Barnstormers' Leftovers

Location: Cameron, NC
Space: Barns in the great outdoors
May 2011

In 1999, artist David Ellis invited a group of artists to Cameron, North Carolina, a miniscule blip of a farming town out in the country, to paint a group of aging barns. We visited the barns and here are our finds.

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For more on this project, check out "Barnstormers 360," a film featuring sped up footage of several artists painting over twenty murals on one of the barns that was disassembled in Cameron and reassembled at the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC.

Mat Curran

Location: Raleigh, NC
Space: Artist's Studio
June 2011

It's a wonder that it took so long for The Studio Miners to meet Raleigh, NC-based artist Mat Curran when he'd been buzzing around our circle for years - in the same gallery shows and in the same location. It took an art toy sale on ebay to bring us all together and it was fortunate for us because we also wrangled him to be in a show we curated, Locals Only. You'll have seen his stencil work on stickers and in large scale wheat-pastes. The texture he brings to his stencils make for beautifully detailed work. But don't take our word for it, take a look at the photos from his studio below.

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Mat's piece for Locals Only (above)

One of Mat's über large-scale stencils (above)

Mat's recognizable sticker image (above)

A mask Mat made for a Day of The Dead parade

Team Sweet talking with Mat in his studio

A visit to J*RYU's studio

Location: Cary, NC
Space: Artist's Studio
January 2011

J*RYU is one of the most dedicated artists we've seen to date. Once a big time toy collector, he now can claim sculpting and customizing fame within the toy scene and with his work, he'll continue to climb the ranks, pushing the boundaries (see his functional collab with Angry Woebots) and breaking into new genres. This year, he was nominated for Breakthrough Artist and Best Customizer in the 2011 Designer Toy Awards. Although residing in North Carolina, you can usually spot this Army of Snipers artist at shows and cons around the country. We caught up with J*RYU in his studio and in addition to seeing where he works, also caught an eyeful of his toy collection.

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J*RYU hard at work

Part of J*RYU's massive collection of figures

The studio & tools of the trade

"Til The End of the World" - custom Kathie Olivas 'Hazel'

"The place where robots are born"

Chris Ryniak & Frank Kozik

Jeremiah Ketner aka Small and Round

Blue Snorse by Pete Fowler

Sam Flores

JLED

Flying Fortress

Check out more of J*RYU's work on his Flickr page!