Exactly 34 years ago there was a resilient, yet exhausted woman in a small Iowa town waiting to give birth to her first child, who was by that time a good three weeks overdue (it’s true, I swear). Finally on the 23rd of October her epic wait was over and yours truly was brought in to the world (You’re the best, Mom!). Now as I approach the ripe old age of 34 I have decided to make my first attempt at co-organizing an exhibition which will take place in the Funk Zone this Friday with the help of one of my favorite ladies, Ms. Andi Garcia.

For this show Andi and I came up with the idea of asking artists to illustrate “Missed Connections” from Craigslist, using iconic animation characters to bring these missed connections to life. The results that I have see so far have been beautiful and often extremely funny (see example below). For the exhibition space we were lucky enough to secure one of the most amazing loft spaces in Santa Barbara: Loft 48. Located at 48 Helena St., only half a block off the beach in the Funk Zone, this space is so cool it is worth the effort just to come to see the place. On top of that, the good people from La Tour Wine Merchants were gracious to offer to pour the wine for the event.

There is a good mix of local and regional artists that are included in the show.  And there will be an extra-special live painting performance going on during the event.

Finally, proceeds from sales of the paintings will to go to benefit the  Heart2Hand Youth Arts Fund of The Artillerist.com.

I’d absolutely love to fill the place with people and sell some art to benefit this great charity. So I ask of you, dear reader, please tell every single person that you know that they should come to see this show. When you see me, you can wish me Happy Birthday, or you can tell me how sorry you feel for my mother, but I’d rather you told me that you wanted to buy something you saw on the wall.

I hope to see you on Friday. Details below.