SmallWorks North America 2008

American Pie by Sandy Mastroni


The greatest annual miniature art show on the East Coast has returned! We have selected the top two hundred entries of original paintings from an enormous pool of talented artists and terrific art. From old favorites to new faces, SmallWorks North America offers something for everyone.

To see and vote for your SmallWorks North America favorites, visit www.smallworksna.com.

BIG is HUGE!

The reviews for BIG: The 50 Greatest World Record Catches are pouring in, and the results are unanimous: BIG is a huge success!

As Lance Dellavechia of the Hudson Valley Independent raves, "BIG is a superb coffee table book" that makes "the perfect gift for any nature lover or fish person you have no idea what to buy for. If my dentist had a copy in the waiting room, I might not mind going as much. I sure hope my editor doesn't want this book back!"

Other publications, from the popular "Moldy Chum" blog (http://moldychum.typepad.com/moldy_chum/2008/04/big-50-world-re.html) to Bob Izumi's Real Fishing (http://www.realfishing.com/rf/) have lauded the new book for its comprehensive text, its entertaining historical photographs and, of course, Flick Ford's paintings, of which Dellavechia declares, "only a true fisherman would take the time necessary to honor each species."

To see pages from BIG visit http://www.greenwichworkshop.com/big

Josh Spies Wins 2008 Federal Duck Stamp Competition

One of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a wildlife artist is to have their artwork chosen to adorn the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. More commonly known as the “Duck Stamp”, it is the primary funder of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System land acquisition and conservation program. Since 1934, the Federal Duck Stamp program has raised more than $750 million to purchase nearly six million acres of wildlife habitat.




Josh and Service Director Dale Hall

Josh edged out a field of over 270 entries in this year’s selection contest. His painting of a long-tailed duck and decoy lends a narrative element to the image that embodies the concept for which the stamp was created. The 1967-1968 Duck Stamp featured the species when they were referred to as “Old Squaws,” making long tailed ducks the first water fowl to be featured as stamps under two names.
Hats off to Josh on this singular achievement!


The winning entry

P.S. A last bit of Duck Stamp trivia: The 2008-2009 featured a typo in the toll-free number that sent people seeking additional copies of the Duck Stamp to a phone sex service. Bet you won’t see a fowl-up like that again! (Sorry, Josh, couldn’t resist.)

Homecoming for Alan Bean

After waiting out the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Ike on his hometown of Galveston, Texas, Alan Bean recently returned home. Far from defeated by the damage to the area he knows and loves, Alan is back to business as usual. When I spoke to him earlier today he had his priorities straight: "If it hasn't got to do with art or space," he said, "I don't do it. There are men on my roof right now, trying to remove a fallen tree from the second floor and I'm not even watching. I just hope they don't drop it. If they do, we'll deal with it later, but for now I've got my hands full."

He certainly has--an exhibition of his work just opened at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Library in Austin, Texas. This coming summer, for the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum will unveil a major exhibition of Alan's paintings. That same month, a new book of his collected works will hit store shelves. We don't blame you, Alan, if you haven't got time to chat!


image courtesy Getty Images

Meet the Greenwich Workshop: Joe Landry

Greenwich Workshop team member Joe Landry leads something of a double life. In addition to working as our all-around web guy, his plays have been produced across the country, and include It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Reefer Madness, Eve & Co., Beautiful, Hollywood Babylon, and Numb. His other adaptations include Death in Venice and Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play.

Mr. Landry attended Playwright's Horizons/NYU and is the founder of Second Guess Theatre Company. His produced screenplays include Who Would Jesus Date?.

Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play will premiere this month at the Legacy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information visit: http://www.vintagehitchcock.com/ or Joe's website at http://www.joelandry.com

Fishing with Flick Ford

BIG: The 50 Greatest World Record Catches hits stores and galleries this month. We caught up with Flick Ford on the stream for a brief chat.

Judy Larson in Cherokee

At one of the first shows Judy attended, the organizers of the original painting event took the effort to comment on the "time it must have taken to paste all those animal hairs" to her artwork. The stark realism of her patented scratchboard technique and this tale harkens back to stories of James Bama's originals being x-rayed by collectors to confirm that his hyper-realistic paintings were not simply a light coat of paint on top of a photograph.

Over 150 people, some coming from as far as away Maryland and Texas, made their way to Great Smokies North Carolina to spend some time with Judy in September. As impressive as her style is, technique alone won't draw this kind of following. It is Judy's passion for wildlife, native americans and conservation that gives the life to her paintings that collectors connect with so passionately.

The great detail scratchboard allows her to attain in her subject draws the eye at first, but the the real depth of the story she is delivering takes hold when the concealed imagery her paintings contain is discovered. (http://www.greenwichworkshop.com/larsonkey/default.asp).

The magic Judy's artwork delivers to collectors is a spirited mixture of passion, intellect and craft that far exceeds the first impression. Look again and be impressed!

Soysambu Conservancy

For Simon, Kat and Guy Combes, the Soysambu Conservancy was more than a conservation effort: for many years, the artists called the conservancy home. The preserve, located just below the equator in Kenya, includes in its mission working to "...sustain wildlife species, indigenous livestock and habitat; support local conservation initiatives; facilitate neighbouring development and educate the community in the value of flora and fauna, in order to preserve the Rift Valley Ecosystem for the benefit of future generations."

Soysambu, which means "place of the brindled rock," is home to four diverse ecosystems, including over 450 species of birds and over 40 semi-endangered Rothschild giraffes. The Conservancy is a non-profit organization and is always in need of donations of time and funding.

For more information, visit http://www.soysambuconservancy.org or e-mail info@soysambuconservancy.org.