Mail Me Art Exhibition and Book Launch

A few months ago, I was humbled to receive an invitation from Darren Di Lieto to participate in an incredible project called Mail Me Art 3: Short and Sweet. As an experiment, this is the only time he's exceptionally closed off open-call. Participants are selected on a portfolio review basis. The project garners a collection of mail art from talented artists across the globe. These efforts culminate to a grand book launch and exhibition tour in the UK. What's better? All proceeds made from purchasing any of the original mail art will be donated to Animal Aid, The Teenage Cancer Trust and Water Aid. Coincidentally, I will be in the U.K. but will be busy travelling elsewhere in the country.  Without further ado, you are cordially invited to attend these exhibitions at the following locations.  To whomever is interested, I hope you enjoy a fantastic time perusing these galleries.

July 30th, 2013 - August 3rd, 2013 (open to public)
The Framers Gallery • 36 Windmill Street • London W1T 2JT (United Kindgom)

August 10th, 2013 - August 12, 2013 (private: appointment/invitation only)

Factoryraod Gallery • 71 Factory Rd • London E16 2EL (United Kindgom)

August 17, 2013 - August 22nd, 2013 (open to public)
Croft Wingates Art Gallery • 44a St Mary's Road • Market Harborough LE16 7DU (United Kingdom)

Not able to attend but are interested in viewing the pieces? No problem at all. You can check out the collection here or purchase a copy of the book.

My piece will be on sale for £175, in which 100% of the sales will directly go to Water Aid, a charity that "works with local partners to help communities access safe water and sanitation" in Africa.

Premiere at the Framer Gallery in London, U.K. Photo credit and copyright: Darren Di Lieto.

Two (of multiple) interior displays carrying the amazing artwork for MMA3 at Framer's Gallery. Photo credit and copyright: Darren Di Lieto. This is before the opening. More images of the display and event can be found here: http://www.mailmeart.com/at-the-framers-gallery-mma-short-sweet-now-on/

Soaking in the art at Framer's Gallery. Photo credit and copyright: Darren Di Lieto.

One of multiple walls displaying "Mail Me Art 3 - Short and Sweet" at the Factoryroad Gallery in London. Photo credit and copyright: Factoryroad Gallery. More photos can be found here: http://factoryroadgallery.blogspot.com/

One of multiple walls displaying "Mail Me Art 3 - Short and Sweet" at the Factoryroad Gallery in London. Photo credit and copyright: Factoryroad Gallery.

A snapshot of all the hard work Darren put into arranging the art pieces at the Croft Wingates Gallery in Harborough Market, U.K (before the opening).  Photo credit and copyright: Darren Di Lieto.

The other end of the gorgeous MM3 display at the Croft Wingates Gallery in Harborough Market, U.K (before the opening).  Photo credit and copyright: Darren Di Lieto.

A collection of all the incredible art pieces, consolidated into one book, with the talented, Layal Idriss WIP artwork in the background! Photo credit and copyright: Layal Idriss. You can check out more of her artwork here: http://www.layalidriss.com/

Mail Me Art - Oriental Steampunk Style!

Just finished my envelope for Mail Me Art 3 (MMA3), a wonderful project that garners a collection of mail art from artists near and far. The MMA3 was established by Darren Di Lieto, the talented creator of an illustration community known as "The Little Chimp Society". As an adamant and avid snail mailer, this project resonated beyond words. I wish I had more than a weekend to work on this piece. The (water)coloring job wasn't exactly how I intended the end result to turn out. Nevertheless, the process behind creating the following illustration was tons of fun.  I'll never forget the amount of gratitude I felt upon receiving the invitation to participate.  Many thanks, Darren! I look forward to seeing all of the other incredible mail art submissions from fellow artists around the world.

ORIENTAL STEAMPUNK MEETS NATURE

watercolor on a cold press paper C5 envelope, 6.4" x 9" (2013)

Betsy & Betsisaur's Sketchventures

As a Christmas gift for Betsy (one of my cousins), I decided to surprise her with a personalized, hand-painted (upcycled) sketchbook. The cover features none other than one of her infamous Betsisaurs, a distinctively cute but quirky character that she created a few years back during high school. The highlight of the whole process was conceptualizing a cartoonized version of Betsy herself! I had tons of fun brainstorming amusing contexts to depict in the image. What you see below is the finished result. Here's to all the sketchventures that have yet to come into existence within its pages!

