Sunday, May 28, 2006
the (digital) art of cycling
A couple of years ago, Ana surprised me with a stunning digital painting of my old Falcon San Remo fixed-gear. I think it was her first or second piece featuring bikes - right in the same time frame she did a great piece based on a Lyotard Marcel Berthet pedal.
I've lived with it for a while, and every time I look at it, I'm struck by how vibrant it is. On several occasions, I've commented to Ana that her bike paintings feel to me like exuberant florals masquerading as bike parts.
The digital painting is pretty cool as an art form, especially the way she handles it. It's pretty much using a Wacom tablet and a PowerBook as if they were a brush, paint and canvas. She can get great texture, even the palette-knife look. Then she prints them onto archival-grade paper as original prints that should last at least 75 years. Way cool.
About a year ago we started talking about taking her work public, but it took a while for things to get rolling. A few months ago she cleared the decks and went to work, turning out a series of paintings of fixed-gear cogs. We talked about where to display and sell pieces, and had initially thought we would be debuting her work at the Cirque du Cyclisme next month.
Before that could happen, I saw a notice on Dennis Larson-Bean's fixed-gear gallery site about a bike art show in Minneapolis. The deadline for submissions was only days away. I showed it to Ana, and she sent them an online application. A few days later, she got an email back, asking her to send all five of the pieces she had submitted. They're on exhibit at Altered Esthetics gallery through June 28th, and may be going on to the Green Man Festival after that.
If you'd like to check out her artwork, go to anafitzgerald.com. ¶ 9:29 PM
I've lived with it for a while, and every time I look at it, I'm struck by how vibrant it is. On several occasions, I've commented to Ana that her bike paintings feel to me like exuberant florals masquerading as bike parts.
The digital painting is pretty cool as an art form, especially the way she handles it. It's pretty much using a Wacom tablet and a PowerBook as if they were a brush, paint and canvas. She can get great texture, even the palette-knife look. Then she prints them onto archival-grade paper as original prints that should last at least 75 years. Way cool.
About a year ago we started talking about taking her work public, but it took a while for things to get rolling. A few months ago she cleared the decks and went to work, turning out a series of paintings of fixed-gear cogs. We talked about where to display and sell pieces, and had initially thought we would be debuting her work at the Cirque du Cyclisme next month.
Before that could happen, I saw a notice on Dennis Larson-Bean's fixed-gear gallery site about a bike art show in Minneapolis. The deadline for submissions was only days away. I showed it to Ana, and she sent them an online application. A few days later, she got an email back, asking her to send all five of the pieces she had submitted. They're on exhibit at Altered Esthetics gallery through June 28th, and may be going on to the Green Man Festival after that.
If you'd like to check out her artwork, go to anafitzgerald.com. ¶ 9:29 PM
