Make My Holiday! Art Swap Sign-up!

EDIT: 12.7.14 -- Thanks guys! We are just sorting all the names and will email everyone with their partner's info shortly! Thanks again for signing up for our 3rd Make My Holiday art swap!


We're hosting the third annual Make My Holiday art swap!
This will be the third year we're hosting and we are SUPER excited to have you join us!

Just sign up in the comments section with your name and email and we'll pair you with another artist from around the world!
Like this:

Lindsay Nohl
hello@lightgreyartlab.com


Everyone is welcome to join in -- it's all about the love of art, other creative people, and just spreading the love around during the holidays!


Sign ups end December 6th, so tell your arty friends! We'll email everyone with their partner on December 7th! Then! All you have to do is send a note to your partner to request their home address and send them a piece of work made by you!

In the past people have sent prints, original paintings, zines, jewelry, ornaments, art-books, drawings and other fun things! There is no real limit to what you can send your partner, just a couple tiny rules for signing up!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1. Send a piece of work made by you!
2. Only sign up if you can promise not to leave your buddy hanging!
3. No need to make anything new -- but if you'd like to, feel free! In fact, it might be fun to do a little research on your partner and make them something special!

We hope you can join us in making the tail end of 2014 amazing!

Questions? Send us a note! Hello@lightgreyartlab.com!
---Lindsay

Light Grey Game Night: Emergency!

Outbreaks! Fire! Explosions! Life or death, split second decision making! All these tense words and exclamation points could only mean one thing!!! It's time for another Light Grey Game Night! That's right, mark your calendar for Wednesday, December 3rd from 6:30 to 9:30 PM!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is Emergency!

We'll be playing games about overcoming disastrous situations with bravery, cunning and solid teamwork. We'll be heroic firefighters overcoming a ferocious fire in Flash Point, or a global team of specialists fighting four deadly epidemics at once in the co-op classic Pandemic! Or maybe we'll watch in horrific glee as monsters destroy our beloved New York City in the newly released King of New York, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Podcast: All In The Dice

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

All In The Dice
Length: 00:48:06
Synopsis: Lady Luck can be a cruel mistress and after a string of bad luck, Lindsay, Chris and Francesca chat about that wild dice roll we call life. When it comes to your career, your health, your love life, and your D&D sessions, sometimes you strike it rich and sometimes you fall right down a treacherous ravine.

Podcast: Your Best Estimate

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Your Best Estimate
Length: 00:52:33
Synopsis: Estimation is a difficult but crucial skill for an artist for hire. It helps determine the worth of your time, the feasibility of a project, and shapes how you are able to build your career. On this week's podcast, Lindsay, Jenny, Chris, and Francesca talk about estimating for clients, for scheduling, for grant writing, and for your own sanity.

Show Notes:
Iceland 2015 : Artists in Residence

Iceland 2015 : Artists in Residence

Congratulations to our 2015 artists in residence!
After a long deliberation and many incredible applicants, we've put together two exceptional teams for next year's Light Grey Art Lab Iceland 2015 Residency Program.

In the summer of 2015, two diverse teams will join us as our 2015 artists in residence. Our July 25 - 30th group welcomes a team of illustrators, concept artists and painters from different areas of the United States, Canada, and Austria. Our July 31 - August 5th group welcomes a team of animators, directors, illustrators, cartoonists and book makers and from different areas of the United States, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. We will be traveling through Southern Iceland to visit some of the most secluded, wild, and sublime locations in the world. Our day excursions will include visits to some of the creaking glacial feet, boiling mud pots, hidden waterfalls, haunted hillsides, sleeping volcanos, basalt caves, and more. Equipped with our sketchbooks, cameras, and hiking gear, we set out on an adventure of a lifetime to explore, document, collaborate-- we hope to create an atmosphere of learning, open exchange, and dialogue.

TEAM MOSS
(July 25 - July 30, 2015)
Artists in Residence

JESSE RIGGLE (Vienna, Austria)
CHARMAINE VERHAGEN (Vancouver, Canada)
JULIANNA BRION (Maryland, USA)
ERIN MCGUIRE (Texas, USA)
ANDREW OLSON (Texas, USA)
ERIK KRENZ (Minnesota, USA)
MICHELLE SCHWARTZBAUER (Minnesota, USA)
CORY GODBEY (South Carolina, USA)
JUSTIN OAKSFORD (Washington, USA)
STEVEN HUGHES (Michigan, USA)
REBECCA OLENE (Minnesota, USA)
LAURA BIFANO (Vancouver, Canada)

For more information on our TEAM MOSS artists in residence, please visit their residency page here.