BETSY & BETSISAUR'S SKETCHVENTURES

acrylics on sketchbook cover - layered with a protective glaze, 8" x 10" (2012)

Philanthro Art Show Benefiting Lifelong AIDS Alliance

Thanks to those who came to support the art auction premiere at the Vermillion Gallery in Seattle yesterday. The event was a charitable effort arranged by Philanthro Seattle to raise awareness and funding/proceeds for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. I'm happy to say that it was a huge success and we were able to raise $1039.53! Philanthro is a 100% volunteer-based national non-profit organization whose mission is to engage young professionals with charitable causes. 

If you're interested in their work, please check out the following websites :  

Philanthro: http://www.philanthroproductions.org/

Lifelong AIDS Alliance:  http://www.llaa.org/

Philanthro & Lifelong AIDS Alliance Art Show: http://psllaa.tumblr.com/

My utmost gratitude, appreciation and gesture of thanks goes to Jessica Wei, Mary Wu, and all of the wonderful folks at Philanthro Seattle who arranged this incredibly good cause.  Had it not been for their invitation to create and donate artwork, I never would've known about the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. The whole art show is based on the following theme, where the artist had the liberty to decide on a word to fill in the blank.

Conquering the Past; Embracing the Present; ___________ the Future.

For my piece, I chose the word, "Improving" to complete the theme.

 GROWTH IN SPIRIT

Oil paint on birch wooden panels - 9" x 9", 9" x 10", and 9" x 12" (2011)

Inspiration Behind the Art Work: The human spirit. I have always been a strong believer that the growth of a person is not measured by conventional, societal standards of success, physicality or reputation...but through the individual's sense of compassion, mindfulness and strong will.  I hope to embody this message in a series of wooden panels that display the potential of an individual's strength. The first panel depicts the individual struggling to climb a partially decaying tree, symbolizing his determination to overcome personal obstacles . To reflect that imperfections should not be viewed as a debilitating component that prevents us from rising, this particular individual has one peg leg.  Despite this complication, the individual is still able to find a way to his destination in life through sheer determination, endurance and strong will. Once the individual is able to conquer his past, he establishes a home on top of the tree as a symbol of acceptance.  His comfort and residency there reflects his desire to embrace the present. In turn, his compassion and understanding of life propels him to nurture the tree to full health for future generations. The growth and vitality of the three is representative of the impact a human being can have on this world in terms of improving the future. 

The Philanthro folks hard at work, preparing for the grand opening of the art auction.

Sponsors and Viewers take a gander at bidding for each donated piece of artwork.

There were several inspirational speakers, musicians and poets that performed throughout the night, bringing more awareness towards AIDS and the celebration of life, in general. Pictured above from left to right is Prince Stephens and Sean Michael.

Improving the Future...

Time's a tickin'. Last piece in a series of three. Now for some sleep before I become a zombie at work tomorrow while daydreaming of trees and tree spirits from near and distant lands.

IMPROVING THE FUTURE

oil paint on a wooden panel 9" x 12" (2011)

Embracing the Present...

In continuation to the former post, this piece represents the second portion of my contribution to the "Lifelong Aids Alliance".  Interestingly enough, the unprimed surface of this wooden panel is smooth rather than granular--something I've come to appreciate direly.

EMBRACING THE PRESENT

oil paint on a wooden panel 9" x 10" (2011)

Conquering the Past...

Feeling inevitably crunched for time represents a common motif in today's society...but as long as one completely enjoys the ride, time itself ostensibly ceases to exist (relative to the individual). Per request, this first piece (in a series of three) will serve as a contribution to a charity benefit organized by a few friends of mine. Looks like the race against the clock begins right about...now! Never thought I'd say this, but being jet-lagged from Europe is actually helping quite a bit.

