Spotlight on an Artist: Steve Opperman

Spotlight on an Artist

Pretty much the real me. Ha ha
Q1.
Name, Age, Part of Southern California currently residing in.
Steve Opperman
24
Downtown LA

Q2. Where are you originally from and what brought you to LA?
I'm from Canada
I moved to LA about 3 years ago. Reason being, is that my friend Steve dubbeldam and I started up a denim line called iron army. After launching it in Edmonton we showed our jeans in las vegas and then took a road trip down to LA to meet with president of sales from 7 for all mankind who we met that week in vegas. After staying on floors for a month we met with an investor and called our families and anounced that we were officially moving to LA. They were totally supportive and we continued to run iron army for 3 years. This year we just started our new lined called [city-of-others] which will be in stores at the begining of July. I feel like God has led me to LA to inspire and connect like minded kids and to live a life that is counter cultural to the fashion industry.

Q3. What is your artistic expression(s)?
I enjoy sewing, painting, making videos.

Q4.Artistic background (jobs, training, etc)?
No real training I taught myself how to sew and paint and the video stuff is probably the hardest because it requires a lot of technology that I'm slowly warming up to. I need more patience with that. Ha ha

Q5. What inspires you and your work?
I'm really inspired by the people that I meet and things from previous generations (thrift stores are my favorite places in the world) I'm also inspired from art and fashion magazines and buisness books.

Q6. What area(s) of Mosaic do you serve? In what capacity? How did you get connected to the ministry?

I got connected to the art ministry. Painting durring the service. I met erwin when I was living up in Edmonton and mosaic was the first church that I checked out when I moved to LA

Q7. Tell us about some of your recent projects.
Www.city-of-others.com is what I have been focusing on the most. I also have his idea to make my own clothes from scratch for an entire year and call it the temple project. Inspired from 2 chronicles.


Q8. When you’re not creating what do you like to do?
Hang out with my girlfriend rebekah.


Q9. Any other comments?
I'm reading through the bible from start to finished and it's been one of the coolest artistic inspirations that I have ever. The images that pop into my head I sketch and hopefully will intigrate into my future art.
Check out
city of others


Inspired by my friends and I love my bike

[City of Others] Inspiration Board

[City of Others] Photo Shot

Rebekah and me. She lives in Portland and I try to get up there whenever I can.

Old world mixing new world. I love this it's called steampunk

Hello amazing artists! Been a while- I’ll keep it short! 2 awesome things happening for graphic designers and photographers!

1. GRAPHIC DESIGNERS LOUNGE
THIS SUNDAY- 1pm- 4pm
Lost Souls Café www.lostsouls.com
Old Bank District - Harlem Place Alley (Café located through gate and in alleyway)
124 W. 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone 213.617.7006
Fax 213.617.7009

Bring your laptop and grab lunch or coffee and work on whatever you want. Use this block of four hours to get some of those projects off your plate- but with other graphic designers. Then head over a few blocks to the 5pm Mayan gathering if you want. We will be doing a few projected tutorials and some show and tell (passing a jump drive around for anything you want to show or get feedback about.)
This will be happening the first Sunday of every month! Check the attached flyer! Email me for more info- joby@mosaic.org



2. PHOTOGRAPHERS LOUNGE
There will be a monthly critique held at The Alcove in Los Feliz and you are invited!
Have you been looking for a community of other photographers that you would like to hold monthly meet ups?
A place to discuss each other's work, direction, inspiration, networking, etc? Well, we have decided to make that become a reality within the Silverlake region.

When: 1st kickoff meeting Monday February 11th
Where: The Alcove : 1929 Hillhurst Ave. LA, CA 90027
Time: 8:00 - 9:30 p.m.
Bring: Whatever project or body of work you are creating right now that you need a critique on and would like to share.
(We are estimating 15 min per person to show and discuss work.)

