I Just started on the new ad for this coming winter.  It is always strange thinking winter  in the summer.  This is from the first couple days of working. Scott was able to help me get started on it.  For those of you who don’t know who Scott is, he’s one of my best friends and a super talented artist.  It is always great working with him as I know a lot of creative things take place when we start on a project. It is always a slow beginning trying to figure everything out. Maybe we should try it this way? Oh, but what if we did this instead?  Sometimes we spend too much time talking through it, but I think that is part of the process. I will keep posting as things start to change.

by now you should start seeing the new Skinny Dip ad for New Belgium Brewing. Here is a short film they put together about the cause. I will let the film say the rest.

I didn’t want to admit it, but I am a fan of the show.

Ok, I never searched for it, I never knew what time it was on, or was counting down the minutes till the next show. I did watch it though. I will blame it on my wife and will have to admit that when it was on I was stuck. So for anyone that did watch it you will know that our own Coloradan, Hosea Rosenberg was the winner. I got a call from Sunset Magazine recently to shoot a photo of him at his restaurant in Boulder. It was a pretty quick turn, and he was racing out the door to Los Angeles, then off to the Kentucky Derby to cook for important people. It all seemed to work out pretty well. I didn’t have as much time as I would usually ask for, but I think we worked it out. With all the shoots I get to do, all the different people I get to meet, I am always so pleased to meet a real person. I know that people are busy and most of the time the photo shoot is very low on their list of priorities.  I am sure this was the case here, but was so pleased that he didn’t let me feel that way.  It was great to have someone actually stop for a few minutes, give me the respect as a fellow human being, and let me get the photo I need. So many times people that I shoot are always too busy. They are  constantly looking at their watch or just plain rude. Thanks to him and all the other people that treat each other like they would like to be treated. It is not very hard to do and it makes a huge difference.

I had just got back from a quick photo shoot in Atlanta and made my way to something called Denver Palooza. It was a benefit for a couple of Denver Schools. One of the bands performing in the event was our neighborhood band, Second Bell. Not just another neighborhood band, but a group of very talented musicians dedicated to keeping music in our schools. All the money raised by Second Bell is donated to our local elementary school.  Henry is the first person I met from the band. Henry, as many of the others, donate their time and musical knowledge at the school teaching guitar, keyboard, and drums.  I was lucky enough to be able to help out with guitar this year and was amazed at how many kids we had coming each Friday morning at 8:00am to learn how to rock.  I believe we had around 50 kids in guitar this year and I am sure it will continue to grow.  After being part of it for the last year, I realize how important Art and Music are in our local schools.  I was never able to learn how to play when I was a kid, but decided to finally start learning a year and a half ago. Watching those kids struggle through it, wanting to give up, then finally having success has been a cool process. It is so great that we have music at our school. I know all those kids are benefiting so much from the art and music program. Thanks to Henry and all of Second Bell for dedicating themselves to making all of this happen. I feel very fortunate to be able to be around such a talented, giving group of people. Get out there, support music and art in your locals schools. Volunteer your time and make a difference to those kids.

 I recently was assigned to shoot Fall Out Boy for a music magazine. I am not much of a fan of the group, but I thought they put on a good show. I was disappointed though. Those kids that stood in line all day, the ones that camped out, the ones that had the shirts that stated they were true fans, they were lame. I remember camping out, getting there first, I was excited about it. I was there to have a good time. I was there to be a part of what was going on. I knew the music, every song and every note.  I was shocked to see all of these kids wait to hear the popular songs then lose interest. They would stop dancing, then resume to their normal texting routines. I have never been to a concert like this. It was something that doesn’t even seem possible. Kids jumping around screaming when the radio songs came on, then when there was something unfamiliar, they all whip out their cell phones and start texting or updating their myspace. How disappointing. I have one idea where it all goes wrong, Itunes.  I am guilty of it too. I will sometimes buy only one or two songs of something. I sometimes don’t want to listen to an entire album, but now I understand how important it is to listen to the entire thing. Back in the day albums were meant to be played one side at a time. They were designed to have a flow to them and when you had to flip the record over to listen to the other side, that was well thought out. The artist would decide how that change was made and how it was going to impact the listener.   When Cd’s came along, that changed a bit, but still the album was meant to be listened to in order and there was a reason for that order.  I am going to try very hard not to buy any more music from itunes. Not because I don’t want to support them, but because I want to have what used to be special.  I want to see the artwork, I want to see the bands notes.  Music should be special, not just another dollar menu item.

