TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST MICHAEL DINGES FEATURED IN "NEW AMERICAN PAINTINGS" AUGUST/SEPTEMBER ISSUE 83

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TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST JENNY MORGAN IN LOTS OF ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS FOR HER NEW SHOW - WOMENS WORK MAGAZINE, ETC

JennyMORGAN

Interview with Marie Gibbons, Womens Work Magazine, 2009

I first met Jenny at Pirate Contemporary Art, an artist's cooperative in Denver, CO. We were both members of the cooperative, and I was in awe of her huge, beautiful paintings from first glance. I love the way she captures the light and life of and on her subjects.

Tell us about your beginnings as an artist, when did you discover that art was your passion?



My beginnings were just like everyone else- drawing as a weird little girl. I read a quote about this that just stuck with me- he was an art teacher answering a question his 7 year old daughter asked, "Dad, what do you do all day?" ,"I teacher people how to draw," he replied. His daughter looked up at him puzzled, "you mean, they forgot?" It's like we all have the instinct to make things, but at some point a switch is hit. The first time I really knew I felt sincere "passion" for art making was as a teenager- I was 14 years old and enrolled in a freshman drawing class that wasn't very engaging. I remember being in my room one night, frustrated that I wasn't working on any projects and this sense of overwhelming anxiety hit- all I could do was grab a piece of white typing paper and ferociously scribble with some colored pencils. The image I made meant nothing, all that mattered at that moment was the act of making something, anything, to release energy. I just felt as though if I didn't get something down on paper, I might explode. And, I still have that same anxiety if I don't get to my studio everyday or have a body of work in progress. 


Can you tell us about your 'style' what brought you to it and what do you feel is unique to you about the way you work and the pieces you create?



It's interesting for me to talk about my work right now because I feel as though I am in complete transition- jumping lily-pads from on way of thinking to another. I have always worked with the figure- earlier work involved the body integrating with fabric, often I chose to crop out the head and face, lending ambiguity to the figures personality. But since I've moved to New York and gone through some rigorous grad school studies, I am very much obsessed with the portrait and investigating the individual. I work on canvas with oil paint and still build my own stretchers. I photograph all my models and they are always people I know personally and want to explore. In the past I would take the photo, transfer the image and copy the photo exactly...but recently i have been working towards a degree of abstraction. As I take the initial reference photo with the models I am finding that I don't like to direct them. Most of the time my subject is left standing nude, in front of my camera nervous and shy which generates a certain kind of pose and gesture that is very simple and traditional- the simplicity of the pose allows me to focus purely on the formal elements such as how I apply and then remove the paint. I'm in a state of challenging myself to keep experimenting. I'm calling my what I'm doing right now a form of deconstructing the figure- a simple way of saying that once I get the entire image painted and refined I like to go back in with either sandpaper or turp and rub away parts of the image, and of course I am still playing around with these ideas and techniques, but it is the after image that remains stained on the canvas that I am interested in. The act of spending hours perfecting a painting, adding fine lines of detail and then reducing the portrait to a ghost is both exhilarating and terrifying- there is always a risk of completely destroying the work- which has happened before and at that point I just start the painting over, with lessons learned.


Do you have a favorite piece, and what makes it your favorite?

Yes. It's a painting I did while I was in my senior year of undergrad. The painting is titled "Memories Bound." It's a self-portrait- an image a of my legs laying atop a white sheet, with my hands tying a black shoelace around my calfs. It stands as a graphic description of a childhood memory. It is a monumental painting for me not because of the heavy material involved conceptually but more so because of the way it came out of me. It was the first painting that just appeared in my head as a whole and solid concept. The entire piece flowed seamlessly out-building the frame, taking reference photos and applying the paint to canvas was one simple swoop, magical, with no hiccups or frustration. It was as if it already existed and all I needed to do was kiss the canvas. I haven't felt that kind of power since.

Your use of metaphor -- can you explain a bit about the stories you tell in your art and where you draw your ideas from?



Metaphor is a tricky thing for me right now because I'm trying to abstain from being to literal and illustrative with my paintings. My work has been described as psychological- peeling away the outer layers of skin to look in at the individual, emotionally and physically- but I am moving away from it being so literal. working with an abstract first layer that is covered and then revealed underneath a highly realistic top coat allows me to build multiple layers of meaning- this method lends itself to many metaphors, especially with my use of intense reds. But at this stage I am not actively thinking about what it all means. The movements I make on the canvas feel very instinctive and at time surprising. Feeling out the appropriate response to each person being painted is the base of ever decision and the stories flow from that source.



Was there a particular influence on you as a child, young adult, that exposed you to art, either as a viewer or a participant? 



My father. I was raised by a very hard working and creative father who defiantly fostered a desire to draw and be imaginative. My most potent memory of his influence occurred in 4th grade- I had created a summer project that involved painting cardboard. Sheets and sheets of cardboard were stacked in my room and spent hours cutting out abstract shapes, painting the little shapes an array of colors and patterns - I then glued them together in different formations. After a few weeks I lost my enthusiasm for the activity and started throwing my paintings away. My Father found a few in the trash, pulled them out and had then had them framed. "Never throw out good work , Jenny," he told me, "you never know what it will be worth some day." With one small sentence my dad altered how I viewed my work and place importance on things that I did naturally, but didn't value. My Family has continued to be a pillar of support and I am very thankful.

Who are your influences today, and how do they affect your work?



My biggest influence is my boss and mentor Marilyn Minter. I have been working as her painting assistant for a year and a half now. Being in her studio has taught me so much about the art world not only in New York, but everywhere. She is brilliant and endearingly crazy- i have so much respect for her journey and her work. We have much in common stylistically, at least at a base- she works figuratively and highly photo realistic which is against the grain of trend in the art world right now. But even with the resistance she apologetically creates massively beautiful pieces. She had broken so many barriers and inspires so many people. Also friend named David Mramor. We have been collaborating on paintings, both taking turns adding layers and experimenting on top of each others style. David possesses a kind of magic that I envy- in Marilyn's words, "he has the hand of god," meaning he has a brilliant sense of abstract expression, making stokes of paint simply sing. I have always wanted to possessed a looser style and abstract sensibility, but it doesn't come naturally to me. When David and I paint together it's like I adopt his power- allowing him to add straight abstraction to my highly realistic portraits is intense. I learn and steal so much from him.

Where would you live if you could live anywhere you wanted, do you think that location would affect you as an artist?



I would live here, in New York, but if I had one wish it would be to have a bit more money, no surprise of course. I truly feel nourished and rewarded by the community here and can't imaging replanting myself somewhere else, not for awhile anyway. I moved to New York to chase that dream of being in a big art city and so far I am surviving.


What are your biggest challenges as an artist, and how do you work to overcome them? 



Time is my biggest challenge. That's it mostly. Like any other artist with a day job, I struggle to get into my studio as much as I want and need. That being said, my day job is amazing and I would choose to work there even if I did have enough to support myself with out it. I just wish I could completely submerge myself in a creative bubble- like when have a day off from work during the week and I am allowed to float in and out of my studio as I please- I think to myself that I could start so many more projects and be apart of so much more if I just had a few more hours each day. But sometimes it that pressure and restraint that makes us push harder for what we want and I like that intensity. To resolve the anxiety I make set times to be in my studio everyday, even if for only a few hours and just use my time wisely- that's all I can do. Also I struggle with the demon of self-doubt like we all do from time to time. In the moments that I feel most crazy and frustrated I try to remember what it feels like to work on a painting that I'm in love with- the high that I get. And, a goodnights sleep always helps to clear the cloudy brain.

What are you working on right now?



Right now i am working on a solo show for Plus gallery in Denver CO and i just started a self-portrait that will be included in the show. I'm excited about this piece because i have a solid concept, but it requires me to be nude and that's always a challenging prospect for me. I have a habit of cropping out parts of myself-concealing what i don't like dealing with about my body... but i am trying to be braver and more honest. I actually started trying to convince myself that it wasn't me staring back, but it never works.

Where are your works represented, what is your next exhibit?

I basically grew up in the Denver art scene and after finishing undergrad at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2003 I joined Plus Gallery. The community surrounding the gallery has been very supportive as I moved to New York and matured as an artist. My next solo exhibit will be in Denver at Plus at the end of Oct and it will my first show there in 3 years. The show is centered around the Denver scene and the artists that I am close with. I photographed 8 artists, including myself, and now I am in the process of working on their portraits. In New York I am represented by the Brooklyn based gallery Like the Spice. Shortly after the Denver opening I have a collaborative show in NY with the previously mentioned artist David Mramor. The show will include 5 collaborative pieces along with a few of our personal work. Working on both shows at once is a struggle, but I feel like I'm getting closer to what I want form my work. Still chasing ideas.





Plus Gallery Intern Kelsey Dalton interview with Jenny Morgan last week:

Can I call you Jennifer?

“oh man...only if you are my mother and I'm in trouble...”

This recent body of work is comprised of portraits where as in the past you have painted what could be considered figurative works. Is this an intentional change, and if so do you consider yourself a portrait or figurative painter? Furthermore, do you see a divergence between the two and if so what might that be?

