Pins Pins PINS!

I had enamel pins made of my bright orange "Dia de Los MATos" Art*o*mat® machine! I was imagining what I could do to capture the hearts of customers who love the machines themselves and are perhaps more excited by them rather than the gamble of buying the art inside them. Since I don't have any reatail space of my own (all my machines are in venues like restaurants and museums) Clark Whittington, owner of the entire Art*o*mat® program, gave me permission to showcase my machines as art themselves -in pin form. The pins are $5.00, just like any other Art*o*mat® art, and they are available in all EIGHT of my machines in northern New Mexico! This pin features the orange sugar skull machine designed by artist Kim Diloretto. The machine resides in the Range Cafe in Los Lunas, NM. Can't make it to NM? Contact me to find out how you can have one shipped to you.

Happy Birthday to Art*o*mat®! 20 Years Old!

Congratulations to Art*o*mat® for an awesome 20 years! Check out the retrospective at secca.org!

Art*o*mat® artists come from near and far to the Swap Meet Saturday June 10 at SECCA in Winston-Salem, NC.

If you know all about Art*o*mat® or are just learning about these amazing self-contained art galleries made from vintage cigarette machines you'll be excited to know that this year marks 20 whole years from the beginning of the awesome program with a nugget of an idea from even more awesome artist, creator, and owner, Clark Whittington. 

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, ART*O*MAT®!!!

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is having a 20 year retrospective show all about Clark and his masterful creations. The show will feature many of the first, flashiest, and funkiest Art*o*mat® machines and artwork including limited editions. There will be a special Swap Meet with original Art*o*mat® artists' work on June 10th. The public is welcome to come look and (of course) buy ...and that's great news if you happen to be in North Carolina this weekend. I'll be too busy here in Santa Fe with this weekend's fundraisers my other job, ARTsmart New Mexico, is holding: "Behind the Woman in Gold" Featuring Peter Altmann at the Lensic Performing Arts Center on June 8th and ARTsmart's Edible Art Tour on June 9-10. Lots of great stuff going on this weekend for lots of really cool and positive things -and that's good to hear these days! I wish everyone a great weekend, I wish the happiest of birthday's to Art*o*mat®, and I want to thank all of you fans and friends for supporting Art*o*mat® here in Santa Fe. Congratulations, Clark!

Meet Clark Whittington, Get Free a Protoype Kit! See the Newest Art*o*mat®!

Wednesday evening, MAY 13th, 2015 6:00-7:00pm
Santa Fe Community Convention Center 201 West Marcy Avenue
Owner/Creator Clark Whittington is coming to Santa Fe to join me in giving a presentation of the Art*o*mat® story along with a workshop for artists interested in SUBMITTING their work to the program. If you've ever been interested in making art for Art*o*mat® or know someone who might be, then THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!!! Free prototype kits and artist guidelines will be available.

Also, we will be giving a sneak peek of my newest Santa Fe Art*o*mat® machine so come have a loosky! It's a bright orange 20-column machine on legs with a stunning sugar skull design: "Dios de los MATos!"
------------------------
UPDATE: Wednesday was a wonderful event! Clark Whittington was greeted by a dozen or so new Art*o*mat® friends, fans and inspired artists.  He shared a delightful recount of his early days of Art*o*mat® and helped artists interested in making art for the program get the gist of how it all works.  We handed out detailed guidelines for art prototype submissions and sample box and wood block kits and stickers.
***I HAVE A FEW LEFT SO CONTACT ME IF YOU'D LIKE A FREE SAMPLE KIT!***


I also had the pleasure of debuting my newest Art*o*mat®, "Dias de los MATos," and excitedly announced its new home-to-be (see my next post for that whopper!).  The evening went really well and I think that Art*o*mat® gained a few more lifetime friends, fans, and participating artists. Special thanks to Robert Lambert from the Santa Fe Arts Commission for inviting us to be a part of this program. We were back-lit by a lovely bright Santa Fe evening so the photos didn't turn out as clear as they could be but in our memories it was a perfect time.  Clark and his lovely wife, Julie, enjoyed an extra day to tour around Santa Fe, get in a hike at Tent Rocks National Monument, and sample the green and the red chile in several restaurants.  They'll be back!

Be the first to see the newest Art*o*mat®! 

Clark Whittington does the heavy lifting delivering "Dias de los MATos" to the convention center.

Victoria introduces Clark Whittington and new Art*o*mat® machine.

Clark tells his story of Art*o*mat® to artists and fans.

Clark and Victoria answer audience questions.

Coolest of the Cool! Art*o*mat® Neon Sign!

Art*o*mat® in stunning neon! Find this sign next to Art*o*mat® at Range Cafe!

What's cooler than neon? Am I right?! Just adding to the vintage awesomeness that Art*o*mat® provides. This bitchin sign, representing Art*o*mat's royal crown logo, was created by Robert Randazzo of Absolutely Neon in Albuquerque.  It's going to help light the way to my "PlumMAT" machine in the foyer of Range Cafe in Bernalillo so go and have a looksy!

Also... SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday evening, MAY 13th, 2015 6:00-7:00pm
Santa Fe Community Convention Center 201 West Marcy Avenue
Owner/Creator Clark Whittington is coming to Santa Fe to join me in giving a presentation of the Art*o*mat® story along with a workshop for artists interested in SUBMITTING their work to the program. If you've ever been interested in making art for Art*o*mat® or know someone who might be, then THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!!! Free sample kits and artist guidelines will be available.  Stay tuned for more information.

The new neon Art*o*mat® sign really brightens things at Range Cafe in Bernalillo!