Hulu's Original Series "A Day In The Life"

In case you missed the boat like me, Hulu has an orginal series called "A Day In the Life", which allows viewers to get a glimpse into the live's of inspiring individuals from various walks of life. In case you missed the boat before that boat, Hulu.com is a website that allows you to catch up on all your favorite TV shows or movies online for free. The show is currently in its second season. I found out about it a couple of months ago while watching other shows that I love on Hulu. The show was created by Morgan Spurlock who also directed the documentary "Supersize Me", which focuses on the effects of eating strictly Mickey D's on the body. In the half hour documentary series, "A Day In the Life", Spurlock follows a day in the life of major pop culture figures from musicians to comedians to dancers. I'm very into behind the scenes kind of shows and documentaries, so this was right up my alley. I loved the episode with ?uestlove. My man Lenny Williams was in there too...sangin'!...and still sounds great. Check it out below...

The Artist | Melissa Branin Wheeler

MELISSA

BRANIN

WHEELER

Super Talented Visual Artist & Musician

Artomatic Location: 08-377

W&I: What kind of art do you make and how would you describe it?

Melissa: I paint silhouetted oil portraits of musicians and pop culture icons who inspire me.

W&I: What INSPIRED you to start creating this kind of art? 

Melissa: I curated at a gallery in Northern VA called The Soundry, and we had a very popular annual show called "Baby Canvases" where all of the art was done on 2 inch by 3 inch canvases. I did a dozen little rock star portraits and, to my utter astonishment, sold almost all of them. After that, I kept getting commissions for portraits in the same style. I figured since there seemed to be a demand for this kind of art, I would just keep making them. Then I had a vendor booth at a music festival last year, and had to create a large stock of paintings for that. I painted about 80 paintings in about 4 months. Almost half the collection has sold in under a year, and I'm continually trying to improve and refine my techniques to make my new work more compelling.

The Artist | David Hagen

Amazing Local Cartoonist and Illustrator David Hagen

Oooh! Tacos!

Artomatic Location: 08-256

W&I: What kind of art do you make and how would you describe it?

David: I've been a cartoonist and illustrator in DC for 30 years. My paintings are just another creative outlet of that. I keep several little sketchbooks with jokes and sketches and the paintings evolve from those pages. Sharpie came out with an acrylic paint pen in several thicknesses that puts out a wonderful black line of paint that revolutionized the way I went about painting. I can draw the outlines fairly quickly and fill in the empty blocks in bright, bold colors and then finish up with brush or more paint pen.

Creativity365 Day 43

Today's Instructions: Waste not. Dig in a recycling bin for all of today's materials. 

No digging in recycling bins took place here...just snatched up these bottle caps after a couple of family and friend functions lol. Today I made bottle cap magnets and I love them!!

These were very easy to make. I was being fast and kinda dropped huge amounts of gloss glaze over the pictures so some of the words got blurry, but I think they still came out nice. Here are the materials I used and instructions...

The Artist

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!! I hope you all have enjoyed awesome times with family and friends this weekend...I sure did...and will be today :). This week I'm going to start posting some interviews I've done with some AMAZING artists whose work is featured in Artomatic. I'm really excited about this :). Artomatic has been an awesome experience for me so far. I've met so many really cool people. I recommend participating in Artomatic to people who do art of ALL kinds. You wont regret it.

Stay tuned and stay inspired.

Creativity365 Day 42

Today's Instructions: Work only with toilet paper tubes and/or paper towel tubes today.

So today I'm revisiting the toilet paper tube. It's my mom's doing. Remember when I made these flowers?...

See post

She IMMEDIATELY relayed to me that I needed to "leave that stem off, take the button out the middle, stick a candle holder in there...the colors in my office are burgandy, grey and navy, I'll bring you some toilet paper tubes home...thanks."lol She's pretty crafty and has a lot to do with my liking to do crafts :). Well, this flower has some navy in it...hope it suffices as far as her color scheme goes. It's probably going to be mine though lol...I'll make some other ones for her.

The colors were inspired by my "I <3 AGGIES" pin. I graduated from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University...not to be confused with any other Aggies out there...know us lol. Back to the flower, it's literally the exact same flower I made in Creativity365 Day 38. You can find instructions on how to do this there. I just didn't put on the stem or the button in the middle. I used a glue gun to attach the candle holder in the middle. These toilet paper tubes are pretty sturdy so it stands well and gets even firmer after painting. The candle holder in the center also adds weight. Well, try it out!!! We're reducing, reusing, and recycling outchea lol. Have a great weekend :)

Stay Inspired. 

