Well, Im at it again.

So I was sitting my backyard last year with a friend talking about art shows. We were trying to come up with an idea for an art show where all groups and cliques of the various local art scene could gather at the same show, we couldnt figure out why this has not happened yet. So after tossing the idea around for 6 months I decided to gather as many artists friends that I could and figured that the time has come for such an event here in Ottawa.

I remembered how much time and effort it took me to put an entire show together by myself (Trash Revisited 2009) and how it killed me for days after. I was about to give up on my plan for this show this year and just let it go, but I have this issue with challenge and how I dont like to give up on something that can be great. I was sitting at a local tavern when I was approached by my friend Ross who randomly asked me if I would like to do another art show? This was the same day I was about to give up the idea completely. I told him sure, and what sort of idea was he thinking? He then told me that he is on the board for the Ottawa Fringe Fest and that they can get a decent venue and help me make this show happen. Well Holy G'day!! Thats exactly what I needed, some help. That was about three months ago now, the show we have put together for you all is called "Lets Go To Another Art Show" and its for one night only at the Ottawa Arts Court on Dec. 2nd 2011. The reason its called this is because that particular weekend is jam packed with other local art shows, but unfortunately for them, they dont have a line up quite like this, in fact, there hasnt been a line up like this in Ottawa ever. this is a once in a lifetime event, where you may never see all of these artists work in one show at one time again. My plan is coming together great now, I will finally see how one night of various local arts cliques will work together, High Brow- Low Brow all together in the same place. Graffiti and landscapes, life drawing and wall sculpture all in the same place at the same time. I am quite run down these days from all the other art shows that I will have work in for the season, but this show is coming together quite nicely and I cannot wait to showcase all of this amazing artwork for you all.

So the rules were quite simple, each artist can only submit one piece each, the max size of the work is only 24"x24", there is no theme and work to be ready to hang. this is not posted anywhere else, but the artists will be receiving 95% of the price their work sells for, this is an artist fundraiser/showcase for all to see what kind of amazing artwork is available to folks in this town. The remaining 5% goes towards the Ottawa Fringe Fest for all the help they are giving us to do this show.

The Graphic Design of the flyer was created by one of the most amazing graphic Designers in Ottawa, Phivedesign. If you need one, this is the one you should check out first.

I do hope you are able to come out and see what kind of craziness this evening is sure to entail, I know this, it will be lots and LOTS of fun.

I curated this for you, so buy local art!! (o:

Daniel Martelock

danielmartelock: Street art, I love you.

danielmartelock: Street art, I love you.: "I love street art, LOVE it. What I don't like are the random scribbles on every flat surface in the city that people call 'tags'. Any per..."

Street art, I love you.

I love street art, LOVE it. What I don't like are the random scribbles on every flat surface in the city that people call "tags". Any person can scribble a "tag" on anything, hell, I've seen children do it on their parents coffee tables, but for one to physically take the time and effort to write their name on something in a "graffiti" style for whatever reason is beyond me. Majority of the time people cant even decipher what the person has written, so to me this process of trying to be famous, or "getting their tag noticed" is a large waste of time. Why would you ruin a good thing? By this I am talking about how graffiti artists are getting a bad rap due to this nonsense "tagging" that non-artists are throwing up all over the place. If you have the creative inclination to do something, then perhaps you should take a few minutes more and create something that people will enjoy seeing, or maybe something that actually has some form of meaning or visual interest?

I am one that has never had the need to spray or marker my "tag" on anything as I have never understood why one would deface something with something worse. I have seen some really creative stuff around town, since the recent popularity of Banksky and his wonderful use of stencils I have noticed that some artists out there have taken a page out of his book and make something worth looking at. I really like a lot of the "sticker bombs" that I have seen around town, and again this is proof that people are getting creative and applying that to ways of "getting their art out there" for people to see. I am not saying its right to do so, I am stating my opinion as to what I find more visually appealing in comparison to "tagging". Besides, stickers are a hell of a lot easier to remove for the city, and I have seen people actually try to remove sticker bombs for their own personal use.

So if your one of those folks out there who enjoy "tagging" your name or alias all over the newspaper boxes, sides of peoples homes, signs, etc. Please step back before doing so and think about this first, "what can I do instead of a scribble that people might want to see and maybe even keep posted for a while?", curse words are never good for such things, sure you may think its funny and get a kick out of it, but unfortunately for you the people in this town are highly educated and need more than a for sale sign with "bitches" written underneath it. Capture your audience by using a larger vocabulary, it takes nothing to write profanity and cure words, children do this for giggles, but it takes creativity and thought to produce something that will captivate your main audience, the people who walk by and see it daily.

Please take what I said as an educational tool for the future of all graffiti artists, because if this nonsense "tagging" continues, the laws will change and future artists may not get the opportunity to have the freedom of expression that some are continuously taking advantage of.

Live Life, Love Life, just don't piss people off in the wake of your doing so.

Thank you.

Exciting stuff for sure

Well here I am trying this blog thing out again, I know some of you out there have an instant update thing for my site, so I am going to try and keep up with you all and give you something worth reading, or looking at anyways (o:

This particular blog posting is in regards to something I have recently had one of my art pieces accepted into. I had submitted the piece added here to a local non-profit organization event called Timeraiser and what they do is they raise volunteer time to local organizations that really need the help. So as opposed to a typical fundraiser which I often donate work to, this particular group auctions off artwork which their select jury has chosen and instead of auctioning for money, they auction the artwork for volunteer hours, at the end of the said winners volunteer time has been fully spent at the organization which they have donated to, that person gets to keep the artwork they literally "worked" for. I am very impressed with this idea and love this concept a lot. This year is my first time working with Timeraiser and I am very pleased to be doing so. At first when I found out where the event will be taking place I could not think of anything else but to post it on facebook right away, and in doing so I had not given the proper acknowledgement to Timeraiser as I should have. The event is being held at The National Art Gallery Here in Ottawa, which is a big thing to have work in by any Canadian artist, even if it is for one event which will probably last only one evening, and this is how I had advertised my acceptance on facebook, by stating that my work will be in the National Art Gallery of Canada. This is a true statement as I will have artwork there, but the point of my writing this is to give full respect, support and promotion to TIMERAISER and their select jury for choosing my artwork and honoring me with such a great opportunity to help local non profit organizations and to be a part of this really great event.

Mind you, as an artist, I will still flaunt with the idea that my artwork Will in fact be in The National Gallery Of Canada, even if just for a day and I only have TIMERAISER to thank for this, So thank you again for such a wonderful opportunity Timeraiser, I look forward to this event and I will post all of the information for all of you out there once I receive it. It will be an event you wont want to miss.

DM

Holy Crap!!!! I finally figured out how to do this blog thing.

Hi Folks, I am sorry I have been away for so long and have not added any blogging to my site for a few years, but I didnt really have much to say, I still dont, but I wanted to make sure I could do this and to let you all know that I am officially back in action. There WILL be new pics posted on here, I WILL update my show listings and I Will be informing you all of other local fun stuff to check out. Once I get the gist of adding photos look out. Never mind, I figured it out and shazam!

So here you are and here am I, lets keep this relationship strong and I will keep you as entertained as I can.

Thank you for not giving up on me.

Daniel Martelock