AU catch up: Mirrors & Metal

   Check one of the coolest pieces of artwork I've donated for sure: a wooden mirror frame with my logo in it; the annual Machine Head art work day; and the main event itself!

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)

Art Unleashed: Mirror, Mirror

   Amber happens to work at 3Axis Inc., and they happen to be experts in woodworking and happen to have a CNC router, and I just happened to create a design that we thought would make the perfect frame for a mirror! So here is her friend & coworker, Bryce, showing off the cut piece that we will be donating to the Art Unleashed auction.

WOW.

Amber with the CNC router (not to be confused with the C+C Music Factory)

The router at work! It took over an hour to cut all the intricate details...

...almost there...

Bryce shows off his work

Amber finished the mirror & frame beautifully...

They're supposed to be making one for me to keep. I think I might have them leave the circle out, and make it a coffee table with a piece of glass on top!

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!

HSGKC Mug Shot

   Check out the Art Unleashed mug that I just created. Shutterfly generously sent me a code for a free mug (I only had to pay shipping), so I decided to create one that commemorates this year's event, which I plan to donate to the art auction. Here's hoping it will bring in some good money for the animals!
   Click & drag the image below to see all sides of the mug... this preview is almost as cool as the real thing! And did you know that if you post about your Shutterfly project and email a link to shareproject@shutterfly.com, they will give you a $10 credit for a future order? Talk about paying it forward. Thanks, Shutterfly!

Mug

View the entire collection of cards.

Annual Machine Head Day

   Today Dick once again opened his fantastic metal shop up to the motley crew of volunteers to make cat & dog artwork for the annual Art Unleashed auction. As you can see, Dick, Robert, Jana, Connie, Randy, Jason, Amber, Ricky, Matt, Jared—even Aki, Taylor & their new pal Lambert!—and I, had a blast.
   We made about 40-50 pieces of metal art for donation, and this year we got extra creative. Our best collection yet! Sincere thanks to Dick Jobe for his generosity!

"You're not thinking of putting US to WORK, are you?!"

Lutes family photo

Connie & her adorable grandson

Whoa. Ricky is TALL. And I am SHORT.

Dick & Matt get down to business

Cutting begins

A tribute to my dear Gypsy

Ricky prepares the rods for garden stakes

Sandblasting

Amber's in the grind

Artwork, and the dog who inspired it

The all-important lunch order: Jimmy John's this year

Artwork piling up

Tons of yard art

Artwork almost taller than me!

Frame me up

Sitting down on the job

Look at us—we're ART!

Art Unleashed invitations

   Oh, sure... It doesn't look like much now. But Monte & I met to discuss the format & layout of the invitations for this year's AU event for HSGKC, and I'm really excited... Gonna be the best ones yet!!!
   This year's logo is one that I submitted last year, but another sketch was chosen. Very glad  to get to do this one now. Here are the shirt colors. See if you can recognize any of the animals:

Dog-n-Jog 25th Anniversary

   Today marked the 25th anniversary of Dog-n-Jog (and this year is our Humane Society's centennial, too!). Like last year, Dad, Diane & Lindsey drove in from Ohio to attend the event with me, and help wrangle my crazy dogs. Check out this great photo from Thomas Photographic—Taylor's got three legs off the ground and is pulling like crazy—which he did for the whole mile! We didn't manage to place, as the KC Track Club has joined in and they are posting 5-minute miles (our fastest-ever has been 6:34), so our days on the podium are over, but it didn't detract from a great time.

   I'm glad my family & friends enjoyed the event, and as usual it is fun to see a sea of my t-shirt designs taking over the Plaza!

   I plan to post my own photos & write about the event soon, but for now, here are some from the KC Star: Volume 1  /  Volume 2  and from Thomas Photographic, and an article.

Dog-n-Jog is June 10th!

   This year marks the 25th anniversary of Dog-n-Jog, a fun fundraiser for The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. I finally watched the KC Pet Telethon which occurred while I was in San Francisco (and was bummed to miss—it's fun to volunteer on the phone bank!), and was surprised to see yours truly right in the middle of the photo! (Too bad Taylor is hidden behind the Bernese Mountain Dog...)

   As I was driving home from work today, I passed a young woman who was out for a run, and she was wearing the blue t-shirt I designed last year! It always makes me feel so good to see people wearing them around town, especially when the shirts are still in such good shape. These people must keep them because they like them—rather than to mow the lawn or use as a rag in the garage.  ;)
   And, coincidentally, I just finished this year's logo and t-shirt design. Can't wait for the event! Sure hope I'm able to run again by then...

   No Shiba in this year's logo, but I threw in a Golden for my family, and a chihuahua for Steph. Not sure who the third dog is... I just wanted to include a bully-type dog since they're so popular. It makes me proud to see so many people having fun & wearing my artwork, and I hope it helps bring in a TON of donations!