The amazing artists I meet along the way : CREATONE

Myself with Anthony Cappetto and CREATONE in Mumbai, India 2012

After getting back into the groove back here at home the last few weeks, I am constantly reminded of the many wonderful people and artists that I run into on my adventures in street painting and illustration events.  Having grown up in a small town in North Dakota, I would have never thought that i would be conversing with and becoming friends with people from all over the globe.  Having such an amazing ability to converse and freely chat via social media and the internet, it really makes for an exciting adventure in the daily grind!  The inspiration and encouragement that one gets completely keeps the fires burning and can only hope it expands as more projects take me places i would have never dreamed.  One of those places recently was Mumbai, India where I was fortunate to have worked on a large scale mural.  Meeting so many wonderful people there like Rajat, Animesh, Anish, Pawan, Ashish, Vipul and Aseem to the artists that i got to work with like Julian Fernandez, with whom I would have not been able to finish the small mural without!

Then there was the collaborative group of street artists that go by the name CREATONE.  CREATONE is a group of 5 artists that are going to college together at the L.S. Raheja School of Art in Bandra that quickly became great friends, even if we saw each other for a few days!  The group is made up of Jatin Waghela, Ashray Dmanankar, Deepak Rathod, Pratik Patil, and Kiran Patil.  Seeing these guys work together as a creative force was exciting and their piece they created for TechFest 2012 really spoke to their ability as a team!  It is going to be fun watching these guys not only continue great things in India where they are already creating a name for themselves, but what will be when they hit the world stage.  Never knowing where exactly one will go with their creative endeavors is exciting.  Getting to share that excitement with all the wonderful people you meet along the way and see their journeys as well makes it even better!   

CREATONE in front of their finished mural

The atmosphere on the job site was always fun around these guys!  You never know what you would be looking at when you turned around!

The side of my mural and CREATONE's all lit up ready for TechFest to begin!

Hopefully as time permits, I will begin doing more blog posts about other artists that I have met along the way as well.  Having a great community of artists in my life is what makes it so great!

The PopUp Park at Minneapolis Institute of Arts comes to life

Well, 8 months has gone by since I was first approached by the MIA to create a installation piece in the front lobby of the museum.  How those months have flown by!  With many many meetings, revisions of concept, and a steep learning curve into the world of fake tropical plants and astroturf, I am pleased that the PopUP Park at the museum is getting lots of great use out of it.  Having all this fun color in the lobby really has warmed up the space and love how the Stella upstairs really seems to pop off the wall between the colors in the lobby and the painting.  To show some of the progress and overall project thru pics, here are a few for you to see how the park came to be!  These first few are from the opening night on the 19th of January.

Right before opening night

Opening night fun!

Wonderful turnout for opening night

More peeps!

First concepts 

First concepts

Then picking out the plants

Revised drawing

Fairly finalized layout

Couldn't have done the park without Al fabricating the mounds

Before

AFTER!
Yes, I do see you hiding in the corner Mom and Dad!   Great to see them come all the way from North Dakota!

My aunt Deb and uncle Steve

Great time in India!

Well, it is hard to believe that my Indian adventure has come and gone, but I can easily tell you that I had an experience of a lifetime!  From the warm hospitality of everyone on campus at IIT Bombay, to the atmosphere at Techfest, the trip was one that i will never forget.  Of course the main people I must thank include Anthony from Art for After Hours, whom I am one of their artists and was brought on board for this project.  I also am grateful to Rajat, Animesh, Anish, Aseem, Palash, Julian and everyone else that I forgot to mention!  There are way too many memories to start writing a book here, so I will let the photos speak for themselves :)

Finished large mural - 96ft x 15ft

Finished small mural - 25ft x 15ft

On my morning walk to work ;)

The artists from CreatOne.  Worked on Graffiti mural next to my piece

My trusty assistant Julian Fernandes!  He helped make the small mural come to life!

Off on another fun adventure. Cheers to 2012!

