Back to Jacksonville.

I finished up a mural which spanned two walls in my friend Shane's boxing gym. It depicted two martial arts warriors in fighting stances under two cherry blossom trees and in front of an oriental mountain-scape. 

I went to hang out with my friends Riley and Drew before leaving town. I realized that I'd forgotten my wallet and turned around. I was fortunate to have noticed it before I got on the interstate. I turned around, went back to Sarah's apartment an found it after opening up my suitcase in her living room. 

Upon arriving in Jacksonville, I made a bed and slept hard for the day ahead. 

Shaun woke me up with a phone call. We went to take photos of some walls that he was to paint. 

Tomorrow Shaun and I plan to develop a rhythm to painting together, across four large exterior walls in downtown
Jacksonville.  

Attached is a photo of my meal tonight. A beautiful, nutritious salad. 

Pyramid Inc.

Last night, I was granted open access to Pyramid Inc's new building, which is in mid-construction, to begin painting a mural in their daily living room.

I set up and spent at least an hour mapping the mural. This one was designed for a very process-based install, meaning that I had limited room for error because my supplies were limited. 

After mapping, I studied the value painting that I'd made in gouache, then began mixing colors. I used one five-gallon bucket for the majority of the painting- mixing one color, blocking it in, then mixing the next color directly from the one prior. 

I deviated from the value study with unsatisfactory results, so I spent a lot of time remixing colors and re-painting large sections. Periodically, I would snap a photo of the wall, then set my camera display to monochrome grayscale in order to get the values singing as I intended. It was 4:45am before I finished the painting. I felt as though I had just run a marathon, it felt incredible. 

Martial Arts Gym

I began work on a mural at my friend Shane's Mixed Martial Arts Gym. I'd painted this gym several times before and have always had a wonderful experience. Shane has had a vision of owning a warehouse gym with completely painted walls since he can remember. Back in 2009, he bought his first space, and soon after found me to get the walls singing. This most recent mural was a diptych and a request, portraying two martial arts fighters, poised toward each other, in front of a traditional-style Asian landscape. I made study drawings of two of Shane's fighters, Seth and Bailin, then studied books on martial arts and Chinese painting at the FSU Library. It took a couple days to get everything lined up for this mural. Once I had my studies and supplies in order, I went to the gym and began painting. Six hours yielded a painting which I consider one third finished.

Jacksonville to Tallahassee

I moved into a warehouse space in Jacksonville, Florida. There is something magical about Jacksonville. I feel in love with everything. It's like home, but full of new friends and incredible recourses. I befriended a crew of homeless traveler kids who refer to themselves as 'The Dirty Kids'. I gave them shelter for two nights in my warehouse-studio in exchange for some help with painting. We put down three coats of primer, turning the space from a puke-green den into a bright white sanctuary. I still had nothing for furniture, so I walked around the neighborhood looking for scrap wood. I found two beautiful heartily constructed boxes, which I picked up with my car and brought back to the space. They worked perfectly for table supports, as well as storage containers. I found an old door which I laid across the top of the two wooden boxes, creating a lovely work bench. Shaun gave me a roll out rug to lay in front of it. He said it would keep my feet warm while I worked through the cold nights. It is very exciting building a studio, it is close to all I can think about, how to optimize a space for art-making.

I walked across the parking lot (my warehouse is one of five light-industrial spaces within a gated complex) to the Blue Buddha food distribution warehouse to study pallet construction. I thought it would be efficient to use pallets for the construction of shelves, tables and flat files. My friend Adrian came over to inquire what I was doing, then referred me to a pallet refurbishing company just one street behind my warehouse. Chris, the owner of the pallet company was very accommodating, offering free pallets to me. I took four beautiful pallets ( I did not know there were so many different varieties of pallets!), and began disassembling them as preliminary work to building a flat file box to store my works on paper.

The warehouse space has an alarm system, which should be set every night. Such, I have been sleeping in my car so the morning crew can walk into their shops with assurance that the alarm was set upon my exiting. I believe after some time I will talk with my fellow tenants about sleeping in the warehouse itself.

