Happy New Year!

Event Update:

I am honored and pleased to announce my schedule for the 2012 3d Street Painting India Tour, sponsored by the US Consulate of India. The success of the first tour in 2009 was so overwhelming, it prompted the US Consulate to set up a second tour for January and February 2012. I’ll be drawing a super sized street painting at a large student organized festival, interactive images at literary and arts festivals, collaborating with world class sand artists and making an appearance at one of the world’s largest book fairs, in Kolkata.

Each stop will feature a unique 3d images designed specifically for that location, with participation from friends in India at several stops. Workshops on 3d street painting will be conducted at each stop in an effort to foster the growth of this amazing art form in India. I invite everyone to come by to see the art and visit with me while I am there. At most events you can find my work near the American Center Pavilion so look for me there.  It will be a mind-blowing adventure of the dimensional kind to be sure!

January 23 – 26: Jaipur Literary Festival – http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/

January 27 – 31: Kolkata Book Fair - http://www.kolkatabookfair.net/

February 1 – 3: Riviera Festival, VIT Vellore – http://www.knowafest.com/2011/11/riviera-2012-vit-university.html

February 4 – 7: Collaboration with India’s renowned sand artist, Sudarshan Patnaik & team, Puri - http://www.sandartindia.com/

February 8 – 10: Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai – http://www.festivalsofindia.in/Kala_Ghoda_Arts_Festival/

If you get to a Westfield Mall this holiday season, you’ll have a good chance of being a part of the art! I’m excited and pleased to announce my participation in Westfield‘s new ‘Loliday’ promotional campaign, which can be seen at their mall properties nationwide. If you shop at one of their locations, you’ll have an opportunity to take a wild sled ride, or play with holiday penguins, courtesy of 2 interactive 3d street paintings I’ve designed for shopper fun. They’re set up so you can take photos with your friends, post on Facebook or Twitter and enjoy the holiday season with some 3d fun!

Along with the street paintings I’ve created, Westfield will have a free interactive ‘Loliday’ card mobile app available to shoppers. www.LolidayCards.com You can make your own whacky holiday cards to share on social media sites, incorporating augmented reality technology and some really funny gag images. Hoping you have a fun holiday season – this should definitely add a new dimension to your shopping experience!

As part of the 2011 International Investment Forum, I was invited to the beautiful coastal city of Sochi, Russia, on the Black Sea, to create one of my 3D street painting images. Sochi is a lot like Santa Barbara or the Amalfi Coast in Italy – a gorgeous location with lots to do in the sun and sea. If you’re looking for a great vacation get away, this is it. The Sochi Park organization, who is currently constructing a new amusement park which will be opening in conjunction with the 2014 Olympic Games to be held in Sochi, asked for an image that showcased their new rides, the scenery of this lovely city and some of the folk tale characters that are near and dear to the Russian populations’ hearts.  The image proved to be very popular with the public and local Russian TV had a field day with it. My clients were thrilled with the result, which was the best compliment for me. I suspect we’ll be seeing more 3D street art appearing throughout Russia in the near future!

After the project concluded, my pal Sharyn and I flew to Moscow to site see and then on to St. Petersburg to spend a full day at the incredible Hermitage Museum complex. My favorite places were Red Square, the Kremlin, the Hermitage and the Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood – all incredible.
I highly recommend taking public transportation in Moscow as the underground there is the jewel of the city – old Soviet era art, which is astounding in quality, still dominates the design aesthetic below ground. A must see. I also recommend the bullet train from Moscow to St. Petersburg – free wi fi, snack and beverage services and plush comfort – a great way to spend 3+ hours on your ipad, catching up on news, uploading new photos or checking out the forested wilderness through your window. Undoubtedly the best way to get from the heart of Russia to the northern Baltic region.

This was my first trip to beautiful Russia, which proved to be an incredible adventure! I loved the food, the art, the sites, the culture, the vodka (of course!) and most of all, the wonderfully warm people and friends I met there.  Special thanks to Anna, Natalia, Anastasia and Natasha for their incredible hospitality. As always, big thanks to my street painting support team: Sharyn and Julio! Special thanks to Alexi for making sure we got from point A to point B safely.

It was a bucket list wish come true and I hope to return again very soon! До следующего времени……….

I am honored and pleased to announce that I will be presenting as part of the TEDx San Diego line-up this December, 2011. I am very excited to bring my street painting story to the stage and share ideas, images and reflections on how this art form has influenced and improved the advancement of creative expression for a wide global audience.
For information: http://www.tedx-sandiego.com/speakers/

Update on my participation in the TEDx Youth @ San Diego event. Big congrats go to everyone at Canyon Crest Academy for their inspiring and professionally run event – what a magical experience!!!! The students, the faculty, parents, friends, Tedsters, Sharp support team members and TEDx San Diego all deserve big kudos for their hard work. Special thanks go to Kellie, Lesa and Tracy for supporting me personally – THANK YOU ladies!!!!! Couldn’t have done it without you. And yes, I am officially over my stage fright now.

In conjunction with my talk, I created a 3d image based on the theme of the event: ‘The World in Our Grasp.’ I used the puzzle pieces to symbolize that we are all part of the global community and we each have our unique and necessary part to play. It was received very well and students really enjoyed playing with it. I even managed to get an alligator and a dog on the piece through the course of the day. That is a street painting first I believe.

Check out this link to see the entire days presentations: you won’t be disappointed.

http://www.livestream.com/TEDxYouthSanDiego/video?clipId=flv_634e023c-c8da-4728-8f1f-380a85e0b15f&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

It’s my honor and privilege to announce that I’ve been awarded the Extreme Art Award in the Painting category of the First Annual 2011 Society of Unique Artist’s Awards! Featuring the most extreme and unique art forms of the year, the event was created to advance SUA’s non-profit mission of promoting unique art forms, in hopes of filling a void in the larger art world.

The event was held on July 16, 2011, at the Jerome L. Greene Space in Manhattan. Live television taping for SUA’s Extreme Art tv covered the festivities, which included a cocktail hour with musical entertainment by the East River Jazz Band, outrageous mind reading and magic from Middle To Nowhere, ventriloquist April Brucker, and magician extraordinaire, Apollo Riego. SUA’s own Danielle Guldin hosted and kept the night going strong with humor and energy.

I was thrilled to meet everyone at SUA as well as fellow nominees who attended. So many amazing artists representing the best in ice sculpture, sand art, food sculpture, performing arts, solo performers, painting and unusual unique arts. Congrats go to all the winners & thanks go to Ronnie, Jacqueline and everyone at SUA for supporting our unique artistic efforts!

Here’s a link to their site:
http://www.suartists.org/