Winter Window Season

Winter window season is in full swing around these parts.  

Here are some of the Winter shenanigans going on in Somerville!

At Two Little Monkeys:

...over at Treeline:



And down at Petsi Pies:

And a quick Frosty at little Tayla's house!

Off to paint more windows now.  Contact me if you'd like one of your own!

Union Square Vet's Summer Window

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird...it's a plane...no!...it's SUPER MIA!!!

A couple of weekends ago I did this super hero city on the wall of one of Cambridge's Finest SuperHero-esses: Miss Mia the Magnificent!  Little Miss Mia is quite the superhero aficionado and loves playing dress up in her many costumes BUT until now she had no where to showcase her beautiful outfits.  That has all changed now thanks to this wonderful idea from her awesome Mom.  (Good job Mom!)

Now Mia has her very own city to save from peril including her own spotlight with her name in it and in the lower left building a capital "M" in lights to make it just a little more special.

Thanks for keeping our city safe from bad guys Mia.  The world is a better place with your cute little face in it.

July is National Pickle Month!

Good Morning and happy first day of National Pickle Month!  To kick off this month-long pickle party I went over to Grillo's Pickles, my local pickle store, painted their window, ate way too many pickles and talked about world pickle domination.

Travis Grillo, Chief Pickle Officer, started making and selling pickles in 2008 using his family's 100 year old recipe.  He was slingin' them out of a pickle cart at the Park Street T stop 2 for $1 and now has made his way into Whole Foods all over New England, Fenway Park and at his very own pickle store.

The store is located in Inman Square, Somerville (on the Cambridge/Somerville line which I hear is referred to as "Camberville" but I'm not buying it) at 1075 Cambridge Street and they are definitely worth a trip.

Go over, check out the window, have some pickles (try the hot ones they're AMAZING!) and tell them Mandee sent you!  Happy Pickle Month!!

2013 Boston Marathon window painting

In honor of this upcoming Monday being Marathon Monday in Boston I painted a course map of the marathon route on the window in the EU.

At the beginning of the marathon in Hopkinton, MA we have some excited runners posing for a photo next to the now-famous 'Welcome to Hopkinton' sign.

From there it's time to stretch and make your way to the starting line.

At the starting line you may recognize some familiar faces, father-and-son Rick & Dick Hoyt who to date have competed in over 1,000 races together.  You can read more about their inspirational story at their website.

The race then takes you through Natick, into the halfway point in Wellsley, MA and then up the dreaded Heartbreak Hill in Newton.

Over the hump and down the hill, the route now goes through Brookline where a Subway car with the name Rosie on it speeds past the other runners. Rosie Ruiz famously "won" the 1980 Boston Marathon only to be stripped of her title moments afterward when it was revealed that she took the T for most of the course and actually only ran the last mile of it.  Tsk!  Tsk!  Rosie!

The course goes through Coolidge Corner and towards a packed crowd at Fenway park which is the marker for the final mile of the race.

And on to the finish line on Boylston Street downtown where the whole of Boston is there to cheer you on!!  Congratulations!!  You did it!!

And, because one of our own is running the marathon this year, I obviously had to paint her a special message from some adoring fans and her cute dog, Bachi.

We're proud of you Jackie!  You're gonna do great!!

Happy Marathon Monday everybody!!  

Holme's Farm Mobile Farm Stand

Long time no talk, huh?  If you've wondered where I've been for most of June, the short answer is Manomet.  The long answer is that I've been spending every free moment I have down in Manomet, MA (just South of Plymouth) transforming this gigantic white trailer into a mobile barn (complete with a cow, pig and full vegetable garden) for the wonderful women of Holmes Farm's brand new mobile farm stand.  

This monsterous trailer needed to be sanded, primed, painted, resanded, repainted, drawn on, painted on and sealed all by hand and all during a particularly rainy June while all-the-while being parked outside in the elements. It was definitely a labor of love and I couldn't have done it without the help I got from Jeremy, Liz and Jennifer.  Thank you guys so much!!