I bought a great camera, in part to document my own work, and in part to document process painting shots for my friend, Shaun Thurston. I spent several days out on the north side of Jacksonville with Shaun, documenting his installation of five animal portraits on the exterior wall of a thrift shop. The murals were pro-bono, as the thrift store is an annex of a local humane society which has made Jacksonville a 'no-kill' animal rescue area. The documentation went very well. I got some good shots and Shaun and I established a rhythm to our dialogue with passers-by. It was incredible how manny folks pulled their cars over to talk about how beautiful the paintings were, most knew Shaun's work already- he has built quite a reputation for himself over the years in Jacksonville with his prolific mural and gallery presence. So many people wanted their buildings done, or their homes, or portraits, or their cars, or churches. Shaun, being a busy man, appreciated my talking with the potential clients, tapering the offers to those that were interesting, for a good cause, or likewise.

I made a trip to Tallahassee to begin painting two murals for Pyramid Inc., an education center for adults with developmental disabilities. Upon arriving on Friday, I went straight to the wall to have a look at the spot. I met with Gary who owned a concrete finishing business. He'd just finished a job in the Pyramid building, and notified me that it would be four days before I could enter the building to begin the murals. This represented a setback which has become somewhat recurrent in my art-making practice- one in which a domino effect of scheduling errors stems from the corrected assumption that everything will go as planned.

I can become stir crazy without a project, so I hit up a friend of mine, Shane, at World Triumph Martial Arts to propose to him a diptych mural. I drew for two walls, (which were not even finished being constructed). I went to the hardware store and bought supplies to finish construction on the walls. The sun seemed to set early. That night, I went to the library to study for the now four walls which I am to paint.

Unicorn Horns

Okay so here’s a quick run-down of how I made 1200 unicorn horn stickers by hand:

I designed these stickers based on a sticker that I found in a Berlin metro station. I was peeling it off and noticed how high quality it was! The backing was a gummy, sticky, tape with a thread lattice. It seemed weatherproof and it was difficult to remove. I knew that I had to find out what this tape was.

A couple months passed before I was in Iceland with my beautiful friend and wonderful filmmaker Leah Meyerhoff. We were discussing ideas for promotion for her film, which was scheduled to debut at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March. We talked briefly about the idea to make unicorn horn stickers. A few weeks later I was back in Florida exploring the hardware store for this magical tape. I found it in the flooring section- it was carpet tape! I bought a few rolls and ran home to make prototypes.

I began by coating Bristol paper with acrylic spraypaint in different colors I made fades across the sheets to create variation and texture.

Next, I applied the double-sided tape to the back of the sheets.

Back on the front side, I drew as many unicorn horns as would fit on one sheet using paint markers. I had a bunch of scraps lying around and it was fun experimenting with different color combos. I drew the outlines and several diagonals to imply a twisting shape, then went in with different colors for highlights and lowlights. The horns began to look magical, even more so when I cut them out individually!

I made 200 in the first batch. I sent half to Leah, and took half down to Art Basel Miami, where I installed them on the streets of Wynwood. Leah made use of hers in New York. After the first batch was exhausted, Leah asked if I would be willing to make more. I jumped at the opportunity. We set a number, (well, I bumped it up a bit due to excitement), 1200. I went to New York City and began production of horns en masse. After a week or so, it became apparent that I was going to need a larger space than I had reserved in the city in order to complete the project. I returned to Florida where after a couple weeks of tedious work, 1200 unicorn horns were born.

The second batch was like the first, multicolored and beautifully thought out. I made 400 of these. I had a stamp made with the hashtag for the film, #unicornsmovie. I cut out each of the stickers, then lined them up to apply a paint brush stroke of Naples Yellow gouache across the base of each. The gouache would be an ideal surface to accept the ink from the stamp. I let the gouache dry, then came back around and stamped each horn sticker with the hashtag logo. Beautiful.

This batch will primarily be used as gifts for friends and contributors to the film.

Where the first 600 stickers were varied in color and intended for promotional gifts, I thought the latter 600 would be most effective as street art objects if they were of a uniform color palette, that way they would read as a cohesive body, distinguishable by their quantity and uniformity while still retaining the hand-made appeal. In Austin, we can install the 600 uniform colored horns, mixing in the multicolored horns as fun outliers.

