When a panda offers you a gift certificate...

This is the blogs first holiday season and I've had people tell me that they are planning a painting from through here as a holiday gift. This is great! I can handle several in the next few weeks. I'm geared up and I'm fast. ...but order soon if you want something by Christmas ... or Hanukkah or New Years or Ground Hogs Day or whatever. (If you want to order just ask me and I'll give you the timeline I'm working with.).

However, in keeping with the sometimes lazy spirit of the season, I am also offering the option of a Panda Licking on a Light Bulb Gift Certificate. Easy as can be. You'll barely have to think. You can be hands off and let the recipient choose the subject matter or you can take this opportunity to spend quality time with that special someone, plotting out the painting together, filling it with tiny dreams.

The Gift Certificate is the same price as a painting, $53 US, which covers everything, including my blood sweat and tears and 1st class shipping. I'm putting an expiration date of January 7, 2011 on them because that will be the Panda's two year anniverary. I've committed to keep painting for this blog at least until then. And if you can't decide on a painting in a year, someone should probably put a stop to it. Right?

The lucky recipient of the gift certificate will be mailed a handsome card featuring the inspiring new paint-by-number Panda Licking on a Light Bulb logo (as seen above) by artist and designer Nikolas Kouzes. Inside the card will be an official gift certificate signed by me and a short explanation of this blog with the info on how to order their small custom made painting. On each certificate is a secret code (practically unbreakable and devised by me while in a very lucid state of mind) which will be quoted for online redemption along with their request. The rules will be the same as always. One certificate will be for one painting, regardless of complexity of subject matter. Always 3.5" x 5.5" acrylic on wood.

To order , email your request for a painting or Gift Certificate to:

panda@johnmegas.com

You will then be sent a secure invoice through PayPal and contacted with any questions.

An olive tree's Orthodox dream...

Here is a variation on the olive tree painting I made earlier this week. This is a second painting reworking the request from Mary Antonakos on the subject of our friend Diane Katsiaficas. I am very pleased with the original, but when I was writing the blog post for it, I thought of a different approach.
What we have here is essentially the same painting as An olive tree's dream... which I posted earlier this week. It has the same subject matter, the same composition, same basic colors (I didn't even clean my palate), I just decided to force a byzantine style onto it.

One of the things that Diane and I have in common is that we both love, and are heavily influenced by, Byzantine art. Why not reference this?

Here,I imitated elements from paintings of the Eastern Orthodox World that spanned more than 1,500 years. Almost all Byzantine work is about figure, so this is unusual. I poured through several books of Byzantine art studying the sparse backgrounds. (Something I loved doing). Beth was unimpressed by the original birds I put in the sky, so tonight she paged though hundreds of images to find better birds for me to reference. She was right so I changed them. (But turned down her suggestion of adding the ominous black bird that looks over St. John the Theologian's shoulder as he writes Revelations on Patmos).

The actual painting of this came very easily to me. This is a style that I love but have never attempted to adhere to strictly. Very fun for a me (believe it or not)!

One thing this blog does is give me plenty of painting exercise. It 's keeping my art muscles fit. (... where ever they may live).

Since this painting has no owner, I'm going to send it to Diane Katsiaficas. There is nothing better than sending someone unsolicited art. Right?

Thank You Mary Antonakos for starting this ball of wax.

...and thank you to whichever part of my obsessiveness it may have been that made me explore this again.

An olive tree's dream...

This painting is a request from Mary Antonakos. I've recently had the pleasure of meeting Mary at the National Hellenic Museum where she is one of the curators of Neolaia/Pathos, an exhibition of "young" Greek artists in which I currently have work. When I met Mary at the opening, I instantly liked her and we've kept in touch since through the magic of Facebook.

The subject of Mary's request for me is our mutual friend, the wonderful artist, Diane Katsiaficas. (Diane is the other curator of Neolaia). Mary asked for a of portrait of Diane and Greece. But not a literal "portrait".

