Tank of All Trades

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Kicking Off 2012 Right

New year, new artwork, and new opportunities are all in effect as I kick off 2012. So what are my new year's resolutions? To get better at documenting my work and uploading it online quicker. I have never been a photographer but its something that I need to do more to keep my website up to date with all my artwork and 2012 is going to be filled with new artwork.

This update features 2 pieces that I created this past Fall. "Never Alone" is based off of a sketch I did of a random patron at Northside Tavern. Is the robot "Never Alone" because it is drinking with others at a bar? Is it "Never Alone" because it has a drink? Or are it's drinks "Never Alone" because the pint has a shot beside it?

"A Light in the Storm" came to be after talking to my cousin Lisa's husband about a possible tattoo idea he had. He runs a home for people with physical and mental disabilities and their logo is a lighthouse. I like the idea of the lighthouse both figuratively and literally as a guiding light to help people, a symbol of safety. It gives people comfort in the fact that even in their darkest hour, if they can see the light, they have a chance.

Never Alone

A Light in the Storm

Thursday, August 11, 2011

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

We all remember going back to school after summer break. You would come into the room and the teacher would have you give a report called "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" so that he/she could get to know you. Unlike my youth I did not go to Cedar Point but I did bust out a lot of art.

I started a series of work this summer focusing on some of my favorite bands that I have listened to and associate with periods of my life. The first two pieces in this series are the Misfits Bot and the A Fire Inside (AFI Bot). The Misfits was the band that transitioned me into my love for punk rock and horror movies. I was making the jump from 8th grade to Freshmen year of high school and was listening to a lot of metal (Metallica, White Zombie, Pantera) and the punk bands that had recently appeared on MTV (Green Day, Offspring, Rancid). Naturally the combination of these two genres lead me to the Misfits and seeing the Crimson Ghost made me want to listen to what has become one of my all time favorite bands.

While my love for AFI has faded over the years Black Sails in the Sunset and The Art of Drowning are still two albums that I can listen to all the way through. I listened to them a lot during the Summer and Fall of 1999 as my life transitioned from high school to college, which was a very large, life changing period for me, not only as an artist but as a human.

The final image, Tha Devil, is a nod to my friend Christina aka Tha Devil. She was the captain of the Sprockettes, a space girl themed roller derby team that was a home team of the Ohio Roller Girls. She was a great captain but an even better friend. She is one of the strongest, smartest women I have ever met. She had wanted a piece of my artwork for years and after procrastinating on it because of various other projects, I finally sat down and created this for her.

I am also working on 2 other projects to end out the summer. The first one is a 11"x14" for a Cult Movie Show I am in at the historic Southgate House in September. What will it be? All I can say is I think this is the first time I have ever drawn a rabbit. The other piece I have been working on for weeks is a monster 18"x24" drawing that is drenched in minute details. This is definitely the best drawing I have done since "We Live With Our Decisions" and also includes a tree.

I looking forward to the Fall (my favorite time of the year). I am going to continue my two series, one focusing on trees/leaves and the other paying tribute to the bands that have been most influential to me. Stay tuned and be on the look out for announcements for future shows I will be taking part in.

Misfits Bot

A Fire Inside (AFI Bot)

Tha Devil

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

More Work from Spring 2011

These are two of the other three pieces I completed this Spring. The first SurvivorBot was a piece I donated to the annual Breast Cancer Benefit show that the NEO Rollergirls www.neorocknrollergirls.com take part in every year. I was contacted by Vanity Scare to paint her bust for the show. Below is what I came up with. This piece is dubbed "SurvivorBot" and is a piece dedicated to cancer survivors who are in the midst of recovering.

The second piece "But By Then It Was to Late to Walk Away" is about become so rooted and trapped in a sitution that you can't leave. Sometimes you wait and think so long about something, that it eventual pins you down to the point that you can't move. This piece as well as "When It's Your Time, It's Your Time" are a bit wrinkled due to humidity issues in a gallery I was showing in. I have steamed some of the wrinkles out but they are not quite 100 percent. They are not as wrinkly in person as the pictures depict them to be thankfully.

