I've been working on something different in the past few weeks.  Recently I was approached by Musical Director, Rick Pirozzolo to do some image work for the Elmira combined High School's Footlighter's Express upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors. The musical comedy will be performed in the Jerome O'Dell Theater at Southside High School on March 21-22, 2014, at 7:30 PM. Little Shop of Horrors is about a nerdy floral worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood.

Having seen my work, Rick approached me about possibly using some of my artwork for a poster and as imagery on the set of the production.  The idea was to utilize projection technology to project imagery into the set design.  I was intrigued and decided that I wanted to try working on this project with the production crew.  It helped that I teach art at Southside High School and would be helping out students with their overall project.  I found the projection concept an interesting one which might hold some future possibilities in sharing my work with a broader community.

Rick tasked me with finding several types of images to work with, scary flowers, pretty flowers, dental images and perhaps other somewhat frightening images.  I dug into my archives.  Flowers were easy as I had many, many existing images that fit the description, both scary and pretty.  I was able to easily find appropriate images for this.  Everything had to be sized to fit a 4:3 aspect ratio.  For the dental images I had to create some new things.  I put out a Facebook post a few months back looking for false teeth, impressions, teeth or any type of detail imagery.  It was a pretty strange request but, ask and you shall recieve.  I borrowed some impressions, teeth, false teeth and other items for scanning and image making.  I made still images and 2 animations.  The still images are what will be used.  The animations, although interesting, are actually too interesting and pull the attention off the actors.  They are so active that they demand a look.  I'm posting them here but you won't see them in the production. If they seem a bit scary, well, that was the intent.   I had fun making them and enjoyed the process.  The still images made the cut. Via projection technology they will grace the set of Little Shop of Horrors. So officially, I can add Production Media Artist to my resume for this production. As an artist, it never hurts to push your comfort zone.  I'm anxious to see the results.

If you're interested in seeing the production, tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.  For information contact:  footlightersexpress@gmail.com or by calling 607-735-3313.

I'm happy to announce that my work is in the eighth realist invitational, Re-Presenting Representation VIII at the Arnot Art Museum.  This show in the museum's west wing galleries opened February 28 and runs through May 31, 2014.  The eighth realist invitational features the work of 37 artists from around the world and addresses trends in contemporary realism.   

My works, Dance of Life © 2013 and The Secret of Life © 2013 were chosen for the show.