I met Diane Katsiaficas a few years ago when I was in school at the University of Minnesota where she has been a professor for years. Both being Greek, we had an obvious connection. (If you haven't figured it out yet, everyone in this story is Greek). Diane Katsiaficas is a ridiculously talented artist and she smiles a lot. That's hard to beat. But when preparing for this painting I realized that I don't know Diane very well.

Since they are close friends, I asked Mary to send me some stories about Diane. Mary talked about visiting Diane's house on the sea near Athens and how Diane cares for the land and the house with her own hands. Mary made the suggestion of a painting that is light and airy using olive trees and birds.

I looked at Diane's website again for inspiration. The image on the home page is an olive tree. I knew I had to use a tree. I liked the idea of flying birds. We are talking about Greece here, so blue has to be the dominate color, right? There you have it.

My painting isn't completely light and airy. I remembered a work of Diane's that I saw a couple of years ago about the terrible forest fires that have recently plagued Greece. I wanted to reference this. (Every Greek I know has some kind of forest fire burning in them, for good or otherwise).

I originally had a full fledged inferno burning in the background but I decided to go back and tame it to a yellow glow. I didn't want this to be a literal burning landscape. I wanted it to feel more dream-like and subtle. I watered down some of the colors on the surface and sanded areas to keep everything from being too well defined.

The way things came out with the yellow halo, it almost looks as if the tree is thinking about the birds. They might only be the tree's dream. Roots and wings.

In retrospect, I maybe should have approached this painting differently. Diane and I both very much love Byzantine painting. I could have made visual references to that... but I can explore that later...

Thank You Mary Antonakos, this has truly been a joy. .

..and hello, Diane!

Here are some links to check out:

Diane's website: http://www.dianekatsiaficas.com/

and

I Space : http://www.ispace.uiuc.edu/ (Mary Antonakos is the gallery director here).

Organized?

This is a typical Myerly request. One word with no elaboration. I was chatting with Becky Myerly the other day and complaining about disorganized people making my life difficult. (Though I think I may be one of them.) Out of no where Becky took out her checkbook and told me to make her a painting from the word "organize". As always, I'm up for this kind of thing.

This is the fifth painting I've made here for the Myerly family. I met Becky and her daughter Sophia the day after I wrote the first post of the Panda. I was so focused on the blog that I couldn't shut up about it. Fortunately, they were interested.

I've been reading a lot of kids science books to Theo. We recently read Magic School Bus Goes to The Bees (or something like that). In not so many words, it told us that bees are organizational robots. The only way they are able to survive is by dividing up their work and relying on one another. I think we read something similar to this in The Magic School Bus Kicks it with Ants (or something to that effect), but ants aren't as attractive, so bees it is.

I actually made this painting twice. I painted it, was unhappy with it, gessoed over it, and then painted it again with the same subject matter. Why? ...I thought it would look better the second time. Does it? I don't know.

I'm not certain that this painting is as much about organization as it is about obsessiveness. Maybe I sometimes confuse these two things. It would explain a lot.

While I was drawing out the bees for the second time, I couldn't help but think about those 4H bug boards, where they place the Latin names under the stick pinned carcasses in neat rows. Very organized. Different bugs classified by similarities hanging with their own kind. Organization relies on classification and classification effects the way we think about things. If I were to go to the 4H building at the Minnesota State Fair to study a preteen's board of local bee species and find a cicada on it labeled "North American Green Bee", I would make different assumptions about what a cicada is. But a cicada is not a bee?... depending on the criteria for classification. Right? They certainly have things in common.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that being organized is walking a fine line between rigid thinking, crazy thinking and...well, being organized. Perhaps someday I will be able to walk on that line correctly.

Thank You Becky Myerly!

A Swan in San Francisco.

