Boy With The Balloon

Since moving into our new home I have had a burst of creative energy. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to use that energy or to put it to good use. However, for the last month I've been working up an hour earlier and have tried to devote the majority of that hour to creating some artwork. Above is the first piece that I finished. I'm fairly happy with the outcome and am excited to doing more. I really like how the sky came out as well as the city. Hopefully I'll still be able to have some creative time even after the baby comes (only 6 more weeks!).
Stay tuned for more artworks.

Signed Shepherd Fairey Print

Periodically Shepherd Fairey randomly sells signed and numbered 18x24 prints for charities. When he does this, they always sell out in minutes. Yesterday he randomly posted one and I was fortunate enough to have a good friend of mine be on the website at the right exact moment and she ordered me one! They are only $50 a piece but start selling on EBay for 10 times that immediately. Here is what Fairey wrote on his site, OBEYabout the print:

"I chose to illustrate this image of two girls knitting (in a Rush Arts program) because I think it really captures the idea that learning art in schools is about more than crayon drawings, it’s about creativity, something that transcends all class and race boundaries. I think the joy of making something is universal, and it’s an opportunity that every kid should have."- Shepard

All the proceeds went to the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. I can't wait to get it in the mail; it should be here in a few days!

Sufjan Stevens Coming to Ithaca!

On Friday night my buddy Josh came over and told me that Sufjan Stevens is coming to Ithaca and is playing at a small venue (around 300 people). He told me that tickets were going on sale at 10am the next day and that tickets would sell out in minutes. Fortunately for me, he not only told me about the tickets, he even went a step further and was able to snag me a pair when they went on sale. Thanks Josh!

I was fortunate enough to see Sufjan play in 2006 at the 930 Club. It was an unbelievable show. I can't wait to hear what he plays in Ithaca...I wonder if it will be with a full band or just a small crew. We'll find out on September 23rd. Hopefully Andrea won't have gone into labor yet!

Interesting Chairs

Today i was quickly scanning through notcot.org and found amazing chairs made by Pawel Grunert. The things he is making are unbelievable. Check out his site here. I would love to be able to design furniture like this. The only think that I always wonder is if any of these things ever end up in anyone's home or if there are all just single pieces used more for concepts but are never reproduced. Either way, they are beautiful. Hopefully one day I can get my hands on one!

I Never Win Raffles...

UNTIL NOW! The other day I got a call telling me that I had just won a brand new, hydro-powered scooter! It can go up to 35mph and gets over 100 miles per hour gallon! All I do is add 1 part distilled water and 3 parts gasoline. I get to pick it up tomorrow. Below is a picture of it...mine will be bright yellow though. I'll post another picture when I have it. Hopefully I don't totally kill myself on it.

Currently Liking: Miki Sato

I found this beautiful mixed media artist at sharesomecandy.com (amazing arts website). I love this piece called "Anticipating pregnancy" (which Andrea and I are!). I just put an e-mail into Miko to see if the piece is for sale, what the dimensions are, and for how much. I'm praying that it's affordable. Then I'll just have to find the perfect place for it in our house.

St. Francis of Assisi

The other day I was flipping through a book celebrating the life of St. Francis of Assisi and found this stunning image in it. It looks to have been a block print but unfortunately I can't figure out who the artist was or what year it was made. What I love about it so much is that it isn't the typical image of Francis (i.e. him standing with birds floating around him) but instead puts a new spin on his connection to animals, even in the sea. Right now I am working on recreating this image as a large 18x24 silkscreen print. I'll post it when its finished.

Fast Food Mafia

I stumbled upon this drawing today thanks to my friend Josh's blog page. Thought it was really funny but also really well done. There are hundreds of great drawings like this on deviantart.com

Sylvia Park

I just discovered a new favorite website: sharesomecandy.com. Everyday it posts a few images from different designers and illustrators from around the world. The one that really stuck out to me today was Slyvia Park. I've long been a fan of simple line drawings that are filled in with simple, large sections of color. I love the lack of detail and the simplicity of it. I'd love to learn this style of drawing sometime. Maybe that'll be my summer project (besides for redoing our new home, and preparing for our baby!). Here is one of her drawings that caught my eye.

Where I Want to Work

Lately, with summer approaching, I've been getting really antsy in the office. Come 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I just want to go be outside enjoying the great weather. I think if I worked in an office like this:I wouldn't have that problem anymore! This office, designed by Iwan Baan is in a small park in Madrid and is now the office for Selgas Cano Architects. Somehow I don't think that I'll be getting an office like this any time soon. I knew I should have been an architect!

Interesting Photography

I just stumbled upon this artist, Renee Rhodes who does some really interesting photography and sculpture work. She is currently a member of the SOIL Collective Art Gallery that I have checking out for the past few months. Her work is very surreal and somehow calming. I haven't been able to learn much about her other than that she is young and is just starting to make a name for her self. Check out her site here.

