ROLEMODELS Artists Announced!

Hooray!


THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WAITING THIS LONG FOR US!

We had such a good time looking at all of the portfolios that were submitted for the Rolemodels exhibition and project!
You guys are amazing! We really appreciate all of the enthusiasm you guys have for this show! Our excitement has been fueled by all the energy and conversations we've had with you guys as we are getting this together! With over 360 crazy good artists submitting, you can imagine how hard it was to narrow it down. We're super excited for everyone to join us and really looking forward to the next steps!

This will be our HALLOWEEN SHOW! So, expect ridiculous costumes, fun giveaways, and a lot more excitement as we get closer! We'll make sure to tell you all about the pre-order as soon as we are able!

It was super fun watching everyone pick their classes and alliances and we're on to the next phase!
From here, our list of artists will spec their characters and get their portraits ready for the show! We'll keep you guys posted with new details as they come!

Watch for another call for art to be announced soon! We've been brainstorming some new, fun ones. :)

ROLEMODELS
Show goes up on Oct 18th
Giant Opening Reception Oct 25th (Halloween party!)
On Display through November 15th!


OUR HEROES: (Artist links to come soon!)

Clerics
Kaitlin Reid
Andrew Kolb
Chris Visions
Phoenix Chan
Jonathan Vair Duncan
Nick Blazey
Erik Krenz
Karina Rehrbehn
Shanti Rittgers
Leonard Peng
Gillian Grossman
Sebastian Wittenberg
Emma Trithart
Marguerite Sauvage

Paladins
Graham Judd
German Schible
Nicole Chartrand
Jori Bolton
Jenna Kass
Lindsay Nohl
Jez Tuya
Nathan Nelson
Victor Maury
Sage Einarsen
Henry Christian-Slane
Stacey Lee
Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Meg Hunt

Mages
Victoria Maderna
Nadine Redlich
Ricardo Bessa
Allie Strom
Matt Wentworth
Jen Mundy
Christina Ellis
Ashley Mackenzie
Stefie Zöhrer
Alexei Vella
Colin Foran
Joshua Zentner
Jimmy Malone
Aleks Sennwald
Ciaran Duffy
Jenn Liv
Andrew Olson
Alison Donato
Evan Palmer

Rangers
Matt Rockefeller
Julie Curtis
Jason Rainey
Louise Bagnall
Joe Lillington
Douglas Holgate
Francesca Buchko
Dan Matutina
John DeLucca
Rachel Suggs
Nico Delort
Maike Plenzke
Lisa Röper
Richie Pope
Claire Hummel
Nicole Miles

Rogues
Chris Hajny
Nic ter Horst
Miko Maciaszek
Rodrigo Aviles
Cathryn Virginia
Sam Wolfe Connelly
Thomas Wellmann
Bart Tiongson
Steven Hughes
Stephen Wood
Manuel Kilger
Evan Monteiro
Stephanie Engel
Diego Gisbert
Mildred Louis
Justin Woo
Sophie Blackhall-Cain

Warriors
Amanda Christensen
Michael Meier
Adam Hoppus
Hannah Christenson
Jonathan Hill
Chicherova Olga
Chris Brooks
Linda Tran
Tara Abbamondi
Nate Stefan
Rory Phillips
Derrick Dent
Tom Kyster
Alexxander Dovelin
Jesse Riggle
Lauren Pettapiece

Defending Kingdoms
Alexia Tryfon
Stefanie Kick
Andreas Schuster
Shane Richardson

Thanks again to all of you that put your names in! Did you ever know that you're my heroes? You are the wind beneath my wings.

You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It Opening Reception

Creatives are no stranger to late nights, long hours and the occasional moment of despair. In those moments, sometimes the only thing needed is the right words. Our newest exhibition, You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It, calls on artists to share that nugget of truth that helps them as they burn the midnight oil.

You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It opens Friday, June 14th, from 7-10 PM! Not only will there be great art, food and music, but we'll be hosting a free poster giveaway! Visitors are invited to share their favorite pearl of wisdom for a chance to win, and all entries will be collected and published online.

So if you need a little creative pick-me-up, or if you just want to see typographic posters by 32 awesome designers and illustrators, stop by and say hi!

RSVP via the Facebook event page!

Remember, the Opening Reception is Friday, June 14th from 7- 10 PM! We're located on the corner of Stevens Ave and 26th Street - right across from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Street parking is available on Stevens, 26th and 1st Ave.

See you there!

Light Grey in New York City

Wow! What an incredible weekend! Lindsay and Jenny just got back from New York City! We had the honor of meeting with a ton of Light Grey's past (and current!) participating artists, had the chance to teach a workshop at the Surtex and Stationary Show, we visited galleries, and did a little bit of shopping and exploring!

 
(Walking around Chelsea and admiring all of the skinny buildings)


We flew in on Sunday night where we moseyed around until 8pm where we hunkered down at the TKettle at St Marks Place for our New York City Meet-up. We invited artists from past shows to get together and meet in person, to share stories and meet face to face. It was amazing to see everyone in person, listen to the stories and spend some time chatting it up. It turned out to be a wonderful and welcoming night with fun stories and lots and lots of tarot card readings. We all know our fate now thanks to Jenny's three card readings with the Light Grey Tarot.


(Everyone at the T Kettle on St. Mark's Place)


(Jenny Reading Caroline Hadilaksono's cards)


The next morning Lindsay taught a day-long workshop at the Surtex and Stationary Show on licensing for artists, surface and product design, marketing, trend research, and portfolio development. It was a lively show filled with a ton of inspirational people, things to see and products to covet. There were so many beautiful and intricate fabrics, letterpress cards, and stationery. It was really inspiring and intense. It was amazing how great everything was, and how many talented people were there this year.

