Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Santa Cruz Sentinel : Christa Martin writes about Margo Mullen

Writer Christa Martin interviews me for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.



If I had a kid, one of the first things I'd do after discovering artist Margo Mullen would be to redecorate my little one's bedroom. Kids' rooms can run the range from cute to hodgepodge, and Mullen's whimsical robot paintings will spruce up any child's sleeping quarters. But that's just scratching the surface of the talents of this fine artist. Not only do her sweet robot creations jump out, but so does her photography, her acrylic paintings, watercolors, and her encaustics. (Check out her work at studiomargo.com.)
"I work in a variety of mediums depending on which medium will tell the story the best," says Mullen.
But as for her noteworthy "Robot Series," Mullen says it is her inner child. "The work that is created usually comes from an interaction and moment in time I had," she explains. The robots came to her the night of a power outage in Bonny Doon. She put on her headlamp, grabbed her art tools and ended up creating about 50 ink drawings of what would be the foundation of the series.
"Since that time, my robotic friends have grown and taken me to places I dreamed about when I was a little girl. These robots appear in watercolors, acrylic paintings and in public art. The work touches the souls of the people who view it. If my work can put a smile on your face, my heart is full."



Wednesday, February 20, 2013

History: Our Stories






For some reason I have been drawn to working more figuratively.  I am working on two different portraits, one of my grandmother and I (when I was a little one) sitting in her backyard. The other is of the two time gold winning Olympian, Bob Mathias. These two pieces are very different. I am in the home stretch with Bob, noodling out the finer details and adding more structure to his arms.

I have lost a few people these past few years and some that have stayed alive against all odds. The thoughts of what is a family, what are traditions, why are they important, or are they? This is my second painting of my memories of my Grandma. Painting to remember her and to feel her again, wishing she were here with me, to offer advice and have a relationship with her as an adult.  I absolutely love being a "Mullen" but what does all that really mean? I know for sure that means being creative, no matter what it is you do, just doing that creatively, from singers to doctors, computer programmers and painters. Being kind to others and helping where you can.  I never met Dr. Mullen (my grandfather) and wonder often of his thoughts and ideas for family.

These portraits are taking me to emotional places that I am grateful to feel and have. Tears of joy and sadness have been filling the studio lately. So love your family, you only have them here, for this time. Times change, people die and new generations are born. Placing the past behind you with squabbles and moving on working together to create a strong family unit (whatever you classify that as), remembering traditions and those who have passed  is some of the reason why we are here in this life.

Hug your families and call those who may not be near.

Hopefully the robots come in and check on me, it is getting a little somber in the studio.
Have a great rest of the week!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Doug Ross and Margo Mullen @ Cruzioworks

So here we are again at Cruzioworks on 877 Cedar Street in Santa Cruz. This past First Friday was just awesome! I met so many new people, I talked and listened for four hours and I still had an ample amount of energy after it all. I was so excited to meet new people! This First Friday I had three new prints up for sell and they all did so great! I had a great conversation with a beekeeper and met a little girl who really enjoys the robots! This was a super successful event on all counts. If you are in the area, go on by to check out the wall.






Doug Ross (commissioned New York Times artist) and myself (commissioned Oakland Museum of California artist) with our work!



Sunday, February 3, 2013

Triton Museum and Doug Ross


Here we are at the Triton Museum. Excited to see this place and even more exited to see the work of Karen Frey, a Bay Area artist. The words that I have can not describe her work for the magical, beautiful technically executed work that it is. So here are some photographs of her work. If you EVER get the chance to see her work, please, treat your eyes, it is so worth it. Most of the work below is encaustic!



 







Here is the State Wides Water Color Competition. Really just a beautiful show. Two of my pals, Pat M-Towery and Susan Hancey were juried into the show. I have not seen so many water colors in one place at the same time.




 
 
 



Here we are at Donna Cehrs, a Santa Cruz artist showing her work of portraits. These portraits are painted in the old masters style, but with a modern visual twist. I must say some of the portraits I could not look at for a long time, alought stunning, there is so much emotion packed into each piece.


 


Here we are at Cruzio works on 877 Cedar Street where Doug Ross and Kevin Grossman celebrated "Tech Job Hunt Handbook" book release at Cruzio!



My favorite aspect of this viewing was being able to see Doug Ross's illustrations accompanied with different words. Seeing the same illustration, but using it in different context. Buy the book and receive some "reality advice".