'Vitality and Verve' + POW!WOW! Long Beach

Hey Guys! 

I just returned home from a two week stay in Long Beach, California painting up a couple large scale murals for the first time ever! I was quite nervous about it all to begin with, uncertain I was fit for the job or would fit into the culture, but I've come back with a little more confidence and an absolutely wonderful experience to hold onto!

First up, 'Vitality and Verve' is a big mural/sculpture/installation show now open to the public at the Long Beach Museum of Art till October 16th. Anyone close by or in the area should definitely take some time to go out and view everything, it's a spectacular show! The best I may have ever gotten to attend in person before. All the artists did a fantastic job with their spaces.

Here's a couple snaps of my mural for the exhibit titled 'Night Life' - illustrating an idea about the creativity and imagination that spurs when night time falls. Because of size, materials, time limitations (and my own lack of experience), I chose to take a different approach to my style for the mural. More like my drawings, simplified, but still honouring the imagery I often use:

Here's a link to a really awesome teaser video put together by Selina Miles of me working up the mural at the museum last week as well. She's done short vids of all the featured artists in Vitality and Verve.

Second mural was a much larger one for POW!WOW! Long Beach. My first ever outdoor mural, the thing was around 18x42 feet and painted all with little 4" brushes... because I am crazy, haha. Here's some pics and links below:

Photographer Andrew Tran also put together a nice teaser video for the mural, with me chatting a little about the experience. Check it out here!

Overall, the experience was so much more than I expected. For a person as introverted myself and always working alone in my studio each day, it was at first a very intimidating idea to go out to California and paint up two walls like this.... especially when my typical sized work is 16x20". But I feel I came a little out of my shell with this trip and met some really amazing people!

I had such a wonderful time and I owe much love and thanks to Thinkspace Gallery, LBMA and POW!WOW! for having the belief in me to tackle it all <3 <3