SurvivorBot

But By Then It Was to Late to Walk Way

Catching Up

After starting out the year with a lot of art, real life creeped in. The past 3 months have been divided between teaching, writing curriculum, taking a class at Ohio State, writing blogs for www.rollerderbyinsidetrack.com and announcing roller derby for the www.cincinnatirollergirls.com . Add on to that spending time with my girlfriend to keep my sanity and art went on the back burner for a bit. I did finish 2 pieces off during this time and a third that I am taking pictures of soon. The first piece is "When It is Your Time, It is Your Time". This piece is based off the idea of no matter what medical and technological advances we have achieved, over time we all break down, we all die. This is illustrated in this piece as the robot is hooked up to a number of life support machines but the little hourglass in it's chest is slowly emptying and turning into a coffin.

When It is Your Time, It is Your Time

Thursday, February 3, 2011

New Month, New Art

2011 has started off really positive for me. My opening at Motr Pub in Over the Rhine (Cincinnati) went really well. My work will be up until Feb. 22. They have great live music, a huge beer selection, a killer jukebox, and some of the most beautiful wood work you will ever see, so go check it out.

I am gearing up for a group show in April at Synthetica Gallery and I am starting to paint a bust for a Cancer Benefit show I am taking part in later this summer. Below are the latest drawings I have completed. "Spill Your Guts" is a piece about not knowing what to say and just blubbering yourself into a corner. "Mixtape" comes from every relationship I have ever been in has involved trading a mixtape at the beginning of it. Finally I reworked "This Part of Me Won't Die" and added more snow into the background.

Spill Your Guts

Mixtape

This Part of Me Won't Die 1.1

Out of the Wood Work

Here is the post card for the latest group show I am taking part in. It's called "Out of the Wood Work" at OhNo!Doom Gallery in Chicago, Il. You can find more information about the show and the opening at www.ohnodoom.com .

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

TIME TO SHOW SOME WORK

My show schedule is has been great so far in 2011. Upcoming shows include a solo show in Cincinnati, Ohio at MOTR Pub and taking part in a group show at OHNO!DOOM in Chicago Illinois on Saturday, February 5, 6pm-10pm. Show closes Feb. 26. I am very excited as this will mark the first time that I am showing in Chicago. Listed below is the promotion for my show at MOTR along with the press release. 2011 is going to be a great year.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Exit Wounds & Scars:
The Work of Anthony “Tank” Mansfield

MOTR Pub
1345 Main St., Cincinnati, OH
January 28-February 20, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, January 28, 7-10PM

Cincinnati, OH - After spending 2010 taking part in major shows including The SOS
Show (Cincinnati Art Academy), Stay Tooned (The Southgate House), and Secret
Artworks 2010 (The Westin Hotel), Anthony “Tank” Mansfield is ready to get back
to his roots. The former Columbus, OH resident was part of the emerging Pop
Surrealism scene in the mid 2000s, showing in bars and tattoo shops throughout
the Short North Arts District. On January 28, he will open his first solo exhibition
in 3 years at MOTR Pub, the Over-the-Rhine restaurant and bar that is quickly
establishing itself as one of Cincinnati’s hubs for talented musicians and artists.

“I really love the vibe and atmosphere of MOTR,” Mansfield says. “The owners are
trying to bring something special to Cincinnati, a place were quality work can be
seen and heard, and so far they are achieving that goal tenfold. Places like this are
always my favorite to show because of the diverse crowd they draw.”

Mansfield’s work focuses on a combination of technology and human emotion. Each
of his retro ’50s sci-fi inspired robots contains an object that represents its soul
and purpose. While the exteriors of the robots appear the same, the same way the
mass majority of humans are in our culture, each has its own story, just like each
one of us. “We Live With Our Decisions” depicts a robot with a tree limb growing
out of its chest, which is home to a cardinal that must decide if she should stay with
her eggs or leave as an early winter rolls in. “2 Inches” examines pregnancy and
the connection of mother and child. “Broken Home” shows that not all memories of
home are viewed through a rose colored lens. Each piece is drawn on archival paper
with graphite pencils and framed.

