"The Gangs all Here" Show at Bottleneck Gallery

This Friday, November 16th, is the opening for the group show "The Gangs all Here" featuring your favorite group, bros, family, bff, and more. Here is Bottlenecks description of the show:

"Friendship- it's the best ship of them all. Your friends are the people who make you laugh until you cry, are there for you when you are down, and pick you up when you fall. Bottleneck is set to honor our friends with "The Gang Is All Here," an exhibit dedicated to the art industry's legendary cliques, groups, buds, and gangs. Each artist will present work based on their favorite classic batch of friends, pulling from songs, films, and books. So come by and bring your gang to meet ours."

For my contribution for the show I chose the Hogwarts gang with Hermione, Luna, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. As the books developed (and the One Who Must Not Be Named gained more power), this group a lot on their plate (saving the world and all) that there was almost no time to just have fun, relax, and just have a good time. So this is my take on one of their fun times, testing some of Fred and George's fireworks.

"Witchcraft and Wizardry"

9.5 x 7 inches

Gouache and Ink

© Nicole Gustafsson 2012

Update: This painting is currently available for purchase here

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If you are interested in previewing the show before the opening, check out Bottleneck's facebook page for info and updates. Remaining works will be available online later on Sat.

Bottleneck Gallery
Opening Reception, Friday November 16th, 7 - 10pm

Showing November 16th - Dec 7th

60 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11249
www.bottleneckgallery.com

Milk - Prisma Artist Collective Exhibit

Tonight is the opening for our Prisma Art Collectives 2nd mini exhibit (there's 30 of us in the collective so we halved the group for these two mini shows, with a entire group show coming up this February!)  located at Fine Grime in Bath England. Artists participating in this exhibit are Tom Bagshaw, Hsiao-Ron Cheng, Caitlin Hackett, Ruben Ireland, Sarah Joncas, Nom Kinnear King, Jen Mann, Soey Milk, Lilly Piri, Michael Shapcott, Kaspian Shore, Allison Sommers, Bec Winnel and myself.

The show is in conjunction with the Bath Art Affair and is running November 9 - 11th. 

This is my contribution to the show. I've been interested by white deer/elk tales in mythology and choose to depict an Irish Elk because I love how crazy big their antlers are (they are also one of the largest deer to have ever lived). They died out thousands of years ago, but we still get to enjoy their fossils in museums and learn about life in that time period.

See the works from the show online at Fine Grime's website. 

Gallery1988 - Crazy 4 Cult NYC!

This Thursday is the opening to Gallery 1988 Crazy 4 Cult exhibit at NYC! Yup usually the show is hosted at their gallery in LA, but this year they decided to mix it up and show the exhibit on the east coast in NYC. Here's the details:

Crazy 4 Cult NYC - Annual Cult Movie Art Show

Gallery1988 NYC Pop-up Store

64 Gansevoort St, NY, NY 10014

Opening Reception: Thursday, Aug 9th from 6-9pm

Exhibit Showing August 9th - September 1st, 2012

With this show I always have a hard time narrowing it down to a movie to pay homage to, but I've been in love with the Monty Python folks for a while (particularly their Flying Circus tv series). From the silly walks, to memorable quotes this group of actors are awesome. So I decided to create a painting based on their characters from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Finding a holy grail is hard work and I thought they would have a little party to celebrate after the quest was completed.

 Quest Complete

10 x 9.5 inches

Gouache & ink on Rives BFK paper

© Nicole Gustafsson 2012
SOLD

Check out Gallery1988 for more info on the show!

Bike + Art

Bicycle's have been on my mind lately, partially because of a bicycle themed show here in Lincoln, and also because I finally ordered myself a new bike for commuting and riding around town.

Just my luck, I got it when we were in the middle of a heat wave, but it's cooled off and I've finally got a chance to buzz around the neighborhood a few times. I never realized how complex the bike trails in Lincoln were but I'm really glad for the bike accessibility around town.

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Here was my painting based on the bike while I was waiting for it to come in :)

Painting currently available in my shop

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I also did a larger bike themed painting with all the woodland creatures out for a spin. 

Badger seem to prefer the old-timey bikes while fox likes to zip around with cat! 

This original painting is currently available in my shop

Suspense and Gallows Humor - Tribute show to Alfred Hitchock

Opening this Friday 13th at Gallery 1988: Venice is tribute show to amazing director and visionary Alfred Hitchcock. My very first Hitchcock film I watched was "The Birds" so that is what came to mind when I was asked to contribute a piece to the show. Definitely creeped out seeing a grouping of blackbirds ever since watching the film.

"Hitchcock Presents"

 7.25 x 9.5 inches

Gouache & ink on paper

© Nicole Gustafsson 2012

Another of my favorite Hitchcock moments is his introductions for his "Hitchcock Presents" series. Quiet little jokes about the character or plot, and little quips about the sponsors at the end, I just love it! So I wanted to include Hitchcock himself in my painting, watching the scene unfolding with some popcorn in his hand for a little snack. (He'll be there a while, those darn birds don't go away anytime soon!)

Hitchcock Presents (detail), © Nicole Gustafsson 2012

Hitchcock Presents, © Nicole Gustafsson 2012

I love that they planned the show for Friday the 13th, perfect timing for a suspenseful show!

Gallery 1988: Venice

214 Pier Ave, 

Santa Monica, CA 90405

www.nineteeneightyeight.com

PS. I promised a painting tutorial blog post last week, but still working away on it! I haven't forgotten!

Try Try Again - Painting Redos

Sometimes I start a painting and it just "clicks". The paint goes exactly where I want and the color is right on. But sometimes it doesn't...and I just have to start over and try again.

              1st try - Original painting                                            2nd  try - new painting revisiting original idea.

That's what happened with my latest painting. I could clearly visualize the piece in my head but when I started painting, it just didn't work out. The colors didn't give that mossy misty forest that I was looking for, and my tree bark was too linear and lifeless. I thought I could save it by lighting but once I started that part I knew it wasn't going to work. So I ditched it before I spent anymore time on it.

The Wayfarers, 6 x 6 inches, Gouache & Ink on paper, © Nicole Gustafsson 2012

Here's the new and improved version that I am much happier with. The color and lighting adjusted to give that mossy forest feel, and the tree bark texture looser and rougher.

The Wayfarers (detail), © Nicole Gustafsson 2012

I used to get pretty bummed when something didn't turn out right or I wasn't "feeling it". Now I just set it aside and wait a little bit and try again on a new piece of paper. (Getting a new piece of paper helps wipe the slate clean. When I used thicker paper I would just turn it over. Try to "cover up" the existing painting doesn't work to well).

Sometimes when I post in-progress shots in real time on my facebook page people sometimes remark remark "gosh that was fast" but what they don't know is that there was a whole other painting before it that I had the feeling just wasn't going right!

Stay tuned next week for my blog tutorial on techniques and materials!