I know it is a bit early to be ringing in the new year, but with my trip tomorrow to Mumbai, India, this might be my last post of the year.  First off, Happy 2012 to all of you who have been with me over the last year and those new to Studio McCann.  I know I haven't had the chance to blog as much as I would like, so here's hoping to renewed effort for the new year in bringing you some decent posts ;)   Along that line, I am very excited and anxious for my next adventure which begins tomorrow and runs the first couple of weeks of January.  I will be heading out to Mumbai, India to work on a large wall mural on the campus of IIT Bombay as part of their Techfest 2012.  Having most of the major players in the technology field along with Nobel Laureate's, Robot Wars, and many more fun activities should keep the 2 week venture in high drive.  I definitely look forward to sharing with you the results of the mural and wish you and your families the best for the start of 2012!  Cheers!

The creation of a PopUP Park

Well, having worked on a number of other interesting art projects, I share with you one of the most recent.  This summer, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts asked if I could help in the creation of a PopUp Park this coming winter to create a space that was a retreat from the elements that typically spring up in Minnesota, ie, SNOW!  That being said, we decided to create a tropical feel to the space that is the main lobby outside of the museum shop and arts cafe.  Having nearly 2200 square feet posed both a project of immense size but also creative placement since we have thousands of visitors that will be interacting with the space on a daily basis.  With that, the final plan was drawn and we are now in the build phase of the project.  Once I return from my overseas adventure, the MIA's PopUP Park will be installed and will be accessible to all!  I can't wait to show you the final images of the park and will let you know of the opening night festivities when they are set.  Until then, here are a few teaser images of the "build" phase and more

Workin on some new drawings

As you can probably tell, the posts have been a little sparse lately.  I am hoping that starting the new year will allow me to do some more posts.  Having a hectic schedule and some really fun projects coming up is making for a little bit of craziness!  But I won't complain as it is good to be busy and out of trouble.  So as the year begins to wrap up here, I have been doing a fair amount of charcoal drawings lately.  Having not done them in over 5 years, i have been reinvigorated to keep working on new drawings.  This one above is a self portrait that i did recently.  The other image is of my grandmother.  With each new one, it is getting a little bit easier getting back into the swing of things with the charcoal.  Plus, it is just another reason to get messy in the studio :)

Sarasota International Chalk Festival

The full piece.  30'x40'

Anthony Cappetto with the AR birds!

Thought I would post an image of my and Anthony Cappetto's most recent street painting "Visions of Cambodia".  At 1200 square feet it was definitely a huge amount of work but one that was definitely worth it!  Plus, we were the first street painters to include augmented reality in the piece.  More information about that here 

"Open Canvas" Milwaukee

After a great trip to Sarasota the last week and a half (post about it soon), I am excited to head to Milwaukee this weekend to paint, have fun with great friends, and raise some money for scholarships.  Having attended the Open Canvas in White Bear Lake a number of times in the past, I am looking forward to attending the original location in Milwaukee!  The details on the event are as follows


"Open Canvas" Milwaukee

Saturday, November 12, 2011
Pritzlaff Building
333 N. Plankinton
Milwaukee, WI

Times 6pm to 11pm
website: click here

"The Sick Bug Goes to School" wins a Moonbeam Award!

It is with great excitement that I share with you that my recent book titled "The Sick Bug Goes to School" was awarded a silver MoonBeam award this past week.  Susie and I are honored that the book was chosen amongst so many other wonderful books.  Presented by Jenkins Group and Independent Publisher magazine, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are designed to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. Awards are given in 38 categories covering the full range of subjects, styles and age groups that children’s books are written and published in today.

WAMdemonium!

My view of the Weisman building!

With a crispness in the air, another fun time was had street painting this past weekend.  This time it was for the grand reopening of the famous Frank Gehry designed Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis.  With the museum having been closed the last year for an addition on the building, there was lots of excitement in the air as the gala arrived Sat night!  This piece is a 3D stylized image of downtown minneapolis and its riverfront.  The image is on two separate planes and in total was 10'x16'

Great time at Target Children's Book Festival

Thanks to everyone who came out last weekend for the Target Children's Book Festival at Hyland Park in Bloomington!  It was great seeing everyone come out (even though it was super hot) and support both Susie and I with out book.  It is really wonderful to have such great friends and family!  Here are a few shots from our time on stage!