“Right now i consider myself to be primarily a portrait painter. The work i exhibited early on in my emerging career was figurative in the respect that the body was used as subject matter, but not given any identifying characteristics, such as a face or marks of personality. I was using the body as symbolism for undercurrents of emotion- i was pain-stakingly positioning the limbs and angling backs to denote meaning. I then started to incorporate fabric as a way to extend that symbolism through color and movement, but at some point i just realized that i had exhausted that particular thought process and needed to evolve. During grad school i met that fork in the road and diverged to portraiture which meant i was starting to investigate the figure on a more personal level- focusing in on one individual and excluding any other props. Working with people and painting on this psychological level carries much more weight and presents more challenges for me.”

Your work has been for the most part focused around the human figure. What is your interest in the figure? Would you or have you ever painted another subject?

“I think that the answer to what is it exactly that draws me to the figure is something i will spend my career answering. The figure is simply the most compelling subject matter for me, it's feels nature, but with the ebb and flow of my style and maturity, I find new ways to approach it. There was a short stint right in the beginning of grad school that i left skin behind and did small paintings of hardwood flooring and fabric folds- i was a bit lost and wanted to challenge my relationship to the figure, but the experiment didn't last very long. The inanimate objects that i pain-stakingy replicated satisfied my need for detail, but the emotional connection to my subject matter was lost. By straying from my roots i learned a good lesson in finding and focusing on what i truly wanted.”


Do you know your models personally? If so, does your personal relationship manifest itself in the process of painting?

“I do know all of my models personally- i feel that the connection i have with each person is completely manifested in and creates the work. If i do ask someone to pose, but end up regretting it or not excited about them anymore i can literally feel the weight of that negativity as i paint- hat is why i often turned down commissioned portraits. If i don't feel a strong vibe with my subject then it's almost painful to produce a piece. And i have learned this only through trial and error. The most intensely exciting portraits for me to paint as of late have been the people in my life that i know personally, but not intimately- if there is a spark of mystery to our relationship it leaves room for me to explore them on canvas.”

"I paint people not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be." -Lucien Freud

This quote by the figurative painter, Lucien Freud clarifies my response to the portrait paintings in this show. There is a simple honesty in their pose and a following complexity in their intrinsic facial expression, which seems very forthright and pure. What was your conception behind the composition and posture of the models shown in this exhibition?

“The photo session with my model sets the mood for the rest of the painting and for me is the most rewarding part of the process. Simplicity is a good word. As of right now i still consider myself to be an amateur photographer- i have fancy equipment, but i am still learning all of its capabilities. It is my naivety with the my tools which allows me to get a quality reference, but stay very basic. I think this attitude bleeds into how i direct my models, which is to say, i don't. Usually I don't have any specific pose in mind, i like to approach each person differently and feel it out. My lack of direction leaves the model feeling a bit uncomfortable and vulnerable in front of my camera, especially if i they have agreed to be nude. I am most drawn to that vulnerable state, where they look into the camera as if to feel connected to something, stabilized. In this body of work i shot all 6 people in a two day span. The individuals i chose are all dear friends that i no longer live near and many whom i have contact with only a few times a year. So during the sessions with each person I made an effort to create conversation that relaxed them or coaxed them to bare all- and it was this intimate exchange of words that influenced the moves i made with the paintings that followed. “

The figure in these works are complicated and enhanced by your use of re-working the canvas to reveal different layers of paint. Can you discuss this technique of painting and the intention behind it?

“ I feel it has taken me years to break through some walls that were developed when i was younger- ideals about the tradition of painting and the preciousness of realism. When you have skill it's tempting to just paint what you see, but at some piont it's not enough to simply copy a photo. i have reached the point where i need to play around with the paint and canvas surface just to keep myself interested and engaged in the process. The most recent body of work incorpoartes some new ideas about decontruction- leaving the red under-painted exposed in some way- either through sanding the paint off the canvas or rubbing it down with soft cloths and trup-i am still exploring and "messing up" my realist hand. I never have a completely solid concept going into a painting- i start by doing what comes most naturally and build up layers of paint and bring the piece to what i call a finished state- it's at this point, when the painting feels done that i go back in and move paint around. I want to make movements in the work that scare me, create marks that make me feel like i have distroyed a months worth of work- becasue when i leave the studio feeling anxious and then come back to the piece the next day, i find a new portal to explore. I literally end up freaking out and crying after i tear through the painting with sand paper...the more i can scare myself, the better the painting. Finding a balance between the hyperrealism and the abstaction is vital.”

What questions do you ask yourself before you begin painting, if any at all?

“ Honestly, the first question i ask myself is, "How can I F--k this up?" Meaning that my intent is to change or distort this pristine photographic image by making abstract movements and peeling away the paint. And continually through the process i repeatedly question whether or not i have taken it far enough, fearing that i may hold be holding back. I get my high through pushing past those mental blocks and surprising myself.”

Congratulations on receiving your M.F.A. from the New York School of Visual Arts. How has this continuation of your education affected your painting and art career?

“My MFA has everything to do with where I am now. The program at SVA is very unique and created a strong community and web of networking for me in New York. The friends that I made during school continue to be my main support system here and i admire them greatly. Beyond the social aspect, I view the personal and artistic growth I struggled through for two years as a mandatory transformation. The experience felt a little like artistic boot camp. I was forced to strip down what i thought were stead fast ideals, braking down walls and being vulnerable. New York is as tough as it seems, but also very nurturing- the qualities of a good teacher.”

Goodbye Colorado! Fast-forward 3 years later. How do you feel about your homecoming? What does this exhibition represent to you as an artist and as an individual?

“This homecoming is so rewarding and I am thankful I have the opportunity. It truly feels like I am returning to a community that I grew up in. I have been evolved with Plus Gallery since I was a young 20 year old intern. My favorite part of the internship was working the bar at openings because it gave me the chance to interact with most everyone who attended the openings. Meeting the community of artist and art appreciators in Denver built a foundation for a solid relationship with the city and maintaining that connection has been important to me. I am also very nervous of course, my work has changed quite a bit and I hope that the interest in my work is sustained through my evolution as an artist. This exhibition represents personal growth and a testament to working hard.”

You are currently working as an assistant for the prominent artist Marilyn Minter. What has your experience been as an artist's assistant? What have you garnered professionally from the experience?

“Marilyn Minter is a supreme mentor. My experience with her as a painting assistant in her studio has been very positive and I wish to continue working with her even as my own career grows. I work on her pieces for 6 hours a day, five days a week- the time i spend painting for her only strengthens my own hand and because the techniques are so different it allows me to switch back and forth easily. I have benefitted both personally and professionally while working with her. She is unique in that she wants to keep a small, close knit group of assistants- her studio is actually the SoHo loft she has rented since the early 70's, so the seven of us are literally in her home everyday. She refers to us as "the kids" and maintains a close and caring relationship with all of us. Marilyn is a strong women, to say the least, and often talks about her struggles as a female in the art world. Being exposed to her daily business practice and how she communicates and handles each situation sets a positive example. It's a great privilege to be apart of her rising career.”

What is next for Jenny Morgan? Does it involve Jennifer?

“No jennifer:) Up next is a show I am very excited about- I am working collaboratively on a set of paintings with my fellow SVA alumni and David Mramor. We started making paintings together during grad school and we now have the opportunity to exhibit them in New York at Like the Spice Gallery on Nov 13th. I have been working on both show simultaneously, so it's been an intense year. David and I have found a multitude a ways and techniques to mesh out two very opposing styles- he is a hardcore gestural painter and I am a detailed realist. Our general process is to pass the painting back and forth- I do a layer, then he comes in and paints on top and then back to me, and so on. The act of allowing another artist to intrude on my marks has taught me to let go of the ego and preciousness involved with art making- I have gained a lot of insight to my own work by collaborating with David. The paintings are intensely strange and have a life of their own.”




Denver Arts Week: Day One
By Susan Froyd in Things to DoFri., Nov. 6 2009 @ 3:30PM

​This city really knows how to kick off its third annual Denver Arts Week: Tonight's Know Your Arts First Friday, an amped-up First Friday art-walk event, will step up to the plate to showcase local artists and galleries all over town. The fun then continues with a slew of art discussions, demonstrations, receptions and other events scheduled throughout the span of Arts Week (visit the Denver Arts Week website for a complete schedule). But here are a couple of tonight's hot spots, just to get you going.

RiNo galleries, banding together in the area, will be out in force with doors wide open to the art inside. Notable openings include Buy Art. Not Underwear., a grand opening show at the new Ice Cube Gallery cooperative in the Dry Ice Factory, 3320 Walnut Street, and Color Blind, with ceramics by Kevin Snipes at Plinth Gallery, 3520 Brighton Boulevard, featuring a reception made lively by live poetry.

Continuing shows worth hitting if you haven't already include Jenny Morgan's stunning This Too Shall Pass at Plus Gallery, 2501 Larimer Street; Sharon Brown's Creators, with a reception and chocolate-tasting thrown in for good measure, at 3349 Blake Street; the Cake and Eat It Collective's An Experimental Memorial for Federico Garcia Lorca at Hinterland, 3254 Walnut Street; Eric Waldemar's Time & Attention, a mixture of film and drawings at Ironton Studios, 3636 Chestnut Place; and Severity, new paintings by Tracy Weil at weilworks, 3611 Chestnut Street. Also, the high-fashion outlet Goldyn will host a Denver Arts Week fashion show from 7 to 10 p.m. at Taxi, 3455 Ringsby Court.

