Friday, December 14, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
FUN FUN FUN FEST
Going to Fun Fun Fun Fest this weekend? Be sure to stop by our craft booth where we'll be making flags and more to decorate the Ride the Plank (presented by Project LOOP) event! Plutonium Paint donated a bunch of spray paint!
We've also helped sponsor the first free ride & skate of the fest, starting tomorrow at 11:45am. See you there?
http://funfunfunfest.com/events
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Featured Local Artist: Court Lurie
Court Lurie is an ultra-talented artist living
and working in Austin. She's a true
inspiration to us at Jerry's!
When did you first realize you were an artist?
I knew at a very young age that I connected to the world around me differently than most of my peers and family. I was constantly filtering information through my senses, and then needing to interact with what I was experiencing. Whether I was dancing around my living room making music videos, or painting in the basement while my mom worked, or kicking around a soccer ball, or writing poetry into the wee hours of the night, or dancing in the theater, or playing violin, I was always viscerally motivated. I made sense of the world through experiencing the tastes, smells, sensations, sounds, imagery and feelings of the things and people around me. When I recognized this was an innate nature, I realized it is this relationship to the world around me that makes me an artist. It is not that I make my living as a painter that makes me an artist, but that I take in the world through my senses, and I need to respond through my body. I don't have a choice. I am grateful for this and honor the call every day as a gift.
What mediums do you work in?
Anything I can mix with acrylic paint! I use gel mediums, glue, rubber cement, house paint, modeling paste and spackle. Most of my works are mixed media and on the surface of the canvas you will find charcoal, pencil, pastel, acrylic paint, and maybe a little piece of collage, if you look closely.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Inspiration doesn't come from anywhere outside of myself, but lies within the process of creating, and the commitment to this process. Being dedicated to my career forces me to be in the studio for many, many hours a week. It is here where the magic happens. The accidents, the experiments, the frustrations, the moments of flow, the challenges that each piece presents, is where the excitement and motivation occur. The limitless nature of creating a painting moves me. There are infinite ways to create space. Living a spiritual life, focused on being as present, awake, and aware as I can be, creates a nurturing environment in the studio where time, attention, joy, experimentation, music, playfulness, materials, and tools dance in an interplay where the process and the experience stimulate me. I don't need anything else. Answering the call to create drives me. Seeing what will unfold excites me. Listening to that which is sacred and divine, guides me.
What advice would you give a young artist just starting out?
I mentor several young artists and I work with each individual differently, taking into account their goals, ambitions, and skill. First, and most importantly, hone your craft. Take the time to really learn about the materials you use, experiment and push them. Make work that has integrity. Make sure that before you attempt to share your work with the world in a professional setting, you have confidence in it, you can speak articulately about it, and YOU know it is good. Find someone that you admire and trust to mentor you and support your creative and professional goals. When you are ready to begin showing your work, thoroughly research each opportunity before handing your work over to some coffee shop owner or gallerist. Know your market and your venue and have clarity about your commitment. Most importantly, choosing to create a career in the arts is risky, yet can be amazing. You must believe that you can do it. You have to have faith in your work and your ability. If you do not have this faith, it will not work.
I mentor several young artists and I work with each individual differently, taking into account their goals, ambitions, and skill. First, and most importantly, hone your craft. Take the time to really learn about the materials you use, experiment and push them. Make work that has integrity. Make sure that before you attempt to share your work with the world in a professional setting, you have confidence in it, you can speak articulately about it, and YOU know it is good. Find someone that you admire and trust to mentor you and support your creative and professional goals. When you are ready to begin showing your work, thoroughly research each opportunity before handing your work over to some coffee shop owner or gallerist. Know your market and your venue and have clarity about your commitment. Most importantly, choosing to create a career in the arts is risky, yet can be amazing. You must believe that you can do it. You have to have faith in your work and your ability. If you do not have this faith, it will not work.
Check back soon for another installment of Featured Local Artist from Jerry's Austin!
Customer of the Month: Honoria Starbuck
Honoria Starbuck, a talented teacher and Austin-based artist,
often graces the Jerry’s frame shop with her lovely artwork
and we can’t thank her enough!
When did you first realize you were an artist?
As a little girl I played with oil and watercolor paints with my amazing uncle James McGibbon Brown, aka Uncle Laddie. Uncle Laddie was a well-known artist in South Florida where I grew up. Uncle Laddie and I mixed oil paints together on a palette and dabbed the colors onto a canvas. When the canvas was full Uncle Laddie asked me what I saw in the abstract colors. I told him what I saw in the patterns and he drew contour lines that made what I envisioned come into focus. It was magic! It is a technique that I still use today with my students.
