Mural Mosaic and Night of Artists

2009-09-18T00:14:00.027-06:00

Today was the big day!!Yep...the unveiling of Phase one! EXCITING!!
Needless to say we were a bit uptight to start the day. Normally we have a ton of work to do on the last day before the unveiling but we were strangely efficient this trip and had everything set to go. It was kind of unnerving.
Luckily we found other things to worry about...other murals...other ideas for projects to plan for...so we still managed to create ulcers for ourselves and all felt just right. Not to mention the thought that we would have to make speeches to a packed house in the evening who were all out to celebrate constitution day. Yipes.....
So to take the edge off we thought we would go visit the copper mines. AMAZING!!!! This is the biggest copper mine in the world and they aren't kidding. You can see it from space it is so huge. It looks like a mountain chopped in half and turned into a giant outdoor theatre where only Giants could sit on the seats. To describe the size of the mine is impossible. You gotta see it. So here is some pics. The trucks you see in the distance- their tires are probably 20 feet high. They are literally like moving three story houses with wheels.

I wanted to get a better look so i grabbed the pay per view binocular machine. AWESOME!! ONLY 25 cents!! I think they were 25 cents when I was a kid. Now however I can actually afford to use them so it was sweet!!

HOWEVER...a near tragedy...while I was looking through the binoculars...one of the trucks came over the barricade and I was pinned by one of the giant tires. TERRIFYING!!

Hard to believe that i could survive such a tragedy!! Luckily I was able to just yell to the girl in front of the truck for help while her boyfriend was taking her picture and she was able to reassure me that i would be ok. Thank goodness...wouldn;t want to miss the unveiling.

Even after the trauma of the tire incident I was ready to head off to the unveiling. But first i went and bought a new suit jacket. TRUE STORY...I bought a $200 suit jacket at JC PENNY for $10. The jacket was on sale for $20 but there was a loose button on it so i complained and said I would buy it if the button weren't loose...so he said "How does $10 sound??" I said "SOLD!!" I think he felt bad that I had been run over by the tire at the mines.

I love looking at my receipt....regular price $200 on sale for $10 hahahahaha.....nice.
So we went back got dressed and were set for the unveiling. I was totally nervous for this one. Lewis managed to catch me warming up with my speech. Can you see the stressLewis made me even more uncomfortable as he was as nervous as me and I had written a speech. He had not. He practised in the truck on the way there...was not too reassuring...

So the moment was about to arrive. One of our team of 250 artists showed up early. Little Johnny!! He was awesome and so proud.He came early because he wanted to save a front row seat for his entire family. Lewis made him feel like a star! Which of course he was for the night!

Then the moment arrived. We went on stage and made the speeches. It was a pretty touching night. Before we went up- the night was full of emotion as veterans from as far back as WW II and the battle of IWO JIMA were paraded on stage right up to modern day vets. There was even a tribute to a young man who had lost his life recently in IRAQ. It was hard not to feel the families pain. But the room was full of unbelieveable pride. We definitely were caught in the moment.

After a wonderful introduction we made our way up to the stage and said our speeches. I went first and things went well...except for the fact they started the video that lewis had created especially for the unveiling in the middle of my speech so it lost some if its zip... HERE IT IS..

So we finshed our speeches and the curtain came down. There were gasps and the energy of the room swelled. You could feel the pride of the students and even more so of the parents. It was electric!!
Even some special guests showed up to read the constitution in front of the mural....Then God bless America was sung by the choir and the mural was officially baptised into the community. The Students had created a masterpiece!! SOUTH JORDAN CITY SHOULD BE PROUD!!
Then the evening ended and the paparazzi took over. PHOTOS PHOTOS AND PHOTOS!! All the students lined up and each one that was there had their picture taken with us and the mural. WHAT A NIGHT!!! The kids were all so impressed with how they created such an amazing mural together without ever giving up their freedom of creativity. AWESOME!!

So the night ended and we announced the beginning of the mural to unite all the UNITED STATES. In one year we will be back again with a mural full of amazing artwork telling the story of the history of the United States through the eyes of some of the finest artists in the US. EVERY STATE WILL BE REPRESENTED!

Our team mate back home , who is keeping things moving while we are away and holding down the fort- Paul Lavoie- is busy working on our west coast mural leading into the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.I am sure he is looking forward to our return.

