Photos from Fade 2 Blaq

Portrait series by Melodee Strong

Last weekend, I was invited by my friend Chris Harrison to check out the art show he was in, called Fade 2 Blaq which was held in an office building in downtown Minneapolis. This art show did not disappoint. This show was like an art walk, and it was like going to 17 different slow shows as each artist had their own rooms inside one floor of this expansive office building. The entire layout had been repainted and transformed to completely metamorphose the space. In the common areas each artist had a number of works on display, a DJ was playing and there was the obligatory table of snacks and drinks. As you began to explore the space, you could enter any one of the rooms labeled with an artists name and be transported into a miniature solo show of each artists' work.

Now, the real delight of the show was variety of work and the quality of the art. You could find large abstract work, realist portraits, political work, children's book art, comic book art, sculptures, surrealist work, graffiti art and a lot of art that seemed to be a style all of its own. Without going on to long, why dont I just show you what I am talking about. Check out these photos of the event.

Incredible children book illustrations and paintings.
Graffiti artist Aaron Kupcho had a very impressive yellow room. It had strong African vibes and the other wall was an actual tag, which was really incredible. You can see it on the Fade 2 Blaq website. Abstract series by Chris Harrison. This is a stunning set of work. Both whimsical, inventive, bold and powerful all at the same time. These really jump off the wall at you.
Painting by Chris Harrison.
A photo of Chris Harrison speaking about the themes of the art in his room. There was some very powerful pieces in his room, including portraits of people with melting faces.
There was more artwork around every corner.

One of my favorite bodies of work was by young artist, AnaLaura Jaurez. Her work was a mixture of surreal dreamlike images, with bright colors and interesting compositions. I assume she was the youngest artist in the show, and I expect really big things for her as she studies at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It was great to see her work.

If you could not tell from the photos above, the work they did to get this show ready was impressive. The walls on one side were white and then had a steady gradient to black on the other side, including the pillars and posts. It made for a very visually stunning display.

teaching woodworking in apple valley (webcomic)

another thing i teach

Aquatennial 2009 (webcomic)

one of my jobs

The first in an ongoing self-portrait project. My web comic begins today. The goal will be to post at least three comics per week (possibly more). The comics are meant to be fast, autobiographical and fun.

I was inspired by the late local artist Eric Lappegard, who I never met but found his collection of webcomics at my local co-op. Also, inspired by Kris Ericson's photo a day blog, and Matt Semke's daily art posting on catswilleatyou.com.

As the comic progresses into my personal life, I will be supplying occasional links to topics that arise. The webcomic will cover issues such as minneapolis, uptown, music scenes, art scenes, DIY art projects, web comics, self promotion and much more.

By clicking the William Hessian's webcomic tag below, you can always read the newest contribution.

Hidden art at the Wedge and Robot LOVE

I've hidden art in plain sight at two of my favorite shops in Minneapolis. One is my favorite food co-op called the Wedge and the other is a store selling designer toys and other great art, called Robot LOVE. Those of you familiar with Uptown, Minneapolis will recognize these areas quite well.

While the move to North East Minneapolis has been a fun adventure, I will admit I missed living on Lyndale Ave.

It's always fun to insert free art into the places you love.

Altered Esthetics North East's gallery for living artists

Here is a few photos from the 5 minutes I went to stop by the resident artist 5 show. I had a series of miniature drawings there, as you can see in the photos. A really great reception, and once again really impressive art. I enjoyed John Terwilliger's experimental drawing/printing works and a number of other paintings and mixed media works.

If you live in or near minneapolis, you owe it to yourself to check out Altered Esthetics

Invitation to an art show Friday

Ten of my miniatures will be on display in my favorite gallery in Minneapolis, Altered Esthetics. This is the Resident Artists 5 show, and promises to feature some great work by local artists.

Stop by this friday for the opening reception (see postcard below) and have a drink and check out some art.

Announcement: Red Hot Portrait War

You've heard it here first:

The Red Hot Art Battle! Matt Semke and William Hessian will be painting dueling portraits with a twist! Rapid fire paintings every 20 minutes. Artwork will be destroyed. A gallery of the winning portraits and the losing portraits will be on display, and available for sale, at the event. Come watch the battle, be painted, vote, and enjoy the portrait war that is: Billy Vs Matt 12.

