29 April 2010

Tommy Lick-a-Trout.

One of my old friends from high school (Chateauguay, Quebec) lives in San Diego. His name is Tommy Kitsos. He is a rock and roller. But for real. I'm a rocker, but he makes the rock and roll for folks like me to rock too.
Rock.
His band is called The Night Marchers. Rock.
Tommy and I have known each other for over twenty years. We worked at the same restaurant back home. He kicked me out of the second (and last) rock & roll band I was in, Grime. He's such a bad ass. I mean, he smokes cigarettes and everything. STILL.
It was Tom's birthday yesterday and I'm leaving San Diego tomorrow so we decided to hook up for a coffee & so's I could give him a birthday gift. The gift of photographic art. The gift that keeps on giving.
Even though he kicked me out of that band that time... I still wish I could have spent more time hanging out with Tommy. He's a good guy for a bad ass.

I took a picture of us in our aging glory. This is that picture:


It's obvious why his nickname in college was 'Tommy The Tongue'. Mine was just 'Nostrils'.

More tour info later on folks... calm down... have some dip.

Say 'goodnight' Troutie.
'Goodnight Troutie'.

28 April 2010

quick bit

"still life of the artists worktable from above in rare tidy form with sneakers and screwdriver"



...or "the artist should be asleep right now and not mucking around on the blog"

taken 2 days before artwalk.

27 April 2010

NEWS - DUST BEGINS TO SETTLE

Artwalk ended for me about 24 hours ago. Well, Artwalk itself about 30, but the whole weekend shebang... 24.
It's been madness.
I thought it was madness leading up to the weekend... I was wrong. As I'm still pretty wrung the hell out from it all I'll leave the elaborations for another entry and try to be as succinct as I can (haha).
I had a fantastic time. Although it was not as financially successful as we needed it to be I still felt it was worth every second. That may sound like ten pounds of platitudes in a five pound bag, but its true. Col J and I really (really) pulled out all the stops and when there were more stops to be pulled, and there were many, our incredible support team (Mrs. Col. J and the future Mrs Trout [& Derrick & Cody & Leah & Rachel & Katie & Spencer & Leutenent Jost & Megan & ...]) were there to pick up the chaos. (thank you all)
To me, the 'success' comes from the many times over the weekend people told me that our tent was the busiest, most interesting and original tent they'd seen all day. (what surprised us was that more than half of them were people we didn't pay to say that.)
So, yes, we'd have liked to have sold (a lot) more, but I handed out hundreds of business cards and talked to hundreds and hundreds of people. The living history exhibit was a huge draw and people had so many good things to say about it. I think I need to let some pictures my lovely assistant (the future Mrs. Trout) took of the weekend do the talking.
[Oh, yes she was there, by the way... there was a several-week-long conspiracy going on between her and the Colonel to bring her down to surprise me and, despite being concerned about how good a liar she is, I was thrilled to have her here. She is always a part of everything I do and am but her help this weekend was a vital part of it's success.]

Ok... I'm fading... here are some pictures...

Trout and the Colonel discussing the game plan thursday night:



setting up friday night:


my fiancee, the artist took this (really nice):


busy tent:


one end:

contemplating a big ticket item:



another end:

Trout takes a breather (fills gills with coffee) in front of the living history art museum:


I will have to write about the end of the night Sunday, the Sushi Gallery OFFICIAL END of the Kreddible Trout (part of the) World Tour 2010 another time as I very badly need to go and give the sandman a piece of my mind.

Other things too... other things I have to tell you... in time... in time.

Say goodnight Troutie.
'goodnight Troutie.'

21 April 2010

KREDDIBLE TROUT @ MISSION FEDERAL ARTWALK IN SAN DIEGO!

I don't know if you guys got the memo, but this whole blog thing has been about this weekend.
That's right, Kreddible Trout, the man, the myth, the discontinued brand of applesauce will be at the Mission Federal Artwalk in the Little Italy area of San Diego this coming weekend. The corner of Columbia & Fir in tent #s 794 & 795.
Tell all your friends! Tell the whole bunch!