Its late and I must get some sleep. My computer keeps crashing and I have to catch a plane home tomorrow to be back around my loved ones. New friends have been made and the mural has a good home. We'll be back to visit our lovely, friendly US neighbors very soon. With an even bigger message of UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY through art. See more at our website...upward and onward...www.muralmosaic.com

2009-09-16T22:09:00.013-06:00

The morning started off with the goal of getting the glued down mural cut so we could put the wall together properly for the unveiling. We began by heading off to Home Depot. We hoped that with some luck they would use their panel saw and help us trim up the mural. We met an incedibly helpful and friendly gentleman by the name of Jesse. He was not only helpful he was very impressed with what we were doing. So without any hesitation he helped us out by trimming the mural. HOME DEPOT should be proud of this guy. Truly showed the true meaning of customer service.
So from here we moved the mural to the big auditorium today and began putting it together for the final display. It is truly a wonderful piece. Hard to believe that such a wonderful mural could be created with students as young as kindergarten. What a great way to launch the big mural.
We spent the morning screwing together the panels and making the mural secure so that it would be safe and impressive. Its much bigger then we imagined. Looks great!! I’ll save the full image for tomorrow after the unveiling.
Then after the set up we were invited to dinner at the home of Lori Edmunds (events director of South Jordan City) and her husband Dean. What a lovely evening and great hospitality. While we waited for dinner the neighbors invited Lewis and I to relax with a little B-Ball. I am proud to say...I successfully defeated Lewis 21-0 in a game of 21. But he had way more style then me as is evident in the photos. I should have told him I practiced shooting hoops with a 10 year old daily in Perth Ontario for three years before we started playing. Oh well...
Tomorrow is the big day!!! Stay tuned!!

2009-09-15T23:23:00.014-06:00

Today we began our first day in South Jordan City assembling phase one of the Freedom mural for the United States. Its been months of preparations and we are finally putting forth the mural created by the students of South Jordan City- an invitation to the nation- whis is leading to the creation of the much bigger mural that will unite all the states into one amazing collaborative.
It has been such a positive experience here in South Jordan City. Today started off bright and early as Lewis and I left the hotel room and the first thing we see is this giant truck which i just happened to catch Lewis running by on the way to the van. Really...we didn;t stage the shot at all- really ...REALLY!!! Pretty prophetic and really was an indication of our mission for the day with the mural.
We reached the building where we were to begin assembling the mural and there awaited the lovely Melva. What a sweetheart Melva was. Although hard of hearing Melva was great to chat with. I felt my questions were much better the second time when I yelled them. She gets up early every morning to cook breakfast for all the seniors in the community. Lucky for me I turned 41 this year so as some people have mentioned- I am now in that senior category and because of that Melva made us the loveliest waffles and eggs to start our day. I had to get a shot of Lewis with Melva. Mmm...I am dreaming of tomorrow’s breakfast with Melva. Did you know waffles are like Mural Mosaic’s ? You can make one square a syrup square, put a butter chuink in another...maybe some jam in another square...yum...
So before we started Lewis needed to burn off some morning energy after breakfast . Melva makes some wicked coffee...so needless to say- Lewis (all wound up with playful exuberance) found a local family and played tag with their kids while their parents watched oncarefully although they seemed a little stiff and unreceptive to his behavior.
So off we went to build the mural. Panel after panel we slowly glued the mural together. It was exciting as it started to take shape. Lori our host and the community events co-ordinator made a point of stopping by and making sure all was going well. Which it certainly was. Better then we could have expected.
We didn;t finish today but we did get close. At 6 p.m. we were whisked off to a dress rehearsal for the unveiling. YIKES!! This is going to be big!! A large theater, an incredible tribute to the war veterans, constitution day and the eyes of the community upon us. WHOA!!! Did not epxect this. And we also have to make a speech. So...needless to say...we are now trying to figure out just what to say Thursday. So...tomorrow is another early day so we have to turn in early. But in the mean time we will plan what to say for our speech in our dreams and plot what we can make for our net mural mosaic with Melva by maybe combining our waffles together tomorrow!! I hope she doesn’t switch things up and make pancakes....

So- nothing to do with the murals but a great way to end the day- a video song from my niece that helps keeps my sanity...

2009-07-03T08:25:00.007-06:00

Phil Alain and His Calgary Stampede Blog With Mural Mosaic Day 2 and 3

The first few days have been rather hectic as we get into our groove. The mural has once again been a highlight thus far as it always seems to be at the venue's that showcase it. The big kick off was on Wednesday night with the VIP gala. We worked all day Tuesday and Wednesday to get things set up and it all went off without a hitch. Throughout the dayon Wednesday the documentary about the mura mosaic's continued to be filmed as Sylvie Peltier from Red Letter Film's lead her crew around filming Lewis and the mural's around Calgary. For some that don't know- The Military museum in Clagry houses the beautiful mural "Heroes" and the Town of Cochran mural "Trust" is only 20 minutes out of Calgary.
We ran into one of our new good friend's Michelle Grant who painted in the mural and also has her artwork featured in the incredible art showcase alongside the mural called "The Western Showcase". This is a stunning exhibition of amazing artwork. Also represented in the Western Showcase from the mural were artists like Denis Weber, Kim Penner, Andrew Kiss and Judie Popplewell. Great talent pool within the mural!
Michelle stopped by the mural at one point to start a heated debate with me over -which is better - the ShamWow dude or the guy that sells toilet seats that have fluorescent lights so you can see your bowl clearly when you get home after a late night of "socializing". I stuck with my ShamWow guy and even threw in a few "Snuggy" blanket references so in the end I felt I was the clear debate winner.
Then on Thursday things officially kicked off in the evening for the general public with the sneak peak event. It was a good start and in the end we realized that a lot of people go to the Stampede. We had a good day and its been a while where all three of us have been able to do the shows together. So it was great to have Lewis along. It was also great that Lewis could partake in all the fun that Paul and I regularly experienced in other cities.Like riding crazy train's with hoards of people after events. Not quite the limo service we always dreamed of. I think Lewis still enjoyed it. Or at least we enjoyed watching Lewis in the Stampede Squeeze. See him in the back of the train holding on for dear life?? If you can Zoom in you'll see him mouthing "Help Me!"More tomorrow...

