Forest Stearns gettin’ a nod

Hometown Hero, Forest Stearns, and his hommie, Arian Stevens, got up in Juxtapoz’s Calendar for their upcoming show in Oregon. It is only a matter of time before they are featured on the cover! You can read the show description here. Their upcoming show will be at the new Portland-area gallery known as the Someone Gallery. I looks like a cool place to chill if you find yourself in Oregon. I know I will be hitting it up the next chance I get.

Someone Gallery

Someone Gallery is brand new to the down town Portland area. Located right next door to PSU at 2718 SW Kelly, Someone Gallery is part of a much bigger multi-faceted project. The layout of our building has a wide variety of hardwood flooring everywhere you look making our presentation space immaculate. The Gallery is also part of the Someone Clothing shop, where artist Someone offers tons of art-driven clothing and one-of-a-kind products plus he continues the art shows with his own art, which will be on permanent display. We keep two artists up for two months at a time, and there is a room downstairs that we have dedicated solely to art installations. Though the shows run for two months, the installation room will be painted every month at the Last Friday party we throw. Along with our monthly parties, we also have in-store performances and events frequently, so keep posted to www.someoneclothing.com and come visit us soon!

Artist Survey #14: Lindsey Lutts

I met Lindsey during preparations for the Returning Show. The punk rock attitude captured in many of her photos contrasted nicely with the clean photography of other artists (check out her web page for more examples). She grew up here in Sonora and has since moved to the Bay Area. Despite the distance she is always willing to make the drive up to the foothills to help with our struggling youth art scene. Look for her work at the next foothill art event.

lovedeath

necklace

(Ocean Necklace by Lindsey – Silver hand made chain mail all soldered
with turquoise and hydrologic press silver charms etched in acid.)

boat

Name: Lindsey

Location: San Francisco

Medium(s): Photographer, Metal Artist/ Jewelry, Ceramics, Knitting, Graphic Designer

What do you consider yourself (artist/designer/other)? Starving Artist maybe because I am still trying to figure out how to do it for a living. It’s hard to consider myself an artist when everyone thinks they are an artist. Anyone with a finger can push a button on a camera. It takes a lot to stand out in the world today and to not blend in with the masses.

Where can we see your work (place/publications/url)? Photolindsey.com but it is very out of date. Myspace.com/photolindsey has weekly updates of musician/band photos.

When did you start gaining interest in artistic forms of expression? Ever since I can remember.

Who/What inspired your interest? Almost anything can inspire me, a color or combination of colors, a smell that reminds me of a time, a feeling, the way light falls upon something, and pretty much every kind of art.

Where do you first remember being exposed to art? My family has always encouraged me be artistic from the time I could hold a paint brush. We made ceramics, paintings, and various crafts all the time. When I was 12 I took an underwater photo with one of those plastic disposable cameras that came out pretty cool. I think it still might be my favorite photo I have taken. Right away it stood out so my Grandma took it to get enlarged at a photo shop. Someone there saw it and bought a large copy for his law office wall. When my Grandma called me from the print shop and asked me if she could sell it and than brought me a check, I realized that this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

What is your day job? Accountant (yeah boring I know). I have worked in many types of photography jobs in the past but sold out for the higher paying job. I am not sure if I would recommend it but I have learned a ton that will help me when I decide to start my own business.

Why do you create? It is the only thing I do that makes me completely one hundred percent happy. It is my escape from the world but it is also my interpretation of the world and how it affects me.

Is there any recurring theme in your work? I go through different phases and if I figure out what they are at the time I am shooting them instead of after, I go with it and try to stick with it. It is usually just one word like decay, serenity, or sound…

What do you want from your work? I don’t think I want it to give me anything but I will give to it. Does that make sense at all? Haha

What do you want viewers to take from your work? To see me. Also if my work provokes a feeling inside someone no matter what the feeling is, it is successful.

How often do you work on personal projects? Always. I consider it all personal.

How often do you work on commissions or commercial work? I work for a small magazine photographing bands and submit to many other magazines monthly. Some of my photos will be in AMP Magazine’s next issue. I recently set up a studio in my house so I am starting to shoot a lot more band portraits, families, kids, and pin ups.

Does your art support you financially? No, that is my ultimate goal though.

Do you feel preoccupied with your art, do you think about it often during the day and night and do you anticipate your next session? Yes, like right now I am at work and really need to be at home working on some Riverboat Gamblers photos for a magazine. If I wait too long, other photos will be used.

What do you do in your spare time besides your art? It is really hard for me to go anywhere without a camera. I am trying to think of an instance when I do not have one with me. I think I am always working and looking for things that inspire me. It could be something as simple as a color or texture or something amazing that is just about to happen around the corner and I am ready for it. If I did not have my camera I would miss it. I have this strange kind of fear that I am going to miss something and in turn am constantly shooting. I do other things in my spare time but they always end up becoming about the photos that I can get while doing it.

Which musicians are you currently interested in? Gaslight Anthem, American Steel, Get Dead, Dead to Me, Samiam, The Clash, Drag the River, Devil Makes 3, Johnny Cash…

Are there any events you are looking forward to attending? Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas next week. Hundreds of bands and record labels form bowling teams and come from all over for a crazy week in Vegas. There are tournaments and shows going on the whole time. The teams all make their own uniforms and come to bowl and drink 24 hours a day. This is one of my favorite things to photograph every year.

Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of your art? I don’t think so but I know a lot of people who have. I have only lost parts of myself and my time by not doing more art.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? Always. Imagine trying to take just one photo, or trying to choose just one after a shoot.

Do you have trouble parting with your finished work? Sometimes. I make handmade jewelry and that is much harder to part with than a photograph. A photograph can be duplicated in its raw form but Jewelry can not. I once spent over 200 hours on one piece and don’t see myself selling it anytime soon.

ProArts


(Dignidad Rebelde activist printmakers/mixed media artists)

The ProArts Gallery of the East Bay Area is putting out a call for entry for artists in the Greater Bay Area. I believe “Greater” being a loose term for most places in Northern California. If you go to their Call for Entry page you can get the info and applications for their latest annual events. Check out the ProArts site and and see what they are all about. They might be something you are interested in participating in. Here are some or the artists that caught my eye while browsing their members:


(Anthony Holdsworth painter)

Here is what they are saying about one of their events:

Show your art to the largest and most diverse art audience in the region. The Directory of East Bay Arts and East Bay OPEN STUDIOS is a straightforward way for artists at any stage in their career to get their work seen by art patrons, curators, other artists, business leaders, community leaders, and art enthusiasts. After nearly 30 years, the annual East Bay Open Studios (EBOS) continues to bring visitors from all over the Bay Area to local artists’ studios for the opportunity to see the best art made in the East Bay today, likewise, the publication, Directory of East Bay Art extends the reach of the event and provides a year-long reference, a Who’s Who guide for artists.


(Christina Koci Hernandez Photographer)