. M I N U S I N D U S T R I E S .

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Best Conversation Ever

Hi Everybody,

I've entered another contest! If you could go vote for me that would be so great! You can vote once a day! If you end up entering the contest yourself please shoot me an email so that I can vote for you! And I will! Everyday! :)

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

The contest was about who your Best Conversation Ever would be with. It's 40% based on votes and 60% based on the jury. If I can land in the Top 100 my entry will make it to the jury where they will decide on the 5 winners. And based on my entry and my person that I'd like to talk to I think I may have a pretty good chance. Here is my entry:

Shepard Fairey Has a Posse: Our Generations Andy Warhol

My Best Conversation Ever would be with Shepard Fairey. Shepard started out as a street artist and was most famously known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" campaign of stickers, posters and spray stencils that have appeared all over the world. Shepard has moved from having his work "illegally" in the streets to having his HOPE image of then presidential hopeful and now president, Barack Obama, housed in the Smithsonian. Using his skill, knowledge, and talent Shepard made a stunningly beautiful and now iconic image of Obama in hopes of bringing the word out about the then little known presidential candidate. Shepard helmed a grass roots movement unlike any seen before in recent history and through his art he helped decide the current president of the United States. He has went on to use this notoriety to champion the numerous causes that he has always supported. Through his art, his design studio, his OBEY clothing brand, and his gallery Shepard continues to inform and educate his massive audience. Shepard Fairey is an artist, businessman, philanthropist, humanitarian, dedicated family man, champion of free speech and my hero. I would love the chance to tell him that.

Thanks for all of your votes. I really appreciate it.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

-Lon

Friday, February 18, 2011

Art Show

This is the poster for the upcoming Art Show that I was asked to be a part of. It promises to be a fun night filled with great art and great music. I am looking forward to it. You can click on the poster or go HERE for more information.

I am going to have at least 9 pieces from my Rainbow Series on display and available for sale. Each piece is spray stencil + silver foil + markers on a reclaimed album cover. They are approximately 12" x 12" and will sell for $100 framed. The pieces available will be:

Tree James Dean Satellite

Tank Abbey Road Deer

Riot Cops Brooklyn Bridge Cassette

I will have additional work for sale and if space permits may be showing some of my POP ART.

-Lon

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Handmade Mafia 2011

This is the schedule for this year's Handmade Mafia Markets. I am going to be participating in all of them except the ones on July 15 & 16 that coincide with Art Walk. I will be debuting a lucky 13 new album covers from my Rainbow Series. You can expect classics from Nirvana, Madonna, and the Beatles. I am hoping to have the same location for Art Walk that I had last year but there will be more information on that in the months to come...

I have signed on to be a sponsor of the Handmade Mafia this year and am hoping to have a very active and visible involvement with my new family. I am very excited and looking forward to my future with them. They have been nothing short of amazing thus far. In the markets in the months to come I am looking forward to debuting new items and exclusive collaborations with some other very talented family members. I have a couple of collaborations ready to debut at the Market on March 19. Quantities are extremely limited to start and will be based on first come first served...

For more information about the Handmade Mafia and the upcoming markets you can click on the flyer or go HERE

-Lon

S.I.R.E.N.S.

I recently had the opportunity to work with S.I.R.E.N.S. This is the piece that I did for them. S.I.R.E.N.S. is a charity that helps children. To find out more about them, what they do, and how to get involved please click HERE

Frank, the founder of S.I.R.E.N.S., approached me with the idea of creating an art piece that exemplifies S.I.R.E.N.S. goals, what is important to them, and how they seek to lead by example and mentoring. I had fun with this project and am so proud with how it turned out. I can easily say that it is one of my most ambitious projects to date. It was exciting to depict a concept and an idea in a very visual way. I look forward to working with them more in the future.

-Lon

Friday, January 28, 2011

Art Upon Request

UPDATE (February 17, 2011): February 20, 2011 is the last chance to comment on my art and help me to get it printed on over 40 billboards over Alberta. Thank you to all who have helped me by commenting, posting, blogging, and linking my art through various social media. I really appreciate all of the help! It is not to late to comment on my art HERE

HI!

I need your help! I am not sure if you have seen the billboards or heard the radio spots but there is a new art initiative that is currently under way. It is called Art Upon Request. It is an experiment of art and social media but at it's core it is a contest to have your art appear on over 40 billboards around Alberta.

The 2 artists with the most "votes" through a variety of different social media forums will have their work on billboards starting March 17th. I have entered and I need your "votes". There are many different ways to vote, the easiest being to comment on my work on the Art Upon Request website. The more constructive the comment the better. Why do you like my art? What draws you to it? Why would it look good on a billboard? Other ways to vote are by following the social networking icons and links on my art page. You can tweet about it, digg it, and add it to your facebook. Each time you do one it counts as a vote. So please do as many as you can and pass this onto any friend you think may be willing to do this.

This is a huge opportunity for me and winning would put me one step closer to achieving my goal of being a professional artist. If you are an artist I would encourage you to submit a piece of your work. It seems like a great project to bring awareness to Alberta's art community.

