Movin' and a shakin'

Hey friends!

Anna and I are moving to wordpress.  Blogspot just isn't letting me do what I want with my blog. Like post a video, hide text in a word jump, etc.

Soooo, come visit us at The NEW Brain Ideas Art Blog.  You'll notice that my old adorable banner doesn't quite fit the new layout.  I smell a project!

Thanks!

Roni!

PROOF

Hey y'all.
Hooray for getting into my first show on the west coast.
The show is PROOF at Southern Exposure, and the most exciting thing about it? SoEx is one of my favourite galleries here... It is #2, actually, second only to a gallery that is open so rarely I may have made it up.
Here is the website for the gallery!
Everything SoEx does is interesting and new. No cupcakes here.
I don't have an actual picture of the piece? I made it just for the show, and just forgot to take a picture of it before dropping it off. But here are some pictures H-Bomb! took at the opening:
Mine is the book, not the photograph above it.
My fan base.

If you get to go, kiss the feet of Glitterfoot, aka the best thing in the show XOXO

-Uu

Hey! Guess what? I've been published! One of my favorite drawing professor's was asked to submit some student work to be considered for publication in the fourth edition textbook Drawing: Space, Form, and Expression by Wayne Enstice & Melody Peters. I actually own the first edition because I bought it for school. Five students, myself included, were chosen from Kent State and hundreds more from all over the country. It's really exciting and there are some really beautiful student drawings throughout the book. Plus, they sent me a free copy! So, that saved me $100 w00t!  

Thar she is!

Oddly enough, one of my least favorite drawings of the semester. Who knows how words are formed!

Anywhooooo, I have some work to do. Byeeeee!

Roni!

Artist bio

1. Anna L Bihari received her BFA from Kent State University. She has chair, desk, dark blue curtainsdamnit, I just started writing down exactly what's in front of me...
2. Anna L Bihari got her BFA at Kent State University and red string safety pin, fuck.
3. Anna B as in BFA as in KSU as in 88.5 was doing a pledge drive all day.
4. Be hairy.
5. Too late to nap, too early to go to bed. I have the day off tomorrow.
6. linder was born and bred in suburban new york. she lives and works in brooklyn and buffalo, ny.
7. Anna L Bihari was born and bred in suburban Ohio. she lives and works in San Francisco and San Francisco, CA.
Done and done.

Classy

It's really unlike me to get political. I admittedly don't pay enough attention to make an informed opinion. When it comes to 9/11 I find it really difficult to become involved emotionally no matter if I want to or not.  Don't get me wrong, I know what happened and how terrible it was.  But, as a person not in NYC I really think the tragedy has been exploited...or, i can't think of the right word, made into a spectacle?  I've been to NY many times since it happened and I really just wanted a place to explore and feel like I learned something but was met with construction fencing.  This want for some sort of place to connect left me really worried about the memorial...this could be amazing or a spectacle. A few years ago, an international design competition was held to find a perfect memorial. Most of them were too big, too showy...many were taller than the original towers.  It was too much.  There is a reason the Vietnam memorial is so spectacular.  These designs were throwing subtlety and respect right out the window. So, I stopped paying attention. Until today! Today, I went to the 9/11 memorial site to see the damage and was pleasantly surprised (that's an understatement) to see images of a gorgeous park.  No really, it's breathtaking. I could describe it in detail but I'll just make a few points and post some images. First things first. The footprints remain intact and are featured. This was an important detail that I think was absolutely necessary to impressing upon the viewer the gravity of the event. Most of the designs covered them up.  The waterfalls are genius. Not only are they lovely but the crashing water is a nod to those who saw it happen.  Last but not least, the entire site is LEED gold certified.  How do you like that? Bravo, NY!

Right now, there is still a lot of construction happening around the site but hopefully that will clear out soon so visitors can get the full experience.  I look forward to that.  Here are some of the architect renderings:

While your at it check out these videos by story corps of a few of the victims families. For me, these are what hit home, all the talk about patriotism and catching the bad guys doesn't really do it for me.  When you want to remember a loved one, you think about them...not how they died. Not a dry eye left in my apartment. Geeesh!

http://www.youtube.com/user/storycorps

-Roni!

