This weekend I attended Tiffany Patterson’s art show opening at the Kolva Sullivan Gallery. You might know Tiffany by her unique artwork around Spokane (The Empyrean, The Inlander, etc.) Or perhaps you remember her lovely Type Tuesday Edition! She was my very first guest artist.

I am a huge fan of her art and was so excited to see her new work…and let me tell you, the show is fabulous! It’s a narrative art show of screen-printed posters. Here’s a few snaps of the show and the lovely print I purchased for only $35!! Isn’t it a perfect print to go by the front door?

 

 

Be sure to stop by her show, the address is115 South Adams St. Support local art!!

In other Tiffany Patterson news, she was part of a film festival that featured one of my songs as material for the contest. Her team was assigned my song along with several other teams and the entries were finally publicly released on the internet today. You can watch all of them here. Some are not so awesome and others are fabulous! It was really wonderful for me to see the different ways my song could be interpreted. I wrote the song about the challenge of letting relationships get numb and sleepy. It’s about waking up and changing your attitude. I was certainly moved to see that some of the film-makers really ran with that concept.

These are two of the films, the first one is from Tiffany’s team and another was from one of my fellow design classmates from college, Sean Finley. Sean is super talented at a lot of things, and I thought his film was beautifully put together. Amazing job to all of the people who did this contest! Vote here.

I would also like to add that this is an awesome contest that happens each year. It’s wonderful to see more local film stuff happening. I know there are people around Spokane that are super talented at working with film, but rarely are different artforms mixed locally. I’m constantly seeing bands/artists/filmakers team up in Seattle and other big cities to make beautiful work and get each others art out there and there is no reason we shouldn’t be doing the same here in Spokane! Here’s to doing more projects together.

On another note, I had a baking extravaganza this weekend. I hosted a little bachelorette party for a friend who is about to get married and I really went for it and baked all day saturday. I made S’more tartlets and Petit Fours. The tartlets were fabulous and not too difficult to make. The petit fours on the other hand…holy smokes. I’ve never really made any kind of cake before and boy is it a totally different ball game. So many ways you can screw things up. They were still tasty but my butter cream was runny and the liquid fondant was extremely difficult to work with. All leading to them not looking as good as I had hoped. Here’s a few photos of the lovelies.

 

Throw in elkfest and sushi and that was a great weekend! Now time to get back to work.

edited on June 7th, 2011

18 Responses

  1. What a sophomoric and low blow–giving your song to the film festival for participants, all of them students of the art form, and then putting the participants down for how they used said art. If I were to offer a piece of writing, a song I'd written, or painting to the film festival to be used in a film I would NEVER, EVER follow up with such an unprofessional put-down of the artists who used my writing in whatever way they found creatively fit, particularly in the public domain in a small art community in a town that has an art community that is struggling and trying to find inspiration any way it can.

  2. Also, while we're on the subject of opinions, I watched this film for the first time today and I think it follows the idea of "waking up and changing your attitude" in the voices of the screen test subjects. I don't see what you're talking about, except that you have a bone to pick or have been somehow affected by negativity from somewhere. Too bad you let it get to you and cannot be positive to support all of these artists who all did their best.

  3. I wish you would send me an email so we could work this out. I am sorry for offending you or any of the other participants. I think it's amazing what everyone did in such a short time. seriously.

    karliingersoll@gmail.com

    I had favorites in the festival…no bones to pick. I will remove that part from the blog post because it's really not a big deal. I literally just think it sounds awkward when song lyrics are read. That's all.

  4. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm having a hard time seeing where Karli actually "put down the artist". It seemed more like a general comment about how awkward song lyrics can be when read out loud, which is very true. She definitely wasn't saying anything about the quality of the film. And just because people work hard at something doesn't necessarily make it good. Some are more talented and have more natural ability to create great art, some don't. I'm pretty sure just about every person that watches these films will pick the ones they personal think are best. That's the way art goes, it's nearly impossible to create a piece of art that is completely accepted by everyone. If everyone spent their time "loving" and "supporting" every artist that made something, there would be a lot of terrible art in the world, which is already true. It's good to be critical and artists need to learn how to take critique.

  5. They're full of crap. You don't have to like or enjoy something just because it's been labeled "art". Also, saying that some of the entries are better than others, especially when this was done in the context of contest, is more than acceptable, it expected. Crying about someone saying they didn't like your film after having it shown to the public is like complaining about the fights at a hockey game. You should know it's going to happen before you walk in the door.

    Also, I've had far worse things said about some of my films, and I've had to learn to take it and learn from what is said. The people that made those comments are not filmmakers, and certainly not artists. They're just children who got their feelings hurt….

    Most Sincerely,
    Ted

  6. I think you have missed my point, it is unprofessional for an artist who volunteers artwork to be used in a project to single out one piece and say negative things about it that have nothing to do with critique. There's a difference.

    And, no, you won't see the issue on here now because it's been removed.

  7. Critical dialogue is essential for the propagation of Good Art. Props to Karli Fairbanks for having the balls to offer CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Um, especially regarding an event such as a CONTEST where all pieces are presented for JUDGMENT. Anyway.