Confirmed Studio

I planned to leave Tallahassee early this morning, but after a shower and breakfast, my body and mind were still not ready to get in the car for such a long trip. It was early in the afternoon before I felt sufficiently rested. I got into the car and drove to Jacksonville, check in hand, to confirm my lease on a warehouse studio space.

I met with Al in his wood shop to deliver the deposit. He is a very compassionate man from my reading. He has been welcoming to me as a soon-to-be tenant, offering that I may move into the space before the payment period begins. I walked over to the Cork Building, where I met with my friend Morrison who was hanging his show in the gallery space. We talked for some time and he talked with me about some of the valuable resources within the neighborhood. I thanked him for his time, and was off for Crystal River, back to my folks house to keep my grandmother Donna company for at least a part of St. Valentines Day.

I have a lot in front of me, but am focusing on the present.

Infrastructure

I've come a long way from my adventures in Miami. I took a trip back through Tallahassee on the basis that I utilize my painting chops on a couple of murals. I had the privilege of painting with my long time friend Matthew, who is expecting a baby, his son, Miles. We discussed the possibility of painting a large mural on behalf of the occasion, and soon thereafter sat down to make plans. We thought to make a painting with a stork character and a piece of graffiti that said 'Miles'. Matt thought of a great building to propose the mural to, a carwash and window tinting business on a busy street in Tallahassee. We proposed the wall to the owner, and he agreed. After our pitch, he didn't even want to see our sketch- he was just down.
It went likewise a few blocks over, where I pitched a great mural to a tobacco shop. I drew for the project and submitted a printed mock-up. He signed a waiver and advanced me cash for supplies.
With the two murals set up, I rented a car and spent a few rainy days gathering thoughts and supplies for pre-mural planning. I ordered paint from Miami. I bought a ladder and put it in the nice rental car that I didn't get insurance for, along with three five gallon buckets of paint and a chainsaw. (The chainsaw- A part of the creation of the Miles wall was clearing out a large amount of brush and two small trees. I rented a chainsaw and cut the two trees down. It felt horrible, though I was getting the occasional encouraging lumberjack joke.)

I worked the two murals back and forth over the course of one week. It was a blissful trip.

I returned my rental car in Jacksonville, then boarded a flight to New York City, to meet with friends and to create promotional stickers for Leah Meyerhoff's forthcoming debut film. I stayed on a few couches, and met with friends, but after over one week, I had little to show in terms of sticker production. I sought to rent a studio space for a few days to complete the project. I asked a friend Owen, if I could use his studio in Bushwick, to which he obliged at a very fare rate. I managed to get a long way on the stickers, but not finished. I began to feel like I was inconveniencing my hosts, and I felt that I needed to get out of New York.

I rented a car and drove south to my folks house in Crystal River. At my folks house, I completed 500 stickers, and made a few charming pieces and drawings. I bought a car with help from my beautiful mother. I went for walks with my father and the dogs. I stayed for two weeks, then took a drive to Jacksonville to scout a studio opportunity. I spent the night in my friend Shaun Thurston's studio after a day of assisting him on a mural and a round of drinks.

I left in the morning for Tallahassee, where I had a meeting with Maureen Raferty to discuss a mural commission for Pyramid Inc.- a corporation which serves individuals with developmental disabilities. They are opening a new center in Tallahassee. I met with Launa, Maureen, and Amy at the construction site to discuss the murals. The women were wonderful and helpful in communicating their needs. I listened to them and took measurements. They wanted to start with two walls, then move from there. One of them will be an aquatic scene- that one I am very excited about because I love aquaculture. The other will be a wall in a classroom which is 27 feet long. They want something which will be stimulating while not distracting. This one sounds like a very fun challenge.

I bought a camera in Tallahassee and will soon invest in a projector which can communicate directly from my phone or camera or computer to tighten up quality in my mural painting. The set-up is going to be tremendous. I'm dreaming of a studio space in Jacksonville, I will know for sure tomorrow wether I will be able to call a warehouse on Roselle Street mine for the next year.