ASK A 3rd WARD TEACHER: John Gruen, web developer, interactive videographer, Gnostic text expert

(c) Matt TaplingerIf you're a designer, artist or thinker, chances are you need a website as your calling card. Meet 3rd Ward instructor, John Gruen, who can help you put the best foot forward in the wild and wooly interwebs. In his class, Intro to Web Design: HTML/CSS, John teaches the essentials of HTML coding and DIY internet success. In just four sessions, you'll unlock the power of those magical scripts and give yourself a professional leg-up.

We caught up with John to hear more about the surprising projects of his diverse student base, using math to create images, and the enormous benefits of learning in class rather than on your own. Ready to get started? Intro to Web Design: HTML/CSS begins on September 13th, sign up today!

3rd Ward: What do you teach here at 3^rd Ward?

John Gruen: I teach HTML, CSS, and Processing. I’m continually teaching this Intro to HTML/CSS class, which is intro to web development. It seems really popular because a lot of people want to have that little edge. A big part of the class is basically what is HTML, what is CSS, how do they work, how do you design a site, and then what are things like jQuery and PHP and the next level to make you a decent web developer – to make you more than just a beginner.

3W: What sort of student work comes out of it?

JG: Well one kid does package design for toys and conceptual design for film and video game stuff and he just wanted to make his own portfolio website that he could add to, update, and change. It was [a concept] I would have never thought of on my own. One student made a huge website for a wedding announcement, with directions, a link to a site where you could RSVP and stuff like that. There are a lot of people who are also in print media, like writers and journalists, who want to have some kind of online presence where they can put their material and customize it more than just a Tumblr feed.

3W: Do you teach anything else?

JG: Yeah. Processing, which is another programming language.

3W: What’s the difference?

JG: Processing is based in Java. It’s designed with people in the arts in mind to have the ability to make really complex computer programs, essentially. It focuses on data visualization, drawing, interaction… I have used it for a lot of interactive video stuff, where it’s very good at doing motion detection. If you're using the camera on your computer, for example, you can make a program that detects your face and you can use the input of your face to control certain images on the screen. It’s very good for imaging and for drawing through programming, but also for drawing through interaction. Generally, people who are interested in it are people who work in graphic design or architecture.

It can be used with randomized mathematics to create really complex images, like creating textures. There’s a really nice example on the Processing website of tracking flight paths. It’s just good at rendering data into a visually intelligible format.

3W: How did you get into this? Did you study it in college?

JG: I studied religion in college. I like religious history, or specifically Christian history.

3W: You were just fascinated by it?

JG: Maybe it was that I always enjoyed history and that particular moment of Hellenistic and Roman history – the birth of Christianity – is really interesting. After college, it was sort of hard to get a job talking about early Gnostic texts and stuff like that...so I started doing websites for people and realized I could do them and sustain a living.

Part of the reason I’m so interested in teaching people with that is because I wasted so much time learning that stuff as I was teaching myself. One of the curses of doing freelance is that you're not necessarily surrounded by mentors or people that are better than you. You’re relegated to figuring it out on your own. One of the good things about classes is that you don’t have to do that; you can have someone say that if you have this problem, this is a solution.

3W: Are you doing anything else that you’re really into?

JG: Well actually, I'm interested nowadays in the stuff that’s coming out of this Processing program. There’s another program that I’m learning, which is called openFrameworks, which is similar to Processing but based on C++. You can check out my website and current work at http://johngruenprojects.com.

I’m working right now for a headhunting firm in Rockefeller Center and then also just finished a job for a project based out of Southern Mexico and the Yucatan that does work with indigenous Mayan people.

3W: Wait, so you're designing a website for them?

JG: It’s still being finished, but it’s really different. It [embodies] really different needs for really different people and it’s fun to meet the challenges simultaneously. You do meet and interact with a lot of different people, for sure.

3W: If you're teaching classes, you're also interacting with people in your role as a teacher.

JG: Teaching this class keeps me honest because I have to keep reminding myself of very basic concepts. Even trying to explain it to you… it’s a challenge to verbalize these things because they're their own language with their own rules. The best way to teach is by example. So I start out with a blank screen in class, and on the computers everybody’s got the same thing I do, and then we all type everything together. It’s the start of muscle memory for students; they need to learn the order of which to do things. We start out like that and then we get a little bit more freeform toward the end of the class. It’s a good way, I found, to force them to do a certain set of things rather than just show them what is possible, because there is a right way and wrong way, especially regarding efficiency. So just having everyone typing together is a really good way to build that foundation.

