Traffic Light Project

It's that time again!

Traffic Box Call-to-Artist

Artists are invited to apply for an opportunity to design art for traffic control boxes. Several creative folks will be selected and others added to a "Registry" for future traffic box projects.

Since 2009, the Mayor's Neighborhood Reinvestment Program, Capital City Development Corporation, and Boise City have provided funding in partnership with the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Boise Association to commission Idaho artists to design murals for Ada County Highway District
traffic control boxes in Boise. 70 are wrapped. Artists who have designed a box before are eligible to re-apply, however the selection panel may give preference to artists who have not yet participated. Boise's Department of Arts & History is facilitating artist selection process and project management.

TO APPLY

1. Artists send in ten digital visual examples of past work, letter of interest and resume (72 dpi jpgs).

2. A selection committee made up of representatives from stakeholder groups will review the applications and choose artists with whom to work. Additional artists will be selected for Traffic Box "Registry" so that if, in the next year, additional funds are available to transform other boxes, artists from the registry will be selected to create designs.

3. Selected artists will be paid $1,000 to design one mural each, featuring a community-related theme, using provided templates as a guide. Artists do not fabricate or install the final art on the box.

4. The fabricator will take the artist designs (which can be prepared as illustrations, paintings, computer designed images, quilts, mosaics, photographed sculptures or photographs), transform them into a vinyl wrap, and then apply them to the traffic boxes.

5. Artworks will be celebrated with a dedication and walking tours on a date to be announced.

Four-Thousand!

Wow. Good luck keeping a secret on the internet! Some time this week, this blog will see 4000 people come and go. The stats are crazy. A lot of people see me on Google. They come for things as diverse as Ian's penguins or Terri's cats, to my Aerosmith logo. Facebook is another door you all come in, much thanks! In celebration of this Georgia and I are letting our new banner fly. Comment on it or any of the other posts. Your opinion is greatly appreciated. Cheers!

For the record we hit 4000 Sunday  ~ 3/11/2012 around 3:00 P.M.

Does it matter?

Does it matter? Natural world disappearing from kids books

Books set in nature like "Where The Wild
Things Are" are becoming far less common, according to new research.

Prof. Chris Podeschi discusses his new research finding a sharp decline of nature and animals in children's books.

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From wild animals to jungles and forests, a new study says kids books about nature are becoming a threatened species. Researchers from several universities reviewed nearly 300 award winning children's titles written between 1938 to 2008. Study co-author, Prof. Chris Podeschi of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, told 97.3 KIRO FM they found a troubling trend when comparing books written in the past to the near present.
"Earlier, the books were really sort of more nature centered, the settings chosen, the animals present were just more prominent," Podeschi said.
Books like "Where the Wild Things Are, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Little Red Riding Hood" have given way more and more to urban settings with fewer animals.
"We're just worried that along with grownups, now kids are increasingly isolated from the natural world in their actual experience."
And he said while there are plenty of great books still being written about the natural world, they worry people will ultimately stop caring about nature and animals as they turn increasingly to a technology centered world.
"We urbanize substantially, park visitation is down as a society, we turn to electronic gadgets that are more and more prominent in our lives," he said.
Not exposing kids to nature through books sparked plenty of conversation and disagreement among the Seattle's Morning News crew. Co-host Linda Thomas argues kids get a bum rap, and any reading is good reading.
"I just thought as long kids were reading or parents were reading to kids, you're ahead of the game there. I really think as long as kids are reading, it doesn't matter what they're reading," Thomas said.
Co-host Tom Tangney argues kids get plenty of exposure to nature from other places. He says his nephew's favorite show is "Dinosaur Train," a weekly exploration of natural environments and animals.
"I think there's a real push in all sorts of different platforms. Nature is more popular than ever," Tangney says.
"That's not nature, that's the nature channel...a screen is not the real world," replies co-host Bill Radke.

Art As Therapy (Part 3)

Color and line set a mood ~ or can give the artist’s mood a way; either way with this next piece I wanted to see if I could get everything in order to create a happier piece. The idea came from this idea I had. She had not painted anything in a long while, so I told her we should trade portraits.

