I can't believe how busy November has been. From the trip to DePauw late last month to a New York City trip for the Thanksgiving Day parade, there's just been a whirlwind of activity. While not traveling, Kelly and I were able to complete a large set of work for the Celebrate Bandra Festival in Mumbai, India from the comfort of the studio. We've continued work on the Three Little Pigs. And a new book, Crazy Art by Chantal Alles, came out, featuring some of my work.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

There are some things we just have to do for the fun of it. This year was my second year in a row as a balloon handler in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Last year, I got to walk with the Buzz Lightyear balloon. (check out my visit last Thanksgiving.) This year, it was Snoopy. This is nothing like the balloons I work with year-round. Maybe that's what makes it so much fun. I played no major role in this. I was just one of 70 or so volunteers walking through Manhattan holding what I guess we can think of as a really huge dog leash. One of these days, I'll get a chance to build a really cool parade balloon for the Macy's parade. I've done big stuff for other parades (the Pulaski Day Parade float we made is a great example), I figure it's just a matter of time before I meet the right people to make that happen.

Celebrate Bandra

Most of my international work has required the hassles of airplanes, passports, jetlag and, frequently, massive language barriers. This time around, however, Kelly and I were able to work in the comfort of our own studio to create fun pieces for the Celebrate Bandra festival in Mumbai, India. Everything from the festival program to billboards advertising the festival displayed our balloon-based illustrations. It was fun creating music and art themed pieces targeted at an international audience.

Crazy Art and holiday shopping.

This new book by Chantal Alles was a treat to see. Of course I knew I was going to have some of my work in it before it arrived, but I was blown away by all of the other work in the book. It's just a fun and very well produced compilation of unique art by quite a few artists from around the world. Up until now, our online store only included our own books and artwork. We decided this was a must have book that we wanted to make available to others. So while you're poking around our shop looking for holiday gift items, make sure to check out Crazy Art.

We've been slowly adding other new things to our shop as we're able and hope that you'll come to us for some of your holiday gifts this year.

Miracle on E. Main St and other happenings this weekend.

If you're looking for a way to support not only our work, but the work of other local artists, this Friday and Saturday we will be part of the Hungerford Holiday Sale (1115 E Main St, Rochester, NY). Studios will be open for touring and shopping on December 2, 5 - 9PM  and December 3, 11AM - 4PM. Be sure to stop by, we're planning a large installation piece in our studio!

Rochester Contemporary Art Center is holding it's annual member exhibition this month, with the opening also this weekend. In addition to one of our pieces being in the show, I'll be taking part in their event, The Days the Artists Spoke. On December 3-4, many of the artists participating in the show will speak for a few minutes each on the artwork they've submitted. This should be a really fun event.