Chuck Redux

If You See Me Walking Down the Street...

"It's a Scweam!" is a day brightener at the corner of Market Street and 5th Avenue in San Diego's storied Gaslamp Quarter. Should you find yourself there with your Smartphone, make sure to scan the QR code in the lower right for more information...who knows what you'll find if you look hard enough.

Drop In and Draw at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

After spending the morning cleaning out the garage, Linda Jones Clough, daughter of Chuck Jones and trustee of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, needed to do something 'creative' so she made her way over to the Center's new space at South Coast Collection in Costa Mesa for the Saturday morning, "Drop In and Draw" led by the Center's teaching artist, Christopher Scardino. 

Most Saturday mornings you'll find the Center set-up for drawing with all sorts of materials with which to express your creativity; pencils, craypas, glitter & glue, crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, ink pens, and plenty of paper. The Center's talented teaching artist, Christopher Scardino, will guide you and your children to new heights of creativity.

Find your creative genius on Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA. A nominal donation to cover the costs of materials is suggested. For more information, email Pam Marsden, Program Director, Pam@ChuckJonesCenter.org. 

Happy Birthday, Gossamer!

Today is Gossamer's birthday. The orange pile-of-hay monster who wore sneakers and had an aversion to large crowds of people appeared in only two cartoons, the first of which, "Hair-Raising Hare" premiered on this date in 1946. 

Enjoy!

Mike Peraza Explains It All to You

We were absolutely charmed by the paper sculptures created by artist Mike Peraza, but also baffled by how he was able to construct them so beautifully and elegantly. Each of them requires many hours of painstaking work; the detail is phenomenal. 

Celebrating the Chuck Jones Centennial, Peraza, one of the great Disney art directors of the past three decades ("The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast"), also put in his time at Warner Bros. working with Chuck Jones on a Bugs Bunny television special. His credits are too numerous to elaborate upon, but suffice it say, he is one of the great treasures of feature, television, and theme park animation. The Chuck Jones Gallery is thrilled and delighted to represent his "Chuck Jones Homage" works* beginning with these wonderful hand-cut and constructed paper sculptures (exclusive to the Chuck Jones Gallery). Take a moment to watch the artist at work:

Here are the finished works:

"Free Bird Seed"

"Chuck Jones Portrait-Grey"

"Chuck Jones Portrait-Orange"

For more details and information about the works of art pictured in this post, please contact one of the Chuck Jones Gallery's art consultants in San Diego, Santa Fe, or Orange County (888-294-9880, 800-290-5999, or 800-660-7791 x 102 respectively.)

*There are plans afoot to create limited edition works on canvas from original paintings by Mike Peraza in the "Chuck Jones Homage" series. Stay tuned!

 

Painter Fabio Napoleoni Unveils an Exclusive Edition at the Chuck Jones Gallery--San Diego

Artist Fabio Napoleoni, in an appearance last Friday evening at the Chuck Jones Gallery in San Diego's famed Gaslamp Quarter, created quite a stir when he unveiled a recent painting that paid homage to the life and times of Chuck Jones. Titled "It Doesn't Bite", this charming and evocative image features Napoleoni's iconic everyman character, the rag doll Marcenivo, reaching out to a somewhat befuddled Bugs Bunny, with a heart of friendship. 

"It Doesn't Bite" has been created as a limited edition, signed and numbered, fine art reproduction on paper, exclusive to the Chuck Jones Gallery. There are only 57 examples with 17 hand-embellished Artist Proofs available. Contact your Chuck Jones Gallery art consultant for more information at 888-294-9880 or online at ChuckJones.com.  

 

Even More Photos from Friday Night's 2nd Annual Red Dot Auction

Here's a whole batch of photographs from last Friday evening's 2nd Annual Red Dot Auction that benefited the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. The outpouring of love and support was tremendous and we send all of you who successfully bid on a work of art (or in some cases, multiple works of art), and to those who heartily bid on the live auction items, a heartfelt and grateful thank you -- along with a big round of applause!

People pictured below have been identified to the best of our ability, if there has been error or you or someone you know was not identified, please drop us a note and we'll make the correction. Enjoy!

Leigh and John Yetsko

Linda Jones Clough and painter/actor James C. Mulligan

Linda Jones Clough (Chuck Jones's daughter) and Tom Millsap

Sandra and Louis Lozano (from left) with Christopher Scardino, the Center's resident teaching artist

Sasha Advani, the Raffle Ticket seller and administrative assistant for the Center.