Space is filling up for John's Intro to Web Design class, enroll now! 



Goods Labor Day Weekend Menu

Haven't made Labor Day plans yet? Well here's a reason to stick around the ol' 11211: Goods is serving up a special Labor Day Weekend Menu, with brand-new dishes from Chef Alex McCrery.

Enjoy our regular menu, plus:

Housemade Lox (Spicy!)
Toasted English Muffin, Leek Marmalade $8.50
with a slab of Heirloom Tomato +$2

Fried Oyster Skewer
Corn fried Oysters, House Remoulade $4.75

Charred Andouille Biscuit Sandwich
Thibodaux Andouille, LA Smoked Sausage, Peach Jelly $8.25

“Jenny” Pork
Braised Pork Shoulder, Red Slaw, Homemade Biscuit or Bun $7

Fried Chicken Legs, Red Beans and Hocks
Beans cooked with Smoked Ham Hocks, and Rice $9.75

Seared Broccoli Salad
White Anchovy, Lemon Vinaigrette $5.75

Yogurt and Peach Parfait
Farm Peaches, Tonjes Dairy Yogurt $8.25

*Special Monday hours - 9am - Sunset

Solo Show Legend, Pim Palsgraaf, at Governors Island Art Fair

Pim Palsgraaf, Multiscape 16Pim Palsgraaf at Governors Island Art Fair

Governors Island

Saturdays & Sundays, September 4-26

GALLERY OPENING September 4, 11a-6p

Hop on the ferry and see the complex, surprising work of Pim Palsgraaf, our 2009 Solo Show Winner, at the Governors Island Art Fair.

Pim first captivated us with his haunting clash of taxidermied animals, architectural sculpture and dark paintings. Inspired by areas of industrial desolation of Rotterdam, Netherlands, his work brings you straight to the battle lines between nature and urban expansion.

In some pieces, the towering architectural structures clearly crush the more earthly deers and raccoons; in others, nature has the upper hand.

Over 100 artists were selected and will design their own gallery space. 4 Heads, the NYC-based art collective behind the Governors Island Art Fair, is a group that works to repurpose underused spaces and put them in the hands of artists. 

The opening party is this Saturday, September 4th, from 11a to 6p, and artwork will continue to be shown every weekend for the month of September.

For info and ferry directions, visit http://www.4heads.org/. Check out more of Pim's work at www.pimpalsgraaf.nl.

Chef Alex and the Goods crew's epic Tasting Table feast

(c) Matt TaplingerLast Wednesday, Chef Alex McCrery and the Goods crew served up an unforgettable All-You-Can-Eat New Orleans-inspired feast to one hundred very lucky Tasting Table readers.

Guests enjoyed andouille straight from Thibodaux, Louisiana, plump corn-fried oysters bursting with flavor, joyous live music well into the night, and more. To see this delicious event in all its tasty glory, visit the 3rd Ward Flickr page.

Worried you missed your chance to get a taste? Make sure to follow @GoodsFoodBK to find out when Chef Alex is making these special off-the-menu dishes again!

Are you a sound artist? Art Fag City wants your clips for NYC’s definitive record

Petra Cortright, Excepter, Shots Ring screenshot, 2009Our smart and artsy friends at Art Fag City have a great opportunity lined up for all you envelope-pushing sound folks:

The Sound of Art is a DJ Battle Record of art sounds, pressed in vinyl with Side A repping Manhattan sounds and Side B repping our very own Brooklyn sounds.

Send your audio clips from installations or experimental sound pieces, and you can be included on the same record as both established and up-and-coming artists like Moyra Daves, Jennie C. Jones, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Eli Hansen, Petra Cortright, Damien Catera, Shannon Plumb, Ted Riederer, and more!

The project will be mixed at Think Tank Studios (Sonic Youth, Don Fleming) and Phillip Niemeyer (Spoon, NY Times) will be creating album cover art. The final album will credit all sounds included to the artist and gallery or museum.

This age-old borough-battle is sure to be an epic record that will also capture the dynamic landscape of sound art in NYC. Learn more and send in your work here. Deadline is Friday, September 3rd!

We've known each other awhile, let's make it official!

We know you...we've seen you around, taking classes, booking studios, using our shop passes. So tell us why you aren't an Unlimited Member again? As an Unlimited Member, you'd get full access to all our facilities, over 100 classes, and our unbeatable creative community -- all without paying anything extra.

Still not convinced? Well, now until September 24th, we're offering a killer deal for those who want to fulfill their creative potential and get the full 3rd Ward experience. Sign up now, and every single dollar you've paid at 3rd Ward -- whether in Basic Membership fees or class fees -- will go towards a discount on your monthly Unlimited Membership fees.

