101228.Behind the Artist // Q&A with Artist Series III Designer Mike Ming

Behind the Artist // Q&A with Artist Series III Designer Mike Ming

Above is a quick Q&A with Ms. Jinna Boo, Creative Director of Grease and Glamour.
For me, a fun interview about the creations of the glasses. The questions were
straight to the point and fun to answer. Thank you for taking time to pick my
brain, as it were.

Safe to say, the last interview before the end of the year, 2010.
I m sure I ll say some other things next year, until then...EnjoY!

101219. Sunglass Hut x One Sight Foundation x Mike Ming

The last month was spent hand painting 100 Ray Ban Wayfarers for Sunglass Hut's contribution to One Sight Foundation. It is a cause for helping people in third world nations and for those unfortunates who have no access to eye doctors. The foundation sends Optometry Help to those in need. This year marks a third year artist series project launched by
Chris Mendoza,
www.chrismendoza.net
in 2008. 2009 was followed up by
Maya Hayuk
http://www.mayahayuk.com/
and in 2010, your truly.
Thank you Sunglass Hut for having the vision
to trust my vision.








Dustin Cohen, http://www.dustincohen.com/
first time working together, a very quiet, deliberate photographer. Check out his site!















These are some images for the on line only event that will launch shortly on
www.sunglasshut.com .

Enjoy! Thanks for checking back!
The project images were provided by Photographer


The project video was created by Labour NY.
Labour NY, http://www.labour-ny.com/

I ve worked with these guys, Ryan Dunn~DATTA! and Wyeth Hansen, two years ago for another project and I have to say, this shoot was painless and enjoyable. Thank you!




Big UP to Diamond Dave, the sound man(bro, please forgive me) and Matt. Thank you Max at Greencard and Mike Miles for making it all go down smooth, bless!
Great Crew!

101006.Zoel

Zoel and Me with Board.





Board.


Yesterday, I get a call from a mysterious number. On the other end, a message from an unassuming woman's voice. "Hi, my name is Zoel and I got your number through your friend and neighbor , Camus. I m doing a show about custom art and he told me I should call you. Are you interested? Call me..." something like that. I m .. hmmm.. okay, let me call back and see what is what. I get a message box. I leave a message. ahh.. maybe I m too late. I get a call back in minutes.



Still pinching myself after she left.. got the pictures, tho.
Mugging it up! In the studio.. ' nah look serious ', she says..


To make a long story short, I had a surprise visitor in my studio and an impromtu art session with the beautiful ZOEL! If you don t know Zoel, she is a super hustling argentinian entertainer with music as her expression and media, her vehicle, HOT like the singer but cool and mucho classy. She is a one woman powerhouse of singing, hosting and djing. She has an album, a website, www.zoel.com. She also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show called “What’s up con Zoel” which is produced in the USA and broadcasts live on Urbana 89.5 FM and simultaneously on www.urbana895fm.com.ar every Thursday at 6pm.



Grill Face and Beauty.


AND hosting TV SHOWS!
This Girl is BUSY!



The Hustlin Duo! Makin it happen for latin america et todos world!

Thank you for visiting the studio in Red Hook and taking time out of your very busy schedule to say wassup and Big UP! Thank you Camus for the introductions. Thank you Ken The Flattop, my pinstriping mentor from yokohama!!! Inspired to paint a skate deck like the striping sessions in THE GHETTO, TOKYO!

100913. Streak Across America Live Painting

Dell introduced a new Dell Phone. It will be 'streaking' across 14 cities to promote this new, incredibly large-esque, light weight, super high tech device. On tour will be Leia, Ben, Nicole and Tae. They are wearing the blue shirts and they will be keeping the public well informed of this fantastic device. The Tour kicked off in New York City, right at Columbus Circle, at the same time as the fashion week! In celebration of their BIG BANG OUT, there were invited live painting and creating artists, Robert Hargreaves, George and Mike Ming. Each artist painted 2 - 3 pieces to express the whole streaking, high tech, creative creations. On hand was also Sean, the camera man, documenting this whole event and filming and shooting. All this AND tweeting!! It s the whole, 'get everyone to notice and check it out and make a buzz thing' happening. Stay tuned to Dell's Streak Across America via Tweet and check out what s all the buzz is about. In the meantime, scroll through and check out the flicks and painted mannequins. Thanks!



