Azoni: news and art.

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2009-04-24T08:02:00.001-07:00

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"Get On The Bus"

2007-11-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest barriers facing Metro Detroit's needy is transportation. They have the skills and desire to get a job but no way to get there. Now there is a small glimmer of hope in bringing down this barrier.

The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) is partnering with Goodwill Industries, Fox 2 and WJR to give the needy population of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties the means of getting to jobs and job interviews. It is a month-long campaign called "Get On The Bus" that is encouraging the public to donate money here: http://www.giveabuspass.org/

$49 will give one person transportation to and from work or interviews for one month. THE COST OF ONE 10x10 PAINTING!!
$294 pays for 6 months of bus transportation.
$588 pays for a full year of transportation.

With Christmas around the corner, people need a gift that really matters. You could get dumb materialistic gifts for your family members that will end up lost in the closet within a month, or you could help sustain a needy individual's future by helping them get to a job that will provide their houshold with much needed income.

You can even fulfill your family's desire for gifts while still providing support to the Get On The Bus campaign and other worthy causes by purchasing a TenTimesTen painting for a minimum donation of $50.

Or feel free to donate straight to the campaign via the link I provided above.

As always, check back on my site at JohnAzoni.com for an archive of available 10x10 paintings. To make a purchase, simply email me at JohnAzoni@gmail.com.

First donation made!

2007-10-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update. I know a lot of these posts have been to promote the TenTimesTen project, but I thought I'd let you know where the money has been going. The first couple of paintings sold has gone to recovering the cost of supplies, but the first donation has just been made to a very worthy person. My buddy Marc Lipovsky is raising money to spend an extended period of time in South Africa, loving on the people there and serving the Lord wherever he is called.

He created a site called sendmarctosouthafrica.com. Here you can make a donation to help get him there and support his stay in South Africa. You can also read about his purpose for going, his passion for the people there, as well as an interview that will help you get to know Marc a little better and his passion for serving the Lord.

The TenTimesTen project has contributed funds to send Marc to South Africa, but my guess is he has a ways to go, so go on his website and donate some money if you can!

There has been an amendment to the TenTimesTen Project!!!

2007-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

I know I said that all TenTimesTen paintings are priced at $100, but I'm finding that even though in comparison to my other work, it's a relatively discounted price, it's still more than the majority of people that would be most likely to buy this work are willing to shell out. I've promoted this work to a lot of people, mainly friends, family, and people in the church community (figuring they donate money anyway, so they might as well get a painting out of it). These are not art collectors and so therefore the price of $100 for a small painting may seem a little daunting and inaccessible. So I've cut the price in half. Now all TenTimesTen paintings are priced at a minimum donation of $50. You can certainly give more to the project if you would like. Donations above and beyond $50 are graciously accepted, but not expected.

So that's the amendment. I want people to feel like they can own these paintings while still feeling like a part of something bigger than ourselves. In the interest of getting more paintings into more people's homes, and more money into the hands of the people and organizations that so greatly need it, the price had to come down.

It was brought to my attention that people may be more inclined to give directly to the charity rather than through me in order to receive a tax deduction. This can certainly be arranged. Below are a few links to organizations that I support where donations can be made online. If you make a donation of $50 or more, it's as good as buying a painting from me. Money given directly to me will most likely be used to directly fill a need wherever I see fit. This includes helping to send people on mission trips where they will serve the community there, helping to meet the needs of those who are struggling financially right here in Detroit, and whatever else comes up in people's lives where they find themselves stuck and in need of a little help. I don't exaclty know what that would look like right now, but the beauty is in finding out.

Below are links to a few charities that you can donate to directly if you chose:

THAW - (The Heat And Warmth program) A government program that provides funds agencies in the area that assist people in paying their utility bills. You'd be surprised how many people either have or are on the verge of having their utilities shut off, and can't afford to pay their bills. This is a need that is very real and right in our backyard.

Invisible Children - read previous posts, or learn more on their site.

The Simple Way - A community center in Philidaelphia that is commited to "living simply so that others can simply live". They are an organization that reaches out to their community and helps to meet the needs of the people around them. Their community center along with many of the surrounding family's homes caught on fire and burned to the ground, leaving The Simple Way and many families with nothing. They are in need of donations to rebuild the community center as well as getting the families affected by the fire back on their feet.

