David Mel @ City Lights

Former Stratford resident & current Bridgeport visual artist David Brown, who goes by the name of David Mel, will be part of the annual members show at City Lights Gallery in Downtown Bridgeport (37 Markle Court). The artist reception is on Thursday, July 23rd starting @ 5:30 PM. Admission is free.

David is self-taught & has worked full time at his lifetime passion for art since November of 2008. He is a former mechanical draftsman who has worked for area companies such as Moore Special Tool & Nash Engineering. With the support of his wife Paige, he is quickly finding his niche in the competitive world of art. He works in oils & his latest abstract works will be included in the City Lights show. Prepare to be dazzled by color from his art branded "VISUAL SHRAPNEL".

David is a consistent poster on the EBSQart.com website where he was Featured Artist in May & his piece "OUT OF THE BLACK" won a Patron's Choice Award. His schedule will also have him at The Gallery at Black Rock in January. You can visit his website: www.davidmel.com.

dmel in New Haven

I went to the closing of the 118 Court Street temporary artist space on Sunday night for 2 hours. The exhibit was part of the "ARTS & IDEAS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL" in New Haven for the last 2 weeks. Met some cool photographers & artists. They are possibly doing another similar show in October.

Exposure & ATC's

On Saturday, I visited "The Gallery at Black Rock" here in Bridgeport, Connecticut & met with co-owner Eileen Walsh. We BSed for about 45 minutes about the state of the economy & how the art world has adjusted to meet the small demands for "luxury" items. I showed her 3 of my paintings & she has booked me in a show that's slated for January ... exact day TBD. The show will consist of me & (most likely) two other artists in an all-abstract show. Her space is limited , so I will probably have room for about 4-5 pieces. She mentioned a local guy named Dave Estes & you can see his stuff at dave-estes.com.

While I was there I also showed Eileen two of my Artist Trading Cards that I have been creating lately. Her exposure to the "new" medium of tiny little art went as far as a short conversation with another local artist. I think she was pleasantly surprised at the quality & style of the ATCs ... they have kind of a graffiti art vibe to them. And she is a big fan of street art. So she has them displayed & ready to sell ... another big plus ... affordable! I will be developing a complete line of ATC's (or ACEO's). They will be presented in special acrylic holders with a name label & signature.

Ever drink out of a skull ...?

Picking Up Steam

Spring is in the air & nothing verifies that more than creative energy. Being proactive concerning creating & expanding the business end of this venture translates into results. So to keep the ball rolling, I am starting to sell my paintings through my website. In the next week, I will select a few that are "ready to go"! All transactions will be fed through PayPal & all major credit cards will be accepted. Digitally produced C.O.A.'s will be sent with every purchase & will be able to be verified via EBSQart.com. They also create a "library" of sorts for you ... so if, say, 2 years from now you are curious about a purchase, you can log in & get that info.

Outside Distractions

One of the biggest challenges as a full-time artist is setting a schedule for working. Every day there are outside distractions, temptations, obligations & things that would never be an issue, if you were on someone else's clock. At a 9 to 5 job, you just can't get up & go to the bank. You have to wait till lunch time, race around like an idiot & hope to make it back on time. Being able to go when you want, at your own pace is great but it has it's drawbacks. Just like being able to take lunch when you want or take a shower when you want. Or if you want ... hahaha! Maintaining a sense of a working environment is hard. Thank God I'm an insomniac ... I get a lot of work done in the wee hours of the morning. So recently I've been thinking a lot about setting an actual schedule for my work. Some days will be for creating, some days for internet, some days for marketing my work to galleries, etc. I think I'm about ready to take that step. If only these damn oil paintings would just dry!

I'm Back!

I'm back on-line after a very trying period thanx to Cablevision & their bad customer service. With that said, I welcome you all to check out my latest ACEO's.

Creative Happiness

For some of us, creativity can be a long drawn-out process. Such is my case, in many instances. I've done some paintings recently that I have lumped under the title of my "Designer Series". With about 5 pieces completed, I was moving at favorable pace before some personal issues became priority. With much of that aside, I have rebooted & the ideas are flying.

Art is subjective & the creator is "viciously judgemental". He forms & he binds; purges & fills ... separates ... spirals out of control. Then he steps back & absorbs. Many times the thrill of the moment is short-lived as he comes to the realization. Disappointment! So he retools. To make something out of the "nothing" that he has before him.

The 5 pieces have now become 3 pieces. Those other 2 ... well ... like I said: Disappointment. After weeks thinking that these paintings were finished & ready for a nice coat of varnish ... after constantly walking past them & smiling. Smiles became semi-smiles became grins became frowns. You get the picture. My soul was empty. There was no thrill anymore. I know a good painting when I see ... and they were good. But, in my world, good ain't good enough. I want GREAT. And a great painting will constantly feed you. You will feel in 10 years what you felt the first time you took a long hard look at it. I want to be thrilled by it. And I was not. So ... retooling. Results so far are promising!

Interesting Week

It has been an interesting week. I have been very busy with some outside issues, but have managed to keep the brain fluids churning with respect to new techniques. I have done a successful sketch auction & an ACEO auction that had some weird twists. It was a success also. Now that I have delved into two different areas of marketing, I can now focus on painting for the good part of this week. I am excited to be creating a couple of new pieces, as well as shoring up the details on some others. I will be testing out new ideas with acrylics & gesso this week.

An experimental 3-D creation of mine might become another test auction for me by weeks end, so look out for that listing.

New ACEO

I have created my first ACEO & have listed it on eBay. It is a simple design made with a metallic copper glaze as the focal point. I am curious how people react to abstract designs in such a format. There is not much room for creativity on such a small scale ... a good abstract painting usually has contrasts of space, negative space & scale within the area; in fact, minimalism is just like it says: the minimum used to (or on) the maximum space / area / scale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=130290237263

Another sketch auction

I have placed 2 more of my sketches on eBay. I never realized that there were so many simple cool sketches in the "drawings" category & that people are into them because they are raw representations of the artist's natural ability. They aren't perfect. They show off a certain style without all the window dressing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130289866422&category=60436&_trksid=p3907.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSI%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D15%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D54

A little this, a little that

I just ran out of canvases today ... I do have one $2 clearance canvas that I buy to experiment on, though. So I will be trying some new techniques using some Montana artist spray paint that I bought a while ago.

I did blacken the sides of some gallery canvases today ... paintings that are already completed. Just one more solid black coat to finish them off. Dated two paintings as finished ... now just a month or so to dry before varnishing.

Sketch auction

In my attempt to pick the brains of the art buying public, I am starting with the most basic of offerings .... a pencil sketch. I am auctioning off this sketch in a 3-day auction as a sort of experiment. It is my style though ... one developed over years of drawing faces & expressions. Take a look & throw a bid in for good measure.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-Pen-Pencil-Sketch-by-DAVID-MEL-OOAK-Face_W0QQitemZ130289418490QQihZ003QQcategoryZ60436QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

START THE FIRE

Welcome to my world ...

I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to put myself out there. I will enjoy this time to the fullest with the support of my wife & share this dream to it's fullest potential. My family means everything ... so let's get started!