2009-06-29T20:00:00.005-06:00

Phil Alain and His Calgary Stampede Blog With Mural Mosaic Day 1

I am now in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the Calgary Stampede and am getting set for the first showing of the mural in Canada since September 2008. The mural just arrived from Las Vegas and it was so good to see our baby again. I am sitting at the wonderful apartment style hotel that the Stampede graciously provided for us so we can survive the next 12 days of working 12 hour shifts talking about this world class project. Its a beautiful night as I sit here and type and I am getting excited about putting together the big mural again.

The mural has been featured in the Stampede Media Guide and has been promoted to over 750,000 homes. So we know its going to get some attention here.
Many of the fantastic artists have their personal work in the Western Showcase right near the mural as well so its pretty exciting that we will get to see the artists again too. I forgot my camera so hopefully Paul and Lewis will bring one along so I can post images as we go.

The Calgary Stampede folks have been fantastic!! Donna Andersen has been so excited to bring the mural to the Stampede since we first met her at Spruce Meadows. She was so impressed with what the artists created and has really become a champion for this mural. Reminds me of being in Ohio. Its wonderful when these venues really embrace this incredible collaboration.

I must admit- I am getting excited. The Greatest Outdoor show on Earth is only two days away and we are proud to be featured at it. All the artists should be proud as well. Its going to be a great 10 days. Keep checking here...I'll be posting daily our adventures!

Philly

2009-05-07T00:30:00.008-06:00

Three hard days and we have reached a checkpoint in the beginning of our biggest mural project to date. UNITING the UNITED STATES! It all begins with the children of one small community...the youth...then we will reach out to the entire country. This is the invitation to the nation.

We sat in 11 classrooms and worked with 270 students to create a united mural from the free minds and fresh insights of kids ranging from 5 years old to 18 years old. The ideas that came forth and were presented from brush to board was truly inspiring. So inspiring that I think already this mural will rate as one of my favorites.

There is a certain beauty in children. There is this freedom that I wish we all would retain in our minds as we age. The youngest participants in the mural hesitated the least when it came to putting forth their ideas. They weren;t worried about what others would think or whether their idea was good enough. They just painted. As did many of them...but as we worked with higher age groups you could see the level of hesitancy increase.

BUT...this was a team project.

Every piece was important for the collaborative but also was the powerful voice of each participant. As we gathered in the classrooms with the students the energy would build. They began to realize that they were going to create an amazing project with their fellow classmates and other schools from around the city. Their fears, if they had any, suddenly became excitement. As we worked with them on their paintings they gained confidence and they realized that they were just as important as the person next to them in the mural. Every piece was important!

The classes ended and we took the paintings back to the hotel. We painted and updated the class lists. Documented all the panels and started piecing the mural together to see where we were at. It was a long day but a good one. A really good one.

From what we saw today and what we experienced while we were doing the classes...I am going to sleep well tonight knowing that something really good is going to happen. Something really special...yes....I can't wait...

2009-05-05T23:19:00.003-06:00

The second day in Utah went really well. Just as crazy busy as the first but felt more like routine. We started with junior high class, sandwiched two elementary classes in and then finished with a high school art class. The high school class was a great finish to the day as they really got into their paintings.
Actually all the kids immersed themselves into their paintings.But it was funny when the kindergarten kids heard the lunch bell...suddenly painting was second on their mind and food dominated their thoughts.

We have one more day tomorrow and then back on the plane home.
We are going to hopefully have a chance to go off into the mountains tomorrow evening and see some of the beauty of the Salt Lake region.

2009-05-04T22:41:00.006-06:00

Day 2 in Utah and the first day with the students. Pretty intense day. Up at 6:30 a.m. and quick breakfast then off to the first school.
We were a little late but the kids were happy to see us. Lewis right away got the ball rolling and the all were thrilled. Paint was flying and the mural was on its way. We had two hours (well...actually about an hour and a half after set up and clean up) to have the kids paint a panel into the mural. They were pulling it off though and so was Lewis with his great way with the kids.
This is definitely where Lewis shines. He is a master with the kids. I can only watch and be the cheerleader. Well...I guess I bring the kids more paint and joke around with them too. I add my little tips here and there too but truth is Lewis is a buzz saw and its best to just keep them smiling until Lewis gets around to each and everyone of them. Which he does!!

