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ART BLOG
October 2008
Frank Ordaz is now a member of the Air Force Art Program. His painting will be on display at Washington D.C. at the Bolling Officers Club Oct.21 - 24 2008. August 2008
A while back I illustrated "The Star Spangled Banner" for the Smithsonian.
The book was recently awarded the 8th Annual Teacher's Choice Award for Children's Books.
May 2006 I ran an errand one day late January and as I walked through our front door, my son David said “ Dad, you got a call from the White House, they want you to call back”. My wife Jana confirmed that it was no joke and that I should get on the phone and call Sara Armstrong at the White House. As I spoke with Sara, she informed me that Mrs. Bush was quite taken with the illustrations I had painted for the Christmas themed book “Josie’s Gift “. She continued to tell me that I had been selected by her to be this years featured artist for the 2006 White House Easter Egg Roll, a traditional event for the past 100 years. Of course I agreed. The assignment consisted of creating a painting that would be used for a poster, program, tickets and button. Also I was to design the traditional wooden egg , as well as hats and aprons for the volunteers. Quite an assignment. The painting would hang in her office the remainder of the Presidents term and finally be included in the Bush Library. Below you will see some of the designed items as well as photos of our visit to the White House , which included breakfast for 200 guests, mostly donors and contributors to the event. The President addressed our gathering and even publicly acknowledged me as the artist. My family took a photograph with Laura Bush, who was just wonderful to us, in the Diplomatic Reception Room underneath the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington. Anita McBride, Laura Bush’s Chief of Staff, made a point of telling me how delighted Mrs. Bush was with the artwork. It made my year.       |
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Also, I recently taped an interview with Napa TV Ch. 28. It features some video of our DC trip as well as some star wars musings. Along with me was my wife Jana and Mrs. Norma Yocum, a longtime friend and former mayor of Alhambra , Ca. |
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I am currently illustrating a book about the Star Spangled Banner. Published by Soundprints Publishing , licensed through the Smithsonian Institution. |
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Kindly check out an article and video on News 10's web site: My 'Gospel Art' was featured on 'Good Evening Sacramento' in 2004 on UPN channel 31. I'm shown here with interviewer Tara Moriarty and camerman Lee Drake. The segment started with a live feed from my home.
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2004 was a very busy year. Thank You all. One of the highlights was appearing on local TV with my son Isaac featuring my GOSPEL ART. A bonus to all the local media attention was having KLOVE radio pick up the news story and feature my story on one of their 30 second news spots. Had I known about all the hits to my web site I would have purchased DSL sooner! Another Highlight was illustrating a book for Joni Erickson Tada called Passion Hymns published by Crossway Publishers. Also, I recently finished illustrating a Book for Broadman and Holman Publishers called Josies Gift. This project was quite an undertaking. The Christmas story is set during the Depression and required extensive research concerning period dress and props and willing models. The success of this project was due to great models, a patient Art Director, David Uttley at the DesignWorks Group and an understanding family who saw daddy paint late into the night.  One of the benefits of painting alone in my studio is finding the appropriate music to paint to. During the process of painting Josie I discovered the music of the Carter Family. As I finished reading DYLANs Chronicles 1, he mentioned how he studied and was transfixed by the sincerity and directness of their music. Luckily our Auburn Library has a good collection of the Carters and I was hooked on their music while swishing my paint brush. I also stumbled onto the cowboy ballads of REX ALLEN, whose wholesome music inspires you to pack the kids up, saddle up the ponies, fire up the beans, and point your nose to roam the open country and chase those tumbleweeds. As I write this I am listening to BlueGrass Radio in iTUNES...checkout stain glass bluegrass on Sunday for classic old timey gospel. As a trumpet player who happens to paint, music is such an important part of my creative process. While working awhile back on The Very First Easter I exclusively listened to sacred music. Most notably Bachs St. Matthews Passion and Martins Mass for Double Choir. The voices on these recordings are the closest thing to experiencing an epiphany as I could ever imagine. iMusings: As I reflect on the 24 years that I have been painting I remember a line from the TALKING HEADS.. "my God, How did I get here?"... Life is not only a series of choices but also a reaction, good or bad ( I am not a Taoist, so I do believe in good and evil) to the waves that crash down on you. I remember standing in line outside my old high school Don Bosco Tech ( Creedence Clearwater Revival was popular and Jim Morrison was still alive...I think ) and being assigned a draft card number. How would the VietNam War have affected me? Would I have survived and come home in one piece, able to paint? As it turned out, the draft was over 2 years later and the thought of wearing green and seeing red was no longer on the horizon. One of my earliest memories was admiring a rather large bougainvillea bush and the abundance of vibrant magenta flowers that glistened in the Southern California sun. Everything else around me was greyish brown, like a spent paper bag used to conceal malt liquor from the cops. Our backyard was brown clay as my dad had no time to plant or cultivate any growth as life was hard in East L.A. But for some unknown reason there was this bush, like a pearl among the rocks. For those who know the area, I grew up on Eastside Street by Soto St. I believe this memory hybernated inside my soul and gave me a glimpse of another place. It was like a window where I could see a dream unfold, if I was only brave enough to dream and step on through to the other side. I learned early on that Art could take me there...but there was a price to pay. [to be continued...]... |
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I recently finished my rendition of Christopher Columbus for the Discovery Channel. The program titled "Columbus:Secrets from the Grave", which airs Aug.1 2004, unearths the true identity of the explorer through DNA testing. I worked with the talented team at Crew Creative Adv. in L.A. Three artists were selected to depict Columbus as an Italian, a Spaniard and a Jew. Frank chose to portray the Explorer as a Jew, which he thought would be the most challenging and controversial. Equally challenging was the turnaround of 6 days for the finished oil painting on linen. The painting will be used on the Discovery Channel's web site as well as the documentary film. |
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I spotted one of my paintings in 'Anger Management'. As my wife Jana and I were watching Anger Management, we noticed something familiar behind Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler in one scene. Could it be my Baseball Poster which I did years ago which was licensed by MLB? Yes it was. Though it was out of focus, I recognized the artwork immediately. You can get a better idea of the artwork, as I have displayed it here in focus.  |
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GORBON is a map created by my 11 year old son Isaac. He is a huge Lord of the Rings fan. He has created Kingdoms with their own languages as well as alphabets. He wants to someday be an artist. I say he is clearly on his way. Bravo Isaac! |
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portfolio | books | gospel art | new work | bio | what's news | contact | home | phone: 530-889-5587 | email:
© copyright 1996-2008 Frank Ordaz. All Rights Reserved | site by carver creative |
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