Billy Vs Matt 12
Red Hot Arts Festival 2009
Stevens Square Park
July 6-7

Here's a promo from last years event:

Vomiting Turtle Fountain Quiz

For those Minneapolis readers, I wanted to quiz you to see if you know where this turtle fountain is located. The first to respond with the correct answer will receive a free bearded bunny. I think it is always fun to explore the amazing parks around Minneapolis, and this park is a gem. I love this fountain.

If you know the park, please leave a comment with your guess and e-mail and I will contact you and if correct, arrange to send you a free bearded bunny.

Sledding Art Battle gallery up!

You can see all 80 photos from the sledding art battle, click here.

Here are two excellent samples:



photo by jesse valley


photo by argente photographie

Tomorrow at Suicide Hill

You can see all 80 photos from the sledding art battle, click here.

For you Minnesotans, do not forget that tomorrow, Saturday January 3rd 2009 is:



The Sledding Art Battle
Billy Vs Matt 11
January 3rd, 2009
12noon-sundown
Middle of Kenwood Park (just north of lake of the isles), Minneapolis

The weather is on our side, and we hope everyone comes out to sled with us. We have chosen Suicide Hill at Kenwood Park, which is especially dangerous due to the many trees and steep slopes. The idea is simply to combine art with the winter sport of sledding. We challenge the crowd to vote on their favorite painting, and watch the losing work be frozen into a block of ice.

I have spent the last week running around getting everything ready for the battle. I am currently taking a break from duct taping my snowsuit together. It is going to be quite an event. Photos, videos, and finished work will be posted here on the bearded bunny blog, so even if you cannot make the event make sure to check back here soon, to see what you missed.

If you want to know more about the event, read the Creating Art while Sledding post.

Kenwood Park named site of Sledding Art Battle

You can see all 80 photos from the sledding art battle, click here.



The site has been announced!

Billy Vs Matt 11
Sledding Art Battle
12noon - sundown
January 3rd, 2009
Kenwood Park (just north of Lake of the Isles), Minneapolis

Learn more about Billy vs Matt 11

10 websites all Minnesota Artists should be using

Starting with the most important, I am going to list the most important websites all Minnesotan artists should be on (this is also applicable for ALL artists, just ignore #1, #3 and #4). The list is important for both new and old artists. Start at the top and go down the list, each one will help you as an artist in the internet age.

1. Mnartists
Every artist from grade school to retired hobbyist should have an account on Mnartists. The website is full of great information on art shows, galleries, grants, articles and much more. You can browse thousands of great local artists, and see what is going on in galleries around you. The forum is one of the best places to talk to other artists and get really great feedback. The other great thing is that anyone who sees your art, meets you or hears about you can visit the website and search your name. If you are signed up they can see your work, and contact you. My mnartist page continues to bring people to my website, and helps many artists I meet at art fairs, and festivals find me if they cant find my business card. If you are going to do anything on this list, sign up for mnartists, and create a good profile (it will take a while, but it is worth it!)

2. Myspace
If you have your own personal website, then myspace can simply be a portal to lead people to your own website. If you dont have a personal website, sign up for myspace, its free and its almost as good as having your own website. I have 2000 friends on my william the canvas killer account and nearly all of them are artists. It's a great place to network and meet other artists from the Twin Cities or around the world. I post all of my art on myspace, and within a few hours can get dozens of people to see my art and give me feedback.

3. Minnesota Arts Board
If you want news and info about grants and scholarships you need to get involved with the Minneapolis Arts Board. You can bookmark it, or read through are start marking up your calender for deadlines and meeting times. If you plan to be a serious artist, start working on your grant writing and proposals. Every great artist I know claims you have to be turned down 20 times before you will get a grant, so start early, and apply often. You will get better each time. I've been turned down 12 so far, so I'm getting closer.

4. Springboard for the Arts
If you are looking for assistance in any way, springboard for the arts (who have a great new website) are there to help. I personally a few of the workers, and have had a great response from them whenever I have had questions or needed advice. I search their site for jobs, grants and also added my artwork to their site. They host business skills for artists classes, and other great tools for artists.

5. Etsy
The artist's Ebay, is Etsy. It is by far the best place to sell artwork online. It costs 20 cents per item listed, and it goes up in your custom shop. I have sold 33 items so far from my shop, and have been very impressed with the site.

