Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition

Gallopin' Gorgons!  I think I'll need some sort of Veritaserum to determine whether my mind is caught in an illusory state of reality or a surreal dream.  Anyhow, I just received notice today that Gallery Nucleus accepted my art submission to their Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition in Alhambra, CA!!!  It'll be strange to see a price tag associated with this piece since I normally give away or donate all of my commissioned artwork to family, friends and charity.  Either way, I'll be most excited to see other INCREDIBLE pieces from inspirational artists!

Come join me at opening reception on July 9, 2011 (7:00 pm-11:00 pm)!  

Gallery Nucleus

210 East Main St.

Alhambra, CA 91801

Promotional Flier/Poster by Ben Zhu:

Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W)

Harry Potter + Art from amazing Artists = PURE MAGIC! 

For those who haven't received the chance to explore Gallery Nucleus's "Tribute to Harry Potter," I highly recommend checking it out.  There are several fantastic and inspirational artwork saluting the Wizarding and Muggle world alike. As a hard core Potter fan (who unintentionally ends up embarrassing friends by showing up in full costume at HP book releases, movies and the movie exhibition), the aforementioned concoction seemed absolutely divine.

In celebration of all things "Harry Potter", I hope you enjoy a preview of the following piece. It depicts Dobby passing through the Great Hall in order to return Hedwig to Harry. Upon encountering Harry in the Gryffindor Common Room, Dobby introduces the "Room of Requirement." As described in the "Order of the Phoenix", Dobby happens to be layering a majority of the hats, scarves and socks Hermione had knitted for her S.P.E.W efforts.

Only recently, I decided to submit this piece to Gallery Nucleus for consideration.  Regardless of the outcome, creating this piece was a humbling and phenomenal journey in itself.  In the end, that's all that matters. 

Excerpt from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix': 

Dobby the house-elf was standing beside the table on which Hermione had left her half a dozen knitted hats. His large, pointed ears were now sticking out from beneath what looked like all the hats that Hermione had ever knitted; he was wearing one on top of the other, so that his head seemed elongated by two or three feet, and on the very topmost bobble sat Hedwig, hooting serenely and obviously cured.

...Surveying Dobby more closely he noticed that the elf was also wearing several scarves and innumerable socks, so that his feet looked far too big for his body.

"Er...have you been taking all the clothes Hermione's been leaving out?"

Exchangeable Curiosities: Sketchbook Tour Arrives in Seattle!

The Sketchbook Project made its premiere at Form/Space Atelier Gallery in Seattle from June 10-12, 2011. Lo and behold, I... *drum roll* was (unsurprisingly) unable to make it.  Nevertheless, here's a look at the sketchbook  that was submitted back during January 2011.

The book is entitled "Exchangeable Curiosities" and is based on the theme, "trading forever."  In a nutshell, the sketches follow various accounts of colorful characters as they set on the adventure of trading curiosities in life.  The different art styles and medium represent two separate narratives that eventually merge near the end.  Given certain time constraints, all of the pages were rushed efforts...but I hope this sketchbook brings you as much amusement and joy as it brought me during the creation process!

Feel free to flip through the pages.

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

I encourage you to join next year! Registry for the Sketchbook Project 2012 is already open, so get your creative juices flowing and hop aboard!  Forget about perfection; just have fun with the process.  It doesn't matter whether you finish or not--just as long as you enjoy drawing, painting, etc.  Art should be shared, supported and celebrated as a community.

Awesome recording of the Seattle event courtesy of Mighty Moss (thanks). Wish I could've checked out all of those amazing sketchbooks in person!

In the meantime, the Sketchbook Project 2011 Tour is still ongoing until  July 31, 2011.  Looks like all all of the all of the submitted sketchbooks will be en route to the Hyde Park Art Center at Chicago, IL next.  It sounds like these books are on display at the Brooklyn Art Library in between the tour dates (before permanently remaining there on August 5, 2011).

Another reason why I love my colleagues...

Doesn't get any wittier than this (whether it's attributed to his British sense of humor or not):

Ladies/Gents,

If, like me, you're a socially inept engineer whose interaction with other homo sapiens, on anything but purely academic levels, is a perennial concern: fear no more. In past millennia the omnipotent they discovered a depressant which, used recreationally, diminishes activity of the Awkward Gland thereby catalyzing free conversation and fuzzy relaxation.

The drug will be available over the counter at Linda's Tavern at 707 E. Pine this afternoon after COB (vanguard departing the lobby @ 1700hrs). For the pregnant, chemically intolerant and those clinging to the temperance movement, it's a perfect opportunity to gloat in our incorrigible rosy faces.

Best wishes for your weekends if you're unable to join.
Captain of Vice, RH.

