Has anyone been to/had a show at the Nebraska Arts Council Showcase Gallery? I went there for the first time Friday, and I was pretty impressed. It's a really nice space, and there were quite a few people at the opening. I think they have a pretty wide variety of styles there. Maybe next year Luke and I will get around to submitting an application for a show!

I also went to the Blue Flamingo this weekend. It's a thrift store/fair trade store kind of place. On the last Friday of the month, they have a little event with free coffee and cookies, live music or readings, etc. When I was talking to one of the people there about doing a painting performance at one of their events, she mentioned that they're planning a fence-painting-party for their garden in the spring. They're planning on letting anyone participate, and decorate the fence with paint, mosaic, whatever. Might be a fun activity for all of us!

I noticed we have a new blog member. Hi Sam, I think you had some paintings at the Omaha Magic Theatre at the same time Luke and I had paintings there. Small world!

Jackson Pollock

There's a website, www.jacksonpollock.org, where you can create "Pollock-esque" paintings. You just drag your mouse around - quick movements make skinny lines, slower movements make big globs. You click the mouse button to change colors at random. It's pretty fun, but at the same time, I think it portrays Pollock's work as random and chaotic (the paint flow is very hard to control). Assuming one can trust Wikipedia and my distant art history class memories, his paintings were at least partially deliberate.

Am I being too critical of what is basically just a fun website? Or does the owner of such a significant domain name have a responsibility to educate people about Pollock rather than just turning his style into a simplistic game?

Drawing with a mouse is way harder than drawing with a pencil...

Anyone feel like going to an art gallery this weekend?

My Paint Program submission.

My response to Molly's comment on Luke's Janurary 9th post.

An idea...
Do a search for "online paint program" and try to draw something with what you find. Here is my first quick attempt (captured with a screen shot). Anyone else want to try? We could have a friendly little competition! :)

Apparently there is a group of 3 people in NYC who go around decorating dog poop left on the sidewalks. It's kind of impressive, certainly amusing, and sort of nauseating.
Just curious, would you consider it art? I haven't decided yet.
http://www.sprinklebrigade.com/

I am interested to hear what people have to say about the Sounding Stones at Turner Park. From my experience not a lot of people even know what they are. Check out more Omaha Public Art.