I realize I haven’t said a peep about it before, but next month (or, later this week) some of my art will be on display at the Chestertown Arts League. I will be part of a four-person show titled “Four Under Forty.” Thankfully, I still qualify. The show will go up today, and is opening on Friday, September 3. Reception is from 5-8pm. I will be there, with a new haircut and pretty clean clothes on. Not to be missed, if you happen to be in Chestertown on Friday evening. I will be sharing the walls with Emily Kalwaitis, Angela Ranzoni, and Joe Karlik. Angela did a nice write-up of us all on her blog, see here.
I am including some of my illustration work in the show, but felt a little bad that I didn’t want to sell any of it (Matthew and I are counting on the originals from Idiots’Books being worth enough to retire on in 400 years), so also wanted to include some more “fine art” pieces. I know, I know, we can go into a whole thing about “fine art” and “illustration” and “craft” and “whatever” but I’m not going to do that here. Because, this is all a lead-up to the fact that I’m going to be GIVING AWAY SOME FREE ART ANY MINUTE NOW.
But read on.
I have recently been doing some simple line drawings on this pastel paper I ordered online. It’s called “velour” paper, which makes it sound like grandma’s track suit. And, well, I hated it when I first got it. But drawing on it with ink does wonderful things because of how absorbent it is (just like grandma’s track suit). I really love the simplicity.
Without further ado, for all you auction bidders and non-bidders out there (I’m offering free art this week instead of the auction, because why would you bid on something when you could have something else for free?), here’s the piece that you could have for free, if you leave a comment that is clever or witty or in some other way makes me want to send it to you:
and a close-up:
I know in these giveaways I’m supposed to be all fair and even-handed and random, but I say what the hell. Make these people work for their free stuff. (To be fair, I will say that if you don’t feel that you are clever or witty, being extremely unctuous will surely catch my attention). But before you start sharpening your grovelling skills, I have a couple disclaimers:
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1. Part of the reason I am giving this one away is because I tried to mount it and it got some wrinkles in it. You can’t see them in the photo here, and unless you’re looking you can’t really see them in real life. But they are there, and they make me sad.
2. The color in these photos don’t really match what it looks like. It’s a greeny blue. Closer to the top pic than the bottom one.
3. These photos don’t really give you a good idea of what they feel like, texturally. They’re pretty yummy.
This is one of the very first ones I did. Though I like it a lot, I think I got better as I started figuring things out. This is a later favorite (not for free):
And this one is the most similar to the monochromatic ones that I will hang in the show (also not for free):
Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the ones that are hanging, so you’ll just have to come see them in person (though surely I will blog about the opening when the time comes).
So – all that said, post a comment here and enter to win. And if you’re lucky, everyone will hate these track-suity inky washy simple line studies and you will make out like a bandit. I will announce the winner next Monday, so you have a whole week to figure out what my Achilles heel is (hint: think ice cream).
Robbi, just wanted to let you know that these are friggin beautiful. Love what you’re doing and keep up the good work! Love!
Strong work, Masako! I’ve found the only thing Robbi likes better than ice cream is flattery.
Note to all: Robbi will be selling these pieces for $650 (framed) in the upcoming show, so as far as “free art” goes, this is not a bad deal.
Masako – your skills at flattery seem quite well developed. “Friggin” is a particularly bold move. Duly noted, duly noted…
How could I have forgotten to mention: the only thing that Robbi likes better than flattery is people who curse like pirates.
Robbi, for those of us who can’t make it to Chestertown, can you post images for us that we might buy with a phone bid and credit card?
JWS
Hmmm…unctuous flattery and an ingratiating promise of real bucks are tough acts to follow. But surely straightforward grist from a fellow artist would be appreciated?
With that I say, Yummmm. A delicious velvety smooth gorgeousness with just enough hint of texture and complexity to leave the palate wanting more. A winning recipe from a deft hand.
So if I win this lovely piece of original art, I will definitely give it to my brother Joe for Christmas. He is a musician and hopefully would see what I see when I look at your line drawings: staff paper. They look to me like an abstract rendering of some lovely pieces of music. The pauses and moods and shifts in tone represented by the colors and varying thicknesses of line. You know, like interpretive dance. Only with ink. And stuff. Heh.
I’ll tell you what – if we win, the next time there’s an Idiot’s books mailing due, I promise to call Matthew and tell him that there’s a new four hour special on the Duke Basketball TV network about his favorite basketball team. This will cause him to spend countless hours trying to figure how to subscribe to said network and watch it. It will buy you lots of time. And it will probably work for at least a few mailings.
(By the way, is the unctuous flattery required to win limited only to Robbi – and her stunning artwork – or can I comment on how insightful Barb’s comment is above? I love her interpretation of the piece.)
I’m not a particularly funny person, but can I appeal to you with earnestness??
I’m about to be a senior in college and about to move into my very first big-girl house with five of my friends. We are suddenly faced with the very daunting task of having to do big-girl things… cooking for ourselves and cleaning our own bathrooms and decorating empty walls. My roommates and I have spent the past several weeks discussing essential things, like: what is that machine that mixes stuff called (a mixer?!), and do we need one?
Clearly, we could use some (incredibly awesome) big-girl art to beautify our new home and to make this whole “almost being responsible adults” thing feel like less of a farce. Plus, it’s my 21st birthday in two weeks, and a Robbi Behr original would be a pretty tough present to beat.
Please please please???
Wowza. These are Très Cool. I like how they are at once contrived and random. Don’t take contrived the bad way… I mean to say that I appreciate how the lines are carefully-drawn-looking and yet have become randomly smudged and blotted and the pigments have pooled in strange and beautiful ways and in between there is both calm and energy. Vibration! Rhythm. Bom Bom Bom Wooooooooooooom.
If I were the lucky recipient of such a neat-o piece, I would hang it in my office up high above my monitor where I might look up at it and feel inspired and energized by the Bom Bom Bom Woooooooooooooom.
I want to go swimming in that blue green art, but I might have trouble staying inside the lines.
Thanks, Peter. Flattery will get your everywhere.
Your image reminds me of the blues and greens that I delight in when I am on the coast of Maine. The islands of Penobscot Bay line up one after another, floating between water and sky; with all the seaweed and rocks and trees and fogbanks, those islands sometimes seem to fade into a series of washes, lines, blotches, and curves. I love these hills, these knobbly and almost whimsical tree-covered lumps, and wish I could always linger here where land and water meet. I have this white stairwell that is just begging for some color on the walls to juxtapose against forest and hills, just inland from the water, and that would be perfect.
I would treasure that drawing as a reminder of this place, because you have abstractly captured so much of the joy of landscape that I adore, even though you’ve never seen it. Your piece strikes me as a perfect blend of whimsy and high design, so I could dress it up quite nicely but I could also put it next to all my well-loved (read: not so new) furnishings.
It’s a damn fine piece of art, and I think it would look mighty handsome at my house.
Building a drip castle in pastel sand
Thin lines of slurry slide down her hand
Dribbling off tips of fingers
A delicate tower of blotches lingers
As Robbi dips her quill back in the inkstand