The Jennifer Show Road Trip: Part 3

Continuing down that long and winding road - I know, I know it's hard to imagine further than your living room right now - but last year about this time I was on my last leg home from Colorado.  Because it was a long trip we broke it into two days, and if you review the map from the first post, you'll see that I made a "loop" with the trip back going through Santa Fe.

It's amazing that I had never visited Santa Fe.  It's an art mecca, but also only a day's drive away from Phoenix.  What finally drove me there, however, was my friend Mariah's recommendation to visit a very unusual art exhibit of sorts called "Meow Wolf".  



Have a picnic by the giant spider!
Also in the parking lot.

Meow Wolf is very hard to describe. Basically, take an abandoned bowling alley, give a bunch of artists some money from George R.R. Martin (yes the Game of Thrones guy) and see what happens. I had a rough idea of what was inside thanks to photos shared by Mariah back when it first opened, but my friends had no clue what was in store.

Mariah and I met working at a place called "Sunbelt Studios" that worked on some wild projects (themed interiors and the like) so this was especially interesting for us.  Since then, Mariah has gone on to paint murals and portraits and I make plastic pony art, but once upon a time we were making all kinds of wacky stuff ourselves that was sort of along these lines. (Example, when Tostitos wanted to drop a giant tortilla chip into a bowl of dip for New Year's for the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, AZ, who do you call for this?  Yes, that was a real job the company handled for a while.)

Meow Wolf reminded me of what might have happened if they had given the staff free rein and invited us to do whatever we felt like at Sunbelt Studios 20-ish years ago. We did "weird" stuff all the time there, but unfortunately, being a team for hire, the things we created were never our own.  It was an absolute blast, but the idea of being able to go our own way made my brain buzz with the possibilities. There are things that one artist can't create alone, but when you get a group with different talents together, you'd be amazed at what can develop.

I'm not going to show everything start to finish - because I'd love for all of you to see it someday for yourselves and I don't want to ruin all the surprises inside.








Anyway, while Meow Wolf is closed right now due to Covid (it is very "hands on" in nature which is awesome in the B.C. - Before Covid 19 times) please do immediately go see it the second this pandemic clears up.

There's a TON more neat stuff inside - and it has a "story" kind of like an Escape Room, but there's no goal or rush to get out. You're meant to explore at leisure. It has a cafe (outside of the art area) and a room for visitors to try "art-ing" on their own.  Make sure you budet enough time to actually enjoy!

I was so inspired that I seriously would like to pursue working for this company some day.  And who knows?  With plans to expand, including a planned upcoming location in Phoenix, I'll be keeping a close eye on this art collective.

When we got home the next day, I was able to pull out all my "loot" from the show and found that I didn't do so bad after all!  Here's a few of the obligatory "loot pics" because this is a model horse blog after all.  I know what you guys are here for!  







The show was great, but what was even more meaningful was just spending time traveling with my "crew" of friends, Kory, Maggie, Laura, Lauren, and all the out of town friends that we met up with at the show.  That's what I'm missing most of all right now.  I can't wait to see all of you again when this pandemic is over! 

Who knows, maybe once it's safe again, our crew can host a big blowout show of our own here in Arizona?  If we do, I hope to see you there!  Just never forget: Travel to the pony show NOW with the people you care about.  Because you don't know what the future might hold. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prepping A Resin - Illustrated

Image
Before any model can be painted, first it must be prepped. Models in various stages of prepping. Prepping is the fine art of readying a resin or plastic model horse for painting.  Seems simple, but a poorly prepped horse could have a bad seam line, distracting from an otherwise good paint job.  Or even worse, a badly prepped model may have issues with paint not sticking to the horse itself! Because of these possible issues, and the time involved in prepping a horse correctly, many painters now ask for models to be prepped for them.  This has resulted in a nice side gig for "preppers" who work exclusively on readying models for custom painting.  The fee for prep of a model horse is usually very reasonable, considering the work involved.  Often, preppers only charge $30-$40 to prep a model.  However, the postage and insurance cost added in, going both ways, can make the total bill daunting, before an artist adds a drop of paint.  And then of course there is always the q
Read more

"Luna" - A Wolfie Web Special

Image
A lot of times I'll be working on projects here in the studio, and I'm unable to share what they are because it's "top secret".  Usually, it's just a realistic paint prototype, (read: yet another brown horse) or the annual "Beautiful Breeds" ornament, or some other little thing.  But, every now and then, I get to try  something totally new! Breyer's Web Special, "Luna".  Photo copyright Breyer. I've had the opportunity to work on two unique projects this year that are outside of my norm.  One is still under wraps, but the other was just revealed today!  This is Breyer's latest Web special.  It features artwork of wolves running on the side, and the coolest part is when you turn the lights off, the wolves glow in the dark. Glowing effect on "Luna".  Photo copyright Breyer. This concept was my creation, and I'm so grateful that Breyer was willing to give it a shot when I proposed the idea to them.  I have
Read more

Tribute to the Hobby Artwork of Gretchen Oneail

Image
Gretchen's old web site, courtesy of the Wayback Machine It’s been about a year since Gretchen Oneail has passed away. I miss her all the time. I miss the sound of her voice, the way she said certain words. Her goofy jokes. The way she honestly and unabashedly cared about people. We have very few genuine allies in this world, which is why the loss of just one can be so devastating. I’ve had a difficult time writing some sort of tribute to Gretchen Oneail. Every time I’ve tried before now, I’ve zoomed off to another distraction, because to write this means that on a very real level I’d have to admit that one more person I loved, has now left.  Her visit to Arizona in 2014 It’s especially tragic when the person was someone as vibrant and fun as Gretchen. Some folks in the hobby have met her at Breyerfest. That’s where I met her. I'm not sure of the year, it was probably 2009 or 2010. She was a social butterfly at the Clarion, and looked forward to her visit to Kentucky all year.
Read more