You're already ahead on your payment (and by more than you might think)! To learn more about this deal, visit our 3rd Ward Membership Specials page. Or, call us at 718.715.4961 to discover how much money you can be saving each month.

ASK A 3RD WARD TEACHER: Tim Kent, painter of nudes, interiors & the occasional transsexual parrot

(c) Gianna Keiko RankartA self-described “semantic voyeur of people and a manic semiologist of things,” painting instructor Tim Kent is a true 3rd Warder. He came in by a party, joined as a popular painting teacher, and even stayed as a woodworking student. Tim shows his lumious work in the UK and USA, and has pieces in many prominent collections.

Read our interview below to learn about Tim’s class, Painting I: Introduction to Oil Technique, his background, and his take on what it takes to be a successful painter while also staying true to a love of the art.

Don't be scared of oil! Tim’s Intro to Oil Painting class makes this oft-feared medium easy. Sign up today; seats are filling up fast!

3rd Ward: What do you teach here?

Tim Kent: I like turtles... but I teach Painting with Traditional Techniques. We go through the very basics of oil painting in the class.. what materials and techniques were used traditionally, and what we use today. We make our own mediums and then we glaze, mix paints and learn about pigments.

3W: What’s your background?

TK: I’m Turkish and English… [Laughter] No, when I was younger I studied at The Art Students League. Out of high school, I double majored in art history and studio art at Hunter. And then I went to England to the University of Sussex at West Dean and I got my masters in Visual Culture, which had a lot to do with painting.

3W: Yeah, what is that?

TK: We were sort of looking at the last 50 years, and the ways of critically interpreting work. And if there is such a thing as ‘working.’ We would debate all the time, while still painting. It was an amazing program because it was out in the middle of nowhere in a massive old house with all the furnishings that go back to the 1650s. It had antique paintings on the walls, huge rugs... pretty amazing.

3W: Do you prefer the figure for your subject matter?

TK: Yeah I’m beginning to. I used to do a lot of still life of these large interiors. They are very detailed interiors and places. And now I’ve started to work with the figure again. I got into doing the interiors because I needed a real place to begin putting them. You’re adding a narrative element when you’re working with people, otherwise you might as well be an abstract thinker. Which is cool, but I like the challenge of what I do. Now it’s becoming nudes, I like naked women…laying around my house. They come, lay around, and I paint them. [laughter]

And I do commissioned artwork and I do portrait commissions, some of which I’ve been working on for nearly two years because they are quite involved pieces. I also do shows; I show in England and I show here.  I’ve done projects for large corporations like Hugo Boss, Max Marr, Levi’s. So I’m always involved in creating stuff and making stuff. In fact, I’ve worked with Elise McMahon (3rd Ward Instructor of Upholstery, Woodworking & Skateboard Deck Making). We did a project for Levi’s last month.

3W: What did you do exactly?

TK: There is a new jacket they are releasing and they are in the front windows of the Levi’s 59th St. Store. We basically sat in my studio for three days, with two hammers, 36 beers, and lots and lots of Black Sabbath and we nailed this [window display] until it was done. And then we installed it and it looked really good.

3W: So how did you gain attention so you could get commissions? How long did it take?

TK: It takes every day. It’s taken eight years.

3W: Do you try to balance between doing the corporate work versus things that you are just genuinely interested in yourself?

TK: I basically don’t do that many. I live off the work that I sell on commission. When I do my own work, most of the time I have an audience in mind. If I’m making a show I know the audience. If I go to England, I know it can’t be sort of like…slaughtered lambs everywhere. Some English might buy it, but they probably won’t. Or like, transsexual…parrots. So what they want is straight painting.

3W: So you are saying that your personal work is impacted by what the people want?

TK: Yes. I think I pick the subject matter. But at the end of the day, I’m not just painting because I love to paint. But obviously I love to paint. I wouldn’t spend 12 hours a day in the studio doing it otherwise. So there is a certain finish that people want to see. I know what kind of finish is a good finish, I kind of know how to make it…dazzle. That sort of thing is for the audience.

3W: I feel like the profession of painting is extremely difficult to make a living in. For you personally, what do you think is the key ingredient in becoming a successful painter?