Frank Llloyd Wright Legos

This is my dream come true...LEGO is working with the Frank Lloyd Wright foundation to create LEGO sets for Falling Water and the Guggenheim. It is the perfect LEGO set for aspiring architectures, designers, and general lovers of modern architecture and culture. I'll admit that I may be more excited about this than most (seeing as I playing with LEGOs daily until I was 13) but it seems like this could be a move toward adult oriented LEGO sets. Hopefully these sets will hit the market soon. Unfortunately I have a feeling they may be wickedly expensive.

Ignite Syracuse...

For the past few years a series called "IGNITE" has been springing up all around the country. It first started in Seattle but today is in over a hundred cities across the world. Tonight will be the first IGNITE SYRACUSE ever! My friend Chu and I have organized it and it is looks like it should be a good time. We have 8 folks signed up to present. Here is the basic idea: "If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Do you have a project you’d like to share with others? Ignite offers you a venue to share your creative project with like-minded people. The presentations can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between. If you’re interested in presenting your idea, please sign up today."

Wish us luck!

I Can't Believe I Just Learned About This...

Somehow I only recently came across the most amazing website, gigposters.com This is the website that I had been dreaming of for such a long time and never knew it existed. The site has over 90,000 posters from past concerts by pretty much every band to play live. Their collection is unbelievable and is really easy to search through. If you get luck you can even still purchase a few of them. This is one for Iron and Wine, one of my favorite bands of all time.

My Day Job...

Here's what my co-workers and I have been working on for a year and a half over on the Northside of Syracuse. It is finally off the ground and we have 15 candidates, representing 8 countries, that are a part of our green construction workforce development program. Its been great to see these folks learn useful green construction skills, improve their English skills, and prepare to enter the workforce again. Check out this brief video to get a sense of the program and the amazing people we have involved in it.

John Hendrix is a Genius

I've been following this guy for a few years now, but he never fails to amaze me. When I stumbled upon his blog in 2007 he was just really getting his start. Since, he's done everything from covers for every major magazine, advertisements, and cartoons. The coolest thing though that he does are his "Drawings in Church." Each week, while in church, he draws in his journal images that correspond to the sermon. They are always beautiful, complicated, and telling of John's faith and the theology of his church. Check out his blog here.

Large Public Art Project

For the past few weeks I've been working with Saint Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse, NY to create a 100 ft by 6 ft panoramic public art piece for the roof of one of their buildings. Currently several patient rooms look out onto this roof that has large duct work on it. Due to a flurry of complaints about the poor view, St. Joes asked me if I could create a public art piece that would hide this eye sore. After some conversations it was decided that a large photograph of Oneida Lake would be a great image for patients to look out onto. In the next few weeks I'll be going to take the picture(s), have it printed on vinyl strips that will be attached to 6 inch by 6 foot aluminum strips that will be weaved into a 100 ft fence. It should be an interesting project. I'll keep posting about our progress.

Tape Sculptures

For the last several months I've been working with some Syracuse University students as part of an arts after school program. During it we taught kids about photography, sculpture, printing, and a bunch of other fun stuff. One of my favorite things we did in our sculpture module was creating sculptures using only packing tape and ceran wrap. It was easy for kids to figure out but it also still allowed for them to be really creative and make intricate stuff.

A little project for the weekend...

I saw this on Design Sponge yesterday and thought that it was a really neat and easy idea. Basically it is just a few Altoid tins spray painted and then glued together. The cool thing about it is that you can put magnets on then as well as has them open up to store little notes or receipts in them. If only I ate Altoids. I'll just have to suck it up and buy a few tins and give away the mints.

I'm Sure People Have Seen This By Now....But....

I can't help myself. I have to post the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. I'm sure just about everyone has seen this by now but it is too good not to post. I can't wait till October when it finally comes out. If somehow you missed this trailer (it has been posted on every blog I frequent) then make sure to check it out. If you have seen it, then you know you want to watch it again...ENJOY.

A Picture for my Brother and Sister

Over the weekend I worked on a new piece for art. My brother and sister-in-law have been wanting some sort of portrait of their son, Aidan, but they didn't want it to just be a cheesy oil painting of him, so they asked me to take a stab at it. Here is what I came up with. Basically it is a funky background made up of scrap pieces of patterned paper with a silkscreened image of Aidan overtop that I designed. The original image that it is based off of is one that I took last Thanksgiving when he still looked significantly more "babyish". This is just my first draft but I like where it is headed.

First Post is Always the Easiest

So here goes nothing...this will be my 2nd attempt at keeping a regular blog. I plan to be much more dedicated to this one than the last one. I think I've learned from my mistakes though...keep the post short, to the point, and make them colorful and fun. This first post is always the easiest. Now I just need to stick with it. Wish me luck!