Please RSVP by Friday Feb 8th!
Dawn LaMattina: dawn.m.lamattina@gmail.com
OR
Jess Barnard: jessbarnard@mac.com

Mayan Visual Arts Party

Your welcome to invite other visual artists from school, work etc! On February 10th!

Calling all Photographers!

Hey creatives!

Have you been looking for a community of other photographers that you
would like to hold monthly meet ups?
A place to discuss each other's work, direction, inspiration,
networking, etc? Well, we have decided to make that become a reality
within
the Silverlake region. There will be a monthly critique held at The
Alcove in Los Feliz and you are invited!

When: 1st kickoff meeting Monday February 11th

Where: The Alcove : 1929 Hillhurst Ave. LA, CA 90027

Time: 8:00 - 9:30 p.m

Bring: Whatever project or body of work you are creating right now that
you need a critique on and would like to share.
(We are estimating 15 min per person to show and discuss work.)

Please RSVP by Friday Feb 8th!

Dawn LaMattina: dawn.m.lamattina@gmail.com
OR
Jess Barnard: jessbarnard@mac.com

Artisan's Leadership Advance

Saturday, February 9th
12-4 pm
William Carey University, Franson Hall
1539 East Howard Street
Pasadena, CA 91104
*Franson is the building just south of the basketball courts
Cost: $5
Registration online: mosaic.org/artisans
Lunch
Erwin McManus sitting in with us to discuss his vision for Mosaic arts!
Q & A with Erwin
Time to connect to other artists
Hope to see you there!

The Jenefit

The Jenefit: A Benefit For Relief Work Abroad
When: Friday November 30, 2007 @ 730pm
Where: Venice United Methodist Church,
1020 Victoria Ave, Venice, CA
(Just north of Venice off of Lincoln)

This year marks the third 'Jenefit' to raise funds for relief work abroad. In January '08 Jennifer Fodor will be working with the non-profit organization Adventures In Missions to travel for 11 months throughout 11 countries doing humanitarian projects pertaining to each country's need. The fundraising efforts will continue throughout the year with the kick off event taking place November 30, 2007 at 7:30pm in Venice, CA which will include skateboarding, art, and music!

We are still looking for more artists to donate their work. If you are interested please contact Jen @ jenniferfodor@gmail.com . Please go here for more information about the event: http://www.myspace.com/thejenefit Thank you!

Truck in progress

Jack busy working on the Mosaic truck, see post below for photos of the finished truck

Fashion Mosaic Party

Get ready...

Mosaic Holiday Fashion Social is here!!!

Who: You and your friends, fashionable or not!
What: A gathering to meet others in the industry, showcase some of your stuff, make new friends, eat some free h'or d'oevres, egg nog, and even fair-trade coffee with CoffeeMate's new fall creamer flavors... yum! ;)
When: This Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7pm
Where: FIDM student Joshuah's place at 420 S. San Pedro St. #216 Los Angeles, CA 90013. Park anywhere on the street.

What should I bring???: Just yourself, and if you'd like, bring a sketch or some things that you have created or are working on. We'll have a little display area to encourage and inspire one another!


Take down Julia's number to get in 323.649.2755

Please RSVP to let us know if you are coming.

See ya there!

-Mosaic Fashion Ministry

Mosaic truck

For the last 2 weeks, the Visual Arts team at the Mayan re-painted the truck. For months, the truck had been getting more and more defaced and vandalized, so we took something that seemed neglected and destroyed and made it into art. The Original Life series ended with the message called “The Gift”. What better gift to give than an art-infused truck?! And what better way to kick off the holiday season than giving the truck a new paint job? CJ Browne and Jack Rossi shared their skills with these jaw-dropping designs. If you’d like to be a part of similar projects in the future, feel free to contact the Visual Arts team at tammy@mosaic.org.

