visual art

I’d Walk 500 Miles (Whyte Avenue Art Walk)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

When I wake up, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you. When I go out, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you. If I sell art, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who sell art right next to you.

Edmonton is well known for it’s festivals and it even hosts events like Nextfest and The Works to help out burgeoning visual artists. These events are fantastic for exposing artwork at a gallery and curatorial level, but what they don’t do is address the part of art making that is ALWAYS on the mind of creative professionals.

How are we gonna get paid?

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Well truth be told, there are ways to achieve these results, but most of them require networking, whether that is through the traditional method of gallery representation, word-of-mouth, developing a virtual gallery online and pursuing networking opportunities through social media, or if you live in Edmonton, there is a special event every summer that serves as both sidewalk gallery and outdoors studio.

The particular festival is called The Whyte Art Walk. Sometimes known as The Art Walk by long-time fans.

With over 40,000 visitors Whyte Avenue becomes quite a sight to behold, catering to your production machine types to your contemporary subversives, Edmonton brings on the best and the brightest to show you a broad range of art. There is definitely something there for all of us.

Now for the hard part.

Unfortunately you just missed The Art Walk this year, as it already took place last weekend from July 8-10, but that doesn’t mean you can’t mark it on your calendar for next year! In 2017 The Art Walk will take place from July 7-9 inclusive, and it will run a 4km walk from 101 street all the way to 108 street and along Whyte avenue. Artists will also spill out into grassy areas like the Dr. Wilbert McIntyre park on 104 street and near The Station on 102 street.

It really is incredible to witness all of the hundreds of artists available to buy from and witness in the act of art making in the Old Strathcona area.

The event is organized by The Paint Spot, as it was cofounded by The Paint Spot and The Old Strathcona Foundation, this annual festival has now been running for over 20 years. And if YOU want to be part of The Art Walk, you should reach out to The Paint Spot team via The Art Walk website.

I hope you take a look dear readers, because The Art Walk isn’t just for you or me, it’s for the local community and a way to connect us all a little bit closer to the arts. But that’s just a theory. Have an excellent weekend and I’ll see you on Sunday for something rather stimulating.

Tim!

Talkin’ About My Generation (Nextfest 2016)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

It’s Thursday time! it’s Thursday time!

And you know what that means… personal updates, calendar occasions, or local events!

Let’s spin the wheel and find out. Tick, tick ticktick tick tick tickticktick ticktickticktickticktickticktick ticktick tick tick tick tick tick

And the wheel stops on local events!

Which is fantastic because I want to write about a local event today – it’s an event that started exactly one week ago and which will be wrapping up this Sunday, an event called Nextfest.

Nextfest is a multi-disciplinary event which showcases the talents of dancers, musicians, actors, writers, and visual artists. It has been around since 1996, which means this year marks the 20th anniversary of the festival.

Founded by Bradley Moss and now run by festival director Steve Pirot, Nextfest is a celebration of the next generation of artists. Those up-and-comers who are undiscovered and just sorting out their individual voices. It is a well known festival in the Edmonton arts community and if you are talented & lucky enough to be selected to participate, you just might be one of the 700+ artists that gets featured in the event.

To top it off, if you are a visual artist, you might even have the tremendous opportunity to grace the cover of the festival program. Which is pretty dang cool.

I’m probably going to date myself somewhat by writing this, but I remember when I think about this event I am transported right back to when I graduated from the UofA in 2007. 4 of my friends and members of my graduating class were invited to showcase their work in the exhibition and that was my first exposure to the festival. It was a lot of fun and the parties were fantastic. Then a couple of years past by and then my girlfriend at the time was also invited to exhibit her work, which gave me even more exposure to how the production worked and incredible amount of time spent by the artists and the festival organizers.

So when it came time to see my little brother participating on the theatre side even more years later, I had a deep respect for Nextfest and a belief in it’s inherent significance for the Edmonton landscape.

Which is why I decided that this year would be a great time for my re-entry into the mix and an opportunity to attend the Nextfest Visual Art Niteclub, a gallery event hosted within the larger framework of Nextfest and tonight happens to be THE best night to attend the gallery.

the Nextfest Visual Art Niteclub features art making all night, a play, live music, and performance art pieces for small audiences of 1 or a few. The event is licensed, all ages, and FREE. I’ve already been down to meet with the curator Steven Teeuwsen, and meet with one of the artists, who MAY be doing an interview with me shortly.

