Here is a still from the just released movie Concussion showing Alex Baldwin and Will Smith with Ken's artwork in the background. (Image: Sony Pictures) Click to see movie trailer
Well this doesn't happen everyday. I was contacted by the Concussion production company last year to get permission to use my art in their film. I was told about the story line and that it would star Will Smith and Alex Baldwin. I was told that they were filming in a client's home and they wanted to use my existing artwork there.
I was delighted to accept and they paid me a reasonable license fee. You never know if they will use that scene with the art in it but months later on Christmas day I saw the movie and there it was.
The scene is when the two characters, both doctors, talk outdoors at the Baldwin character's home. Just after the outdoor scene, they enter the home and the artwork is behind them, just inside the entryway. Don't blink or you will miss it. No 15 minutes of fame here. :)
Concussion is a remarkable movie, more than a sports story and one I would heartily recommend seeing.
About the film:
In Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.
View the complete article and more amazing photos here: Washington Post
Canada-based photographer David Sandford has been making pictures for more than 18 years. During that time, he has mostly been able to pay his bills by shooting sports. But his true passion lies in making photographs about anything to do with water. Sandford explains what draws him to water: “Oceans and lakes beckon me. Since I was a kid, I’ve loved to be on, in or around water. I’m fascinated by the sheer raw power and force of it, captivated by the graceful movement of a wave and mesmerized by light dancing across it.”
With this passion for water in mind, Sandford set out at the end of November to document the violently crashing waves on Lake Erie. He keeps an eye out for the weather conditions that come together to create the incredible wave formations he captures. Those weather conditions usually coincide with 65 mph winds that send the water of Erie 25 to 35 feet into the air. And that’s when Sandford heads to the shores of Erie with his 400mm and 70-200mm lenses, sometimes shooting for six hours at a time in air as cold as -2 to 14 degrees Celsius. His dedication and passion have paid off with incredible, surreal images of the roiling waters that Sandford calls “liquid mountains.”
I'm celebrating my successful art exhibit at Arden's gallery list night with a high tech treat, the Cupcake ATM!
But first a quick coffee at Rice University, a look at a piece of the Berlin wall, over to the Apple store and around the back - the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM!
You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we'll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town.
“Wishes come true,” says artist Ken Elliott of his slow migration from Texas to Colorado. What's not to love about the state he now calls home? “Four seasons and no bugs and wild summers in a little-big town,” Elliott points out. And for an artist, Colorado also offers a sense of place that has inspired most of his colorful oil landscapes.
“I do a lot of trees, a lot of sky, and I’m bringing in more water,” Elliott says about elements that allow him to bring in the color that gives his large-scale paintings such vitality. “The landscapes are really just an excuse to do whatever you want to do with color," he explains. "You can be low-key or outrageous, poetic or shocking. What I’m really trying to do is thrill myself.”
He does that working primarily in oils. “You have to work more to get the color you want,” he says, and that's a challenge Elliott appreciates: “There’s some mixing involved, and also if you’re working it right, there’s more risk involved — but you can use accidents.”
Lake Shadows oil, 30 x 30
Having expert teachers has helped him learn how to use those accidents. “I was fortunate enough to get to study with Wolf Kahn for a month,” Elliott says. “I’ve been fortunate to have the best mentors in a lot of different fields.”
Elliott says his painting gets better with every canvas because “I’m going to take it further than I’m comfortable with.” He’s been painting since the late 1970s, and he isn’t afraid to admit that he’s still honing his craft, learning as he goes.
Elliott works with pastels, too, and has done etching and collage work. “All of these mediums have helped me to become a better artist who is willing to take more risks,” he says. "“Pastels are essentially chalk, and they are already mixed. You pick up what you want, and then you layer. They can be lovely, and very powerful.”
Of Two Hearts collage
As for collage, “You get exactly what you want since the lines are already there," Elliott continues. "When painting, I have an idea in my head, and then I have to get it to travel down my arm and onto the stick and out of this gloopy glob of paint.”
Rio Chama View oil, 34 x 48
“I’m doing large formal landscapes in the tradition of contemporary American painters," he continues. "I’m trying to get over the bar and then raise it and jump over it again."
Elliott started showing his work in 1990 and has been represented by over a dozen galleries, including Mirada Fine Arts Gallery; his work can be found around town in local businesses, hospitals, hotels and event centers. Earlier this year, Elliott had a solo retrospective at the Parker Arts, Culture and Events (PACE) Center, and several large reproductions of Elliott’s landscapes are currently hanging in the main terminal of Denver International Airport as part of the semi-permanent group show Here to There. For more information on his work, visit Ken Elliott's website.
Artist's Reception, Saturday, December 5 and continuing through December 31. 2143 Westheimer, Suite B, Houston, Texas 77098 map
It was a very successful show and many thanks to all that attended and purchased works!
Also my sincerest thanks to all at Arden's framing, W. Alabama and Arden's River Oaks Gallery director Amanda and gallery assistant Marie for making it all possible.
Here we are at the Lone Tree Arts Center Wed morning for our Running Dialogue exhibition, Dec 3- Jan 6, You are all invited to the Artist Reception, Sat. Dec, 5, 5:30-7:00, 10075 Commons St. Lone Tree. CO 80124. It is a knock out show for the EXPAND artists!
Here's the info:
Group Show with the Expand Artists: Lone Tree Arts Center, CO
Artist's Reception: Saturday, December 5, 5-7pm
