Gabi Campanario Coming to Minnesota

Amber, a fellow Metro Sketcher emailed me about an upcoming Minnesota visit by Gabi Campanario, founder of Urban Sketchers (and this local, Twin Cities franchise of which I am the caretaker). Gabi will be coming to MN as a speaker and sketchcrawl leader at the Lake Superior Design Retreat:

The Lake Superior Design Retreat (LSDR) is put on by the American Institute of Architects’ Minnesota Chapter. Our committee of volunteers puts together an annual February retreat that invites six creatives (architects, engineers, planners, industrial designers, landscape architects, artists, sculptors, photographers, musicians, and other types of creative professionals; this year’s speakers are all described on the LSDR site) to discuss their process and passion for an audience of approx. 100-130 architects, designers, and design enthusiasts. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the retreat!

More info about the Lake Superior Design Retreat can be found on this page of the AIA Minnesota website.

There is also a possibility that Gabi may visit with us Twin Cities sketchers. Stay tuned to Gabi Campanario's  Facebook and this blog.

UPDATE: Gabi will be doing an event at Wet Paint on Thursday February 21st from 5:30-7:30. From the events page at www.wetpaintart.com:

The Art of Urban Sketching with Gabriel Campanario 

Thursday, February 21 5:30-7:30pm SIGNUP NECESSARY: Call us at 651-698-6431 We couldn't be more excited to have Gabriel Campanario visit Wet Paint. Gabriel is the founder of the online community Urban Sketchers and author of the book THE ART OF URBAN SKETCHING. It's no exaggeration to say that his writings and blogs are largely responsible for promoting onsite drawing and transforming it into the phenomenal international movement it has become. We’ll hear about the Urban Sketching movement and look at some sketchbooks. Gabi will sign copies of his book, which we have for purchase in the store. 

Gabriel is visiting Minnesota as a guest artist for the Lake Superior Design Retreat (LSDR) organized by the American Institute of Architects’ Minnesota Chapter. Info and registration: http://www.aia-mn.org/ 

Gabriel Campanario is a journalist and illustrator best known for his award-winning Seattle Times blog and weekly column Seattle Sketcher, and as the founder of Urban Sketchers. Campanario, who was born in Barcelona, calls the Seattle area home since 2006. His journalism career has spanned newsrooms in Spain, Portugal, Nevada, California and Virginia. For more information about Gabriel, visit him at his blog at http://gabicampanario.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/seattlesketcher

The Wet Paint docket also has an event Thursday, February 14 5:30-7:30pm with me demonstrating alongside artist Tara Tieso the many splendors of toned paper:

Join us for what is sure to be a fun evening with two artists who represent two distinct approaches but share a common love of working on toned paper: abstract artist Tara Tieso and cartoonist Ken Avidor!

Tara, who's written about toned paper on the Studio Recommendations page of the Wet Paint Website, creates work that demonstrates the use of toned paper with various art materials for integrated effects. Though she primarily works in encaustic, toned papers figure prominently in her two dimensional mixed media work. She has a lot to say about how different materials interact with different papers. Tara is a 2011 recipient of the McKnight Foundation-funded Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Next Step Grant, and 2012 recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. You can see her work at www.taratieso.com.

Ken is a well-known cartoonist and urban sketcher who recently moved to Saint Paul. It's always exciting to talk with him about his growing interest in specific art materials and how they've changed his approach to his work. Ken runs the Twin Cities chapter of the Urban Sketchers blog, does courtroom drawings, and is a frequent contributor to various publications. You can visit one of his many blogs at http://bicyclopolis.blogspot.com/

For my review of Strathmore toned paper journals see this Bicyclopolis blog post.