Villains, Super Villains, Heroes & Super Heroes!

I don't have much time to keep this blog updated so here's just a few pics of the installation that Ashleigh Rauen and Tom Chapel did for the CD release for The Dead Science's "Villainaire". The opening reception is this Wednesday, Sept 3 from 8pm to close. We serve beer, wine, and food.

Classroom Classics & Passage to Bangkok

Hey everyone, thanks for coming to the blog... it's not as up-to-date as the web site this time (go figure). I put the sample menu on the site and stuff.

We have really cool 16mm movies this Friday at 8pm and also the new art show is pretty Hi-lariously cheesy. The Thai posters are funny. Here's a little info from a web site that is dedicated to teaching people about the Thai movie poster art form:

The descriptive, exaggerated style of painting used to promote the first Thai movies has long been loved by film buffs, but has only recently become regarded as part of Thailand's cultural heritage.

Characteristically, there is an abundance of detail, with the film’s heroes always dominating the painting. A package of smaller images is added around their picture, showing some events of the film to attract filmgoers.


You can read more at: Bangkok Recorder

Currently Hanging

Jen Graves mentioned one of Stacey Farrar's pieces in the Stranger Slog this week:
The Stranger Slog

Hollywood Pulpcore Friday 5/2/08 6-10p

Who killed Marilyn Monroe?

San Diego artist and author David Russell Talbott says he knows, and reveals this and other dark secrets from Tinseltown's heyday in his upcoming illustrated book, "HOLLYWOOD PULPCORE". Talbott will be bringing his touring art show to Vermillion on May 2, 2008. The gallery will be displaying numerous original paintings from the book and the artist will be on hand to meet the public.

Here's his web site.

More about David Russell Talbott

David Russell Talbott comes from a California family filled with painters, musicians, and one B-Movie scream queen. He spent over ten years in the indie rock scene before dropping his guitar in favor of a paintbrush.

His artwork was first popular in the West Coast music scene, completing over one hundred flyers for various music venues in Southern California. David then created his art style called "PULPCORE", influenced by the vintage pulp of the Forties and Fifties. His images are filled with a cast of characters you'd find in classic crime fiction and film noir.

Since his first show in the late nineties, he has exhibited across the US and has been published internationally. His artwork has been seen in JUXTAPOZ, Sleek Magazine (Berlin), & San Diego CITYBEAT. His “HOLLYWOOD EATS ITS OWN” art series is now being turned into a fully illustrated book.
David will be available for interviews in Seattle starting April 28th. The "Hollywood Pulpcore" art show will run thru June 30, 2008.

New Stuff

I don't know if this is interesting to anybody but I have some pictures of new stuff for Vermillion.
Here we have a church pew that I am re-upholstering. I got it at the Re-Store. I love that place. This will go along one side of the wall in the restaurant so a crowd can sit together.

This is the mirror that used to be in Kincora's. Thanks to Dawn and Shea for that. It's giant.

Art on Thursday

The neighborhood is hopping this week:

Capitol Hill has always been a destination for art and culture but now our humble block is coming alive with Vermillion and Grey Gallery and Lounge providing a new opportunity to see upcoming and career artists in a gallery setting with the luxury of a more casual setting. This Thursday, Grey is having an opening for Amy Ellen Flatchestedmama Trefsger. Also, highly recommended is the "Bookish" exhibit curated by Carrie E.A. Scott at the Hedreen Gallery just down the street at Seattle U.
We're showing Consumer Conquest by Stacey Farrar. Stacey is exploring the idea of endless consumerism and planned obsolescence with his "breathing piles of consumer items" and intricate drawings of soon-to-be-extinct items like cassette mixapes and incandescent lightbulbs. Throughout April.

Experimental Films by Jon Behrens

I just sent an email about this. Here are the details:

Friday, 4/11/8, 8PM. (Donation)

We're inaugurating the 10'x10' movie screen with films by local film luminary Jon Behrens. Jon is a prolific filmmaker as well as a collector of vintage TV, movies and commercials. This Friday we're showing his highly acclaimed collection of short works with snacks and wine. He's organizing future events here featuring vintage 60's toy commercials and Sci-Fi classics, reviving the program he used to have on the back porch at Linda's Tavern.

