On Tuesday, I had email from subscriber Viktor Koen, designer, illustrator, and Faculty, School of Visual Arts, MFA Illustration as Visual Essay, who wrote,

A couple of months ago, I was invited to speak at  TEDx Athens (one of the biggest internationally, with over 1500 in attendance) and the talk, in English, became available on line a couple of weeks ago. The title is, Inspiration is for Amateurs. The gist of my talk is:

Developing a personal and specific thinking process is essential to coming up with ideas on demand. Hoping for inspiration from above, is not. Materializing these ideas is the other half of the equation towards success, whatever that might be, and is based on a healthy appetite for hard and effective work. These points are illustrated by examples of methods and practices for developing concepts, a stronger work ethic, increased productivity but also understanding the importance of breakfast and showering on regular bases.

Have a look:

Currently on view at the George Adams Gallery is A Simple Life, an exhibition of small-scale paintings and drawings by Roy De Forest (1930-2007).Created shortly before the artist’s death in 2007, 11 portrait-style works focus on De Forest’s favorite subjects of dogs, horses, donkeys, and men, playfully featured in his unique compositions of animated colors and rich mosaic patterns. De Forest, who showed regularly with the gallery since his first exhibition in 1966 (then known as the Allan Frumkin Gallery), is the subject of a retrospective exhibition being organized by the Oakland Museum in California scheduled for 2015. In addition, three paintings and three drawings made between 1960 and 1969 are on view. Of particular note are two paintings from the early 1960s, “Lily of the Valley,” (c.1960) and “Untitled” (1961), which introduce several familiar motifs found in De Forest's later work.

Roy De Forest | A Simple Life continues through February 9, 2012. George Adams Gallery, 525 West 26^th Street, NY, NY. Below left: Roy De Forest, The Saga of the Shepard Brothers, 2005. Right: Great Daze, 2004-2005.

This Weekend in NY
Outsider Art Fair, January 31 - February 3, 2013
The leading, annual event in the field of Outsider, Self-Taught and Folk Art. Recognized for its maverick spirit, the fair has played a vital role in building a passionate collecting community for 15 years. Now under Wide Open Arts, a new company formed by art dealer Andrew Edlin, the Outsider Art Fair has moved to Chelsea at the site of the former Dia Foundation and will continue to provide a dynamic atmosphere for dealers to showcase compelling and unusual art works and present special events and programs. Center 548, 548 West 22^nd Street, NY, NY.

This Weekend in LA

First Annual LA Art Book Fair, February 1-3
The companion to the NY Art Book Fair in October, the LA Art Book Fair is a unique event for artists’ books, art catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zinespresented by 220 international presses, booksellers, antiquarians, artists, and independent publishers from twenty-one countries. The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.