Busy, Busy, Busy - Art Vending

Summer is almost past, but the momentum of the season is still going strong. I am finding myself running all over town to prepare for showing or selling my art, and then running all over town yet again to show and or sell. It has been a very busy summer. It has been a very fruitful summer too, so it is busy in a good way.

This last week was Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta Street, which happens every last thursday of every month so long as the weather is not to wet. This August we had tons of sun, so I set up a booth with my partner, artist Chelsea Rose. When we work together we call ourselves Lucid Optic Lab.

the Lucid Optic Lab sidewalk booth set up at August's Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta Street in Portland, Oregon.

We arrived on Alberta Street around noon and set up a sidewalk friendly booth display. On the curbside of the sidewalk I displayed my ebru and embellished ebru, plus a few screen print shirts and some tie dye. I displayed art on both sides of my wall so everyone could see something no matter what side of the street they were on. On the opposite side of the 10' sidewalk Chelsea Rose displayed her acrylic faery art and body painting photography.

Last Thursday is a fun event, we get to hang out with friends, artist, crafters, and musicians all day while we sell our art. Then when the evening sets in and the air cools a bit, the officials close the street and the people flood in. The costumes, stilts, fire bending, and drum circles are impossible to miss. When the streets close we rearrange the booth to bring in flow from the street. Offering a safe haven to appreciate our arts.

the Lucid Optic Lab booth at June's Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta in Portland, Oregon.


the Lucid Optic Lab booth at July's Last Thursday Art Walk on Alberta in Portland, Oregon.

Lucid Optic Lab is also out selling art at the Portland Saturday Market every Saturday too. Its a fun outdoor arts and craft market that features all local artist who make and sell their handmade work.

Lucid Optic Lab booth at Portland Saturday Market 8-27-11

A weird place indeed, this last saturday we were frequented by random happenings all day. One of the oddest things that stands out is when a very much alive Jimi Hendrix proclaimed his interst in my art and insisted he get his picture taken with me.

Jimi Hendrix is alive and well, and hanging out at the Portland Saturday Market. Jimi was a fan of my ebru art, and he was quite persistent in insisting that he got a picture taken with me.

An exited Jimi Hendrix was quite persistent about the photo. "Over here in front of your art", he said as he rushed me to the front of my wall."Let me see the peace sign", he said "No, up higher like this!" Unfortunately the camera operator, who was a random market goer, cropped out the peace sign in the photo, however he managed to get a shot of Jimi showing me the proper way to do a peace sign.

There is not much summer left, but there is still plenty of fairs, artwalks, and markets to show and sell some art at. See you in the streets.

Peace and Love,
Danny

Abstract Expressions and the Buddha

One of my favorite things about ebru, is the mediums ability to capture abstract visual representation of fluid movement. I think this recent piece of mine is a good example of that.

original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on kozo paper. 8.5"x11" by Danny

Another name given to ebru is water painting. This is partly due to the fluid effect, but is mostly due to the fact that ebru is actually made by floating paint on top of a fluid referred to as size. Size is the name given to water that has a thickening agent, like carrageenan, added to it.

Using the right technique of pushing and pulling the paint across the size creates lines that lead the eye from one point to the next, visually suggesting movement.

original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on cotton paper. 8"x10" by Danny

I love getting swept up in the movement of the abstract ebru pieces. I find them to be a great way to add life to a room.

I have also been working on embellished ebru pieces featuring a three color screen print of Buddha.

"Abhaya Buddha Ebru", original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print with three color Buddha screen print on cotton paper. 12"x18" by Danny

This is a very positive piece to have around the house or place of work, and will surely bring light into where ever it finds a home.

Every ebru piece I use I make by hand in my home studio. I also make all screen prints by hand too. Not only do I build the frames and stretch screen mesh crossed them, I also hand paint the print design onto the screen/screens. Then I do all the screen printing myself.

thats all for now.

Peace & Love,
-danny

Danny Ebru enters the Blogosphere - Fearless

And so it has begun...

How shall we get acquainted?
Lets start out with showcasing a current project in the works:

My current embellished ebru piece featuring the Abhaya Mudra Buddha:

"Fearless Ebru", original handmade acrylic ebru mono-print on kozo paper with 3 color buddha screen print. 12.5"x19" by Danny (more to come in varying print colors and ebru designs)

The Abhaya mudra is the gesture of the raised right hand with the palm facing outward. Abhaya in sanskrit means fearlessness, and the gesture symbolizes peace, protection, and the dispelling of fear. the Abhaya mudra is very important in Buddhism, it is said that when the Buddha came out of meditation after reaching enlightenment he stood and displayed the Abhaya mudra as a gesture of the absence of fear. The Abhaya mudra is great for warding off fear.

The left hand of the Buddha is portraying the Varada mudra. It also known as the boon granting gesture, symbolizing charity, patience, and compassion. the Varada mudra aids in breaking the delusion of pride.

The combination of the two mudras is also referred to as Segan Semui-in, or in japan its Yogan Semui-in. With both the Abhaya and Varada mudras the Segan Semui-in represents transformation and success.

All and all the "Fearless Ebru" is a very positive piece to have around the house or place of work, and will surely bring light into where ever it finds a home.

In other news, version one of dannyebru.com has gone live.
check out the official Danny Ebru website

More to come shortly.

Peace n Love
-Danny