Art in Bloom street painting 2014

Well, it is always better late than never, so I will be updating my blog here with some recent projects. This first one was a fun street painting I did for the Art in Bloom Friends kids day at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  This is a creation from the famed children's book "Mr. Bumble", original book by Kim and Doug Kennedy.    Had lots of fun creating this and the kids creating next to me was a blast as well.  Look forward to the next one next year!

Matisse Mural at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

After a busy last few months, it is good to get a post up finally.  I have been working on a number of different projects and am looking forward to sharing more about those soon.  In the meantime, here are the images from the completed Matisse Mural I did at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for the new Matisse show that opened this last weekend.  It was a blast working on it and coming up with an image that was a mashup of some of his pieces.  Here is the completed mural which was 12ft tall by 25 ft in width.

Another fun element of the Matisse show was creating a fun photo opportunity featuring one of the paintings in the show.  Here is a detail of the photo booth!   Also here is a great writeup Tim Gihring  did.  Homage to Matisse: Shawn McCann channels the master to accent the exhibition

And this is how you have fun with the Matisse Photo Booth!  Love the poses Katie, Kim, Courtney and Emma!

Photo courtesy of Katie Hill

TerraCotta Mural at Minneapolis Institute of Arts

After a week and a half, I am pleased to see that the mural at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is done.  It was a great time working on it and definitely am glad that this one will be staying up a little longer than the Rembrandt mural that was done earlier this summer.  The mural itself is in the TerraCotta Warriors shop on 2 at the end of the exhibit, so if you happen to be down at the MIA before January, check it out and let me know what you think!

Here are a few pics of the mural

The finished mural

Progress on the leaves

This was about half way thru

Here the tree was looking a little bare

Minneapolis Institute of Arts Rembrandt Gala Mural-Dance Hall

I am finally back posting again.  After a whirlwind spring full of projects, I am happy to finally share some pictures of the latest and largest mural to date that I have worked on.  With a little over a week and 3980 square feet, I think it turned out pretty cool.  I will be posting a more in depth post about the process of creating such a large mural in another one soon, but wanted to get this up and running.  The theme behind this mural was one of back alley, graffiti laced amsterdam dance space.  It was created in the US Bank Gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and am pretty sure the walls haven't looked like this before :)  Stop back soon to see the process shots of the project! And to make the project even more cool, the piece was lit up in black lights for the Rembrandt gala Friday night.  I think you will be able to tell which one is the lit up one!!!!!

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

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

Painting done for Minneapolis Institute of Art's "Art Perchance"

Well, another month seems to be flying by and before you know it, August will be here.  The great thing about that is coming up on Thursday, August 18, will be this years "Art Perchance" at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  The Friends of the Institute hold this annual fundraiser to help raise money to bring kids to the museum and other worthy causes.  I am proud to say that I will again be joining the ranks of artists who have been juried into the show/fundraiser.  The piece that I will be donating is the "Arizona Blooms" piece that you see below (Of course it will be framed though by then).  Until then, I hope if you happen to be in Minneapolis that Thursday night, you will stop down to see some amazing work that will be auctioned off and won, and help support a worth cause!

DETAILS

"Art Perchance"

Thursday August 18, 2011

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

6-9pm

2400 3rd Ave South

Minneapolis, MN 55330

Website

Come and check out the many wonderful artists that have donated pieces to help out with this great fundraiser

Projects Galore!

Well to say that my posts have been a little sparse lately, would be an understatement. The good news is it is not due to a lack of interest, but rather a lack of time to do so. The month of July has definitely been one that seems to be disappearing faster than I am typing this message. The good news is that many wonderful things are going on and couldn't be happier with the direction everything is going.

So lets start off with the street painting. It has been the best summer by far for my street painting ever since I got hooked up with Art for After Hours out in NY. They have really been able to provide some really exciting street painting opportunities. If you were not able to check out my posts on Facebook and Twitter about the Taste of Minnesota street painting that I worked on over the July 4th weekend, I have posted a few pictures here. Along with this project, I am anxious for a the number of upcoming street paintings that will be here before I know it!

In other studio news, I am continuing to work on a couple of childrens books and am hoping to finish those by the end of next month. Can't wait to show you the results!

And to finish off this post, I have to mention the great time I had at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bike Night last Thursday night. The weather was fantastic and it was so much fun seeing how much everyone enjoyed the 2 huge 8 ft by 9ft bike backdrops that I created just for the night! There are a couple of pics of the finished pieces at the front of the post, but the best images are from the Flickr site that the MIA has for the event. You can check them out here

Thanks and look forward to sharing some more pics with you soon of the upcoming street paintings and childrens books

Free childrens book event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts tomorrow

Needing something to do tomorrow (Sunday?). Come on over to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for the free family day "Cover to Cover". This fun day of activities will focus on the art of bookmaking and will be a blast for sure. The museum is open from 11-5 and there will be fun around every corner.

And if that is not reason enough to come over, then swing by the reception hall from 11-4:30 at the MIA to catch my free childrens book class for kids "Art making: book illustration". We will be creating our own little foldable books that you can take home and enjoy! There is no age limit and you can spend as little or as much time as you have to create your own little masterpiece!

Hope to see you there!!!! Details below

"Cover to Cover" Family Day

Sunday June 13, 2010

11-5 pm

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

2400 3rd Ave South

Minneaplis, MN 55404

612-870-3000

www.artsmia.org

Event detail click here

Koi Pond street painting at Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Well another Art in Bloom at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts has come and as you can tell by the pictures attached, I was asked to create another street painting for their Preview party fundraiser. What a gorgeous day it was on Wednesday to create the Koi pond that you find below. Thru the course of 8 hours, the concrete slowly changed from the boring grey that we are all accustomed to to a fun and engaging image. The street painting itself was 10 feet wide by 13 feet long so was definitely a chore to get all prepared for the big night! But it was worth every moment to see the reaction of all that came by. Even MIA employee had a great time scouting for the koi! Special thanks to Charles and Amanda of the MIA's Visual Resources department for a number of these photos!!!!! For more information on how to get your own street painting created, head on over to Art for After Hours website and give em a call!

Let the fun begin

After much waiting, the LA Times Festival of Books has finally arrived. With the last few items being packed at the moment, I am looking forward to my short three day trip to LA for this wonderful event. It is such an honor to be asked to appear at the festival and am anxious to meet many wonderful presenters and the all the people that will be coming out for the two day event. If you happen to be in the LA area, here is the link for the festival and my stage time will be at: For more info click here

Target Childrens Stage

11:15 AM followed by an hour long signing

LA Times Festival of Books

Sat April 24 and Sunday April 25

405 Hilgard Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90025

In other news, I will be creating a 3D street painting next Wednesday April 28 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for Art in Bloom . If you are near the museum, swing on by and say hi. I will be there all day from 8-5. I will be doing another post for this so no worries if you need more info. You can go here if you can't wait till then! So with that, hope all of your weekends go great and will be back in a few days with some pics of the events!