This is a new commission from Leon Mott who is back with request for a close friend of the family, Lynn Hart. Lynn lives in the Bay area and loves San Francisco. She is very also proud of her Finnish heritage. This is what I was given.
Different people have different approaches in how they give me a painting request. Some people tell me a story, some give a detailed description, some just offer me a word a single word and ask me to take it from there. I usually like to get the patron to brainstorm with me so we can collaboratively come up with an idea, but not everyone is open to that.
Leon approach, on all four paintings we've done together on this blog, is to tell me about the person the painting is intended for, and let me go from there. This time, however, he came up with the idea of painting the San Francisco skyline with blue and white, the colors of the Finland. I liked this but wanted one more image to really peg the Finnish reference. After some Google Image searches, I found out that the swan was a the National bird of Finland. I realized that a flying swan was roughly in the shape of a cross, the symbol on the Finnish flag. Everything from here fell easily into place. ...But I wanted it to be a little subtle, not too graphic, more naturalistic. I think it does the trick.

I've had some revelations over the past couple of weeks. I've been working on a proposal to try to get an artist fellowship. One of the things I needed to do was write a narrative about my work. I cut and pasted together pieces from the many artist statements I've written over the past five years and tried to make something cohesive out of my old ideas. On the second page of it I mention this blog/project and quickly dismiss it.
The people who I asked to review this ugly first draft called me on it. I've certainly spent a lot of time on this project over the past year. (This is my 31st painting for the Panda since January!). Beth, my wife, read it and her response was, " why do you treat the blog like the ugly step sister?".
Time to rethink this?
I've been relooking at what I do here and have decided maybe there is more to it than I thought. Previously, this was a fun little project to engage people. Now, I'm seeing a strange complexity to the whole thing that wasn't completely consciously intended. I'm also seeing more connections between this and my "personal" work.
When the awesome writer, Karen Lillis, kindly set up the FaceBook page for the Panda, she asked if I wanted any of my other work in the "pictures" section. I told her "no" and that the works live in two different universes. She thought this was funny (probably thought I was funny). I think I was a little delusional. I was thinking very rigidly in my strict separation.
I do think this project does need to remain as separate body of work and keep it's rules and focus the same for it to remain interesting, however, it should be separate but equal. Right?
The Panda is now almost half of what I talk about on that narrative and I'm working out and artist statement for this project alone. ...but I'm not changing it.

Thank You, Leon, for your triumphant return to the blog.

Here is a link to my new website...of my "other" work: http://www.johnmegas.com/

...and read The Second Elizabeth by Karen Lillis. http://www.myspace.com/eyescorpion

A Green Rabbit that Speaks Bird.

Molly Fox obviously spends some time in a different world. She she sent me some vital information about that world and asked me to paint something from it.
Here is part of her long request:

There is a hamster who is the founder of the (scholarly research) institute. There's a chipmunk who's his right hand man, he's the administrator and tech guy. There is a green rabbit who speaks bird. They are cute but serious.

This is a lot of characters. I figured I'd better narrow it down because I didn't want to go super miniature. The rabbit speaking bird was intriguing. Somehow translating bird language is part of the research? I don't know, but that seemed the direction to go. It implies an action.
My first reaction was that it would look like children's book. Maybe Frog and Toadish. But, why do all crazy stories have to be geared toward children? I thought it would be more interesting do some pleasing designy thing with this. However, when I made the bird, I instinctively went a little expressionistic and I didn't want to turn back. I landed somewhere strange.
The rabbit is very detailed, the bird cruder, visible sound waves, a stylized yellow sky. Maybe kind of a mess, but I think there is a charm to it. I like the outcome but I feel I should know better.

So far, I've made about thirty paintings for people through this blog and, as far as I know, everyone has been happy with what I've done. ...But this can only go on forever, right? Someone is bound to be upset about the painting I make them. I'm bound to get something wrong or interpret subject matter in a way that they find objectionable. I guess that is just the risk you take. I'll be sure to post any mean comments I may get in the future. (Hopefully not from Molly).

Thank you, Molly! I hope this brings some new inspiration to the mythology you've been creating. ...or at least ...you like it.

It Could Have Been A Seven Toed Cat.

Several months ago I donated a Panda Gift Certificate to a silent auction benefiting The Bridge for Youth, a shelter for homeless and runaway youth, located in South Minneapolis. Jeremie Holmes was kind enough to support this organization and purchased the certificate.