So that's the new format of the TenTimesTen project. Feel free to leave a comment below with any questions or suggestions. And I am still constantly updating my site with new TenTimesTen paintings so refer to that if you want to see the paintings.

New TenTimesTen Paintings.

2007-09-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

A Guy That Looks Like Dylan Spaysky With Green on His Face
Acrylic on canvas
10x10 in.

Deer Man
Acrylic on canvas
10x10 in.

Kitty on a Mound
Acrylic on canvas
10x10 in.
(Sold)

New painting

2007-09-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

Regions
Acrylic on canvas
72"x72"

United Way job.

2007-09-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

There comes a point in every artist's career when he/she realizes that not enough people are buying his/her work and he/she needs to get a j/o/b.

I have finally got myself one of those.

I now work for the United Way of Southeastern Michigan in downtown Detroit. The branch of United Way that I work for is called 2-1-1, which is a number that homeless/needy people can call if they need things like food, clothing, drug counseling, family counseling, help getting a job...you name it. So people call this number, 2-1-1 and we refer them over the phone to where they can get help in their area. Since a lot of people either A. don't know about 2-1-1, or B. don't have money to call in the first place, 2-1-1 created a brand new position where they send 2 people out into the city to find and assess people in need, and refer them on the spot. The Detroit 2-1-1 is the second largest in the country, and the location that other branches look to as a model. The Detroit branch is the first to send people out to refer people in person, thus my buddy nick (who also got the job) and I will be the first people in the country to do this job for 2-1-1. So basically we get to lead this project since we will be the ones performing it. We'll be the ones working out the kinks in effectively assessing people and discerning those that want help from those that just want hand-outs. Essentially, Nick and I will be part of setting the bar for 2-1-1's across the country when other locations start hiring people to go out in person.

We have 2 Smart cars getting donated to us. One for me and one for Nick (not to take home though...). The cars will be decked out in the 2-1-1 logo and all kinds of technology and necessary equipment for referring people on the spot. We'll be in training until early November on how the system works, as well as brainstorming for the launch of "2-1-1 On the Go" as it's called.

Apparently there is a lot of media coverage around this new service. My boss said that Nick and I will surely be getting a lot of attention from the media. So apparently I'll get to be on TV and in the newspapers.

I have no clue how I ended up with this job. It's basically a dream job. I get to do what I'd do anyway for free, and get paid for it...with CRAZY awesome benefits. And working along side my best friend isn't so bad either.

Not bad for a first job.

In regards to my art, I feel as though now I can rest easy knowing that I have a steady paycheck. And a little extra money from selling a painting here and there wouldn't be so bad.

Invisible Children, Jacob's testimony, and the TenTimesTen project.

2007-08-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

If you are unfamiliar with the Invisible Children campaign, I STRONGLY urge you to go check out the site. In short, it's a campaign to end the war in Northern Uganda that is forcing children as young as 7 years old into battle, brainwashing them into killing machines and forcing them to kill even their own mothers and siblings in support of the Lords Resistance Army. If a child is abducted it is unlikely they will escape alive. It is kill or be killed. Check out the videos on YouTube as well.

To put it in perspective, here is the story of Jacob:

"The night I was abducted, the rebels of the LRA came and took me from our village. No one was sleeping because we could hear their approach. The rebels broke down the door of my hut and forcefully took me. My mom did not cry because she knew if she did the rebels would kill her. She just had to watch us go.

"When the rebels see you cry the ask you, 'You, what are you crying?' If you say, 'Nothing' then htey say, 'Now you are thinking about home? So, we better kill you.' So they kill you. But they don't know what is in your heart. You see for me, my heart is that I am going to escape. For me, I wanted to be a lawyer, but no money. I didn't have money to be...to pay my school fees, so that I learn and then become one. I had nothing. I didn't even have a blanket. I didn't have anything to do with food. maybe we eat once a day. So it is better when you kill us.

"In the bush, the opportune moment to escape came when the soldier who was meant to keep an eye on me took a nap. So without knowing the direction I had taken, I moved till morning to town. After I came back, I was night commuting because of fear." (These children commute every night to a village an hour and a half walk away in order to avoid getting abducted into the rebel army) "While in the bush the rebels made it clear that whoever would escape would be got again and killed. My parents lived somehow far from town and I did not feel safe there, so I walked to town to sleep so I would not get abducted again."