Schutz, Schutz, Schutz

I was perusing the newest issue of Art Forum today during my lunch break and saw a review for Dana Schutz's upcoming exhibition, "If the Face Had Wheels," at the Neuberger Museum of Art.  I haven't thought about Dana Schutz since fall 2006 when I saw her exhibition at MOCA Cleveland.  She's actually a graduate of Cleveland Institue of Art (BFA, earned her MFA at Columbia). So, it's awesome that she is doing well. Anyway, her work.  Her work is...crazy? Delicious? Visceral? All of the above, I'll say. Her work explores the depths of her infinite imagination and censors nothing. You can tell she's trying to tell you something but then you get distracted by the literal big picture.  Despite the primitive painting style she packs so much detail and visual interest that I have to explore before I even attempt to decipher the meaning. The paint usage and thick brush strokes are delicious.  It's the only way to describe it. Whenever I see a painting like hers I wanna scoop all the paint off and plop it into a cone, or on top of a cake. Yummy. The subject matter, though generally disturbing, are presented in a way that feels more curious than serious. The interviewer in this MOCA review elaborates on that idea. Enough of me making no sense. Here are some images:   

Happy, 2004

Presentation, 2005

Sneeze, 2001

The Breeders, 2002

Ladders, ladders, ladders, I win!

Roni!

If that diamond ring don't shine...

Just in time for summer to end, I got a new (old) bike! It's a vintage Royce Union that I took to Joy Machines to get all spruced up.  They were extremely helpful, nice, and the price was very reasonable. It's crazy cute and I made it even MORE cute by adding blue grip tape. The bike guys made it extra fancy by giving me blue brake cables, instead of the standard black. It has some rust but rides great...took her for a 14 mile test ride yesterday. The bike definitely did better than I did but, I still had lots of fun!!

Fancy

Majestic

Stylin'

Woooo!

Roni!

...momma's gonna buy you some turpentine.

Twofer!

So, I photographed two weddings this past weekend and lucky me they were the two cutest most detail oriented weddings I've ever been to! Saturday's was just the reception (they were married Friday at the groom's parents home) and the entire hall was transformed. It was an inspiring DIY event, one you would see on an indie-chic bridal blog :)   Take a peek:

Love birds!

Nod to the letters the groom sent to his bride while overseas

There were food stations...each of which were labeled with a chalkboard!

:)

String lights are always a winner

No detail spared, even the straws matched!

Next time, back to art. G'night o-hi-o!

-Roni!

Portrait

You can live forever. And also, your brain is the internet. Syne Mitchell book? Yes. But also an idea that people in the science community (whether they agree with it or not) are calling "singularity". You know, from that movie you watched called "Transcendent Man".
Right, great. THAT brings us to my new hero (of a quadrillion part you tube interview) Hugo de Garis (watch that clip, I love this part).
Also, in Transcendent Man, he says this (watch this clip now).
I love to watch him talk, because he leans into the camera and assumes everybody on the other side has fallen asleep. But it is also an interesting interview to just listen to. Close your eyes and imagine a super-smart robot-god killing everyone you love. But it is worth it, and you know it. For Science.
Aaaaand I want to be a cyborg. But I also want a robot body. But I want it to be a sexy robot body. No, but seriously. I am on the side of pro robot-gods, and I painted a portrait of our main man, Hugo.
Until next time,
Uu

wedding!

I normally wouldn't post a full wedding on here.  However, Anna knows this bride and groom so I thought I would share with her and all of you! The couple was married on August 12, 2011 at Virginia Kendall.  The weather was perfect and everyone looked beautiful.  The details at this wedding were really cute and all handmade by the bride :)  Congratulations Erica and Paul! 

 

oh, brother (pun!)

:)

gorgeous!

yummy! I tried the yellow with lemon

Flat Photos FTW

H-Bomb aka Heather just re-shot the children's book. She is an angel sent from heaven where the angels are. I don't have a picture of it yet...
The last images were brilliant. She shot those too. But she shot them TOO WELL, and they were juicy and moody and beautiful. Alas, when we chose a paper to print on, and made some tests, they were too textured for life. So this time we shot them flat. Well, she shot them. I hit this button a few times, and hit this other button more times. It was great. I did a really good job.
Anywho. I owe her 98576 more strawburry short cakes.
xoxo
Uu

Question: What do all of these images have in common?