So come on down to Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre tonight and enter in the west door between RBC and Bonnie’s Lounge – It’s gonna be awesome. And that’s all I’ve got for this week folks, I’m out of theories, so I’ll see you on Sunday!

Tim!

Promote Your Heart Out (Importance of Marketing)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

May the 1st be with you, dear readers.

And also with you timotheories. Go forceful and multiply.

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Thank you my friends! It’s that time of day, day of the week, and day of the month when I share with you this month’s plan, and of course, give you some theories to whittle away at. Are you ready to see the schedule?

Of course you are!

It might seem like this is turning into old hat – I give you the schedule, and because you know how each day’s theme plays out, you should expect to get your share of film, music, visual art and theories about the arts. Maybe some wisdom too, if you’re up for it.

But hold up a second, because you know what? Well, actually I don’t need to go into hypotheticals.

You already know that I am doing much more then simply giving you content each week. timotheories is also about sharing with you the important components to be successful as a creative type in today’s mix of social intelligence, online media, and globalization. You know in your heart, because you can’t have heart without art, that consistency of character is integral to a successful blog/portfolio/gallery/channel. And as it relates to the bigger picture, that who you are defines what you do.

When we look at this concept through the lenses to business, an incredibly important facet of artistry, we call this character a brand.

So if you’ve been playing real close attention these past few months of 2016 you’ll know that I haven’t been releasing “monthly schedule” posts on Sundays nor on the first of the month. Sundays are the day I share theory with you, when I release interviews, Cross Talk episodes, and also important updates to the timotheories brand.

Today isn’t going to be about the schedule. No, today is about marketing.

Because marketing is how you develop your brand. If brand houses the vehicle, than marketing is the set of vehicles that you CAN use to get from A to B. You might not need every vehicle, but they all can help.

Which is why I want to share with you some basics of marketing and how to ensure that you develop your professional relationships and connect your art to the people who should be seeing it. Which will help with your brand. And interestingly enough, I’m going to be taking this ride right along with you.

You see dear readers, I haven’t fully realized my brand yet either, but I know how to get there, because I’ve got a map. Courtesy of articles like this one.

The truth about marketing your particular brand is that you spend a large part on prep. You have to know your audience which means exposing yourself to the experts and learning from them as best you can. And fortunately enough, there are countless gurus out there that can provide you with information about syndication, professionalism, image, and your plan. And maybe other pieces.

  1. Starting with your business plan (summary of your business, your strengths, your weaknesses, goals, competition, and what makes your business unique) and memorizing it is probably the most important.
  2. Following it up with a regular schedule of promotion or syndication (sharing on social media, participating in events and communities, and collaborating with other experts.
  3. Setting up your image online and in person so you look and sound the same everywhere. That means logos, mailing lists, introductory videos and landing pages. You name it, it needs to match your image.
  4. Professionalism is similar to image, but what it really means the is that the authentic voice everywhere is consistent with who you are and puts your best business foot forward.
  5. … well let’s not get ahead of ourselves

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I’m sure you have questions about this process, but one thing is for sure, the future is not set, and I’ll be there with you as we fight the good fight. I know you have good art to share, and I want to help you share it. Marketing is key, so promote your heart out.

And those are all of the theories I’ve got today friends. I’ll see you tomorrow with something melodic. But you already knew that.

Tim!

Innovation Is A Work Of Art (Lisa Jones interview, Innovation)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Innovation is difficult.

It forces you to stretch yourself and expose yourself in ways that you never expected to. You make sacrifices too, which can feel like hot wax on bare skin. Painful, but that initial commitment makes the overall process less painful. Unless of course you delay. Then the wax cools and the hair pull hurts more than the first wax application.

Whether a fast or slow decision, you eventually do have to pull the hairs out… but the aesthetic benefit soon becomes apparent. You see, those hairs can grow, but it is only with focus and determination that we can shape them into a beautiful set of eyebrows, a glowing beard, or even with clean shaven legs.

Only then can we become a work of art.

This might seem like kind of a weird example to lead into this month’s AMAZING interview, and an amazing interview it is, but I promise the metaphor will make sense shortly. You see dear readers, true innovation doesn’t come from no where.

Even if a statement like “… [is] a work of art” sweeps the Twitterverse on a particular day or over the course of a week (April 15, 2016), someone spent the time crafting a public persona and was able to authenticate that statement and help make it noteworthy for millions. The masses are fickle, but the artist can be committed to innovation.