And on cozy Tennyson Street, you'll want to run, walk or hobble in your favorite pair of shoes to the Sellars Project Space, 4383 Tennyson Street, where solepurposeTWO, the second annual exhibit of ceramic works inspired by footwear and hosted by sculptor Marie EvB Gibbons of the nearby EvB Studio, opens with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. This whimsical show will totally sock it to ya -- and as if that wasn't enough, you can also head around the corner to the studio (at 4343 West 44th Avenue) and fashion your own tiny pair of clay shoes as part of Gibbons's monthly First Friday make-and-take clay workshops. For only $10, Gibbons will show you the ropes and later fire your finished work for pick-up later in the week. Go to the studio website for details.

Tags: Denver Arts Week, RiNo, Susan Froyd

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENTS CONTINUE DOCUMENTARY PROJECT WITH ARTISTS ANN AND MARIA PONCE FOR UPCOMING GALLERY SHOW

GREAT REVIEWS POURING IN FOR FIRST iPHONE GAME LAUNCHED BY METAMOOREPHOSIS TEAM OF FLASHPOINT ACADEMY GRADUATES

bitFLIP Review

One twist turns this puzzler from average to fun.

by Levi Buchanan

November 3, 2009 - There are a few constants in this life. Death. Taxes. A new match-three puzzler in the App Store every week. Many of these puzzlers tread familiar waters. And for the first few minutes, Hands-On Mobile's new bitFLIP looks like it will simply blend into the pack. But once you discover that the tiles in the field are two-sided and can be flipped with a simple double-tap as well as swapped like a Bejeweled pair, to make additional matches and rack up mega-combos, bitFLIP takes on a whole new life.

bitFLIP offers three play modes: Quick Jam, Endless, and Forever Jam. (Forever Jam is unlocked by playing Quick Jam five times.) There is also a tutorial I recommend playing through to teach you the essentials, from the ability to direct the way tokens are switched by dragging your finger across the field to explanations of the extra tokens bitFLIP throws into the field. Tap the extra tokens to fill up a special power bar along the top of the play field. When it is full, tap the bar to either tilt the board and let pieces automatically slide into cleared sections of the field or cause random pieces to vibrate. Tapping the vibrating pieces makes them disappear without having to match them with at least two other pieces.

Now, I recognize that so much of this sounds like a typical match-three puzzler. What saves it is the flipping. This effectively doubles the number of tokens in play and opens up tons of extra matching options. Once you learn what colors are paired together on the two-sided tokens, you really can enter a groove and get on some hot streaks. I really enjoyed mixing this up with Endless Mode, which stacks pieces on top of each other. You need to watch the background of the grid squares for indications of when the stacks are almost too tall, such as flashing oranges and reds. That groove I mentioned can kind of turn into a panic from time to time in Endless Mode, but taking the puzzle back from the brink is quite satisfying.

The fact that bitFLIP is flanked by a killer soundtrack is just icing; it will appeal to any genre fan (like me). It's too bad that the bitFLIP soundtrack is not tied to the gameplay like the Groovin' Blocks' electronica score, but that doesn't lessen its effectiveness. Extra bonus: you can download it for free. I highly recommend doing so.

bitFLIP was reviewed with version 1.0.


Closing Comments

bitFLIP is a great surprise. At first, it looked like a basic match-three game with a great soundtrack. But flipping the tiles as well as swapping them adds a needed wrinkle to the genre. Throw in a free soundtrack download and bitFLIP becomes a good download for puzzle fans looking for both fun and a bargain.

IGN Ratings for bitFLIP (iPhone)

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST PHYLLIS BRAMSON HONORED WITH "ANONYMOUS IS A WOMAN" GRANT - BEAUTIFUL NEW SHOW CATALOGUE

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE GRANT PROGRAM

“Anonymous Was a Woman” is a grant program focused on supporting individual women artists. The phrase is taken from A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf's classic statement of the challenges facing females seeking to create art. With these four words, Woolf succinctly and powerfully evoked the centuries long struggle of women to gain recognition as artists. Yet there is much more to this innovative grant program than its thought-provoking name. Anonymous Was a Woman was created to fill a national need. In 1995, the National Endowment for the Arts, under intense political pressure, discontinued funding for individual artists. This galvanized an unnamed woman artist in New York to take action. “It was obvious there was a need for more private support,” she later wrote. So she used her personal funds to help fill that void. Since 1996, Anonymous Was a Woman has awarded ten grants of $25,000 each per year, except one year when eleven were given. The purpose is to support women visual artists over the age of forty-five who are at a critical juncture in their lives or careers. The overriding purpose of the grants is to allow the artists to pursue their work.

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST TERRI THOMAS INCLUDED IN CORCORAN ALUMNI EXHIBITION

Corcoran College of Art + Design
2009 Juried Alumni Exhibition



Terri Thomas, "Mounted Pussy", Swarvoski Crystals over form 2009.


The Corcoran College of Art + Design is proud to showcase our alumni and their artwork with the 2009 Juried Alumni Exhibition. The show will take place September 23–October 18 in The Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Gallery 31. The Corcoran will host an opening reception on October 16 from 6–8 p.m. as part of Corcoran College of Art + Design’s Family and Alumni weekend festivities.

This year’s juror is George Hemphill. Hemphill opened his contemporary gallery in the fall of 1993 with a focus on 20th-century fine art, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and photography. The gallery’s expertise in photography includes work from the medium’s invention to the most current forms of digital photography and printing.

Prior to opening Hemphill Fine Arts, George Hemphill worked at the Middendorf Gallery in Washington, DC, playing a crucial part in the development of the current fine art photography market. Hemphill represented the work of such artists as William Eggleston, William Christenberry, and Joseph Mills, building the foundation upon which these artists’ fame has grown. In addition to photographic exhibitions, Hemphill supervised exhibition installation and graphic design for Middendorf Galley and worked with collectors in assembling high quality photography collections.

Now the founder of his own gallery, Hemphill assists in the acquisition of photography as well as consults with collectors on the donation of work to museums (including the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Phillips Collection). The exhibition program at Hemphill incorporates both one person and thematic shows. Hemphill continues to supervise selected printing projects for photographers such as Godfrey Frankel and William Christenberry, and represents the work of photographers Colby Caldwell, the Estate of Eliot Elisofon (Life Magazine), the Estate of Godfrey Frankel (NY Photo League), Paul Fusco (Magnum), and Lucien Perkins (Washington Post), among others.

For more information contact Allison Long, Coordinator of College Exhibitions at along@corcoran.org, or Shahdeh Ammadi, Alumni Relations and Development Officer at sammadi@corcoran.org.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES WRITER, ACTOR AND DIRECTOR LIEV SCHREIBER FOR Q & A SESSION WITH STUDENTS

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST JACOB PFEIFFER IN NOVEMBER ISSUE OF AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST ERIC WERT IN NOVEMBER ISSUE OF AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST BO BARTLETT IN NOVEMBER ISSUE OF AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST RENE LYNCH IN NOVEMBER ISSUE OF AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR

FIRST REVIEW OF NEW FILM "DARREN & ABBEY" WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY FLASHPOINT ACADEMY ALUM MICHAEL NOENS

"Darren & Abbey" Review



STARRING
Mark Stewart Iverson, Annie Rix

DIRECTED BY
Michael Noens

SCREENPLAY
Michael Noens

MPAA RATING
NR

RUNNING TIME
72 Mins.

DISTRIBUTED BY
Independent


In Michael Noens' "Darren & Abbey," two teenagers thrust into each other's lives spend an unexpected Christmas Eve together discussing five major human desires: power, money, family, sex and time.

Darren (Mark Stewart Iverson, "Dorm Life") is a somewhat reserved young man in town to spend the holidays with longtime friend Eric (Matt Drake), while Abbey (Annie Rix), Eric's younger sister, is largely avoiding the holidays thanks to a bad break-up the week before. When Eric abandons Darren with Abbey to run off with a beautiful girl, the stage is set for a simple, honest and life-changing evening of conversation, confession and a few other amusing diversions.

Currently getting ready to hit the film festival circuit, "Darren & Abbey" is somewhat reminiscent of Travis Betz's beautiful "Sunday," an indie flick that found its way to my annual Top 10 list last year largely owing to its wondrous simplicity, amazing tenderness and vibrant performances by Devin Barry and Sarah Larissa Deckert. While "Darren & Abbey" isn't likely to enter my Top 10 for 2009, it does continue Noens' impressive ability to tap into generational dialogue, human intimacies and insecurities, the joy of everyday life's quirks and a wondrous ability to put pen to paper and create relationships that feel rich and authentic.

On the surface, Darren and Abbey would seem quite different.

Darren is quieter, more contemplative and seemingly guarded with his inner workings. Darren thinks, then speaks, then thinks, then speaks, then thinks and speaks again.

Abbey, on the other hand, is a more vibrant young woman whose soul is fed through her stage work and whose heart is seemingly worn on her sleeve. Abbey believes wholeheartedly in breaking the rules and taking risks.

