Through a series of events, I was inspired to begin exploring new "canvas" options. I decided to stray away from the norm & begin looking for new materials to paint on. I began working with glass & acrylic (plexiglass) & soon found myself being pulled into a new world of creative possibilities. My journey has been through this new world in the art universe that I have been exploring. ...Along the way, I decided to make some pieces & send them to iconic figures to in an effort to bring more attention to my work and this new genre I was exploring.My partner, Cory, and I began reaching out to friends to see who could help us. To our surprise, we found we had connections to some big names. While we thought about which celebrities we would choose to send work to, I designed custom frames for the gifts we would be sending them. Our friend Nick, at N2Metalworks, was able to lend us a hand there. I drew up some plans and Nick took the designs & brought back some beautiful aluminum frames to go on the acrylic pieces. Meanwhile, Cory and I found lights and specialty hardware to complete the frames. By the time we had everything we needed for the frames, all 3 promotional pieces were ready to be framed. These are images of the finished pieces without there frames. The close up of the Lebron James piece is the only image that shows what the pieces look like in their frames. But they did all get framed.
...Quick side note. I just wanted to introduce the little guy that's in the picture with the three pieces. Say hello to my lil' boy Chico Muttley! We were blessed to be able to add him to the family at the start of last year, when my friend Deeana's family let us have him. Can't thank them enough for all the joy this little pup has brought us!!
Now back to the story... The connections we had turned out to be less helpful than we thought they would be. And getting the pieces to their intended recipients has proved to be harder than we expected it to be. The "King James" piece was the first to go out. We shipped it to Miami, to the Heat's training facility. Unfortunately, the piece didn't make it. FedEx managed to break it in half. So, when it arrived in Miami, it just got thrown away in pieces. Lebron never even got to see the one of a kind master piece I had created for him to congratulate him on his back to back MVP titles and back to back Championship wins! I was pretty down when I got the news, and it took me a sec to shake off the funk I fell into. But, once I remembered that failure is a stepping stone to success, I got over it.
The next piece to go out was supposed to be for the Black Keys. We tried getting it to them through their management, but they left us hanging. After going back and forth a few times, to arrange how to get it to them, they stopped responding to our emails. So we put that one on the back burner and decided to come back to it later.
On to the piece for Cee-Lo Green... Another discouraging outcome there, too. Although, this one was much less tragic than the destruction of the Lebron piece. This time I decided to try and take the piece to Cee-Lo's management company Primary Wave Music. I went to their L.A. office and met Tom Maffie (President, Talent Management West Coast). I explained to him that I wanted to give the piece, as a gift, to Cee-Lo and asked if he could help me get it to him. He said I could leave the piece with him and he would contact Cee-Lo's manager (and the owner of Primary Wave Music), Larry Mestel, to try and arrange to have it sent to Cee-Lo. I was shocked at how nice and helpful Mr. Maffie was. When I got home I emailed Larry Mestel, myself, to tell him that the piece was in the L.A. office, but I never heard back from him. When I contacted Mr. Maffie a few weeks later, to follow up on things, Tom said he didn't want to help me, and asked me to come back and pick up the piece. Reading the email, and seeing that Mr. Maffie's was going back on his word, infuriated me. To top it off, he told the receptionist not to let me back in the building (...like, I would try and steal something, after bringing gifts!) when I went to pick up the piece! ...adding insult to injury. I had a lot of other bad news come my way, the day I went to get the piece. Unfortunately, I let my anger get the best of me, when I got back to Primary Wave. I let myself into the office, storming past the receptionist and acted like a dick to the poor kid. I didn't validate Mr. Maffie's fears of me stealing anything, although I did feel like kicking his door down and giving him a piece of my mind. But, instead, I just got the piece from behind the receptionist's desk and left quietly. After being an ass to the receptionist, I felt bad, though. So, the next morning, I wrote him an e-mail to apologize. And that was the last I heard from Primary Wave Music.
So, at this point in the story, I am 0 for 3. All three shots were misses. I take comfort in knowing that everything happens for a reason. And I know that when my plans aren't working out, it's because God has other plans for me. ...And who am I to argue with God's plans?! Despite the disappointments, this journey has made me grow a great deal as an artist and a man. The journey isn't over, either. Not by a long shot!! In fact, this is the tip of the iceberg, I'm just getting started and have every intension in the world to keep pushing forward. Regardless of where the pieces end up, they have taken me to places I never expected to go, mentally and physically, and have inspired me to look past the limits that I once allowed others to set for me. For now, I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed with these acrylic pieces. They might still go to these celebrities or they might end up for sale. I'm still undecided. But I do know that I won't let the bumps in the road bring me to a stop or keep me from my dreams. I'm gonna keep on ridin', on my artistic journey, till the wheels fall off! And I'm gonna keep on sharing the story of my journey here on the blog! Thanks for checking out the blog and check back soon for more Bsombin'!
