Its fresh. Its to the point. You laugh. You get it. I like when things can be short and sweet and hit you instantly. I was fishing around for something for a while that could instantly connect you to movies and spirituality. I was also contemplating a light beam from a projector coming out from a quasar but couldn’t quite find the right pieces to put together. I’m glad that this finally popped into my head. Sometimes it takes rounds of things falling flat to find something that comes out effortlessly.
Its been great to create a whole new look for Heart & Mind. NYC will have their own festival in early October. There will probably be some more revisions to this but I just love the way its developing and wanted to share this incarnation. Enjoy.
I had a great time going deep with this incarnation of the Happening Posters for Golden Drum. We’ve been taking a little break since Heart & Mind and I’m happy that we’re gearing up to have some more amazing events in the coming months along with more awesome poster art. I have been an admirer of Shipibo art for years now and I’m happy that I had the chance to really study it closer with this poster. I can’t help but feel the stories that are interwoven into each design. There is so much amazing indigenous art out there and I hope to have the chance to do more posters like this where I can really dissect a pattern and morph it into something else while keeping the essence.
For more information on the event please visit here!
I’m really happy to report that my friends Brooke Gillespie and Santiparro have self released their album Good Morning Everyone on vinyl and cd. We worked together to create the album art. I took the photo but the title was a collaboration. There’s actually a stop motion animation that goes along with the KA that is written out in flower pedals. I’m going to clean it up and share it soon. One night Brooke, Alan and I stayed up all night to push the pedals across the floor bit by bit. It was a great experiment that made me really feel like I was back at school running on fumes of creativity. I usually don’t like posting photos of myself like this but it in this case. Its nice to stand next to something you worked on every now and then and simply say, “I’m happy to have worked on that.”
If you want to check out KA’s album feel free to visit their bandcamp page.
Here’s an animation that I had fun creating with the crew over at Mixtape Club. I really enjoyed working with other people and seeing the project as it came to life. To check out some of the other animations that I helped create, click here.
I created this during my recent trip to Guatemala and the heartland of upstate New York. Its been a pleasure to get lost in this landscape for a little while. There was no planning for it or vision which is a bit unusual for me but that’s always good thing. I’m still in the process of experimentation to see what works and what doesn’t. I imagine I will be in this state of investigation my whole life. It could lead to a mashing up of approaches and styles that might never be recognizable as my own but I’m ok with that. I am starting to believe that it might be the only way to find something that is truly your own. You might even have to be willing to accept the opposite of what you were going for. With that in mind I like to invert some of my drawings in photoshop just to see what happens. I find it to be just as satisfying. Here’s what that looks like.
I created this animation for Maria Canale last year. She’s an amazing jewelry designer who is still hand drawing all of her designs. She wanted me to make this film to illustrate the process which an original piece of jewelry goes through. We begin with the diamonds being created from the volcano, then the rough diamond is harvested, cut then designed to be placed in a setting and then sold. The story was designed to show how many hands are involved in the process and the craft that is still involved in every piece. Music by Brooke Hamre Gillespie.
I started drawing this a couple days ago. I’ve had an anatomical model of the human heart sitting on my desk for years now. I had imagined that it would be a source of inspiration for me as I sat at my drawing table contemplating love and the source of all inner wisdom. What actually happened was that it has sat on the corner of my desk collecting dust and at times obscured by piles of papers. To be fair I have made a couple doodles from it but it hasn’t been the tool of inspiration that I thought it would be. Earlier this week I clean off my desk. I organized all the papers that we cluttering my room and things can once more breathe. I opened up my sketch book and couldn’t think of anything better than to take a moment to draw my heart. I was quite unhappy with the drawing and left it after working on it for a couple hours and went to bed. Yesterday I woke up and just started working on it while listening to Osho. It put me at ease in a way that I did not experience the day before. As my appreciation for his teachings grew so did my drawing. I must have gone on for at least 8 hours. Its a modest work day. I think I need to really approach my art this way. Not in the sense that I should treat it as work but to give it the same time and effort as the jobs that I have had in the past. In order for my art to grow I must give it my love. I share these things not because I want praise or credit. I put them out so they can be shared and seen. I believe that our gifts must be shared. If they are not shared we are stealing what has been give to us. Let us give what we can with an open heart. If you can’t have an open heart it is better not to share. If you are always looking receive something in return you will be disappointed the moment you receive nothing. Make it for yourself and be happy with what you make, put it out into the world and let it live there. It can take care of itself! Do not worry about it. Your job is done. Then it can truly be enjoyed. May all our hearts continue to grow in love.
Hi Everyone! Its my birthday today so I thought I’d do something that makes me happy. Making something just because and gifting it to people. You might remember this as a napkin sketch that I made in Mexico some months back. I’m glad that its turned into something else. Much more to do today. Oh yeah, new site design. Stripped down so the work can speak for itself a little more clearly. Its good to be alive for another whirl around the sun. Glad to be sharing it with you!
Thank you to everyone who came to the Heart & Mind 2012 Festival! It was a huge labor of love but it was completely worth it to see over 500 people come to listen to the messages of the elders. It was a great sign that NYC needs more events like this and I’m honored to have helped organize it. This poster is just one element that was created as part of the advertising campaign. We also had facebook ads, profile images, postcards, business cards, newsletters, press kits, sponsor packets, signs, banners, 2 websites (each built in a day) and many other things that have been buried by the multitude of things that needed to be created to make this thing happen. This was an excellent education about how much work goes into making an event like this a reality. I can’t wait for the next one! Toronto perhaps…
