Abandoned Series Update: Planes and Trains!

Our “abandoned” project has consumed most of our time for the last few weeks, and we’ve made some really cool progress. We found and shot a number of abandoned military planes, and are finishing up with a group of abandoned rail cars and bridges tomorrow. Above is a quick preview showing some of the locations we’ve shot recently. We’ve got multiple additional shoots lined up over the next month, so keep an eye out for more on this series soon!

Hillcrest Cityfest 2012

As soon as we found out about Cityfest we knew we were going to love it. Turns out we were right! It was one of the best shows we have ever had. San Diego has been pretty humid lately and we’re spoiled San Diegans, so the weather wasn’t our biggest friend. Other than that, though, things couldn’t have gone better. We met a ton of interesting people, made some friends, had a lot of fun and sold more art than we’ve sold at any other show. If you missed it this year, you really need to make it out next year! Also, don’t miss the Hillcrest Hoedown on October 7th! We’ll be there as well:
http://fabuloushillcrest.com/events/hillcrest-hoedown/

August First Friday: Congrats Mike!

Another great First Friday! We had a lot of fun and sold a good amount of art! We decided it was time to find a home for the last 13″x35″ from out original metal print run. We sold $2 raffle tickets, and raffled it off at the end of the night. Mike (above) ended up our winner, and the print really couldn’t have gone to a nicer person. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mike, and we really hope you enjoy it!

Catalina Vacation

You can’t always work hard, sometimes you need to just kick back! We took a three-day trip out to Catalina Island and had a blast staying in Avalon. The island itself is beautiful, and we filled all three days with hiking, exploring and swimming. We wanted very much to see the whole island (Avalon only takes up something like 3% of it), but it was prohibitively expensive to get into the interior.

The second day we met a man named Denny who worked in an art gallery right next to our hotel. We struck up a conversation, and he invited us to volunteer at the Catalina Island Conservancy! We got to spend the first half of the day transplanting endemic plant life -which was a blast- and the second half we got a tour of the island from Denny. It was easily the best day of the entire trip, and we’re super grateful to Denny and the people at the conservancy!

Comic-Con Fun!

Watch for me getting rejected in the video above! (about 45 seconds in)

Dustin and I spent the whole day nerding out with friends, and we had a great time! I wore a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt and was super happy that they had a booth there! I had Dustin take this picture of me and Donatello being ninjas together. It was a fantastic day, and we saw a ton of really cool stuff.

July First Friday

What a great time this month! If you weren’t there, you definitely should have been! A very nice lady stopped by my booth and brought this cute little guy in with her to get a lollipop. He’s some kind of tiny monkey, and he decided to hop over onto my arm to get his candy!

We also met Rip Van Twinkle, the Creator of “Magic Lucky Stars.” I knew right away that we’d be friends when I saw his “Art Kills Artists” t-shirt. I really wish I had worn my “Waste Your Life, Be an Artist” shirt. Rip’s stars are really cool, and his site is definitely worth taking a look at: MagicLuckyStars.com.

Since I decided to become a full-time artist I’ve met a lot of great people, and this month was no exception!

Abandoned Series Update

I realize that this is the first time a lot of you are hearing about the abandoned series Dustin and I are doing, so this will really be more “Breaking News!” than an update.

We make the drive from San Diego to Las Vegas pretty frequently. We’re there at least once a month for First Friday, and other shoots and family visits bring us up even more often. We took a trip down old Route 66 and were blown away by the amount of abandoned structures along the way. Towns that flourished before Highway 40 was put in died out pretty quickly and thoroughly after it was complete and drew traffic away.

Last December we stopped at the towns of Amboy and Ludlow to shoot some of the buildings. We got a lot of great material, and decided that we wanted to flush the series out and shoot as much of the Mojave as we could for the series. On our way to First Friday this month we stopped at Rock-a-Hula, an abandoned water park, and spent a good portion of the day taking pictures of it. On the way home we stopped by the largely-abandoned towns of Goffs, Essex and Chambless to get pictures. Each shoot has been more exciting and breathtaking than the last.

Our goal is to shoot more of the towns off of the 40 near Barstow, and flush out an entire “Abandoned Mojave” series. We’re really excited and we’re getting close to being finished! When we are done, we’re going to put together a coffee table book as well as prints!

Venetian Las Vegas, Carnavale

Last month at First Friday we were approached by a member of the Venetian’s staff who was looking for artists to participate in the hotel’s Carnevale art festival. For the whole month of June, two pieces of my art will be displayed in the Venetian and the Palazzo. Look for my big, 4-panel, brushed aluminum flower on the large display window of Corsa. Be sure to also keep an eye out for a 36″x36″ canvas print displayed in Prosecco Jewelry!

I’m super thankful to the Venetian for a chance to show my art off in such a great setting. Both pieces look incredible, so make sure you stop by and take a look at them if you’re in Vegas!

North Park Festival of the Arts

Our first big show in the San Diego area was this month! It went really well, and we had a great showing of family and friends who came out to show their support. We ran into a few friends from Frist Friday, like Maynard Breese, which is always a treat. The art was spectacular, and Dustin was showing off some leg, so if you didn’t show you really missed out. Better make sure you come next year!

One more huge thank you to all of the people who came out and helped us with the show. You guys are amazing!

Little Italy Art Show Scouting

I’ve been really interested in getting into more shows in San Diego. It would be nice to meet more local artists and to be able to have a show without driving as far as we have been. We spent the day at the Little Italy ArtWalk that Mission Federal puts on every year. It was a great crowd, and we were happy to see some friends there! We had some good food and spent the day looking at some good art!

It was good to see a lot of extremely talented photographers at the event, and I was happy to see that none of them shot like I do. I think I’ll be able to find a pretty good niche for my art here. We’re going to be attending the North Park Festival of the Arts next month, so it was good to get an idea of what to expect!

April First Friday

You wouldn’t think the desert is all that cold, but you’d be wrong. It was a pretty chilly month there this month, but the crowd was great! Earlier this month, I ordered a mug that’s a replica of a Canon 24-105mm lens, and I’ve been keeping it full of our favorite First Friday coffee from Grouchy John’s to stay warm!

More exciting news – we’ve been experimenting with new ideas for our printer, especially with the cool prints he does on brushed aluminum. This month we’re featuring a huge, 4-panel metal print of one of my flowers. The picture here doesn’t really do it justice, so you’ll just have to stop by next month to see it!

March First Friday

First Friday Las Vegas has become a regular show for us. This month was the 5th time we’ve shown there. Since last October, the only month we’ve missed is January. It’s a reliably awesome show, and the people there are great. The more shows we attend the more we appreciate the professionalism of the staff at the event and the creativity of all of the artists.

This month we have posters for sale! We figure that its an easy and cheap way for people who can’t afford more expensive prints to put something bigger than an 11×14 up. We’re pretty excited about them, so make sure you stop by and pick one up. They’re only $15!

First Friday #2!

Our second First Friday! We were inside the actual First Friday event this month, where the crowds are always the thickest. Of course, we didn't plan for the rain that came back sporadically through most of our set up and continued during the early part of the night. Fortunately, the weather turned for the better and people showed up a little later than usual. We actually ended up doing better this month than last month!