De La Salle Mural Project: Part 1

Clearing the cobwebs in here—haven’t posted in a while but I have so much to talk about that has happened in the last several months!  

Right now I want to talk about this wonderful opportunity I have at my former middle school, De La Salle Academy.  After over 25 years they have moved from their 1-floor location in the upper west side to a beautiful 6(?) floor building a block away from Port Authority.  The building, renovated by CookFox Architects—the ones responsible for the new Bank of America Tower—is truly a space conducive to learning and exploration.  My mural project for the school has evolved from simply explaining the history of the school in the upper west side to now instilling the warm yet strong culture and foundation of De La Salle Academy in their new location.  In my visual language I see it as the “ visual gatekeeper” of the De La Sallian tradition-- prominently displayed in the mezzanine library for all to reflect on and see.

All artsy language aside, I have a hard deadline of November 20^th to finish the mural so I’ve been doing a little hustling to get this done.  The focus and challenge will be the line work… hoping to get that part started next weekend.  Will continue to post the progress on it every week until it’s done so be sure to check back soon!  Here are pictures of the last 2 weeks of the process so far:

Wall primed & ready for art with CookFox superstar architect Zach

Pencil lines on wall

Color Comp process on my laptop

Color blocking begins-- the fun part!

R.H.A.P.: Red Hook Art Project

I'm so excited to announce that I have taken on a weekly volunteer opportunity at the Red Hook Art Project in--you guess it--Red Hook, Brooklyn.  R.H.A.P. is a non-profit organization dedicated to tutoring, mentoring and empowering Red Hook youth to develop their self-esteem, self-expression and creativity.  A longer term dream of mine is to open up or be heavily involved in an organization like this where I can give back to communities similar to the one I was raised in.  I'm a strong believer in giving back to communities in need and if I am able to do so using my skills, even better.  The kids pick up new skills and build on ones they already have, while my soul is fed-- everyone benefits!

Today my student and I worked on proportions of the face.  She is so quick, smart and talented and I feel honored to be a part of her new journey into the creative world.  Her drawings already show so much life and character, I can't wait to see what else she can do as we continue to work throughout the year.  I'll keep posting progress in the upcoming weeks but in the meantime, here is what she did in today's session.

Thank you to Tiffiney and Dierdre at R.H.A.P. for welcoming me into your awesome team!  For more information, hop over to their website:  http://redhookartproject.org/