RISD Portfolio Reviews : Illustration/Animation

I was invited by my supervisor to accompany her to the RISD portfolio reviews, focusing on Class of 2012/13's Illustration and Animation majors. I came as a representative/talent scout for Converse, and I have to say I was blown away by this experience.

RISD is a truly prestigious school (one way out of my league price-wise when I was 16 and heading to college). So many amazing artists have come out of RISD, and I'm grateful to have been apart of such an important experience for students.

My portfolio reviews at Mass Art were truly nerve-wracking. I spent hundreds of dollars printing my portfolio, and even more on my "leave-behinds" (acrylic keychains designed by me and laser-cut with my name and website). Basically you get dressed up and make your portfolio look as dapper as possible and throw yourself at prospective companies, asking for advice and feedback and potential positions at your favorite companies. I had the pleasure of being reviewed by my senior Dana Woulfe for Converse in 2009, where he dismissed my portfolio as being inappropriate for surface design, though he did like my pieces. Funny how things work out - I sit about 15 feet from him now!!

It's only been a short while since I was on the other side of the table, so I was really nervous on arrival - such a big school, so many amazing talented young adults, and sitting eating lunch with all the other company representatives was pretty intense! I couldn't help but think, "OMG I'M NEXT TO PIXAR AND OMG OMG," totally star struck!

The work from the Illustration students we saw (which was around 30) was truly inspiring. I was suprised to see how many students worked in gouache (well), and it was interesting to see the differences between what Mass Art had expected from students versus RISD. (Black and white graphic-less resumes, and almost no postcards!) But overall I was truly blown away by a lot of the work. I even handed out some personal business cards! Why wouldn't I want to keep up with such talented artists?

Overall, this was a great experience for me and hopefully for all the students who attended. I was able to share some of my newly-inherited insight as well as gain some inspiration and a renewed sense of "blossoming" and eagerness from so many fresh faces.



If I were you, I would seriously check out :
Sunny Ren
Leland Goodman
Melanie Steinway

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Tonight! The Hundreds Show at LAP Gallery

Click for the Facebook event page!

You can see my pieces!! <3 Cick the image to read the write-up in the Weekly Dig!

THE HUNDREDS SHOW
All Art is $100 // $200 // or $300

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, December 9, 7-10 PM
Show Dates: December 9 - January 14
Gallery Hours: Wed - Fri 4-10 PM, Sat 2-8 PM or by appointment.

Lincoln Arts Project is pleased to announce The Hundreds Show. Featuring over 40 artists in a “everything must go” show. All art falls into of three price points - $100, $200, or $300. A great opportunity to get “cheap” work from some of Boston’s finest established and emerging artists.

FEATURING WORK FROM:

Adam LoRusso

Adam O’Day

Adahn Stewart

Adrienne Ginter

Aimee Belanger

Allison Bamcat

Amanda Fiedler

Bill Dunlap

Bradford Rusick

Brian Butler

Brian Hart

Caleb Neelon

Candace Corbin

Charlie Smith

Chelsea Dirck

Claudia Quigua

Cydney Gottlieb

Danielle Spurge

Dave Ortega

Dave Tolmie

Erica Aubin

Fish McGill

Gabbie Li

Ian Stewart

Jared Friedman

Jess Barnett

Jessica MacMillan

Josh Luke
Julie Weiman

June Levinson

Katie Loesel

Kenji Nakayama

Kevin Bucaccio

Kristina Carroll

Mel Blood

Mike Dacey

Princess Die

Raul Gonzalez
Ross Normandin

Sam Hayes

Scott Chasse

Scott Murry

Sean-Tremayne C. Lunsford

Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer

Steve Rand

LAP Gallery
289 Moody Street, Waltham MA
http://www.facebook.com/Lincol

nArtsProject

DIRECTIONS
Parking in rear of building, and on street.

Accessible by:
Commuter Rail (Stops in Porter Sq & North Station)
Buses
70, 70A (Central Sq/Allston/Brighton)
170 (Back Bay, Dudley Sq)
505, 553, 554, 556, 558 (Downtown Boston)

Phidias Gold : Distillation Show Opening 12/2/11

show flier

Phidias Gold is a premium apparel brand for artists by artists. Taking after the 9 Greek muses which gave people the necessary inspiration for creating, Phidias Gold follows as the 10th Muse—The Muse of Visual Art. Phidias Gold is here to inspire art in the modern era by showcasing talented artists, and being the brand that creative individuals wear.

wall painting by Wesley Eggebrecht & help (this thing was taller than me)

©Leo Espinosa 2011

©J.R. Goldberg 2011
And then I proceeded to yell "Weenie Water" all night for the rest of forever laughing like a little kid

I see Kenji's bottle!

The place filled up really quickly!

You can check our more of Phidias Gold, as well as their recently launched winter line at http://www.phidiasgold.com


Congrats to Alex Dakoulas and Wesley Eggebrecht on such a successful event!

Bamcat's Upcoming Events!!

I have plenty of pins to give you if you catch me at one of these events!