Together, at least initially, there is an unconvincing awkwardness as both Darren and Abbey go for simple cordiality to burgeoning friendship to, perhaps, a flicker of chemistry between them. The relationship, indeed, does not always convince because the two themselves are not easily convinced. Yet, as the two discuss those ever present human desires of power, money, family, sex and time it becomes abundantly clear that underneath Darren's guarded facade and Abbey's faux bravado exists two souls who may very well need each other.

"Darren & Abbey" is most beautiful to behold when Iverson and Rix are beginning their dance of emotional intimacy, scenes that blossom because Noens has the patience as a director to allow the scenes to unfold without killing the mood with dialogue and distraction. It is in these scenes when both Iverson and Rix appear to be the most relaxed, emotionally and physically. While Iverson's Darren is a man of few words and describes himself as nervous around people, he's played with enough humanity and heart that it's easy to see and understand why Abbey becomes closer to him over the course of the unexpected evening together. Mostly known for his work on Hulu's web-based "Dorm Life," Mark Stewart Iverson nicely blends strength and sensitivity as Darren and, wisely, Noens never takes Darren down a path that feels unnatural or insincere. Instead, as he did with his last film "Coasting," Noens trusts his characters and the relationship that manifests between them.

As Abbey, Annie Rix has the difficult task of bringing to life a young woman who is both vibrantly alive and yet fully and richly human. As the relationship between Darren and Abbey becomes more and more grounded, it is Rix's Abbey who exhibits the most visible changes as her verbal cues and body language become more expressive and even her eyes seemingly soften. The film's closing scenes, in which both Darren and Abbey simply yet beautifully reach out to one another, work wonders because both Iverson and Rix allow themselves to become vulnerable.

Noens' camera work is solid throughout "Darren & Abbey," while the original music by Theadore complements the changing relationship between Darren and Abbey quite nicely. The production design of Patricia Noens is simple yet effective in the way it illustrates the different worlds of Darren and Abbey without ever jarring one's senses.

An up-and-coming writer/director from the Chicago area, Michael Noens serves up another modestly budgeted feature film with heart, humor and refreshingly real humanity. Watch for "Darren & Abbey" at a film festival or theatre near you! For more information on "Darren & Abbey," visit the film's website.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY JOINS CITY DEPARTMENTS IN PRESENTATION TO ABU DHABI DELEGATION AND LAUNCH OF DIRECT FLIGHTS TO UAE

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES HUNDREDS OF PARENTS AND STUDENTS TO 2009 PARENTS' DAY

FILM/BROADCAST








RECORDING ARTS








GAME DEVELOPMENT, INTERACTIVE MEDIA AND ANIMATION/VISUAL EFFECTS










CAREER SERVICES





STUDENT READINGS AND PRESENTATIONS FROM SCRATCHPAPER

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST ROBERT JACKSON IN NEW SHOW AT ARDEN GALLERY IN BOSTON

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST RENE LYNCH IN NEW SHOW "BEHIND THE GARDEN GATE" AT JENKINS JOHNSON GALLERY

RENE LYNCH

Behind the Garden Gate
new paintings, drawings and stone lithographs

including a color brochure/catalog with an essay by Eleanor Heartney

Jenkins Johnson Gallery
521 West 26th Street, 5th Floor , New York, NY 10001

October 22-December 5, 2009

www.jenkinsjohnsongallery.com



Rene Lynch . Wildflowers. 2009 . oil on canvas . 38 x 38 inches


Rene Lynch . Confidante. 2009 . oil on canvas . 48 x 24 inches


Rene Lynch . Guardian 4. 5. & 11, 2009 . graphite and color pencil . 21 x 15.5 inches

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST ALYSSA MONKS IN NEW SHOW AT SARAH BAIN GALLERY AND IN ARTICLES ALL OVER THE WORLD

Alyssa Monks Press


Photo-realistic paintings by Alyssa Monks
Telegraph, UK, September 17, 2009


Artist creates incredible paintings that look like photographs
Mail Online, UK, September 18, 2009


Stunning Art that Looks Like Photos
Metro UK Thursday, September 17, 2009


Fotorealistische Porträts
Die Geechteten
Sueddeutsche.de, Germany, September, 2009


Self Portrait Issue
Oranges & Sardines, September, 2009


La rete "scopre" l´iperrealismo: ecco le immagini top
la Repubblica, Italy August 13, 2009


Alyssa Monks
Oranges & Sardines, Summer, 2009


Photorealists Make Painting Come to Life
Michael H. Hodges
The Detroit News, March, 2009.



Artist Alyssa Monks Lectures on Painting
Kyle Henn
East Tennessean, December 2008


No Place Like Home
Harper´s Magazine, Nov 2008, p 31.


Swimmin´ With Women
(and painter Alyssa Monks) at Sarah Bain Gallery, by Greg Stacy
OC Weekly, online, September 2008


Alyssa Monks: Liquid
Riviera Magazine, Sep 2008


Come Hell
Rosecrans Baldwin
The Morning News, January 2008.


Alyssa Monks
American Art Collector, November, 2007


Alyssa Monks
by Charley Parker
Lines and Colors, March, 2007.


Alyssa Monks
American Art Collector, May, 2006


Alyssa Monks
by Bill Lasarow
Art Scene, February 2006


Alyssa Monks: The Texture of Light and Emotions
The Panache Experience, California, Vol. 17, issue 6

Alyssa Monks: Figurative Badass

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST CAROL CARTER IN AMERICAN ARTIST MAGAZINE - DECEMBER ISSUE

CAROL CARTER

AMERICAN ARTIST Magazine
December 2009



Growth Portraits article by M. Stephen Doherty, Editor in Chief
AMERICAN ARTIST magazine December 2009 issue now in bookstores

NEW ART FOR TULLMAN COLLECTION FROM AUSTIN PARKHILL

"BRITTANY"

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HOSTS SOCIAL MEDIA PANEL DISCUSSION WITH CHARLENE LI - CO-AUTHOR OF GROUNDSWELL AND OTHERS

SOCIAL MEDIA PANEL DISCUSSION AT FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WITH CHARLENE LI from HOWARD TULLMAN on Vimeo.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENTS BENEFIT FOR KEVIN OSTERHOUT

WATCH THANK YOU COMMENTS BY KEVIN'S DAD

Speech at Flashpoint Academy Student Benefit for Kevin O by his Dad from HOWARD TULLMAN on Vimeo.

WATCH E-LO AND JJ PERFORM

Performance from Flashpoint Academy Benefit from HOWARD TULLMAN on Vimeo.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD TULLMAN PRESENTS JUMPSTART 2009 SESSION FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY AND FP AES STUDENT CHAPTER WELCOME MIKE SANTUCCI OF SENSAPHONICS FOR AUDIO CLINIC AND WORKSHOP

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY AND ROSCOR HOST AVID PRESENTATION

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES SENATE CANDIDATE DAVID HOFFMAN FOR TOUR

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY FILM GRADUATE FEATURED ON UK Inside Report: Michael P Noens

INTERESTING ARTICLE BY MY FRIEND AARON COHEN ABOUT RESTARTING A START-UP CALLED "ANYCLIP"

Restarting a StartUp
Posted on August 12, 2009 by Aaron

I have been at my new company for 4 months and that’s a good time to reflect on what’s happened and what we might be able to learn about startups from this experience. We’ve pruned the team, secured new capital, improved our board, hired new blood, and changed the company name from Poptok to AnyClip. Why?

1. Strategy matters. When I got to Poptok the company was focused on creating an emoticons company out of movie clips. Maybe this is an amazing idea, but betting a whole company on it? There were many risk factors including a violation of one of my favorite rules — the Penchina Maxim. Gil Penchina (CEO of Wikia, former Ebay Executive) once told me that Internet products should improve the user experiences of an already established widespread consumer behavior.

Was Poptok solving a consumer problem? There is little data to suggest that consumers want to send clips as emoticons. It’s an interesting hunch, but unproven. On the other hand, the newly created AnyClip solves two huge problems. First, people are watching billions of movie scenes on YouTube annually. The quality of these clips is consistently inconsistent. Many of these scenes are shot with handheld cameras that are filming a television. We are betting that consumers actually care about quality. That’s a bet I’m willing to make.

The second problem AnyClip solves is the inefficiency of the clip marketplace. Poptok found out that licensing movie clips is an expensive, cumbersome process. And guess what? Because the process is painful and economically inefficient the market for movie moments is small. But the movie industry is huge ($40 bn/year) and people watch movie moments all over the Internet right now with no measurable value creation tranferring to the owners or creators of this content.

2. Enter with a Hypothesis. During my discussions with Nate Westheimer before we arrived at what would become AnyClip we developed a hypothesis about what the consumer wanted. When we started working we set about validating our theories. We knew what we wanted to do, but we were not sure it was possible for many reasons including the legal landscape in the movie industry. We were moving forward immediately. This is not always possible, but Nate and I did considerable unpaid work trying to decide if this was an interesting opportunity for us. The results of that work gave us confidence to join the company and enabled AnyClip to have new management that hit the ground running.