We did four classes today each 2 hours long with a half hour sprint from one school to the next in between. Literally we would run out of the school and drive feverishly to the next school and set up again and get the kids painting asap. We ended at 6 p.m.....with a big sigh.

COOL THING though is that we had FOX news waiting for us in the second class of the day. A very large man by the name Big Budha (apparently seems to be a "morning show legend" on TV around here) was waiting to do an interview. Quickly he realized we were foreigner's when we showed a complete cluelessness as to who he was. Lewis in his charming way of always mixing names up called him Big Baba (meaning Ukrainian Grandma back where we are from ). He certainly didn't look like a Ukrainian women. In fact he looked more like a dangerous James Bond character who would remove his hat and throw it at you and it would slice your head off in an instant...especially if you call him Big Babba instead of Big Budha. It was good for a laugh as he corrected Lewis a couple of times.

Although its a long day it still went pretty smoothly and we have two more of these days to go. and we start earlier tomorrow. So once again...good night from Utah. More tomorrow....

2009-05-03T23:56:00.002-06:00

So we landed today in Salt Lake City Utah. The beginning of one of our biggest mural projects yet. Hard to believe what we are starting here. On Monday we are beginning creating a mural with 11 schools in South Jordan City to lead into the giant mural that will unite all the United States. We will be up at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow and working all day lone with four schools tomorrow as a kick off to the mural.

To create these murals with children as young as 5 years old all the way to high school is incredibly rewarding. The unveiling of the mural is quite breathtaking. Not so much for the actual mural but for how each student feels just how important they truly are to the big picture. Really warms your heart.

Needless to say there is alot going on. On top of all that we are still touring the Horse Gift www.muralmosaic.com and we are beginning lining up the artists for the west coast mural KUNAMOKST!

So tonight I will have to get me some sleep as tomorrow its into th fire with students all day long. But what a day it will be!!

Pictures and more writing tomorrow. But sleep first.

Peace ;-)

2009-04-16T09:37:00.004-06:00

AHA! So here we go with the murals of Unity!!
I am busy preparing for a very exciting summer. We are feverishly working away preparing for two BIG showing of the HORSE GIFT at the GREATEST OUTDOOR SHOW ON EARTH the Calgary Stampede!! and the Northwest Originals Art Exhibit as part of the Edmonton Alberta Capital EX (formerly Klondike Days).

Yes Alberta gets a double dose of the beautiful world renowned mural!!

We are also in discussion with a new documentary that could be created based on the West coast mural that we are abouto begin.

If you have not ben paying attention - Lewis Lavoie has been busy weekly creating an incredible mural. Its called the KING of KINGS! I will put the link here but if it does not work in my blog just copy and paste it and go to this site. http://www.muralmosaic.com/King.html It is very cool and you can watch an amazing mural come to life. The mural will be made up of leaders from around the world since the beginning of time. If you have a suggestion for a leader email it to Lewis through the website.

This is his most recent King in the mural -Go to the link above and check it out and see if you canguess what the big picture is going to be!!

Of course its TAX time right now!!! ARRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH ...so everyone is miserable and stressed. But once we get past this we can all get happy again. I have to get going as lots to do and a sunny day ahead!! Keep on Rockin in the free world :-)

2009-04-14T22:43:00.003-06:00

April 14th...hmmm....I guess thats almost 4 months since the last blog. I guess its time to get back at it.
To start the blogging year off (in April haha) I want to emphasize one thing to anyone who cares to listen. The people in your life will matter more to you in the end then any money or material possession you can gather up. Don't worry so much about what you can selfishly obtain. Give as much as you can of yourself to others. Your gift of yourself can change someones life including yours... and in the end you will always feel fulfilled.
Don't put work ahead of your children, loved ones, family, friends. Take the time to look around at the ones you love and the ones that love you. Reach high as you pursue your careers and shoot for your dreams BUT always maintain your foundation around you. Balance is key. You may reach great heights but if in the process you lose your foundation of friends and family you will fall and fall hard.
I just spent the most amazing week with my family. My Dad just underwent major heart surgery so I travelled to the coast to spend time with him, my mom, my sister, her husband and their three adorable children. Then my brother also jumped on a plane and joined us. It was a time in my life where I had so much on the go at home but I needed to do this. I needed to take this break. My Mom and Dad gave me life and have always been there for me whenever I needed the support. Not to mention my brother and sister have always done so as well. So for all of us to come together in a time where my Dad needed us all was powerful and a good reminder of what really matters. I am going home on Wednesday with a full heart and a stronger foundation. I know I am lucky to have such a great foundation. As my life carries on I will continue to build my dreams but will always remember....my rock starts with my beliefs... with my family.... my friends. Whatever my efforts lead me to, in the end, I will always know I have someone to turn to and to share in the joy of my success or lean on in the sorrow and I will do the same for them. Take your millions....I'll take the love.

Now...with my new energy I am coming home to begin more tour dates of the mural The Horse Gift! We are honored to be showing the mural at the Calgary Stampede - in Calgary Alberta Canada and at the Capital Ex in Edmonton, Alberta Canada in July. It is quite exciting.