  8. I will repost to the best of my ability what I said here…

    "I must say, the most awkward film of the bunch was the one where they just read the lyrics to my song…ouch. I am a firm believer that song lyrics should not be read out loud, ever. Doesn't matter how good the writing is, it just sounds awkward."

    Is that close enough to what you remember? because that's what I meant. you are right, it wasn't a critique at all. It had nothing to do with the filming, the actors or anything. It was more that I felt awkward about how my writing sounded when read like that. If anything it was more pointing out my own insecurity in my writing. Removing the music from my songs strips away half of the creation which draws out any flaws in the writing. I guess I don't like my own writing enough to just hear it read…so in the end I'm critiquing myself and my art.

    That's where I'm coming from. I sincerely hope that people like that film specifically, because that would mean they like the lyrics of my song a lot! And that would be amazing.

  9. I still would like to hear from you in email. You don't have to publicly acknowledge who you are, but I sincerely would like to send you an official apology note.

  10. also, Mr/Ms/Mrs Anonymous, you are right! It was unfair for me to bring negative attention to one entry without an honest critique…no matter what my feelings were about my own writing. Not very well-thought out on my part. If I were to do it again, I would put my comment in the context of a critique and I would critique more than one so as not to single anyone out. And I do think I have the right to critique…it is my song. I can have an opinion about how it was used and post said opinion on my PERSONAL art blog.

    also…I'm sorry for my friends very vigorously defending me and in turn attacking you! I hate all this internet mumbo jumbo. and I hope none of this writes off what I try to do on my blog, which IS support the Spokane art community. I am a Spokane artist after all.

  11. Dear Anonymous,

    I believe you missed your own point. It seemed to have less to do with what Karli said and more to do with you wanting a reason to put her down and "call her out" in a very abrasive and impolite way. Like you said yourself, it is unprofessional to "put-down. . .the artists. . .particularly in the public domain." You definitely did the same thing to her which seems very hypocritical of you. Maybe you should not take it so personal and send her an e-mail to discuss it. And since we are all speaking in opinions here, I believe that would be the most professional way to handle it.

  12. Karli – it is not rude to critique just one. Art is either liked or disliked. It's like wine. It's not like you hate the vintner when you say that you don't care for a particular wine. What you said was honest and not rude or unprofessional. If art is displayed it is open to scrutiny. If that is not wanted, then it should be done exclusively in private.

  13. After a long conversation on the phone with a reporter last night…I am reading the comments of this blog. For factual purposes only; Karli I had two poetry writers and performers pick out what they thought was the best part of the song. My job as director is to have a vision: whether it be lighting and sound or the way the performers, performed the piece. When an actor goes before a casting director they are handed a script and told to "perform" said dialogue with a camera up their nose and it is scary and awkward. Mostly I was documenting the artists themselves all well published, or wrote about or new artists. The gallery has it's own sound which anyone who has been to the Kolva Sullivan Gallery knows that sound. In 30 years this short might mean something historically including your song…everything was local. I also wanted to show most people don't know who the writers and painters are really nor do they want too. Dialogue and Critique is good. Thank You for sharing your song for all of us to use in this 50 hour competition. Jamie (Director) Screentests.

  14. I also would like to say there are other performers who where edited out and everyone loved performing your words. My inspiration was Andy Warhols "Screentests". The film is considered Experimental…conceptual and with the use of realism. I wanted to also show that a director would have to pick one performer for the performance of song which would it be….not such an easy task nor performing it. Since I am the only Director who did a documentary style;experimental film. I am working on a larger documentary on the poetry and art scene right now and this will go in that piece. Peace
    Jamie

  15. Jamie, thanks for the background. I thought you did a great job putting the film together. I had no complaints about the aesthetic, the actors, the concept or anything. I actually thought your film stood out in quality and visual creativity. I'm glad everyone enjoyed using my song. Good luck in future film endeavors!

  16. Karli,
    I didn't know about this feed until a week ago and then ..I got a call from a reporter…so it is interesting that there was dailogue. Conversation and discourse is good..there are many different types and style of movies made..and I think it is hard to put them all in one category..but I can only speak for myself…I still have a lot to learn about making films!..Take Care Jamie Hyams The things you appreciated are the things I wanted to work on, and to get better at…I still made some mistakes..and editing is really hard..neithor Golden or Screentests made it into the first competition due to editing problems..but luckily they still showed both, normally the other competition wouldn't have, so I am grateful for the exposure and the other filmmakers have been great. Thank you again. JH.

  17. Also I would like to say…in a critique there is always Bias. Meaning if you created the piece your going to like it…it is not objective. I look outside our group for an objective Critique. If your a part of a movie or you created you have to throw out your own opinion. There are criteria for critique: and this is not one of them.
    There are good essays and information on the web about appropriate critique if anyone is interested. Thanks to everyone who participated…and I look for the critique outside in the objective community and when you make art it is ok to risk and to suck if we didn't try we would never grow. Mostly everyone who has participated in this blog is biased…so it is not a real critique. I know what my marks where from the competition and that is what counts and the objective opinion and criteria for critique.
    Jamie

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