a lot more info about these blocks appearing as they make their way across the country into old refurbished cigarette machines.

Took's Animals: An Art-O-Mat Collaboration

Took Gallagher sent me a box of 100 cute animals traced onto blocks in which I get to color. It is a collaboration of work that will be sold in Art O Mat machines across the country. I am following in the footsteps of artist Juana Moore, who previously did a similar collaboration with Took for Art O Mat. The project is called Penciled In. At that website you can see photos of their great collaborations, and see what Juana did with the similar blocks that I am working with. I got to see a batch of Juana & Took's blocks in person, and I can say I was very inspired to work on my own batch.

The photo above and below were drawn and designed by Took, and I added all the color.

I currently have a 4th (25 of 100) of the batch done, and try to get a few done each night. I am using prismacolor colored pencils almost exclusively. This has been a fun switch from my bearded bunnies, which is the series I typically submit to Art O Mat. I have sold over 1000 bunnies to Art O Mat since 2005, and the bunnies have been sold all across the country. If you are not familiar with Art O Mat or their vendable art, or the repurposed vintage cigarette machines, you should head on over to the website and check it out...it is a great project.


Make sure to check out Penciled In and visit both Took Gallagher and Juana Moore's website. I will be posted the next batches here before I send them off to Art O Mat.

Fraught with Meaning: art blog review

Fraught with Meaning is an art blog with a finger on the pulse of collage, collectible, affordable artworks. The artist behind the website is Took Gallagher from Northville, MI. Took is a self taught collage artist who sells work in and hosts two Art-O-Mat art vending machines.


by Took Gallagher

Fraught with Meaning is a blog that contains her artwork and art projects in all different stages from sketch to final concept, as well as featuring artwork from her immediate surrounding in Northville, MI; and featuring artwork from around the country through her Art-O-Mat machines. I have become friends with Took through these machines, as I started selling art in Art-O-Mat machines a few years ago. Took's excitement and passion for the machines surpasses even my own love and passion with Art-O-Mat, and if you are not familiar with what art o mat is.....well then go check out Art O Mat:Artist in Cellophane.

Because I know not everyone will pop over and read about Art O Mat, I will summarize. Art-O-Mat is a project that refurbishes old vintage cigarette machines and transforms them into original art machines. You may happen by one of these machines at a gallery, museum, mall, public space located all over the country. When you find one, you can pay 5 dollars, and select an art series of which to purchase. You pull the lever of your choice and Presto (Kerplunk is actually the correct sound effect here) you now have yourself an original work of art.



Took Gallagher manages two of these kerplunking art machines and has a very impressive collection of artwork from the many great artists that contribute to art-o-mat machines around the country. When you read Fraught with Meaning you will often get insights into how she creates her work for the machines, or get a peak at the works she collects from those machines. At times even some of my own Bearded Bunnies or chubby creatures.

Another related blog that Took is apart of is Penciled In, which is a collaboration with Juana Moore. Together they create wonderful creatures and animals to be sold in art-o-mat machines. If seeing Took's work on her blogs is not enough for you, head over to her etsy page and snap up some of her great affordable artwork. Make sure to read and subscribe to her blog.

Tower of Bunnies version 2

On January 6th, 2008 I posted a blog entitled Tower of Bunnies. Almost two years later and a half dozen batches of bunnies later, I am making a new post called Tower of Bunnies. The first post talked all about Art O Mat, and the great business of vending art.

These bunnies are all hand colored with watercolor/marker/colored pencil and will be shipped all across the country to art-o-mat machines. You can also help support me by buying a bearded bunny from my online art shop.



Another great thing about these 50 bunnies is that I can now check off part of my Six Month Goals from an Artist Struggle post. My updated goal list is as follows:

Goals (to be completed by April 2011)

1. Create five large paintings (over 3 feet tall)

2. Find a place to show my work

3. Finish 200 new small works (bunnies) and other side projects
50 bunnies finished 10/25/10

4. Finish one 10-24 page one-shot comic book

5. Find a group of artists in the area/ join a group or start a group with a focus on creating new work and talking about it

While I am only 1/4 of the way done with 1/5 of the goals, it is still a good mini milestone upon the list. Plus, if you read my last entry you will note I have found a group of art activists in Portland Maine that may qualify as fitting goal number 5.

Goodbye
Meanwhile, in sadder news my girlfriend Kelsey and myself have ended our 3+ year relationship and have decided to go our separate ways. We can honestly say that we made each other better during this time, and both feel we simply are not right for each other at this time.

Art O Mat Bunny Batch

Here is a sample of my new batch of bearded bunnies for Art O Mat. If you are not familiar with Art O Mat, you should head on over to their website. I am one of a community of artists around the world who create cigarette package size artworks (including drawings, scultpures, mixed media, jewelry, prints, paintings) that can be purchased in refurbished cigarette vending machines. These machines are located all around the country. For $5 you can pick an art series/artist and get an original work of art. Just like that.

Keep in mind the images here are slightly larger than the actual bunny.



The bunnies on display in this blog are part of the fifty newest bunnies I created to be put into those art o mat art machines. I just picked a few of my favorites to feature here as a sample of my newest batch that will be sent out in a few days. I send them to Art O Mat then they split them up and send them all over the country.