Wallingford Optical Solutions

For Bryan (who is practically like a brother to me)... Per his request, this painting was created as a gift to his manager/mentor at the Wallingford Optical Solutions before he departs for Indiana to further his education in Optometry. Congratulations again, Bry! I wish you the best of luck on all of your endeavors, including your upcoming band tour! Random factoid: for those who don't know Bry, he's probably one of the most talented violinists and musical improvisors you'll encounter.

Photo courtesy of Bryan.

WALLINFORD OPTICAL SOLUTIONS

watercolor on cold pressed paper 12" x 16" 

Detailed close up...

Magnolia Tech Support

For Hugh: Several graphic logo designs for his company, Magnolia Tech Support (webpage still under construction for a total revamp).  Thanks for providing me utter, complete freedom in designing the concepts!  There were a total of 12 designs and 40-ish conceptual variations, but only a select few are posted below.  For any Seattlites who need any PC/Mac repairs, diagnostic testing, computer virus removals, system backups, etc., Hugh is your man!  Feel free to contact him at magnoliatechsupport@gmail.com.

 

Artists for Japan

Thanks to all of the amazing volunteers, art contributors and generous folks out there who participated in a 2-day charity relief-fund raising event called, "Artists for Japan."  The art sale benefit was held at one of my favorite art venues, KOBO in Higo. The turnout was INCREDIBLE!!! I wasn't able to immediately drop by when the event kicked off, but I heard there was a line that stretched around the block.  Within the first two hours, we raised a little over $15,000, which was then matched to $25,000. By the end of today, the grand total was over a whopping $94,000!  Go Seattle! Because of compassionate and generous people, supporting the post-tsunami cause has become a reality rather than a possibility.  A big thanks to those who have contributed to this cause by any other means! 

As a follow up to the previous post, here's my finished, donated product:

 

On a side note, please check out my favorite local potter, Yuko Otaku, whom I had the fortunate chance of  befriending a year ago at the Fremont Sunday Market.  At that time, I had purchased one of her exquisite plant pots which contained a lovely vine that I named Sprout.  Sprout has now grown over a foot long and I love him...so much that I'm having a hard time pruning him.

Meet Sprout, my type of guy. Thank you, Yuko!

...and some snapshots at the event when the crowd died down later in the evening...

Post-tsnami contribution: sneak peak

When my colleagues and I received notice that our company would match 100% of any donations made towards the Red Cross's relief effort in Japan, we were relieved and grateful...but it still felt nowhere near enough. There is only a certain limit of effectiveness that can be achieved by outsiders when it comes to global-scale issues like poverty, environmental degradation, etc.  Most of the time, this comes in the form of monetary contributions...and it's not like any of us had a plethora of extra cash falling out of our pockets. Plus, where is this money really going?  How is it spent? Is it really effective as it seems?  How much of it is directed towards overhead fees? For this reason, I am a much stronger advocate in local, community-based efforts as a means of tackling different types of disparities on a more direct, longer lasting scale.  Even more influential is the impact one can have on an individual scale by just being instead of asserting one's presence as a "helper" (which is kind of scary).  It was no coincidental fate  that I was unexpectedly reunited with a good college friend, Miya on the 20th at the Wing Luke Museum.  It turned out that she was now working there and we shared a few laughs catching up on each other's lives.  I had originally visited the museum to explore the "CULTURAL CONFLUENCE: Urban People of Asian and Native American Heritages" exhibit but left with much more community empowerment than I ever anticipated.  It was through the Wind Luke Museum that I found about about "Artists for Japan,": a locally driven cause that I will further share in my next post because I literally have only one night to prepare the following contribution...and need all the time I can get.  In the meantime, here's a sneak peak of what's to come.

Wood-burning...

Header Update: Transforming a blog into a website...

Added navigational alterations to the header after some research on HTML/CSS/jquery.  More updates to come soon...

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - NIGHT 15

Comment: Mission Accomplished!  All of the designated pages for the sketchbook are now complete.  Each segment just needs to be assembled and glued in the appropriate pages now.

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - NIGHT 14

Comment: Two more pages to go...  Almost done...

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - DAY 8, NIGHT 13

Comments: Segment where two narratives merge.

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - DAY 7, NIGHT 12

Comments:  Coloring Extravaganza! Here's the collection of drawings and paintings so far for today.

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - DAY 6, NIGHT 11

Comments: Can you spot the Kodama reference?

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - DAY 5, NIGHT 10

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - NIGHT 9

Comments: The deadline has come and passed...and I could care less. I still aim on completing the sketchbook though. :-)

SKETCHBOOK PROJECT - NIGHT 8

Comments:  Not caring about submitting the sketchbook has liberated me from the constricting stress of meeting the deadline.  With my current schedule, I know there no way I could complete the sketchbook by tomorrow. On another note, here are the batch of colored pencil segments so far. Enjoy!