Festival Creative

Hiatus? What hiatus?

2012-12-05T00:45:00.002-05:00

Festive Creative has been brainstorming a bit (after a big break from blogging). Urged by some pretty significant motivators, we are getting even more creative! We are going beyond paper and into what we do when we are not eating, sleeping, and working the 9-5! This blog is still up and running, a little out of date, but we are working on a brand new website! Exciting....creativity all over the horizon.

Event Planning | Event Promotion | Branding | Graphic Design | Small Business Improvement Consultations | Social Media Consultations | Photography | Marketing

You know it has been a while if you can't remember what font was being used! And you know, I think I have been to Spain twice since I was last very active. So, we have a lot of catching up to do! I also for the life of me can't figure out why Blogger is choosing to put a white background behind that caption below...but it's late and I am not wrestling with HTML color codes right now. Excuse the ugly caption, please!

Hand cast fence inspired by palm fronds by Antoni Gaudí at Park Güell, Barcelona by Michelle May

Cirque Du Noir IV

2011-10-21T09:39:00.001-04:00

Painting by Brian Burris

Cirque Du Noir IV will take place October 30, 2011 at Ritual in Worcester.

A few exciting announcements about this year's event, it will take place a Ritual in Worcester for one. If you have not been there, I highly recommend for you to check it out. Hopefully you will soon enough! The space is perfect for Cirque Du Noir, the colors, the vibe and the decor lend themselves very well to the Cirque vibe. I am very excited about the venue. Thank you Kathy Kostas and the folks at Ritual for supporting the event and providing delectable goodness for our guests.

Live Fusion Artists this year include Keenan Cassidy, an amazing accomplished artist and student at Doherty High School, Jessica Burhans, who recently showed at Secret Society here in Worcester, Joanna Matuck, and Scott Boilard, both also accomplished artists who have shown in locally and abroad. A live art fusion is so exciting to see. The artists each begin a piece and rotate pieces after a few moments, each collaborating and sharing. It is magical to watch.

Ryan Flaherty, who will light the room on fire with his guitar, will be providing the music and the heat. Ryan is releasing his new cd, Hungry Moon, described by him as "Gypsy-Rapture-Folka-Wolf music, presumably for the savage and sultry"! I like that.

From his website he is described: "Ryan Flaherty is a fiery singer-songwriter, combining gypsy, folk-jazz, and percussive guitar. Flaherty was born and raised in Rock Island, IL, across the river from Bix Beiderbecke's hometown of Davenport, IA. His music is culturally diverse with influences ranging from Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly to Django Reinhardt and Taraf De Haidouks. Songwriter B. A. Cannings refers to Flaherty's music as "Flamenco delta wolf music" and "Look out world, this guys got your number. Tons of styles smelted, combined and poured into guitar strings. Do not douse yourself with gasoline before coming to this show, his fingers will light you on fire."

Ed Melikian will be joining Ryan, providing a backdrop of hot fusion music. He has also just collaborated with Ryan on his Hungry Moon recording. Going back and forth between Flamenco and the sounds of the Middle East, there will be no shortage of energy in the room. If you like music and live in Worcester, you have heard of Ed Melikian. I can't tell you how excited I am for this music and this night!

The evening will also include a silent art action, with art donated by local Worcester artists who are the life and guts of Cirque Du Noir. It's all about coming together, giving, sharing and celebrating art and music...while your presence and your purchases of art support the Worcester County Food Bank.

We hope to see you there!
Please visit our Cirque Du Noir Facebook page to see more art, information about the event, find some inspiration and see your friends!

Little Branch

2011-05-17T22:20:00.001-04:00

{Little Branch . 22 7th Ave S . New York . NY 10014}

Piss and Vinegar

2011-05-02T08:19:00.001-04:00

{a lovely poster by ryan arruda aka midnight umbrella}

Slow Art Day Worcester

2011-05-02T07:52:00.001-04:00

{image: work by charlene von heyl, worcester art museum}

On April 16th art lovers in Worcester, Massachusetts enjoyed and learned from looking at slowly. Slow Art Day is a worldwide movement devised by Phil Terry and Reading Odyssey. Worcester, Massachusetts is one of about 100 cities currently participating in the event. For more information on Slow Art Day or to find out how you can host in your city, click the link. Get inspired, not tired!