 There are 2 ways to see the trailer in action- you can either go directly to Holmes Farm on Saturdays and support their farm stand or catch them at the Plymouth Farmer's Market every Thursday at Plymouth Plantation.  

I can't believe I'm (almost) done!  I'm as happy as a pig in...uh, mud.

Safari Painting for Baby Ryan

This huge 36" x 24" painting was done for Ryan whose Mom wanted a bright, colorful, happy Safari scene.  Ryan's walls are painted a neutral color so the sides of this painting were done in alternating dark and light green stripes to really make it stand off the wall.  The happy characters are intentionally kept very simple to keep the painting from being overwhelming to baby.  

Ryan's date-of-birth was snuck into the painting on a leaf in the zebra's mouth and Ryan's loving Mother is represented by the giraffe who's giving her son's name a good snuggle.  

From rough sketch to final product:

 This painting was designed to grow with Baby Ryan- being young enough to be appropriate for a nursery and also bright enough to be able to transition easily into a toddler's room.  Email me if you'd like a painting made for your little one or if you have questions about price, sizing or anything else.  All questions are welcome.   

100th Opening Day at Fenway Park!

Fenway Park is the oldest park still in use in Major League Baseball and today we celebrate her 100th opening day!  I work about 1/2 mile from Fenway and the energy outside is palpable.  Everywhere you look you see people decked out head-to-toe in Sox gear heading for the game.  I couldn't go to the game so instead I've compiled a small collection of Fenway Park murals that I've paited through the years to celebrate. 

Above is a window painting done in the waiting room of Beth Israel: the Official Hospital of the Boston Red Sox.

A wall-sized Fenway done for Dylan in Marshfield, MA, 2011.

Corner mural for little Zoey's room in Jamaica Plain, MA, 2009

Night game for Andrew in New Hampshire, 2010

Go Sox!!

Before & After: the Painting Process

Makeover shows, be them human or residential, are a major weakness of mine.  Mostly because I love a good before-and-after picture.  I love seeing a neglected little kitchen in Iowa that hasn't been updated since Reagan was in office be turned into a gormet cookery fit for the White House.  It's so satisfying to see the design come to life and the before-and-after shot at the end is what makes it all come together.

The same is true for paintings.  Whenever I'm asked to do a custom painting I always start with a sketch to make sure the customer and I are on the same page.  Once the drawing is approved, I get 'er painted up and no many how many times I go through the process I still love seeing the before and after shot at the end.    

For instance, you can go from hand-colored sketch to nice looking piece of art (if I do say so myself):

From an idea in a notebook to a wall-sized triptych that is now the highlight of Lil' Dillon's room.  

From a basic scribble to a full-blown stadium.

From outline to outstanding....ya, I just said that.  

Click HERE to see more before-and-afters.  

And feel free to email me if you have an idea for a painting...or if you just want to talk about muffins. 

The National Turkey Day Spectacular!

Tom Turkey looks positively dapper this year and he has picked quite a crop of young ladies to escort him on stage.  

Dry erase marker, 2011.

FEATURED!!

I was featured in my work's quarterly magazine, the BIDMC Quarterly, this month for my window paintings in the EU!  It's not Juxtapoz but it's a start.  Check out the full page article below:

The rest of my window paintings can be seen here.  Enjoy!

Dylan's Fenway Park

This is the Fenway mural I did in Dylan's room in Marshfield this weekend. 

 The scoreboard is painted with chalkboard paint and was left mostly blank (per Dylan's request) so that he can fill in whatever game he wants or just write a loving note to his little sister to politely remind her to scram.  The ads on the jumotron were also personalized and include Spiderman and Darth Vader as a Lego character, two of Dylan's favorite things and a little stick-figure-Dylan with his name under it is up there too. 

GO SOX!!

Taleya's Rock Star Room

Just the beginning of Taleya's "Mylie Cyrus/Rock Star" themed room...

Taleya got a wonderful report card.  To celebrate, her Dad let her design her own room!  

She even got to help! (aka I put her to work.)

  Project still in progress.  More pictures to come!

FINALLY!! It's Christmas time!!!!!

