STATION ZERO

I was  psyched when Light Grey Art Lab announced the call for artists for their Station Zero show. They had been working on amassing a collection of old sci-fi books from the 50s through the 70s and were looking for artists to reinterpret the covers.

I definitely wouldn't call myself a sci-fi buff. More a sci-fi admirer. When I opened up the package containing my book from Light Grey, I was excited to find the beauty pictured on the top left. Such a great cover already!

When I thought about what I like in great cover design, more often than not it is pretty clear, graphic and slightly quirky design. I liked the fun line of shapes under Leiber's name on the original cover and thought that creating vignettes on my cover using similar shapes could be a fun homage to the original design.

This cover turned into one of those cases where I work on it and keep adding things only to undo everything because it starts looking too cluttered. The book is actually comprised of four short stories. I thought four of the shaped vignettes would be an interesting concept to work with, one alluding to each of the stories. In the end, I simplified it down to two. One with the radar to hint at the government/technological aspects involved in the stories and one to hint at the barren landscape that permeates the book.

You can see photos from the show's opening last Friday on the Light Grey Art Lab blog. The show will be up for another few weeks so if you live in the Twin Cities area you should check it out! If not, the rest of the artwork can be viewed in their online gallery and prints are available from the shop. Thanks to the awesome folks at Light Grey Art Lab for including me in another one of their amazing shows!

CAKE!

I snuck a few new(ish) prints into the shop over the weekend. They were originally in the Hot Party show at Light Grey Art Lab back in February. If you want to pick one up you can check them out right here!

SMARTY PLANTS

Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis have another great show opening this Friday that has been curated by Amy Ng of Pikaland! SMART featured a call for art that is clever, subtle, and thoughtful. Only a slightly daunting task....

I decided to apply figuring it would be a good challenge if I was accepted into the show (and also because Amy is awesome). I then proceeded to agonize over what I'd illustrate for weeks after being accepted into the show. Everything I thought of just seemed so contrived because I was thinking about it so hard. After flipping through some old sketchbooks I was finally inspired by a doodle I had done years ago. 

If you live in/near the Twin Cities, the opening reception is this Friday at 7! Prints are now available in their online shop.

I have to thank Lilly for the clever title of this illustration. Pun master.

Also, here is a silly doodle of how I imagine most participants in this show to have felt when they heard they made the cut...

HOT PARTY

The wonderful Light Grey Art Lab is celebrating their one year anniversary this month! I was happy to contribute some little cake illustrations to their show Hot Party (because what's a party without cake?). I first became involved with Light Grey last year for their gigantic Pokémon: Battle Royale exhibition and am so glad to be a part of the incredible community of artists that they have brought together. Lindsay, Chris, Francesca, and Jenny are such talented, creative, all-around cool people and I can't wait to see what they have planned for the coming year. Happy birthday, Light Grey Art Lab! Prints of my cakes are available in the Light Grey Art Lab shop right here! If you live in the Twin Cities area be sure to stop by this Friday for the opening reception and plenty of birthday festivities

PIPPILOTTA DELICATESSA WINDOWSHADE MACKRELMINT EPHRAIM'S DAUGHTER LONGSTOCKING

I didn't even have to look that up on wikipedia. I'm that good.

I was so excited when Light Grey Art Lab announced the call for art for their Girls: Fact + Fiction show a couple of months ago. This show features work from over 100 artists paying tribute to some of their favourite factual and fictional ladies. I had a hard time narrowing down my choices (Iris Apfel, Julia Child, and Matilda were all very close) but Pippi Longstocking is near and dear to my heart and I'm glad that the team at LGAL asked me to illustrate her for the show.

You can see the rest of the art from this show right here or if you live in the Twin Cities area, stop by and check out the show! It opens tomorrow night (Dec 7). Holiday madness at home is preventing me from driving out and I'm bummed I won't get to see this amazing show in person. It's going to be great!

GIRLS: FACT + FICTION—TEASER

The Girls: Fact + Fiction show is set to open in a couple of weeks at Light Grey Art Lab and I thought I'd share a little teaser from my piece that I contributed. The show opens December 7th and runs through January 4th so if you live in the Twin Cities area, why don't you swing by? You can find out details about the opening reception right here.