6. Craigslist
When I have enough time, I check craigslist everyday. If I need a part-time art job, this is the first place I come. I have found a number of small jobs, art commissions, and new fans on the artists section. I also post all of my art show opening here, and announce when I am selling new art on-line. I know for a fact, 4-5 people have become collectors of mine from craigslist alone. If you do not already use craigslist, simply go there and start looking around. It is a great tool for free materials in the "free" section, or for finding cheap paint that people do not want, or finding other artist to collaborate with. Almost anything you can think of, you can do on craigslist.

7. PayPal
Many people are nervous about getting involved with online money services, since they are rumored to be unsafe. I use paypal from the library, coffee shops and local computers and it has never been a problem for me. All artists, that want to make a good home for themselves online should be using Paypal, because its the best way to accept credit cards, and instant money from art collectors all around the world. The other great thing about paypal, is you can easily set up 'donation' forms, so people can donate money to you. Paypal does take a small percentage of your earnings, but it is still a good option if you want to sell artwork online, advertise online, or buy materials online. Like when I buy all my art materials from Blick Art Materials, my favorite art supplies store.

8. Flickr
This is one of the best free photo sharing websites on the internet. Flickr can be another great portal to get people to see your art and lead them to your mnartist, etsy shop or personal website. You may even find people who want to buy your work just from seeing it on your flickr account. Flickr makes it easy to upload many photos at once, and then allows you to post them all over the internet.

9. Blogger
You do not need to write to be a great blogger. Many artists sign up with Blogger to get a blog to simply post their art. This blog you are reading right now is my own artist blog, and I make a few dollars selling advertising space on the side. If you are an artist who signs up for a blogger account, add me to your friends and we can trade links. You can decide how much time you want to dedicate to a blog, but its very easy to simply sign up and upload your art whenever you have time.

10. www.you.com
Create your own website! I did this a long time ago, so I may not know the easiest way to design and create your own website, but having a blog, myspace and mnartist account will get you started; converting your content to your own website is a great next step. You can see my personal artist website and get an idea of what you might want. I buy my website space from bluehost for about 50 dollars a year, and really enjoy it. Cheaper hosts are available if you search around.

The Sledding Battle Ice Tower

You can see all 80 photos from the sledding art battle, click here.



A few days ago i did this quick sketch to complete a press release for
Billy vs Matt 11: Sledding Art Battle. I've spent the last few days contacting the Minneapolis Park & Rec board trying to secure the best sledding hill in Minneapolis for our art battle.

The ice tower shown above, is a conceptual sketch of the ice tower we hope to build during our battle. The losing paintings will be frozen into blocks and stacked as a sculpture for all to see.

Matt Semke and myself hope to announce the location in the next few days, and the offical post for the event is Billy Vs Matt 11. If you enjoy sledding, art, or Billy Vs Matt events makes sure to mark Saturday, January 3rd 2009 off on your calendar. Come vote, sled and watch us create art.

My work at Downtown Pizza Luce

If you have been following my blog lately you have seen me start a few new jobs (working at the walker art center and teaching legos), small drawing comissions, working on new bearded bunnies and creating art that predicts the future. You can read about all these things in my last few blog posts.

During this time Caleb Majerus sent me an e-mail about putting some work up at the Downtown Minneapolis Pizza Luce location. Caleb is also an artist, and student, who currently does the curating for Pizza Luce restaurants in Minneapolis. I saw his plaster human deer head sculpture, and it was quite amazing. Along with some very impressive paintings he had done.

I was quick to accept the offer to display work, since have lots of work piled up in my cousins house, my parents house and my own apartment just waiting for a wall to hang on. I grabbed my Politics of Plants triptych, a few of my ICON paintings, three abstract faces and a variety of other works.

We hung the show in 45 minutes, in a rush, before the place opened. I then sat down with Kelsey for some pizza, only to forget about feeding the meter and getting a nice 48 dollar parking ticket. The Minneapolis parking police are seriously on top of things, which sucks.