3. Embrace DNA Change. There were some dedicated, well-intentioned, experienced people in charge of managing the team at PopTok. But unfortunately they had gone through cycles of executive change and disappointment. Morale was low. Cynicism about a variety of issues was palpable as was a dangerous lowering of standards for evaluating success. Early in my tenure, I was concerned about this teamearly, but I took 6 weeks to make an informed decision, and 2 weeks to prepare for the changes. This is never fun, but it has proven to be a crucial decision because it took the friction away from the massive changes we were trying to make.

4. Earn Your Team’s Trust. Lots of managers take trust for granted and I did this all the time earlier in my career. employees of companies that change directions every couple of months start to doubt management. This is very understandable. Realize that words are parsed and people don’t automatically believe you will do what you say you will do. We have a very fine team now. They need to know that we are in the trenches with them if we expect them to join us for each AnyClip battle. More than anything this means be transparent, consistent, and fair in all of your interactions with your team.

5. Recognize that you will never fully understand what really happened before you arrived. One of the challenges of the turnaround is that you inherit a series of issues that must be addressed. Contractual and organzational baggage created by your predecessors transfers to new management. PopTok did not have a particularly productive relationship with its Hollywood partners, but AnyClip must have an intimate real value-added partnership. Of course for Hollywood dealmakers, Poptok and AnyClip are the same and a name change doesn’t obscure that the shareholders, legal agreements and corporate history all remain the same. This is the baggage that needs to be addressed and put to rest.

6. Walk before you run, but make sure you run quickly. When taking on a restart, the first thing you have to do is stabilize. As the great entrepreneur and my friend Howard Tullman taught me a decade ago, “there is only one crime in a startup and that’s running out of cash.” We cut the burn by nearly 50% at AnyClip so we are walking, but time is of the essence.

AnyClip needs to demonstrate significant vaule to content owners, consumers, and application developers this fall. We will be presenting a massive transition from the old to the new in September only six months after we arrived and only 4 months after we started building software. It’s as if this venture financed company 15 person operation was operating at the speed of a Y-Combinator seed stage startup. Maintaining this velocity with productive, thoughtful improvements will probably determine whether this turnaround succeeds.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY TOUR - PIXEL BROTHERS

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY COMMUNITY SUPPORTS BLOOD DRIVE

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY TEAMS WRAP UP SERIES OF SHOOTS AND RED CARPET INTERVIEWS FOR CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

JOHN WOO








WILLEM DAFOE







"PRECIOUS"












MARTIN LANDAU

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES STATE REPRESENTATIVE SUSANA MENDOZA

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES STATE TREASURER ALEXI GIANNOULIAS

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENTS, STAFF AND FACULTY ATTEND AND DOCUMENT WOMEN IN FILM CELEBRATION

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES TEAM FROM MANIFEST DIGITAL FOR INITIAL STUDENT TRAINING ON MICROSOFT SURFACE TABLE AND NEW SURFACE CHALLENGE

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HOSTS TEAM FROM RAVEN SOFTWARE FOR STUDENT Q&A AND CRITIQUES OF WORK IN PROGRESS

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PARTNERS WITH STEELCASE TO CREATE VIDEOS FOR TOMS SHOES - A STEELCASE "GREEN GIANT" EVENT

WATCH THE INTERVIEW WITH BLAKE

BLAKE MYCOSKIE INTERVIEW - STEELCASE OFFICES - TOM'S SHOES from HOWARD TULLMAN on Vimeo.

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST MONICA COOK IN NEW SHOW "SEEDED AND SOILED" AT MARCIA WOOD GALLERY

In Seeded and Soiled, Cook’s nude women continue to be engaged with gorgeously rendered erotic food in scenes that elicit a range of emotion in the viewer from mesmerized hilarity to horror. The atmosphere in the current paintings however, has been altered from that of the prior works. The sense of pensive isolation of the previous solitary nude figures has been fractured and energized, as multiple figures, both clothed and nude are now interacting with each other, as well as with the food that they are consuming and playing with in sensual abandon. What is more, it is not solely the fact that some of the figures are clothed while others are nude that expand the implications of these utterly curious images, but the oddity of the garment itself - a captivatingly incongruous uniform vaguely reminiscent of an earlier era – and the fact that every clothed figure is wearing exactly the same uniform. To add to the surreality of the situation, all the women appear to be the same person, nude or clothed, tortured or enraptured, emaciated or corpulent. The artist has dubbed these nude and clothed women the “Nakeds” and the “Officials”. Whether locked in battle as in the exquisitely precise drawings, or enjoying a sort of truce while sporting side by side in slippery, shining food as in the paintings, the Officials and the Nakeds play out the eternal paradox of existence as they, in the artists’ words “wrestle with debauchery and virtue, control and liberation, logic and absurdity – the beauty and repulsion inherent in each of these extremes and the magnificent struggle in our search for balance”.

Marcia Wood Gallery is pleased to announce the second exhibition at this gallery of paintings and drawings by Monica Cook in a solo exhibition titled Seeded and Soiled. The Georgia-born artist graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 1996 and now lives and works in New York, where she recently concluded a residency at the School of Visual Arts. Since 1992, Cook has exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the US and Canada, as well as in the Netherlands, Israel, France and Switzerland. Publications include Art in America, Le Figaro, Elle Magazine, and New American Paintings. She has also exhibited at art fairs with Marcia Wood Gallery in London, Miami and New York.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENTS JOIN CREW FOR FILMING OF FIRST DVD FOR MEGATRON DIRECTED BY LESTER COHN AT THE ARAGON BALLROOM

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST LORA FOSBERG IN NEW SHOW AT LINDA WARREN GALLERY

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST JANICE URNSTEIN WEISSMAN TO BE FEATURED IN AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR ARTICLE

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST JENNY MORGAN IN EXCITING NEW SHOW AT PLUS GALLERY

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENTS AND FACULTY AT AES CONVENTION

TAKE HOME A NUDE AUCTION AND BENEFIT IN NEW YORK FOR THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF ART

NEW ART FOR TULLMAN COLLECTION FROM MARC DENNIS

"MULXO"

NEW ART FOR TULLMAN COLLECTION FROM MICHAEL DINGES - ARON PACKER GALLERY

"UNTITLED(DEAD LAPTOP SERIES"

NEW ART FOR TULLMAN COLLECTION FROM JENNY MORGAN - SHOW AT PLUS GALLERY IN DENVER

"OLD SOUL"



Artist's Statement:

I asked Syrie to model for me and be apart of the show because I had always been drawn to her. She and I moved to New York from Denver around the same time, so I was able to photographer her in her apartment and see her surrounding. Syrie is a photographer and often models for other artists- she views herself as a muse and I have to admit that I definitely have an art crush on her. After going through and editing the 50 or so photos I took of her, I was most drawn to a simple pose- arms down and her expression looking innocent. I painted in her figure and decided to leave her hair open, exposing the red and pink under-painting. I then sanded down the paint in a circle encompassing her face, creating a slight halo of static. Her vibrant red mane exemplifies my adoration for her and speaks to her strong spirit. - Jenny Morgan, 2009

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN JOINS PANEL AT CHICAGO-KENT LAW SCHOOL ON POST-LEGAL CAREERS

Chicago-Kent Corporate Law Society Blog


Career Panel Tomorrow: “From the Courtroom to the Boardroom: Using Your Law Degree in the Business World”

Please join the Corporate Law Society, Real Estate Law Society and the Career Services Office on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, when three accomplished executives will address the topic: “From the Courtroom to the Boardroom: Using Your Law Degree in the Business World.”

Howard Tullman is the immediate past President of Kendall College, which he recently sold to Laureate Education. Now, Mr. Tullman serves as CEO of Flashpoint, digital media arts college. After practicing law for ten years, Mr. Tullman changed routes and has founded or served as CEO or Board Chairman of nine companies and as a director and/or adviser to many other early-stage companies. In addition to teaching at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Mr. Tullman is the General Managing Partner of Chicago’s High Tech Investors, LLC, Director of the Cobalt Group and Passage Events, both located in Seattle. Mr. Tullman graduated, with honors, from both Northwestern University and Northwestern University School of Law.

Victoria Noonan is the Managing Director of Leasing for Tishman Speyer Properties, responsible for supervising and coordinating the company’s leasing efforts for the Chicago portfolio. Tishman Speyer is one of the leading owners, developers and managers of first-class real estate in the world. In Chicago, Ms. Noonan manages leasing efforts for eleven high-rise buildings in the area, including the Civic Opera Building. Ms. Noonan graduated from DePaul University in 1980 and received her J.D. from Chicago-Kent in 1984.

After practicing as a commercial real estate attorney at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and, thereafter, at Greenberg Taurig LLP, Dustin Cahan left his practice to become the Chief Operating Officer of Evaporcool Solutions, LLC, a “green” technology venture. Mr. Cahan, who is 29, oversees the development and manufacturing of a sophisticated cooling solution, which reduces energy and maintenance costs of air conditioning equipment. Mr. Cahan obtained his B.A. in economics from Northwestern University, and thereafter his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

The event will convene at 12:00 p.m. in Room 270. Pizza and refreshments will be served.