Simon Hennessy Pimlico Girl

Denis Peterson Vortex of Despair

Alyssa Monks "Smirk"

Diego Gravinese Poolside

Doug Bloodworth Oreo

Lee Price Lemon Meringue

 

Hilo Chen

Sharon Moody Hold it, Joker!

Answer:  They're all paintings.

Yep. I almost wrote about how looking at these amazing pieces makes me want to throw myself into traffic. But, I thought about it a little more and decided that I have other talents...like I dunno...making friendship bracelets.

Besides, the important thing is that seeing work like this, no matter how much it looks like a photo, makes you realize how sexy painting can be. These paintings would blow its photographic counterpart out of the water, no contest. Even with advances in technology and editing, a photograph never ever looks the way your eye sees it. A sunset is always better in person. With painting, however, you (well,  a select few) can make a photo realistic painting and push the boundaries of what is possible to catch on film (especially without post production)...things like enhanced depth, shadows, color, focus. These are the subtle differences that can convince even the most die hard photography enthusiast that painting, specifically photo realistic painting, is still relevant.

Okey, bed time!

-Roni!

Alright everyone.  I'm in a quandary.  My new job requires me to search for "inspiration" on a daily to weekly basis. Finding it isn't hard, it's getting it to work that's the problem. The thing is, I need to upload them to a server to share with the district so, if I find something amazing in print it's a huge to-do to get it onto the computer. I either have to somehow find a scanner and scan it, take a picture of it with my camera then upload the pictures then email it to myself, or write the name of the magazine down and try and find the same image online. Not only that but if I then want to have the image in my art room to lok at I have to print it somewhere not at work because they don't have a color printer. So, here's my problem. I don't want to get a smart phone but I am starting to really see the value in having my camera and internet access all in one. If you suggest an ipad, I suggest you stop reading my blog...I refuse to entertain that idea until it has a usb port. Anywho, the picture quality on an iphone is admittedly stellar and so I wouldn't need to print anything I could just look at it on the phone. It's more money over all BUT I will be saving eons of time and trees. As a girl who saves all of her junk mail in a box to reuse for scrap paper, saving trees means a lot to me. 

OR I could just get an ipod touch with a camera...do those exist? That might be preferable since they get wifi with no monthly fee. I just looked it up, they do take pictures and video. Maybe that would be better...because I really really don't want a smart phone.  Hey, thanks for your help, guys!

Here are some pictures from the rocky mountains, so amazing!!!

kay bye!

 

Ganked again

I went out west for the first time this past weekend for a lovely wedding in the Rocky mountains with a lovely boy and his equally lovely family. After I edit some pictures I'll post some up here. In the meantime, I ganked this artist from The Jealous Curator:


Jenny Hart: Study Hall Drawing

So good. It makes me this of this hilarious "gawdy valentine" I made for my 2007 Painting 4 class that rocked the house (despite my less than awesome grade).  When I go home next I'll photograph it to share. It'll make you smile, methinks.

Kay byeee!

R!

parceque

Hey!  This is Brain Idea's 100th post!  Welllll, I'm happy to have some super fun news for this post.  About a week ago, a woman contacted me from an online based french art and design magazine, Parceque.  She was looking for a cover image and found my deviantart page which I haven't updated in a million years.  I thought about deleting it, actually.  She liked my painting titled 'Pool' but, since it is a horizontal she wanted to use it for the table of contents page. So, obviously I said "Sure!"  I mean, I made that painting for a summer painting class and it is sitting in my basement now sooo why not?  So, I'm published in a magazine!  Neat-o!  Also, on August 1st the fourth edition of Drawing: Space, Form, Expression is released and I have a drawing in that as well. But, I'll talk more about that when the time comes.  Alright, now check out parceque.  It has some pretty great drawings and paintings in it...I just wish I could read it!!

Dis ess myne

I like this one a lot

and these

and this one two :)

Kay, that's all for now.  Happy Saturday!

Roni!