“I love art.  I love the inspiration, creativity, and education that come with art.  But most importantly, I love how art is realized, interpreted, and ultimately lived.”

—Tyler James Bush

What: “Home on the Strange: Peacock Manor” artist reception

Where: Eagle Performing Arts Center, 1125 E. State St., Eagle

When: Friday, May 11, 6:30-9:30pm

Boise, ID—Since the age of 10, local visual artist Tyler James Bush has been making art. His paintings, prints, and sculptures always reflected his whimsical nature and his love of classic Americana. But in recent years, Bush has begun to stretch the boundaries of his inspirations and use familiar items in unexpected ways, giving his work a touch of the surreal that resonates with viewers. On Friday, May 11, 2012, at the Eagle Performing Arts Center, the public will once again have an opportunity to view Bush’s ability to take the everyday and the sublime and combine them into something that is recognizable but somehow unique.

Bush’s newest exhibit “Home on the Strange: Peacock Manor” is an evolution of an idea that he has been developing since his popular living installation “Poker-Playing Deer Ladies” at Modern Art 2011. The gothic-styled Deer Ladies—complete with antlers—were one of the event’s biggest attractions and Bush wanted to carry that imagery over into works that viewers could take with them. In September 2011, Bush rented a Victorian mansion on 2^nd and Jefferson streets and curated the inaugural “Home on the Strange” exhibit. Along with living antlered sculptures, Bush displayed hundreds of redesigned vintage China plates from his Deer Ladies series, weathered logs turned into fur-covered lamps, reimagined old ceramic figurines and more.

In “Peacock Manor,” Bush’s Deer Ladies are again on display, but the exhibit’s focal point is the actual Peacock Manor, a 1:12 scale 4-foot-tall dollhouse that Bush’s 91-year-old grandmother La Venia Jacobson spent 18 years building and furnishing.

Peacock Manor not only complements Bush’s Deer Ladies series but also speaks to his love of history and the modern world and his ability to combine them in new, unexpected ways.

I’m accepting donations for my Eagle Performing Art Center Art Installation, It will be a continuation of the “Home on the Strange” featuring my Grandmother Doll House. The cost to create the Installation will be about $500; I pay for this out of my own pocket. If you donate I will Thank you on the Donors Sign and if you donate over $50 I’ll have some art you can select form as a thank you.

I’ll be participating at this event. Come down and check out my stuff.

Medium: Wood, plates, photoshop and transfers
Artist Statement: Home on the Strange has consumed me this past year. Thank you to all my friends who have helped make it possible, especially Jed Lloyd. Please check out my work at Idaho Poster & Letterpress located at 280 N. Eighth St., Ste. 118.

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/home-on-the-strange-gold-floral-plates-set-of-4/Content?oid=2535068

www.idahoposterandletterpress.com

Tyler Bush’s Home on the Strange meets lacy underthing boutique Ella’s Room this First Thursday.

This edition of Downtown News is brought to you by the wicked-talented group of folks who comprise the Boise Weekly fam. Apparently there’s a little something special in the water we use to cut our whiskey.

Case in point: Former BW Editor Bingo Barnes’ latest venture, Idaho Poster and Letterpress. On First Thursday, Barnes will open a working letterpress museum and gallery in the basement space that formerly housed Bricolage on Eighth Street. In addition to offering workshops and classes, Barnes will also have a letterpress studio that the public can rent.

This First Thursday brings the Idaho Poster Show, which will showcase work from local poster makers such as Nobel Hardesty, Ben Wilson, Erin Ruiz, Kelly Knopp, Julia Green and Erin Cunningham, all of whom have either graced the cover of BW or contributed work to our pages.

Speaking of creative awesomeness, BW’s current Social Media Czar Josh Gross is in the process of publishing a new collection of short stories, titled Secrets and Lies. Gross’ book illustrator Jennie Jorgensen will display all 25 original illustrations that dot the pages of Secrets and Lies at Bricolage (also owned by former BW staffers) this First Thursday. In addition, Boise High senior Elissa Johnson will showcase her multimedia pieces, which “portray people, animals and the relationships between them.” For more info, visit bricoshoppe.com.

Down the street from Brico’s new digs, Boise Art Museum will host BW graphic designer and general badass Adam Rosenlund, who will speak on a panel of local comic book artists and designers for BAM’s new exhibit, Comics at the Crossroads: Art of the Graphic Novel. For more info on the exhibit and opening night revelry, check out the First Thursday feature on Page 19.

Over at Flying M Coffeehouse, BW-delivery cyclist Patrick Sweeney of North Star Cycle Couriers will premiere a new photography exhibit titled For Your Thoughts.

Rounding out this BW-tastic September First Thursday is former BW promotions guru and Renaissance man Tyler Bush. Many will remember Bush from his exhibit at this year’s Modern Art event, which featured live poker-playing deer ladies festooned in lush Victorian garb. To promote his upcoming Home on the Strange art event, Bush will deck out the window at lacy underthing boutique Ella’s Room.

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/downtown-news-bws-first-thursday-picks/Content?oid=2508323