TEAM LICHEN
(July 31 - August 5, 2015)
Artists in Residence

LYNN WANG (California, USA)
ED SKUDDER (California, USA)
EVAN PALMER (Minnesota, USA)
LEE CRUTCHLEY (England, United Kingdom)
ANA BENAROYA (New York, USA)
KATE O'HARA (Nevada, USA)
JOY ANG (Edmonton, Canada)
BRIDGET UNDERWOOD (Oregon, USA)
MATT FORSYTHE (Toronto, Canada)
NICOLAS DELORT (Paris, France)
LEIGH LUNA (Minnesota, USA)
MEERA LEE PATEL (New York, USA)

For more information about our TEAM LICHEN artists in residence, please visit their residency page here.

Please welcome our new artists in residence for 2015!



Details about the application process for 2016 will be available fall of 2015. In the meantime, feel free to peek through the 2015 application page and description of our residency program here.

Huge thanks to everyone that applied for this year's residency program!

Light Grey Game Night: Marketplace

It's November. You've got deals on the brain. You've got to be cutthroat to get what you need at the price you want. Start sharpening your bartering skills, it's time for another Light Grey Game Night! Mark your calendar for Friday, November 21st from 6:30 to 9:30 PM! That's right, Friday! We moved it up from next Wednesday to avoid the holiday rush!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is Marketplace!

We'll be playing games about making deals, acquiring goods, building riches, and most importantly, crushing the competition! Earn your Seal of Excellence in Jaipur, don't loose your cool in Going, Going, Gone!, or flood the marketplace in Key Largo, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Also, here's a sneak peek at the next couple Light Grey Game Nights, so you can plan accordingly!
December 3rd: Emergency
December 17th: Stay Frosty

Podcast: Vague-ities

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

Vague-ities
Length: 00:57:36
Synopsis: After spending the week reading dozens of artist statements from both well-established professional artists and new students, Jenny, Chris, Lindsay, and Francesca discuss the specificities of being specific. From art making to grant writing to career planning, being specific can help you set goals, define your schedule, and understand your own work.

Show Notes:
Give To The Max Day

Give to the Max Day!

We have HUGE news! This year, Light Grey Art Lab has been granted fiscal sponsorship through Spring Board for the Arts. This has been a great step in supporting the depth of our projects, community involvement, and connecting with artist and art programs in the Twin Cities! This partnership also makes us eligible for many funding opportunities, including the participation in this year's Give to the Max Day, November 13th!

Light Grey Art Lab opened in 2012 by Founder Lindsay Nohl. Since opening, we have exhibited nearly 2000 artists, illustrators, designers, and makers of all type across the world. Each new monthly exhibition features between 50-150 artists, exhibiting their work in unique formats, publications, gallery events, videogames and more. We are honored to work with so many great and ambitious artist who make these projects fun, compelling, and interactive.



In addition to the exhibitions, Light Grey Art Lab also hosts professional artist workshops, traveling residencies, lectures, mini classes, artist meet + greets, lock-ins, weekly podcasts, artist interviews, and more. Our mission is to create a space for global collaboration, sharing of ideas, and exchange.

Over the past couple years, we have been thrilled by the response, excitement, and support from the community. Many viewers contribute in forms of participation, donations, purchasing artwork, and attending events. Proceeds from exhibitions go directly back to supporting artists, future projects, books, and facilities. We appreciate every form of participation and enthusiasm!

November 13th is Give to the Max Day- an online project that allows anyone from any location to donate to their favorite charity, non profit, or project. We invite you to give to the cause! Support Light Grey, Spring Board for the Arts, or any of the other incredible and important businesses! Let's help new projects happen in 2015!

Thanks for being a part of what we do!

Skate or Die Exhibition Closing

Stop by Light Grey Art Lab this week to catch the final few days of the Skate or Die Exhibition! If you haven't seen the show yet, Skate or Die features a gorgeous, grotesque, and macabre-inspired designs made by 60 artists from around the world!



