KVIE Art Auction

Well, It finally happened. The Auction. I found my way back to Sacramento on an early Saturday morning. As the fog covered the bay, i took one stop at the beach, and drove away to what was soon to be a sweaty little valley.


So i arrive at the house, and what do i see, but an amazing schmorgisborg of foodies. My mom, can make anything, i know it. She did such an awesome job preparing food. She loves it, she says. I always ask her about her logo...ha... down below is an amazing cake that my mom painted herself, a replica of the painting that is about to be auctioned off that night. My mom is an inspiration for myself. She has set the bar real high for us Mullen girls.


Alright, friends and family came over, and well, the bidding began. As you all know the peice was already bid on twice during the Preview Party, and so this is an exciting time to see how much more money my work would raise for KVIE. The bidding starts at the $550.00...and it went something like this. The conversation about my work was excellent. The anouncers mentioned CSUMB and my importance of environment. During the "Margo" spiel, they took close ups of the work, which i would have to say turned out just awesome for tv. It was real a change to see my work on the big screen with my loved ones. This just was such an exciting moment. O...the bidding war begins.






And so with that, the 10 minute bidding ending with the bid closing at $700.00. It feels great to be able to give that to KVIE which gives so much to the Sacramento community. Everyone was excited about the bid and after all that, we ate some cake.
I woke up the next morning, on cloud nine, all i can think about is getting back into the studio. Good thing, I am showing on October 5th with Jamie, and I dont have as much work as I want, so, this next week, is going to be deemed wax week. So get out your blow torch, we are going to be productive in the studio.

Here you are, I took a right turn instead of a left, and here is the view later that day in Monterey, I was still in shorts and a tank top, leaving the sticky Sacramento heat and driving into the cool Monterey fog.

KVIE PREVIEW PARTY-Art Auction 2008

Well, This past Monday was KVIE's Art Auction Preview Party. This was such an awesome experience, great event, and a great way to give back to community. This event had just over 800 artists apply for the juried competition and a little over 250 got juried into this event. I entered my Untitled piece, which is my largest encaustic work thus far. Here are a few photographs from the event. This event brings the greater Sacramento community together, with art lovers, artists, family members, friends, art collectors, and there were even a few racing teams there last night i heard.



Here she is, in all her glory, third highest bid of the night, someone out bid the first guy. Very exciting. If you are interested in bidding on this piece you can get your speed bid number here. My work is going to be auctioned off on Saturday September 27th from 5:00pm to 5:30pm.

Here is an awesome water color...


That was a wrap. Dad and I drank wine, ate foodies, discussed art, technique and the constant topic of the color black. It seems to pop up in every conversation i have had with him since i was five. I never get tired of it either. I love it. So, we left extremely happy with the great bids on my work, excited to see what may come on Saturday at 5:00pm on KIVE or online.

Here you go, a treat for you. Here is a Scouty-Ma-Touty original. I did a large series of him in high school. He is currently on the mantle. Now it is off to bed with an early bed time and an early awake time. I am so stoked to be able to give back to KVIE which has given me so much growing up. Thank you once again.

Keepin' it Real

So there has been much action in my life in and out of the studio. These past few days in the studio have been amazing and inspirational. I am real excited about my new work and I know you are too. So as i have told you all Phthalo and I are on a break, but that doesnt mean I still dont think about him. It is hard not to think about him when you live in Monterey. But i know it will be a good thing for my work to give us some space. So with that said I might have to start obsessing over a new hue, i have always thought Hookers Green was quite randy.

So here are a few shots of prepping canvas for the next piece. I am almost finished with the piece i showed you guys last time of the "lungs" I need to clean the edges.





O yes. now up next is an amazing group show of four local artist in Monterey. This opening reception was at the Alternative Cafe in Seaside. This was my first time there. It is a wonderful space great vibe and something Monterey kids like me need here. Alternative Cafe is making a difference in the community and they are creating such a positive and exciting feel here. Currently showing is Andrew Jackson, Justin DeVine, Jennifer Sullivan, and C.Love. Check their work out, it is an amazing show, all of the work is for sale.






dj Todd Prophet, playin' some sweet beats.