Where the event took place!


























Sean, The Documentator. Film Maker. Camera Man. Director. The Capturer.



My Friends, Takuma and Masako of NOMA Japan. They were here for the fashion week AND I even modeled some of their clothes for the upcoming catalog. Check it when it comes out.








After the painting and stepping back, people would come up and pose with the mannaquins. I like that. Interacting with art! WHY NOT?



We all need to be aware of our third eye. My dude's just looks mad cartoony.. it s okay, it s art. Future Primitive Societial Peoples from the not so distant future where we are all memebers of the international global tribe all connected by electrons and devices and high powered communicating devices that allows us to share in our experiences wether in physical proximity or in some far off distant locale. That s what I was thinking about.. also that and Emilio Pucci and Wetsuits. That s pretty tech, right?





Leia. She is one of the tech savy personalities you will run into if you go to the streaking. She is also really nice and super cool and down to earth. She knows the phone very well, she will school you, if you are nice.



The mannequin 'art display'.. where the devices are displayed and the mannequins watch to make sure you don t try to run away with the device.



Getting the paint on.



The look from behind.




This is the couple's first stand up, ready for the tour and the world. Go CHECK EM OUT!






Ben muggin it up while Tae was very busy!




A couple that works and plays together! YES!!




My two favorite living people! Robert is a brilliant teacher of theatre and voice!

It didn t occur to me until I m looking at these images again and again, these mannaquins have a Blade Runner/Cobra feel to me! The woman is really pretty so I wanted to paint her elegantly but also wanted to express her sexy womanly-ness out of her plastic ness and the man, well, I wanted him to feel like he could be a warrior hunter-gatherer spirit. It also reminds me of all the tight future tech clothings and wetsuits and comic books and 'primitive' functional art. I think that s what I felt about the whole thing and I hope it translates that somehow.. feels like we can be more in touch and closer to nature. That s my life's goal, to feel and react that nature way. Be like the human animal that I am and tap into that in my expression.

100721 DUNLIN Bags in WILLY B!!

I modeled for a high end bag store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn called, DUNLIN.
You can check out their website at www.dunlin.us
The beautiful images on the site was shot by Jason Eric Hardwick.
You can check out his site at
www.jasonerichardwick.com
when you get a chance, please check out their line and if you have time,
go check out their store.
263 south 1st street. Brooklyn NY 11211.
718 915 6982

Barnstormers in NYC art SHOW!!!! March 18, 2010

Barnstormers and extended family of barnstormers is going to have an official art show at joshuaLinerGallery.com from march 18th until april 17, 2010.
There are the japanese Barnstormers flown in from Japan and the Crew Re-Connecting! This show is going to be great!! Please come for the opening or just for a look see!!!

100128 Printing Lessons and Studio Doings

Studio works and tee shirt pulling. A learning by doing lesson. Printing is not as easy as it looks. Making mistakes by learning sucks, but learn I do. Big Up to Cannonball Press for really making awesome prints look so easy and fun! Please check their site. www.cannonballpress.com Martin Mazzora and Mike Houston.
The pink shirts are soon available as well as more orange and black and greens in various other sizes are being offered. I want to thank my friends who jumped on the opportunity to represent the Year of the Tiger by rocking out in one of my shirts!! (those shirts will be out the door very very shortly!! as they say in Jamaica.. ' soon come ' . BLESS!! AND There are still shirts available for purchase! ) Also!! Thank you to anyone who came out to the opening and to the gallery and purchased shirts!
BUT, now I have a product recall!!!
As I said earlier, some lessons are learned the hard way. The original shirts I pressed were NOT heat treated properly and after one washing, the gold had faded!! I am SO SORRY! I can return you a new shirt that is properly heat treated if you return the first ones! It s very embarrasing. After the washing, it looked like a faded old shirt.. which can be voguish to some but the gold on the new shirt is quite a nice shimmer. You can contact me at mike@mikeming.com and I will make arrangements to exchange!
Here are some flicks of shirts drying in the meanwhile.










Note, If you are a real manly man and/or rocking out in MIAMI, I think you can rock a size small pink shirt. They are hot!