Artist Bio

Anthony “Tank” Mansfield – Tankofalltrades is not just a clever name for an email
address and website, but also an accurate description of this modern Renaissance
man. Mansfield graduated from Ohio University in 2003 with a BFA in Fine Arts
Painting. His exhibition record includes shows at Rivet Gallery (Columbus, OH),
Rogue Buddha Gallery (Minneapolis, MN), Synthetica Gallery (Cincinnati, OH), The
Fitton Center (Hamilton, OH) and Cincinnati Academy of Art. In 2008 he graduated

from The Ohio State University with a license in K-12 Art Education and now works
as a visual arts instructor at Options Academy-The Arts in Hamilton, Ohio. He also
works as a play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Rollergirls and has traveled
the United States calling roller derby games since 2006. He also writes for the
roller derby website www.rollerderbyinsidetrack.com. His free time is spent with
his girlfriend, watching movies, playing Xbox 360, and caring for his son/Boston
Terrier, Doyle Von Frankenstein.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

New Year New Work

Hey all, its been a while since I have posted. I have spent the past 3 months working on creating my largest drawings to date, 18" x 24" pieces. I have finally gotten use to working in this size and have started to use multiple shading pencils to push the contrast and tonal values of my work. These pieces are entitled "2 Inches", "Broken Home", and "We Live With Our Decisions". "2 inches" was based on recent conversations I have had with my mother regarding the distance we live from each other and how far we might be apart some day with me moving. This got me to think that at one point, I was no further then 2 inches from her heart while I was in utero. "Broken Home" is a piece about how not all memories of home are happy ones. "We Live With Our Decisions" investigates the idea of the things we do, the decisions we make, affect more than just ourselves but others as well, and the residue guilt that can come with that.

"2 Inches"

"Broken Home"

"We Live With Our Decisions"

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

WHAT I MISS ABOUT THE 614

This summer I visited my former home, Columbus, Ohio for a few days. During this time I vowed to myself to take in my favorite restaurants while I was in town, the kind of food I can't get anywhere else. I have been a big fan Liz Lessner LaRue's restaurants since she opened Betty's in the Short North. Next she opened Surly Girl Saloon, a bar/restaurant that was less then a few blocks from my old house off of 5th Avenue. SGS would become one of the original Ohio Roller Girls' sponsors and we had all our after parties there the first year. After that came Tip Top with it's love of whiskey, pinball, and all things Ohio. Soon after Tip Top opened is when I left Columbus. When I heard about Dirty Frank's opening, I wanted to visit it as well. That is what began my 3 day/4 restaurant tour to take in all of her restaurants in while I was in Columbus.

While I was chowing down on my coney dog covered in cole slaw at Dirty Frank's, I began to think about all the great meals and nights I had at these restaurants. I decided I needed to give something back beyond paying my bill and a few dollars for a tip. When I returned to Cincinnati, I began working on this illustration for Liz to show my gratitude. Most restaurants and bars don't last beyond a few years, yet hers have and proposed. This inspired me to draw each of the them as the head of a dragon or Godzilla figure. For those of you who don't live in Ohio, the guitar is in the shape of the state. My buddy Caesar played the part of middle man for me and delivered it to Dirty Frank's, which is fitting since it is where the idea for this piece was first conceived. All this blogging about makes me wish I had some sweet potato fries.

Monster of the 614

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Commissioned Work for Truck's Birthday

Recently I was commissioned to do a piece by my friend Lane for her partner Erika aka Truck. Lane wanted something that expressed Truck's love for her daughter, her family, and reading. With those parameters in mind I came up with the following piece, My Heart is My Family, My Family are My Heart. I had a lot of fun working on this drawing and was very happy to see how much they both liked it. I actually drove to Columbus to deliver it and got to see Truck's shocked look on her face first hand which was very cool.

My Heart is My Family, My Family are My Heart