And now to relaxing Saturday, right? So below you will see the card i made for friend Markus Naerheim, if you are reading this, and you dont know what that thing is next to jellymarkus, well, Markus is a writer and thats his third novel he recently released, I suggest you get your hands and brain on a copy. This day was celebrating his birthday with drinks, food, and friends, and of course the ocean. Markus loves nature, here is a diptych of the ocean that is small so where ever he travels there it will be, it is titled, 'Nearhome'.


Markus and his brainy ladies...whats up with the surf?



After the boys came in from the water and the rest of the crew got to the spot, there was only one reoccurring question...does anyone have a bottle opener?



Wow, great thing the birthday boy was the only one to bring an opener...Happy Birthday! After all that commotion, i went for a stroll.


Well this last shot is my fav shot, i love the colors and the motion, and the composition isnt that bad.

Well all 'n' all Its been great. I think i am mostly procrastinating from organizing that needs to be done in the studio. I wish i had little gnomes that i could release from a glass Kerr jar and they would work on organizing, and I would supervise and direct their work while i drink apple cranberry juice and eat crackers.

Shepard Fairey meets Margo Mullen

This Saturday was such an awesome night. Went to SF to see Shepard Fairey's Duality of Humanity at the White Wall gallery. First time i saw his work in person, totally worth a night out of the studio .












painter margo, painter andrew, and singer sunshine taking it in. Hey wheres my drink?

New Work

This past week has been very productive. I have been in great spirits and have been painting most of the nights when i get off of working on the computer all day. I have been thinking about my work non stop. Im ready for a change, a, "hey look, I'm progressing" feel. So with that said here are a few shots of the studio work. But first, here is a great shot of the pulsating xenia in my tank, with a side of Mater. The salinity in the tank has been rather high and well you will see how it effect the anemone, a water change is needed sooner than later.

o. Mater.

Ok. Here we go, down stairs to the secret layer of creation, thats not so secret anymore.


Here is one of the wax octopus, with his newly acrylic painted eyes. It works just how i want, and now it is time to start dipping him with color wax. I cant wait to start that portion of this work.

This is a jelly, a practice jelly. Although the name of this type of jelly has seemed to slip my mind, these jellies always have 12 legs no more and no less.

This above is a water color study I did prior to the piece you will see below. Get ready.








Here is the first portion of the triptych. This is a limited color palette however there in no black paint used and this rich black is a combination of three deeper hues to create interest.
Below are my sketches for the next few pieces i have created in my head. I am going to create a mini series in this style. I am also going to work in colors i don't always use. I am so in love with phthalo blue and he always shows up in my work. I am ready to venture to different color palettes, don't tell Phthalo, we are taking a break.



This piece above is a response to a San Fransisco jewelry artist i met. I am still working on the peice and im not going to explain much about it as of right now. Here is that work in progress.


I will have more later.

1214

In the past few days I have traveled far and wide for friends and family. There isn't much painting going on in the studio because of the 1,214 miles I have traveled since Labor Day weekend. So as a result I will be sparse with the creative photographs. I did have such an amazing time and I do miss my family and it is so awesome seeing everyone grow up.
The first round of travel was to good old Reno, where each way was different traffic. On the way up I was able to park the car, take photos, play Charles Mingus really loud while reading a Corel Painter Magazine. I was so excited that even though I left my art history books with my dad that weekend, i did find conte and a blank canvas in my car, how awesome is that? It is pretty amazing if you ask me. I always find it so interesting how people act in situations like these, thank goodness i always have some image evolving in my head.







So away i go, traffic dissipated, and i put the conte down. I will say i got a solid idea on canvas, so, that 1.5 hours in the car, was worth it.

So here is just a night shot driving through, and just to note, I am not driving...



And the motorcycles flying by, as always...away I go.

A new day is here and the travel back was horrible two hours of stop and go, no time for conte, and no time for reading, but time for random no looking shots from the Nikon. He is one of my favs.


This past weekend, back at the ranch. Here is a photograph of my parents pomegranate tree.


Now i know i haven't been as productive as i am usually, probably all the more better to take a bit of a break because there are a lot of ides brewing in my brain especially with these new books i have received and started to read. I was able to make my sister and brother cool birthday cards . My sister has this funny black Lab and she works at a rad cheese company. My bro, well he is great with computers...but as you see in the card below, he is a pc user...haha....but he does have an iphone so there, anyways, we all had a great time, ate cake, told hilarious stories and said hi to the cats we grew up with.

I have a feeling the next few days will be exciting, I'll have more on that later.