Sawyer and Zola got their first taste of printmaking at the Minneapolis Monarch Festival at Lake Nokomis. ArtOrg was on hand with supplies, volunteers, and a STEAMROLLER, of course! This is Zola’s print, half inked. Conceptualizing the design, the fact that the lines & details you drew on your block wouldn’t show, proved difficult for many…
251/365: zola’s block gets inked
I received photos from the Traffic Signal Mural Project of my finished utility box. My design, “Wet Paint” is an old favorite, a shot of the perfect juicy swirl of vibrant colors Sawyer had on his palette one hot summer day before he dug in with his brush. I love the contrast of this image against the brick wall.
249/365: ‘wet paint’ utility box, mankato (my art, not my photo)
I’m excited to be part of two current public art initiatives – in Minneapolis and Mankato – that will turn unsightly utility boxes into works of art. Love this type of civic initiative!
This is what the proposal/design layouts look like. Someday, when the boxes are complete, I’ll post photographs of the finished work!
Nokomis Piers: one of 12 designs selected by the City of Minneapolis for the utility box wrap project.
Wet Paint: recently chosen by CityArt Mankato as one of 10 designs kicking off the first phase of its Traffic Signal Mural Project.
Stay tuned for more art in public places and keep an eye out for art coming to a street corner near you 🙂
Last Saturday the trees were unveiled in Nebraska City and my Kickstarter project was successfully funded! Double YIPPEE! You can check out photos of the finished tree on my facebook page. Someday, when I get back to Nebraska City, I’ll take better photos of my tree and post them here.
Today I want to say thanks to everyone who supported the project – and me: Tom and Liz, the Enchanted Arboretum project organizers in Nebraska, the other 20 artists involved, Kyle and Danielle from Icon Poly who made the tree sculptures, Andy and Chris at Rogers Printing who did a great job with my vinyl, and all my backers. I am full of gratitude for all the great people who were part of this experience and enjoying this week’s work: fulfilling backer rewards!
112/365: thank you cards
Stuck in the studio and feeling I’ve mined every shot out of the bleak, late winter landscape, I looked around and spied a large sheet of bubble wrap. This stuff is great for at least three reasons. Four if you count the protective packaging aspects.
1) Entertainment.
2) Nostalgia. Related to entertainment, but specifically linked to the endless delight of countless children including me and mine; and
3) It looks cool. Particularly if you really study it and take way too many pictures of it and start thinking that it looks like a mass of frog’s eggs under a magnifying glass. Or something like that.
Anyway, today’s photo also provides me with a perfect corny segue for talking about my Kickstarter project which wraps up Saturday, April 20th at 7:00am (CST). As of this post, there are 36 hours remaining. This fundraising effort supports my public art debut, The Never-Ending Wood, part of a public art initiative called An Enchanted Arboretum. If you haven’t yet, please check out the project. There’s a video of me talking about the project, lots of pictures and more information. Plus, you can check out the special edition artwork I’m offering as backer rewards.
While I’ve made my goal, I’m excited to have lots of people on board and to share the rewards with as many people as possible. I’d love to have some blog readers jump on board!
108/365: bubble wrap
I’m behind on posting because we’ve been on a little road trip! Early Friday morning, Brad & I hit the road with the tree in tow and headed for Nebraska City.
I’m pleased to report that the tree is FINISHED (No pics till the public unveiling on April 20th…) and after months of planning, work, and no small amount of angst, we were ready for a sigh of relief and a little celebration.
April in Omaha offered us all the charm of spring and a chance to eat, drink, and be happy just being together. Cheers to that!
96/365: brad, omaha
Thursday we picked up the trailer, took The Tree OUT of the garage and packed it snugly in a big wood crate. I breathed my first sigh of relief when the whole thing was wrapped in plastic wrap and locked away: done.
95/365: u-haul trailer on 14th avenue
Here’s a little sneak peak of the tree sculpture after my first full day putting the vinyl collage on it. It’s all coming together!
If you’d like to learn more about my tree project, part of a public art initiative in Nebraska City called An Enchanted Arboretum, please visit my Kickstarter page. I am happy to report that I made my initial fundraising goal to pay the printing costs and I’m only $450 away from my stretch goal…
92:365: tree detail
Yesterday was big. The 66″ x 29″ vinyl prints for my tree were finally finished and – WHEW! – they look great. Now there’s just the small matter of getting these giant stickers on the sculpture. This project is such an amazing opportunity but it’s also one of those great, challenging, slightly scary adventures that I just can’t wait to appreciate in the rear-view mirror…
If you haven’t yet, please visit my Kickstarter project to watch a little video and learn more about the project – three weeks to go.
89/365: never-ending wood on vinyl
Remember that big tree I showed you a while back? Well, it’s almost ready for its close-up…
Today’s photo shows a detail of the tree yesterday after priming.
I just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to complete the tree, my first large-scale public art project. Do you know about Kickstarter? It’s an online funding platform for funding creative projects.
You can pledge to become a backer, help get creative projects off the ground, and receive a reward. I’m offering special editions prints featuring images from my design cycle, “The Never-Ending Wood”.
These 4 photo-collage designs will cover the tree. As it turns out, printing photos on vinyl to wrap a 6-foot tall, three-dimensional tree is EXPENSIVE.
While I did receive $500 from the Enchanted Arboretum project board (Thank You!), my costs exceed $1200. I’m trying to make up the difference.
Please visit my Kickstarter Page to learn more about the project. There are lots of photos and also, ahem, a video. (I can’t say it was my finest hour but I got the job done.)
Become a backer to help get the project off the ground. Every contribution counts. Rewards start at $5!!
85/365: primed tree sculpture
avant garden 365 