beehive bazaar!

i promise the influences/taste post is still coming; it's mostly written but on hold, due to a high level of art-making i'm having to attempt, and here's why....

the beehive bazaar is the next two weekends: may 1-3 and 8-10 and you should mark your calendars right now. seriously, right now. go ahead, i'll wait.

. . .

did you do it? cool. here's why:

i have attended two beehive bazaars before and let me tell you: it is an amazingly creatively stimulating environment. it's more than just a regular ol' craft fair...the work found there is the best and most eclectic local hand-made stuff around. from handmade books to terrariums to glass ornaments to stationary to leather to jewelry to macaroons and more. honestly, i've been a little disappointed in the regular local craft fairs the past few years; i've felt like everything has gone more "corporate" or it's all pretty much the same stuff. i guess i was spoiled when i lived in new york a few summers ago and got to attend some fairs out there, but the beehive bazaar is the closest thing to the brooklyn craft fair i've seen. and that's sayin' something. :)

last year, they added the "fine art" slot, and have added some fine artists along with crafters so that patrons could be exposed to both worlds. somehow, my work has been accepted into one of these slots--what a great and humbling opportunity for my work to show next to some of my art heroes and friends. speaking of which, click here to see a video about one of those heroes/friends, and get a feel for the bazaar.

my work will only be up for grabs on the second weekend, may 8-10, but honestly i'm probably gonna pop in intermittently through both weekends because i personally want to buy of goods from many of these fine vendors and artists.

click here to join the facebook event!

thanksgiving stream of consciousness

i have kind of a wonderful thanksgiving/bfa reception post lined up but don't have all the pictures yet, so you'll have to wait in suspense!

til then, here are three disjointed thoughts and the way they connect.

#1. one of my best friends and amazing photographer stephanie jarstad (click here) had her final bfa show reception on november 16th.

she gave cameras to local blind people and had them photograph what they found "beautiful" through their other senses. thus, her exhibit is a compelling display of her photographs of these people plus their photos and beautiful artist statements. in essence, it's an exploration of "beauty".

please attend if you can; it'll make you re-think beauty and look through a different pair of eyes.

poster designed by hayden davis

up until NOVEMBER 29 // byu hfac, gallery 303 // open m-f, 8am-5pm. 

--

#2. at steph's reception, i was talking with a friend about how hard it would be for us as artists to lose our sight. he mentioned, "or to lose my right hand...". i suggested that we could try our left hand, and he took it as a challenge.

when he took the challenge and started to draw left-handed, (awesomely, i might add), i was guilted into swallowing my words and trying it myself.

here's what i came up with:



#3. okay, see that little turkey in the bottom right? there. thanksgiving. thanksgiving!

and we come full circle. kind of.

the innocent eyes exhibition reminded me of all the things that are beautiful in this world. the things we don't "see" as beautiful that surround us every day. i'm thankful for those things as well as my own eyes and my right hand as well as my left, as well as the ability to create.

happy thanksgiving. :)

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y....NIGHT!

well, my show was supposed to go up yesterday, but i'm most definitely still working on it.

let's hear it for 2 hours and 45 minutes of sleep within a 36-hour time period! wooo!

sidenote: artists know that this is not uncommon for us. 
although over the last year i've been a whole lot better at that sleep thing...i guess i'm just making up for it now.

there's lots of stuff that goes into the publicity and the reception, so look! i'm super proud of my little invites and poster. i realized later that i was able to incorporate illustration, photography and graphic design (plus hand-drawn type!) which is probably why i loved making them.

steph took these photos for me when we were on a break (her bfa photography exhibit goes up the week after mine comes down!) and we laugh a lot.

so...my opening reception. food, pictures, words and maybe some tunes. also, great company. tomorrow night. come!

til then, i'll work on making sure there is a stellar show to see.

s o l o // s h o w ::

so i probably should have announced this awhile ago, but i have a solo show up in downtown provo! it went up on may 4 as part of what was formerly called the first friday downtown gallery stroll, and is now the art chase.

the opening on the 4th was great; a lot of people showed up as it got going, and there were some live performers, which i loved. humus, veggies and crackers made it a party. and i really couldn't have pulled it all together without the help of my friends and support of my family.

so, even if you missed the opening, it's still up for two more weeks! probably til may 29. i hope you can make it! if you come, please sign the little book there by my business cards, so that i know you came. :)

information is here and directions are here, compliments of jake parker's iphone.

{before the art was on the wall.
go check out the after at The IN: 44 W Center Street, Suite 301} 

the big TOMS event way back when

there was a huge TOMS event that i was able to work way back on oct 15, which was super fun! it was at jmr at the gateway mall, and it was kind of a big deal. i couldn't figure out a way to blog it til now, when i caved and got the flikr pro account. (woot!)

as you can tell from those first self-portraits, we got shiny complimentary shoes and official TOMS shirt for working it. they asked us to write biographies and they put them up in front of our stations; i soon discovered i really enjoyed observing people look at the biographies before the event and get excited. i was happy to hear good things about my examples on display.


...aaaand check the commentary.

then, in december, i got to do another event! documentation of that one, and a commission, coming relatively soon. :)

remember that you can contact me to paint on your canvas shoes, too. custom paint job, just $30 (those materials are so dang expensive). i love me some swag.

TOMS tomorrow!

sorry for the lack of update (i wonder how many of my upcoming posts won't begin with that apology.....). school and work have been crazy, but i have some awesome things to show you, so be excited! in the meantime....

remember the TOMS event i did a while back? well, i've since done two more and i'm doing another one tomorrow! if you're in utah, you should definitely stop by. not only will there be shoe painting, but there will also be face painting and a live band. bring your friends and family or just yo'self and come party it up!

{some TOMS i've designed since that last post}

if you can't make it but would still like some sweet custom-painted TOMS, contact me at kgull.art@gmail.com and i'll paint yours!

style your sole!

if you aren't familiar with TOMS shoes, you should think about fixing that. {read here to see why you really should buy a pair.}

this past saturday they had a promotional event, style your soul, where customers could purchase shoes and then artists would paint them at nordstrom's.

together with fellow local artists and friends hannah, sean, colt, jordan and hilary and others, i painted, markered, and drew on shoes for six hours. it. was. a BLAST.

within half an hour of the event's opening, we were already at full capacity for the waiting list of who's shoes would be painted. we would have loved to stay forever to paint shoes, but we weren't in charge of how that went down.

[this beautiful piece work work is hannah's]

unfortunately, i didn't get shots of all the shoes i did. but here are cool details

soooo....
if you have a pair of unworn shoes that you would like custom painted, we will paint some for you!

...they don't have to be TOMS shoes (but way cooler if they are, or course)
...and YOU can choose your design (or just give us a vague idea and we'll paint some Awesome).

let's talk: kgull.art@gmail.com

i brought my camera and went snap-happy. these photos were taken by me, sean and hannah. for more pictures, check out hannah's post about the event.