Thanks for your help!

For more information you can visit the Art Upon Request Website

To comment on my work and to "vote" through various social media you can go HERE

-Lon

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Welcome to the Family

UPDATE (December 12, 2010): THANK YOU! This event was a huge success for me and I look forward to doing many more in the future. I am looking forward to March 2011 when my new family, The Handmade Mafia, gets going again. I hope to have a growing and continuing roll in the families development in 2011.

Stay tuned for more great ideas and new projects in 2011. I am aiming to make my presence felt on the craft and art scene.

For those of you who purchased pieces at yesterdays or past events I would love to see pictures of my art in your homes. Send them to me at lonwenger@hotmail.com and I'll feature them on this very website!

Thanks again for everything. I love you!

-Lon

"Our guns contain glue, we make crafts not war, and we always know a "good thing" when we see it" - The Handmade Mafia

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. One of my life long ambitions finally came true last evening. I've joined a gang... of CRAFTERS! I wasn't sure if I would be good or experienced enough but they've welcomed me to "the family" with open arms. That's right! I've been accepted into the wonderfully infamous Handmade Mafia. To learn more about my awesome new family you can check them out and join their group at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=85089515560

My very first craft sale with them will be Saturday, December 11, 2010 at the Strathcona Baptist Church (8318-104 St.). It runs from 10AM to 4PM. There will be a wide variety of crafters with their goodies for sale there as well as at Orange Hall (10335-84 Ave).

I am so excited to be a part of the Handmade Mafia! I will have a table full of magnets, greeting cards, and art. There will be some exclusive Holiday greeting card packs that will only be available on Saturday. $10 for 10 cards! I will also have plenty of more specials and exclusives just for this event. So come and start, finish, or complete your Christmas shopping and meet my beautiful new family!

-Lon

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

News

I just wanted to keep you informed with a bunch of events that I have coming up in the near future.

November 21, 2010 - A Nightmare for Christmas

I will have some work on show and for sale at this event put on by the fine folks at Atomic Zombie Tattoo Studio. You can find out more about the event here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128727963845176

November 27, 2010 - Enchant

I will have some work on show and for sale at this event put on by the fine folks at City Centre Church. You can find out more about the event here:

http://www.citycentrechurch.com/ccc-art-show

December 4, 2010 - Artists Market

I will have some work on show and for sale at this event put on by the fine folks at Expressionz Cafe. You can find out more about the event here:

http://www.expressionzcafe.com/calendar.html

Monday, November 8, 2010

Inside Job (See Magazine 11-11-2010)

I was approached by my friends at See Magazine to do my second cover for them. This one was for the movie Inside Job. The movie is about how deregulation and politics caused the financial crisis in the States. The image depicts a ventriloquist dummy looking Obama and a fat cat banker exchanging money amongst the towering buildings of Wall Street. In the distance Air Force One is taking off. I am really happy with how this one turned out. For more information on the movie and to read the article go to http://www.seemagazine.com/

Global Visions Film Festival

Hot off the heels of my showing at the Whyte Avenue Art Walk in July, I was approached by the good folks at Global Visions Film Festival to create a series of three images to be used for this year’s upcoming documentary film festival, REAL. LIFE. FILMS. They had seen my work in this years Art Walk booklet and felt that my street art inspired spray stencil aesthetic worked for the imagery that they were trying to create for this year’s fest. Working from photos, one image was used to capture each aspect of the film fest. REAL=Agrarian LIFE=Protest FILMS=Hope. I created all the images with multi layered stencils and spray paint on cardboard. You can expect to see the images on this year’s festival posters, programs, and website. The festival runs November 11-14. I really pushed myself on these and am really happy with how the stencils turned out. The feedback on them has been really great. You can find out more about the Global Visions Film Festival at http://www.globalvisionsfestival.com/

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Tj & Meagan

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Future of Education (See Magazine 08-26-2010)

I was approached by See Magazine to do a couple more editorial illustrations and this time I got the cover! YAY! This was my second time working with See and I was very happy to do it. Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship. The cover reflects a child's anticipation and excitement about the first day of school. The illustration accompanying the article shows the same child grown up in a atlas like pose struggling to deal with the problems of the world. I am very happy with how these turned out and I am looking forward to working with See again in the (hopefully) very near future. You can view the article here: http://www.seemagazine.com/article/news/news-main/reinventing-albertas-advantage-4568/

Friday, July 23, 2010

Green Jobs (See Magazine 07-08-2010)

This is an editorial illustration that I did for the July 8, 2010 issue of See Magazine. The article is about Green Jobs and can be viewed here: http://www.seemagazine.com/article/news/news-main/green-jobs-4425/ As with most of my work, I tried to present an unbiased opinion that represents both sides of the article while still leaving the illustration open to interpretation.

Pricing

I still have work available from the Whyte Avenue Art Walk and I am creating new pieces all of the time. If you see something that you have to have or there is something that you would like me to make for you then please get in touch. I would love to have my art in your home and would be honored if you entrusted me to create something for you.