Yesterday, I posted an audio slideshow of his work and since then I’ve been thinking about the time and effort he put into the piece. When I first surprised Kyle with the news I volunteered him/us to design a deck for a charity auction, I originally thought he would splash some paint on it and voila! Instant fabulosity! I’ve come to find out I am way off in my perceptions of his talent and work. Kyle’s craft is much more challenging: an eye for design and color play an important role, but the work amounts to nothing without passion and emotion.  I learned this is how Kyle rolls on every single project.  Above, you will hear Kyle in his own words.

I’m so excited to be a part of such a great cause!  You can see more shots of Kyle’s work here. Meanwhile, you can see what other artists did with their decks here and then hop on over here to see who will benefit from the event.

Phoenix abstract expressionist artist Kyle Jordre is hard at work on my our project to raise money for autism research.  You may recall I told you about the auction last month here.  The guys over at After Hours Gallery are teaming up with the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center to raise money to assist families with autistic kids in Arizona.  I jumped at the opportunity to help when the gallery owner told me about the plan to have local artists design a skateboard deck since I use a skateboard as a mode of transportation.  However I realized there was a tiny problem when I realized I just signed up to take part in an auction that involved creating art.  I can barely draw stick figures.  However my friend Kyle is an accomplished artist in Downtown Phoenix.  Problem solved.  My our board is due in a week.

The auction is still a couple months away.  If you would like to learn about the artist, you can check out Kyle here and his Facebook fan page here, and then head over to the online home of After Hours Gallery here.

]]> http://lightrailblogger.com/2009/09/02/raising-money-for-charity/feed/ 1 http://lightrailblogger.com/2009/08/08/ollie-the-trolley-and-a-skateboard/ http://lightrailblogger.com/2009/08/08/ollie-the-trolley-and-a-skateboard/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:46:11 +0000 Tony Arranaga http://lightrailblogger.com/?p=1012 First Friday in Phoenix felt like a race to beat the clock.

My neighbor and I started late and only had and hour and a half to hit three places in different parts of the art walk. Jordre Studio on Grand Avenue, the Phoenix Art Museum to see the exhibit Phantom Sightings and After Hours Gallery.

You would think waiting around for a shuttle would eat up alot of time, however not the case with Ollie the Trolley. We used the free shuttle service to get to and from all the venues.  The shuttles are nice, the service is convenient, and you can’t beat the price!

In case you didn’t know, Ollie the Trolley serves Downtown Phoenix on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 2:30 a.m. with special service along the art walk on First and Third Fridays.  There are four routes with multiple stops at popular venues.  To download a map of the trolley routes, click here.

In addition to Ollie,  you also have the light rail which goes to north to 19th Avenue and Montebello and east to Tempe.

We hit all three venues on Ollie and finally made it to After Hours Gallery where MASKS (information here) is on exhibit.  While chatting up Mike the owner, he asked if I would take part in a fundraiser he and his partner Russ are organizing called All Decks on Hand.  The art auction benefits the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center.

Although the auction calls for participants who possess some artistic talent, I couldn’t resist the offer when Mike told me what the people artists would use as a canvass:  a skateboard!  Many of you know my love for my longboard which I purchased shortly after deciding to go CarFree.

Even though I can’t draw, paint, or Etch-a-sketch to save my life, I was honored the guys at After Hours Gallery wanted me to take part in the event.  Thanks Mike and Russ!

Now if I only knew an artist…