Starlight Facade Public Art Project

TA DA!

2009-11-03T06:34:00.001-08:00

Working w/o the lift

2009-11-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

Once the lift was gone I spent time working to integrate the bottom part of the building w/ the top part. Here are some images from those days. It might be hard to notice but if you look closely you will see some circle movage on the lower parts.

Ani working Pictures!

2009-11-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

Dave @ Starlight (with whom I share a birth date!) took these great images of me on the lift and of the building. I especially like the last image of me the lift because you can see the scale of the whole front!

Almost Complete w/ pictures!

2009-11-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

I have to say I've lost track of the day count! But here are some pictures of the almost complete building facade.

Day Twenty One

2009-10-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't finish using the lift today, but I'm pretty sure I'm close to being finished. What do you think?

Days18-20

2009-10-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting the images! Today is the last day I'll be using the lift...then I'll continue working on the bottom portion for a while...then we will have a circlebration.

Day Sixteen and Seventeen

2009-10-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Come on Buffalo Weather! Get with it! It's almost there!

Day Fourteen and Fifteen--Upward

2009-10-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Just give me a couple good days of sunshine and Starlight will be sparkling!

Day Fourteen

2009-10-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Day Fourteen), was a green and orange kinda day. Today was just rain!

Extra Long Day Thirteen

2009-10-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

As I'm writing this I can hear the rain just pouring down. Because the forecast was calling for rain tonight and tomorrow I put in longer than usual day today. I spent most of the day on the left side of the building, but worked some over the door. I figure I will have tomorrow off because of the Buffalo weather so I tried to make good use of the time before the down pour.

Still getting lots of feedback from passersby. Honks, thumbs up, general shout ups to me, but I also get the frequent circle joke. Today's were, "Hey when you guys get done painting, you should play some music.....tiny bubbles........" and the always hilarious, "Hey you missed a spot!" but my favorite all time "circle" comment came from Starlight artist Paul who told me I was a victim of ciclestance.

Day Twelve--Monday

2009-10-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

Despite ominous clouds I was able to make some progress today. I worked mostly on the right side of the of the building w/ blue and green but some purple and pink circles also made a presence.

Day Eleven

2009-10-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Day eleven was cut short due to rain. Drat! Hopefully nothing got washed away. It was very hot earlier in the day and the paint was drying fast. Well, if it does get washed away I'll just repaint it. Mostly purple, pink and red paint used today. I tried to focus most of my work today on the area above the front door because since it's Saturday no artists were going in and out of the center.

UPDATE: I drove by Starlight this morning and it appears all circles made it through the crazy rain last night! they say tomorrow will be dry, but the rain is still coming down so I don't have that much confidence!

Day Ten

2009-10-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

I braved the threatening weather today and was able to cover up most of the "running" circles from Saturday's rain and more. With the help of Carrie and Carrianne I was able to move the Sky Jack into better (and more stable) position & then it was circle time! Pink, orange and yellow were the colors of the day. The weather forecast doesn't look good for the next week, but since I snuck some painting in today I'm hoping to cheat the weather for a few more days. On the paint cans it says not use the paint if the weather is below 40 degrees. It was about 46 out today.

Special thanks to Starlight teachers Joel and Carrianne who worked on the "cubbie" area today--that area is almost complete! Thanks also to those who of you who have expressed enthusiasm and encouragement to me & Starlight about this project. It does make a difference!

Day Nine

2009-09-30T11:50:00.001-07:00

Well, the rain had got me beat for the time being, but I was able to paint a little bit today in the doorway cubbie on the right side of the building. I forgot my camera though, so you will have to wait till tomorrow for pictures. The weather forecast does not look good for the next week and half, but I'm going to try and paint a bit between the raindrops.

Washed Out & Away

2009-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I had to stop painting because it started to rain. I worried all Saturday night that some of the paint would have washed away because it was still wet when it started to rain. So on Sunday I drove by Starlight to check on things. As I turned the corner I saw the destruction! Looks like I lost all the orange and pink circles I had painted the day before, but what is surprising is how much the circles look ones in many of my paintings. Could of been worse I suppose!

Weather is not cooperating! Rained out Sunday & Monday and they are calling for rain tomorrow. Hope it clears up soon.

Day Eight--Rain Out!

2009-09-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Day eight started swimminly....cool and pleasant working on a Saturday afternoon, but eventually ended being a rainy day. I started the day working on the right (middle-ish) side of the building w/ blue and purple circles. Then I moved the sky jack over to the left side to paint some pink and orange cirlces and that's when it started raining. I hope nothing happens to the paint in the rain, but I think it will be okay. The painting is really beginning to be dramatic. More than a few cars stopped and took pictures w/ their cell phones & one delightul art patron stopped to yell up that she loved it! Yay!