KT will have a variety of yummy yummy art for sale! Some at prices even KT could afford! KT will have a museum for you to gander through (think this blog... nailed to a bunch of thriftstore frames and other oddities... curious?). KT will have a long nap after this is all over!

Also... (also... as if it all weren't enough...) KT will be schlepping this craziness across town to the Sushi Center for the Urban Arts to show it off there & maybe do a little performance or two!

KT will now stop talking about himself in the third person and go to bed.

20 April 2010

NEWS - ARTIST DENIES SELF MUCH NEEDED SLEEP IN ORDER TO BLOG. AND A PELICAN.

That's right folks, yours truly Mr. Kreddible Trout esq. has opted to forgo yet more sleep to update y'ez all on the progress. It's been many long days (really, I think I've taken one full day off from the shop since arriving in San Diego & I probably spent some of that day off working on the computer.) Progress has been... well, it's been pretty good I think. 12 hour days have a way of paying off. (10+ hours is about the amount of time I spend at the shop per day. A lot of the time it may appear as though I'm just standing there rubbing my head and tapping my foot... but that's me thinking and contemplating artistic-type things... or thinking about coffee)

It really hit me tonight just how busy I've been. Col. J and I went out to grab some Mexican (no... some food... we didn't get slapped) up the street and I realized that I hadn't ever walked north on my street before. I'd never taken a left out of the studio. This is completely not my nature as I live to wander every nook & cranny. I love variation. I love getting new perspectives on things even if that simply means taking ten paces to the left. Or zigging when I was intending on shimmying.
My world has been the highway between Col Js and the studio.
The Studio.
The path I've worn in the sidewalk between the studio and the coffee shop.
The occasional sidetrack on a different street to hit a thrift store is just another point between Col J's and the studio.

I'm not complaining. I'm just in a bit of shock.

Michelle also mentioned to me tonight that there's a big curvy bridge in pictures she's seen of San Diego when she googles it. 'Bridge? What bridge?' I said. I googled it. Sho 'nuff there's a big dang curvy bridge! It looks pretty cool and might lead somewhere neat. I wouldn't know though because I've been cranking out a bushel of yummy-yummy art that I am very proud of.

Again. Not complaining. The pieces I've been able to accomplish are well worth it. I'm thrilled about them. Again, just a bit of a shock.

So... here are some pics of some stuff. I took a few hours last saturday to go to the beach.

Here is a pelican.
here's the shop a few nights ago.



here's a self-pic of me & one of my new favorite pieces (it's much huger that it looks behind my big noggin)



here's something that I spent too much time getting it to the perfect blue-blackness for it to now be white.



here's where some burgers are:



and here is (...I almost don't want to show it but it's hanging in the front window of the shop now so... I guess it's not a secret...) the first completed part of the Living History Art/Museum Piece (a.k.a this blog in real life). It's still untitled and focused on my beach experiences in LA (Santa Monica Pier & Venice Beach). That little guy behind it is me. I am 5'10" and weigh about 185... for reference.



so... now I'm going to have some serious words with my pillow. Usually if I provoke it, it'll haul off and knock me out.

Say 'Goodnight', Troutie.
'Goodnight Troutie'.

16 April 2010

as it turns out...

... he was a Scandinavian interior designer named Lars. He came back and bought a $20 piece off me and was quite good-natured about the whole 'Kevin Bacon' thing. He says he gets it all the time.

