Back Again

Hello! So much went on this summer and I was very bad at posting anything to my blog. So sorry for the time lapse. But now things have slowed down somewhat and I'll make posting a priority.

So we have some catching up to do...

Over the summer I started a personal project where I created a series of four posters focusing on cities and states that I love. It's turned  into an ongoing process and I'm debating whether to refocus it to be a series of 52 posters featuring each of the states plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands or just city and states that I've visited and have special meaning to me.

So far I've finished Minnesota, Lake Minnetonka (located just a few miles from the studio), Florida and Palm Springs.

It was challenging and fun to create all of the vintage-style ephemera and maps. Research for the posters was equally as fun, with many evenings pursuing though Pinterest and doing Google searches.

Mid-century Palm Springs

Tropical Florida

Historic Lake Minnetonka

My Home, Minnesota

A Night at The Minneapolis Institute of Art

Last Thursday I attended the monthly Third Thursdays at The MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Art), The Institute is an amazing space to visit. Their home installations are free to the public. For a free museum it's almost unbelievable...it's hands down one of the best art museums in the US. Their current visiting exhibition is by Guillermo del Torro, At Home With Monsters. It is a journey into nightmares and what goes bump in the night. The exhibit commands a supplemental $20 admission and is well worth the price if you are a fan of anything scary or of Hollywood monsters.

I'm currently working on a Halloween line for Carta Bella Paper Company and I thought I may get a little inspiration from this exhibit. It was a little too scary for inspiration, however, Guillermo's work is both striking and morbidly curious. I've always been a fan of scary movies and his work is both dark and highly creative.

If you're in town this spring a visit to the MIA is a must. Their home collection is amazing. From old masters to Monet and the Impressionists, to Ancient Asian and Egyptian masterpieces...its a must visit for anyone interested in art. 

Beware, the following pictures are a bit scary, but not gruesome.

Here's what the MIA has to say about the new At Home With Monsters exhibit... 

Taking inspiration from Guillermo del Toro’s extraordinary imagination, this unique exhibition reveals his creative process through a collection of paintings, drawings, maquettes, artifacts, and concept film art, all culled from Bleak House, his creative haven and cherished home base located in Los Angeles.

Rather than a traditional chronology or filmography, the exhibition is organized thematically, beginning with visions of death and the afterlife; continuing through explorations of magic, occultism, horror, and monsters; and concluding with representations of innocence and redemption.

Beginning with Cronos (1993) and continuing through The Devil’s Backbone (2001), Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Pacific Rim (2013), and Crimson Peak (2015), among many other film, television, and book projects, Guillermo del Toro has reinvented the genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Working with a team of craftsmen, artists, and actors—and referencing a wide range of cinematic, pop-culture, and art-historical sources—del Toro recreates the lucid dreams he experienced as a child in Guadalajara, Mexico.

This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Art Gallery of Ontario. 

One Month Until My Much Needed Vacation

Cunard's Queen Mary

Sitmar's FairWind
Illustrations © Carta Bella Paper Company

In one month I'm taking my first transatlantic cruise from Florida to Rome, Italy. I'm an avid cruise enthusiast, having been cruising since I was a little boy.

As a cruise enthusiast the planning of the cruise is as exciting as the trip itself. The deck plan above is an illustration that I did for Carta Bella Paper Company's line Let's Cruise. It's a re-rendering of Sitmar Cruise Line's FairWind (later purchased by Princess Cruises in the 80's).

Creating this illustration brought back wonderful memories. The first time I sailed on the FairWind I was 17. I remember taking the cruise brochure with me everywhere I'd go to memorize the layout of the ship. I'd imagine all of the fun that'd I'd have and all of the places I'd hang out. It was a life changing cruise and one of my fondest memories from my youth. I met a group of 10 kids, from all over the world, and for 14 days we traveled all around the Caribbean. We shared experiences of back home and made new memories. Disco was all the rage and from 10pm to 3am every night we'd be upstairs in the Rendezvous Lounge dancing the night away. To this day the voyage still brings a smile to my face.

Now it is on to Rome and new memories. This upcoming cruise will be my 51st cruise. I still have several projects for Carta Bella Paper Company to wrap up before leaving.  Some really fun ones that I hope will become big sellers. More on these projects as they develop.

Chicago's Magnificent Mile

Illustration ©Modify Ink

I love retro travel posters. Ever since I was a teen I have collected them.

I was given a project to design a series of travel posters for Modify Ink. The first poster I designed was of Chicago. At the time I illustrated this my son was living in the windy city.

I wanted the poster to capture the personality of the city.  At first I was going to do a view from of the lake of the city's shoreline. But after a weekend visit  I changed direction and chose a view of the city from within the city. With the focus of the poster being placed on the amazing architecture of Chicago, it became more dramatic and challenging.

The style I rendered it in is a quasi realism interspersed with stylized retro elements like the pedestrians crossing the avenue.  I wanted the sky to have a personality of its own. Instead of a typical light blue fade to darker blue, or interesting clouds floating by,  I chose an dramatic fade of a bold teal to yellow and then into a lighter blue green. I really like how it makes the skyline pop yet and complements the overall design.

The series also includes posters of NY/Washington Square looking down to the Empire State Building, Los Angeles/Santa Monica Pier, and San Francisco/cable car looking out to the bay and Alcatraz. For the San Francisco poster I included the Dolores Street Victorian that I used to live in as part of the homes lining the street.

Winter's Coming Back

For a week we've been experiencing springtime temperatures into the low 60'sF.  All the snow is gone and it looks like fall just before winter blows in. The weather forecast for Thursday night into Friday is up to over 12 inches of the white stuff. It's going to be fun.

The above illustrations were created for two different winter lines, the top for Carta Bella Paper Company's Winter Fun and the bottom for October Afternoon's Holiday Style. The city illustration is my interpretation of Minneapolis's Uptown district which is just a canoe ride, in summer, from my studio.

In Honor of Secretaries

These are work ups for a Retro-Office line that I created for October Afternoo

Gooseberry Falls , Minnesota

One of my pet projects is to create illustrations of some of my favorite places in Minnesota. Gooseberry Falls is one of the studies. It feeds into Lake Superior about an hour north of Duluth.  I hope to eventually do enough illustrations so I can create a calendar and a series of postcards.

This particular illustration was a test study. I wanted it to be both vintage in style and crafty. The paint-by-number-style was inspired by the decor of one of my favorite breakfast spots in Minneapolis; Hot Plate. It's over by Lake Nakomis and is definitely the kitchiest place in the Twin Cities, decorated in hundreds of paint-by-numbers paintings and 1970's trinkets and treasures.  (See pics below.)

If you're in Minneapolis, down by the airport, visit this wonderful dive for brunch (only open till 2pm). It's at 5204 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55417. Be sure to check out all of the neighboring vintage shops on the same block.