Artomatic Info!!

So Artomatic 2012 has officially begun...well, it began May 18th...and I am SUPER excited about it. I finally know my exact location information lol...I'm on the 8th floor and my space number is 08-347. You don't have to remember this. They have some nice programs they give to visitors and my name and space number is in there...no worries lol. People keep asking me when I'm going to be there, and I decided on Friday, June 1st, 7-9pm. They have an official "Meet the Artist" event that occurs all throughout the building from 7-9pm on June 2nd buuuuut, I have somewhere else to be.

I also wanted to hip you all to some of the cool, FREE, workshops and things they have going on. There are also tons of live performances, DJ sets, cool lounge areas, films, a couple pop up bars lol, and then some. Visit their Events Calendar for more info on all that's going on.

Artomatic's hours of operation are:

Wednesdays and Thursdays: noon – 10 pm

Fridays and Saturdays: noon – 1 am

Sundays: noon – 5 pm

Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

 If you're in the DC area, you MUST check it out! The magic only happens until June 23rd. Visit their website, artomatic.org, for more info.

DC Scores Inspired Art Gala Recap

Soooo I definitely had a cool craft project I was going to do last night and post today...called myself multi-tasking (something else really exciting was going on) and I completely ruined some good materials by cutting them the wrong way GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!lol I was am so mad. #endrant

(Source)

So on to DC Scores...I spoke about the Art Inspired Gala that I donated artwork to in this post. The gala took place last Thursday, at the Carnegie Institute of Washington. This event was to raise funds for the organization, which provides after-school programs for over 800 low-income DC youth as well as free summer camps through their “Couch to Camp Campaign”. During the event, there was a silent art auction, kids from the program reciting poetry (DC Scores' "poet-athletes"), and inspirational guest speakers. This event was absolutely a success with over 225 guests and over $77,000 raised for the organization!! Wooohooooo!!! I love this organization and what it stands for and I am very happy to have been able to participate in this event for the last couple years. DC Scores has a much more in-depth write up about the evening on their blog. And yes, I was excited to see my painting as one of the pics for their post lol. You can read it here. It's truly inspiring.

EXTRAordinary People | Xavier Brown

(Top right)

XAVIER BROWN

Director of Urban Agriculture for The Green Scheme

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Xavier Brown, Washington, DC native ("Uptown baby!!" << that's what he said lol) and Director of Urban Agriculture for The Green Scheme!! I introduced The Green Scheme on the blog two days ago and now we get to hear from one their key players. He's doing awesome things in the community and recently became a citizen forester with Casey Trees! Without further ado...

R.I.P. Chuck Brown “Godfather of Go-Go”

(Source)

Legendary Chuck Brown

(August 22, 1936 - Forever)

When my best friend sent me a text yesterday asking if I heard Chuck Brown died, I completely disregarded it responding,“there was an untrue rumor that he died not too long ago...probably not.” Then, I got upset because I hate rumors like those. I looked up at my email and there it was...my mom telling me Chuck Brown passed. Devastating. If you don’t know who Chuck Brown is, he is known as the “Godfather of Go-Go”, a style of music native to Washington, DC. He sang and played the guitar and is recognized as the founder and creator of go-go music. When I was listening to the radio, someone stated “Chuck Brown is to go-go music what Bob Marley is to reggae”. They were trying to help listeners understand how big he was. Well, I don’t even know how to properly...adequately articulate what he meant to the DC area...to the world but, that’s a great comparison.

He was much bigger than the city he was from. He is recognized worldwide. People from all over love some Chuck. He made feel good music! I can’t think of one summertime cookout without hearing “Bustin’ Loose”...“It Don’t Mean a Thing”...”Run Joe” and the list goes on. His music will forever be attached to some great memories in my life. One of my most fun concert-going moments was his set! His music just made you happy and want to PARTY! It makes me smile.

As sad as this moment is to me, I want to celebrate him and rejoice because he lived a full life. He was rocking the crowd up to the age of 75!! That’s a blessing. I appreciate his contributions to music. Even more, I’m happy that he was appreciated while he was here. It’s one thing for everybody to come out talking about how much they loved you once you’re gone, but Chuck was LOVED while he was here. I wish I could’ve seen more of him. I was excited to be seeing him again this August, but I know he’s up in heaven windin’ somebody up lol. He’s in a much better place and is no longer in pain.

I know DC is going to wile out off this one and I’m going to be at somebody’s function celebrating his life, legacy, and music! My condolences go out to his family and friends, the DMV, and anybody whose heart is heavy. Thanks Chuck!

