Vegas: Intergalactic Art Car Festival

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to roll up on an intergalactic convention for artsy minded extraterrestrials? Well, wonder no more, because the Intergalactic Art Car Festival, hosted by Lyft and Zappos, is here to answer that question by gathering some of the most outlandish art cars that could be found this side of the milky way. Las Vegas is a city that is no stranger to the weird, after all, and plays home to many of the people who make Burning Man into the event it is every year. Many, if not all of the cars featured here, were at a Burning Man at some point in their lives, or are affiliated with the event in a very 6-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon sort of manner. The friends I have who volunteered their time to help set it up were, naturally, Burners, as the tribe of annual devotees are called. Personally, I've never been. Something about paying several hundred bucks, plus transportation and all that, to go do drugs in the desert rubs me the wrong way. I've gone to smaller, regional events with a similar mentality behind them that were free to attend and had an absolutely stellar time with many of the same folks who attend the more expensive party every year. To each their own, though, and I'm sure that for the people who have gone it's absolutely the life-changing illuminating event that many people make it out to be!  

And if there's one thing you can say for certain about burners, it's that they're pyrotechnic lust rings true to their name. I was pretty thoroughly amused by how many of the art cars had some form of flame-throwing capabilities, but given that Burning Man is an event that literally culminates in the burning of a giant hominid effigy, it makes sense that Burners would like to play with fire. This could be a side benefit of living in an entertainment-oriented city like Las Vegas, because there are plenty of jobs for pyrotechnicians who surely like to experiment in their free time. Not all of the vehicles were solely flame-throwers in fancy garb, though, some were psychedelic light shows on wheels and other's cozy beds. There was even the Flintstones' vehicle making the rounds!  And to top it all off, this event was absolutely free to the public! I'm not kidding, it was 100% free to go! You were more than welcome to donate, with proceeds going towards funding education in the Arts here in Nevada, but admission was free!

While we missed the initial parade, we were able to see most if not all of the vehicles during our explorations! Naturally, plenty of photos to follow.

Vegas: Zappos Fandom Friday Marvel Mini-con April 2018

May the Fourth be with you!

From time to time, I'm lucky enough to donate my time to help Critical Care Comics, a 501c nonprofit organization, with their cause. What, exactly, is their cause, you may ask? To put it simply, Critical Care Comics is; " Dedicated to bringing joy to children in hospitals by delivering comic books to help them escape the discomfort of hospital life. If only for only 28 pages. "... the long version, however, is a bit more personal. The founder of Critical Care Comics (referred to as "CCC" from here onward) was diagnosed with cancer when he was young, causing him to spend weeks in the hospital at a time for treatment and missing out on time with his friends and other normal adolescents pursuits. It was a challenging situation to be in and his greatest escape was in the form of comics that his family would bring him to read. While he recovered and has gone on to grow and become a healthy man with a loving wife, he's always wanted to give back to the community and help others who find themselves in a similar situation to his. CCC was born of that need and in the 5-6 years since it began has gone on to donate thousands upon thousands of donated comics to children in Las Vegas area hospitals. I've been working with them now for about 3 years, tagging along on hospital visits and events to draw and help where needed. All of the comics and toys that we take to the hospitals and give to the kids are donated by kind-hearted citizens! There are several comic book stores throughout the city of Las Vegas that have partnered with the cause and have permanent donation boxes in their stores where people can drop off their books, too.

The cause naturally attracts the hero types who, between saving the world, might drop in for a visit. They're all pretty busy, of course, with that whole saving-the-world thing... it's pretty amazing how often Earth finds itself in peril, isn't it? Luckily we've got so many heroes who call our humble planet home or at least have taken a liking to it, like Chewbacca up there. He was kind enough to pose for photos with all of us, who were honored by his presence. Hawk Eye, Wolverine and Spider Gwen also hung out with us for a bit, ensuring the safety of our supplies and the other people attending the Fandom Friday mini-con.  There were even a few surprise appearances from other Avengers, too! Pretty cool, man, pretty cool. Every hospital visit has at least three of our galaxies greatest heroes there, so kids get to bond with Wonder Woman, Batman, Spiderman, even Deadpool!

This event, in particular, was Zappos Fandom Friday, a free event to the public celebrating Marvel and all things nerdy held at the Zappos corporate office in Downtown Las Vegas. The event was on the official release date for Infinity War, so they were definitely celebrating the momentous occasion. There were banners for each of the Infinity Stones, life-size cut-outs of Thanos (definitely don't want him attending in person), many different artists and vendors celebrating and sharing their crafts, and raffles galore! CCC was there to collect donations with games and raffles and spread awareness of the cause. It's an awesome event and totally worth attending if you get the chance! I went back in 2016 as an artist and had a great time. There are painting classes, the Taco Fest truck, amazingly talented artists and so much more! You definitely don't want to miss the costume contest!

Star Lord, meet Star Lord and crew. 

Lots more photos below!

Vegas: Zappos Fandom Friday 2016-03-25

On Friday, March 25th I was lucky enough to participate in Zappos Fandom Friday event! Zappos, for those not in the know, is an online retailer based in my quaint little home town of Las Vegas, Nevada. On top of being a successful company that ranks as one of the best in country to work for,  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has taken a very active role in helping to revitalise downtown Las Vegas, leading the way in it's resurgence as a popular tourist & local hipster destination. And yes, if you read the Wired article I linked there, it's true; there is a giant praying mantis that shoot fire in Downtown Vegas, located in front of the Downtown Container Park. Thanks, Tony.

As a participating artist/vendor at the event, I got to hang out in their lobby area and partake in all the nerdy goodness afoot! There were many super talented artists, groovy vendors, cosplayers, banging DJs, and even some llamas. 

Yes, llamas.

Gosh they're cute! 

And really, it was a very cool event to attend. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first ever Fandom Friday thanks in no small part to Rogue Toys! Rogue Toys partnered with Zappos to get the gears rolling on this event and I'm so grateful they did. It's always great seeing new opportunities and events pop up for the artistic community in this city! And what a fun event this was; there were dancing storm troopers, amazing cosplay, fantastic original art, live performances by Decaying Tigers, arcades games free to play, food trucks, and fun and games for all involved!

I came out with some limited edition Batman Vs. Superman prints in honour of the new movie. Have you seen it? Antho and I had already watched it by the time I went to the event, but I made sure not to give away any spoilers...but I didn't really get much opportunity as almost everyone I asked about the movie admitted to being less than excited to see it...womp womp. 

Even so, I managed to sell a few of the prints. ^_^ I'm thinking of putting them up on Etsy, but I have a few Superhero events left here in town first so I'll see how they do. The nice thing about prints is once they're made you have them, so even if I didn't sell out of them at the event I'm glad to have gone! 

How often do you get to encounter random llamas or dancing Storm Troopers, after all?

This is going to be an image heavy post, so be forewarned ye of sluggish internet!!

Also, if you see yourself or anyone you know and want me to include their name or remove photos, please contact me ASAP and I'll be happy to oblige!