A Night in Northampton

2011-03-24T22:44:00.001-04:00

{Hotel Northampton and the streets of Northampton, Ma/Jan. 2011}

The Work of Laura Niemi Young II

2011-03-24T21:32:00.008-04:00

{In the Room and The YoYo II by Laura Niemi Young}

Haunting and provoking, as if brought back in time, Laura's duotone images leave you leaning in to look as closely as you can. Incredibly, you can almost feel the texture of the elephant's rough wrinkles and only hope the riders are enjoying the dusky summer night. Laura Niemi Young paints with depth and so much character. There are many pieces in this series, which Laura just showed at a group show at Marblehead Arts Association also recently showed in a solo show in Salem, MA. Visit her website and be moved!

Are you bloglovin'?

2011-01-22T11:55:00.002-05:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Paintings of Mark Innerst

2010-12-10T18:54:00.004-05:00

{work of mark innerst via elle decor}

stART at the Station 2010

2010-12-05T19:49:00.008-05:00

{scott boilard, speaking to a short customer, about her favorite}

{the short customer liking handmade polymer bracelets, handmade millefiori beads by molly shattuck thomas}

{zentangle inspired bracelets by molly shattuck thomas, my pick for best of show}

{spencerian calligraphy pens of maria thomas, pendragon}

{peas on earth, by maria thomas, pendragon}

{a personal inspiration of mine, maria thomas making magic}

{worcester cartoonist, brian nelson with laurel}

{live statue, a very fun addition to stART}

stART at the Station :: Worcester :: 2010

Worcester loves art and handmade! The traffic in Union Station today was heavy, festive and vendors were selling out! That is a wonderful thing. For as long as stART has been hitting our streets and now our station, people come in numbers, and they are scooping up wonderful gifts of handmade goodness. We purchased two super sweet crocheted hats from Willows Loft, new to stART this year, with incredibly cute knits. Willows Loft hats are available on etsy if you click the link. I should have taken a pic. The short customer is also wearing a fun kitty hat we bought. I hope the vendor catches this so we can find your name. We love the hat and we are planning on wearing it to bed!

A wonderful surprise was finding world renowned calligrapher Maria Thomas with her daughter Molly Shattuck Thomas at stART. If you would like to see her incredible skill in action, calligraphy and zentangle fans alike will love this video, called Betweed. There are alot of Zentangle videos on youtube about 150 as of today, but this one is by Maria herself. She and Rick Roberts are the founders of Zentangle. {Listen to the pen in the very beginning.}

A very successful day for art in Worcester. Big ups to the stART crew for all you do. If you went to stART and made a purchase, please comment here and post what you bought and who created it!

Mumford and Sons

2010-11-30T20:59:00.003-05:00

The Art of the Latte

2010-11-28T14:12:00.005-05:00

{image of latte in melbourne via apixelforbreakfast.com by silvia susen}

Gracia Festival :: Barcelona

2010-11-28T13:52:00.006-05:00

{image via visit-bcn}

In a search for creative and festive holiday decorations, I came across this image of a street festival in Barcelona, called Gracia Festival, which takes place in August. Even the recepticals are festive! {If you are ever in Barca in November, and missing American turkey on the 25th, you can find some Thanksgiving festivities happening, here.}

Baby It's Cold Outside

2010-11-27T12:35:00.004-05:00

{image via hgtv}

Ignacio "Nacho" Figueras at Ralph Lauren Commercial

2010-11-18T07:42:00.001-05:00

"Kickoff" by Checkerboard, Ltd.

2010-11-18T07:14:00.002-05:00

To order this invitation, visit Festival at eInvite, here.

Zentangle: Sharing some Zen

2010-11-16T07:53:00.009-05:00

{images of simple zentangles OR inspired art like this by annika sylte via the zentangle blog}

Zentangle, to me means the art of repetitive pattern and self exploration (my words). Everytime I sit to do one, I have a great experience with myself! Zentangle was developed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is now making waves all over the world. For good reason, their presentation and personal connection with pen and paper, understanding the principals of meditation and relaxation, and their great knowledge of art, nature and architecture bring new patterns continuously. The simplicity is amazing. They teach you how to break down each one, so simply. Even the novice and the curious can sit for 15 minutes and emerge with a beautiful piece of art!