Here is his request:

Jeremie and his partner vacationed in Key West this last May and wanted something to remind them of their trip. He gave me some words as a guide "smiles, sunsets, love, adventure..." and so on. Nothing very specific.

I've never been to Key West. I started my process by looking up pictures and information about the island. I was instantly grabbed by an article about Earnest Hemingway's inbred cats whose descendants live on his former Key West estate. There are about 50 of them. Many have six or seven toes on each paw. There is a special legal protection extended to them. Really. ...but this wasn't what I was asked to paint.

I quickly found it hard to create a memory for a trip that I wasn't on. If I went too literal, I would get things wrong. Record memories as they weren't. I thought it would be better to make something vague that might provoke memory. Create a mood that may relate to a trip to Key West.

I found some aerial views of the island online that I liked and decided to print them to study. The color ink cartridge on my printer was low, so, they came out kind of washed out and with strange colors. This looked like memory to me.

After painting a very blurry, soft organic island shape, I decided to add lines to suggest buildings and roads. Bustling Key West shouldn't look desolate, right?

I spent a very long time on this painting, working very instinctively, not thinking to much in a logical way, just feeling my way through it.

...I just realized the image looks a little like a single celled organism. I don't know why, but this seems appropriate.

Speaking of trips, last weekend my family and I went to Chicago for the opening of Neolaia/Pathos: new.youth.passion. at the National Hellenic Museum. (I have three paintings in this show.) It was a great experience and the show is very well done...and, more importantly, interesting. The exhibition is running through January 9th, 2010. If you find yourself in the Chicago area, stop by. I love the Hellenic Museum!

Thank you to Curators Diane Katsiaficas and Mary Antonakos.

...and Thank You Jeremie Holmes for this opportunity to paint for you ... and for your support of The Bridge.

Radioactive Blood.

Niki Francioli wanted a painting for her boyfriend, Gil, as a birthday present... but she wasn't sure what. On her request, I met with her to brainstorm.
Niki told me that her boyfriend is from Minneapolis, likes Grain Belt Premium Beer and Jamison, and rides his bike everywhere. Then she slipped in that he would really like Spiderman to be in the painting, but then she dismissed it. She probably thought that I wouldn't do it. I sensed this was important to him, so, Spiderman needed be present in some way.
I went home and thought about it extensively over the next few days. I was stumped. I decided to post it as a challenge on the Panda Facebook Page. While I got some good and creepy responses, I used Molly Fox's idea of having a scene with the WebSlinger on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge by the historic Grain Belt Beer sign. This painting is completely Minneapolis.
Spiderman was problematic for me because I don't know anything about him beyond the cheaply made 1970's cartoon. Is he tough, listen Bud, he's got radioactive blood. That kind of thing. I could make many mistakes (which I may have).
I didn't want to paint something that looked like the cover of a comic because...well...what would be the point? Why wouldn't you just hang up the cover of a comic book? I can't paint Spiderman as well as the guy who draws the comic.
I went with the postcard gone wrong theme instead. It called for a lot of little detail. By the end I felt like I was painting the head of a pin. Pushed my new painting glasses to their limit.
I used my tiny 0000 sized paint brush (as immortalized in Catharina Jarl's Haiku) extensively on this painting. (Also, like the Haiku, this painting features the Mississippi River).
This is really a complicated subject matter to make small scale. The proportions are a little weird. Spiderman is giant next to the bridge...but really...who cares? It helps the narrative.

This painting marks the end of my summer break from the blog. Theo will start school again next week. It's cooling down. Autumn will soon place it's chubby fingers on our heads one more time.
I will go back to posting at least one painting a week.

Thank You, Niki and Happy Birthday, Gil!

Waiting for the School Bus... John's Request.

This piece was made for me from my request by artist Cara Lynn Kleid. It was part of a trade. I made her the bonsai painting I posted here last month and she made this awesome piece for me. Here was the request I emailed her:

I wake up at 5:30 every morning to get my son, Theo, ready for kindergarten. I usually let my wife, Beth, sleep because she works longer days than me.

