Art Unleashed 2012

Tonight was Art Unleashed, and another good one at that! (I found out a couple weeks later that we raised over $77,000 in a single evening, with over 400 pieces of artwork, and hordes of volunteers making it all happen). It was held at the historic American Royal again:

This sweet dog greeted everyone at the door. I WANT HIM.

The crowd grows

Posing with some of my metal artwork

LOVE this pug painting! Didn't win it. BOO.

LOVE Mary Ann's mixed-media collage!

LOVE Charlotte's drawing!

LOVE Donna's new mosaic!

And Joni & Jack's pieces in the live auction... WOW.

Kelley's "downward-facing dog" yoga bag

Dawn & Ginny with their wins (Ginny won my dog frame!)

Britten won the surly monkey photograph!

Sawako, me, Britten, Nicole, & Amy (with Rich hiding in back)

Unleashed at Machine Head!

   Once again, Dick turned us loose in his shop to make metal art out of my logo for this year's Art Unleashed. We worked for 8 hours and turned out somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pieces of all shapes, sizes, & finishes. Plus, we had a lot of fun as usual. This year it was Dick, Robert Q, Matt, Jared, Connie, Randy, Jason, Amber, Ricky, Jana & me. Whew!
   More photos to come... I've volunteered over 22 hours this week (for HSGKC & for my friend Michele's business—in addition to working 40) & I need a nap!

Color Run After-Color-Party

Here is what color runners look as they begin the race:

 Here is what most color runners look like after the Color Run:

And here's me: HARDLY ANY COLOR!!!

   I cannot figure out how I finished this run so clean! (Relatively speaking.) I had volunteers hit me directly with the powder all over. I slowed down. I went right up to them and spun around to get all sides coated. I even put my face in it! Most of the powder seemed to blow off while I ran... and it's certainly NOT because I was fast! I haven't run since Dog-n-Jog on June 10, and that was only a mile. Guess I need to sweat more to get the colors to stick. (How would that be possible, given that it was over 90 degrees for this race?!) It's a mystery.

with Deb's son and his best friend

At least I managed to get a lil' in my hair:

Nothing like my Meetup friends, though:

   There were more opportunities to get coated with color, in the mosh pit in front of the DJ booth. Every few minutes, the DJ instructed everyone coming in from the finish line to throw their color packets into the air.

Coloriffic ride, after picking up the dogs from home

   This "fake" tat lasted 2 weeks—I was beginning to worry that it wasn't fake!!! And the green spots on my scalp lasted several days as well, despite several showers. It may not be corporate-appropriate manager attire, but it was hidden by my hair. So I was none too worse for wear.

   Photos & video are from my iPhone (well-protected by the Otter Box... that thing has paid for itself!), as well as the KC Star's Mingle page, the Color Run Facebook page, Zazoosh, my Meetup friends, and my friend Deb Huffine.

Saaaaad Taylor

Please help Taylor turn his frown upside down!

   So far I've raised exactly ZERO DOLLARS for the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City's Dog-n-Jog event on June 12. That's a new record (low) for me and my Shiba Squad! And that makes Taylor sad... donating is really easy, if you're so inclined. This is one of their biggest fundraisers of the year and I'd like to do my part to help out. (Other than designing the logo and the t-shirts and running in the actual event, I mean.)

DONATE HERE

Ready for their close-ups

   Today I took the pups to VanDeusen Photography in Brookside, for the photo shoot that I won in the silent auction at Art Unleashed back in August. What a great experience! If you need photos, call Lori. Seriously. Check out their work on their website... Fun stuff!
  I could tell it was going to be good as soon as I walked in the door. They have a gorgeous studio, and Lori and Stephanie greeted me immediately. The dogs LOVED them... Aki, who is usually hesitant around strangers, ran right up with tail wagging and jumped on them. Taylor did the same. (Okay, shame on me for not training the dogs better, but at least they were excited!)
   Clearly these guys, who have been in business since 1978, know what they're doing. They were super super patient with the dogs and gave them lots of time to explore the studio and get comfortable in their surroundings. They worked as a team and had plenty of toys and noisemakers on hand to make sure the dogs were "on" for the camera. Paul took tons of shots of the pups on top of a table covered with a fuzzy black cloth. Once they got used to being up high—and to the sudden sound and flashbulbs—they did great. Taylor kept jumping down from the table to explore, and we had to keep hoisting his chubby butt up there again. I even got into a couple of shots. Can't let the dogs have all the fun!  ;)
  After the shoot, Paul shared some of the best shots with me, and I'll get to come back in about two weeks to review them onscreen and choose my favorites. Can't wait.
  Thanks to them for a fun experience, and especially for graciously donating your services to benefit the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City! The photo above is another shiba they've photographed, Mr. Miyagi.

IT'S (almost) DONE!!!

   Okay, so it isn't actually PRINTED yet, but the digital artwork for this year's Art Unleashed submission is complete! I was privileged to work with three friends, who also happen to be coworkers and neighbors and extremely talented artists! (But they still let me participate on this. Nice, huh?) Although we worked independently, I think we did a great job of collaborating to ensure that the final piece looked cohesive, yet showcased each of our unique styles.
   We are having the work printed onto a 24" square canvas and it will be sold in either the live or silent auction on August 27th, 2010. 
Click here for all the information about Art Unleashed, and if you're reading this, please come out for it, if not donate a piece yourself! This is absolutely my favorite event of the year: great art, great food, great people & a great cause! (And I'm totally not just saying that because I designed the logo & t-shirts. Honest.)

Spoiler alert! Here's who did what:

   Stephanie Allen: bird dog, Japanese chins, chihuahua & scottie
   Jon Kelly Green: blood hound, great dane, saint bernard, whippet, 
        pug & cat
   Jack Pullan: labrador, dachshund, German shepherd & 
        pomeranian, plus the fire hydrant & tennis ball.
   Jen Rarey: shiba inu, golden retriever, rat terrier & pit bull.

DNJ is done!!!

I finally completed all the files for DNJ t-shirt tonight! (And full-color versions, to be used on brochures, signs & maybe billboards.)

Woo-hoo!!! Now all I have left to do is to train for the race,

to see if the shibas & I can improve on our 2nd place status...

Help me raise money for homeless pets!