mini-mural
Enter to win a mini-mural, or if you don't have the wall space, a custom initial piece!
initial piece
Hi everyone! So far I've been keeping my weekly updates pledge, which is pretty neat. If you're reading this, there's a good chance you've read some other blog posts here too, which is SO COOL and warms my heart. Please leave a little comment or 'like' on here or the facebook page if you've read a post - I'd love to know who I'm reaching with what posts and info.
Recently I've had several general art or specific event posts, but so many exciting things are happing right now that I figure it's time for a general review, a lay of the land, a journal entry, if you will. So without further ado:
I'm heading north in mid-May to work on Unk Mike's new office for his Osteopathic practice. I recently went up to get a feel for the space and discuss his vision for it, as well as take some 'before' photos....
I'm also signed up for another Arts in the Alley mural event, which will take place in June I believe, at the Hospital Hospitality House. If you haven't heard of Arts in the Alley, they are a non-profit I've been working closely with for the past year or so, and worth a look: Arts in the Alley Richmond is their facebook page, currently featuring my wall from the last event! They coordinate really fun, fast-paced mural-painting volunteer weekends, and if you like playing around with paint you should absolutely attend the HHH event.
AND I've got a couple other promising irons in the fire, which I'll keep a secret until I'm sure they're for real. Don't wanna jinx it! You can be sure I'll trumpet about them on here as they solidify - spring is the beginning of the outdoor mural season, so I'm anxious to start taking advantage of the great weather.
I just got back from exploring the other end of the home-decor timeline: the building process. Tom and I spent this weekend at the Build Tiny Workshop, being introduced to the warm and welcoming community of Tiny Houses. My long-term plan is to travel around the country painting huuuuuge murals for public works projects (and any other regular scale residential / commercial projects I can suss out), and to do that I've decided to build a 210 sq ft home on wheels to serve as HerrSuite Headquarters!
A quick scoop on Tiny Houses: The idea behind this community is to downsize from the classic American Dream of a big house with a big yard and a big car, because that is big load of responsibilities, not to mention a big money-hole. Living in a much smaller house allows these advantages: Design and own your own home (NO MORTGAGE), spend your time, energy, and money on your life instead of your possessions, travel more or less freely WITH the comfort of your own home (to name but a few). Tiny houses also are one path to more sustainable and off-the-grid living in a myriad of ways, which is an exciting and worthwhile challenge.
Maybe it will look like this!
I'm almost entirely in it for the traveling aspect, but those other advantages bowl me over. Beyond those, there's the indescribable coolness quotient of rolling into town like an ice-cream truck for murals - you can bet that this thing is going to be rigged up to look SWEET AS HELL. Be on the lookout for the mural-mobile in the next 3-5 years. YES.
And of COURSE, there's the Garden Party! It's only a week away, but there's a lot to do, and I'm getting the jitters. Consider this your first of many reminders to come out and see the Secret Garden Sunroom mural IN PERSON, FOR FREE, WITH SNACKS. It is nearly too good to be true. Incredible. The event of the century! Be there or be square.
Prep work on a mural, usually because of size and time constraints, is reeeeallly important. Legend (or 'wikipedia') has it that Alfred Hitchcock's films always came in underbudget, because every part of them was thoroughly planned out, down to the last minute. Besides the fact that I would love to be more like Alfred Hitchcock in nearly every way, in this way in particular I am trying to emulate him. I've been amping up the prep work steadily over time, so I thought I'd make a little collection post here and show that off.
Practices and final painting for one of the birdies at CMoR
Two of many suggested plans for Grove Ave. superimposed on a picture of their blank wall.
Beginning sketches for Ellen's salon piece and an invitation...
Which is a perfect segway to tell you about the Garden Party! If you'll be in the Richmond area on April 27th, I'm excited to invite you to come see one of the first Herr Suite murals in person!
Most of my murals are in people's homes and therefore 'available for private viewings only,' but Kathy Hayfield is generously holding an open house to show off her new sunroom, freshly re-imagined by yours truly
Come out between 3 and 6pm, check out the mural, enjoy Kathy's lovely outdoor garden, snack a little, let me practice my HerrSuite mural-salesman pitch on you.... Hope I see you there!
PS: If you're seeing this for the 5th time because I'm posting about it everywhere I can, sorry about that, just trying to cover my bases.
(PPS: sorrynotsorry, maybe seeing it five times will make you want to attend five times as much!)