On FULL BLAST!!!!!

I finally made a Facebook Page...

Good morning everyone!!! I finally got around to making a Facebook page for my artwork. Took a lot longer than I thought it would. Please do go check it out and tell me what you think :)...you can even "like" it while you're at it lol. You can find it at facebook.com/ShannonScatesArt.

Stay Inspired.

Changemakers | The Green Scheme

I haven't done a Changemakers post in a while...so, we're going to get things back up-and-running with the AMAZING nonprofit organization, The Green Scheme!! This organization was founded by two Washington DC area natives, Ronnie Webb, who has a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics from North Carolina A&T State University (Aggie Pride!!!) and Joelle Robinson, who has a BA degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Spellman College and a Master degree in Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University. They were inspired to create The Green Scheme when they saw a need to educate communities on environmental issues and get them involved in improving their environment. Other key players in The Green Scheme include Xavier Brown, Master Gardener and Director of Urban Agriculture, who also obtained a B.A. from North Carolina A&T (Aggie Pride!!!), India Jackson, who supports the fundraising activity and organizational development and received a B.A. in Psychology from East Carolina University and is pursuing a JD from North Carolina Central, and Walter Ray, Founder and Director of Education, Goals, Opportunities and Sports (EGOS) Inc. He brings 20 years of experience running a nonprofit and provides The Green Scheme with organizational guidance.

As stated in their organization description, "The Green Scheme is an organization designed to educate people of diverse cultural backgrounds about their role in the environmental movement. Our programs educate children, youth, and adults about how environmental issues such as, proximity to high rates of pollution; access to fresh produce and healthy food options;  safe opportunities and spaces for physical activity; and how the cleanliness of communities where people live, work, and play can affect their physical health, mental health, and economy. We use innovative strategies that reach people in direct and exciting ways; engaging community members at schools, community centers, special events, and places of employment to promote a greener planet. ..."

I DID IT!!!

Finally...done with setting up for Artomatic and I am PROUD of the outcome!:) I worked hard on this thang. Had to patch holes in the wall and everything lol...never done that a day in my life. Here it is TADA!!....

I almost let out a single tear when I stepped back and observed what I accomplished in the little time I had. Yesterday at 10pm was the deadline to finish putting your space together...I finished at 9:58:56 lol. Still have some minor things I want to do...like put an @ on my twitter name for one...and a period behind the A in my name. It's really bothering me that I forgot to put that on lol. Hopefully, they'll let me do that.

Well, Artomatic is located at 1851 S. Bell St., Crystal City, VA, and it will be running from May 18th to June 23rd. This place is HUGE. It's literally the Disneyland of the arts lol. You will NOT accomplish it in one day. It is 11 floors folks. BIG floors. You might be able to accomplish two or three a day.

I'm located on the 8th floor in room 803. Yes, I bolded, underlined it, and put it in a different color #pow lol. If you're in the area, make sure you check me out and leave a message in my guestbook so I know you came by :).

Stay Inspired.

New Artwork

I tweeted and instagram'd this one yesterday (which means nothing to you if you don't follow me lol), but it wasn't the whole picture. Here's a better view...not that clear :(

It's titled Beautiful.2. This was 1...

They will be featured in Artomatic 2012 along with some of my other artwork #woop.

Teacher Appreciation Week | Japera Parker

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I just want to show love to all the teachers out there giving their all and pouring into our kids. It's a tough job and they are under-appreciated...and often underpaid. These teachers work HARD and they play a very vital role in society. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

JAPERA PARKER

Teacher Appreciation Week | Phylicia (pRoy)

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I just want to show love to all the teachers out there giving their all and pouring into our kids. It's a tough job and they are under-appreciated...and often underpaid. These teachers work HARD and they play a very vital role in society. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

PHYLICIA (pRoy)

Teacher Appreciation Week | Shena Anderson

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I just want to show love to all the teachers out there giving their all and pouring into our kids. It's a tough job and they are under-appreciated...and often underpaid. These teachers work HARD and they play a very vital role in society. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

SHENA S. ANDERSON

Good Music | A Yellow Man

Just wanted to let you all know about this group called A Yellow Man that one of my friends told me about some time last year. I love their music...well, the one song they have out there lol. BUT, they did put out TWO songs yesterday, which I was really excited about. What I love most is that they rep God in their music. They do such a great job explaining who they are and what they're about, so I'll let them handle that lol...

The songs they shared on YouTube yesterday...

'Tis all. Enjoy! 

