THE FIRST ANNUAL CARDBOARD BALL
Fundraiser in support of the Cartasia Sculpture Project

Saturday May 19th Doors open at 7:00pm
$5 dollars at the door. Show up in a fabulous Cardboard outfit, hat, headdress, full on dress, etc… you get in free. Also Anyone who bought a Raffle Ticket for the Cartasia Fundraiser Amazing Painting Raffle is on the guest list.

Galactic Center 35 E. toole ave (Big Building next to Solar Culture with the arches, One shop in from the corner of 7th and Toole.

For one night Artists will converge on the Galactic Center, conveniently located at at 35 E. Toole in the heart of Downtown Tucson’s Arts District, and transform it into a cardboard menagerie. Artist can do what ever they like as long as it involves cardboard. Ramping up into a full fledged super dance destroyer party. Every one who wants to participate can. If you want to make some cardboard wack-ness send an email to info@myklwells.com with “Cardboard” in the subject line and you’ll get the details. Cardboard fashions are especially encouraged! Show up in a fabulous cardboard outfit, headdress, what-have-you and eschew the $5 cover. For more info call 520 665-8025 or email info at myklwells.com.

Local Artist Mykl Wells is one of six artists competing in this years Cartasia Biennial, A paper and cardboard art festival held in the medieval city of Lucca, Italy. It is a great honor to have been selected out of one hundred and forty applicants. He will be flown to Tuscany at the end of the month to build and install his proposed sculpture, Snowdrop. To help pay the bills for the month and a half while he is gone he is also raffling off one of his original oil paintings. Tickets will be available at the Ball as well as online.
http://myklwells.com/03/05/2012/cartasia-fundraiser-amazing-painting-raffle/

Link to more information about the project:
http://myklwells.com/04/04/2012/from-tucson-to-tuscany/

Link to the Cartasia Website:
http://www.cartasia.it/intro.htm

Working on a small scale version of what I will be building in Tuscany this summer.

For those who don’t know I’m one of seven artist selected to compete in this years Cartasia, a biennial paper and cardboard art festival in Lucca Italy. In the next couple of weeks I will be doing some fundraising to help me cover my expenses while I’m gone.

If you’d like to contribute some money to my cause, then please give as generously as you can.

The amount is up to you. Everyone who donates will get a little something from me as a thank you. For every $10 you donate you will get one chance to win one of my paintings. Your choice of one from a group of six including the Beet and Ghosts of the Congress! These are major paintings, the retail value for Ghosts of the Congress is $1200! That’s nothing to sneeze at.

I am seeking to raise $2000 by the end of the month. The money is mostly going to cover my financial obligations here in Tucson while I am away for a month and a half. Mortgage, utilities and such. Some of the money is to cover any material and tool expenses over the small budget provided by the organizers of this event. This is likely to happen and I want to make sure if I need an extra gallon of polyurethane I can afford it.  Cartasia covers my travel and lodging but not my food so that is where the rest of the money will be going. Any leftover (which I doubt will happen) will be used to help me establish this years All Souls Procession Workshops. I am setting up and organizing these workshops upon returning from Italy. More to come on that!

This is an amazing opportunity for me, Those of you who know me, know that I contribute a lot to this community. Now I am asking my community to give a little back. Help me make this project a reality and lets show the world that there is more to Arizona than hate.

Thanks sincerely

Mykl Wells

I am pleased to announce that my proposal for this years Cartasia paper and cardboard art festival has been selected. I will be competing with a handful other artists from around the world in this unique biennial art event. This summer I will travel to Lucca, a medieval town in Tuscany where I will have to build a giant cardboard sculpture. This is my most ambitious piece to date. Each year a theme is proposed for Cartasia. This years theme was, “crisis and rebirth”. My proposal, “Snowdrop”, is based on, galanthus nivalis, (or snowdrop) a perennial bulb that cannot bloom until it has experienced the stress of the winter.

More details to come!

This winter has been very mild, though it’s a bit chilly this morning as I sit on the couch bundled up with the Xugar the hairless dog and sip my coffee. looks like a perfect day to spend in the studio.

I plan to mix up a pallet of greys and layout the under painting on several new panels. I have eight new paintings in the works and one old one that I love but it’s not working. I might just sand off the half that’s not coming together and re-conceive it. I hate to do it , when you consider the time you’ve already put into it, but when you get stuck sometimes it’s best to tear down and start fresh.

I’ve been developing a big cardboard sculpture project. It may or may not be happening so I don’t want to say anymore  so as not to jinx it. I’ll know more in February. Keep your fingers crossed!

Photo by Rosanna Salonia

The Big Calaca

Brazed 18 ga. Steel Wire. White Cotton Fabric, Polyurethane, 12 V CF Lighting
14′ X 5.5′ X 4.5′

2012 was a rather painfull year, a dear friend passed away in the early part of the year. He was a rather remarkable person and in his honor I produced this huge lantern. It was featured in the All Souls Procession and built during numerous lantern making workshops I organized for the procession. The Big Calaca was mounted on a bike cart and powered with a twelve volt battery.

Thank You.

Myklwells

photo: Rosanna Salonia