"from caterpillar to butterfly: a short story by Justin Zellars"

(NOTE: If the image above doesn't transition from shot-to-shot, click on it to start the slideshow)

Miss First Friday this past weekend? Then you missed the incredible transformation of Kitchen Sink Studios' own Justin Zellars from being a swarthy long-hair to his new clean-shaven military-style look. Fortunately, we have the technology to allow you to experience the transformation yourself. Great work by Kitchen Sink's own Sarah Thomas in creating all the different do's you see here. And a shout out to Kory Kapfer for putting together the GIF file.

First Friday on February 3, Featuring Artist Nicole Marie Smith and Singer Elizabeth McGovern!

The Kitchen Sink Studios team invites you to join us for First Friday on Friday, February 3. The festivities start at 6:30 p.m.!

We'll be featuring the art of Nicole Marie Smith in an exhibit called "Acts of Love and Other Misconceptions: Painting, Printmaking and Mixed Media by Nicole Marie Smith." Nicole provided this description of the exhibit:

The work that I have compiled for this show discusses the surreal nature of the "collective" perception of reality regarding love, life and relationships. It is a mockery of those perceptions and an attempt at seeking truth and clarity in the darkest moments of human emotion and experience. A differentiation between the performer and the performance. The Act of lifting the mask simply by acknowledging it.
Nicole Marie Smith is a local Phoenix artist and received her Bachelor's in Fine Art with a major in Printmaking from Arizona State University in 2004. She has temporarily taken a hiatus from printmaking but is currently working as a painter and mixed media artist. Her surrealist, figurative and metaphoric works are currently being displayed throughout the country. You can view more of her work at this link. She'll also be exhibiting on Third Friday at our studio's gallery from 6-9 p.m.

We'll also be featuring the music of local singer-songwriter Elizabeth McGovern. Elizabeth will perform out in front of the studio, and we will be giving tours of the studio throughout the evening. Check out Elizabeth's Facebook page and be sure to come see her perform live on Friday night!

Doors will open and the merriment will begin at 6:30 p.m. We're located one block south of Roosevelt at 828 N. Third Street. We hope to see you then!

Daniel Shepherd talks about exhibiting on First Friday

Daniel Shepherd, who exhibited his artwork on First Friday in January, wrote a description of his experience that we thought we would share:

Looking back upon a First Friday. I first think of the people that come into the space, in this case the Kitchen Sink Studios. Lots of them. Most of them i’d never seen before in my life. Young ones, old ones, happy ones, smiley ones, crazy ones. People dressed in black that act really grumpy and folks that just come in looking for free cheese. 

You never know who might walk into the space to see your paintings and that’s the funny thing too. People never know what they are going to see when they go out for an evening of “ART” so I guess it’s a fair exchange. They just want to look at something, you just want to show them something. Even Steven.

For me, this last First Friday, the first of the new year was no different then most of the others i’ve involved myself with. Lots of people looking. Looking looking looking. It’s expected. You want people to come. That’s the point right?

Some of them want to talk to the Artist. Others want to talk about themselves. That happens more often than you might think. I don’t know exactly what to make of it. Even more wander in, look around, look around again. Get really close to the work, silently pour a glass of water or wine and drift into the night sky without a word. In all honestly those are the people I like best.

By and large the majority of folks that show up to see my work have always been positive and friendly. I get a small group of my collectors to my shows that come to see what new work I’ve done, or just to say hello.

As the Artist with the show you are pulled in a lot of directions all the time as people come and go. I always feel like I’m not spending enough time with any one person, as so many people are asking for your attention.

Folks often want to talk about my technique, the feeling, the color, their own art collection, what inspired me to do the work and many ask questions of a personal nature. People really seem to like to name drop too. I’ve noticed lots of that goes on. Most of the time I don’t know who they are talking about. I live a very insular life. I like it like that.

It happens fast. The night is over before you know it. There’s a later crowd that comes in, mainly the younger kids that are “makin’ the scene.”

I think people look forward to First Friday every month here no matter why they go, and that’s a good thing. The sense of community that it brings, even if they don’t think about it, it’s part of the experience. Being out there with the thousands that come over and over again adds to the success of, and is so important to our downtown world.

The fact that spaces like Kitchen Sink Studios open their doors to local artist to display their work is a great thing. Iapplaud them for doing this.

I’m glad it happens.

First Friday on December 2 featuring Elizabeth McGovern!

The heavens opened up last month and rained out our First Friday festivities, including the performance by the tremendous young singer/songwriter Elizabeth McGovern. However, the Kitchen Sink team will not be denied, and the weather is looking a little better this time, so come on down and join us on Friday, December 2!