While I really enjoy the screen printing process, I am also currently working on what I like to call the interpretive pinstriping. I really think pinstriping is an incredibly beautiful marriage of form and function. It s power is the simplicity and elegance. Unfortunately, as I have wobbly hands and an unsymetrical sensibility, to create a true pinstriping looks to be a long long way off. But as I am hoping practice makes perfect and that each individual on this earth is put here with certain talents and abilities, I feel it is in my best interest to exploit my potential talents and to take my artistic liberties by yielding the brush and expressing my own lines. Here is a bunch of images on the progress to becoming better on the brush. I hope you enjoy the process.
I have to make a mention that although I really really love alot of pinstriping and I ve been googling and you tubing, the one pinstriper I ve met and who has been a teacher to me and a great friend, Ken the flattop. Please check out Ken The Flattop from Japan at www.kentheflattop.com. He is the most patient and positive person I ve ever met. It incredible how he loves the craft and loves to share the craft. Big BIG UP!!







The white outline is a figure reaching out in perspective. Felt like rock. or nouveau. Both of which I have to imagine influenced me alot. More than most people will ever know.






Detail of Bottom of Door.

100124 After the BIG week-end .. sunday

Gallery Hanahou. Koko and Marie.


The Images are all aligned through out the gallery in a counter clockwise look-see.




The reception Desk when you first walk in through the door on the right.



From the desk to the left.



To the far left.



Silent Auction at GalleryHanahou.com
Any Question? Any Bidders? for inquiry please go to the website.
36" x 36" canvas. markers and ink.




From the window to the left going back to the door.




Marie with art.



Some More art.




Going out the door. Thank you, please visit the real gallery soon.
'20/10 Vision'
at the Gallery Hanahou
611 broadway suite 730 (north-west corner of houston and broadway)
mon-fri 12-6
until feb 19, 2010



So, this past week was pretty happening. There were benefits all around and an art opening, a super SLAMMING housewarming PARTY event (I missed .. again), a gang of art shows, benefit shows and a history in the making Benefit dance party at SUCRE. In all that, there was also a birthday party (two... one for a really good friend of mine, David Ellis www.freshwatercatfish.org, whose birthday party nine years ago intiated the birth of my son, two dates I can easily remember, two very personal joyous occasions for two very different reasons.), a soccer tournament and another art opening at Invisible DOg, Brooklyn, NY. Of course I m not taking much images these days, not really sure why, probably has to do with the coming to grips of my bad composing and image capturing skills.

The Opening at gallery Hanahou was awesome. I had a great time and it was a great turnout. We did a live painting in the show which we are hoping will get sold in a silent auction whose 100% profits will be going to the haitian relief effort. Many friends old and new turned out and in turn, Those Friends were all friends with some of the gallery goers from different places and situations, it was a very nice meet and re-meet and mingle! The degrees of separations are so marginally thin, it's amazing and humbling to say the least. I mean, can you imagine.. what would be the purpose of hating another because of not really knowing them? eventually in our lives it seems to me, we are all connected to each other some how and wouldn t it be better if the person you met today was not the person you hated yesterday for some reason or another... I guess it s kind of like forgiving or just plain not hating because of stubborn obstructed twisted reasoning of an adamant mind refusing to bend. I know I have those ideas but slowly I am hoping to untangle THAT mess. Maybe not in this life time.

The benefit for Haiti at Sucre in Bed-Stuy/Clinton Hill was apparently OFF THE HOOK!! I mean so much so that if you missed the event ( like I did ) , you and I both missed HISTORY in the making! HISTORY! I kick myself in the ass and I really should not be missing moments like these. But I had family obligations and sometimes, Those SEEDS that are laid in the soil and grown just take more precedence. Thank Yous for all those that showed and supported the event and I hope there will be more and more people united under this flag of a socially united bond of love and expression for, about and being Human.

Big up to all those who are trying to do something about how messed up the world is and Big UP to ALL those who do something about how beautiful the world is and Big UP to all those who recognize how Wonderful this world is And BIG UP to all THOSE who give us the expression and poetics, visual and spiritual to make us all aware about how the world is, at its best, a most beautiful heaven and at its worst , a most terrible hell. There is eternal chaos and the balance of yin and yang but never an unbalanced yin without yang and vice versa.. such a world can never exist unless, dear reader and myself, we refuse to acknowledge both. It s the duality that is in the singular, most perfect circle, one.