Also- in two weeks Lewis Lavoie and I head down to Utah to begin creating our next mural "The Freedom Mural". We begin with a smaller version of the mural which we will be creating with 253 students from grade 1- 12. Then the massive mural will begin in the fall.

We are also starting the mural "Kunomotsk". This mural is a Canadian West Coast Mural. We are creating this with artists from all along the west coast of Canada. Robert Bateman has agreed to join us once again and we are thrilled!!

I jump on a plane tomorrow a.m. from Vancouver and head home. The new adventures begin and the new stories begin. I will do my best to write daily and there will be lots to write about.

I'm back baby...I'm back ;-)

2008-12-20T22:47:00.028-07:00

I am useless at writing Christmas cards but yet I like to write so I guess I will do my best to summarize 08 in my blog today and wish everyone a Merry Christmas at the same time.

Its been an amazing year. 2008...what a wild ride!!

I turned 40 this year on January 8th and decided to try something new. I wanted to make a difference in some way this year so I began a series of 8 events leading to 08/08/08- the day of the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics. It was a great project and was so rewarding in so many ways. Throughout the year I created shows that brought artists and musicians together for events all designed to bring unity. By the end of the year I had worked with over 75 different musicians, artists, dancers....and not to mention had a great art contest with submissions from artists from all around the world.

The spring of 2008 also gave birth to the beginnings of the mural Le Cadeau Du Cheval- The Horse Gift and my 12th annual Night of Artists festival. The NOA Festival was one of the best ever and had some amazing moment and lots of great images to treasure.Combined with the 8 events it was a busy time but a wonderful time too. I also released my 5th edition of NOA magazine. Everything was really well received and the spring was rockin' with good times and lots of excitement.

In the spring I had to make some tough decisions as well. After three years of hard work I had to make the difficult choice to step away from the Guitar Woman project. I had worked hundreds of hours helping create shows across the country, lining up media coverage, designing logos, posters, arranging photo shoots, video coverage for documentary usage, helping align web design and helping contact women for interviews. Unfortunately new directions pushed me on to different projects.
As the summer neared the 8 shows continued to gain momentum and once again I was immersed in fun times doing the Taste of Edmonton, Capital Ex and even the Artwalk. I had a wonderful year with my own personal artwork which was amazing because I barely had time to do any. The summer was very busy assembling the last few pieces of the mural The Horse Gift. Trying to locate artists, find paintings that hadn't been returned and lining up venues for the mural to be toured to once it was completed was a non stop adventure.

Also during the summer we lined up two more major mural projects for 2009!! So we are very excited about the future!

On a personal note I had a great year hanging out with my great friend Jennifer who I traveled to Vegas, Vancouver and Calgary to name a few. We both had started new projects and her support for what I was doing made things that much more enjoyable and she also had great success with her business. It was fun to watch the growth of both our projects.

MY BROTHER ALSO GOT MARRIED!! How exciting was that! He married a wonderful beautiful gal and also welcomed two new children into his life. Then to end the year off he announced that they will be having a child of their own in June of 2009! EXCITING... I love the fact I will have a little one to hang out with here in Edmonton. I miss my sister and her kids dearly and of course miss seeing my folks as well. They all live on the coast so the time I get to share with them is limited.

Sadly on another personal note I lost my best friend in the world. My little friend Roscoe died suddenly. He was the best dog I could ever have imagined. I still miss him today. Probably will for a long while.

Once the fall hit the excitement really began. The mural The Horse Gift was unveiled at Spruce Meadows in Calgary Alberta Canada. It was an instant international hit. The mural was featured in international magazines such as Cowboys and Indians, Western Horseman and Horse Illustrated and so many bigger newspapers and smaller local features in various publications.

Also we were featured on various TV Programs. Cowboy Country TV did a great feature on the mural. Also CITY TV did a segment called Celebrity Chefs where Lewis and I actually cooked while talking about the murals. Good for a laugh :-). Not to mention we worked with William Shatner, spent time with world renowned horse whisperer John Lyons, and were part of a private concert with Corb Lund.

We also did live radio broadcasts in various cities around North America. Two shows were over an hour long and were a lot of fun to do just talking about the murals.Can you believe the website www.muralmosaic.com http://www.muralmosaic.com ha shad over 20 million visits in one year??? WHOA!!!

As the fall progressed I toured with Paul Lavoie and the always entertaining Len Kozak with the mural to Calgary,Alberta- Las Vegas, Nevada -and Columbus Ohio. Lots of travel time but fun at the same time. The only thing that was missing was having Lewis Lavoie along with us as of course- he is the one that brings the murals to life. We hopefully represented him as well as all the other artists in a way that they would be proud.

As the year finishes off I sit here by my new little fireplace in minus 30 degree celcius weather in the house I have lived in for 20 years and prepare to head off to visit my family for Christmas. How blessed I am to have the incredible family I have around me again for this year. Truth is...all the other stuff I talk about is just icing on the cake. All that really matters in my life is my family and friends and the rest is my recreation. But in that recreation I have extended my family and friends.

