Mark Tucker : Journal

Portrait: South Beach tattoo artist

marktucker — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:29:26 +0000

Tattoo Artist, Washington Avenue. South Beach, Miami.

South Beach characters

marktucker — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:10:55 +0000

Today, on Ocean Avenue, in South Beach. We met him on the sidewalk, heading north. He danced in the street, and made himself known to the tourists. He’s either a female cheerleader or a Playboy bunny; I’ll leave it up to you.

The second portrait was a very striking woman who was walking down Ocean Avenue this afternoon. Her outfit was pink; her hair was blonde; but the heart-shaped glasses just struck me — like some scene out of a Garry Winogrand thing on Hollywood Boulevard, circa 1965. She was nice enough to stop for a portrait; I got off about a dozen frames. The glasses are just great, and I love the whole vintage feel of the light.

Ocean Avenue, Miami Beach.

Heart-Shaped Glasses -- Ocean Avenue, Miami Beach.

Humane Society Benefit: Hutton Hotel

marktucker — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:08:40 +0000

Attended the Humane Society Benefit last night. Loads of fun. Imagine a giant hotel ballroom, filled with two hundred dogs, in costume, plus a doggie fashion show. At one point, leaving the elevator, it was like a Fellini dream — an elegant hotel lobby, but everyone in the lobby had a dog on a leash, and was dressed to the nines.

I’m sorry; none of these pictures are in focus or exposed correctly. It was just chaos in there; I had to just snap away and hope I got something.

Yorkie.

Sheltie?

Incredible face.

Great Dane. Heart of gold.

"Dog? What dog...?"

Largest dogs I've ever seen in my life. Not sure the breed. Very sweet. Eyeballs as large as mine.

Here's a side view. Mindblowing.

The Queen. I wanted this dog to arrive in a gold chariot. I love how her paw is saying "Back off, Mister -- you're in my personal space."

Another side view, to show scale. Siblings.

A mixed-breed Blue Heeler, (after my heart). (Reminded me of Little Dottie, passed on).

This woman was a Traveling Marilyn Monroe Treat Table. (Just accept it; don't ask questions).

"Who turned out the lights....?"

Half-human dog, stood on rear legs and helped himself to the Pedigree all-you-can-eat buffet.

His Blue Period...

Kristin knew this woman. She was fun. So was her outfit. Great smile.

This woman had an adult Pomeranian. I thought this one was a toy. It was in her purse. It was REAL!

Camera-shy chihuahua. He was SO over it.

Pearl Necklace.

Great ears.

Everything gold...

End of the night. "I'm pooped. Can we just go home?"

Part 1 of 3: Audrey helps herself to a nip of Kristin's martini.

Part 2 of 3: "Damn, that was pretty tasty!"

Part 3 of 3: "I ruv you! Can we go to Hermitage Cafe? But I'm sleepy..."

Art History: Can-Opener for the Mind

marktucker — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:35:04 +0000

Quick frame of the window light falling on my basement floor. My own private Joan Miro.

So I’m taking some night classes at Watkins, just for fun, and to open up my head. The main class is this excellent class taught by Tom Williams, called Contemporary Art History, and then soon, begins a bookmaking class, and then a silkscreen and drypoint class. I’m just on fire with it all. Especially Art History, because of the way Tom sets up the context for how all these painters were influenced by WWII, and by the painters that came before them. Here is the textbook; a great resource.

Anyway, so I’m gutting my basement, to set up a printmaking area, and I came down the steps the other day and was reminded of these bizarre red/green blocks that are all over my 1930′s old house. Most of them are faded away, but the frame above shows them. Maybe another artist lived here at one time; maybe just some children, but I love these faded grid blocks. I also love the scratched floor in the basement.

Here are some Google Image links to some of the painters we’ve studied so far. Google Images does a pretty good job, but there’s no guarantee that every painting is accurate; who knows how the metadata is coded. The links to each artist are in bold type below.

Hans Prinzhorn

Howard Finster show: TPAC

marktucker — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:29:51 +0000

One of my pictures of Howard, at Paradise Gardens. Cropped detail of part of a Widelux frame, hand colored (with Marshall Oils), by Tania Owen.

Today was the final day for the Finster show; I had to get up there and pay my respects. As it turned out, the show was a massive collection of his work. I was overwhelmed by the volume. He must have painted every single night, after getting his spiritual calling.

When I was younger, I shot the pictures for a paper company promotion that Buddy Jackson was working on. We ended up renting a giant car and traveling across the south, looking for eccentric characters. There were four of us: Buddy Jackson, the AD; Mike Nolan, the copywriter; Paul Vozdic, my assistant at the time; and myself. I’m shocked that it all fell into place; I don’t think we really called ahead to any of the places. We just showed up and knocked on the door. Bessie Harvey in Knoxville; Howard Finster in Summerville GA; BF Perkins in Prattville GA; a fanatical preacher somewhere; Mose T in Montgomery; Jimmy Lee Sudduth in Fayetteville, Georgia; and a snake-handling Pentecostal preacher, somewhere south of Columbia, TN. Great memories. We were fine all week in the car, until I decided to bring up the topic of religion, with Mike Nolan, and then I turned into a total dick; I guess I need to add Mike to my Amends List. I’ll always feel bad about that.