Jeannine Layman

Marian Jones, Chuck Jones's widow with Jimmy Mulligan

Craig and Kimberley Kausen (from left) with Jamie Dicken. Craig is Chuck Jones's grandson and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity as well as president of Linda Jones Enterprises

From left, the Laymans with Mr. & Mrs. Doug Gfeller

Marian Jones and Beverly White

Mike Dicken, National Sales Director for the Chuck Jones Gallery, places a bid during the silent auction.

Help?

We didn't introduce ourselves, but her purse is by Mary Frances and is a limited edition titled, "Mercury Rising" (it's all about priorities, isn't it?)

Carol Erickson, a Chuck Jones Gallery art consultant (center) flanked by Michael and Debra Loen.

A young-un gets a boost and draws at the "Connect the Dots" art project 

A raffle prize-winner with a limited edition work created from original production art from Chuck Jones's 1970 feature film, "The Phantom Tollbooth"

Pam Marsden (r) Program Director for the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

The 3 Amigos, from left: Robert Patrick, Scott Dicken, and Mike Dicken gather for their annual photograph. Each one works at Linda Jones Enterprises/Chuck Jones Gallery/Chuck Jones Center for Creativity in one way or another.

Craig Kausen (l) with Mr. & Mrs. Doug Gfeller

Sharlene Shinmoto (l), with Mrs. Ric Franzi, and her daughter. (help?)

Chuck Jones Homage artist, Bob Elias, wields a mighty pencil at the "Connect the Dots" art project

Tommy "TNEZ" Martinez, a Center volunteer teaching artist, works his magic at the art project.

Bob White and Tracy Tanner (r), President of the Chuck Jones Council for Creativity, the volunteer arm of the Center.

The charismatic Wayne Todd, a volunteer community ambassador for the Center and all around rock god (see Jester McCool, no really, check him out online.)

Lovely ladies, but who are they?

Mark Drilling (l) of Stokes Auction, our auctioneer and rabble-rouser for the evening with his 2nd in command, John. 

Our guests come into the 2nd part of the evening for dessert, coffee, and the live auction.

Mr. & Mrs. Jon Brown of 24 carrots fame, Orange County's premier catering company. 

Sandra Lozano (l) with Mike Dicken (c) and Louis Lozano admire their five winning silent auction bids.

James C. Mulligan with the mural he created for the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity at SoCo in Costa Mesa. 

Animation story writer, producer, director ("Hop", "The Little Mermaid") Chris Bailey with his contribution to the Red Dot Auction and the lovely and beautiful Dina Andre.

Stuart P. with Chuck Jones Homage Artist, Mike Kungl.

Craig Kausen introducing the Live Auction portion of the evening and thanking those in attendance for their support of the Center's programs.

We had a crowd!

Didn't we? Can you identify the back of your head?

Chris Bailey at the "Connect the Dots" wall.

Chris Bailey's drawing at "Connect the Dots" art project.

Photographer Stephen Russo with Chris Bailey. Stephen is also a volunteer community ambassador and sits on the Chuck Jones Council for Creativity. All photos in this post are by Stephen Russo.

Linda Jones Clough and Jon Brown.

Kimberley and Craig Kausen.

Pamala Meador (l), one of our contributing artists, sits with Dean Diaz and Cassandra Low.

 

Artist and animator (and so much more!) John Ramirez poses with Linda Jones Clough.

Mike Kungl with Linda Jones Clough.

Carol Erickson with the artwork she won in the silent auction and the artist who created it, John Ramirez.

Artist Mike Kungl with his contribution to the silent auction, "1940 De La Hare" and its winning bidder, Stuart P.

Zia (l) with Tommy "TNEZ" Martinez and Christopher Scardino.

Camille Lewis with artist Darrell Parks and Chris Lewis with the portrait Darrell painted and donated to the Red Dot Auction.

"Say Cheese!" Lisa Timmons, Jackie Hamlin, Carol Erickson, Susan Palscik, Tracy Tanner, and Pam Marsden come together at the end of a successful evening.

 

 

 

 

A Few Photos from Last Night's Red Dot Auction

What a night! The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity held its 2nd annual Red Dot Auction last night and it was a spectacular evening. There was art, there was food, there were cocktails, there was an art project ("Connect the Dots!" which was awesome, more on that in a future post), there were raffle prizes, there was a gong, there were many, many bids on the silent auction artwork, and the supporters of creativity raised their paddles during the live auction making it a memorable evening of love and enthusiasm. These are just a few of the photos Chuck Redux had time to snap at the beginning and at the end of the evening...more to come in the next few days.  

First there was peace and quiet as we finished the installation of the Red Dot Auction art.

61 works of art were donated to the Center from over 50 artists from around the country. Thank you all for donating your creativity and talent!