Meanwhile, here is the pictures from the installation of my works. All of which are for sale. Please stop by the Pizza Luce location to see the works in person if you get a chance. If you are interested in buying any of these paintings, let me know.

the politics of plants

warrios and abstract faces

Icons

You can a lot more of my work on my art website www.williamhessian.com 

Bearded Bunnies at Dunn Brothers

For those of you living in Minneapolis, you can make a quick stop for tea or coffee at the Uptown Dunn Brothers and get to see over 30 of my bearded bunnies. I was contacted to bring my works by the store and hang my series of bunnies for the month of November. 

If you are not in the Minneapolis area you can buy my bunnies at my Etsy shop. I have sold over 50 bunnies on my etsy site, and would love to sell more. Make sure to check back as I add new bunnies, and new art, all the time.

Each and every bunny on display is different; and available for sale. This is the 7th time my bunnies series has been on display in Minnesota, at different galleries of coffee shops. Including both Munkabeans and Caribou in Minnetonka, as well as Marx's Wine Bar in Stillwater, Argente Photography in Minneapolis, and my own Billy and the Old Man Gallery in Hopkins (which no longer exists).  The bunnies are also available in Art O Mats across the country, and featured here in the Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis.

If you want to see the bunnies in person, make sure to stop on by the 1506 West Lake Street Dunn Brothers in Uptown. You can also contact me if you want to make a purchase and I will be happy to meet you. Feel free to email me using my contact page.

I am looking for more places across the country to put my bearded bunny series. I have donating many of my prints to non profits, and fundraisers over the past year. I donated work to Art to Heart in North Carolina, and to help raise money for schools in Wisconsin. I feel it is very important to give back and support positive and effective non-profit organizations. 

Art Battle 11: art created while sledding

You can see all 80 photos from the sledding art battle, click here.

Creating art while sledding

and 

freezing the losing art in blocks of ice

Artists Matt Semke and William Hessian(myself) are going to create art while sledding down Kenwood Park's King hill in Minneapolis on January 3rd, 2009. The works of art will be voted on by an onlooking crowd, who is also invited to come sledding with the artists. The event is open to the public!

The losing creations in each round will be frozen into a block of ice. The next day a sculpture of frozen artworks will be stacked to memorialize the sledding ice battle in an ice tower. The ice tower will remain on display at Kenwood park until January 17th(see image below). 

In October 2008 in Minneapolis the two artists, Billy and Matt, had their tenth art battle at Steven's Square park. The battle consisted of paintings created with 10 foot poles, and the art was voted on by the onlooking crowd. The losing art was then chopped up with an axe by a random audience member.  

The eleventh Billy VS Matt art battle is designed to pay tribute to the frigid weather in Minnesota, and highlight the way the culture interacts with it. Sledding is joyful occasion for children and families in the midwest, and now is becoming the vehicle to create art for these two artists. Freezing the losing artwork (which will then be on sale afterwards) and creating a temporary scultpure is a Minnesotan way to punish the art that does not get votes from the crowd, and glorifying the art that gets the votes.

On January 3rd, Billy Vs Matt 11 Sledding Art Battle is on, we hope you plan to come sledding with us!

Billy Vs Matt 11
sledding art battle
January 3rd, 2009
12noon-sundown
Middle of Kenwood Park (just north of lake of the isles), Minneapolis

New art everyday at Cats Will Eat You dot com

Matt Semke has been a friend of mine since 2002. Our first art show together was Billy Vs Matt: paintings, sculptures, mayhem. Since 2004 we have done 10 Art Battles, ranging from live ax chopping, painting with ten foot poles, solving free energy, and rule based competitions. Together we try to make an interactive experience in which no art project is complete unless the audience takes part, we call this: endeavorism.

Semke is a full time graphic designer, musician, and visual artist here in Minneapolis. On his art website he posts one new drawing every day, and he has done this for over 400 days now. His website www.catswilleatyou.com features figure drawings, pen drawings, photography, paintings, short animations and videos. You should also check out his new band Birdsounds.



Semke is one of the most prolific artists' that I have ever met, and he creates new work constantly. His basement is absolutely filled with work, and almost anytime he agrees to show work at a venue he has the urge to create brand new work for that show.

Right now, Semke and myself are working on a Billy Vs Matt website, Battle #10 video and a booklet of battles. We are also planning Billy Vs Matt 11: sledding art! We will be creating artwork while sledding in December. The work created will then be voted on by onlooking crowd members, and the losing art will be frozen into solid blocks. Our fans from Minneapolis and nearby cities are invited to come sledding with us. Stay tuned to this blog and our websites to learn more about the time, place, and details of Billy Vs Matt 11.

