deMeng Holiday give-away coming next week

Hey eveyone,

ART Give-away
Last year I gave a piece of art away for the holiday. I've decided to do it again this year. Next week I'll announce the specifics, but to give you the heads up, it is more of a competition and should be pretty fun. So stay tuned and more info will come your way. I'll give you a clue (though I don't think it will help figure out the nature of the competition), go to Nicole McConville's site: www.sigilation.com
Next week it will all make sense...I can't wait. Now I have to go and make the prize.
Tell all your friends, the more entries the more interesting.

Are you curious yet?

Next order of business
thanks for all the comments on "My Favorite Piece...Ever"
to Jane:
Onion...hmmm

to Carolyn:
Yes, anything I teach at Saluda will address the techniques used in this piece

to Hilari:
ding ding ding...correct! those are car beads

to Miz Carla
yep a ton of liquid nails...see you in Virginia.

to Peggi
I do love it when it comes together...finally!



talk soon,
Michael
p.s. I guess I won't have time to clean my studio.

My Favorite Piece...EVER

Okay, so I've created my favorite piece of art to date. Periodically this happens where you finish a piece in which you surprise yourself of what you are capable of. This is such a piece. Sometimes you wonder what happened on that particular day. Was it the blend of coffee I drank? Was it the Seinfeld episode that was on the night before? Who knows? All I know it is moments like this that keep me creating. Making art is emotionally exhausting, and very seldom a blissfull experience. For me it is a battle with myself to find something worthy of sharing. Some pieces are less of a battle and fall right into place, while others drive me to the brink of smashing the art into smithereens.

Like most of my work, the piece is intuitive. At first I had no idea what it was about, then, at the end of the internal tug of war, I realized it's meaning. It's quite a personal piece and won't go into detail, but it has to do with the city of Sienna, Italy...thus the title "Sienna"

Hope you enjoy,
ciao,
Michael

Dia de los Muertos 2007

Hey all

As many of you know the city of Oaxaca is in turmoil...it is so sad. What a beautiful place. Hopefully it can be that same magical city and everything will calm down. This has put the Day of the Dead workshop (2007) in the land of question marks. I have been talking to Colleen Darling (my organizer) and we are looking at a few options. Perhaps things will miraculously turn around and all will be well in a year. Another option that has popped up is moving it out of Mexico (there are really only a few places that celebrate D.O.D. with the zest of Oaxaca), and into Antigua Guatamala (the picture above is Antigua- I was amazed at how much it reminds me of Oaxaca). Apparently Day of the Dead is well celebrated there. We are checking with everyone who wants to go and see what sort of consensus there is. So just thought I'd keep everyone informed for now.

And Gris,

If you buy that place...you bet I'll be there with whoever wants to follow.

Came across some nice work by Peggi

These two pieces are by Peggi Meyer Graminski. Thought they were quite nice...not to mention appropriate in relation to my last post.. Check out more of her work at http://desertphotography.blogspot.com/

Happy Day of the Dead

Days of the Dead are underway. I just got back fromValley Ridge after a great weekend of teaching and friends and food. Oh...and I spoke to a dead person...actually she spoke to me. Not going to go into that right now, I must ponder this a bit, but very wierd, and I'll leave it at that.

The above image is my ofrenda (dia de los muertos altar), which I just completed. About 15 years ago my friend Bev Glueckert and myself started a contemporary arts festival based on the Mexican holiday. Bev and I retired from the organizing position about 5 years ago, but it is still going on. Tomorrow is the procession..thousands of skeletons and giant puppets wandering down the Missoula night time street. Check it out if your in the area...its amazing...but dress warm. I have to go as el Diablo, because I'm playing a judge in the Miss Dead Debutante Pageant...hosted by Burnt Parts.

Today the SteamRoller prints are being made (large banner prints for the parade pressed by steamroller). Very cool and done by the printmaking department of the University of Montana.

Here's the link to Missoula's Festival of the Dead

see you there,
M

Okay okay...I know it's been a long time

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So now I can sit down and write a bit. It's been a bit of a crazy month. Since I last posted, I have taught at Art n Soul. Which was great. I love Portland....an maybe I do love it so much that I will marry it. I stayed with my friends Rob and Stace (who put on my, Sally Jean's and Nina's Italy workshops), great to see those guys. One of the classes I taught was the Holy Rolling Hot Wheels class...so we had a race off at the end. Great fun. Here's a photo from the class.


After Portland I had to turn around and fly to Burbank to film a couple episodes of CraftLab for HGTV. that was fun. It amazes me how many people are involved in a t.v. production. some of you may know Jennifer Perkins, the host. It was great to see her again, and I have to say everyone involved was great and fun to work with. One thing, if I do this again, I'll bring a good book to read...amazing how much down time there is....luckily I had a eighties decor dressing room to hang in.


Getting ready to head to Wisconsin for my teaching gig at Valley Ridge. This is one of my favorite venues. It's in beautiful setting, and Kathy and Bill are great. I love the laid back mellow retreats. I highly recommend taking a class there if you find one you like.
http://www.valleyridgeartstudio.com

In the mean time I've been doing some assemblage retratos (look it up). No peeking. I'll post them when I get a few more made.

ciao for now
Michael

Retablos, Milagros Y Marigolds

Here something coming up at the end of the month for those of you in Southern Cal. Unfortunately I won't be able to be at the opening but at least my art will. Check it out if you can.
October 28-Nov 17 at the Boehm Gallery Palomar College, San Marcos. Participating artists [and my friends] are Helen Shafer Garcia, Judith Parenio, Michael deMeng, and Jane LaFazio

Reception is October 28, 4:30-6pm. Everyone is invited! (The artwork is for sale! Ask the gallery for a price list.)

Retablos, Milagros y Marigolds will be a fantastic exhibition! The four artists have very different styles and techniques, but the one thing they share is the love of DETAIL. Each piece will be textured, layered, fascinating, and demanding extreme scrutiny by the viewer. Helen Shafer Garcia, well-known as an illustrator and watercolor artist, will also have small altars on display, featuring her whimsical watercolors and found objects. Michael deMeng, of Montana, creates assemblage out of ‘old rusty things’ and then painting them to create shrines, altars and pez dispenser totems. Judith Parenio, whose work you may have seen at the San Diego Art Institute is constantly recreating her art with texture, and meaning. Judy’s created a whole new series for this exhibition. Jane will show her small, heavily stitched art quilts, along with the debut of her pieces in Ralph's Letters and Ralph's Envelopes. Theseese are made from 30-year old love letters and sheer organza, and will be featured in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine in January 2007. The four artist’s views of Dia de Los Muertos will fascinate and inspire you!

Boehm Gallery on the campus of Palomar College
1140 West Mission Rd, San Marcos CA 92069
Gallery Hours: Tuesday 10am-4pm, Wed/Thurs 10am-7pm; Fri/Sat 10am-2pm