CERA

About a week into our adventure and and I are enjoying the views 😍 Pittsfield is a beautiful place, even the commuting views are breathtaking. Excited to share more progress shortly, I’m feeling really good about this wall and what I have in store.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity I had this past couple months to paint 2 walls for through . I honestly couldn’t have done either of them without the support of and the wildly talented who has been sharing some trade secrets along the way.
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This artwork was a step in a very different direction for me, from depicting different textures to painting on different surfaces, but after practicing some patience and trust, I feel I was able to come out stronger on the other side.
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I enjoyed creating a piece about the Driftless Region of Wisconsin, it really gave me an opportunity to reflect on the beauty around me in a way I haven’t in a long time. After developing the mock-up for this wall, and almost days before installation, I went on a 250 mile bike tour from Milwaukee to Trempealeau WI with a group of close friends, and the reality of this natural landscape set in. From rolling hills with massive basins of water, to pink and purple sunsets over the Mississippi, it’s hard to explain the beauty without seeing it yourself

Very excited to share this piece I completed a few days ago for via . Big thanks to for the huge amount of help, and honestly thanks to Mother Nature for only raining once 🌧️ Was otherwise great weather and painting in the shade

I was super excited to see was able to get down there and take a nice clean shot, and with the lights on 🤩😍

And this wraps up my 2nd wall with through and 🚴‍♂️🏕️⚡️Big thanks again to for coming out and getting aweosme shots 🔥📸 It was a quick turn around on this one, but long days at a quiet location like this were perfect for me 😊

And that’s a wrap for Quest with ⚡️☀️🏕️ Huge shout out and thanks to for taking the time every day to capture my process, abd wow these final shots 😍
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Stay tuned for the other wall 👀

Here are a couple of my absolute favorite 📸 from from this last week at with and the one and only who is out globe trotting at the moment ✈️ More shots incoming!!! And
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HEY, if you know a bikepacking adventure cyclist, tag them below! I’ll go first: 🚲🏕️🛹

Gotta love projection night 🤪 Can’t wait to share more shots that has been taking this past few days, stay tuned! 👀 📸

A really special project with and Can’t wait to share more!

FINAL 📸 shots are in!! This wraps up my recent work at Wauwatosa East (aka Tosa East), where I spent my formative years, graduating in 2007 🥹
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I worked with Craig from to make this project happen, and it was so cool how it came about. He saw me working on another local mural with last summer, and that’s when we got the ball rolling. In my work, I like to share visuals of people doing the best they can at their craft, weather that’s cycling, hiking, climbing, driving, skateboarding, honestly even just living peacefully, I like to depict people in their own space, investigating their interests. This worked out really well in this case, because Craig has worked to develop a platform for kids at East to pursue interests outside of “typical academic study”. Want to be an engineer? There are skills you can build for that. Want to lay tile? There’s a skill for that too. Matter of fact, if you want to be more handy in your life, but not necessarily work in a labor field, there’s education for that as well! So with all that said, it gave me a great opportunity to work with figure as I like to do, and to highlight people trying their strength, but also trying their mind and skills in a physical space. So I’d say a big thanks goes to Craig, and for providing funding needed to make this happen.
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Very funny to be working at my old school. I was so worried and unsure when I graduated, and I had spent years struggling to keep up with assignments, to the point where I felt I had limited my options for when I graduated. I went into the arts fully not trusting the process, and not seeing “the light at the end of the tunnel” of education, but after years now of working in the public arts, over a decade after college and almost 2 decades since high school, it’s a treat to come back and know that somehow, some way, I’ve carved out a space for myself in this working world, and how funny is it that the space I carved is painting things on walls and making people smile. Wish I could go back and tell little Jan that drawing on his grandparents walls would work out in the end😂

Started something new the other day!! 🛠️ 🧰 🚧 🦺 Been working with Craig of to create an awesome mural at Wauwatosa East for the students taking advantage of tech ed. Craig has worked very hard to give these kids an alternative platform for success outside of school, and has shown these kids that success has a lot of different shapes. Some people choose further education, some choose the work force right away, some jump into apprenticeships, but there’s no inherent right way to pursue your future, and he’s done a good job of showing kids the available options, and how to think critically about what you enjoy doing most, or have natural skill sets for. I’ll talk more about this in upcoming stories and posts, but this is IMPORTANT 🚨
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This project actually came about when Craig stopped by to check out a Mural I was painting for last year, and we got talking about the benefits of art activations, but also the importance of showing the youth what’s possible, and that there are always choices out there for us. After chatting, we worked together (mostly Craig and also some writing help from ) to send an application for a grant through , and luckily they also saw the value in what we were trying to do!
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Long story short, very cool project, coming to fruition out of sheer will and a vision for something awesome 🤩