Observe Gallery

Observe Gallery event was really successful. We had over 350 people in attendance over the course of the night, many of which had no affiliation with Mosaic, and had just seen the event in passing. People had a number of conversations with attendees who came off the street who were interested in visiting Mosaic after attending the gallery. Over 150 different people placed bids on a painting throughout the night. Several paintings went for over $200! Some connections made from the USF Fall Festival the Wednesday prior were potentially furthered that night. The event grossed about $3600 from donations and art purchases which will go towards 3 different causes.

Fall Festival

**The Fall Festival at Union Station Foundation in
Pasadena was a great night for us to serve the
families who are currently homeless and staying at
their shelter or transitional housing. There were
lots of volunteers there to bring games, fun and love
to the Halloween night! The Festival was filled with
games, face painting, caricatures and a special
highlight to the evening was a fashion show for the
kids to show off their costumes! Some of Mosaic’s
creative and talented artists took time out during the
month to create costumes for the kids, which made the
night even more special!!**

Fashion Booth in aid of the Homeless

The attached flier is an event Mosaic Whittier is having Nov. 17 for a homeless organization called Manna. They'd like to have a fashion booth.
Interested in contributing to the fashion booth contact Juila LoVan julesandthesea@gmail.com

Stage Design need help!

This is a call for help! The Stage Design team at Mosaic is building a huge staircase/tower set prop for a dance piece on Nov. 4th. They're working hard as you read this to finish it by the 1st, and we on the dance team are trying to enlist some help. We are tentatively looking at either Monday, Oct. 29th or Wednesday the 31st as a night to storm Mott Auditorium and help finish building and painting this monstrosity. If you are interested in coming and helping one of those nights, please reply to this email and we will make sure to update you on the specifics.

We will have ice cream and root beer and a boombox. It'll be a dancing-painting-building-rootbeerfloathaving-party.

Plus you will be able to put the finishing touches on what promises to be a monstrous, ambitious set prop that will stand tall on the Mott and Mayan stages on Nov. 4th.
email dance@mosaic.org if they want to join,
cuz we don't know yet if it'll be Monday or Wednesday

Graphic Novel

Graphic Novel download at http://mosaic.org/o3
Pasadena, Westside, and the Mayan: Coming October 7th, a new series called “Living An Original Life.”

WARNING: For those who follow the crowd, for those who maintain the status quo, for those whose highest aspiration is mediocrity. This message series will be harmful to your lifestyle! This fall travel with the Mosaic community as we journey together on a quest toward living an original life. The adventure begins Sunday, October 7th at the Pasadena, Westside, and Mayan gatherings.

Original Life Speakers: Erwin McManus will be speaking at the 9am Pasadena, Westside, and Mayan gatherings. Rickey Williams will be speaking at the new 11am Pasadena gathering!

O3: The Graphic Novels

Photos from Zambia Gallery

Here are some photos from the Zambia Dinner/Gallery held September 16, 2007. We had 6 live artists, 4 of which had booths where they created original art that was auctioned throughout the night, and the remaining 2 painted an amazing frame/mural on the wall where footage from Zambia was projected. Images from the mural are seen here. Proceeds from the event was used to support an ongoing project of building a village that will provide a safe haven for the children in Zambia to live, learn, and receive the proper health care they so desperately need.

Here is a photo of what the funds raised help to build in Zambia.

Fall Festival Parties need help!

"We have a great opportunity to help our Mosaic
families connect with kids and families over L.A.
Halloween night, Wed., Oct. 31! We're looking for
artists to help face paint at one our neighborhood
parties! Please contact eileen@mosaic.org if you're
interested or available that night!"

Here are the 12 locations:

Union Station Foundation
825 East Orange Grove Boulevard
Pasadena, California 91104
Contact Carisa Robinson if interested (cxrisx@yahoo.com)

Mike/Kacie Hertz
Temple City, 91780

Della/Albert Cho
San Marino, 91108

Eric/Debbie Bryant
Alhambra, 91803

Kristin/Dan Romo
Whittier, 90606

Danny/Debbie Hernandez
Whittier 90601

Joe/Irene Wong
**Sat., Oct. 27**
South Pasadena 91030

Glenn/Karissa McKinney
Glendale, CA 91207

Eric/Lorena Pinal
West Covina, 91790

Natalie/Rowel Salvador
L.A. 90043
(Southwest L.A.)