2008 brought so many new people into my life and it has been truly an astounding year. The artists that helped with the murals and the Night of Artists shows, the musicians who believed in me and performed at all my events, the fans of the shows and the people that put everything together for me when i needed a good team...wow....what a year.
To all those that take the time to read what i write- thank you. I hope to have many more great stories in 2009. Maybe I'll take up ballroom dancing while I develop my guitar skills and work on a new series of charcoal drawings. Maybe I'll write a book on top of my annual magazine...Maybe I'll have that surgery on my shoulder I have been avoiding for 10 years.

Maybe I will just live my life day by day and treasure every moment that comes my way. Yep...thats what I will do. So for now...this is me and this is my year. Life is good...eat it up!!

2008-12-15T08:26:00.009-07:00

Leaving Las Vegas

I honestly have to say that I am ready to get out of here. The only thing that makes me want to stay right now is the fact that I am going back home to the ultimate deep freeze ...-30 celsius from what I hear.

The mural was definitely a hit here. Too bad the people who were running the show here in Vegas didn't have a bit more vision with how to set it up as far as a good location goes as it could have been so much better. The crowds that came to see the mural were all in awe which makes it all worthwhile...always does. It was great meeting SUE KROLL, TOM DORR, PAT LAMBRECHT HOULD, DONNA RIDGWAY and a plethora of fans of KAT MOORE. I don;t think you artists know how much we look forward to meeting you. It truly puts more spirit into us when we meet the team personally that helped create this masterpiece that is loved by so many.

So we went through our typical crazy tear down 24 hours. The show on Saturday was quite slow by the afternoon so we began tearing down by 4:30 p.m.. We worked our butts off and had it all taken down by 10p.m. and then went for a nice dinner. But we couldn't relax yet. The next morning we had to get up bright and early and head back to the venue to make sure our mural shipping all was set. In the process we had to chat to all the robot businesses of Las Vegas who, from what I can gather, can not make any decisions without consulting some sort of rule book for any small requests. Enough to drive you crazy as all you want to deal with is someone who is a person with their own mind to make decisions. I guess that's where law suit mania has probably changed the world as people live in fear of the what ifs.

So when all was said and done we had survived the ordeal of las vegas and could chill out for an afternoon. So what better way to do that then too look at the fake recreations of world landmarks and appreciate the amazing detail put into the work by the local union workers in copying the masterpiece architectural structures of Europe.

So- today we will have to hang out for the day and wait for our flight tonight - late- and finally be home by 3 a.m.. Apparently its supposed to start snowing tonight in Las vegas. I guess thats our warm up (or cool down process) for heading home. Hope we don;t get snowed in!

On that note...Viva Las Vegas. We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun...but the farewell is sweet and the next mural destination will be announced soon. Now its time to head home for friends...family and a beautiful Christmas.

Here is one last shot of the mural...

2008-12-13T09:49:00.008-07:00

LAST DAY!! Yes!! Glad its done...
It was good but home is always better. Friday had a couple of surprises. One was really cool one was not so cool. The not so cool part was we discovered that through the beauty of unions in las Vegas the cost of shipping the mural 40 yards across the parking lot of a fork lift is the same price as putting the mural on a truck and shipping it across the country. How is that possible you ask?? Thats what we asked too. Could you imagine our surprise and disappointment?? Not sure where they get their rates from for their efforts but whatever...thats "the man stickin" it to us. It felt like we were literally thrown to the dogs....or dino's
But I called Lewis back at home and he said "Phil-when you get home we'll have some apple pie and turkey and none of those bad union guys will matter anymore"...so that put a smile on my face again.

The cool news was Jewel was in the neigbourhood and not only came by the mural but was on stage next to the mural doing a show. Paul wasn;t around so we missed a photo op around the mural but it was a quick look so that might have been tough anyways. The interesting thing is that she is also on the cover of the Cowboys and Indians magazine that the mural is featured in so she can always go home and read about the mural. Much like I have done :-).The crowds were really good today and the new touch screen we have to highlight all the artists work in front of the mural is wonderful. Now all the onlookers can actually go into the website and actually read all the artists comments while they look at the mural and see who painted each square!! Its great!!

2008-12-12T07:56:00.006-07:00

2 days left of the actual show. Whew...
Thought I'd post an image today with some trivia....These Pink FLAMINGO's are not what you would normally discover in Las Vegas. These FLAMINGO's are very pretty birds. FLAMINGO's some times stand on one leg. These FLAMINGO's can be seen in our hotel. Can you guess what hotel we are staying at?? It starts with an "F"...good luck!!

The mural had some good crowds today. The people fom the Calgary Stampede came by today and gave the mural RAVE reviews! The lady representing the Western Showcase and her husband wnt as far as to say "This is by far the highlight of the show". The Calgary Stampede is looking at bringing the mural to thier huge event as a feature in the western Showcase. That would be a great show in our back yard!