"I'll do one of you and you do one of me!" ~ great idea.
This is the one I promised her. I'm still waiting for mine.

This piece I pick proved my point. Set your mind to it
and you can squeeze out a little happy on to your canvas.

Happy in = Happy out!

Art As Therapy (Part 2)

I've talked a lot about color, line, and how my mood had a part in the last self-portrait. So now we need to talk about the creative process itself. I realized something the other day about my art, and life in general; Try this with me.

Look at something ~anything, a horse, a house, a word~ anything. Hold it in your head. Now try to draw it. Hard as I’ve tried, from conception to delivery, I lose a lot (sometimes all). I do realize that sometimes it turns out better than the picture I had in my mind, because of the variations.  I did one for you just so you can see what I mean. The top one  is what I saw in my head. The other is my translation. Far from a perfect rendering, but it has more of my own voice. This one is ready for a card to someone I love.

My point is ~ we have an idea in our head whether it’s a horse, a house or how we treat each other, and it rarely turns out how we think it will. Here is the art as therapy part; by embracing the good parts of  your art piece or life and holding on to them, we can begin to see the perfection in the imperfections...

...or something like that.

David Street Art Turns 3000!

Time for a change. I am growing weary of the "Basic Black" treatment of my blog. Time to mix it up a little with one of my favorite watercolor splotches, Thanks to Google, I am getting more hits ~ and today 1/20/12; I hit 3000 at 5:00 PM Boise Time!! Thanks everybody!

High Watermark

This marks my fiftieth post! I’m pleasantly surprised. I had a class at BSU that required me to blog regularly. It was very unnerving. I can speak in public without a moments notice; but ask me to put those same thoughts on paper, not only will it cause me to go into a complete tail spin, you will not see your paper for weeks. I’ve over come a great deal of that anxiety with this project, and accomplished creating a forum for my thoughts and art work. ~ So cool, here's to another fifty! Thanks for your support. I've posted a new blog header; among other things, Georgia's picture has got some bling!

Say Cheese!

Art, in any form, is just a snapshot in time. It's but a brief layover for the artist as well as the viewer on their way to something bigger and brighter.

The Life magazine cover by Alfred Eisenstaedt of the sailor and the nurse kissing is iconic now. But he was just there at the right time. Did you know U.S. Navy photo journalist Victor Jorgensen captured another view of the very same scene? Each picture is taken at the same moment, but each still tells a different story.

I have a picture of me taken not too long ago. I was down in Joshua Tree, CA, visiting my friend Elena. She’s a very talented and accomplished photographer. You need to go see her work [www.elenaray.com].

The photograph is one she took of me in front of the hotel room where Gram Parsons died. ~ Creepy, I know, but it’s my hobby, [I have a picture of me with my oldest son at Jimi Hendrix grave]

I’m using the picture in front of the hotel door for my profile picture because Elena took it, and it represents a fleeting moment in my life were, a least in my head, I was in a very relaxed state. It’s nice to look at that picture, and think of that day and remember that feeling.

Elena said later, "It was truly your Jim Morrison moment."

"In this moment you were completely mentally and energetically free." She continued, "...and very much in touch with your mystical source, which enhanced your masculinity in an expression of presence and completeness. Notice the locked hands: strength and solidity, held close to your body center so it is not aggressive but more spiritual like a monk. The 8 at the door also signifies infinity. The doorway itself is a metaphor for your relationship to the unknown. The dark glasses are a paradox, they hide your eyes allowing you to see but remain unseen, though your gaze at the camera is penetrating."

Thank you Elena. Great insight.

Art of The State (Continued)

After my Snow White post the other day I got sent pictures of old SW album covers. Thanks for thinking of me. Here is the one I was talking about. I love the Internet. The album is as cool as I remember it. If you need more info read - Sunday, May 30, 2010 "Art of the State" I'll talk more in depth about this album.
By the way, Disney re-released SW in 1967; that is when my sister took me to the drive-in to see it.

