The Art of Non Conformity Book Signing Tour

My sister, Judi Knight, had just gotten a conformation that her offer to host the unconventional book tour stop in Georgia for the book, The Art of Non-Conformity, written by Chris Guillebeau on his whirl wind tour through all fifty states stopping in one city per state, was excepted. She and her husband Duane have a fabulous space called The Urban Oasis which also serves as a Bed and Breakfast along with being the world headquarters for Judi’s new business “New Tricks” and my temporary living quarters. Judi was busy planning the event and getting the message out to her peeps through all of her social media outlets like facebook and twitter and she asked me if I would make a sign for the event. Now, Judi and I are alike in many ways one of them being if you are going to commit to do something, do it right, do it big, and make it “the best”.
I had gone on to Chris’s web site to see what he and his book were all about. I was so impressed with his message that I immediately signed up for his online post updates and while I was reading through the blogs on his site I came across a picture of Chris in a Tiger Cage reading his book with two tigers lounging near by.

I clicked into my Party Girl mode and saw a perfect backdrop composition. My little sign I agreed to make had just, in an instant, grown in size and scale.
I told Judi of my idea to create an 8′ x 8′ backdrop of Chris sitting in the Tiger cage reading his book and then cutting out his face so we could hang it at the event and everyone who came could put their head in the backdrop and have a photo taken of themselves being un-conventional. Judi loved the idea and off we went in Duane’s SUV to Sam Flax for two sheets of 4×8 foam core and paint. Unfortunately, we both underestimated the size of Duane’s vehicle and there was no way we were getting a 4×8 sheet in his car. Judi and I spent over an hour walking around Sam Flax looking for an alternative plan. We decided on purchasing a 10′ x 9′ piece of raw canvas which was on sale and could be easily tucked into the vehicle for the ride home. We would worry about how Duane would hang it later.
The book tour was scheduled on Thursday and I prepped the canvas on the Saturday before. I started with a nice thick coat of Gesso to prime the canvas and left it overnight to dry. I set my alarm for 5:00 am and in the pitch black of the morning, I hung the canvas from a 2nd story railing at the Urban Oasis and projected the images I wanted onto the canvas tracing them with pencil to create the composition and scale… and then went back to bed. I chose to recreate the backdrop to be the glass wall between the front entry and garden area of the Urban Oasis since that is where the book signing was being held. (Note: the wall is an old warehouse window which Judi had different textured glass panels installed in some and left some open so you can see through the the other side. Check it out at www.urbanoasisbandb.com) Instead of having the tigers laying around I found two images where they where upright and paying attention. Of course, I had to include Craig’s head peeking through one of the open panels. He is one of the three basset hounds that reside at the Urban Oasis. I started painting Sunday afternoon and when I got home from work until the wee hours of the night for four nights.
By Wednesday afternoon the painting was well on it’s way to being finished and we had to start thinking about how to hang it up so that it was not in the way but people could still get behind the canvas, easily, to stick their heads through for a photo. I was thinking 2×4′s and building a frame and a lot of other complicated contraptions when Judi talked to her friend Joe about our dilemma and Joe mentioned that being a photographer he had a pair of backdrop stands he could loan us. It turned out to be the perfect set up. The Canvas looked fabulous in the space.

I happened to be in the shower when Chris Guillebeau arrived early and I missed his reaction when he walked in and saw the canvas. Judi said he was amazed. The cool thing was that he brought an enlarged photograph of that very picture that inspired me to the book signing. We had over 120 people show up. It was a very diverse crowd and everybody had a great time and loved getting their photographs with the tigers and Craig. You can see other photos of the event at @danareeves she took the best photos ever of the #AONC Book Signing at the Urban Oasis http://ow.ly/322Qu.