TWO FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENT PRODUCTIONS NOMINATED FOR CHICAGO/MIDWEST CHAPTER EMMYS

CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST OF LUCK TO:

MICHAEL NOENS FOR "CLIMBING KILI"

AND TO

AMANDA MARIEN FOR "SNOW TIDES"

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY STUDENTS AND STAFF FILM OPENING NIGHT RED CARPET INTERVIEWS WITH CELEBS AT CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY RECORDING ARTS STUDENTS TEAM UP WITH ROBOMOTO GAME DEVELOPMENT COMPANY TO RECORD CROWD SCREAMS ON LOCATION

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY GRADUATES NOW RUNNING METAMOOREPHOSIS GAME DEVELOPMENT COMPANY RELEASE FIRST NEW iPHONE GAME - bitFLIP - WATCH THE DEMO BY JOSH

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD TULLMAN DEMOS AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGY ON CBS MORNING NEWS WITH COMMISSIONER NORMA REYES

HOWARD TULLMAN DEMONSTRATES AR FOR CBS TV - TECH EXPO PROMOTION from HOWARD TULLMAN on Vimeo.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY DIRECTING STAGE RIGGED FOR 3 CAMERA HD SHOOTS FOR WEBCASTS AN PODCASTS BY BROADCASTING AND FILM STUDENTS

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY INSTALLS MICROSOFT SURFACE TABLE FOR PROJECTS WITH MANIFEST DIGITAL

FLASHPOINT GRADUATE FILMMAKER BEN CLINE FEATURED IN NAPERVILLE SUN ARTICLE

Naperville filmmaker part of festival in St. Charles
October 8, 2009
By DAVID SHAROS For The Sun

The Illinois International Film Festival, which will be held Oct. 23 to 25 in St. Charles, will feature student films on the big screen for a local audience to enjoy.

Naperville's Benjamin Cline will be one of the featured filmmakers. Cline's "Urn Doctor M.D.," created by Cline and other students from Chicago's Flashpoint, The Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, will be among the highlights of the weekend-long film festival.


Flashpoint students, including Naperville's Benjamin Cline, work on the set of "URN Doctor, M.D." submitted photo



Benjamin Cline submitted photo

"Urn Doctor M.D." was part of the Chicago 48 Hour Film Project, an international film competition held last June. The Flashpoint school was approached by Cline and company and agreed to sponsor them in the competition. The movie wound up taking first place in four categories, including Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and People's Choice for Best Picture.

According to Cline's mother, Naperville resident Tina Cline, her 21-year-old son showed a hankering for film work years ago.

"Ben saw this Bill Murray film years ago called 'Lost in Translation' when he was maybe in the ninth grade, and a lot of kids as well as adults hated it," Tina said. "I remember Benjamin loving it. He talked about the lights and cameras angles and all that stuff. He really got it."

Cline, who worked as the editor on "Urn," teamed up with colleagues for a whirlwind film experience, producing a short film in just 48 hours time.

"It was sort of like the 'Iron Chef' of filmmaking," Tina said. "The assignment involved having to use an urn in the film, a doctor and a certain line that had to be said. The task was to come up with a script, a cast, shoot and edit the film, and have it completed in two days."

Cline, who has relocated to Los Angeles, said the film is a comedy, which wound up being a fortuitous genre for the film team.

"We talked among ourselves before the competition about what genre we'd like to work in, and we wound up picking comedy, which many of us had worked in before," he said. "I think the film won the awards it did because we tried to follow a comic-book format. It was tightly edited with a lot of quick shots, and the lead actor in the film was just incredible and really charismatic."

The plot of the comedy involves a widow whose husband's ashes lie in an urn in the house. While at home, the widow gets a little rambunctious and knocks the urn over, breaking it. In a sort of psychic moment, an "urn" doctor who was trained at the Urn Academy senses the mishap and immediately appears at the widow's door and successfully puts the urn and ashes back together.

Cline said his younger brother Kevin is currently studying film as well at the University of Colorado. He hopes the two will be filmmakers together.

"I realize that goal is a way off, but hopefully it will come to pass," Cline said.
For budding filmmakers, Cline said there are two principles he himself has followed which should give those interested in the field a leg up on the competition.

"You should watch as many movies as you possibly can, and you'll find that even subconsciously, you'll learn a great deal," he said. "The other tip is to start making movies. Get a camcorder and start shooting every chance you get."

The Illinois International Film Festival will take place at the Arcada Theater, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles.

Visit www.illinoisinternationalfilmfestival.com , where you can watch many of the submitted films.

NEWEST AD FROM FLASHPOINT ACADEMY

click on image to enlarge

RENAISSANCE SOCIETY'S SPECTACULAR "GLO(BALL) HELD IN MYSTERIOUS SETTINGS - CONGRATS TO LINDA WARREN AND PHIL DENNY AMONG OTHERS FOR AN AMAZING EVENT

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST JEREMY HUGHES IN NEW "SEXY BEASTS" SOLO SHOW AT THE SHOWROOM IN NASHVILLE

Show Runs: November 7th through November 30th

Gallery Crawl Opening Reception: Saturday, November 7th 6-9pm

Location: Davis Art Advisory/ THE SHOWROOM 75 Arcade, Nashville Tennessee

THE SHOWROOM is proud to introduce recent oil paintings by Nashville based Jeremy Hughes. SEXY BEASTS is a seductive and haunting exhibition of medium to large scale oil paintings saturated with symbolism, uneasiness, uncanny beauty and wit. The exhibition examines the ways in which we both digest and ignore imagery projected onto our collective cultural experience.

Hughes deconstructs popular icons and executes his paintings using references to art history and pop design. His images, pulled from the internet, popular films and other media sources, are intentionally artificial. The paintings initially stir up uneasiness, precipitating change and inspiring the viewer to engage in a dialogue that explores the experience of our temporary continuity.


Hughes' raw painterly hand and carefully chosen palettes and compositions are highly engaging and have captured the attention of collectors nationally. Following his completion of an MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Georgia in 2006, Jeremy accepted appointment as Assistant Professor of Painting and Painting Coordinator at SUNY Oswego in New York. The artist has exhibited widely in the Southeast, and currently lives and works in Nashville, TN.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HOSTS GUIDANCE COUNSELORS AND TEACHERS FOR PRESENTATION AND THEATRE EVENT

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES CONGRESSMAN JARED POLIS (D-COLORADO) FOR CHICAGO VISIT AND FUNDRAISER

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HOSTS BREAKFAST AND BRIEFING SESSION FOR GOVERNOR PAT QUINN AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY SUPPORTS SECRETARY OF STATE JESSE WHITE FOR NEW TERM

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PARTICIPATES IN HUGE FIRST ANNUAL TECH EXPO AT UIC

PRE-EXPO PREPARATION AND TESTING BY FLASHPOINT ACADEMY TEAM













VIP BREAKFAST - SPONSOR PRESENTATIONS - AWARDS









COMMISSIONER REYES OFFICIALLY OPENS THE TECH EXPO











FLASHPOINT ACADEMY DEMONSTRATION STATION FOR AUGMENTED REALITY - FRONT AND CENTER AND THE ENTERTAINMENT HIT AT THE START OF THE EXPO

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AND USE THE TECH EXPO AR DEMO AT HOME WITH YOUR WEB CAMERA. GO TO THE WEBSITE: TECHEXPO.FLASHPOINTACADEMY.COM AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS THERE.






BOB LASKEY FROM MICROSOFT WATCHES THE FLASHPOINT AUGMENTED REALITY DEMO BY PETER RYAN




DIGITAL ARTIST ELLEN LUSTIG AT FLASHPOINT BOOTH CREATES DIGITAL VERSION OF COMMISSIONER NORMA REYES - PERMITTING HER TO BE IN EVEN MORE PLACES AT ONE TIME THAN SHE WAS ALL DAY AT THE EXPO







FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN PRESENTATION ON SOCIAL NETWORKING






DIGITAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PRESENTED TO FLASHPOINT ACADEMY

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN FEATURED IN CRAINS ARTICLE - ENTERPRISE CITY

Q&A: Howard Tullman talks up 'gee whiz' tech
Posted by Ann D. at 9/29/2009 11:40 AM CDT

The inaugural Chicago TechExpo is this Thursday, Oct. 1, at the UIC Forum. The event is designed to help small businesses learn how they can better implement technology to attract new customers and run their operations more effectively.

The technologies on display will range from the very basic (simple Web sites for businesses currently without a Web presence) to the very advanced — a demonstration of Augmented Reality technology, which overlays computer-generated imagery onto what you see in the real world. (Point your cell phone at a nearby building, for example, and the building’s address and a list of businesses inside pop onto your screen. Or point a webcam at a specially marked paper and a 3-D image will emerge.)

The Augmented Reality exhibit is hosted by Flashpoint Academy, a Chicago media arts college run by serial entrepreneur Howard Tullman, whose most recent projects — Kendall College and Experiencia Inc. — are also education-focused. Mr. Tullman tells Crain’s contributor Steve Hendershot why he’s excited about the prospects of both Flashpoint and the TechExpo.


Crain’s: Tell me more about this Augmented Reality demonstration. What’s the potential takeaway for a small business?

Howard Tullman: We’re demonstrating how it’s pretty easy for a business to take its logo on a business card and turn it into a 3-D object using Augmented Reality. It’s a low-cost way to make your business look a lot more high-tech.


Howard Tullman

The city approached us about demonstrating a "gee whiz" technology, and as you can imagine, being able to manipulate an object like that in 3-D space is quite interesting.