Jacob
Former child soldier
Resident of Northern Uganda

This is the major cause that the TenTimesTen project will support. Money is needed in Northern Uganda to aid families that were forced into displacement camps by the government with little to no food or water. People are dying left and right of starvation and disease because of this war. They need to be fed. They need to be clothed. They need schools. Children need to be children and not killing machines. They need to live. By purchasing a TenTimesTen painting for $100 you are helping aid not only the Invisible Children, but people all around us that have needs. Visit my website at JohnAzoni.com to find a full archive of TenTimesTen paintings as I complete them. As of right now there are only 4 available paintings but more will be up tomorrow, and in days to come.

BUY ART, and save some lives already. :)

new site, same address.

2007-08-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

I ditched my old website and put up a new one. It's certainly not as fancy as my other one. It's just a simple blogger page but it's way easier for me to update and it allows you to click on an image to see a larger version, which my other site didn't have. The address is still the same. johnazoni.com. That will take you to the new site.

On the right-hand side you'll see the sections "tentimesten", "drawings", and "paintings". Click on either of those to see an archive of images. All the finished TenTimesTen paintings and their status (available or sold) will be posted on my website in the TenTimesTen section.

YouTube

2007-08-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

Hey just to let you all know, if any of you are on You Tube I'm providing you with a link to my channel. If any of you care to get video updates of TenTimesTen as well as just video documentations of paintings in progress and commentary, feel free to subscribe to my channel.

New paintings

2007-08-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

Aside from the TenTimesTen project I have been finding time to do paintings of my own. These are a few paintings I've done in the last month or so.

"Animals Like Ice Cream"
Acrylic on canvas
36x41 in.

"Splash"

Acrylic on canvas
42x50 in.

"Concrete Factory"
Acrylic on canvas

Finished TenTimesTen Paintings.

2007-08-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here are 5 completed paintings for the TenTimesTen project. If you dont' know what that means, please read/watch the previous 2 posts about it. Again they are priced at $100 each and all profits will go to different causes that need support and basicly to people that need it more than I do. Email me at JohnAzoni@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing a painting.

TenTimesTen project

2007-08-12T17:02:00.001-07:00

Schaeffer

2007-08-12T07:01:00.000-07:00

Some friends of mine who make up the band Schaeffer have just released a new album that will blow your face off. If you've never heard of Schaeffer you're missing out and need to go to check them out on Myspace right now. Then go to their website and buy the new album titled "Something Worth Fighting For".

http://www.myspace.com/officialschaeffer

Paintings for a Cause

2007-08-11T06:37:00.001-07:00

So it's been quite a while since I updated this. My apoligies if you've been checking back and all you saw was the same post for about 3 months. I got a new Macbook and it's inspired me to start blogging again so here I am.

I attended the Leadership Summit at my church, which is a conference held at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL and broadcasted to satellite churches all over the world. They brought in different big name leaders to speak and give insight about effective leadership. People like Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter, The former CEO of Hewlett Packard, and a handful of others. One of the things they talked about was using your strengths to make an impact on the world. more on this in a minute.

With that said, the biggest reason why I stopped blogging was because I stopped making art. I became so disenchanted with my work, and with the Detroit scene and all its negativity, as well as with the amount of work that goes along with being an artist that I hate doing. Things like documenting work and updating price lists, hussling the work trying to get shows, hauling large paintings around, setting up and tearing down shows. All things that I hate. But I've recently rediscovered my passion for art and I think the break was necesary. I think God used that time to show me that he had a bigger plan for my life than what I was pursuing previously. I now am pursuing a position in ministry and know that that is a calling on my life. Another reason why I became dispassionate about my work is because I didn't really see my purpose as an artist. Why had God given me this passion in the first place? Am I really making an impact on the world and affecting anyone's life through my art? If I were to be honest, all my goals as an artist were self serving. I wanted to be a famous artist, and make a good living off my work. I wanted people to know my name and respect me and my work. I wanted people to look up to me. I wanted people to look at me and think "he's kind of a big deal". If all of my goals were all to serve ME, then how was i impacting anyone else? And so I left to pursue God's purpose in my life.

