new web site?

I've been working on this for the last couple of weeks and guess what? iWeb sucks, because the program is so flawed Google, Bing and Yahoo's bots can't see the launch page on a site that's made with it. I just spent the entire morning "fixing" the problems to no avail. So, I'm creating links in as many places I can to the site in hopes the major search engines will see it. Wish me luck and try to visit it that also might help the bloody ratings game. So, I created a new web site, www.richardtwedtfineart.com using Dreamweaver. It was a challenge and with a little help with my friend, Bill Lewallen, we got it up and running.

Artistic Connections

I've been interested in light and it's effects for several decades. The precursor to my M.A. thesis exhibition was an installation I did in "blacklight" upstairs in the Art Dept. about 1980. The visiting artist at the time was James Surls, the highly regarded Texas artist. As part of the M.A. program, I was required to invite him to review my installation. My mentoring instructor, Tom Askman, had already reviewed the installation and needless to say, he didn't give me a very favorable review. Surls on the other hand, loved the piece and suggested I present it to a wider audience in Spokane. Hence, I rented the Armory facility, 3 stories and approx. 100k sq. ft. and had four installation artists, ten performance artists and five bands play for my M.A. thesis event. Over 800 people attended the one night event.

My installation was all in black light and 1/2" plexiglass sculptures. The audio track in the 40' x 80' room was by David Byrne, "Remain in Light" and "My Life in the Bush of Ghost". Now, some twenty odd years later, I still remain in the light. I hope you do too. It's the only place to be. I don't have any surviving picture from the original event, but here's one of me under my most recent piece with a working title: "Light of Budda".

The Battle of the Squiggles vs. the Photons

Here's a little bit older video I created using the "Squiggle" imagery.

Etch-a-Sketch

Here's a video I did couple of months ago, but haven't posted it to any of my storages sites. Again, there's no sound track as it's was created with the thought people could view it and play whatever audio they preferred with it. It looks great on projected with a LCD projector on a big screen. It's shows the newer generation of the "Squiggles" series I've been working on for the past year or so.
hope you enjoy

Box of Photons - Color Version

This piece was created by adding a number of colored glass crystals to the clear ones.  The colored shadows are quite spectacular and reach to the floor.  Another option for an interior public art venue.

The Light of Budda

I've been wanting to do this piece for a couple of months as a demonstration piece for potential public art projects, particularly, for atrium and lobby applications.  So, yesterday all the elements came into play and by evening Jane and I were enjoying the new piece in our living room on the wall adjacent to the fireplace.  I can see these pieces suspended in atriums activated by the sun during the day and by articifical lighting at night.  The small budda sculpture on the floor is by our dear friend Jon Christopherson, who lives in Coos Bay, OR.  The second and third photos are views from our master bedroom.  The other piece on the wall in the bedroom is titled: "Photon Compression".

Remembering El Kienholz on 3:AM

This just in. My article "Remembering Ed Kienholz' was recently published in the Paris based publication 3:AM. If you have a few, check it out at www.3ammagazine.com/3am/remembering-ed-kienholz. Drop me an e and let me know what you think.

Studio Bio

Please follow this link if you are interested in looking at my studio bio. It's the traditional doc. with links to many different museum, gallery, art and artists sites. Also, list of exhibitions, collections and articles I've either been the subject of or written.

http://richardprofessionalstuff.blogspot.com/2009/07/studio-bio.html

Cascading Photons

I had been thinking about doing this piece for several months and finally found a fabricator who could do the 1/2" plex box reasonably and then found a source for the crystals. So, here it is. The pics were taken with my iPhone so they don't show the wonderful reflected rainbows on the surface of the cabinet and adjacent walls. It creates a pretty spectacular display. I'm thinking the "Donald Judd on Bling" boxes would be a good interior public art project.

A Collaboration: Nichols/Twedt

We've been talking about this for the better part of a year, but we actually got serious about it last weekend. Kimberly and I are doing a collaboration with our art. She will provide a dozen of her staged portraits and I will respond to them with overlays of my digital imagery. Once twelve pieces have been agreed upon, we'll have them printed on backlit film and installed in custom made lightboxes. We're looking for a gallery in the LA area, so if any of you have suggestions, let us know. Here's a sample piece that I sent to Kimberly to see, if this is what she was thinking about. It's just one of six images I sent and her response was quite positive. So, stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on the progress of the collaboration.