And then it was all over...John Ramirez (l), one of the participating artists,  met up with a friend and artist from Rowland Heights High School, Andrea and her husband, Jeff.

The Center's resident teaching artist, Christopher Scardino (left) with artist Mike Kungl (center; both contributed beautiful works of art to the auction) pal around with art collector Stuart P.(r).

Artist, muralist, and actor, James C. Mulligan (l) with one of the Center's community ambassadors, Linda Krall.

National Sales Director for the Chuck Jones Gallery, Mike Dicken (far left) with his wife, Jamie (2nd from left) and collectors Sandra and Louis L. take a break from discussing all of the art they won in the silent auction. Thank you all for a great evening! We couldn't do it without donors like you.

Pam Marsden, program director for the Center with donor Tom M. compare patterns at the end of the evening.

Did I mention there was a gong? The magnificent, the talented, the beautiful Juliana Hansen takes a swing at our noise-maker. You can catch Juliana at the El Capitan this summer in the theatrical review that opens the new Disney film, "Brave".

Watch this space for more photos and details from last night's gala fundraiser for the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. In the meantime, Chuck Redux is going to go take a little nap and rest his weary bones.  

And many thanks to the hundreds of people who came out last night and declared their support for creativity through their generous donations at both the live and silent auctions--we appreciate you!

The Red Dot Auction: Silent Auction Art Preview

Dear friends, fans, and collectors,

The Red Dot Auction, the spring fundraiser for the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, opens its doors tomorrow night, Friday, May 11, at 6 PM, inaugurating the Center's new space at 3321 Hyland Avenue, Costa Mesa, California. Be there or be square.

You can preview the silent auction art by going to this page on the blog. These are a few of the recent additions to the auction:

Untitled-48

Untitled-50

Untitled-53

Everyone at the Center is looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night!

Looney Tunes: Chuck Jones, The Mouse Chronicles to Be Released this August

On 8/28/12, Warner Home Video will release "Looney Tunes: Chuck Jones Mouse Chronicles", a 2-disc Blu-ray set featuring 19 classic cartoons. There is no word yet on pricing or special features, but reportedly, it will have special material. The included shorts: (all directed by Chuck Jones) - Naughty But Mice (1939) - Sniffles - Little Brother Rat (1939) - Sniffles - Sniffles and the Bookworm (1939) - Sniffles - Sniffles Takes a Trip (1940) - Sniffles - Egg Collector, The (1940) - Sniffles - Bedtime For Sniffles (1940) - Sniffles - Sniffles Bells the Cat (1941) - Sniffles - Toy Trouble (1941) - Sniffles - Brave Little Bat, The (1941) - Sniffles - Unbearable Bear, The (1943) - Sniffles - Lost and Foundling (1944) - Sniffles - Hush, My Mouse (1946) - Sniffles - Aristo Cat, The (1943) - Hubie & Bertie - Trap Happy Porky (1945) - Porky Pig - Roughly Squeaking (1946) - Hubie & Bertie ; Claude Cat - House Hunting Mice (1948) - Hubie & Bertie - Mouse Wreckers (1948) - Hubie & Bertie ; Claude Cat - Hypo-Chondri-Cat, The (1950) - Hubie & Bertie ; Claude Cat - Cheese Chasers (1951) - Hubie & Bertie ; Claude Cat Many of these films can be seen at ChuckJonesCenter.org Chuck Jones Filmography.

Source: Toonzone.net

How to Hang Light Fixtures From 17' High Ceilings (or How to Get a Lift Out of Life)

This is Craig Kausen, chairman of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, preparing to install light fixtures at the new (and improved) Center for Creativity in Costa Mesa in advance of next Friday's Red Dot Auction. (That's Friday, May 11th from 6 to 9 PM. You are going to be there, aren't you?)

 

This is Craig Kausen, chairman of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, operating the 'lift' that allows us to install the light fixtures, change lamps, and generally do anything above the 10' level reachable by a ladder. Did I mention we're a week away from the Red Dot Auction? I did, didn't I, but you don't mind hearing it again, do you? 

This is one of the walls after it had been lit by the fixtures that Craig Kausen had installed. He does excellent work, does he not? BTW, the lift is awesome, one of those gagdets that every man (and woman, for that matter) should have in his back pocket (one never knows when one might need a lift, does one?)

The current Chuck Jones exhibition at the Center includes original drawings, watercolors, and production art from Jones's seven decade-long career. It will be on view the evening of Friday, May 11th from 6 to 9 PM at 3321 Hyland Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA which is the evening that the Red Dot Auction will take place. But you knew that. 

Hope to see you then!