So this brings me back to this leadership conference. I was inspired by an interview with Richard Curtis (british filmaker who wrote Notting Hill, Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary....etc) Where he talked about how he is using his leverage as a respected filmaker to help with the AIDS and poverty crisis in Africa. It's an amazing story, and got me thinking about how I can use my strengths as an artist to make some sort of difference beyond making a name for myself.

SO HERE IT IS:
I was driving home from this conference yesterday and had the idea that I would make a series of small paintings (like 10x10 in.) and make them very accesible to the general public. I figure most people would pay at least $100 for art. So these paintings would be around that price range. And all the money (minus the cost of supplies) will go to support different causes that I support. Some of these include the Invisible Children campaign (invisiblechildren.org) that works to end the war in northern Uganda where children as young as 7 or 8 are being abducted and trained to be killing machines, forced to fight in this war and kill even their own families. Also the Simple Way is another cause that I support (thesimpleway.org). It's a community outreach in Philly that is commited to living a simple lifestyle and spreading their resources out into the community. They dont' have a lot of "stuff" basicly. And what they do have they share with others in need. I also spend time with the homeless in Detroit, bringing them food and just hanging out with them. All these things take money. So I think it would be great to make paintings designated to filling a need in our world. I think if everyone were more generous with their resources, and less concerned about their "stuff" we would live in a much different world.

So that's the plan as of now. I haven't even started making any of these paintings. I am planning on starting them next week when I get back from up north. If you read this blog and wouldn't mind spending $100 or so on original artwork, or you've wanted my work in the past but couldnt' afford it, this is a perfect chance to support worthy causes, as the prices for this particular series of paintings is significantly lower than my other work.

more on this to come soon. And I will also post some new paintings that I've done in the past couple weeks.

Planes installation

2007-03-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is an installation that I just finished in the bay at CCS. Peep it.

Reason number 11238290382 why I love my friends:

Thanks for all your help guys!

It'll be up for a couple weeks so come check it out in person!

Paper airplane MANIA fest 2k7.

2007-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've got 2000 sheets of paper that I'm making into paper airplanes for an installation in the bay area at CCS. I probably made around 80 of them today single-handedly. I'm having a paper -airplane-making benefit party on Friday to hopefully put a dent in this intimidating stack of paper. Participants will be fed homemade crepes with nutella, and fruit punch Gatorade. A delightful combination for even the most sophisticated pallette.

If anything comes out of this piece, it will by my sympathy for factory workers.

If you would like to participate in this installation, let me know and I'll deliver you a stack of paper to keep you busy.

More new stuff.

2007-02-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

"Bucks and Tape" - plastic deer and masking tape

"Home" - Canvas, tar, bikewheel.

"Tarred Orange" - tar on recycled painting, Aprox. 15"x15"

"Tarred Red" - Tar on recycled painting, Aprox. 20"x20"

"Spray Paint as Motherwell" - Spray paint and ink on paper, 22"x30". Text reads "featuring spray paint with a spectacular performance as motherwell. Well done."

"Blaque" - Ink on paper, 22"x30".

new work.

2007-02-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

This installation doesn't look like this anymore. I'll post the more recent picture soon but I ended up removing everything but the canvas and the tire. for now at least..
the black stuff is tar.

tar on old paintings.
old paintings dipped in tar.

This is a painting that I covered with spray adhesive and kicked around my studio until there was a thick layer of dust and hair on it.

more new stuff to come, but that's it for now since I've been fussing with this new blogger/old blogger crap for over an hour now. The switch to the new blogger messed up everything and it took me this long to figure out how to access my old blogger account. ugh...technology.

David Shrigley (dot com)

2007-02-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

I'm totally into this artist David Shrigley. His drawings were featured in Vitamin D. He also does some animated shorts.

See more at davidshrigley.com

Zero Sum art project

2007-02-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon this project just now. It's the Zero Sum art project and I'm pretty sure it's based out of Pittsburg affiliated with Fiji Island Mermaid Press. Pretty interesting. It's a studio project utilizing Ebay as the means of selling the work where the price starts out at the cost of materials, and then any "profit" goes right back into the work. Check it out.

Motor City show + Schaeffer

2007-02-03T00:11:00.000-08:00

Detroitarts has posted pictures of my show at Motor City. Good thing other people take pictures of my shows to make up for me forgetting.