I live in Minneapolis where the days are very short and cold in the winter. Theo catches his bus at 6:40 am. Half of the year it is still pitch black at this time. In January, we walk to the bus stop and it's usually dead quiet, and looks like night, the stars and the moon are out. It's often well below zero and snow may be piled waist high next to the sidewalks. No one is out. Sometimes we are so cold, we jump around. Sometimes we look at the sky and talk about how far away and big things are.

Sometimes it's unbearable to be out there so tired and frozen. But it is also beautiful.

I told Cara to take any part of this narrative or all of it and do with it as she will. It turns out she told the entire story and completely captured the feeling of it. The rush to get out to the bus stop, the calm of waiting, the haziness of cold early morning, it's all there. If you look at the image closely, you will see that the location of each of my family members is labeled.

The lines of the bus are so simple and confident and loose...it's really hard to draw like that. Plain and simple, her work is really impressive... and she makes it look so easy. Damn you, Cara!

Cara requested that I send the painting I made to her father, Joe, in Florida who raises bonsais. I was pleased when she forwarded me some pictures he had taken of it with his trees.

Thank You, Cara!

As always, check out Cara's website:

http://www.caralynnkleid.com/

Motorcycle Sappho!

Yes ... you saw it ... and now you're going to have to deal with it...Motorcycle Sappho!
Stephanie Huss commissioned this painting for her close friends Beth and Allison as a gift for them on their commitment ceremony this coming weekend. Steph requested a larger piece than the usual blog size and I agreed to it. This painting is an enormous 10"x12". It dwarfs everything else on this blog.
Steph didn't have a specific subject in mind. She ran some basic information about her friends by me and then asked if I knew of any women in ancient mythology that ruled the world together. I didn't but mentioned the ancient Greek poet Sappho who ruled the poetry world from the island of Lesvos (from which the word "lesbian" was derived. Etymology!). Sappho was a respected and popular figure in the ancient world whose work travelled well outside the boundaries of Greece. Very little is known of Sappho and most of that is debated. At one time Nine volumes of her poetry circulated but now only one complete poem exists, everything else is just fragments. (However, I can watch the complete first season of "Charles in Charge" on Hulu...preservation...). Many of here works are love poems to women.
I bought a board and was going to do an ancient Greekish looking portrait but thought it needed some kind of fresh context. I knew I didn't want it to look like the lurid grotesquely-romantic paintings of Sappho that were popular in Western Europe in the 19th century. Half-naked women leaning against each other lounging by the sea.
I showed the original ancient source pictures I was going to use to Beth (Megas, to whom I'm married...two Beth's in this story...) because I know she never pulls any punches with me, even when I'd prefer it. Beth was unimpressed. She burst out with "Sappho should be riding a motorcycle". It was the worst idea I had ever heard. ...but it was kind of awesome... maybe?
I wrote our friend Karen Lillis in Pittsburgh and ran it by her. I thought she would be a good judge on the awesome/yuck factor of this one. She was excited about it. I called Steph and she gave me a big thumbs up. Motorcycle Sappho it is.
I changed the basic style and color scheme of this painting more times than I can remember. I originally approached it with the idea of an ancient world artifact but that seemed too gimmicky. At one point it was more graphic and Sappho looked suspiciously like a cartoon Nia Vardalos. There were scorpions and a cobra for a while. It also went through a darker German Expressionist phase. I lightened it up and made it much less angular and we got what we have now. I'm alright with the result. I didn't want it to be too ridiculously serious or too much of a novelty piece. If the couple are not satisfied with it they can scrape off a couple layers, they are bound to find something they like underneath.

My blog posts have slowed down significantly this summer. Back in February, I was doing about two a week. My son, Theo, is on summer break and my time has been more limited. I will keep chugging away slowly through the summer and pick up again stronger once autumn hits. However, I'm certainly still pleased to get more requests. So keep them coming and I'll light a fire under my chair.
I've recently received an image of the piece artist Cara Lynn Kleid made from my request (see "Bonsai!") and I will post that within the week. It's beautiful and kind of wacky! My favorite combination.

Thank you, Stephanie, and my best wishes to Beth and Allison. I wish you many happy years!