We had a great time meeting with some of Lindsay's past students -- some of which had traveled all the way to Minneapolis to show at Surtex!

Between the show and our evening events we spent time visiting Artists & Fleas (which was held at the fabulous Chelsea Market!) coveting all of the fantastic hand made goodies. If you're ever in New York, definitely consider stopping by the Chelsea Market. It's an awesome place to go to see some gorgeous food, wonderful artisan objects, and really fun architecture!

We always underestimate the amount of time we spend on our feet so it was really nice to sit down with some great people that night at Buddakan in Chelsea later that night. We had some great food in an amazing atmosphere.

(Rachel Wingard, Sam Wolfe Connelly, Daniel Fishel, Jared Tuttle, Henning Koczy, and Lindsay Nohl)


On the last day we met up Annie Stoll and Grace Fong and ate Breakfast in Soho at a really cute restaurant called Cafe Gitane. We drank cappuccinos, and talked about everything from conventions, to shared friends, to how amazing the avocado sandwiches were. Best breakfast ever.



We had already packed and checked out by the time we left for breakfast that morning so we were pretty nomadic for the rest of the day. One of our favorite stops was up to the Society of Illustrators where we got to see all sorts of amazing work by new illustrators! Congratulations to all of you guys that got in! We saw quite a few names we recognized (Way to go!) and a ton of great work by people we'd love to hear from some day!

Jared Tuttle, one of the Light Grey Art Lab interns and one of Lindsay's students at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, had a piece in the current show at the Society of Illustrators. It was great to visit and even cooler to see everything in person.


(Lindsay and Jared in front on the Society of Illustrators)



(Lindsay in the Mocca Exhibition)

New York City has some of the best shopping in the world. Before we headed back to Minneapolis we made a few stops to fun stores like Evolution and Pearl River Mart in Soho, and up to ABC Carpet and Home where we coveted all of the beautiful objects and ran on a wild goose-chase around all of it's magnificent floors. Someone had let it slip that Lady Gaga was walking around the fifth floor while we were there and we had hoped to stare at her (casually, of course) -- but, no luck. Instead, we headed out for a bite to eat and a short trip back to the hotel.



It was a really fantastic trip and we are so thankful for the time we spent wandering around, chatting and meeting up with everyone. It was a blast! Of course, there are a lot of great photos that we took from the meet-up and our get-togethers, so if you'd like to check them out, head to our Flickr page and you can see the rest!

Thanks, everyone for such an awesome time!

You can see all of the photos from New York here

Watercolor Workshop: Bones, Beetles & Bell Jars

We had a great time at our Mother's Day weekend watercolor workshop! It was inspiring to meet our small group—somehow we always are gifted with talented people. I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend than watercolor painting a cabinet of curiosities with sketching companions.

The discussion was really pleasant. I got a few hot tips on how to compile my own curiosities-style still life, travel discussion and recommendation and of course, a good portion of shop talk!

 




Painting Mary Jo's collection was a dream, so I may take those tips and build my own still life. And maybe I'll have to update this entry with my finished painting, once it's completed!

You can see more of the workshop on Flickr!

Smart Opening Reception!

This past Friday was our opening reception for Smart, a collection of clever artwork that showcases quick wit, a subtle sense of humor, and a thoughtful approach to imagery from 35 artists! The show is curated by Amy Ng, founder of the delightful and charming Pikaland, and features a series of work by featured artist Brock Davis.

It's a fun and breezy exhibition full of smiles and laughter. Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to the show!



Although many of the artists in this show were international, it was nice to see a few of the local faces at the show, including Yin Fan Huang, and featured artist Brock Davis!




The artwork will be on display in the gallery until June 7th. All the artwork is for sale, and can be bought in person or from our online store. And as always, you can see the artwork now and forever in the gallery on at lightgreyartlab.com.

Once again, thank you to everyone who made it to the opening, and a huge thank you to Amy Ng! Be sure to stop by Pikaland and check out what's new! And say hi to Amy on twitter, let her know what you think of the show!

Podcast: You Get More Done When You're Busy

We're busy. Between hosting an opening last Friday, looking through hundreds of portfolios for upcoming shows, writing/producing a companion book, and trying to wrap up all of our work before flying to NYC and Iceland in the next week... we're busy. And we're sure you are too. So that's why this week we wanted to talk about what that means, how to deal with it, and how good it feels to check boxes off a list!

Download the MP3 or Subscribe via iTunes!

You Get More Done When You're Busy
Length: 01:09:12
Synopsis: You're busy, we're busy, everyone's busy. All the time. C'est la vie. On this week's podcast Chris, Lindsay, Francesca and Jenny talk about how we parse a busy schedule, where to start digging in, and the ultimate rush of crossing something off a list. Sometimes it's tough to start tackling deadlines, fulfilling promises, and following through on commitments but just remember; you get more done when you're busy.


Show Notes:
Spaceteam - We mention this game is similar to what it's like working at Light Grey Art Lab. It's the ultimate team communication game. Chaotic, frenzied and super, duper fun. If you have friends/family/enemies with iOS devices, download Spaceteam. You won't regret it (and it's free, so what do you have to lose?).

WHOA. - We just need a little more time!

Here's a picture of me, pouring through all of the links, late at night. (Just kidding. That's just a random picture of me at my computer.)

Well. I thought I could do it.
All those late nights, all that coffee. All that training.
I thought it was possible, but...

We just couldn't get through all 360+ portfolios for the Rolemodels show before we head to New York.
A sad day indeed for all of us. A moment of silence, please.

Well, guys. I've got high-hopes that we can finish the jurying asap!
I promise I'll update everyone as soon as possible!
Just stay tuned and wish us luck. Good luck to all of you guys that submitted and thanks for your patience!

---Lindsay