The iPhone alone has created another generation of entrepreneurs that are in position now to build a business in their basement or their bedroom. We’re almost back to the earliest days of the Web, where if you had a great idea and got your Web site out there and got it rolling, you could do that. The gates and gatekeepers are constantly shrinking, and there are opportunities out there along those lines.

Crain’s: A lot of the small businesses at the TechExpo aren’t so cutting-edge. What’s in this for them?


HT: This whole TechExpo is designed to address entrepreneurs and small businesses who are at the lower end of Internet savvy and the tech spectrum, and we’re trying to show them a vision of the future as well as some tools they can use right now.

I’m also doing a talk about social networking, which is another area (in addition to a Web site) where small businesses have to be in touch with customers and prospects. Facebook now has over 300 million users, which is larger than a lot of countries.


Crain’s: Getting the word out about how technology can help a business also helps build a market for Flashpoint grads. Describe the Flashpoint model and how it differs from media arts programs at traditional colleges.


HT: The rest of the industry is in the dark ages compared to what we’re doing. There are no other schools that have figured it out. Flashpoint is a two-year high-end vocational program for kids to go directly into work, and we’re finding that employers can’t get enough of these kids.

Our graduates have had a terrific reception, and honestly, this is the way the world really works. Because we’re an advanced technology hub, our students are trained to use technology that’s just being introduced in the commercial sector. So instead of an employer paying to train somebody up, our students are already ready to go.

Everything we do is team-based and cross-disciplinary. All of our projects use all skill sets and the resources you might need in the real world. You can’t go out and be a specialist in just this or just that, so the fact that our students are trained up on the technology and understand workflow is a huge difference from other schools that are just teaching in a single silo — just film, or just recording, or whatever.

Crain’s: It seems like it could be challenging to sell parents on a two-year program in Game Development or Recording Arts. What’s your reception been like?

HT: One of the very striking things has been how many parents are starting to get it. They see that, If this is what my kid wants to do, then instead of sending them to a four-year liberal arts school that is going to cost me a fortune and my kid doesn’t want to go there anyway, this is a huge opportunity.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HELPS SPONSOR IFP GALA AND HONORS FOR JONATHAN TOWERS

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FLASHPOINT ACADEMY GRADS RELEASE INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILM "COASTING"

THIS FILM WHICH WAS DIRECTED BY FLASHPOINT ACADEMY GRADUATE MICHAEL P. NOENS ALSO INCLUDED WORK BY FLASHPOINT ACADEMY GRADUATES Danny Crook, Dorian Weinzimmer, Monique DeVasquez, Alex Procaccio, Jeremy Patrick Hoen and Brooke Dahmen.




"Coasting" Review




STARRING
Jonathan C. Legat, Stephanie Wyatt, Emily Skyle, Christopher Weise

DIRECTED BY
Michael P.Noens

SCREENPLAY
Michael P. Noens, David B. Grelck

MPAA RATING
NR

RUNNING TIME
90 Mins.

DISTRIBUTED BY
Independent


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Love.

It changes everything, doesn't it?

We get in relationships, we go through the motions, we carry out our responsibilities and fulfill our duties both real and imagined.

Sometimes, love is pushed aside.

We coast.

In "Coasting," Wesley (Jonathan C. Legat, "White Out") meets Lauren (Stephanie Wyatt, "Off-Loop") in a hotel bar one late night in the small town of Stillwater, Illinois.

It is a chance meeting, not far removed from that of Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald in the magnificent "The Girl in the Cafe." The meeting is, at first glance, a largely innocent meeting filled with pleasant conversation, genuine laughs, heartfelt attention and, oh yeah, connection. Genuine human connection.

Wesley and Lauren return to their normal lives, yet their normal lives no longer feel normal...if they ever did.

Wesley is unsatisfied in a dead-end job he abhors, while Lauren's career as a photographer isn't going where she'd like it to go. Both Wesley and Lauren are married to, on the surface, seemingly idyllic partners who are stable, at least modestly attentive, functional and, yet, they are largely going through the disconnected motions of merely functioning in relationships that should be vibrant, passionate, energized and alive.

As time goes on, the memory of that connection lingers and, perhaps serendipitously, the two connect once again in, yes, that same Stillwater hotel bar.

This time, the passion will not be denied and the two succumb to their emotional and physical desires. After this encounter, both Wesley and Lauren face, with heartbreaking yet resonant authenticity, the remaining shards of their lives while defending these feelings for one another.

With "Coasting," director Michael P. Noens and co-writer David B. Grelck have that mixes the awkward discomfort of Zach Braff's indie gem "Garden State" with the tenderness and quiet intimacy of the aforementioned "The Girl in the Cafe." The resulting film is a film that simultaneously funny and endearing, heartbreaking and yet genuinely hopeful in the truest of ways that hope can be birthed out of our life experiences.

I remember after viewing Jonathan C. Legat's last film, the Grelck directed "White Out," this feeling of "If only Legat had really let go and offered a bit more vulnerability, this film would have truly soared." In "Coasting," Legat truly soars and takes the film right along with him giving a performance that is equal parts vulnerable, funny, raw and honest.

Fortunately, for audiences and Legat, co-star Stephanie Wyatt serves up an equally vulnerable, funny, raw and honest performance as the young woman whose true self has become stifled personally and professionally. Wyatt's Lauren is simultaneously a mature woman and innocent child, a young woman who seemingly longs for the intangible in her very tangible world.

"Coasting" is a deceptive film, much like Braff's "Garden State," in that the film occasionally feels off-kilter, uncomfortable and even distant. Yet, as the relationship between Wesley and Lauren develops it becomes clear how beautifully this works as it becomes painfully obvious how uncomfortable Wesley and Lauren truly are within their own lives and themselves. This "discomfort" begins to dissipate as they discover connection, an emotional truth to which most of us who've experienced unhealthy relationships seguing into healthy relationships would testify.

It becomes easy to understand, minus the usual Hollywood-style dramatics and histrionics, just why these two individuals feel so connected to one another and disconnected from everyone and everything else.

This patient development, a bold move cinematically, gives the film's closing scenes an emotional depth that drives the film home, though there are times when the move falls short as in Wesley's scenes in his office. The office scenes, which could and should reinforce the dissatisfaction in Wesley's life too often appear more like cartoonish deleted scenes from "Office Space."

Tech credits are solid across the board, with kudos especially going to Danny Crook's stellar camera work and truly killer original music from Geoff Shell.

There are moments in "Coasting" that feel very, very real.

Have you ever longed for something or someone?

Have you ever wondered "Why am I not happy?"

Have you ever, much to your own surprise, discovered a very real connection in the most unexpected of places?

We all have, I believe. The longing for and celebration of inward and outward connection are an inherent human experience with all its joys and sorrows.

With "Coasting," director Michael P. Noens and co-writer David B. Grelck along with their entire cast have captured those pristine moments of humanity in all their awkward and awesome vulnerability and brought them simply and beautifully to life.

"Coasting" is just starting its film festival run. For more information on "Coasting," visit the film's website.


© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY FILM CREWS DOCUMENT COUTURE & COCKTAILS FASHION SHOW BENEFIT FOR JOFFREY BALLET

WATCH CANDACE JORDAN'S POST-SHOW INTERVIEW WITH PAMELLA AND HER DAUGHTERS

Candace Jordan Interviews Pamella Roland at the Joffrey Benefit from HOWARD TULLMAN on Vimeo.

PRE-SHOW AND POST-SHOW INTERVIEWS








SET-UP

STATE BALLROOM






LOBBY











RED LACQUER ROOM








REHEARSAL





VIP RECEPTION





INTRODUCTION OF THE JOFFREY DANCERS






FASHION SHOW - SPRING 2010 RUNWAY SHOW

















INTRODUCTION OF PAMELLA ROLAND




INTRODUCTION OF DIGNITARIES







LIVE AUCTION with LESLIE HINDMAN and BILL AND GIULIANA RANCIC

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY GRADUATE JOSH HERNANDEZ (NOW WORKING AT METAMOOREPHOSIS GAMES) SPOKE AT A MICROSOFT XNA PANEL AT PENNY ARCADE EXPO IN SEATTLE

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES ILLINOIS SENIOR SENATOR DICK DURBIN FOR TOUR AND MEETING WITH STUDENT GOVERNMENT LEADERS AND OTHER STUDENTS

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY JOINS SPONSORS AT KICK-OFF VIP SCREENING FOR CIFF

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY SUPPORTS SPECIAL OLYMPICS AND SPECIAL CHILDREN'S CHARITIES

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HOSTS GRAND OPENING OF CHANGING WORLDS EXHIBIT

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN - SUMMARY OF CLOSING KEYNOTE PRESENTATION AT EPIC CONFERENCE

Closing Keynote


HOWARD A.TULLMAN
Flashpoint Academy

In this talk I spoke from my long experience in starting and building entrepreneurial businesses and, more importantly, about my more recent work in turning around several failing institutions and the many challenges of effectively implementing and managing change in established businesses even in the face of existential threats to their continued well-being. Change is easy – overcoming the resistance to change takes a little more work and a great deal of patience and preparation.