These unique, artist designed skateboards are made on 7ply Canadian Maple decks and are completely display or skate-ready! With any alternative format work, we hope that viewers can enjoy the artwork, the design considerations, as well as the functionality- slap trucks and wheels on your board and skate right out of the gallery.

If you can't make it in person, feel free to visit our online shop and online gallery here! Thanks for your support!

Artist Interview: Miranda Meeks

Meet Miranda Meeks. Miranda is an illustrator living and working out of Provo, Utah. Miranda graduated with a major in illustration from Brigham Young University, and since has had the opportunity to work with clients such as Popshot Magazine, Spirituality & Heath Magazine, Diesel Apparel, and Issimo Productions. Her work has been seen in editorial, concept art, video game art, t-shirt designs, gallery work, and more. Miranda currently lives in Utah with her husband and one-and-a-half year old girl.

We have had the pleasure of working with Miranda in the current Skate or Die Skateboard Show. Miranda is known for her soft and detailed drawings, beautiful images, and subjects of mystery, growth, and transformation. We are thrilled to have the chance to talk with Miranda about her work, studio practice, and thoughts on illustration!


Dusk

Could you describe your current studio practice? What is your space, surroundings, work time like? Do you have any studio habits or rituals?

Since most of my work is digital, I just use a desk and two monitors and my trusty small Wacom Bamboo tablet. I also have an old cigar box which holds all my pencils and pens; best pencil holder I've ever had! As far as studio rituals go, putting on my noise-canceling headphones and listening to music or podcasts really helps me to get in the mode of creating art. I feel like it blocks distraction, allows me to focus on my tasks, and even helps me continue to work when I'd rather be doing something else.

I stay at home and help raise our little girl while my husband works at a full-time job. It can get pretty busy at times, so I do most of my work while she's napping or after she's gone to sleep for the night. I try not to overload my schedule with jobs and projects; this helps me to balance work and life better!


Dawn

Your work beautifully combines elements of death, stillness, and mystery. Could you talk about your creative interests, aesthetic, and inspirations?

I've always been inspired by animals, nature, and darker themes. The furthest back I can remember was when I was in 5th grade, I would draw all sorts of weird monsters and rent books from the library that taught me how to draw different animals. I also got into Tim Burton's work in high school, which actually has had a strong impact on my taste (as cliché as that may be). I'm drawn toward a dark, haunting, and beautiful aesthetic, because I just find it the most intriguing. It pulls the viewers in, and makes them wonder and ask questions. I'm also very inspired by Hitchcock films for that very reason.

That being said, I'm not really into gorey, or very disturbing images or themes. My goal is not to create art that disturbs you (there's a time and a place for that - it's just not my thing), but art where beauty and mystery can coexist. I believe strongly in surrounding yourself with beautiful things whenever and wherever you can in your life; this is simply my way of trying to add more beauty to this world. And yes, death is a common theme in my work, but it's not necessarily purposeful. I think it keeps showing up because, personally, I don't handle death very well; even seeing animals die breaks my heart (which is ironic since I love animal skulls and bones so much...), so I think I find it intriguing and terrifying at the same time. I like that it creates this seemingly self-contradicting feeling, so I guess I would like for others to experience the same clash of emotions.


Detail of Miranda's work for the Skate or Die Exhibition

What was your process like creating for the Skate or Die Exhibition? Did you have additional considerations because of the function/skate/format of the skateboard?

To be honest, I had a really hard time nailing down the concept for the Skate or Die exhibition! I had a basic idea of what I wanted, but had to run it across a bunch of old classmates from the university to get some feedback. Thankfully, they helped out a lot and I got some good advice. Sometimes you know the exact image you want to create, and sometimes when you sit down to work, you have no idea what the end result is going to look like (in this case, it was the later).

I never really work in such a tall format, so I had to adjust some of the initial plans for the image. For example, part of the reason I added the smoke at the top was just to balance out the heavy darkness at the bottom of the image. It's important to make the necessary changes to create a better flow of composition within the constraints of the given proportions.


The Gardener

What are some of your favorite projects to date? And how did they affect you as an artist?