TK: I think being ambitious, not being afraid to talk to people, and being good at what you do.  By ambition, it is going out and setting up shows. By being good at talking, its bringing in people, talking to people as they come in. When you set up shows you are already helping everybody else out and you’re helping yourself out. And I think being really good and consistent, that’s probably number one. If you look at the history of Western Painting you don’t see people becoming well known, or their work being collected, if they weren’t good on social terms. Liking business is important too. If you read The Lives of the Artists, which is this great book from the 1550’s, you get a really good idea of how these artists were operating. They actually dealt with it as a function of business. And I think that’s a good model to work from for me as a painter.

3W: You have a studio nearby, right?

TK: My studio is right around the corner, I’ve been out here since late 2007. I’ve always lived out of this area. I love the neighborhood [Bushwick]. I think it’s really cool to see the beginning of what’s going to happen over the next 20 years. And its really cool to see how quickly it’s changing. It’s nice to be part of something that’s really vibrant. I remember the point when you guys first opened your doors, I was walking my dog and then all of a sudden there is this big building. And there is a barbecue in the back - that’s when I met Jason Goodman. He’s like, “Yeah! Come and eat some food!” Anyway, this place is pretty cool.

3W: Do you do any other types of art besides painting?

TK: I do. I do drawings and little video pieces, animations. And I’m an amateur carpenter…I can build shelves and stairs.

3W: Did you start with taking classes here?

TK: The nice this about being an instructor here is that I can do that. And I am totally going to do that now.

3W: How did you start painting?

TK: I was a big skateboarder for a long, long time and I used to do a lot of drawing and stuff like that. But I was hanging out on the street too much. I was being a bad tough kid.

3W: How old were you?

TK: I was 18... so I went to art school. And the natural thing after drawing was to start painting. So I bought some cheap oil paint. My mom, my dear mom…you have to put this in because I love my mom… for my birthday she bought me my first oil paint set. And I spent two months making paintings in my bedroom. I kind of stopped hanging out on the street. That was when I really began to look at oil painting, and then I went to the museum everyday because it was right up the road.

3W: Which one?

TK: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Which is the finest institution and it’s amazing. And the cool thing is, paintings kind of reveal themselves. Painting wasn’t about nice things, or pretty things. They always kind of had this weird dynamic to them. This sub textual or subversive dynamic, and that’s what really was beautiful. And it wasn’t obvious. I could go in for a penny and sit next to Rembrandt, Rubens, anything, it was mine. That’s probably why I paint - I like to communicate. That communication definitely separated me from a certain road, without getting too corny, but it is the truth.

Learn more about Tim and his work at http://www.ocularjoyfoundation.com and sign up for his Oil Painting Class today!

Calling all women in love with their jobs

When it comes to a career, who wants to be a wallflower? Every day at 3rd Ward, we see peeople finding their passions and chasing them full force. We know of so many people who are living their dreams as creatives, And now's your chance to tell us how you made it happen. 

I Want Her Job, a website that profiles women with careers to write home about, is looking for inspiring stories about women living the life they always wanted. Each woman gives important insight, day-in-the-life details and a breakdown of what it takes to succeed in her chosen field. Think of an informational interview with a close friend.

What would you say to the next generation of female artists and designers? Will you tell them how you found support for your art? How you found workspace, resources, and community? Will you tell them about your recent project or collaboration? Remember how it was before that dream job and let others know what you know now!

I Want Her Job has already interviewed women in the arts, entertainment, business and travel. To become the next profiled superstar, send an email to iwantherjob@gmail.com and tell them all about you and your awesome job. Not yet in love with your job? Check out the rest of the profiles for inspiration at http://iwantherjob.com/.

Forwards\Backwards // Mike Rugnetta

Forwards/Backwards WIP in Governor's Island from Mike Rugnetta on Vimeo.

Check out former 3rd Ward Education Director and current member Mike Rugnetta's newest video piece!

He's the best self trained, speed talking, performance artist WE know!

TICKETS ON SALE: All-you-can-eat Jambalaya @ Goods!

(c) Liz ClaymanWe follow @GoodsFoodBK on Twitter religiously to learn what specials Chef Alex and his crew are whippin up. But our favorite days? When Chef Alex beings a little of his hometown New Orleans flavor to the corner of Lorimer and Metropolitan.

Now we won't have to wait for those mouth-watering tweets because for one night only, Wednesday, August 25th, Goods is hosting an All-you-can-eat Jambalaya feast!

For just $25, you'll get unlimited portions of:

-  Bobo Farms chicken & andouille jambalaya

-  Juicy corn-fried oysters

-  Fresh-from-the-fryer beignets

-  Homemade iced tea & lemonade

Plus, we heard there's even going to be a New Orleans-style live music. Buy your tickets for the Tasting Table Goods Jambalaya Feast now, cuz there are just a limited number of seats available.