This is a short edit of my friends and myself skating a park in Oakdale, Minnesota. Well, most of the skating is of my friends, I rarely get tricks anymore(I still have fun though). I'm just happy to be able to film and edit...thank goodness for the younger generation of skateboarders.
This edit includes old and new footage filmed mostly by me with a little help from my friend Alex.
Featuring skating from Boun Xiong, Dan "Hendo" Hendrickson, Alex Uncapher, Andre Vernon, Darren Brown, Ryan Safranski and myself.
In November 2010 I began an 18 month sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Duluth, Minnesota. I've never had any kind of criminal record or even been in trouble with the law before so this was a complete eye opening experience for me and I was pretty bummed to say the least.
Once I became acclimated to the routine of camp life I discovered the hobby/crafts building and soon became friends with the guys in the painting program. After some time I was able to join the program with a little help from the guys and eventually began work on the very first painting of my stay: Dance Dance Dance!
Dance Dance Dance! - Acrylic on canvas panel.
There happened to be eight guys in the painting program at that time and almost all of them were using oils. One guy in particular asked me if I would show him some techniques using acrylics, I told him I would and quickly put in an order for the materials through Dick Blick. Funny thing was, I waited almost a month and a half before receiving the order. The gears of bureaucracy move pretty slowly in prison(this is the Federal government we're talking about) so I was quite pleased once my supplies eventually arrived.
Untitled(Expression) - Oil on canvas.
Not sure if people care or even know but there are things that seem quite messed up within the prison system, just listen to anyone that has been there or are there now. I'm not saying criminals should have it nice and easy but I feel that plenty of taxpayer money is being wasted plus I don't think anyones very happy, especially the ones who run such places(I heard one of the officers at the camp in Duluth committed suicide a few months after I left).
Andy Warhol Corrupted - Oil on canvas.
Though no one desires to be locked up, with perks like having very little access to much, inmates adapt to life there making do with what they have and what they can get a hold of. Of course I was happy to be able to draw and paint and when people found out about it there was an instant demand for portraits, tattoo designs and even logos(I did a few of these during my stay!). It's definitely a great way to barter for things you may want or need!
Mr. Bob Dylan - Oil on canvas.
In November 2011 I was to go back to Minneapolis for a three month stay in a halfway house so a month before my departure I decided to start one last painting, a portrait of Bob Dylan done from a black and white photo I clipped from a Rolling Stone magazine a friend had. At first I hadn't a clue as to what I was going to do for the color palette but eventually I settled into one that I had never before tried; a rainbow effect for the skin and hair. I also worked to keep the brush strokes loose but this went out the door after the very first day of painting. The painting took a little more than a week to complete even though I could've kept going, adding more details but I had to call it quits so I could send it home before I left Duluth. This is a small tribute to a great singer/songwriter/musician/artist painted during my stay in the place of his birth(the actual location of the prison is in a town right outside of Duluth).
Al(left) & Me in front of his painting ca. 2011
I have to admit, though I do not miss prison, I do miss the time spent with these guys discussing art and working on paintings together.
This article is dedicated to them...keep painting fellas!
In the year 1999 I began experimenting with a process for producing multiples which was a composite of various printing and art making methods including a banal and redundant practice known to some as...
At that time I was working data entry for a local insurance company and part of my duties as the pion in the office was to make use of the copy machines for a variety of papers and documents. Those particular copiers printed black only, but for me to be able to use such technology for free was a godsend eventually opening up doors to new possibilities for creating art(or as I like to refer to as, "stuff").
Dead Mouse(proof) - Xerox copier print on textured paper.
Eventually the idea to use the copier like a printing press came to mind and I became inspired at the prospect for developing a process based in past printing practices, but with a modern... or dare I say... postmodern twist.
Katana(proof) - Xerox copier print on paper.
Color plates for Katana.
Oil on paper.
Starting off with a few objects drawn from my Japanese heritage, I created line drawings of these items to be used as a base for each print. I then colored each plate(in this case a sheet of paper with an image on it) with oil paint and/or various other materials applied as collage and separating like colors onto their respective plates. Like with other printing methods - especially when it comes to multi-colored prints - one must plan out each plate so when layered a wider range of colors will be achieved during the printing process. Registration is another key point when planning multi-colored prints; making sure all the elements of an image line up is crucial. One does not necessarily have to follow these rules to produce prints but the quality of the print will depend solely on the artist's vision of what they seek from their printing process.
Maneki Neko(proof) - Xerox copier print on paper.
Color plates for Maneki Neko.
Oil, sand paper, color pencils and pen collaged on paper.
Once I had something ready for print it was time to head to the local Kinkos for proofing. This was back before they had the cards and was based on the honor system where one paid for the number of copies at the register. Of course, not having the funds to drop on the going rate of 99¢ per copy, it wasn't much to run the same sheet through multiple times and come out with a single print made up of many colors having only to pay for the single sheet and not the entire process.