Richard's Professional Resume & Vita

I posted my resume and vita as a reference for anyone interested in seeing what my professional activities and associations have been for the past thirty years in the art world. Several cities have approached me about doing public art consulting work for them in the future after I retire in August.

I would like to invite you to view it by following this link: www.richardprofessionalstuff.blogspot.com

New Paintings & Lightbox images

I'm on fire.  I just created a photobucket site today, using images of the new series of paintings I started a couple of months ago, "Textured Photons" & "Photon Grid".  There's also pictures of the lightboxes with new backlit digital images in them, except for the "Photon Jewel" that is in the posted video "Lightboxes".  Here's the link to my photobucket site, www.photobucket.com/richardtwedt.  One suggestion.  Click on the  slideshow view.  The screen turns all black and the images appear floating in the middle.  I think it really does justice to them.

Palm Desert Public Art Videos

This link will take you to the official Palm Desert Travel site on YouTube that also has at least a doz. or more videos I've created about Palm Desert's public art and some other public art collections.  Follow this link and you'll be there: www.YouTube.com/user/PalmDesertTravel

Hope to see you in the desert sometime.

YouTube videos

These have been on YouTube for a while, hopefully you'll find them still fresh.  The Anthology of Photons is in three parts, because the files are so large and downloading would take too long.

www.YouTube.com/user/rtwedt

Richard's art spaces site

Here's a link to numerous digital still images and videos I've created over the past several years.  It's kind of like a storehouse for my artworks.  I've also recycled and transformed  many of my early paintings into digital images in Adobe Photoshop.  The mutations are endless.  Check it out at www.richardtwedtart.spaces.live.com/files, then click on the public folder.

If you're looking for art and cultural activities in the Coachella Valley, check this site out at http://desertartsincubator.typepad.com/weblog/public-art.html  It's maintained by Kimberly Nichols, artist and Gallery Director for the Heather James Fine Art Gallery in Palm Desert.  

The Public Art Blog

Here's a link to a blog that I created for my position as Public Arts Manager for the City of Palm Desert.  It has some interesting videos of public art in other cities and institutions, for instance, the Getty and the Stuart Collection on the UC San Diego's campus.  In April, my staff and I took the members of the Art in Public Places Commission to visit the incredible collection.  Some of my favorite public art pieces are in the Stuart Collection, like Robert Irwin's blue fence and Terry Allen's talking trees, visit the blog at:

http://www.publicartpalmdesert.blogspot.com

We have just updated our website with an all new design and navigation system.  It has links to our public art collection of over 140 pieces, other public art collections, museums, interactive Internet art sites, the Virtual Gallery and online artist registry that contains 300 + public artist's websites and much more.  I would like to invite you to visit it at http://www.palm-desert.org/arts-culture/public-art

The Squiggles

Like so many of my videos created in past couple of years, this piece is composed of animated individual digital images.  There is no sound track. The idea was to project the piece and each person could select what audio they prefer to go with it.  Let me know what you think.

Lightboxes

Here's a short video I created about a year or so ago of the different lightboxes hung throughout our house.  What I particularly like is at night they are reflected in the sliding glass doors and appear to float in space.  An added benefit.  The beauty of a lightbox is being able to change out the digital art to something new.  I change the images with the seasons, cool blues and greens for summer and warm yellows, golds and red during the winter.  

Richard's Art Adventures

I've been creating art and videos for several decades.  I recently decided to retire from my day job, as public arts manager for the City of Palm Desert, after 7 1/2 yrs. plus 20 yrs. as an art professor, gallery director, art department chair, and director of Exhibits Touring Services at Eastern Washington University, with campuses in Spokane and Cheney, Wa.  Now, I can concentrate on a new series of paintings that I've been toying with for the past several months.  I've done two sets of them using heavily textured surfaces with light shifting and iridescence paints, which change color as you change your orientation to the painting's surface.