This post by Annika Sylte caught my eye on the Zentangle blog recently. She has taken her realistic art and intertwined the familiar patterns taught with Zentangle. You may see these patterns everywhere you go, once you start noticing them, it's kind of amazing ALL the details you start to see. Look at the facade of the buildings you pass, the details in old woodwork, the carved frames in your house, the honeycomb of a bee, the bark of a tree...the list goes on. Traveling is incredible once you start noticing all the old world motifs that you don't see in this "new" land we live in. Patterns and motifs have been around for centuries, Zentangle reminds us of our surroundings, and the beautiful things we are lucky enough to notice.

Misty Romanian Morning

2010-11-16T07:32:00.007-05:00

{images from romania 2010: crucea eroilor on carpathian mountains, a roadside fern}

Cirque Du Noir 2010

2010-11-11T23:52:00.001-05:00

Angela and Michelle/ Cirque Du Noir 2010
Originally uploaded by michellem1

Angela Cannistraro and Michelle May (me) at Cirque Du Noir. Angela's costume was amazing!

Haider Ackermann

2010-11-11T23:34:00.002-05:00

haider ackermann
Originally uploaded by f&art

Maybe I can Cirque Du Noir right through the year. Loving this layered combination of weights and textures by Haider Ackermann.

Black Magic in Worcester

2010-11-06T11:58:00.010-04:00

{Cirque Du Noir programs donated by checkerboard, image by andreea waters}

{fun vip name tags donated by checkerboard, image by louie despres}

{a beautiful capture of helen sheldon beaumont by louie despres}

{watching the live art fusion by louie despres}

{cirque du noir guests and participating artists, rocking the noir, susurrus din, helen sheldon beaumont, j fatima martins, jeff gemma, antonio fonseca, guybrush threepwood, and thomas caywood.
timed image by thomas caywood.}

Final result are almost complete. There are still a few auction items that are being wrapped up. The evening was so incredible, thanks to all of you Worcester people with serious party pants. There were so many new faces in the darkness, on a Sunday! Many of you asked about the Sunday night arrangement. We are doing everything we can to make Cirque happen on a Saturday next year. It will still be a week before Halloween, but hopefully we can fulfill your request to make it happen on a Saturday!

Thank you to all who came, you looked incredible. Thank you to all the photographers, Amy DeMar, Louie Depres, Mike Hendrickson, Jim Collins, Donna Dufault, and to those guests who shared their photos with all of us.

There are more Cirque Du Noir images via flickr. Please share your images in the group pool!

Shhh, there are some exciting plans in the works for Cirque Du Noir, so stay tuned...

The Art of Antonio Fonseca

2010-10-19T08:08:00.005-04:00

{top: image of antonio fonseca from the 20 artists of worcester, photo by scott erb,
bottom: fusion practice image, snapshot by me}

Award winning artist, Antonio Fonseca will be part of the live art fusion at Cirque Du Noir this coming Sunday. I am personally very excited to have Antonio in the mix. After last night's fusion practice and watching him work with sumi-e ink, I am so excited to see what will happen on Sunday!

The Art of John Pascarelli

2010-10-19T07:50:00.005-04:00

{images provided by john pascarelli}

John Pascarelli has donated two prints "They Feed Us Poison" and "Blue Horse" to the silent auction for Cirque Du Noir, coming up this Sunday at 7 at The Citizen in Worcester. Proceeds will benefit the Worcester County Food Bank. John is an amazing self taught artist, living in Worcester and we are so pleased to have him on board this year.

John Pascarelli has shown in group shows in Rockport, Shrewsbury and Worcester. Please visit johnpascarelli.com to see more of his work.

Tatiana Plakhova, Floral Concepts shared...

2010-10-15T11:50:00.007-04:00

{floral concepts by tatiana plakhova via behance}

a magical world of line drawings and organic colors.
click for the full experience.

A Halloween Celebration for the WCFB

2010-10-12T22:40:00.013-04:00

{some of the art auction 2009}

{an incredible piece donated by laura niemi young}

{guests sergio grenados and lisa crislip chatting, the thiffaults in the background}
btw, these above images by me, not the talent you see below...

{costume prize time, john comeau as edward scizzorhands,

tim burton would have been proud}

{everyone watching scott boilard during the art fusion}

{guests admiring the Sprout candy table}

A great time out in Worcester to support The Worcester County Food Bank.

all images from Cirque Du Noir in this post are
courtesy of Mr. Louis Despres