Wheehewww! Glad that's over...

What an intense winter/spring!
Lots of things to get completed and a lousy weather season to boot!

Anyway, I had my final presentation for my Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant in April at the Kolman and Pryor Gallery. My final report was due before the end of May. In the meantime, I spent some time hanging out with students and staff at North Dakota State University in Fargo,ND. it was the first time I've had a residency and it was tough to be away from the wife and kids. It was a great experience and I got to meet a number of nice people and promising artists up there. I was a little concerned about the flood danger as well, but we dodged the bullet and it was a lot lower and a week later than anticipated.
I also went down to Mason City, IA for their Sculptures on Parade program. I had to repaint my piece "All in the Same Boat" and show off some of my smaller work at a gala they hosted for us. They put us up in a wonderful Historic Frank Lloyd Wright hotel which was very cool!
I also have work in Yankton's RiverWalk in Yankton, SD, Eau Claire's SculptureTour, in Eau Claire, WI and in Mankato's CityArt Sculpture Tour, in Mankato, MN. I wasn't able to install those myself due to other family commitments but plan on checking them out.
To add to my stress, I showed in 6 locations during Art-A-Whirl (big studio tour in my neighborhood- over 600 artists and roughly 50k people coming to our 5k neighborhood) and even curated a show of eight artists (including myself) in a new venue.
Also, I wound up getting a public art commission for the Union Depot Rail Station. I'm designing (see the project proposals section of my site) 3 fantasy trains that mimic the frieze in the classic 1908 rail station waiting room. They'll be jutting from the walls akin to the train coming out of the fireplace in a Margritte painting. They'll be mounted on roughly 5 ft long trestles high above everyone's heads. They'll look pretty cool.

I've also submitted some images for a book and a show in Los Angeles, CA via the DEVICE Gallery. They're putting together a book and show called "Traveling DEVICE" which should happen this fall.

I've also got a show setup for the MAD Museum (kinetic Art) in London, England. It should be fun and I hope to be able to bring the wife and kids next year.

Oh, and I finally shipped off my commission that had been taking a back seat to all these other things. It's titled "Fletje" and is a re-imagining of a piece I made a few years back. The customers lost the original in a forest fire that claimed their home. They loved it so much, they built a special alcove for another sculpture in their new home and asked me to make a piece similar in shape and tone. I was happy to oblige, but it is a challenge to revisit a place where you used to be artistically.

Like I said - 'Whew!". Anyway, onward and upward!