Any day you want to see a new work of art, make sure to visit www.catswilleatyou.com and see what Matt Semke has in store for you.

legos, walker, hidden art & american politics

The past few weeks have been a blur of activity. I have been teaching LEGOs to kids in Edina and St. Louis Park schools through the Youth Enrichment League. At the same time I am working a couple of days a week at the Walker Art Center.

I spent last weekend performing my biggest (and actually far too big) art hunt, which was a real struggle to accomplish given the time frame in which I have prepared. However, the Minneapolis Art Hunt was really fantastic and reported over 200 thousand hits to my website. It did not hurt, and was a nice bonus to be featured on the local WCCO news.

During the actual art hunt Matt Semke and myself met in a paint in the park art battle. This was Billy Vs Matt #10: 10 foot poles and an axe! If there was not enough going on this sleepless weekend, we picked up the ten foot poles, tapped on some paint brushes and proceeded to paint pictures from ten feet away at the Steven Square Fall Festival in Minneapolis. The best part was when we randomly chose a member of the audience (who was there to buy baked goods and watch a dog show) to chop up our artwork. See picture below:



The losing artwork was voted on by the passing crowd while we painted. Make sure to read more about our art battle.


The most absurd part of this entire time period has been the stark contrast being doing a million things at once (which includes an overlap of everything going on above) and then being standing in a Walker Art Center gallery for 8 hours with only my mind to keep me occupied. I could write 20 blogs about my experience as a guard monitor at the Walker Art Center so far, and I've only been there a few weeks. The blogs would have more to do with how the center is run, what I think of the artwork, and the crazy ideas that pop into my head during the actual shifts.

The extended period of time in which I am standing in those galleries I am coming up with a million ideas, a million art projects, essay's to write, speeches to give, manifestos to draft, business plans to follow etc etc. It is really a surreal feeling to have so many varying ideas and knowing that I can only follow up with one or two of them at a time.

The reason I am writing this particular post is simply to help myself reorganize the next few weeks of my life, and understand what I am working on. By writing it here, I can also feel productive and be expressing to you what is coming next in the world of William Hessian (aka the canvas killer):

What is next:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

More bearded bunnies
Another batch of new bunnies are being created (currently at 70), and hand drawn variations are being sent around the country in Art-O-Mat vending machines.

100 miniature animals

I have booked a show (of which I hope are many) of my miniature drawings. I have not even started to create these little guys, since it feels like only yesterday I finished drawing the 35 miniature octopi for the minneapolis art hunt. The miniature will be shown in the Jamestown Art Center in or around February 2009.

American Politics
I am all ready to film a very short miniature art video, featuring a series of drawings which I call American Politics. I am hoping to do this in the next two weeks.

Card Game
For those of you that know me, you've probably already played it, and for those of you that follow this blog have probably heard about it. Those that have not can easily learn about it on my live journal.

Printable Mazes
The one other small project I am working on is a series of experimental printable mazes. The idea is to be able to make these mazes free on my website for anyone to download and print off. There will be an initial run of 12 mazes, that will be small and diverse.

The list above along with a growing list of concepts and ideas that I want to accomplish in the future will be a big part of the future of this blog. I will also be featuring other Minneapolis artists, talking about my Walker Art Center experiences, and posting a whole slew of drawings and paintings which I am trying to sell on my etsy shop.

I am on TV

WCCO Chanel 4 came to interview me yesterday. We spoke about my Minneapolis Art Hunt. You can watch the video by going to WCCO's website.

The art hunt is in its winding moments. Less than half of the artwork is remaining, and the easy clues have just been uploaded. The park locations will be revealed tonight for the remaining hidden art.

WCCO literally contacted me the night before by e-mail, asking to do a story about the hunt, and less than 24 hours later, there it was on TV on the local news. I am excited to see that my miniature art hunts, of which I performed 7 this summer on a road trip across america, are growing in popularity each place I go. Starting with website and newspaper media, and now growing to local news. I hope the trend continues.

You can learn more, and even GO on the hunt today if you have time, by checking out the information and visual clues available on www.williamhessian.com

You can also browse my last few blog posts and learn a lot more about the artwork, the concept and see videos and pictures.