the plan for 2010

Hello you. Well I haven't been doing too much recently, well not too much that is productive really, but I never seem to have any time either. It's crazy really, because I always seem to be doing stuff, but never really get anything done. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

I realized in early December that I'm not nearly as productive as I would like to be. Also I'm not utilizing everything to my fullest ability. For instance, I don't work in my studio as frequently as I should, or enter into as many contest as I could. And since I'm paying for this studio, I really need to utilize it more, otherwise it's just wasting money.

As you may notice by looking at the post dates on my past posts, you may notice that I don't use this blog to my fullest benefit either! So in 2010, I want to make an effort to make a post of something/anything I'm working on at least once a week. That would come out to 52 posts in one year. That should be doable, but I've never been very good at keeping promises to myself. Within the space of the year, I should be able to come up with 52 posts of drawings/paintings/photos/progress images/updates. We'll see how it goes!

pb

Mari's computer...thing

Last week I finished a gift for my friend Mari. Her laptop broke, so that it could no longer hold up the screen. To remedy this, her husband (and also my friend, Kyle) placed it in a box to support the screen and make it usable. Well after repeatedly ribbing her for ghetto rigging her computer to make sure no one copied her answers, I asked if I could make something more substantial, and that looked less ridiculous. Here is what happened;


The chain and hinges I bought:

















The board I bought, cut down by hand, and sanded to smooth the rough edges.

















So that's what I started out with. Next time I'll remember to have the guys at Lowe's cut the wood with a power saw, instead of trying to do it myself with a crooked handsaw. Not fun...

These are some shots of the Final project. Mari has a life theme (obsession) of vintage jewelry, and clothing from the Victorian era, so I themed this gift with what she was passionate about.





























































































I'm happy with how it turned out, and in case you're wondering, she loved it too!

pb

It's been a while...

I haven't posted anything because sadly, I haven't been doing much art work. Things in life have been crazy; the blog and "recreational" art have all kinda fallen by the wayside. I spent the past several months spending as much time as I could with my Dad, who was battling cancer. And I've spent the most recent months trying to grapple with the grief and loss of him, who died in May.


This image is one that I made, probably in April, using one of favorite Psalms, Psalm 63.



















This is another image that I made as I battle against doubts, anger, and questions that I shouldn't be asking because I wont get any answers this side of eternity for them.















pb

First freelance

I'm very excited to let you all know about the freelance work I've been working to get together.

It's taken several weeks, but I finally managed to print and packaged over 500 mailers to send to area dentist. My goal is to offer my designs to be made into postcards as appointment reminders. These designs would be specifically dental related, so along with reminding people to schedule their appointments, it would also promote general oral health as well.

This is the first time I've tried to organize anything like this, essentially a cold call, to get this freelance work going so I'm just casting big nets, and hoping it works out. Though I expect that I'll need to wait a while to hear anything back unless I'm catching one of these offices right as they are considering ordering more cards.

These are the two industry appropriate that I have ready right now;

Jesus break in!

This is a painting I started this summer, and recently deemed finished.













I got the idea while doing an internship as an intercessory missionary at the Richmond International House of Prayer. It seemed like a lot of the prayers contained a key phrase that must have been a favorite among the missionaries “Jesus break in with power/wisdom/healing/mercy…” whatever applied at the moment. It always made me giggle to myself a little because I always got the same mental image in my head whenever it was said. I always imagined a stained glass window, and on the left side of my imagination was a candle, as those words were spoken, a beam of light would burst across to the right, with most explosions of light along the way. So I decided to paint it. I was rather difficult to photograph because the painting is 2 feet by 5 feet! (I’ll try to get some good detail shots posted up soon.) Not my largest ever, but it’s very large compare to most of my work, and I stretched this canvas and gessoed it myself with the help of a friend. I’m extremely proud of this painting, it turned out exactly as I wanted to, though I should note, it took me a couple tries to get it.

Soon I'll let you know about the free lance work I've been doing!

pb

For Sale

This is something else I should have done a while ago.

I have had several pieces of mine printed and mounted for sale out of my studio, but I can just as easily put them up for sale here online. Here is a table of what I have prepared right now;
Title - Image - w/ Border - Price

Dad - 10.5 x 8.25 - 12.5 x 10.75 - $60
Alley - 11 x 8.25 - 13 x 10.75 - $60
Chores are for suckers - 8.25 x 13 - 10.25 x 15.5 - $60
Modern Inconvenience - 8.25 x 13 - 10.25 x 15.5 - $60
Want and Crave - 8.25 x 13 - 10.25 x 15.5 - $60
Cheaper then Dentures - 7 x 13 - 9 x 15.5 - $60
Prepare for Battle - 8.25 x 13 - 10.25 x 15.5 - $60
Prepare for Battle - 11 x 17 - 13 x 20 - $100

I also have many postcards printed of “Cheaper Then Dentures” and “Prepare for Battle”. From my studio at Art Works I’ve sold these at $5 for a group of 5 postcards. You can see all these images here throughout the blog, or on my new website www.patrickbenbow.com .

Forever is finally here!

Well I’m sure you (all two of you) have been very anxious as to the reason why I haven’t been posting anything recently. It turns out looking for a job is a full time job, and when you already have a full time job, it doesn’t leave you much time to do anything else.

But I have been doing more work. I’m nearly finished with a painting that I started this summer and also I have been doing some graphic design work both for a client and also independently. I’ll post those images here too, but until then I want to direct your attention to possibly the most exciting news of all.

I HAVE A WEBSITE!! Go to www.patrickbenbow.com to check it out.

pb