On Fridays in the studio, I take a break from my big projects and work on little things. I open my window on Cherry Street and watch the people from my third storey window. There’s a homeless man with a mental illness, stooping to scratch at a white mark on the tarmac. His pants have no elastic and drag around his feet without ever coming … Continue reading How small observations generate a big audience
Look, I admit it. I was never much of a fan of Monet. When we look at his ‘pretty pictures’, it’s easy to forget the struggle behind them. That’s why the exhibition Monet at Étretat at the Seattle Art Museum grabbed me by the balls. Here’s why Monet is right, right now. As the exhibition synopsis says, here we meet Monet at a pivotal moment. … Continue reading Monet is not the man you think he is.
Soon after visiting the Seattle Asian Art Museum, the world shut down as it succumbed to the novel corona virus. I found myself isolated in a strange city, needing to hunker down for an indefinite period of time. I thought a lot about the Chinese landscapes I saw in the museum and how the figures in the landscape were tiny specs, dwarfed by what was … Continue reading Danny Lacy and Ray Monde talk COVID art; National Works on Paper Prize
A woman walks into a commercial gallery that she passes on her lunch break. There’s an artwork by an new artist called Rothko that she really likes. The price tag, $1360, is beyond her reach but she really wants it. So she talks to the gallery owner about paying it off in instalments. But there’s another hurdle. The artist wants to approve whoever buys his … Continue reading Who is Jinny Wright? You need to know.
As the corona virus strangles the city of Seattle, the restaurants and cafes in Pioneer Square shut down. Preparing for the cytokine storm, shopfronts are boarded up. The streets deserted, feeling edgier than ever. To keep an eye on the streets, the Alliance for Pioneer Square reached out to local artists to pair up with local businesses and paint the hoardings that cover the shopfronts. … Continue reading How to create a mural 56 feet wide (18 m)
Where do ideas come from (during the pandemic)? Having worked in advertising for 20 years, where the business is built on great ideas, ‘where do ideas come from?’ is a question that everyone wants the answer to. A brilliant idea can change the world. How do you generate a great idea? The best way for me is simple. First take your brain. Fill it with … Continue reading Art in a time of coronavirus: COVID-19
What you can do to help artists during COVID-19. Everyone is meeting their friends for drinks online. From our dining chairs in Seattle we look across the table through our laptop to our friends at the other side of the table in Summer Hill. We’re all drinking white negronis and it’s beautiful. Two hours in a heartbeat. People are working online, making startling discoveries about … Continue reading The show must go on. Online.
Sometimes art goes bad. Look at her face. The horror. This is not intentional. I wasn’t trying to create an image of a women who had been burnt in an accident. Or a woman trapped in a disfiguring face mask. I was trying to create a woman with attitude, cigarette in hand, giving the viewer a withering glance. I didn’t have the right colour papers … Continue reading What to do when things go horribly wrong (in art)
Studio space in Seattle is really hard to come by. I was fortunate that Clare Johnson had landed a residency and would be out of the state for three months. She was looking for someone to look after her space in 57 Biscayne and I was keen to look after it. We hit it off and is kindly letting me work in this beautiful space. … Continue reading Found a studio at 57 Biscayne – a room of one’s own
Taking risks sometimes pays dividends. The risk is worth the reward. Other times, they fail terribly. Like at my high school dance. Important lessons from risk-taking The school dance is beach themed. I thought it would be a good idea to make breasts out of coconuts and pink socks, wrap myself in a hibiscus tablecloth and apply red lipstick. I remember looking at myself in … Continue reading Suburban LA life for The Other Art Fair
Ray Monde 