Day Seven-Upward!

2009-09-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Day Six--Sky Jack is here!

2009-09-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

Day six has finally come! The painting is now spreading upward thanks to our handy dandy sky jack which arrived the other day! What do you think?

Day Five--Monday

2009-09-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Full day of painting today....just in time because it looks like it's going to rain outside! Finally, the painting is starting to look like a "Hoover"! It's still in the early stages (only day 5 after all) but you can start to see some color changes on the left side of the building. Tomorrow the lift will be here!

Day Four--Sunday Painting

2009-09-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Today was day four of painting. I was without my assisting artists today and the time didn't pass as quickly, but I was able to make some headway. On Sundays downtown in Buffalo is kinda sleepy, but interestingly there was more foot traffic than on the weekdays. Most people were supportive although one spandex clad biker did yell some expletives at me. The local media blog Buffalo Rising ran an update to their past "what's with the blue?" post. It's a bit more flattering although it has lead some more premature critiques of the facade painting by commenters...which have made me a bit sad, but I know the painting isn't finished so I shouldn't expect people to understand just yet. The new rough terraine scissor lift will be here Tuesday. I think when the upper portions start having color that it will look better. Think good thoughts for us. http://www.buffalorising.com/2009/09/340-delaware--blue-to-multihued.html#SlideFrame_0

Day Three

2009-09-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

Day three got delayed by a day due to illness, but I was back today and the facade is starting to take shape. On Wednesday we discovered that our scissor lift would not work in front of Starlight because the sidewalk wasn't level. For a while we were unsure how we would be able to complete the upper parts, but after much brainstorming and telephone calls were able to find a company that would rent us a "rough terrain" scissor lift! It should be ready to use on Tuesday of next week and we will go from there. Until then I will be using a ladder and lots of stretching to reach the higher parts. I added some pink and some greenish circles above the previously painted areas and I really like the way it's coming along. Above are the photos of today's progress....next work day--Sunday!

Day Two

2009-09-16T19:09:00.001-07:00

Day two also brought progress on the painting! I had a lot of artists helping me today and the enthusiasm was infectious. At the end of the day we discovered that the scissor lift wouldn't work for us because the sidewalk in front of the gallery isn't level. Tomorrow I'll work w/ a ladder and hopefully we will come up a solution for painting the top section. Those bubbles aren't going to paint themselves!

About Starlight Studios and Gallery

2009-09-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

I asked Carrie from Starlight to send me a brief description of Starlight Studios and Gallery. Here's what she says,

"Starlight Studio and Art Gallery is an open art studio habilitation program created by Learning Disabilities Association of Western New York in 2005 to serve adults with developmental disabilities and neurological impairments. Participants in the program work with professional artists to cultivate their skills and interests in a myriad of art media and techniques. There is a street level gallery on site which affords the participants the opportunity to display and sell their work. Visits to museums, galleries, artist studios as well as hosting visiting artists is an integral part of the Starlight program.

The Starlight program is committed to sharing its exhibition gallery with artists from the community. Cynnie Gaasch, William Cooper and Dave Gusmann are a few of the artists that have had the opportunity to display their paintings in this fine gallery. Organized exhibitions from other service organizations have also been displayed in this space; they include, Heritage Centers, People, Inc., Aspire of WNY, The Exceptional Artworks Exhibition and the Association for the Education of Young Children.

The Starlight Studio and Art Gallery program runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Starlight Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m."

There is always art oozing out of Starlight! If you have the opportunity to stop, don't hesitate!

Day One

2009-09-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Day one went more smoothly than expected! The Starlight artists where great & I think we got off to a good start!

In the Beginning

2009-09-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sometime in the beginning of 2009 (I think it was around January from the looks of this picture) I was approached by Carrie Marcotte of Starlight Studios and Gallery to create a public art piece for the front of the their building at 340 Delaware Ave. in Buffalo. I had to agree w/ Carrie that front of the art center did look a bit "bland" but I wasn't sure if I was up creating a painting so large and in such a public way. It took me a while to make up my mind to accept the challenge, but I did for these reasons....because Starlight runs a great program that I believe in and because I saw it as opportunity to challenge myself as painter and a person by doing something I had hadn't done before. While Carrie and her collegues at Starlight went about raising money for the project I went on with my normal studio practice and pretty much didn't think about the project for a while until it was time to pick a base coat of the project. A few colors were mentioned, including yellow and pink but the color blue was ultimately decided upon. I personnally liked the color blue, because I thought blue would lead the viewer up and toward the sky. Not everyone was so excited about the blue.http://www.buffalorising.com/2009/08/blue-is-in-on-delaware.html#SlideFrame_0