In applying the lessons from my various adventures to our industry’s present concerns and issues, I started with a simple suggestion. In today’s aggressively “dollar and sense” economy, where it is crucial to demonstrate and justify virtually every activity (and especially research and analysis) to senior management, it’s important to have a strategy and approach which makes the value and relevance of your activities apparent to the entire organization.

My suggestion was that we turn the “tools of our trade” inward and we use our skills and strengths to support and help better inform and educate the teams trying to “sell” and manage the ongoing (and often radical) changes occurring within our own organizations. This transition is actually an easier and more doable task than it might first appear because the references and methodologies we employ are precisely the techniques needed today to allay organizational fears and to ease the path to progress (thru change) for our peers and ourselves.

My shorthand for the entire idea was: “I Have Seen this Movie Before”. The basic idea (discussed in more detail below) is that there are problems and issues that consistently occur at various times in every business and there are also discoverable, concrete, recurring and reusable methods and solutions for each of these problems. Our “new” job within our organizations is to find what has worked and what is working now and to identify and generalize these solutions and then to share and distribute these effective approaches throughout the rest of the business. Easy to say – hard, but important, to accomplish.

The Perspiration Principles

In terms of some ground rules and concepts for implementing change within any organization, I presented what I call “The Perspiration Principles”:

1. Tell a Simple Story – Who are We? Where are We Headed? Why?

2. Solve an Important Problem – Increase Productivity or Save Time or Money – Pain Points

3. Keep Moving and Raise the Bar – Aim High - Feasibility Will Compromise You Soon Enough

4. Start with What You Have – Don’t Wait for Perfect – Successive Approximation

5. Make “Cheap” Mistakes and Make It O.K. to Make Mistakes

6. Make Room for People

7. Don’t Be a Slave to Your Model – The First Rule of Holes – If You’re in One, Stop Digging

8. You Can’t Add Value Unless You Have Values

9. Face the Facts and Expect the Worst

10. Work from the Inside Out

The Basic Methodology - Pattern Recognition

We live in an increasingly complicated world where simple is always better. In terms of the communication and the “sale” of changes, the basic objective is to demonstrate that what appears to be abrupt or radical change is actually and simply an extension from and the evolution of things we’ve done comfortably and successfully in the past. Gathering the references, assembling the examples and documenting the success stories of prior cases where things worked is a critical part of the process and one that relies heavily on the skills which our industry’s professionals regularly employ. Essentially, the pitch is that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The key here is to understand the old Hollywood idea of “high concept” presentations or pitches. Where metaphors and analogies are everything. “It’s Top Gun Underwater”. “It’s West Side Story in Outer Space”. Elevator pitches and shorthand stories all function in the same way – they are succinct ways of telling people what they want to hear.

In times of anxiety and change, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt; it can mean comfort, company and confidence. Company is especially pivotal because most people don’t mind moving forward, they just don’t want to do it by themselves or be alone when they get there. The fact is that sometimes you just can’t see something right in front of you until it is put in the proper framework and context so that you can process and understand it in terms that you are already familiar and comfortable with. Analogies and references are the tools that provide the necessary context in business. A compelling analogy is worth hours of argument and pounds of proof.

The questions that drive this approach are simple: What Has Worked for Us Before? How Did We Solve a Similar Problem in the Past? Can We Adapt, Reuse or Copy a Prior Approach? Or better yet, Can We Steal Someone Else’s Really Good Idea/Solution? When you go with what has worked in the past and tweak it for the present, it’s easier to explain, it’s a proven answer in many cases, and it’s a cheaper, faster and more productive path forward.

But be careful not to “mash the metaphor” since if you push things too far or stretch the connection too much, the reaction will be prompt and negative. Familiarity breeds comfort until it suddenly breeds contempt. Yesterday’s hero, etc.

The Implementation Process

As a set of basic guidelines, I offer the following suggestions for starting the process once you have identified the objectives and the solutions you will be implementing:

1. Gather Internal Support Before Making Major Changes (Unless There’s a Crisis)

2. Make All the Procedural Changes ASAP to Get Them Out of the Way

3. Rely Upon and Employ the Existing Management and Governance Channels – Not New Ones

4. Consult, Collaborate and Communicate – Slowly, but Continually & Aggressively, if Necessary

5. Incorporate and Absorb the Culture - Recruit and Listen Carefully to Internal Opinion Leaders

6. Develop a Vision of the Future that Everyone in the Organization Shares and Aspires to

7. Once You Have Done the Necessary Preparation, Don’t Wait. Act Immediately.

15 IDEAS BLOG COMMENTS ON KETCHUM PANEL AT FLASHPOINT ACADEMY

better than coffee

had an inspiring start to the day yesterday, courtesy of ketchum. it
was a panel discussion about social media, or rather, it was NOT
about social media, as the panelists consistently pointed out. what it
was about is social behavior - a small but significant difference for
brands online. it was held at Flashpoint Academy which, as the
backdrop says, is a school for media arts and sciences. in other
words, just the kind of folks we need moving forward. panelists
included Charleen Li who co-authored Groundswell, paul rand who
runs a sharp company we've worked with called the Zocalo Group,
howard tullman who runs Flashpoint, and a guy from Ketchum whose
name i can't remember in spite of the fact that he was funny and
insightful (always a great combination). the last question of the day
was, "give one piece of advice for people in the audience." the best
response: learn to sleep faster.

NEW ADS FOR FLASHPOINT ACADEMY

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY AND FLASHPOINT STUDIOS FILM "OCTOBER SURPRISE" WINS AS BEST POLITICAL DRAMA IN REEL SHORTS FESTIVAL 2009

OCTOBER SURPRISE WAS ONE OF ONLY NINE FILMS FROM THE 100 SELECTIONS TO BE SCREENED AT THE GALA PREVIEW, THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH AT 8 PM AT MOTHER'S ON RUSH STREET, AND ALSO DURING REGULAR SCREENING TIMES AT THE FEST. CONGRATS TO THE ENTIRE FP TEAM ON A GREAT PROJECT, AN ENGAGING FILM, AND A WONDERFUL AND WELL-DESERVED HONOR

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PIA MUSIC VIDEO "PSYCHODOTS - NOT A PRETTY FACE" NOMINATED IN GREAT LAKES FILM FESTIVAL

Psychodots - Not a Pretty Face

Directed by: Peter Hawley

Music Video

RT: 4 mins


The psychodots music video, 'Not a Pretty Face' chronicles the band’s search for their true identity over four decades.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT & CEO HOWARD TULLMAN ARTICLE ON "JUST OK" PUBLISHED IN BANANAQ BUSINESS BUZZ NEWSPAPER

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY WELCOMES NOTED AUTHOR CHARLENE LI ("GROUNDSWELL") AND GROUP OF SENIOR BRAND MANAGERS AND EXECS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PANEL

TULLMAN COLLECTION ARTIST ALYSSA MONKS FEATURED IN ARTICLE IN NEW YORK POST

Her art really imitates life

Brooklyn painter is 'picture' perfect

By DAVID K. LI


Don't tell Alyssa Monks these paintings look like photographs.

For now, the Brooklyn artist will take the picture-perfect compliment -- but she wants to make it clear that she's not out to be a human Polaroid camera.

"It's not up to me what I get labeled," said Monks, who rejects the tag "photorealism" for her stunning work. "I think the term 'photorealism' is about using a photograph as their subject. I'm using the photo as a loose reference."
The 31-year-old New Jersey native can't deny that she's getting plenty of ink for her paintings -- which carry remarkable photolike qualities -- whether it's on newsprint or computer screens. London's Daily Mail ran a huge spread of her work last week.



FOOLED YA': This painting, titled "Smirk," by Alyssa Monks, is actually oil on linen -- not a photo.

"There's no desire to try to make it so smooth and look brushless" Monks told The Post yesterday. "If in fact it looks that real, it's a testament to the time and detail. It's not intended to look photorealistic."

The artist is particularly fond of her paintings that depict water drops and steam in a shower stall.

"It's about using paint and playing with colors," said Monks, who teaches at the New York Academy of Art and Montclair State.

New Yorkers can get a look in March at Monks' show at the DFN Gallery on the Upper East Side.

"There's a lot of confusion about my work," Monks said. "People see little 3-by-5 images on a computer screen, and it looks like a photograph. The reality is the paintings are not small. Some are eight feet wide, and there's a lot of paint, a lot of surface."

david.li@nypost.com

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT & CEO HOWARD TULLMAN AND CITY BUSINESS AFFAIRS COMMISSIONER NORMA REYES APPEAR ON CBS MORNING SHOW TO PROMOTE TECH EXPO

DEMOS OF THE AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGY WHICH WE PREVIEWED ON THE CBS MORNING SHOW APPEAR AT:

TECHEXPO.FLASHPOINTACADEMY.COM

CBS.FLASHPOINTACADEMY.COM

THE "MARKER" IS THE FLASHPOINT GHOSTY GUY FOR BOTH OF THESE DEMOS.

YOU CAN WATCH THE CBS LOGO DEMO HERE:



THANKS FOR THE HELP OVER THE WEEKEND FROM ALAN, CHRIS AND SIMEON IN MAKING SURE EVERYTHING WENT WELL THIS MORNING.

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY HOSTS MEETING OF NEW CHICAGO CHAPTER OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS SOCIETY