So before we left the venue I kissed the lucky elk and then went off to meet Paul and Lewis' sister and brother inlaw who came to Vegas for a visit. We decided to go out for Brazilian food at Pampas! Great idea!!! I Highly recommend it if you are a meat lover. They bring you meat on skewers of all sorts and you choose what you want to eat and pull it off the skewers as they come around to your table. Paul here is getting some Ham and Pineapple!Then we took a nice group shot of us full on Brazilian...
Today we should know about Baltimore and the next stop on the tour. I am hoping to post that right away. Keep looking here and more will be announced soon!!

2008-12-11T09:30:00.002-07:00

ARRGGGGGHH!! I just wrote a long blog and then my computer crashed so you readers are going to get jipped now as I don;t have time to write another. The show was kinda slow yesterday but we had a cute family come by holding in their hands the Horse illustrated Magazine with the mural in it and three little girls with eyes wide as saucers staring at the mural like they had just seen Santa Claus! The mother indicated that the girls have loved horses since the day they were born and this mural is like a dream to them. The children- probably 6-7 and 8 years old literally were bouncing in their shoes and smiling from ear to ear. This makes it all worthwile to see that kind of reaction. Thre more show days to go.....

2008-12-10T09:31:00.003-07:00

We are gearing up for a busy weekend as the big finale of the mural and the NFR happens Thursday- Saturday. Many people have been asking exactly where the mural is. It is located in the Las Vegas Convention Centre at the back corner to the right when you walk into the building. We are showcased directly beside Flint Rasmussen rodeo performer who hosts a talk show daily.

We are getting set to take a break for Christmas (which will be nice) but before we leave here we are hoping to announce the next show destination of the mural. We are just waiting for the official confirmation which should be announced soon. Its wonderful how more and more venues are contacting us asking to host the mural.

Last night Paul and I finally took in a show and chilled a bit. Then to celebrate after the fact Paul sat down and dominated the black jack tables and made almost 10 dollars. awesome...totally awesome. Paul was awarded golden beads for his black jack success from the dealer ...golden plastic beads.

Its non stop big winners here thats for sure. Only 4 more days to go and we are looking forward to the big weekend. here we go.....

2008-12-09T08:46:00.002-07:00

The crowds were flocking today to the mural as the word spreads. We were kept very busy talking about the mural all day today. So good thing i did the gragling in the morning. Lots of great chatter and another couple of venues interested. It is now looking like a strong possibility our next stop on the tour is going to be Baltimore Maryland at the end of January. I will hopefully be confirming in the next 48 hours.

Monday was a take it easy kinda day. Paul and I had a fancy meal at Burger King then went off to Bally's and gathered a few necklaces at the Blackjack tables. For every blackjack you get the give you a necklace. I left with three and Paul with 2. The rest of the table had none haha. So I guess you can say we were the lucky ones at that table as we also left with a few bucks in our pocket while the others at the table left without their shirts. Funny how that can happen.

One more week to go. Truth is...I am ready to leave. The ringing of the machines is driving me crazy!!

2008-12-08T09:31:00.004-07:00

So last night we went out for a nice dinner at Ah Sin overlooking the fountains of the Bellagio with Caesar's Palace in the distance. It was a much better day at the mural today as for some reason the crowds sunday were bigger then on saturday. (weird...Vegas does things its own unique way thats for sure)

We had a nice surprise as two more artists came by. Pat Lambrecht Hould and Tom Dorr stopped by. What a nice treat!! I did not expect them and it was a realy pleasure to meet them.

Another nice treat was the arrival of our ace in the hole team member Beatrice Lavoie. The mother of Paul and Lewis and a key team mate for helping out with the murals. She is down here for a visit and a holiday. Not only was it great to see her down here...she is one mean slot machine player as this jubilant photo proves!!

Today we are hoping for much of the same crowd success as yesterday. The great feature in Cowboys and Indians magazine this month is certainly adding to the buzz and also there is a feature coming out now in Horse Illustrated. So the buzz keeps growing.

Another day - another explanation of the mural 100 times an hour to the masses....time to go gargle and get my voice ready. Believe it or not I dropped out of University because I was scared to stand in front of the class and do any presentations let alone...scared to speak out loud period. Who'd a thunk i would be talking to thousands now in strange public settings...weird...

2008-12-07T08:55:00.005-07:00

Today we plugged away again at the mural on a day where we expected it to be one of the busiest days but in actuality was the slowest day as of yet. We are in such an odd location that it does make finding the mural a bit of an adventure. So hopefully Saturday was not a true indication of what to expect.

We did have another wonderful artist stop by for a visit. Sue Kroll popped on by coming from Utah. We had a great visit and got some good shots of her with the mural.

Also Donna Ridgway cam by again as well so we were able to connect Donna and sue who had never met face to face.

We also always love to try to get reactions from the kids and families. It is always wonderful to see. This little girl LOVED all the little horses in the mural.

