The Sleeping Beauty

One of my favorite pieces, The Sleeping Beauty, was chosen to be exhibited at the Gothic exhibit at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Orange County, California from February 2 through March 24. This is the first time that my piece has been selected to be a part of a juried show and I was so very excited about the opportunity. 

The only issue was that the "print" existed soley as a digital illustration. I had originally created the piece in 2007 as an illustration and poem. I reworked it so that the poem and the image were integrated, adding a texture I shot in my driveway to tie everything together. I was happy that I finally was able to take the 2 parts and make them one complete image, which had been bothering me since I first created the image.

Unfortunately, the deadline for shipping was a week away and it needed to make it from Ohio to California in that time. I received the notice in the evening, too late to start work on finding local framing for it. So the next day, I tore out of work early to search my local stores for the frame that would best complement my artwork. 

I was in luck: Michael's had the perfect Victorian style frame that fit the theme of my piece and the exhibit and it was 50% off! I then purchased the cheapest poster frame I could find that fit the frame to protect the print. I hurried home and set my Epson r1800 to print on Epson's Radiant White archival inkjet paper while I assembled the pieces to make the frame.

Framing went pretty well (thankfully), and the next day, I headed to the UPS Store to have them pack and ship the piece. They couldn't guarantee a delivery time, but I took my chances since I couldn't afford to ship it overnight.

Luckily, The Sleeping Beauty arrived safely and on time and was shown in a high traffic area of Los Angeles. While I am bummed I couldn't make it out to the artists' reception, it was very cool to have my piece included in the exhibit with other great art!

I've now been inspired to complete the other two pieces in the series: Snow White and Cinderhella.

The text of the poem reads:

The Sleeping Beauty
Darkness fell upon the sleeping beauty.
Her pale face glowed by the moon's light.
Peaceful as she lay, her secret hidden.
Until the night a charming rider appeared,
Drawn to her side.
He pressed his lips to hers only to discover
She had taken away his last breath.

Dream Pig in 2012

I had a dream where there were pig shaped clouds against a pink colored sky. I woke up and had the title of the piece: When Pigs Fly. The idea stuck with me and I finally had some time this year to give the idea a whirl.

After creating the pig and his fancy wings out of basic shapes in Adobe Illustrator, I set up the basic layout. And it was perfect. I didn't need the clouds. Oh, I tried to add the clouds, but they wouldn't take. The clouds were too much, too overdone. The pig was perfect. But he just needed a tagline to describe his joy of flight.

We all dream big, but not too many of us Dream Pig: bigger than big, that impossible dream we hold dear to our hearts no matter what. Some folks give up on their dreams, but not those who Dream Pig. So in 2012 and beyond, don't just dream big, Dream Pig.

And if you want to show the world that you do Dream Pig, you can pick up some Dream Pig merch over at my Zazzle shop.

Food & Wine Show Poster 2011

After spending time in Chicago and working on this year's Cheese Show Poster for my day job, I was in a retro deco sort of mood. Which was good because it was time to work on the poster for our annual Food & Wine Show. I've been designing the posters since this show's inception in 1998. It is always a fun challenge to design this poster since it is our biggest event of the year.

One night, shortly after completing the Cheese Show Poster, I was laying in bed drifting off to sleep and the idea for this poster just popped into my head. I quickly sketched it down on some post it notes I keep by my bed and went to sleep. I woke up the next morning and roughed out the idea for our Wine Director to see. He liked the idea, but wasn't 100% sold on it. I refined the idea a bit and he okayed the idea.

We started ticket sales in mid-September for this year's show. Exactly one week later, we sold out. The fastest sell-out in our event's history. While I'm sure other factors were involved, I'd like to think this poster helped. :)

In 2012, Give Peas A Chance

I originally had the idea for this poster in late 2010. I envisioned a can of peas with the peace symbol on it. However, after some experimentation, I dropped the can idea and just went for the peas making up the peace symbol.

I bought a couple of bags of frozen peas and on one sunny summer afternoon this year, I took pics of the peas on a white sheet of paper out on my patio. I had to work quickly because it was hot and the peas were melting fairly quickly.

After I cleaned up the mess, I sorted through my photos and chose 5 peas to be the "ones". I then began the arduous task of hand placing each pea in its place along the peace symbol template.

Next I added some text with a faux watercolor effect and a light green background for a serene finish.

If you like what you see, you can purchase the Give Peas A Chance Poster, Card, Mug, and T-Shirt over at my Zazzle shop.