Arcade Magazine Launch Party - Issue 26:03

Arcade Magazine has chosen Vermillion to unveil their latest issue, feature edited by Cara Rose DeFabio and touching on Fashion and Design. Join us this Thursday for wine, food and to see the newest issue. Also, art by Marianne Goldin as well as concepts from Graypants, Erin Kendig, Design Kompany, and Stacey Farrar.

P.S. In the mass email that was sent out the link to Graypants was not correctly linked. If you'd like to see their site go here: www.graypants.com

Sorren and Screen

The bar is finished and we are applying the endless layers of lacquer to the top. We're showing Joe Sorren in the front window while we finish up the back. Joe is one of the most successful artists in the Pop Surrealism realm and has appeared on the cover of Communication Arts, inside Juxtapoz, and has had a few solo exhibits at prominent galleries nationwide. This is a limited edition print that is in a custom frame and behind UV Plexi. It's approximately 32x52". Inquire for price.

We also put up a giant 10'x10' movie screen in the back, which has been loaned to us by Jon Behrens, so look forward to some 16mm movie nights in the near future.

BittersweetsNY on the Today Show

I forgot to post this last week but it's still not too late for Valentines Day! My sister had her jewelry featured on the Today Show last week. There's a store called "Store Adore" that compiles cool sites and her shop, BittersweetsNY was one of them. Here's the link - it's the second to last item in the segment (around 3:15)

Leilani Lanes

Here is finally an update as to how the rest of the buildout is going. Jerry is putting the old Leilani Lanes on top of the bar and we're going to paint the floors this week. The art is in hiatus for February to keep things from getting bumped or dusty during the big construction push. We're hoping to open the entire place in March with a grand opening art show and full wine bar.
More updates soon!

Kellie Talbot

The ever talented Kellie Talbot was nice enough to drop this amazing painting by for inclusion in the semi-permanent salon at The Hideout. Drop by for a drink and see it in person.

KOMO4

Here's Ryan getting interviewed for the news:

Serial Attention

Sometimes I forget; this blog won't write itself! Cripes, this got a lot of attention. It started with Regina Hackett at the PI. Then KOMO 4 picked it up which brought it to the attention of Ken Scram, who blessed it with a "Schrammie". Now Ryan Hobson, the game's creator, is getting solicited by every news agency in the country. Keep your eyes peeled for something to run on Fox News, Chicago Public Radio, and others.

Of course, this all happens three days before the Gathering show is over, which is a mixed blessing - we don't get the benefit of the national publicity directly, but we also don't have to deal with the fanatical critics or morbidly curious masses. Rest assured, Ryan really is a nice kid and we wish him success with getting the game produced, regardless of the complaints that its tasteless. We live in a tasteless society (that has a bizarrely wide knowledge of Serial Killer Trivia, thanks to movies, books and the media).

Gathering

Click HERE to read the invitation.

Next Show: Gathering

A group show for narrative artists that also benefits the Northwest Harvest Food Bank

When: December 7 – January 30, 2007.
Opening Friday Dec. 7, 6-9pm

Participating artists to date:
Billy Morehouse
Josh Slater
14
LogikOne
Jessica Logsdon
Chris Ryniak
Jason Kronenwald
Ryan Hobson
Rachel Maxi
Kellie Talbot
Joey Veltkamp
Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley
Keith Noordzy

Holiday Greetings

Gosh, it really happened fast this year...
So here we have a little detail from a piece that Kamala Dolphin Kingsley is submitting. I sent out a big email today with the latest news and a sneak preview of Gathering. In a couple weeks I'll send and post all the details about the opening, especially info on the food drive that we're doing for Northwest Harvest. Yes, a food drive. And we're not talking bulk rice and beans and bread, but more info later...

Logik -al

I can't let another poor internet access day go by without updating my favorite...
There's another new artist for gathering. The list is by no means complete. I have another almost week to flesh out the final roster. The generosity of the artists involved is already impressive. Enthusiasm is a rare gift. Here is a little sample of a soon to be famous NY based artist who goes by LogikOne. I want to showcase everyone and every piece on this blog but I also want to not spoil the surprise.

