As regular readers of the ArtAttack blog will have noted from recent posts, we have added a new face and aesthetic to the mix of this blog about art in Charleston and West Virginia. Amanda Jane Miller, a freelance art writer for the gazz arts and entertainment section of the Charleston Gazette, has joined the blog. Miller received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from West Virginia University, where she studied photography, electronic media and art history. She will be sharing the space with occasional posts from long-time contributors Sweet and Sour. Let us know what you think in the Comments sections.

Also, who has got a new name for this blog? Start the suggestions below…. The winning name earns some arty prize we have not yet figured out yet, but which will be something cool — or something they mail to us as a press freebie. It’ll still be cool. | Douglas Imbrogno, thegazz.com editor

Mike Budai, “Giving Friendly a Try.” Click photos to enlarge

Mike Budai:
I’d say that, as i’m usually just a paper/2-D artist, painting the figure was really liberating… even though i was painting 2-D, the work of making sure lines aren’t crooked, things are even, etc. presents some creative decision making that I rarely have to deal with. This is the 3rd (or maybe 4th?) figure i have painted; each one is more fun to work on.

As for Charleston, i think it is really great that they are getting a show like this. Growing up in a smaller town (New Castle, PA) I would have loved to have had the opportunity to see some really diverse work like these figures. It’s really a norm-breaker as far as art in a small town goes, you know? Read the rest of this entry »

Several of the artists involved in the exhibit “Pandora’s Toybox” sent me very thoughtful answers to my questions about the show. I could only fit so much into the printed article, so I feel compelled to post each artist’s sentiments in full here on the ArtAttack blog. First up is Leia Bell, a printmaker in Salt Lake City who created “Slothie.” I think the fact that I simply assumed she was from Charleston says something about the unexpected scope and magnitude of the show.

Amanda Miller: Did you transfer your design from an existing piece of work, or did you create specifically for the doll?
Leia Bell: For the most part my design for the toy was created specifically for it. However, I have been intrigued by sloths lately, and I had done several drawings of the creatures in my sketchbook, so when I saw the blank toy I instantly pictured him as a sloth in my head. Read the rest of this entry »