Category: PRESS RELEASES From Rafi And Klee Studios

Recently someone asked me:

“hey, did you ever finish that mural you were working on downtown?”

“Yes… Kinda… Well, I still have to varnish it.”

The mural is officially finished, and ready for your viewing pleasure, but I have to put the protective coating on it. I was going to wait until it got a bit cooler, but based on a recent text message I received, I think I’ll do it next week.

This is kinda how the message went:

James: Hey, I think someone kissed the mural.

Me: Haha, yes, she’s beautiful.

James: No, I mean someone put lipstick on the mural.

Me: What??

Now, I’m not worried about a little lipstick, in fact I’m kind of honored that someone would press their lips to my mural in adoration… but I should probably protect it sooner than later.

So, I’ll be out there around 10am on Friday, October 14th and rolling on the protective layer. The thing I am most looking forward to is the change in contrast that takes place when you varnish something. Deep colors get deeper, and light colors seem to glow, let’s just say, it’s going to look amazing.

To all my peeps in Pensacola, come see it after that date, it should be pretty amazeballs. To all my awesome interweb folks, I’ll take pictures.

I explain my reasoning behind the mural in this video, enjoy:

To view pictures of the mural process Click HERE

Thank you so much! You are awesome!

-Rafi

So, yesterday I submitted some pieces that I created for a juried art show that takes place at Artel Gallery, in downtown Pensacola.

I’m sure most of you will find it hard to believe, that it was a terrifying act for me. Yeah, only my closest friends (and now you) know that I have an childlike fear of having my art judged by art competition judges.

Let’s make something clear, I don’t mind having my art judged. People judge my art all the time, some love it, some hate it, either way, it doesn’t bother me. Put the art in a competitive setting and I become a nervous third grader.

Now, I’m fully aware this is ridiculous. I’m an established artist, I have collectors of my work, and I am well known… yet, just because it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t mean I didn’t almost piss myself yesterday.

This video will let you live my experience yesterday: 

The theme of the show is about animal life. The show is called “It’s A Zoo In Here” and runs for the month of October.

I decided to enter the show, face my fears, and submit my art… For the past few years, I’ve been working on getting rid of silly fears that stand in the way. Sometimes, I have to push outside of my comfort zones, which seems to be an ongoing thing, so I better get used to it.

I created two pieces for the show called “Rags to Fishes” and “Rehabilitation Of Beauty.” My friend and art collector, Monica Gaskins owns a Zebra sculpture I created recently, and she allowed me to submit it as my third piece.

“Rags to Fishes” is a sculpture I created using old pieces of canvas that I collected from the stretching process. They typically get thrown away, but it seemed like such a waste to throw perfectly good canvas away…  that stuff is expensive, and I couldn’t bring myself to just throw it away.

Watch the video above to hear which piece won best of show… That’s right! I won best of show… How awesome is that!

The show reception is Wednesday, October 12, 6pm-8pm. Klee and I will be there, which is also outside of my comfort zone because I got best of show, and there is a part of me that doesn’t know how to handle that… Like I said ridiculous, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. 🙂

The show runs October 4th – Oct 28th, 2016.

 

 

It has been an interesting journey, full of hot, inferno like days, and epic downpours, but I am proud to announce that my mural, in beautiful downtown Pensacola, is finished!

If you are in Pensacola, you can see it at Marty Campbell Gallery, located at  114 Palafox Pl, Pensacola, FL 32502

I wanted to capture the beauty, and history of this amazing town. The aliveness in a flowing work of art, that expresses how awesome the people, and this town have been to me. So, thank you Pensacola, this is my gift to you, hope you like it.

This town has been so supportive of me and my art career, that I wanted to give something back to express my gratitude.

When the opportunity arose to do this mural, I thought long and hard about the message that I wanted to express.

If there is anything I have learned from this experience, it is that your mindset is everything. It has been overwhelming, amazing, problematic, fantastic, and enlightening. The weather and some of the politics involved, could have easily caused my mind to downward spiral, and it did for a few moments. Luckily, I’m too stubbornly positive.

So, the power behind staying positive, no matter what obstacles stood in my way, made all the difference. Staying in tune with why I was creating the mural in the first place, was more important than drama. It shows in the work, and shows me how important it is to stay tuned to love.

That is my message.