Artists and News

Chris Ryniak has some monsters to add to the "Gathering" show. He has this cool book that, I believe, is self published. It's only $15 and available on his site.
This next art show is actually also going to be a fundraiser for NW Harvest, which is a local food bank organization that provides food to over 300 independent food banks and meal programs throughout Washington State.
I'm not ashamed to admit that many lean years as a starving artist acquainted me with the Fremont and U-District food banks. One time they had crates and abundant crates of strawberries that were a day away from dissolving into puddles. I used them in a series of still life photos and then we all ate as many as we could. They were going to have to be thrown away anyway. So food banks help creative minds in more ways than one.

New Art for "Gathering" - Gum Blondes

This is turning out to be a super cool group show. I have signed on another artist named Jason Kronenwald who does portraits of blonde starlets with Trident Gum. He doesn't chew it all himself unless he has to. This might be one of the one's in the show:

"Art That Tells or Sells"

That's the new motto for Vermillion. Last night there were helicopters flying around the neighborhood and it felt like LA. I couldn't sleep anyway, but this is when my best brainstorming happens. Every gallery has a theme or focus and I want to show mostly narrative, representational and pop art in their most broad definitions. Pop art, for example, can be like the Riswold stuff we showed in August/Sept. or more like pop-surrealism.

I've finally condensed it into something more of a soundbite: "Art That Tells or Sells" - A product, idea, feeling or story. I'm still fleshing out the details but that's it for now. You're going to see illustrators, painters, photographers etc... who have a knack for one or more of those four elements.

The Latest Addition to "Gathering"

As previously posted, the next show is a group show entitled "Gathering". No heavy theme, just a gathering of all different types of artists to give an art related holiday shopping option and to help benefit the NW Harvest food bank. The latest artist to throw their hat in the ring is Mike Scheer. Mike does art in many mediums, including video (you may have seen a video he did for Built to Spill) that has a sweet, fantastical theme. Here's a sample of his work. The title of this one is "Creature Sitting on Tree Stump Reaching into Snake's Mouth
to Retrieve Stolen Platypus Egg with Platypus
Observing". Mike uses a technique called "Haystacking" which is basically tiny dots that overlap into lines - the same technique as with pointilism, but with a ball point pen instead of colored paint. This is just one of many painstaking originals on his site, which I highly recommend you visit: mikescheer.com

Seattle Weekly

Yow! Got a fantastic writeup by Carrie E. A. Scott in the Seattle Weekly. Here's the link: Seattle Weekly Review

First Post

Yeah, I know, it's not an original title for the "first post" but I am practically delirious with irritation. For the love of kittens, why is Clearwire so slow? I just have to complain about this and get it off my chest. I hate it. Clearwire sucks, people. I did a CNET test of the bandwidth speed and we're clocking in at 190 kbps on a $40/month subscription that is part of a 2 year contract that I'm stuck with.

Ok, on to better things, albeit, very sloooooowwwwwly...........

This is the Vermillion blogspot. As you can see by the "about me", Vermillion is a gallery in Seattle that recently opened. I'm the owner and I'm going to attempt to use this as possibly a more casual blog. I kind of hate myspace, and friendster. I just can't get into them but I'll also attempt to keep those sites updated. It's just too many things to try to think of, remember, format, etc... Myspace is super fug, in my opinion, no matter how much people tweak it. I know a thing or two about programming and design and I think myspace is probably the hardest thing in the world to wrap your head around. I'm pretty sure somebody is going to invent one interface that you can use to update all of your networking sites at once.

The reason I like blogger is because it is fairly simple and it is actually turning out to be a cool way for artists to show their work. I can say firsthand that I have curated shows solely by what I've seen on an artists blogger site, regardless of whether the artist has an "official" site or not. Blogger is pretty straightforward and it is part of my google sign in so that makes it easy too.

Well, enough about that. I'm now going to start linking to other artists' blogger sites to give a better idea of what Vermillion is all about and who I admire. I will also post their work here if they don't mind.

Thanks for reading, send me suggestions and comments! Diana Adams