As if Gary Baseman weren't busy enough, the L.A.-based "pervasive artist" / painter / TV writer and producer ("Teacher's Pet") recently put down his paint brush long enough to pick up the telephone and ask some artist friends to re-imagine, of all things, a series of paint-by-number canvases for an auction called "Charity by Numbers." (Pictured at right: Baseman's entry in the auction.)

Here he reflects on the result of his efforts -- which, by the way, raised a cool $195,000 for The Alliance for Children's Rights.

ON BEING THE AUCTION'S ARTIST WRANGLER:

Bruce [Helford, husband of Corey Helford, who owns the gallery] sort of off-hand told me that he's been collecting these vintage paint-by-number pieces, and he wanted to do something with the charity. I was, like, "I'm on board, and I'm going to help!"

ON THE CONCEPT:

What I loved is you can re-imagine these kind of kitschy images that were created so that anyone could become a painter. You know, the notion that you can create your own Picasso, or your own landscape [or, as Baseman tongue-in-cheekily pronounces it, "lawnd-scape"], or your own nude by following the rules, when the reality is that to really become an artist you break the rules. I love the idea of taking contemporary artists and having them recreate -- or deconstruct, or reconstruct -- these images into their own work.

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES:

I started asking my friends like Mark Ryden and Marion Peck. Actually, Mark is having a really big show here at the Michael Kohn Gallery on March 10. He's amazing. (At right: Ryden's The Birth.) I asked and I couldn't even believe he said yes, because of his upcoming exhibition -- but that was just him being so gracious. And Christian and Rob Clayton, who show at Bellwether in New York, they're wonderful painters. And Shepherd Fairey. Artists of that stature.

ON PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER IN TWO MONTHS:

It was fucking crazy! I lost a few artists -- maybe a dozen who weren't able to take part because they had shows in February -- but maybe 90 percent of the artists I asked said "yes."

ON THE L.A. ART SCENE AND 'PERVASIVE ART':

L.A. has a wonderful art community. It's like the wild, wild West, and it really is subversive to the traditional power structure of the fine art world because a lot of the artists here are showing in small galleries or boutiques and are more apt to be seen in the museum stores rather than the actual museums. And our fan base comes not necessarily from the proper collections or the proper curators, but from the people. It's a real populist movement.

I call it "pervasive art," the idea of art that's perceived everywhere. Some people try to call it low brow or "pop surrealism," but I don't like to name an art movement based on the content. The idea is that we're creating art that uses all the media available to us. So the definition of pervasive art is as long as you stay true to your aesthetic and message, you can put your art on anything and everything.

-- LIZ McDANIEL