Elizabeth will perform out in front of the studio, and we will be giving tours throughout the evening and will have the Jumbo Jenga set up out front. Please feel free to stop on by for some great music and fun times!

Elizabeth now has a new Facebook page that is featuring a video of her recent performance at the Brophy Fine Arts Extravaganza. Check it out and be sure to come see her perform live on Friday night!

Doors will open and the merriment will begin at 6:30 p.m. We're located one block south of Roosevelt at 828 N. Third Street. We hope to see you then!

First Friday on November 4 Featuring Singer/Songwriter Elizabeth McGovern!

It should be a cool First Friday this upcoming Friday, November 4 in downtown Phoenix, and Kitchen Sink Studios will be celebrating it as usual!

We'll be featuring a performance by singer/songwriter Elizabeth McGovern out in front of the studio, will be giving tours throughout the evening and will have the Jumbo Jenga set up out front. Please feel free to stop on by for some great music and fun times! Check out some of Elizabeth's songs in the clip below:

Doors will open and the merriment will begin at 6:30 p.m. We're located one block south of Roosevelt at 828 N. Third Street.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, November 4!

It's that time again — First Friday at Kitchen Sink Studios is on!

The forecast is for fun on First Friday, as the heat is about to break and Kitchen Sink Studios is about to have its first big First Friday of the year!

Kitchen Sink Studios will be celebrating the break in temperatures as well as the thriving local art scene by opening our gallery doors this Friday, October 7.

Local artist Tiffany Egbert, an Arizona-born designer and photographer, will be displaying pieces from her recent photography collection. This will be her very first solo showing, so don’t miss your opportunity to view this amazing compilation inspired by vintage fashion. We'll also roll out our popular Jumbo Jenga set and will have lots of other fun activities as well.

Doors will open and the merriment will begin at 6:30 p.m. We're located one block south of Roosevelt at 828 N. Third Street.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 7!

Getting our hands dirty with hand-rolled Kitchen Sink promo pieces

This is the sort of thing that happens around here when someone says "Hey, we should put together something that we can hand out at First Fridays":

Our team loves all things retro, so when it came time to develop a cheap, easy promotional piece for the studio, KSS designers Doug Bell, Mike Giles and Justin Tucker came up with the idea of doing hand-rolled printing. 

For the design addicts out there, Mike provides the following summary of the process:

We began with an original three-color design, in the vein of the bottlecap typography across our front gate. After converting the art into separate plates, Airpark Signs was kind enough to donate their time, and laser-cut three linoleum blocks for us.

We used custom mixes of Gamblin etching ink to achieve our desired colors, then ran the plates and paper through our hand-turned press one color at a time – blue, red and black.

For our next run, we're thinking about trying actual wood plates. We're curious about the different textures and impressions that would yield.

Keep an eye out, we'll be cranking out more designs in the coming months.

Come check out the team's handiwork tomorrow night at First Friday! We'll be hosting artist Monica Robles, screening an outdoor movie and challenging all comers to jumbo Jenga!

First Friday on May 6...outdoor movie, jumbo Jenga and great art!

It's the last First Friday party of the spring at Kitchen Sink Studios! First Friday is coming on May 6, and Kitchen Sink Studios is the place to be for great art, entertainment and fun!

With a warm, balmy evening forecast this time around, we'll be featuring an outdoor movie (weather-permitting) and showcasing our jumbo Jenga set outside. 

We'll also be featuring the work of local artist Monica Robles in our gallery space. Monica will be displaying her Collective Photo Art Series. This series contains images captured from different city streets.  Through contextual photographs of building exteriors, montages of street art and other mixed-media work, she invites the viewer to reassess notions about texture and two-dimensional art.

The festivities kick off at 6:30 p.m. We're located one block south of Roosevelt at 828 N. Third Street.

We'll see you on Friday, April 1!

First Friday on April 1: Zella, Monica and Jenga!

It's that time again...First Friday is coming up on April 1, and Kitchen Sink Studios is the place to be for great art, entertainment and fun!

Kitchen Sink Studios is pleased to welcome back Zella Day, who will be singing and playing guitar in front of the studio. The teen folk rock sensation has been called "the next, next, next American Idol" and is a huge crowd favorite. 

We'll also be featuring the work of local artist Monica Robles in our gallery space. Monica will be displaying her Collective Photo Art Series. This series contains images captured from different city streets.  Through contextual photographs of building exteriors, montages of street art and other mixed-media work, she invites the viewer to reassess notions about texture and two-dimensional art.


