*SPARKcon showcases local creative talent in the NC Triangle. For four days, Raleigh’s Fayetteville St, public spaces, clubs and stages will be filled with art, music, dance, film, fashion, design, proposals, and more. Celebrating local cultural richness and empowering action through an open-source approach to collaboration and cross-pollination, SPARKcon is not a funded city program or an economic development stunt. It’s completely grassroots and by the people for the people! Join us as we explore the creative spirit of the Triangle!

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Once we took it outside and admired our work from the lovely Humble Pie, we noticed that the railings of our next door building looked just like a Donkey Kong set. Naturally we had to spend the whole next day creating all the characters for our first-ever stop motion animation movie.

Here it is in the MEDIUM REZ AT VIMEO:
Pixels and Bricks from Gamil Design on Vimeo.
 

SEE IT HERE IN HI-REZ!

Special thanks to the staff at Gamil Design, Gamila Company, Fat Cat Strategies, and ThirdParty Labs.

Now that we got your attention – check out Gamil’s brand new website!

Designbox has it’s 7th annual Brand Fandango celebration this season. The show opened First Friday, but DB has extended show hours, open on Saturdays through the 20th from 11a-4p and weekdays thru 19th from 12p-6p. Lots of unique gifts, including one-of-a-kind A.H. Peele tee-shirts made from multiple screens from his designs and commercial work. You may find a PBR logo nestled amongst some trippy flowers, or Willie Nelson’s head sticking out of some of Adams swirly vines! Also find unique and affordable art, beautiful contemporary jewelry, hip apparel, funky bags, hilarious holiday cards and more!

The 16th annual Boylan Artwalk is this Sunday, December 7 from 1p-5p. Over 100 local artists and crafts people display perfect gifts on porches and in homes throughout the neighborhood. Enjoy the walk and then walk away finished with your shopping! Whether you are looking for metal, glass, clay, wood or fiber, it’s all here.

The Rock & Shop Market, a hip urban market featuring emerging designers and live music, is Sunday, December 13 from 1p-5p at Tir Na Nog. Over 30 vendors will be selling jewelry, silkscreen stuff, ornaments, soaps and candles, bags and more – all to the sounds of Whistlestop and The Tender Fruit.

Looking for local music? Check out Holly Raleigh Christmas, a compilation CD of local musicians! The proceeds go to local charities, and the project is sponsored by local businesses, including the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association.

Give more to your favorite local music artist by buying music direct instead of through a big music store. Superfan Records is a record label where the musicians actually get the money! Really? Yes!  Buy the new Kickin Grass CD (art designed by local designers – GAMIL!), Regina Hexaphone or Monologue Bombs!

Here’s a list of other great local places to shop:
Rebus Works: a gallery of NC arts and crafts, as well as framing.
Stitch: Holly Aiken’s wonderful world of bags, now on Hargett St.
Great Outdoor Provision: All the outdoor gear of a big box in a great locally owned store.
Father & Son: Vintage, Kitsch, Mid Century and other buzzwords for your offbeat gift needs.
Stuff Consignment: Taking thrift store to a whole nutha level.
FM Goods: your local source for street wear, sneakers and art with some attitude.
Nofo: locally owned store of eclectic and funky gifts with a cafe for a nice little break.

Also, check out NewRaleigh.com throughout the season. They’re always up to date on events and opportunities. Have Fun!

A week ago our friend, and fellow Designbox member, Paul Friedrich (we did a post about Paul’s Skateboard Cowboys back in July) sent out an email titled “A test of your willpower” and it certainly has been a test.

Watching these puppies sleep/play/eat is a great way to distract yourself. There are 6 puppies, 3 girls and 3 boys all with “A” names. Girls: Autumn (Purple collar),  Ayumi (Yellow collar), Amaya (Red collar). Boys: Aki (Green collar), Akoni (Black collar), Ando (Blue collar). Take some time and check them out!

Milkmaid, Shaun Richards (contact Designbox for purchase info)

Designbox is privileged to host Shaun Richards’ latest show called Click Clique, which the News and Observer named as one of this week’s Art Picks. “Click Clique is a new series of paintings and constructions that examine social dynamics, and nostalgic constructs, along with the interplay of media within American society. Richards’ work, evolving from an interest centered on the South, questions notions of beauty, artifice, and materialism, as well as the subtle contradictions that make living in the South a unique experience.”

The opening of the show was this past Friday, March 7, and was very successful. Many visitors had never seen Richards’ work, and were impressed by his old world painterly quality that somehow keeps its contemporary edge. For those familiar with Richards’ work, the show offers the opportunity to see Shaun experiment with a smaller canvas. He treated this small size differently than his better known larger works by exploring tighter croppings and simpler foreground to background relationships. This reduced field of view ultimately alters the story of each painting or theme in interesting ways.

Shaun has done a lot since returning to NC and moving to Raleigh in 2006, including but not limited to:
January 2007 – awarded the Regional Emerging Artist Residency at Artspace.
September 2007 – recognized as one of the “21 under 31″ of 2007 by Southwest Art magazine.
March 2008 – won Best in Show out of 600 entries, 61 of which were accepted, at the North Carolina Artists Exhibit (sponsored by the Raleigh fine Arts Society and juried by Larry Wheeler, Director, NCMOA). The exhibit is currently up at Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

Shaun is represented by Flanders Art Gallery in Raleigh and Fountainside Gallery in Wilmington. He has studio space at 311 Martin St Galleries.

The Designbox show is up until Friday, March 28. Hours are Monday-Friday 10am-5pm or by appointment.
Shaun’s site is here.

Matt, a friend and colleague in the Designbox space, ran into some bad Luck in the Raleigh Combat Zone (click here for earlier post defining the Combat Zone) yesterday. He left his beloved Nokia out on the patio for a second (maybe two), and it was promptly stolen! These days, a stolen mobile can be quite devastating, as all your important numbers, addresses, etc are bound to be there, and the last sync was, well, long enough ago so it is no longer helpful.

The phone robber undoubtedly knew this and, a few hours later, called Matt – from Matt’s own phone. He said he was holding it for ransom, and named the place for the exchange. Matt, deciding that it was a safe enough and public place to go without backup, set out to save his contact list. When he got there, the phone robber expressed his terms. “You buy me a Wendy’s triple cheeseburger, and I’ll give you back your phone.” Fortunately, Matt had come prepared with a $5 bill in his pocket. He bought the burger, got his phone back, and everyone was happy.

and check out this site by Ian Jenkins for in-depth coverage of the Wendy’s Baconator.