October 10th, 2011: ArtPrize has ended for another year. My work will be coming down tomorrow and coming home. Thank you for the few votes and wonderful comments on my entry! A few of the prints used in the display are still available. You can see them here along with their prices.

Hello! And welcome to my site! Many people are coming to see my work for the first time through the ArtPrize competition here in Grand Rapids Michigan. My entry is currently on display at the Sundance Bar and Grill on Pearl Street in downtown Grand Rapids. My original entry was to be life size shadowboxes that were based on a variety of sources (such as the old automaton fortune telling boxes and things of the like) however, my resources were severely reduced over the summer as I imagined this entry, and I had to go forward with what materials I actually had the means to come by. My shadowboxes became smaller and more simple portraits of related artwork were added to the entry.

My entry features artwork from my graphic novel the Black Ibis. This work of fiction has been an ongoing project of mine for the last seven years. This past spring I released the first book (of nine) in the series. One of the wonderful additions to the book was being able to photograph and use -as reference- a few of the performers from my local area. Local photographer Jim Gebben helped me photograph performers Audria Larsen and Rachel Finan. Originally these photos were only going to be used as reference shots for an art magazine I produce in my free time called Insects and Angels. However, as I elaborated on these art pieces using the photographs, I saw my Black Ibis world being better represented. I went on to use quite a bit of that artwork, and the two models, for the first book in my Black Ibis series.

Artprize 2010 was my first entry into the contest and it was done along side of five other artists and performers. The experience was rather exhausting, though fun. When the idea of partaking in this year’s event came about there was a small divide in thought between myself and my mate, who was a member of the ArtPrize group I was with last year. He wanted to go huge, and he did. His ArtPrize entry is massive and talent filled and really worth supporting your votes. For myself… I just wanted something small, something I could work with that showed a small corner of the fantasy world I claim as my own. The Sundance Bar and Grill was good enough to give me a rather decent amount of wall space to showcase my Black Ibis work. So for me the competition is something very different -my desire is not to go big but rather simply to be seen. My work has been on display in galleries from Los Angeles to Seattle, Chicago to New York city, but I have avoided my own home state for fear people would not appreciate my more fantasy oriented work. I have to admit it has been a great pleasure simply to be acknowledged and have my work enjoyed by the city I grew up in.

My display at Sundance features work that is all available for purchase. Each item featured is apart of a limited edition of that piece. To repeat some specific information about the artwork: Each of the pieces comes from my graphic novel the Black Ibis. The original reference photographs were taken last September with local photograph Jim Gebben, with local performers Audria Larsen and Rachel Finan. To your right you will find links to more information on these pieces and related artwork. Thank you so much for seeking my artwork out and I invite anyone to contact me directly at artprize at bethalynnebajema.com for more information or purchasing requests.