So off we go on another day adventure. Vegas is a bit of a sensory over load location. Its a great place for a 3 or four day holiday but for two weeks you kinda wish you had a place to get away to for some quiet time. I love my mornings getting up before the worlds awake but even mornings here are full of noise and crowds. Luckily the room is peaceful.

2008-12-06T09:43:00.009-07:00

Friday was a busy day with the mural as the crowds began to flock! There was definitely a buz around the mural. Even a CBS TV Director stopped by from Chicago saying that this mural needs national attention...in a big way and he has some BIG ideas. Curious to see where he wants to go with it. We exchanged cards and we'll see.

One of the fabulous artists stopped by today! Donna Ridgway made it out to see the mural with her husband and once again what a treat it was for us to meet her. I love meeting the artists. I just hope we can meet them all someday.
Another interesting moment was a wonderful lady who stopped by whose miniature horse had been painted into the mural by Kat Moore in a touching tribute with a young child by its side (panel #115) The lady was from an organization called Personal Ponies Ltd. This is an awesome program started by an avid horse lover, Marianne Alexander, who found a way to bring ponies to children and adults of special needs. She absolutely loved the mural and of course Kats painting and we had some great pics with her and her granddaughter who is vying for Rodeo Queen.We have brought a new display monitor to accompany the mural which has been a huge hit with the crowds. They can actually gothrough the mural one square at a time and learn about all the artists.Then last but not least...Paul and I kicked back and went off for a cruise of Vegas including the amazing fountain show at the Bellagio....check it out!!

2008-12-05T09:58:00.005-07:00

The first day when off without a hitch. The mural has a great display area with lots of room so people can stand back and really get a good look at the mural. The response has once again been fantastic. It would have been a bit better if the mural was closer to the front entrance of the venue but there is a big show right beside the mural daily which draws huge crowds back to the mural.

I must admit the sunset with the desert mountains in the distance amongst the flash of las Vegas is pretty darn cool. I grabbed this picture of where the show is at before we left the other day. Pretty nice.

Its been tough sledding touring the mural and it may seem like a lot of fun but its hard work more then fun. This is a good shot of Paul- who works his butt off daily in many ways behind the scenes.

He literally lies down on the bed and all his elctronic apparatus that he uses to keep mural mosaic functioning fall off of him. That means its the end of the day. You can see everything from the remote to his blackberry always close at hand. awww...the poor sleepy Paul. look at the little guy.

2008-12-04T08:17:00.002-07:00

Wednesday was a "figure things out day" as we had to analyze how we were going to make our display look the most effective. Things have been considerably delayed though. We wanted to be finished set up last night so this morning (Thursday a.m.) we could just walk in and be set for the show opening at 10 a.m.. But instead they had not laid the carpet in our area as of yet so we could not do anything for set up so we are off early this a.m. to get things done. So today we will be set up for our first day of showing the mural to the public. I am hoping for great crowds and a great looking display. I think this could be a really good show. I will post images tonight showcasing our display as today we should have things all set!!

2008-12-03T09:52:00.009-07:00

We finally began the hanging of the mural in las Vegas. What a huge venue we are displaying in. The Convention center has the highest ceiling we have ever had for displaying a mural. So needless to say the mural had no problem fitting in this venue. We spent all of Tuesday setting the mural up piece by piece again and it was great to watch it come together.
The set up seemed to go very smoothly. Except for one little sanding down of the support beams which Paul handled admirably. Not sure if we have a good location in the venue. I guess that is what we will wait to see. Its a bit of a hike from the front doors of the venue but we all need the exercise right? As you can see below - I have been maintaining a solid workout routine while on tour. I regularly carry the mural around much like Atlas to keep lean and mean.Here is a video of the mural from the beginning to the end of the set up.....First the beginning:

Now the end:

For those of you keeping score- Paul and I are both doing our best to stay away from the blackjack tables but with that said after day 2 we are both on the good side of the gambling line :-). But with two weeks to go here I have a feeling we will go back and forth across that line daily haha.

2008-12-02T08:12:00.002-07:00

After driving from Calgary to Edmonton and staying up all night to catch the plane to go to Las Vegas we finally arrived at our show destination....extremely tired. Nevertheless we are here. It always amazes me the amount of flash here in Vegas. It also amazes me how no matter what simple task you want to perform someone is right there to do it for you and with their hand out. Nothing is free here so I guess I better get used to it. Its almost $20 a day just so we can use the internet to keep up to date on things.

So we went to the Las Vegas convention center today to check on the venue and its a really big show. I am excited to set the mural up for the big display. We are going to be seeing some more of the mural team here too so that is equally exciting!!! Donna Ridgway...Sue Kroll...and you never know who else might come by.

Today we will start taking pics so you call all start to see whats going on here. It should be fun. I slept for four hours yesterday afternoon then Paul and I got up and checked out the strip for two hours then I went back to bed as I could barely keep my eyes open. I think am well rested now and look forward to the new day.

More later!!!