Edmonton Fringe 2014: Space Cowboy (and I didn't melt this time)

I did crumble however but that's for another post.

It is the International Fringe Festival here in Edmonton and, as always, I never gave my self time to actually post anything really detailed on my blog will I will post a few pictures of my current costume "the Space Cowboy" and no I am not the gangster of love..... anywho.

I rebuilt my previous costume, the jacket is gone and alot more purples and blues throughout. This gave me a lot more freedom to move and I wasn't nearly as sweaty as I was before. The makeup still needs some work but I am quite happy with how it turned out.

I got into the Edmonton Sun as well!

Page 2, not too shabby.

Once I have a moment or two I'll scan and post the article in my "Newspaper page" found on the right column (unless you're using a cell phone of course). the Sun article can also be found at: http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/08/17/street-entertainer-enjoys-the-fringe

And that's it for this post, have a wonderful night!

July 14, 2014: The Edmonton Arts Walk, the Space Explorer (Version 1.0)

 

I finally finished it! The Space Explorer, and he is quite literally a SPACE explorer. This is my first version of him, he will need some tweaking when I return from another trip out of town this week. When I say 'tweaking' i mean NOT melting; I had a few mishaps with the blackness of it all and I will need to rethink the concept for it to be ready for the Edmonton Fringe Festival that's coming in a few weeks. 

I will be posting details in a separate page on this site to spare you the details, for it was a spectacular failure, but the pictures turned out alright. ENJOY!

I included a small tardis, give it that extra detail.

July 08, 2014 Update: Wear and Tear

One of my biggest challenges is creating a costume that is both esthetically pleasing but also practical for a Living Statue. You might imagine that I don't move around all that much, and you would be right, but I do from time to time need the flexibility to get out there and walk/interact. What I'm getting at here is that costume still needs to bend, and if it doesn't want to bend from all that paint I laboured over to apply: too bad. I need to bend. All those layers of paint look good but once Im out on the street I'll need those crucial joint areas free.

Ouch

I had my first 'dress rehearsal' with the full costume and black's are definitely high maintenance. First thing it does is show every spot I missed, and every crack that occured from my first wear. This little stretch mark is from right shoulder, probably from me taking on and off the costume. A few other spots though out the costume that will need addressing, such as the knees and elbows. The paint might still be a bit tacky, and it will take time before I can really take hold of other issues I'm not aware of.
So much work, so little time.

July 04, 2014 Update: what not to do, and where to go from here

It's a busy week for me in the studio, aka the garage, and I've made some interesting changes to the costume seen in my prier post. A part of me really, realllllllly, wanted to work with acrylic paint; I had this passion for brushing the paint on the costume. As if it was life or death, I needed it. It was destiny. But destiny can you lead down dark paths; a dark, puke-y green, kind of path.

Before, lots of great blues and shading....

....and after. Wow. Just wow.

On a side note I did add a few distant stars to the mix and lovely shade of blue in just the right areas. I will be using it as a nucleus of the constellation in my work, as you could see in the above photos, and clouded through out the costume it self. I am worried about the amount of black in my costume, I absolutely love the...darkness; I just don't want to melt out there in the Alberta heat: 30c or higher.

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey...

June 29th Update: Finally some new paint

After a long wait I have finally applied the first few lays of paint to the costume I have been working for the past few weeks. the first layer was brushed on white gesso and now a few layers of spray paint. This is a drastically different costume idea that I've done in the past, and I'm still deciding if I want "copper" incorporated into the costume; test paint on other surfaces look promising but I want to test the acrylics first before I make that kind of commitment and I still need to make decisions on the accessories. As you could imagine "space cowboy" isn't something that's fixed; I really could do about anything. I've even had this idea for a "crystal"...something. I don't want to give too much away because I haven't found what I've been looking for but I assure you, dear reader, that it will be worth the wait.

Such a rich shade of violet and purple! Montana Black had this great colour called "galaxy" and it really did wonders, looks like I'll need to head back to arts supply shop for more!

Here are the pants with the first layer of Gesso, Gesso is used for creating canvasses so paint doesn't soak through the fabric. With hopes this will aid in my costume creation.

Now with the paint applied.

So far I've used the Montana Black brand spray paint and a few tubes of acrylics. The blue was not used unfortunately do to a clog that happened immediately after the first application,and I will be returning the can for another. Its a nice shade from what I did see and I will have to apply 'lightly' for the right effect... or not, we'll find out.

The St.Albert Children's Festival 2014 and new costume update.

I don't have much to say in regards to the International Children's Festival in St. Albert other then go see it! I, unfortunately, will not be attending as a performer this year; I really do love the culture of the children's festivals, and they have some of the best international shows I've ever seen, but it just wasn't in the cards for me... this year.
Please go to their website if you're so inclined: http://www.childfest.com/

Now, on to the important stuff: my new costume. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit behind. Ive just found new pants and jacket, and Im still way behind on props...maybe lights? too far? Anywho, Ill be working with more acrylics in this costume that I have in the past. It will make the costume much harder to produce because Ive relied heavily on spray paint, and I still will be using spray paint, but I want more texture and character in the build. Challenging myself  is another big reason for the change. Here's hoping!

Here's a few pictures from last years festival:

Space and Time.....

This will be quick post, more of a teaser really, but Im working with a new theme this year and Im hoping to share it with you as I build. SPACE and TIME is my theme for this year, and a modernization of the cowboy theme. It'll be completed this month (or not, perhaps June. Who really knows) and ill be blogging what comes out of this exploration.

The Paul McCartney Concert gig, 2012

A few years ago I was asked to work the Paul McCartney Concert Tour held at Rexell Centre back in 2012. I was part of the CFR Rodeo the month prier so they extended their olive branch to me to part of this as well. They needed a Royal Guard so I was set up in Northlands, to co-en side with their impromptu "tail-gate" party.
It was in the middle of November and I was growing a pretty gnarly mustache as part of the Movember fundraiser; the Royal Guard don't typically have mustaches, but I was only caught once so I didn't do too bad.

And those sneakers aren't fooling anybody!

The Edmonton Fringe photos

Today was not a bad day: I've included a new page for photos from the Edmonton Fringe from the past 3 years, and I've updated a news article about myself from the Red Deer Advocate, that can be found under News Clippings. My Edmonton Fringe photos still needs a bit of tweaking and I still need to upload 2011 and 2010 but I'll have those done up in no time.

*Update* All photos are now found pasted to Edmonton Fringe.  It is only the last three years however, and I have yet another 3 years to dig up, including "the Living Statue Room" I once did as part of the Edmonton Midway back in 2008 with a friend of mine. There are also a few pictures from the Winnipeg Mardi Gras from this year I'd love to post, but I'm still waiting on those at the moment.

An all new Layout!

After adding all the new materials I've been finding, I decided to update the front page to a more consistent speck. I learned a few new tricks in Photoshop (yeah for the liquid tool) and I'm quite happy with it, if you're reading this and have any tips I could look at, or errors I may have missed, please send me a post I'll get right on it.

Would you believe I have more material to post? The Fringe pictures alone will take huge chunk of time, and my Electronic Portfolio will be getting an upgrade in the near future as well. Right now its focus on new gig's for the year; and perhaps a trip to Holland in September if I play my cards right; it's statue related but no confirmation's yet to make any announcements.

Thanks for reading,

Daniel

New Press Clippings and Earlier Works

I've finally updated all the newspaper clippings that i could find going as far back as 2009 and Ive also included a new page called Early Work where you can find work from as far back as 2003, not all of it is Living Statue; previous theatre work I've done in the past and other odds and ends that I don't have the heart to throw away. 

Calgary Christmas Party Gig

This was for a private Christmas party in Calgary, Alberta. I was working with two other performers, Carisa Hendrix and Tristan Court from Ballyhoo Entertainment, and we had a professional photographer brought in to take a few pictures and here are the end results:

Pictures used under permission of Ballyhoo Entertainment