Finally, the cone is off. She did it. She is still healing up but now the cone is out sight. These photos were taken on her first full day of freedom. The freedom to roam around the yard, chew on bones, eat poop, whatever she wanted to do. There is still no playing allowed, but she is happy again.

Just recently we found out that our four year old Boston Terrier named Tootie was going blind.  I actually just thought she was a dumb dog. Now I feel bad.  All those times I threw treats at her and they hit her in the face. The times I threw the ball for her and I laughed when the ball was right next to her. Making fun of her for barking at stuffed animal or toy sitting in the hallway.  Yeah, I feel bad.  We caught it though, that is the good thing. We just recently took her to the specialist and he said that she had Cataracts in both eyes.  If she was a human, she would be legally blind, couldn’t drive, and could not see anything but shapes. I  was really sad for her. So we had to do some tests to see if she was even a canidate for surgery. She went through her 4 rounds of tests, and passed. She was able to have surgery. So like going to any specialist, here comes the talk about prices of surgery. It was actually more like a menu of services. Maybe more like a menu at one of those cook your own food type of places. You can kind of pick and choose what you would like to do, fix one eye, fix one eye and add a lens, you get the idea.   We couldn’t let her go blind, she is only 4 years old. It might be different if she was fifteen years old, no teeth, etc. She has a long life ahead of her, and I have a lot of making up to do. So we scheduled the surgery for both eyes, had it done, now awaiting her recovery. We did not give her lenses (that was one of the menu items). I asked the Dr. about it  and he said they were for her to see in focus up close. She can still see without them, just a little blurry up close. He said it was like someone having bifocals so they could read.  I knew that Tootie would never have to read so when did it without. Right now we are on week two, post surgery. She is recovering fine, totally bored, and wearing a cone. Yes, she has the cone and it looks as though she has another 3 weeks living with it. Not to mention the 15+ eyedrops a day she receives.

So since the cost of the surgery was the price of a small foreign car,  we decided to have a little fundraiser for Tootie. We thought it would be a fun thing for all of us, and wanted to see what we could come up with. We made a 8 color silkscreened print. “And now I can See” They are signed, numbered and in an edition of 90. The paper size is 11″x18″ (printed image 10″x15″).We also decided to silkscreen T-shirts as well.  We are selling prints and t-shirts for Tooties Surgery Fund. We are selling the prints for $25 + $3 shipping. We are selling kids, mens, and womans T-shirts for $20 + shipping. Available in different colors and sizes. So Far we have been doing well selling both. Thanks so much to all the people that have already donated to get Tooties eyesight back.  Another thanks to all of our friends who helped us out throughout the art making experience. Contact me if you are interested in a shirt or poster.

After the rounds of drawings, it is time to start what I like to call “hacking it together”. We have to start somewhere, and many times in the past we have started the piece and had to go back to the beginning.  I don’t really like doing that so I try to give some time to figuring out size and other elements before we really get our hands dirty.  Here are a few from that process.  you will see that a few things really change by the time it is all done.

We finally got started on the art for the new Skinny Dip piece. This is the third in that series. It is a challenge because you want it to look similar, yet have a different flavor to it. I was hoping to go a totally different route with this one, but I was over powered at ever turn to return to our  three dimensional style. I was hoping that this piece would be more flat, part of an environment instead of a one individual piece. I understand that my idea probably would not work for the Ad, so I am cool with the way we had to go. Here are a few of the drawings for the start of the piece. There were many others that went along with the piece but this will give a starting point.

Here is a little of what it takes to make some art at the studio.  This is at least what is stashed in the “art cart” as I like to call it.  A small shopping cart I found to house tools, glues, clamps, and even has its own beer holder. It just makes it a little easier when we work out side to just roll it to where ever we may need it. I cleaned out the cart  a bit and tried to get it all back into place. What you see here are some of the essentials. I had no idea what I really used until I laid it all out.