You may be asking yourself, why wouldn't he just take an already finished image and make a single color copy; why go through all the trouble of producing color separations and then printing each one of those separations on the same sheet of paper.
Well, the point of the project was the act of printing in a new and unheard of way(I respectively take into account my own ignorance regarding what others may have already done using copiers). For me, it wasn't about an intellectual pursuit but a desire to explore what could possibly be done with a color copier and ones own imagination. Besides, the effect created by the layering of toner with each run through the copier was what I came to enjoy and seek from this process, something one would not achieve from a single run through the copier.
Visions of a Warrior - Xerox copier print on mulberry paper.
The open white field at the top left was for a Hanko or signature.
Color plates for Visions of a Warrior.
Oil on paper.
The reality of this process is entirely redundant since the copier does much of this automatically, but the basic essence of the process is completely steeped in the tradition of older printing methods such as intaglio, lithography, woodblock, engraving and screen printing. I was very excited with being able to utilize other art making practices such as drawing, painting, collage, stenciling, etc. and applying those things to what could possibly be created within the limits of this medium.
Untitled(dragon) - Epson printer/copier print on paper.
Untitled(birds) - Epson printer/copier print on paper.
One thing I found difficult with this process was the use of mulberry paper to print on and how easily it would jam up in the machine due to the paper's overly flexible quality. Granted this paper wasn't specifically made to work with copiers. I'm still surprised by the number of prints I was able to pull off without completely ruining those machines at Kinkos.
I have a tendency to get it in my head, the idea, that it'd be nice to make a gift for someone's birthday but find I bit off more than I can chew resulting in a missed deadline and the eventual setting of the project aside to forgetting about it until the next time a birthday pops up(I'm so terrible when it comes to remembering birthdays) and so begins the cycle once again.
Well this time I said, screw it! Just finish the piece even if you do miss the deadline... again.
Of course I missed the deadline but stuck to my guns by following through and finishing the piece. These things shouldn't take as long as they do but the reality of it tells me otherwise, especially when for me, it has to be as perfect as can be. So here are some details; it's pretty simple and includes some of the characters I've been using in recent works plus some new ones.
Done in gouache on watercolor paper and overprinted with a black keyline to bring it all together. The screen printing was the part of the project that took the longest since the original screen I made ended up in ruins after a failed attempt at using an oil based ink which I let stand in the screen for too long and of course it dried up on me. There are still quite a few bugs in my process that definitely need to be addressed but I still had fun making this even if it was problematic.
Here is a sample of some pen and ink drawings made while I was held up in a halfway house for three months. These are a few of the good things that came out of that whole experience.
If you are thinking about doing something you know isn't very smart, my advice to you out there is, stay out of trouble and figure out what you want to do before the reality of what you are doing catches up with you. Besides there are plenty of other productive activities to focus ones energies on other than finding yourself locked up in a cell dreaming about life on the outside.
Done in pen and ink with a grey oil pastel filled background on white lunch bags that were glued to a 9" x 12" bristol base.
In making these images I used a brush pen that the Pentel brand has out which produces a nice rich black line of varied thicknesses. The brush pen runs about $6 to $7 dollars a pop but if you don't mind spending a little more for a brush pen it's worth it plus I did these and about 5 more images before the ink ran out. Only down fall about this pen is that I don't think they sell refillable or replacement cartridges so one must purchase a brand new pen once it's all used up.
Here are a few pics of the pen and the tip.
I enjoy using traditional chinese brushes to create a varied line so it was a simple and fun transition when using this brush pen. The bristles that make up the tip are synthetic which seems to hold it's shape quite well during use. I definitely recommend this brush pen if you like working with pen and ink :)
This is a limited edition of 10 prints on white Stonehenge 90lb. paper cut to 22" x 22" with the image size at 20" x 20". The total number of colors comes to 28 with 19 stencils used to create this print.
Here are some details...
The price of the print is $100.00 plus shipping and handling.
Hooray!!! Here's our very first post dedicated to the artwork created by Mr. Corey J. Hanssen an artist working out of the city of Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota somewhere in the middle of North America, the good 'ol U. S. of A.
Cool, now give yourself a nice little pat on the back because you're in America.
But I do not mean to leave out any of our friends from all around the world so High Fives all around to the cool people from places not here in the land of waving golden grains and majestic purple mountains...
Yes, there are still places like that here.
First we'd like to start with a big THANK YOU for visiting this blog and hopefully we won't be letting you down with all the fluff 'n stuff so we'll be working hard to bring you plenty of art related goodies to view and chew on in these upcoming months...
... you know, before the end of the world catches up with us.
Yeah, maybe not!
We're here to share and discuss Art and not end of world conspiracy theories...
.web.jpg "Untitled(abstract-expression) - Oil on canvas. CJHart © 2011")