I'm currently working on a new installation. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get my camera to work. I hate technology. Things I own tend to last 3 years tops.

This is a short post due to the fact that it's 3:14 am and I just got back from a rockin show in Southgate. I'm not really one to go to shows, in fact I haven't been to a show since the summer, but Schaeffer is of course an exception. They were playing in the semi-finals for this 89x "i'm with the band" contest. If they win, which I have no doubts they will, they'll have a shot at a record deal Network records, a Canadian label featuring artists like Bare Naked Ladies, and Sarah Mclachlan (hope I didn't butcher that spelling too bad). So I was pumped that they won tonight because the other bands weren't nearly as talented. It's not really art related but they're definitely an asset to the Detroit music scene so go give them a listen if you haven't already.

Cass Cafe

2007-01-29T17:53:00.000-08:00

I should've taken some pictures at the Cass Cafe event hosted by Creative People's Network, but my camera kind of sucks right now. If you didn't make it to the opening be sure to get there. It closes March 18.

The show was a success in that there were a lot of people there, the word about CPN got out and people got to see what they're all about. If you haven't checked out CPN, please do yourself a favor and go there. Founder Joe Salerno is always accepting submissions. so be sure to contact him at cpn.detroit@gmail.com. Send him 5 or 6 images that you would like published, and a head shot and you're all set.

Well I'm hoping to sell some work out of Cass Cafe because in about a month I need to buy a car since the lease on my Saturn is up at the end of next month. I need to make some serious cash. So send people with checkbooks over there.

This Wednesday I'll be exhibiting at the Motor City Brewing Works with brand new paintings on recycled silkscreen prints. The show is from 8-11pm THIS WEDNESDAY, Jan 31.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2006-12-07T07:10:00.000-08:00

It's my mom's birthday today so I gathered some of my friends here to sing her a song.
behind us is one of my pieces for the vernisage, which opens tomorrow!

pictures soon to come of the event.

I NEED MORE!!

2006-11-28T06:51:00.000-08:00

The tasks have been coming in....slowly........I encourage many many more.

The problem I'm having though, is that I'm not really getting "tasks" as I am "projects". I'm getting a lot submissions that are more ideas for art pieces that I could do with some rules tacked on, which isn't quite what I had in mind. I looked up the definition of "task" online...this may help you in helping me with this project.

task (tsk)
n.
1. A piece of work assigned or done as part of one's duties.
2. A difficult or tedious undertaking.
3. A function to be performed; an objective.
tr.v. tasked, task·ing, tasks
1. To assign a task to or impose a task on.
2. To overburden with labor; tax.
Idiom:
take/call/bring to task
To reprimand or censure.
[Middle English taske, imposed work, tax, from Old North French tasque, from Vulgar Latin *tasca, alteration of *taxa, from Latin taxre, to feel, reproach, reckon; see tax.]

Synonyms: task, job1, chore, stint1, assignment

******These nouns denote a piece of work that one must do. A task is a well-defined responsibility that is usually imposed by another and that may be burdensome: I stayed at work late to finish the task at hand.****

Think completley ridiculous, uncomfortable, tiring, banal, boring, time consuming, physically challenging, completley NON "ART" RELATED. Think tasks that completley challenge the assumed definition of "art".

I'm not discouraging tasks that involve typical art forms, if you think of a task that involves a typical art form like painting, drawing, installation, etc. try and take it out of the context of making a piece of "art". What I'm going for is more emphasis placed on the ACTION....the "process" of the task rather than the end product. For example, I just finished a piece where I used a whole stick of graphite just by making marks. The marks themselves were irrelevant. I wasn't trying to make a visually pleasing art object. The marks were just the result of trying to wear down this stick of graphite until it was all used up. This then becomes a "task", where the effort of pushing through the task to reach the end goal becomes the art, not the end product itself.

So that's just to give you a point of reference. The ones that have come in so far are creative and great, and will definitely be saved and considered, but this follow up is just to give you an idea of what i am looking for in these responses.

I NEED MORE!!! LOTS MORE!!! Tell everyone you know! send mass emails to all your coworkers, just don't get fired. I need tasks from strangers as well! At least, strangers to me. I got one from my Dad's secretary whom I've never met....good enough.

AzoniArt@yahoo.com. send them there.