The other thing I’ve learned, is to never schedule a mural in the middle of a deadly Summer heat wave. Just sayin.

Toward the end of the project, I asked for quotes from the amazing people that have a connection with myself and Pensacola. They are hidden among the images in the Mural. The response was so positive that I ended up with way more quotes than I can fit into the design. All the quotes were so amazing that I’m saving unused quotes for future projects.

The quotes in the downtown Pensacola Mural:

Be brave. –Jamie Hullenbaugh

Love makes magic happen! -Brandi Rodeghero

This is going to be the kind of year you THINK it’s going to be”. – Daniel Grooms

Thank you God for another day! – Cherie

What would you do if you knew you could not fail. – Phyllis R.

In order to truly move forward, we must let go of the past. – Jessa

Listen with your heart, feel with your soul. – Cera M

Do you know why you’re the best? You’re the best because you’re …you. – Jim Billy Barnes

The only consistent thing in life is the inconsistencies. – Catawissa Mo

It’s best to be a first rate version of yourself than a second rate version of somebody else. – Jennifer

May we always be endlessly inspired by the stuff of life. – Klee Angelie

Make today so awesome yesterday gets jealous. – Amanda and Aaron

Make it better. – Terri

Breathe in, breath out, move on – Peggy Cole

Spend your life doing strange things with weird people. – Tiffany Patton

“Adapt. Improvise, Overcome.” –The Marines -Lorraine

You are beautiful. – Daniella M

Laughter is the sunshine of life. – Ruth Stone

Listen with your heart, feel with your soul. – Cera Mc

The world would be a pretty boring place if we were all poured out of the same mold. – Sharon Price

Do more than just exist. – Pearl P.

Thank you so much to everyone that has supported me, I love you guys.

On to the next awesome project!

Hello you awesome person you! As you know I’ve been working on a mural in beautiful downtown Pensacola, and I need your help.

I’ll be finishing the mural in the next few days, which is super exciting for me. I am aiming to get it done before Gallery Night on Friday, September 16th, and there is something special I would like to ask you.

The very last finishing touch of this mural is going to be small, positive quotes, throughout the design. Originally, I was thinking of using famous quotes, but I think there is something much more special that can be done with this piece.

Please send me your special quote… please?

I would like you to send me short, special, positive quotes that either you say, heard, or read. It could be something that someone you know said, and it inspired you, or a mantra that you say to yourself that gets yourself going. It could be a famous quote as well, as long as it means something to you.

This mural will capture your quote for the world to see, for as long as it stands in downtown Pensacola.

I would love for as many Pensacolians as possible to submit their quote, but I hope to get responses from other cities, and all around the world.

Just send me your quote, the person that says it (leave it blank if you want it to be anonymous) and your city.

You can leave it in the comments, respond to this email if you are subscribed to me, or send me an email. You can also leave your quotes on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any of my other social accounts.

Also, please share this with anyone that you think would be interested.

Please respond by September 15th, 2016 7:00pm.

Thank you! You are awesome! I’ll be posting pictures and stuff when it is done… or you can visit downtown Pensacola and see your quote. 🙂

I am very excited to announce that we got approved for the mural in the heart of downtown Pensacola Florida. Some of you may already know the story of said mural, if not watch the video below… it was an “interesting” adventure… or a freakin nightmare, depends on how you look at it.

 

Because it is hotter outside than any human being should have to endure, I’ve spaced out my mural creation. If you are interested in watching paint dry, or would like to say “Hola!” (I love that) I’ve listed the dates I will be painting.

I am very excited about this mural, I see it as a gift to this town and the people that have been so supportive to me in my career. So, thank you so much, you guys and gals are AWESOME!

Mural painting dates:

*Tuesday, June 28, 10am-2pm

*Wednesday June 29, 10am-12pm

*Tuesday July 5, 10am-2pm

*Wednesday July 6, 10am-2pm

*Thursday July 7, 10am-2pm

*Wednesday July 13, 10am-2pm

*Friday July 15, 10am-1pm

*Saturday July 16, 9am-1pm

*Sunday July 17, 11am-2pm

*Tuesday July 19, 10am-12pm

*Thursday July 14, 10am-2pm

Marty Campbell Gallery is located at  114 Palafox Pl, Pensacola, FL 32502

Watch the video below for details on our adventure to get this mural done… Especially because I started painting it without approval… ooops!