Teacher Appreciation Week | April Johnson

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I just want to show love to all the teachers out there giving their all and pouring into our kids. It's a tough job and they are under-appreciated...and often underpaid. These teachers work HARD and they play a very vital role in society. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

APRIL JOHNSON

Teacher Appreciation Week | Andrea Leonard

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I just want to show love to all the teachers out there giving their all and pouring into our kids. It's a tough job and they are under-appreciated...and often underpaid. These teachers work HARD and they play a very vital role in society. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

ANDREA LEONARD

ARTOMATIC 2012 and my life...

So guess what...I'm participating in Artomatic this year!!!! Wooohoooo!!! I talked about the event in a previous post. It's pretty much a gigantic space, an office building, full of the arts...2D art, sculptures, performing artists, poetry, workshops for adults and kids, film, photography...and the list goes on. I first heard about and visited this event in 2009 and KNEW I had to be a part of it next go round. Well, I'm in there. Only thing is...this is what my space currently looks like...

And it has this stupid thing going down the middle...

I have to rip that off and then it's going to end up looking like this...

And then I have to get my HGTV on and get the space up to my level lol...by this Sunday...no lol there. This week is going to be a killer. Late nights and early mornings and I have a TON of stuff to do. I normally wouldn't do this to myself, but I've been traveling a lot recently and that held up some progress. I'll keep you all posted on what's happening. No 365 projects this week...don't have the time lol. We're just going to love these teachers because it's TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!!! Go show one some love...take 'em out to lunch or something.

Oh and here's a painting that I did last week for nonprofit, DC SCORES. Every year, they have an art auction to raise funds for the organization. The art they auction off is donated by artists and it's something I enjoy doing. One of the things the organization does with the kids is write poetry. So, they ask that you pick a poem written by one of the kids and paint something inspired by it. I picked an MLK poem. They have a gala along with the auction and I was told by one of the staff members that I would be introduced to the girl whose poem inspired my painting...I'm excited about that :). I forgot to take a picture of my painting, so I snapped one while it was riding in my passenger lol...you get the idea.

Well, pray for me this week!!

Creativity365 Day 41

Today's Instructions: Mail art! Take an existing postcard and alter it, then send it to a random address (or anonymously to a friend), after documenting it, of course.

Revisiting this project. I did this one for Creativity365 Day 31 with subscription cards for magazines, but today, I'm working with some postcards I got from Coachella...yes, more memorabilia. This one was super easy. I love postcards, so I always try to get them from whatever place I'm visiting.

Here's what I did with them...

Here's what the frame looked like when I purchased it...

I simply spray painted the white border that came with it and taped the postcards in the middle of each rectangle. Then, I used some letter stickers and numbers for "Coachella" and "2012". That thing going diagonally across the top right corner is my wristband from Coachella. If I had a picture of myself or just a really cool picture of Coachella in general on hand, I would've put that in the center instead of a postcard...but I didn't at the time. Once I get some printed, I'll probably switch it out. Aaaaand that's all folks. Enjoy your weekend!

Stay Inspired.

Creativity365 Day 40

Today's Instructions: Create something using an old map or something that ends up looking like a map.

Shoutout to yesterday! That was my 100th post...just realized it as I was doing this one. So finally, I'm back to making stuff. I feel like its been a really long time. Today's and Friday's projects will be about commemorating good times...memorabilia. I just had so many, so I'm still holding on to the memories lol. This project is really simple and it's a cool way to remember where you went or can be made into a gift for someone else. My mom is always telling me to bring her something back when I go somewhere.

Here it is...

Creating Public Art with Albus Cavus

Edgewood Mural in Washington, DC

So, every once in a while, I ransack the Internet looking for inspiration...motivation...something I didn't know about before. A couple of weeks ago I came across the Albus Cavus website. This organization states that it "builds strong and healthy communities through public art and creative collaborations." Oh, I can dig it and they have created some AMAZING artwork in DC, Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Dubai, India to name a few. If you are into creating public art, you should definitely check out their website. Their reasoning behind what they do is really inspirational and you can read it here. I thought about summing it up in this post, but I think you should just read the whole thing. They say it all so well lol. 

In addition to creating public art, they also hold various classes and workshops and after looking all through their site, I found a free, online textbook, "Going Public: The Guide to Creating Art in Public Space". This book takes you through the entire process of creating public artwork, from establishing your intentions for creating a public work of art to presenting your finished work. Check it out!!

Here's a video of a group of artists from DC, MD, and New Jersey creating public art in the Columbia Heights community.

These are the things that bring me joy lol.