It's Happening!

People are beginning to collect the new Map "postcards"! So far six or eight people have bought cards through eBay, and a few others have been sent courtesy cards by me. If you want a free starter card send me a 44-cent stamp and your address, and I will mail you one as a postcard. See what you can build buy getting adjacent cards and putting them together.....a city....an island......a continent! Challenge your friends...get them started, too! Read the hidden messages in the Map inscriptions or make up your own story. Then let us know here at the blog how it goes......

About Those New "Postcards"......

Many of you have by now seen the new 4 by 5 inch Map "postcards". If you haven't, go to eBay and take a look. This format is very satisfying, especially for those of you who have been Map "tile" enthusiasts. It's the same mounting on recycled cardboard but at 1/4 scale (rather than 1/16) so that you can see all the detail- even read the inscriptions. And the eBay pricing (auctions starting at 99cents!) will permit all of you to start collecting right away! Have fun and good luck!

How Can I Start My Own Map Collection?

It's simple! Go to eBay.com and search "Gretzinger". There, in the store called sgattic, you will find dozens of Map prints offered at prices from $1.69 up. Find one you like and bid on it. Then watch for adjacent panels to become available. Buy those, too! (Every panel has co-ordinates to show where it is located.) Soon you will be able to cover a wall....or a ceiling. The panels printed on heavy paper are easily mounted on a smooth wall using 3-M or Magic Mount poster mounting squares. They can be found at Staples or Office Max. Have fun! Any questions? E-mail me; I'll be glad to help!

Map Tile Blizzard!


I have been peppering Cold Spring with map tiles (those little 2 by 3 inch prints mounted on recycled cardboard). Have you found some? Please let me know! And if you want more, let me know that, too. If you put all the tiles together you will have a map that is 8 feet high! It's a big job, though, since there are almost 2100 different panels at this point.

And also please take a look at the full-size ( 8 by 10 inches) panels for sale on eBay. Search "Gretzinger map".

The Opening

The opening at Christopher Henry Gallery on November 5 was a smashing success. The place was packed. My family and friends were there, and I met several artists. What a pleasure!

The NY Post was also there and I got a whole paragraph in the paper! Check it out: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/what_map_pening_RGkeFLwVucKX3Gh4OLyFuN

On a Brighter Note........

I met with Chris and Jamie at the Christopher Henry Gallery in New York yesterday, and we made plans to show about 280 Gretzinger Map panels there opening November 5! Florent Morellet ( of the late Cafe Florent and a fellow map-maker) approached the gallery about doing a show based on Kitty Harmon's new book, "The Map as Art", and they leaped at the chance. The show opens at 127 Elizabeth Street from 6 to 9 next Thursday and runs through January 10. Come see it!

Post ArtPrize Crash!

Participating in ArtPrize was such a rush for me. And now it is over. Artists have been packing up their work and carting it back to New York and South Bend and Paris. The trucks were arriving to take the winning painting off to GRAM for longer term viewing. I was copying the panels which I sold and putting the copies in place of the originals.

Now I am back at the farm. It's trying to snow here but only managing to sleet. The bulbs still need to be planted before I can go back to my cozy basement studio in Cold Spring and start to work in earnest again on the Map.

In November I will show some of the panels in a group show featuring the work of the artists in "The Map as Art", a book by Katherine Harmon. More on that a little later!

Is the Map for Sale?

Well, yes, as a matter of fact it is! Individual original panels of the current generation are available for $200 apiece or four for $700. You get the panel as displayed. I make a photocopy of it and start to rework that panel. That way you have the only copy of that panel at that stage of its execution. On panels sold while ArtPrize is in progress UICA will receive $60. A good way to support both artist and institution!

Signed and dated prints of many panels are also available on eBay. Search "Gretzinger Map" and take a look!

Thanks!

Map Puzzle

Yesterday I placed about a hundred of the "maptiles" on ledges in downtown Grand Rapids. If you found one and know someone else who found one then compare tiles. They may match! All the tiles put together would form a 1/16 scale version of the entire Map, and it would be 8 feet square!

I'll be putting more out today. Let me know what you find......

Wanna Be Part of The Map?

Since 2004 I have been asking friends to be "guest artists" on The Map. If you would like to join us, email me. I will tell you how to submit a guest artist panel! Your piece will go in the backlog of guest sheets and will be added to The Map when an "Add Guest Artist" card is drawn from the stack. Submissions are taken on a first-come-first-served basis. Your art becomes a new panel on The Map. I copy your sheet also to use as collage material. Your work gradually blends into the over-all fabric of The Map.

C'mon along!

So What's With the Tiles?

Have you found a little "map tile" in downtown Grand Rapids? In 2003 I started printing 1/16 scale versions of Map panels and placing them in public places- ledges of buildings, gas pumps, supermarket shelves...... Kids began to collect them. To date over 6000 of these little guys have made their way into others' hands. Find yours now!

Friday Dawn

The sun is coming up in Maple City, Michigan, and I am getting ready to go to Grand Rapids again. Bill Allen, Bob Purvis, a couple of their friends, my son, Henry, and I are going down to distribute more "map tiles" and see more art. This process is so exciting! I'll be hoping to meet some of you there.....

ArtPrize!

Hey everybody! I've been spending time in Grand Rapids mounting the Map for ArtPrize and meeting other exciting artists in the process! I got here on Wednesday the 16th. Lucky, Ray and I put up 233 of the Map panels that day. Bill Allen and I got the other 380 panels up over the 20th and 21st. Thanks to all who have visited the Old Federal Building and given me encouragement. I appreciate it!