Debbie/Paul Brazil
Granada Hills 91344
(San Fernando Valley)

John/Rosemary Larrazabal
Los Angeles 90047

Observe Gallery

“OBSERVE: Mosaic’s Second Annual Gallery Event and Silent Auction”
Event: November 3, 2007

Mosaic presents “OBSERVE: Mosaic’s Second Annual Gallery Event and Silent Auction”, a charity event held on November 3. Organized by Mosaic, the event features a silent auction on over 75 inspirational art/paintings dealing with purpose, meaning, faith, hope, spirituality, and humanity; many created in 40 minutes during Mosaic’s gatherings in the Los Angeles and Pasadena areas by local and professional artists.

The event will be held on Saturday, November 3, 2007, 6:00 – 9:00 pm, including live music, a silent auction and an open reception. The event is located in, but not associated with the South Pasadena Library Community Room at 1115 El Centro Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030.

CONTACT: Kristin Gallagher
krisiete@yahoo.com

ART Walks

WHAT & WHY: The Ob(serve) Art Walk

People interested in serving with an artistic twist will be getting together in 3 different locations! We will visit artistic communities (art galleries, museums, and exhibits concentrated in particular neighborhoods) and a coffee shop or two and distribute our Ob(serve) zines that came out last year. We will hopefully engage in conversations with others and spontaneously find small ways to serve people in the community (ex. paying for a stranger's coffee . . and we can think of other little ways). Basically - have fun! This is a great way to get to know some of the other artists within Mosaic, develop relationships with other lovers of art within these communities, serve with others in a unique way, and enjoy really great art that is being exhibited LOCALLY!


WHEN & WHERE

Thursday, October 11
7pm - 10pm
Downtown LA @ Downtown Art Walk
www.downtownartwalk.com
Los Angeles Center for Digital Art
107 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 US

Friday, October 12
7:00pm - 10pm
Pasadena @ Art Night
www.pasadenaartweekend.com/artnight/

Saturday, Oct 13
1pm-4pm
Either Culver City or Venice - TBA!

Please save the date and MORE information is to come!!

Come to one or come to all. Please specify if there is a location you are interested in attending. We are currently organizing groups to go and we would love to have you join us!

Set Design help needed

t's that time again to change the set at the William Carey campus (Mott Auditorium, 1539 East Howard Street, Pasadena). We will be updating it for the new Mosaic series called "Living an Original Life."
If you’re good with a hammer or paintbrush, or even if you’re not and you would love to just come hang out we would love to see you there!!!

PLEASE BRING FRIENDS...THIS IS A HUGE BUILD, SO THE MORE THE MERRIER!!

Here are the dates and times for the upcoming week....

(We know the times are a bit long, so if your not able to stay for the duration or arrive at the times suggested that is fine.)
Snacks will be provided :)

Fri. 28th (5-11pm)
Tues. 2nd (5-11pm)
Wed. 3rd (5-11pm) TENTATIVE
Thu. 4th (5-11pm)
Fri. 5th (5-11pm)
Sat. 6th (8:30am - 5:00pm)


Hope to see you there!!!
The Set Design Team

VOLUNTEER NEEDED FOR CHILDREN'S ART PROJECTS -

Euclid Villa, the transitional housing program for
Union Station Foundation in Pasadena, needs a
volunteer who could work on artistic projects with the
kids @ Euclid Villa. Euclid Villa has mandatory
parental meetings on the 1st & 3rd Wednesday of every
month @ 6pm. The Family Coordinator would like to have
the children involved in craft & art projects during
this time to allow for the parent meeting time as well
as give the children a consistent outlet for
creativity.


If you are interested, please contact Carisa at
cxrisx@yahoo.com for more information.