What are the mediums you work in?
I never met a medium I didn’t like. I love art history and contemporary art too. I will try anything if I see something that inspires me to try something new or even retry something from my past. I enjoy new art supply chemistry that is always changing such as interference colors; iridescent colors; matte, textured, and glossy mediums; acryl gouache; water soluble oil paints; Intense blocks; Yupo paper, and many more. I love traditional mediums too, and especially love Arches 300 lb paper and Frederick’s watercolor canvas.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Art history and contemporary art inspires me. I am an active participant in the mail art network so the many themes of mail art inspire me to do small works to send out. Seeing the work of others, going to museums and galleries is inspiring. On my vacations I try to hit great art. Last year I got to go to the Biennale in Venice. Now THAT was inspiring! Also I am always learning from other artists at Naked Lunch and Dr. Sketchy and I learn much from my students too.
What is your favorite thing about Jerry's?
The best part of Jerry’s is the people. The people who work at Jerry’s are also artists with a treasure of collected knowledge. I sometimes come in to the store just to be around other artists. I advise my students to shop at Jerry’s so they can get real information and artist-to-artist opinions on art supplies for any given project.
Check back soon for another installment of Customer of the Month from Jerry's Austin!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Father's Day Savings at Jerry's Artarama
Sign up for a Loyalty VIP Savings Card next time you're at Jerry's and take advantage of deals such as the following!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Jerry's Zine #1
We're currently working on Issue #2 and we need your help finding our next Featured Local Artist.
If you have a recommendation, send us an email at jerrysaustin@gmail.com.
If you have a recommendation, send us an email at jerrysaustin@gmail.com.
Please include a link to the artist's work, and don't feel bad about nominating yourself!
Zine #1:
Thursday, May 17, 2012
West Austin Studio Tours & Jerry's Artarama
There will be multiple demos happening throughout both days, and each one will be with an experienced artist that will allow you to sit down, participate, learn about the material from the experts, and even leave with some art! You'll be able to really experience the paint without having to buy it first AND there will be special discounts for all of you that come out.
And don't forget the Chalk Walk! Bring your kids!
In addition to all of the hands-on demos with great local artists that will be happening during the festival this weekend, "Ultra Supreme Professional Grade" spray paint company PLUTONIUM has donated 70+ cans of paint for the live graffiti walls. Plutonium spray paints are AWESOME and we are truly excited to see the walls covered with it!
Come try out the paint and learn a thing or two from our demo artists.
May 19-20 | 11am-5pm each day
at Jerry's Artarama
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
On the Gallery Wall - James Cochran, April 15 - May15
 |
| A terrible photo of James' really great paintings. |
See more of his work online here.
 |
| "Das Komitee" by James Cochran (Oil on Canvas, 4'x4') |
Or come see his work in person, hanging on the Gallery Wall in the store from April 15 to May 15.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Featured Local Artist: Jules Buck Jones
Austin artist Jules Buck Jones mixes his media in East Austin and is a member of Boozefox, one of our favorite local art collectives.
As a kid I drew a lot of monsters. Hybrid animals. I watched a
lot of Godzilla and Voltron. A lot of this got pushed aside in my formative
years, as I concentrated making images of other things. When I started grad
school in 2005, I had a new interest in depicting animals and new ideas of what
I could do with that.
I know mixed media is kind of your
thing. What's your favorite medium/material at the moment?
I’ve been predominately making large scale drawings for the past
several years now. The drawings used everything from graphite to acrylic. Lately
I feel I have beat that over the head. Recently I have been playing with more
sculptural, video and audio pieces. Something about making a million collages
sounds really appealing to me right now.
 |
| "Felidae" by Jules Buck Jones |
How did you end up in Austin? Why did
you stay?
I moved here for graduate school in 2005 from Virginia. While I
was in grad school I got some gallery representation around Texas and received
some opportunities to show and work with local art institutions. I got a
small studio in a really awesome complex in East Austin called Monofonus where
I work today. Texas has been treating me right, and I feel if it ain't
broke, why fix it?
What does the future hold for you and
your art?
Oh, well, like I said I have been trying to branch out and work
with an expanded toolbox of media. This is exciting for me as it presents all
types of new avenues for the work to go down. Where this will take me,
who knows, but I am having a blast and I feel great knowing I am growing and
learning new things as an artist.
 |
| "Canidae" by Jules Buck Jones |
Tell us about your spirit animals.