Howdy! I just wanted to keep you guys up to date on some of the things I'm working on/looking forward to. IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER EVEN! :D

1. CVLT! ∴ The Ars Moriendi Project! ∴12/5

Event flier, 12/5 8PM - 1AM @ Middlesex Lounge, Cambridge MA

Some work from the last Ars Moriendi segment 11/7, featuring work from several artists including Casey Desmond (artist/singer) and Robert McElaney (artist/event coordinator)

2. Holiday Mass Market craft fair 12/11

Event flier designed by Sir Brian Butler © 2011

So excited for this! This will be my first craft fair ever, and I've been running around like a lunatic and not sleeping and working like a dog to get all of my product perfect and ready for the occasion. I have pins, prints, greeting cards, original art, hand-painted ornaments, handmade mini-stockings (that are just so punk rock) and TONS of jewelry and accessories featuring original designs by me!

I can't wait for you to see them! You can preview some of the selection at my Etsy shop!

3. Worcester Roller Derby presents : CRAFTERSHOCK!!! 12/18

This will be my SECOND craft fair to date! haha! I love Worcester, and I LOVE roller derby, so I'm stoked to combine those two things with the other thing I love : artsty crafty stuff!!

Really looking forward to this, and I'll have a better sense of which products of mine appeal to people the best. All learning experiences are good ones. :)




Other than that, I'm creating a t-shirt graphic for a Boston animal-friendly brand (not telling yet!), working on a tattoo design for a friend, and working tirelessly and endlessly on my Etsy shop to make it wondrous and sparkly shiny. Oh and working at Converse too! ;)

Thanks for looking!

Wright Building in Rockland : Open Studios 11-19-11

Last weekend I spent some time at the Wright Building in Rockland MA for Open Studios. It was my mum's birthday, so we decided to meet her there (getting lost in the mazes that are hallways there).

I've always had a soft spot for the Rockland studios, as they used to be in the Codman Building back when I was in high school. The Codman building was an old shoe factory, so it was dark, dirty, dingy, winding, and amazing. But artists should probably be somewhere clean, so everyone was shipped to the Wright Building and Codman was turned into condos.

I started attending open figure study sessions at the Codman Building at 15, and it was the best! Drinking chai tea and sitting on the floor of Scotty ???'s beautiful studio, playing with the resident cat, cranking Coheed and Cambria on my discman and feeling like an adult.


I was happy to meet so many new artists at the Open Studios, and I even made some new friends!! Take a look!

Getting lost in the maze!

works © Eija Heward

I love looking into artist's work spaces!

works © Eija Heward

©Meghan Dinsmore Dinsbots 2011

Dinsbots! Meghan Dinsmore runs Dinsbots, painting and printing different series of robots wearing chucks, robots hanging out with birds, robots with mustaches, all the best robots!

Check out her Etsy shop here!

Another incredibly talented artist I met - Heather Beck. She is an amazing metalsmith, and she's also a beekeeper! She sold out of all her home-made honey in only a couple hours!

You can check out her site here!

Thanks for looking! :)

You can find the Fourth Floor Artists Blog site here!

Influential Ladies PT. 1 : Casey Desmond

Lately, I've been focusing a lot more on personal branding, fashion, and trends. I'm always IN the fashion industry, and I can't help but be inspired by so many amazingly creative people around me. I'll be posting over the new few days about some of the ladies in my generation who really inspire my work personally and give me something to aspire to.

Sorry boys! You'll get your spotlights soon enough.

1. Casey Desmond

Casey Desmond is a Boston musician with an eye for fashion and everything electric. Her performances are out of this world, and she's truly a talented singer with amazing vocal range and technical ability. She creates a world when she performs, full of props, blacklights, glitter latex and mesmerizing projections. Along with the beautifully unique handcrafted outfits she creates, she's truly irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind in the Boston scene.

©Photo Rich Bettencourt 2011

She made her tv debut this past year on ABC's The Voice, working under coach Adam Levigne of Maroon 5 (so dreamy). And though she sounded AMAZING, I feel like there's just something so much more special about her more intimate stage performances. It's always easier to connect with someone when you're not in a massive theater, I feel. (Though I wish her all the massive theater performances she deserves!)

Hair: Denyse Dipietro
MUA: Vanessa Bennett
© Brit Woollard Photography, all rights reserved.

Casey is really intuitive when it comes to sewing and creating her costumes. She has so many sparkly fabrics in her studio, it'd give Rainbow Brite a seizure. (And enough keyboards to hold a class!) She gave me the opportunity to be a model in her fashion for for OhDeerGod, and it was one of the most fun and empowering experiences I've had. (Thank you!)


And to top it all off, she's an artist too! Jeez! Here's a couple of pieces from the LAP Gallery's recent gallery show, Bostonia Collectives as well as her custom skull from the Ars Moriendi Project opening last week.



Check out Casey's new video for Rocket Lover and be her facebook friend! You won't regret it!



More on Casey at http://caseydesmond.com/