gRAPHICaNATOMY

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ~ Ferris Buelller

I have quite a few art shows coming up. Each one I am very grateful for. Things are rolling.
Friday April 29 - As party of the Downtown Gallery crawl in the cultural district: I'm in a group show for Bike PGH. Bringing biking to the burgh. I'll be unveiling two new pieces plus a painting of my niece... she's so cute.... someone buy her please.

On Saturday April 30th I'll be part of Art All Night. I'm unveiling a brand new pieces I'm rather excited about. PLUS I'll be painting live. EXTRA BONUS a collaborative live painting 10pm -2am. I dare you to come in drunk and heckle me.

And then May 7th is the Looking Glass show at Artform. I've been helping out with curating this show and it should be interesting. You will want to be here. you will want to tell your grandchildren that YES you were there when the **** went down.
Seriously, we got a confirmation from Boris Vallejo to be in the show. Boris Vallejo will be in this show... along with me.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND????
Look the reason I am an artist today is because of Boris. My dad brought home a picture book of Science Fiction paintings and when I saw the paintings by Boris I decided at the age of 9 that I wanted to do THIS. I started out learning to draw by copying his work. It's been a long strange treacherous adventure; but even to day I think you can still see the influence of his anatomy and color on my work.
And now I'm showing my work on a wall next to his.
Holy Mother of Thor....
Seriously, come see this show. Tell your friends.

Labels: art, pgh, shows

This is a huge thing in Pittsburgh. It's inspired other cities to do something similar. It's meant to be accessible as in bring in people to see art who would not otherwise go to a gallery or museum.




I've done art all night for maybe 10 years now and it's always interesting. It's more fun the more i get involved.

I'll be putting in a piece ..... something new. Something you should look out for.
I'll also be painting live from 10pm to 2am. Come down and see the master in action.

I'm also framing a piece done by my niece, Kory.

And *drumroll* I'm framing a piece by Gemma Allan to put in. This is her first show in America. First of many I believe. And she does some really cool stuff. Each one take a along time to complete; but the result is hypnotizing.


Art all night runs ... well... all night. Starting Saturday, April 30th to Sunday May 1st. Admission is free. Food is free. Music, Art and kids activities if you get there early. Check it out.

Some good stuff I picked up in a twitter conversation between Molly Crabapple and Bill Willingham.

Molly Crabapple: I sometimes think some established types are afraid of giving real advice, because that implies responsibility if the listener fails. I do try to say in my lectures, that if one need help motivating oneself to do art, they shouldn't try to do it as a job

Bill Willingham: I'd go so far as to say most creative careers fail, compared to those that succeed. The success/fail ratio is unencouraging.
Real advice then for creative hopefuls: If you're tough enough to endure getting kicked in the heart and soul for twenty years and more, and still be determined to carry on, then you may have a shot.
And can you live your life knowing that the very closest people to you'll never in the bottoms of their hearts believe you have a real job?
But I truly hope this doesn't mean that since it's smarter not to try, then only the grandly stupid ever hold on long enough to make it.
The secret then is a sort of controlled schizophrenia. One must be a tough as nails sonnofabitch, and simultaneously a joyful enthusiast. But which one is the Jekyll and which the Hyde?

In an earlier post i gave advice about writing an artist's bio. So here's mine.

Sam Thorp concentrates on creating provocative and sensual figures and portraits. The use of line and gesture as well as intense and evocative color combinations give the work a certain vibrational energy.

Sam was inspired to draw by science fiction covers and comic books; took lessons from local legend Terri Perpich at the age of nine and began exhibiting in shows at the age of sixteen. Sam was accepted into the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts at Bucknell University and then attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania as a Fine Art Education major.

Sam was recently crowned the Art of Battle Champion in the Pittsburgh area.
The studio is located in Pittsburgh, where Sam as exhibited in many fine galleries; including shows at the Warhol Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, and Most Wanted Gallery. Sam has also shown in New York City , Los Angeles, & Detroit’s cPOP Gallery; as well as internationally on the Island of Lesvos, Norway and in London (Saatchi) and Leeds, UK. Her artwork has been bought and collected across the United States, UK, France, Australia, and the Netherlands.

Labels: artist bio

The Ladies Choice show made the local paper.
That's my Wonder Woman painting in the photo.

You can read the full article here:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_730075.html

I organized the show at Artform.... because it needed to be done.
We were the ONLY SWAN sponsored visual art show in all of Pennsylvania.

I did a painting of Wonder Woman because it's the iconic metaphor for Feminine strength and achievement, almost universal and archetypal at this point. It pays homage to my comic book roots. I learned to draw by copying the comics.

I did two other pieces as well.

This is a local piece. The model is the best Artist's model in pgh(who is a great artist in her own right), shot by a local pgh artist in .... Pittsburgh. So in a way it celebrates the local art boom.


And the last piece is global.
It's darker and more political. It addresses a serious issue happening around the world. The title is FGM or Female Genital Mutilation. The practice of female circumcision so they cannot enjoy sex. According to the World Health Organization:
FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.


So there ya are the Universal, the local, and the global. AAAAAAnd I put the show together with 35 other local women artists... many of which showing for the first time. Mother would be proud.

The painting I created for the art of battle can be yours.
Acrylic on stretched canvas 3x5foot. Signed by artist.
Make an offer. payable through paypal.
Best offer by April 15th also includes prep sketches.



email me: samthor@graphicanatomy.com