Those of you who have been following my art, more specifically my bunnies, will notice that some of these bunnies are replicas of earlier bunnies. The process of creating this particular batch (which changes each batch) was a series of watercolor, markers and colored pencils. A few have some added details in micron pen or metallic gold.



I run prints of my favorite bunnies and make a limited print run of 10 or 15. These prints are framed and sold for $15 on my etsy art shop. I am always offering special deals on my etsy shop, so make sure to stop by and see what I am selling. If you see a bunny here that you want a print of, that may not be available yet on my etsy shop, please feel free to ask me. I make special arrangements and prints for those interested in collecting a certain bunny or set. Also, a few of the original versions of certain bunnies can be purchased for $50, which are currently by request only. Contact me if interested.



I also never reveal the entire batch, there are many secret or mystery bunnies that have never seen the internet. Some of those bunnies can only be found by visiting your favorite art-o-mat machine. I do also create bunnies on request. Some of my best bunny ideas have come from request from art collectors looking for a bunny that resembles a certain favorite pop culture icon, movie star, fictional character. Those are always fun to do.



Speaking of commissions, I have also finished the six star wars bearded bunnies, fully colored and ready to be printed. Those limited prints (limited and hand signed to 10) will be on sale only available on my etsy art shop. I will be posting the pictures of the new star wars bearded bunnies soon, the characters include: stormtrooper, darth vader, lando calrissian, princess leia slave outfit, and chewbacca.



If you would like to learn more about Art-O-Mat, or the bearded bunny series I have been dispensing (kerplunking) around the world, please check out all the posts about Art-O-Mat and my submissions.

Art-O-Mat machine (WEBCOMIC)

Art O Mat is an awesome country wide art in vending machine business. One of the coolest ideas ever. I've been sending in bearded bunnies for three years now, and have sold art all over the country.

Search the website and find a art-o-mat machine near you, then buy yourself some affordable original art!

Art O Mat's Bearded Bunny variations!

Art O Mat is one of the coolest art projects in America today. Artists from around the world create tiny cigarette box sized artworks to be placed inside of vintage cigarette machines located all over the country. Some people make tiny lino prints, or small scale drawings, little sculptures, figurines, collages. You can buy yourself an original peice of artwork for only 5 dollars.



The machines themselves are works of art, as they have been restored and been turned into sculptures. You can find a list of Art-O-Mats here.

This summer during my art tour across America I was able to visit 5 different art-o-mats along the West coast. Unfortunately, I lost all of my art tour images due to a computer problem. Except for this one (below), I happen to have saved because I posted it on Aaron Kraten's myspace after buying his art in San Francisco and meeting and drawing a collaboration with him in Costa Mesa, California. It is a sample of Aaron Kraten's art that can be found and purchased in an Art-O-Mat machine.



If you have been to my blog before, you know that I sell my own bearded bunny prints online for only 5 dollars. However, for my Art-O-Mat contribution I create one of a kind hand drawn bearded bunny variations to be sent across the country. Here are a couple samples:

Here shows an untouch Man-At-Arms bunny (left) and a golden suit variation (right). Most of the variation are done with silver, gold and black additions. The prints are glued and nailed to black rectangles of wood. The shape and size make them extremely fun to hold and collect.
Here are two Crab Bunny variations that can be found in Art O Mat machines across the country. Look for one near you, and hopefully you can find my bearded bunnies available for only $5.
The Sorceress variations. Hand drawn, and completely unique.
Here is my latest 50 bearded bunnies that have just been shipped off to Art O Mats. If you found my site, because you have purchased one of my bunnies, please send me a picture and a comment and I will feature you on my blog!

In the meantime, read more about my experience with art o mats and see the tower of bunnies.

Boatload of more RETIRED bunnies

(click the image to see full size)


The bunnies are being sold for only five dollars on the artists' version of Ebay called Etsy. As you can see in the brand new updated poster that many bunnies have sold out and are no longer available.

Help support working artists, by visiting my shop and buy a bunny for yourself or a friend. It is important to support working artists to enrich the creating thinking of our society, and human beings as a whole. Every sale helps afford me the time to create new and exciting projects like miniature art hunts and Billy Vs Matt art battles.

The bearded bunnies are an ongoing series of small artworks that I have created. I enjoy working within fixed guidelines and making many variations within those guidelines. I have created over 70 bunnies now, many which are shown above, although some of the most popular bunnies have been retired and removed from the poster already. You will need to browse my blog to see some of the first retired bunnies, like Bob Dylan, Butterfly and Flowers. New bearded bunnies are always in the works, and the bunnies are also sold in vintage cigarette vending machines across america as part of Art o Mat.

Buy a bunny today!

Tower of Bunnies

Tower of Bunnies

More like a pyramid actually. My Bearded Bunnies are on their way in block form to an exciting destination. They are being sent, all 49 of them, to be inserted into vending machines.




Art-O-Mat

Yes, my collection of bearded bunnies are off to live inside of numerous vending machine across the nation. I am going to do a more in-depth post of Art-O-Mat and what I love about the concept and why I am sending my art to them. For now, I will just leave you with some exciting pictures, a link to art-o-mat and some bearded bunnies:



Bob Dylan Bearded Bunny


Butterfly Bearded Bunny


Christmas Bearded Bunnies