Although I really enjoy the work I've been doing lately, the project that probably changed my path as an artist was back when I was in school in the Digital Illustration 2 course. The assignment was to create an illustration based on a song, so I created The Gardener based on the song by the same title from The Tallest Man on Earth. I learned so much from the critiques that I got from the other students and the teacher, and I learned a lot about the type of direction I wanted to go into with my art. Before that, I didn't know even know if I should draw more stylized or realistic. Creating this image steered me into the right direction to help find my voice as an artist.

A lot of your work seems to have a narrative element. Could you share some of the stories/moments (personal or cultural) behind your work?

There isn't really a specific story behind any of my pieces. I'm drawn toward images that add narrative elements because it adds layers to the piece. I love experiencing that feeling of surprise and satisfaction when I look at an image again and find a new element that I didn't previously notice. A big contributing factor to this narrative element I find so fascinating was a book I got in third grade from my teacher called The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. The pictures in that book all had a narrative and mysterious aspect that I think really contributed to my desire now to create the same kind of feeling in my own pictures.

Do you have a different approach to personal projects and client projects? If not, what is a technique or approach that you have been dying to try?

Yes, I do approach client and personal projects differently. With clients, I'll start out by drawing lots of thumbnails, then once we settle on an idea, I proceed to the sketch stage, and then finalize everything. With personal projects, I usually already have the idea in my head, and I go straight to roughing the idea out with a sketch. I go back and forth a lot and sometimes make adjustments to the drawing even in the final stages. There's a lot of flexibility with personal assignments that you wouldn't want to thrust upon a client because it can create a stressful relationship and project.

As far as new techniques, I've been really wanting to start doing more traditional work. After working digitally for so long, it really makes you miss the feeling of physical brushes and smooth paper in your hands. Once we get settled, I plan on bringing out all of my paints and acrylics and messing around with them.


Memento Mori

Can you describe your creative community? Do you often have a chance to talk with or collaborate with other artists? Professionally or personally?

Luckily, I currently live close to the university where I studied illustration with a lot of my friends, so we still get together regularly and hang out. I would highly suggest any current art students try to do the same. It creates a great support system where you can help critique and improve each other's work, but it's also just a great chance to sit around and talk about art!

However, being that we do live in Utah (it's not known as quite the gathering place for artists like NYC or San Francisco), I don't get a chance to talk with a bunch of professional artists personally. The internet has been really helpful to make up for this, where people can connect with other artists around the world if their location wouldn't otherwise make it convenient.

Do you have any big projects on the horizon that you can share with us? Any upcoming shows or work?

I just finished a bunch of labor-intensive projects, but besides the current freelance jobs, I'm enjoying a little bit of a breather :) There are a few possibly big projects on the horizon, but I'm unable to share them as of right now unfortunately!

Thanks, Miranda!

You can check out more of Miranda's work on her website here, follow her work on tumblr, and see Miranda's skatebaord for the Skate or Die Exhibition (available through November 7th!)

Light Grey Game Night: On The Road

It's that time of year. There's frost on the grass in the morning and the trees grow more and more bare each day. People are packing for holiday traveling; to home, to tropical resorts, or to Light Grey Art Lab for Light Grey Game Night! Mark your calendar for Wednesday, November 12th from 6:30 to 9:30 PM!

As you might remember, we're attaching a theme to each night to help people narrow down what games they might want to bring (although you're still welcome to bring whatever you'd like!). This week's theme is On The Road!

We'll be playing games about planes, trains, automobiles, and any other way you might choose to travel! Plot the best route in the classic game Ticket To Ride, take tourists sightseeing or dive for hidden treasures in Key Largo, or take a leisurely hike down the coast of feudal Japan in Tokaido, among plenty of others! If you have a favorite boardgame, bring it!

So grab your friends, family or favorite stack of board games, and come play with us! RSVP via our Facebook event, and feel free to share! The more the merrier!

Podcast: The Order Of Things

Download the MP3, stream directly on Stitcher, or subscribe via iTunes!

The Order Of Things
Length: 00:59:00
Synopsis: Who is the coolest old man; Patrick Stewart or John Cleese? Or maybe it's David Attenborough? Of course, the answer is nearly impossible for our brains to process, but on this week's podcast we share a method of comparison that could help you reason it out for yourself. Alternatively, it could be used to determine what city you should move to, what's the next job you should take, or which project on your endless to-do list you should tackle next.

Show Notes: