TMS Speeding to Read

This 8×24 foot mural featuring animated characters was a far departure from my usual style and although it may look simple, proved to be quite difficult to design.

The mural is part of an initiative Texas Motor Speedway started this summer called “Speeding to Read”.  The TMS post contains all the interesting details of this program:

Speeding To Read is an incentive-based reading program created by Texas Motor Speedway to encourage students to read more frequently during the school year. The student body will be split into two divisions – kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grade – with the classrooms competing against each other to read the most books and earn the title of Speeding To Read champions.

Its a rewarding experience for everyone involved and just to make it that much more enticing:

• Top-Reading Classroom Students Receive Four Tickets To April’s Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race At Texas Motor
• SpeedwaySpeedway Children’s Charities-Texas Chapter Donates $1,000 Worth Of Books To Clara Love In Conjunction With Speeding To Read Program

The competition is known as the Clara Love 500 and my speedway mural which hangs on the Clara Love’s library wall will be used to measure the progress of the classrooms:

Each classroom will receive a cut-out template of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car and the students will design their own paint scheme as part of the program. The cars will be placed on the speedway mural and move incrementally around the track in relation to the amount of books read by each classroom.

Check out the following video to see the unveiling of the mural as well as its placement in the library

Pearl Jam Twenty Goalie Mask

The much anticipated Pearl Jam themed goalie mask has been completed.  It is created to commemorate their 20th Anniversary as a band, and is finished for the World Premiere of their movie Pearl Jam Twenty at the Toronto International Film Festival this Saturday.

The base of the mask is a pearl colour and uses reflective paint to show a background pattern under the movement of light.  The rich graphics are… well if you are a fan then you will recognize them

I enjoy my work and the connections I make with every piece, but I have to say this mask was something special to me and I loved seeing come to fruition.

Congratulations to the band for an incredible twenty years of rocking out.

Pearl Jam fans – THIS IS FOR YOU!