CONQUERING THE PAST

oil paint on a wooden panel 9" x 9" (2011)

The unexpected, granular texture of the wood in this particular panel makes applying paint disappointingly difficult...but it's a learning process. First time for everything, right? :-)

More Wood Art Sneak Peaks...

Here's a sneak peak of some pieces a night before I depart to Europe for 2 weeks! Until then, I hope you all enjoy a PHENOMENAL summer!

Lotus Box

Sneak peak of an incomplete wood-burned piece for a special individual! More updates to come...

Dobby is looking for a home...

Ahoy Potter fans! For anyone who is interested, Dobby is currently searching for an individual who will eagerly welcome him into their home as a free elf.  He's particularly loyal and will keep you good company.

To make this possibility a reality, please go here.  He's temporarily residing at Gallery Nucleus for the Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition until August 1, 2011.  50% of the purchase will support the gallery while the other 50% will be donated to the buyer's choice of charity (once you contact me at greenlinh [at] gmail [dot] come or via the CONTACT form on the Info page).  Thanks for your consideration!

Back from the Wizarding World!

Just returned to Seattle from the opening reception of the Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition at Gallery Nucleus near Los Angeles and it was nothing short of magical! Ben Zhu and Linda Chi (the gallery curators) did an AMAZING job conjuring the event.  A seemingly endless line of muggles, squibs and wizards ebbed and flowed around several blocks of parking space; eagerly awaiting admittance into the wizarding world.

The shear number of people that "apparated" there was overwhelming! Regardless, the folks at Nucleus made sure everyone got sorted into their proper houses, courtesy of the sorting hat itself.  One of the most exciting aspects were the fan-made costumes! There were lots of impressive impersonations of almost every HP character conceivable...including Dobby, Professor Umbridge, Snitches (yes, snitches...creatively done too), Lupin, Tonks, Deatheaters and even Crookshanks! Such wondrous works of transfiguration were a spectacle in itself.  As a hardcore fan...I err...shamelessly dressed up too.


Waiting in line was time-consuming, but it was definitely worth every minute.  After 2 hours of waiting, day became night and we were still nowhere near the entrance of the line.  Turns out that I was just stupid and failed to realize that contributing artists receive instant VIP access along with their attendees. Thanks to one of my cousin's recommendations, I finally walked around the block to the gallery, showed my ID, and then we were in--as quick as a flick of the wand.

Upon entry to the gallery, everyone received a Deatheater tattoo stamped/marked on their arm!

Upon entering the gallery, we each got marked with the Deatheater tattoo along our arm. Each visitor was also given a free button with well-known phrases from the Potter world. Voldermort's domineering presence was the first to greet us.

Care to test your luck with some of Bertie Bott's Every Flaver Jelly Beans? My cousins, Katrina, Michelle and Don dove for it. Bloodworm and earswax! You can see how much they enjoyed them based on their priceless facial expressions.

To sum up the whole experience, it was simply phenomenal. I'd like to to extend a special thanks to all of my relatives who were able to attend.  This is the first time I stepped up and revealed my passion for art to the family, so your support is deeply appreciated (beyond words)!

All of the artwork was intriguing and brilliantly rendered in their own way.  Viewing all of the pieces was the epitome of the show itself.  To give you a glimpse of a few masterpieces, here are a few that have a fond place in my heart:

Hedwig by Jocelyn Liang

Introduction to the Owlry by Brittney Lee, whom I received the fortunate opportunity to meet.  Her paper cut-out art is beautifully intricate and alluring.

Too many pieces in this photo to list the name of each one, but these were beautifully painted by Mary Grandpe.  You might recognize her artwork from the original illustrations of the American-published versions of the Harry Potter books!

Kreacher by Justin Gerard, one of my favorite artists.

Freaks by Anthony Wu. An enchanting, raw depiction of Luna Lovegood approaching a Thestral.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Drew Struzan

My lovely aunt, Minh posing next to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Drew Struzan.

Thestral by J. Shea

Who wants to go back to the past with your very own time turner? Now's your chance!

My cousin, Katrina sporting her new pair of "Luna Lovegood" glasses!

To end the night, we all celebrated with some butterbeer.