So, what do we have going on?

The Devilish Artists Duel: Halloween Massacre ended with the gladiators bloodied but better for it. Three artists produced five pieces of artwork each over the course of one month. This was in addition to their already hectic schedules and busy lives (many a due-date came up with me frantically drawing at the last minute). The public voted on each contest each week and in the end two of the artists tied. Everyone had fun with it and got to try some things that we each might not have in the course of our regular work.

We (Creative Oddities Studios) offered up $100 to the winner... and we had no takers outside of our little circle. Really, people? No one wanted to do a drawing a week for fun and maybe a little extra candy in their trick-or-treat bag? That's okay, I guess. The point of the prize, from our perspective, was to give a little something back to the community of "weird" artists out there. So, now we are thinking about taking things in a different direction.

When I was in high school, I won a small scholarship to a local college for art. I also discovered that a fund had been established in my mother's name to assist students with their tuition at the same school. Now that I am well on the other side of that whole process, I have been thinking about doing something for the art community myself.

Now, I am not talking about a purely altruistic and selfless charity. I considered setting up a scholarship for art students at my high school, but decided that this was too broad of scope for my tastes. I create erotic, horror, and occult themed artwork... something not often promoted at the high school level. I would HATE to put up my money and find out I am funding someone who paints kittens and baskets of flowers. Moreover, most people wait until they are dead to do this kind of thing. I want to promote the kind of art I like now, and to encourage artists to create in the genres a enjoy while I can enjoy the effort.

The red-tape that deals with creating a charity project just plain sucks, and I am thinking of something that for now is really going to be small-scale. What I have in mind might be some kind of "low-brow" collection, an on-line gallery maintained by Creative Oddities Studios featuring artists who work in traditional media doing erotic, horror, and occult artworks. Once a year, we would "purchase" a piece from those submitted for $500. This would be a manageable starting point for us that would also attract lesser-known artists who are not yet commanding higher prices for their work.

EVENTUALLY (like years from now) we could have a physical art gallery... at least that would be the direction I am going in. Maybe like an 18 and over coffee house and gallery here in Austin or something. This is all still just theory, but I would love to get some feed-back. A few artists I know have been talking about doing a collaborative art show for years... maybe it is time to make it happen.