Inked

Recently I was able to attend "Rick's 13th International Tattoo Convention" at Oneida Casino in Green Bay.  The convention brought tattoo/piercing artists from around the world, including the United States, France, Japan and Australia.  It was a huge melting pot of ink and metal; from tattoos, to piercings to dreadlocks to giant coasters stuffed into earlobes!  I never felt so "normal" in my life!  In fact, it all reminded me of one of those old "B" movies; something like "Tattooed Robo-Zombie Bikers Attack!"  It was quite a compelling crowd, and it almost felt as if I had been transported to another planet.   There was one person in particular who remains burnt into my memory; he was a bigger fella, and if I had to guess, I'd say he was in his late 40's/early 50's.  He was laying on his back, and I could tell he was getting something done to his face.  I noticed his ears were covered in piercings as I moved in for a closer look.  He was the picture of calmness; arms resting neatly across his chest, eyes closed.  As I looked up towards his face, I saw the modus operandi - he was getting his eyebrows pierced.  Barbell after barbell after barbell after barbell were being impaled thru his skin until his eyebrows were completely lined with the metal earrings.  What I initially thought was red ink on his eyebrows, was actually blood.   Suddenly I felt like I had been thrust into a horror movie, like "Hellraiser" or "Silence of the Lambs".  And to think - my eyes water when I stub my toe!  All in all, the convention was quite stimulating, and the people were very interesting.  I think I got my fill of needles for the next decade.

"I executed Matt's baby"

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where somebody asks you a question, but at that moment you don't have time, or pecking out a reply in an e-mail just won't do? This is pretty much how it went down when I posted the images from the Spark project on my Facebook page. The response was great, but the questions were too much. So... I decided to break it down to "I executed Matt's baby". Maybe not the best way to sum it up, but it worked for the time. Perhaps now I should explain it a bit better.

Matt Bellisle and I have worked on numerous projects together over the years, but none quite like the image piece we executed for Spark Advertising last summer. Five incredible ideas, created by Matt, with a lot of tweaks and twiddles between the two of us to come up with something really special. With the help of Image Studios's own Julie Gardner (stylist extraordinaire), a few power tools and some incredibly open minded models, we were able to make the imaginable, reality.

In order to grasp the whole experience of this project, checking it out first hand would be your best bet.

Remedy White

If any of you missed last Saturday night's opening for Remedy White, the areas' premier collection of Lowbrow and Pop Surrealist art, I strongly recommend taking a trip to 301 Main St. De Pere to check it out.  They have a great space with even better work.  The vibe at the opening was electric;  lots of familiar faces, great music, plenty of food and drink and creativity flowing from every corner of the room.   

Tamara McLean is the Gallery Director as well as one of the artists in the show.  Along with Robb Mommaerts (as seen in the photo), and a rich kaleidoscope of other artists, ranging from photography to painting to incredible mixtures of computer graphics,  it really is a super show.  It truly is refreshing to see something so contemporary, right here in our own backyard.  

Great work to all the artists involved!

Found Faces

Some of you may already have heard about the quest I am on which I call "FOUND FACES".    The story goes... Found Faces is a collection of naturally occurring "faces" in the environment around us.  It was in 2003 when the first face "found" me, and they've been revealing themselves to me ever since.  The faces, all naturally occurring and not manipulated for the camera represent a wide range of personalities and emotions from worried to happy.

My true goal for this project was to make kids aware of all the fun faces hidden within our surroundings.   To stop and really look, and to see deeper than what's just on the surface. Throughout this journey, I've found that this project can speak to the child in all of us.  Since this quest began, many e-mails have been sent my way from numerous people who have also taken photos of their own found faces and shared them with me.  These actions are exactly what the project embodies.  

Found Faces is a project for the masses.  Now go find YOUR faces!  =)