Finally, we'll be debuting something new at this First Friday...Jumbo Jenga in the Kitchen Sink parking lot! Come try your hand and steady your nerves with our hand-made jumbo Jenga set, and see if you can beat the Kitchen Sink team.

If you haven't been to First Friday lately, this one's gonna be good and the weather should be perfect! The festivities kick off at 6:30 p.m. We're located one block south of Roosevelt at 828 N. Third Street.

We'll see you on Friday, April 1!

KITCHEN SINK STUDIOS® INC. Address | 828 North Third Street | Phoenix | Arizona | 85004 Telephone | 602-258-3150 Email | info@kitchensinkstudios.com Web | www.kitchensinkstudios.com

Spout Off Blog | kitchensinkstudios.blogspot.com

Out of hibernation

“Spout Off” has been in hibernation for a few months now due to a variety of circumstances — some good, some bad. But mostly, we’ve had our collective noses to the grindstone and have been enjoying a terrific summer of producing great creative.

And now with summer ending, we’re taking a deep breath and dusting off the old blog to tell you about the news and happenings with your favorite downtown Phoenix design studio.

First of all, big shout out to our long-time client, Pat McGroder of Gallegher and Kennedy, a Phoenix-based law firm. We’re helping him serve his clients by providing top-notch legal animation and video that bring his cases to life. Another shout out to the Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Group at Fennemore Craig, headed up by Marc Lamber and James Goodnow, for bringing us in on several of their cases as well.

Our legal niche is becoming very exciting for us. We’re branching out with new ideas and groundbreaking ways of helping attorneys present critical information. And we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some of their clients and help them receive the results they deserve in their injury cases.

But that’s not all we’ve been up to. We’ve started to see things move a bit in the business community and some signs of overall economic improvement, and we’ve made some great connections on exciting new projects. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the Arizona Heart Foundation, Downtown Live! and several other significant organizations have brought us on to help tell their story in compelling, innovative ways. We’ll be telling you more about some of our killer projects in the coming weeks.

Finally, we’ll be revving up the First Friday activities at our studio starting on September 3^rd. If you’re down and checking out the scene on Roosevelt, head a block south on Third Street and come say hi. We’ll have artists and performers on hand, and our team would love to catch up with everyone.

Hit us up on Facebook and check back here regularly for updates!

Kitchen Sink Studios First Friday™

Come visit our studio gallery every first Friday in downtown Phoenix! We are located on the southwest corner of Garfield and Third Street.

April 2nd, from 5:30pm – 10pm, we are pleased to present local artist, John Tuomisto-Bell. To learn more and see further work please visit www.tuomistobell.com.

Also featuring the music of Zella Day, (www.myspace.com/zelladaymusic) the 14-year-old folk rock sensation who has been called "the next, next, next American Idol" and a crowd favorite. Following Zella at 7pm will be Chad Krystals, the energy packed live DJ show featuring dual drummers!

 KITCHEN SINK STUDIOS® INC. Address | 828 North Third Street | Phoenix | Arizona | 85004 Telephone | 602-258-3150 Email | info@kitchensinkstudios.com Web | www.kitchensinkstudios.com
Spout Off Blog | kitchensinkstudios.blogspot.com

New York Times profiles Roosevelt Row

Our little neighborhood all grows up...check out this New York Times profile on Roosevelt Row! It's a great sign that the arts community is growing and thriving so much that it would garner the attention of such a significant national publication.

If you haven't had a chance to come out and see it in person on a First Friday, when the area is really vibrant, check out the post below and stop by on Friday, February 5th!

First Friday at Kitchen SInk Studios returns on December 4!

Come visit our studio gallery for First Friday on Friday, December 4 from 5:30-10 p.m. We'll be featuring the artwork of John Tuomisto-Bell. We'll also be featuring the music of Zella Day, the 14-year-old folk rock sensation who has been called "the next, next, next American Idol" and a crowd favorite at First Friday for her energetic blend of original songs and classics.

Kitchen Sink Studios is located at 828 N. 3rd Street in downtown Phoenix (corner of 3rd Street and Garfield). We hope to see you there!

Join Us For First Friday on November 6th!

Kitchen Sink Studios invites you to join us for First Friday on Friday, November 6 from 5:30 to 10 p.m.

Local artist Jill Brownley's work will be featured inside the studio, and Zella Day will be performing out in front of the studio in the back of "Ol' Blue." And, check out the completion of our bottle cap public art installation!

We're located at 828 N. Third Street in downtown Phoenix. We hope to see you there!