I have 2. The hawk and the fox are my spirit animals. They serve
different purposes. The hawk I see a lot and tells me of day to day things like
love and work and friends. The fox I see less often and has bigger stories for
me. More internal things about myself as well as external macro ideas of the
cosmos and such. My hawk has been following a mountain lion lately. They can
form a hybrid beast similar to a griffin. Seems pretty unstoppable.
Check back soon for another installment of Featured Local Artist
Customer Of The Month: Kathleen McElwaine
Kathleen McElwaine, a full-time local artist, has been shopping at Jerry’s Artarama of Austin since we opened in 2005. The staff of Jerry's thanks Kathleen for lighting up the store whenever she shops!
Check out her work here!
Check out her work here!
How
long have you been an artist?
I
think I was about 7 years old when my aunt & uncle handed me a notebook
that said "ARTIST" on it and I decided that's who I was. (laughter)
That's all there was to it, I didn't go back. And that's the truth! I started
drawing and they gave me good pencils and a drawing pad and took me to a museum
that had artists working and I sat on the floor and copied them. It was the
first time in my life I stayed out of trouble, and people liked to have me around
instead of wanting me to go away (laughter), and they always told me how
nice it looked and what a good job I did and so I just kept repeating that
until I believed it.
You
recently retired to pursue art full-time, tell us about that and how it happened.
More
than anything else, I was getting so many opportunities with the little
watercolor paintings that I had started doing during my commute to and from
work, longhorns and flowers and little faces. With one marketing opportunity
after another and the time that they took and they were all successful on one
level, so it was time to give them all of my time. And that is a really
exciting thing, but it's also scary because people start putting contracts in
front of you - this afternoon I have an appointment with an attorney to start
trying to figure out how to read some of this stuff and figure out which
direction I'm going to go! And then also, I get to teach, because I have the
time to, which is really probably my first love and the best part of all of this.
 |
| "Whimsical Longhorn" by Kathleen McElwaine |
So
how has your life changed since you’ve begun concentrating on art full-time?
Well,
I actually find less time to paint (laughter).
That's the hardest thing and probably one of the biggest disappointments. But to
be thinking in terms of pursuing my entire future based on art is so exciting,
I look at every art supply as an investment - it's not "I'm going to try
this, I'm going to try this, or this…" - I'm not doing that anymore, I’m
figuring out just exactly what I connect with and I stay with it.
And
you know, the other thing, as an artist I have really had to leave the herd. I
don't know a different way of putting it, I always wanted to be an artist just
like everyone else I knew who was a successful artist and it just hadn't worked
for me. I had to run out and figure something else out for myself. Like I was always
told by people for years, “People don't go to restaurants to buy art,” you
know, "I don't want to have an art show at a restaurant" but this
spring I got a $600 check from a little coffee shop here in Austin, because of
a show I put on there. So it's figuring
out what works and really trying it and giving it your very, very best. You
never put work out there you're not proud of, and you stick with it and now
it's paying off.
 |
| "The Champion" by Kathleen McElwaine |
Tell
us about the mediums you work with.
I
don't draw much anymore, everything starts with a paintbrush. Watercolor is my
initial medium. As a child my teachers required anything I did in color first
had to be done in watercolor and so I guess I did the original Artist Trading
Card, I think, because we always took quality watercolor paper, tore it - nobody ever got scissors out - just tore it
into a small piece and did a thumbnail sketch of whatever you were going to do.
And you kept doing them until you were happy with the composition and so I
still do that. Or I do it again, because I
gave it up for years but when I started painting on the bus, that's what
I started doing, those little thumbnail sketches. Then my medium of choice is
oils. And what's interesting is with the time I have to paint, I have started
doing all of my underpaintings in acrylic and so a lot of my watercolors are
being taken into finished pastels and so I don't think I'm leaving much out
there (laughter). Watercolor,
pastels, acrylics and oils.
What's your favorite part about Jerry's?
Oh, I love Jerry's. I shopped at Jerry's online
before I lived in a town that had one. My favorite part about Jerry's, I have
to say are the people. Y'all have let me stop people in the aisle and make recommendations
to them and y'all have let me teach, y'all have let me do demonstrations. I
like the way that most of you have tried so many brands and I can ask you
questions and find the experts on the new ones. I like Lukas paints - I like
the artist grade Lukas paints and if y'all hadn't been here, I would have never
tried it. But I really just have to keep going back to the people!
Check back soon for another installment of Customer of the Month from Jerry's Austin!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
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