15 April 2010

One Degree of Kevin Bacon's Doppelganger

So... I'm in the shop today building art and get a window gawker. This happens a few times a day and is the reason I'm set up in the glassy corner of an old car dealership (lots of windows = lots of things to be seen = more publicity). I'm about 40% successful at waving people in who seem interested. I tell them the story about who and why and what and all that jazz, try for a chuckle or two and hope to see them at Artwalk. It's fun.
So... the gawker today is peering in the window, trying to make out some of the writing on one of the shots and I motion him in. He politely waves me off & keeps squinting through the glass. I go on about my work and he starts to wander off. Then I notice him checking out another, larger piece hanging in the window. He gives me the 'thumbs up' motioning to the whole shop sort of saying 'nice stuff' and as he turns away I clue in that he looks just like Kevin Bacon.
Now, I'm thinking that it wasn't Kevin Bacon but a Kevin Bacon impostor, coincidental lookalike or... his doppelganger. I say this because if it was really Kevin Bacon and I didn't get a chance to lure Kevin Bacon in and hit him with a chuckle or two I missed out on an opportunity to sell art to Kevin Bacon. Which would suck because of all the celebrities he's one who I'd be proud to have one of my pieces. He's pretty cool that Kevin Bacon.
So, whoever you are walking around San Diego looking like Kevin Bacon, be a little more careful with that resemblance would you? Some over-caffeinated, under-rested, mildly stressed artist might go off on late night tangents like this instead of sleeping! Have some respect, would you?

Oh, and I got featured on the redbubble homepage again today. with my shot "it's what they call 'protective coloring'"
.

11 April 2010

NEWS - TWO WEEKS IN SAN DIEGO

Oh, hello again friends! So nice of you to drop by.
Now I know you all think I've been slacking off a bit and, if the measure of one's work were measured in blog posts you'd be right. But you're wrong. Very very wrong. At the end of my second week in San Diego I've had one day off and have filled the others with the creation, construction, organization, arrangement and reconfigurment of the Kreddible Trout Mad Science Studio, San Diego Branch and the works displayed therein. It's been a busy two weeks. From the purchasing and assembling of pvc piping & chickenwire (??) to the gathering yet more art materials, to deciding on and printing shots, to nailing and bashing and hammering and screwing and painting and gluing and twisting and matting and framing and hanging and fretting... to working on promo material & the organization of the closing night shin-dig at the Sushi Gallery... it's been pretty non stop.
Oh yeah, and on my day off there was an earthquake. Colonel J and I were on a roadtrip and happened to be pretty close to the epicenter. That was pretty frikken cool.

So, the studio.
John managed to finagle us a sweet shopfront to work out of. It's right around the corner from where the tent will be at Artwalk. It's an old car dealership and has got more windows than a man like myself (who likes to work with no pants on) might be comfortable with but this affords us some pretty decent display potential. Despite my dubious-ity concerning Col. J's scheme of concocting display units involving chickenwire and pvc piping, I think they turned out pretty nice after all. Half of them now form the 'back wall' of the studio. The signage has gone from meager to ridiculous as is perfectly fitting for this endeavor.

these shots was taken last night and might give you an idea as to why I've been slacking on the blog-front:



In the top photo, the three pieces hanging in the upper windows are much larger than they appear. The middle one is a 20x30 print secured inside an antique-ish window and weighs a ton. If anyone recognizes the one on the right ('their chickens for eggs' that was hanging in my office at home) & remembers it's size, it'll give you a good reference point. Those of you who don't... imagine: BIG.

And here is a peek inside the madhouse:



Any of you all who are in the San Diego area, please feel free to come down and visit me. I'm on the west side of Kettner between Grape and Fir. I try to get in for around 11am. Well... I try to get in for 10, but in actuality I get in at 11.

Here is a shot from sometime during week one:



and here is our first of many trips to the hardware store:

... that's right... we jammed a bunch of 10 foot pvc piping and several rolls of chickenwire into Col J's Porche.

The man is nuts. Did I mention that?

So... now I'm off again to do... um... more stuff. I'll upload some shots from my desert trip and others from the San Diego leg of The Kreddible Trout (part of the) World Tour 2010 a little bit later (maybe next week?) We'll see.