Here is what was posted with the artwork:

ST-3906, 1962
Songs by L. Morey, F Churchill
Music from the soundtrack of the motion picture

This is the Magic Mirror storyteller LP, originally released in 1960. The first version was released in 1957 as the "round cover." It isn't a read-along, though the album cover does fold out to reveal a full-size storybook. I can't find it mentioned anywhere on the album or the cover, but the Golden Age of Walt Disney Records 1933-1988, a pricing guide, lists Annette Funicello as the narrator.

To Tattoo Or Not To Tattoo

People have come to me lately and asked me to design tattoos for them; which I have, and it reminds me of a story. I was asked by a friend of mind some time ago why I don’t have any tattoos. One reason was I didn’t know what I wanted; the other reason was, if I came up with an idea I would probably come up with more, and then turn myself into a coloring book.

So as soon as I said that ~ there I was with the best idea. In “that is so me” form. I decide I want a sleeve; thousands of dollars, hours of time, and in the end something that I don’t really need. I wanted something that reflected me and my kids, and because I always love Maurice Sendak’s artwork, I wanted his art work. My design has eight characters from “Where the Wild Things Are,” seven monsters to represent the kids and Max to represent me. I had two tattoo artists in mind, but time, and money, and pain being what there are, I have put this design on something a little bit more practical.

I’ve been living in my Mom and Dad’s house again and I’ve reconnected with it. I've taken one of the doors and painted the design on it. This way I can take a piece of the house with me when I go. Mom and Dad are both gone now, and their house will be sold eventually. There are so many memories associated with the house. My sister was six years old when they bought the house in 1956; I was brought home from the hospital to it. Now I've got the hall door, and I'm taking it with me. I'll probably have it for another 50 years.I think that is a better idea then a tattoo.

Here is a picture of the project do far.
Go check out Maurice’s illustrations. He did more than just children’s books.

The Art of The State

I was a little, little kid, like five, and I can still remember going to JC Penny’s to look at albums; my how things do not change! I saw a Disney LP for Snow White. The cover was beautiful. My mom would not buy it for me. I don’t know how soon after that, but I do remember thinking, “Well fine. I’ll just make my own.” I took out the scissors, the stapler, the cardboard, the crayons, and pencils. I made my own! I can remember thinking how cool it was going to be to listing to this. Did you already see this coming? Well, much to my disappointment, I looked into the sleeve; mine did not have the record! Never the less, this was my jumping off point for my love of album art. I would go through the seventies, eighties, nineties, and well into the new millennium before I would get to do real album art and much to my disappointment everything had gone to the smaller CD jewel case format. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worst. It did. With the switch to Internet download music, album art work has been reduced to postage stamp size art. So with all of this being said, here are two of my most resent pieces. Go to iTunes and cd baby and search for Brian Bateman. You'll like the music, and you'll see my stuff "in the rack". The project is a little bit bigger than a postage stamp here. I thought you would appreciate that.

Griffin's Sketchbook Art

Griffin is my fifteen year old that I’ve told you about; he’s the one that could draw since forever. When I heard he was giving away sketchbook art, I made sure I got some. He’s going to be the guy his friends hold on to his stuff waiting for him to be famous. Well I’ve got one in my pile of kid’s stuff that he did when he was three! I’ll have to show you later, because I don’t know how to explain it now. Here is some of that sketchbook work; great storytelling and character development. Go see more of his finished stuff at two of his websites. Cheers.

http://soulfirebang.deviantart.com/
http://fourth.covenantunderground.com/

The Man Who Minds The Moon

The piece you see above you is James C. Christensen's "The Man Who Minds The Moon". He is one of my favorite artist. He's pretty closed mouth about what his pieces are about, fortunately his art has a lot to say for itself. - "I'm OK on my own James" - What I like best, is to find out what gave him the idea in the first place. He taught at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT for twenty years. During that time he taught one of my professors from Boise State, Bill Carman. Prof. Carman was my teacher for most of my illustration classes. Look them both up. You'll be glad you did.