Not sure what is left of the Finster operation any longer.

Front Cover of the paper promotion for Mead Paper

My picture of Jimmy Lee Sudduth, on his front porch. (Pardon the CMYK rough scan). See video below, of Jimmy Lee on harmonica.

Detail of frame of "Snake Handling Preacher". (We rolled down the window of the rental car, just enough to stick the lens thru the crack. The preacher brought the snake up to the 24mm lens, which was, uh, really close to me). Pardon the scan.

(From the book): Clark Byers spent his life driving across the south, painting the SEE ROCK CITY barns. If you ever saw one of the barns, Clark Byers painted it. (He also grazed buffalo).

Shot today with my iPhone, of Howard's "artist statement", at TPAC.

Below are some random YouTube videos that I located on these artists that we visited. This first video below is similar to how we experienced Howard — we just walked in, and there he was working, and he started preaching to us, just like this. My advice: make about four cups of strong coffee, and then turn the volume up loud on your computer, and then listen to this first video about three times, over and over. That was the feeling of being there with Howard — very “in your face”.

Cut-up Polaroids.

marktucker — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:35:06 +0000

We set up a temporary studio in my den last night. Was nice to shoot real film again, and actually touch something, (rather than everything digital). The night started out as an Art Night, but turned into Chili Night, and then Campfire Night, and then Music Night, and then College Football Night, and finally, Giant Art Book Night. Really fun.

Jimmy Abegg, Kristin Russell, Amy Patterson, Buddy Jackson, Jimmy Abegg, John Deaderick, Erika Wright.

My mother’s new friend

marktucker — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:35:33 +0000

My mother has a new ritual — she puts a chocolate chip cookie by the front door each day, and she waits for the little girl across the street to get home from school. When she sees the car pull into the driveway, she takes the cookie over, as a gift. They’ve struck up quite the friendship.

My mother and Tilly, sharing a cookie after school.

Woody Guthrie’s “New Years Rulin’s” (for 1943)

marktucker — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:02:52 +0000

I’m a Woody Guthrie fan, (and Dylan, Seeger, Jack Elliott, and most anything Folk). I saw this a few days ago. He wrote this around 1943; amazing how many of the things still hold true today. Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge, for better readability.

Red Eyed Rooster square dance / Hogslop String Band

marktucker — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:16:41 +0000

The best way to view this post is to, first, go to the Red Eyed Rooster invite page, and make sure your sound is on, and then let the music play while you’re viewing these snapshots. On that page, there’s also a nice image of the band, shot by Lisa Elmaleh. Check out Lisa’s other images too; very nice wet-plate collodion technique. The “Rooted” chapter is especially nice.

Anyway… this was just a great night; the whole room participated, whether they knew the dances or not. That’s what made it the most fun. We got there early, and there was this one couple off to the side, very quiet, but once the music started, he hit the dance floor with a fury. His name is James Howarth, and he burned up the place. He said he was once a competition clogger. He says to me, “You know, I just go out now to have fun; sometimes I get out of time with the band, but I don’t worry about it any more; I just get out there and dance”. Good words to live by…

Clogging James, dancing with The Tallest Girl in Town. He seems happy here.

Fun and laughter, the whole night. About 1/10th of the people knew the moves; that made it better.

I have no idea how this girl "daintzt" in these shoes, but she pulled it off; in style.

"Shoot Your Partner". Hilarious.

Here's a four-up of James The Clogger. He went to the center of the circle. Fourth image shows his taps.

The Hogslop String Band, (with Tiffany Buchanan on washtub bass!).

The perfect mix of New Technology and Old Technology. Blackbird Studio meets The Hardware Store.

Erika and John fall right into rhythm.

Style.

Song List.

Kristin with James. He got his hat all cockeyed when they hugged.

Daintzin'.

The dance "caller" Daniel Allen Frazier, Jr. Even his voice sounded 1950's, Kristin said.

I loved this couple - she had a great skirt and killer boots.

Regions Bank: Competition Cyclists (and steel cable)

marktucker — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:30:13 +0000

I went into my bank branch today and was reminded of a fun project that we shot last fall in Toronto. Regions Bank found these competition cyclists for their TV campaign, and then we cast for more gymnasts and contortionists in Toronto. The posters are all over the place in the bank, and on the ATMs. Haven’t seen any outdoor boards yet. We laid a plexi floor, on a soundstage, and had a rigging crew fly them around. Really fun project. Also, Toronto is a really amazing city, if you ever get the chance to go. Art Director: the truly original Rich Albright; agency producer: the unflappable Lizzie Holt; producer Brett Sahler; first-class production help in Toronto by Raff and Julie at FullServe.

Stefan hoisted into the air, on his way to the ceiling.

Posters and POP at the Regions branches.

The initial batch of images.

YouTube of competition cycling. (Amazing strength).