 Here's the Christmas window I painted yesterday. 

A very happy little buck with his little blue friend:

And this fuzzy little guy squirreling nuts away for winter.

 I know we have 2 days of November left but I just can't risk loosing even one precious day of

 Christmas time.  It my absolute very favorite time of year!!!  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got logs to yule and cider to mull!

Merry (early) Christmas!!!!

Happy Birthday Mario!!

It's the 25th Anniversary of the Mario Brothers video game!  Wow!  I remember playing my cousin Mikey's Nintendo for the first time when I was about 5...crazy!!  

To celebrate, I gathered up all of my Mario themed items from the past.  Enjoy!

Magnetic Mario: Playable magnetized canvas painted like a scene from Mario Bros including a mushroom, flower, Mario and a Goomba.  Available here. 

 Magnet Detail:

Mario mural: Mario Bros mural painted on the FRONT DOOR of a customer's apartment!  That's dedication!!  More pictures here.

 Detail:

Mario Christmas Ornaments: A couple of Mario Bros themed Christmas Ornaments.  Custom ornaments available starting in November!  Order yours now!!

Happy Birthday Mario & Luigi!!  But your princess is in another castle!

Avatar Mural for Amir

Jeanette, my hilariously fast-talking co-worker, has been telling me we're going to paint her son's room for about 3 years now.  There was never a theme, just the warning that someday, he's going to need a mural.  Well, in true fast-talking, fast-moving, let's-get-it-done-yesterday Jeanette fashion, she told me the idea on Tuesday and then quickly followed up with, "so, can we do this on Thursday?" 

No problem, except that "this" happens to be an Avatar mural and it's going to be quite a challenge because as a rule, I wouldn't be able to draw a person if my very life depended on it.  But, which is so often the case, I answered, "of course, let's do it!"  I'm glad I did too because I think it came out awesome...

Oh, did I mention this is a surprise for 5-year-old Amir?!  He's going to FREAK!!!

Thomas the Tank Engine mural

This headboard mural was painted for the mayor of cute-town in Delta, CO, Corey Bill, below.

Corey Bill and his Gramma love trains and their favorite, of course, is this guy here:

Here is Corey showing me the picture he wants on his wall. He is the cuuuutest ever!! Even when barking orders at me to let me know where the eyes go and where the #1 goes and where the wheels should be and to make more rocks and where the smile goes...so helpful.
More pictures here.

Julie's Beach

Julie's beach mural:

 

It's about 10' long and 8'high...basically life sized.  

Here I am painting it to give you an idea. 

 

What I love most about this is that Julie is still renting.  So even though this mural is only going to live for a year, she's going to enjoy it now instead of waiting until she buys a house or has a baby or whatever else.  

(I also love imagining her landlord's face when he finds out about it!) 

My first commercial mural

So, this is pretty exciting: I was hired by a local record store to paint their new logo on the wall of their flagship store in Boston. The company is called UndergroundHipHop.com (or UGHH.com) and their brick-and-mortor location is on the corner of Mass. Ave. & Huntington Ave.

Go check 'em out, they have a warehouse full of stuff you need- records, cd's, a huge clothing selection, awesome toys from company's like kidrobot, Fifty 24SF & Bigshot Toyworks, graffitti supplies, and a slew of other stuff you didn't know you needed.

But I digress...

Here are some progress shots as well as a picture of their new sticker/logo:




If you can't get over there to check it out in person you can check out the rest of the pictures here. The guys are all really nice. Be sure to tell 'em Mandee sent you!

And Matilda was her name-o!

She's here! She's here!! Baby Girl Rubin has come in to the world and her name is:
No, it's not John Hancock.....it's Matilda Zoey Rubin.


I love it! She was born bright and early as babies tend to be; both Mom and baby are doing well. I was supplied a key to get in and paint her name while the family rests and gets ready for the big homecoming. No-one was happier about that than Beckett, the family dog. (Yes, Beckett, like the pitcher, these are some serious fans!)


Here are some more shots of the Jumbotron & Matilda's custom jersey:



Congratulations guys!! Can't wait to meet the little lady!!