Mayday Underground April 30th

This will be my third "Mayday Underground" event! The first two have been smashing successes that I am really looking forward to this one. It's April 30th, from 10 am - 4 pm.

What I love best about this arts and crafts show, is the wide variety of artisans at the show, and the knowledgeable crowd that frequents it. Amanda and Casey do an incredible job organizing and executing this show, and this time around we will be at the Main St. Armory at 900 E. Main, Rochester, NY.

I have lots of my usual correspondence stamps (Air Mail, Snail Mail, Owl Mail), as well as some of my "LOL stamps" (brb, h8r, omg, etc.), "man stamps" (tools, westerns, beer), horror/goth stamps (Vincent Price, zombie, Creature, Godzilla, etc.), as well as a big selection of bird stamps.

Did I mention this is going to be the biggest Mayday yet? Around 90 vendors! I doubt it will be this big again. This is going to be a fun day of shopping. I'm going to have a hard time not trading all my stamps away for other great art!

See you all there!

ArtAwake: "Rochester in Rubber"

ArtAwake is another one of those shocking events for me. Let's role play for a moment. I am pitching an idea to you. Here's the idea: I want to have an art event that shows fine art, interactive art, and musicians, all from the Rochester community, and I want to find some old abandoned spaces in the city to use for the event, and I want to get dozens and dozens of student groups to sponsor it, some that have very little to do with art, and I want to throw this incredible party. Oh yeah, we'll throw some food and drink in there too.

Sounds crazy. Sounds unlikely. Sounds brilliant. This is Artawake.

This is the fourth ArtAwake. I was a spectator at the first, and I have to say, I was blown away. I couldn't believe how many people were there. And not just students. There was a real cross section of the Rochester Community there, wandering around this old warehouse, looking at art, dancing to music. It was nuts.

So when the idea floated my way to enter some art this year, I got kind of jazzed to do it. I got accepted, and "Rochester in Rubber" was born.

What is "Rochester in Rubber?" I tried to take some images that are iconic to Rochester, and capture them in a rubber stamp. I have created a display of those images, and some of the stamps. Images include Susan B. Anthony, the Kodak Tower, a lilac. To go along with the visual, we have an interactive component. We have a big rubber stamp of a front of a postcard that says, "Greetings from Rochester: ArtAwake)." You can stamp this yourself, and take the postcard home with you as a souvenir of the night. Attach a stamp and mail if you want.


When I heard about a week ago that I couldn't mount anything to the wall, I rushed to make a display that could be self standing, and luckily my savior and friend Brian came up with a design and helped to execute it with his Valhalla of power tools. Of course, this took hours and hours of time to assemble, and I owe the luxury of this time to my wife Laura for helping keep everything else a float last week. Big hugs and kisses!



So, I hope you can come and check out ArtAwake on Saturday, April 16th, from 3 pm to 1 am in the Alliance Building, 183 E. Main St., Rochester, New York.

Review of Bears and Brews

First, I should start by saying that Bears and Brews was truly AMAZING!  It was held on April 1 at Crocus Clayworks in the wonderful Hungerford Building in Rochester, NY.  It was part of the First Friday series, an ongoing tradition of artist galleries and studios staying open late on the the first friday of the month for special exhibits and showing.  I was selected by the amazing potters known as Sabre, Jennifer, and Marie at Crocus Clayworks. 

I am taking a guess that we had over 200 people, but it was hard to count, since there was people coming and going the whole night.  I stayed busy talking to people and explaining how I make rubber stamps, and taking custom order inquiries.

Lucky for me my sisters Ellen and Angela,  from St. Lawrence Chocolates, and my wife Laura, were there to help pour beer, wash dishes, and keep the supply of goodies on the table!

We had beer from Custom Brewcrafters, Rohrbachs, and Rogers Pale Ale, as well as A&W Root Beer (which used to be made in part in the Hungerford in its earlier life).  Ellen and Angela made Guinness Truffles, and Maple Carmel Creams, and my mother-in-law Sandy made six dozen mini Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's frosting.  Needless to say, all the sweets were totally gone by the end of the night, and only a little beer was left over.

Big THANK YOU's to all my friends and family who attended.  It was a real special night and I really couldn't have pulled it off without everyone who helped me out!

(Photos by: Dick Beery)