Shellback Artworks group signing August 11, 2012

I had fun with the Mirage Studios crew -- Dan Berger, Mike Dooney, Jim Lawson, Eric Talbot, and Steve Lavigne -- this past weekend. We all travelled up from Massachusetts to do a signing at Steve's store "Shellback Artworks" in Wells, ME.

Here's a sampling of photographs from the event. (Of course, I followed my usual bad habit of not getting the names of most of the people I took photos of. Sorry!)

There was one gentleman who drove a LONG way to come to the signing -- I can't remember which midwest state he was from, but I think he easily took the prize for "most miles driven to get to Shellback Artworks". He brought with him a nifty vintage VW van toy, which we all took turns signing. Mike even did some "Turtleizing" of it, adding some shell texture to certain areas.

I think this next person's name is David, and after talking with us for a while and getting some things signed, we posed for a photo with him. Then he went to the local Wal-Mart and got it printed in a large format, brought it back, and we all signed it. 

Cool idea! I had no clue that you could get prints done like that at Wal-Mart.

Here's Eric signing the photo.

Chris Parlon and his girlfriend Katie, who were also at the grand opening signing, showed up for this one as well.

We signed this dude's yellow shoulder bag…

… and the back of this pizza box (which had previously held some of our lunch).

I have to draw particular attention to the thing Jim Lawson sketched on this box -- something that, in all the years of the TMNT, with all the references to pizza and surfing, has NEVER been done before (as far as I know): a Turtle surfing on a piece of pizza. 

Genius! Jim, you're too much.

Here's Jim in the act of creation -- I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to him at the signing, and thus caught this moment for posterity.

Mike took it upon himself to, um, enhance the image of infant April on the cover of this fan's copy of TMNT Volume 4 #22.

Here's Steve posing with one of his store t-shirts which we all signed. I don't know where the shirt ended up.

It was great to have Eric with us -- I hadn't seen him in months. He brought with him some blank stickers with the die-cut shape of a skull and crossbones (the result of a printing error) and invited us all to draw something on them. Here's a photo of Eric working on one…

… and here are five COMPLETELY different approaches to using that space. Can you guess who did which?

All in all, a fun time! -- PL

Shellback Artworks grand opening!

Well, I'm back home and recovering from a busy weekend  helping my buddy Steve Lavigne celebrate the grand opening of his new store, "Shellback Artworks", in Wells, ME yesterday. Jeannine and I went up for the private pre-opening party on Friday night, which was fun, but the real work (for me, anyway) started on Saturday at noon, when I got to the store and found about a dozen or more people waiting with stuff to be signed. 

Here's the banner which greeted us when we arrived.

I sat down at the table provided for me and for the next couple of hours didn't stop signing things ranging from comics to backing boards from blister-packed toys to t-shirts to plush TMNT dolls and a few things more. I only got a break around 2PM, and managed to snag a few pieces of the free pizza Steve and his wife Denise had provided for the people attending the opening.

I hadn't done a signing in quite a while, but it was a lot of fun, and I wish Steve the best of luck with this new venture. RIght now, the shelves are not completely full, but Steve has a lot more stuff on the way, and I don't doubt that in short order the place will be chock full of cool stuff -- art supplies, comics, and toys. Steve and Denise's lovely daughter Gracie has a display case in the store with some of her cool handmade jewelry, and I bought two matching necklaces for Jeannine and Emily.

It was pretty neat to see the way Steve arranged the big Turtle sculptures in the store -- now he just has to make sure people don't tug on them (they look solid, but they're actually pretty fragile).

I took some photos during the moments when I had a chance to get up and walk around. Unfortunately, I don't remember the names of some (well, most) of the folks in them -- sorry!

I think Denise took this photo of me with a young woman named Robin who was in the area working on a "Fight Cancer" event. I signed her poster as well as the sleeve of her t-shirt.

This cute couple posed for a photo op with Michelangelo and Donatello.

That's a happy Steve in the center right of this photo chatting with customers as Denise rings up their purchases.

Here Steve appears to be sketching a Turtle head for a couple of fans…

… one of whom also displayed some TMNT body art.

During a lull around 2PM, I tried to get some photos that I could put together into a panoramic view from where I was sitting during the signing, but I screwed it up, so the result is a little crude. 

But it does give a fairly good view of the lower level of Shellback Artworks. Behind that yellow/orange wall in the background are the stairs going up to the second floor, where Steve currently has the gallery space and the first exhibit, which is a group of pieces from my collection of work I've done by myself or in collaboration with other artists.

And if you go around to the right side of that yellow/orange wall, there is a set of stairs leading down to the basement, where Steve will be holding his various art classes.

So if you're in the area, check it out! -- PL