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Yeah that “… [is] a work of art” actually did became a popular thing to tweet for a bit there. Whether I decide to make a great metaphor for growth and the beauty of humanity.

But, as I mentioned already, it’s not true innovation. And a work of art is steeped in more than just hair pull metaphors that suggest people’s bodies can simply be works of art on their own. Or can art do that?

Can art build off of what already exists, and cause self-reflection? Or better yet, cultural shifts?

That’s where episode 8 of timotheories interviews comes in.

 

Lisa Jones is a visual artist with abilities to rival the best of them – painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. But she prefers to specializes in painting with oils. And she makes images through her own personal metaphors, both refining and simultaneously obliterating narratives and materials at the same.

She recognizes that becoming an artist and maintaining a practice requires a combination of effort, innovation through necessity, and building a future for herself that doesn’t include regular visits to the local watering hole.

But you should take a look at the interview for yourself, because it’s literally just below you. It’s my most innovative interview yet. I promise.

And as always, if you want to check out more timotheories interviews or the Cross Talk series please visit our YouTube channel.  And please, please, please leave some comments and of course subscribe to both the blog and channel!

Please also check out Lisa’s website to see her portfolio and to contact her for her creative services.

And of course my sincerest thanks to Lisa for being lively, likeable, and legitimately lovely. See you tomorrow with a hymn worthy music review.

Tim!

Eco-Friendly Arts (Earth Day)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Every Thursday I write something timely for you “near and dear to my heart” readers, because I recognize the importance of time-sensitive events, consistency of effort in delivery of those ideas, and the impact that well-communicated knowledge can have on the spread of said positive ideas in the world.

In fact, conveniently enough (almost too conveniently), I watched a TED Talk video earlier this week about the common thread of successful of TED Talks, as delivered by Chris Anderson. Anderson tells us that the key to a good communication is bringing singularly focused ideas to the table and within a context the general populace can understand. Then new patterns can form and you can positively effect someone’s personal world view. If you can provide examples to make them care all the better.

You see dear readers, an idea is effectively a pattern of information that helps you understand and navigate the world. Not unlike a set of instructions. If you’re more visual think of a blueprint or a road map. If you are more tactile think of a puzzle. And if you’re an auditory learn, the best example I can drum up is a group of musicians using music and lyrics to formulate a song.

If ideas are communicated properly and worth sharing, they have the ability to change how someone thinks about the world. And so today I want to write about something rather serious and also kinda polar bear-izing. I mean polarizing.

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And that’s “probably” the only joke I’m going to make today.

Did you know that today marks the 46th eve of the first Earth Day? Earth Day was invented on April 22 in 1970 amongst Americans as a way of consolidating the efforts of various activist groups who were fighting for environmental issues; mainly through protest. It was long overdue even then but what was most fascinating about the first Earth Day is that it woke up so many people to the idea of pollution from major industry (oil spills, toxic dumps, pesticides), deforestation, and ozone loss.

People make fun of celebrity activists like Pearl Jam, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron, Brad Pitt, Darryl Hannah, and Cate Blanchett for supporting these types of causes, but the reality is that human beings do mess up their environment. All the time. And it’s not exclusive to individuals nor is it entirely the fault of large organizations.

Earth Day is important because it reminds us to celebrate the planet Earth. We live on it and use it, and no regardless of religion, colour, creed, nationality or political leanings, we all have to work together to keep this place liveable. Around the world many cities have community service initiatives in place on April 22 to ensure that we can each do our part to plant trees and nurture the landscape, especially in areas heavy with litter and pollution. The phrase “think globally and act locally” is pretty useful to help provide context.

And for the sake of learning, I will use visual artists to demonstrate the importance and ease in which you can implement these strategies. If you can cut down on your own eco footprint, you should do it. Recycle your paper based source material, make trips to pick up art supplies infrequent to save on gas use, and properly dispose of your oils and mediums by visiting eco stations rather than dumping in the garbage. In fact, if you are subtle you could probably even find scrap materials AT the eco stations which can be used in art work. Which in my books, is a win-win.

But what do you think? Do you have strategies to cut down on your eco footprint that I haven’t mentioned? What are your concerns with Earth Day and how do you celebrate? Please leave some comments, I don’t bite!

I’m out of theories for the week friends, so I’ll see you on Sunday with something stimulating.

Tim!