“Ugly Baby God”!

When I’m an Art teacher, I’m going to assign a project like “Ugly Baby God”! We were to find the strangest subject and then put it in an even stranger environment. Georgia had this really scary ugly baby doll that was one of my first choices. When I took it to class so everyone could see it, the ugly baby was a hit. Early sketches had the doll in an “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” thing, as an Aztec chief sacrificing another ugly baby to the gods, and finally an ugly baby in the “Thinker” pose, its own head in hand, contemplating its self. All good ideas, but I opted for making ugly baby a god standing on its own creation “created in its own image” looking into infinity. It was a fun project! I hope my students like it too.

Self Portrait No.10

This started out as my last assignment in the watercolor class I talk about. It was all free hand, about 2’X 3’. I love the feel of all the Catholic Icons. There is an innate mystic quality to them. I was reluctant to pattern a self portrait after one though, because some people actually believe the Icon has healing powers. I learned a lot from the project ~ again ~ the teacher was really good at giving away some of his tricks. On the robe he showed me how to take the wet red watercolor, put plastic wrap and dry it with a hair dryer to give the finished piece the look of drapery, very cool! The piece was designed with a blank square in the arms of the subject. I wanted to photo graphic the painting, and then in Photoshop be able to put my favorite album cover there. Why you may ask? Why not I answer?! It’s a piece that lends its self to change, and I like that.

Self Portrait No. 8

Last project @ B.S.U in 2008. Self portrait 5'X6', charcoal on old children's book pages. This was a great class. I'm really looking forward to being back in Boise with the kids, and going back to school.

Calico Ghost Town

Before I came back to Barstow in September of 2008, I thought Calico was just a place you took relatives from out of town. I needed to go someplace different to draw, so I drove up to Calico. My sister loves the place. She's the one that turned me on to just hanging out there. I sat near the old school house and worked on a new project for hours. The feeling up there was real nice. Peaceful. I'll be doing it again real soon; closer to sunset this time. Look for the new project to be posted soon.

My New Favorite Word

Simpatico [sim·pa·ti·co] –adjective

congenial or like-minded; likable:

"I find her simpatico in every respect."

Return of the Splotch

This poster was for a friend of mine.

Lets go back a little bit. It started in High School. The local bands would come to me and ask if I would design their fliers and logos. Back then, everything was done by hand. If there was a mistake, I would have to start over. Advances in the last ten years have changed the way I do everything. What I can do on the computer today, was impossible to do back then. Adobe products, like Photoshop and Illustrator, allow me to add and subtract things from my original art quickly, therefore cutting down on time and frustration. Getting back to this piece. I love all the colors. To think it started from just a little doodle I drew at lunch. Everything is basically just one layer on top of another. From my original ideas, to line drawings, to watercolor splotches, and hand written text, forty layers finally making up one piece. It was a great learning experience. I had a great time!

[one of those splotches from the watercolor class is in this piece]

The Brady Bunch On Acid

This one is my favorite. It started as a project with just the kids in a straight line, and ended up with the nine grid. Truth is, these days we’re more like the Brady Bunch on acid. G.[First Square, Second Row], and I worked very close together on his. All the kids where pretty vocal about their renderings, and gave some good feedback. H. [Second Square, Second Row], said “You made me look like a chipmunk!” S. [First Square, First Row], is the first born, and the first drawn. His success promised everyone after him success. I. [Second Square, First Row], always has a smile on, teeth optional. C. [Third Square, Second Row], like the flame red backdrop,he always has something cooking on the back burner, and when it’s ready, it's guaranteed to be mind blowing. L. [Third Square, Third Row], is the youngest of the boys, and there is no doubt, he can hold his own. Youngest of the seven kids, and the only girl, G-G. [Second Square, Third Row] Well, she's everybody’s favorite, and you can see why. Blessed vessel of all these beautiful cherubs is J. [First Square, Third Row] I know, because I was there to see every single one come out of her. [Third Square, First Row]That's me.