Denno’s Museum Center NW Michigan Exhibit
Posted by Troy | Filed under News, Traverse City
I’m lucky to be one of only five artists to have multiple pieces included in the Denno’s Museum Center regional artist showcase.
It was interesting to see the diverse styles represented in the show and wonderful to be among so many talented individuals who call northern Michigan “home” at the opening this past weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: art, Denno's, Traverse City
Breathe Deeply Through the Nose
Posted by Troy | Filed under News
Illustration by Troy DeShano
Tags: holidays, original illustration
Strong Odors Art Exhibit: Opening Party July 16
Posted by Troy | Filed under Art/Design, Beer, News, Traverse City
Illustration by Troy DeShano
I’m excited to announce my exhibit opening at Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City next weekend!
All the work is already up, so you can stop by anytime to check it out, but I’d really love it if everyone could come to the opening next Saturday night!
If you are anywhere near Traverse City or even in Grand Rapids or lower Michigan wondering what to do for fun next weekend you should definitely make the trip up to beautiful Traverse City! Nothing’s better after a long day at the beach or hike along the dunes than a hand-crafted brew from Right Brain Brewery!
My reception will be from 7-9pm so please stop by and say hello and hopefully you or a friend can go home with some radical new artwork for your walls.
TCFF John Huges Posters behind the bar
If you’ve never been to Right Brain then you’ve been missing out! Each beer is hand-crafted with the same kind of TLC that we visual artists know is required to create something that we can be proud of. The atmosphere is really fun and relaxed—way cooler than a bar with no big-screen TVs in sight!
Come support local art and just have an awesome Saturday evening at Right Brain!
Let me know if you can make it by Likeing the event on Facebook.
Here’s the details
Right Brain Brewery July Artist Reception
- Date: Saturday, July 16th
- Time: 7-9pm
- Place: Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City’s warehouse district. (map)
More on Right Brain and the Artist Reception
- RBB’s July Artist Reception announcement
- RBB on Facebook
Never miss out on Strong Odors news!
If you haven’t signed up for my email newsletter yet, do it today. I offer regular contests, giveaways and other big announcements like this one that you’ll never want to miss. Sign up now!
Tags: art, Beer, original illustration, shopping, Traverse City
Osama bin Laden
Posted by Troy | Filed under Culture, News
Illustration by Troy DeShano
“Osama’s parents divorced soon after he was born; Osama’s mother then married Mohammed al-Attas. The couple had four children, and Osama lived in the new household with three half-brothers and one half-sister.”
“Mohammed bin Laden (his father) was killed in an airplane crash when his American pilot misjudged a landing.”
“Osama believed that only the restoration of what he believed to be true religion would ‘set things right,’ and that alternatives such as —’..socialism and communism..’—must be opposed.”
“He also called on Americans to ‘reject the immoral acts of fornication (and) homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury,’”
Tags: current events, Faith, fundamentalism, Islam, politics, strong odors
“Amazing” Won’t Do
Posted by Troy | Filed under News
illustration by Troy DeShano
Ok. I’m back from Africa and have spent the whole week trying to write. A few of my best attempts have resulted in idiotic and cheezy half-paragraphs that contain the word “amazing” at least once per sentence. This is especially discouraging since “amazing” is one of those words that I generally try to avoid altogether…
Most attempts at writing this week are basically me staring at the screen and scratching my forehead.
I thought taking it easy during my first few days home would give my mind the time to effectively process and organize all the random thoughts, experiences and odors from two weeks overseas, but unfortunately most of the best stuff ended up stashed away somewhere in my mind where I’m guessing all my repressed memories reside.
Someday in the future I’ll smell burning garbage and it’ll trigger an unrelated but equally encrypted memory of someone pantsing me in the first grade.
So I’m searching for a descriptor superlative enough to describe my 2 weeks in East Africa. “Amazing” just won’t cut it.
It was as expected, such an important experience that I’m having an incredibly difficult time figuring out exactly what about it was so important. Understanding that the rest of the world is not so far away has been a great lesson, as has the first-hand confirmation of what I’ve always believed to be true—that peoples is peoples.
So brace yourself for what may or may not be coherent ramblings of run-ons, fragments and dangling modifiers that will all fail to acceptably deliver anything close to what’s really going on in my spirit right now.
You can also see more detailed daily activity recaps and photos from the trip on my Africa blog.
Tags: Africa, original illustration
I’m Going to Africa
Posted by Troy | Filed under News, Travel
So you may have noticed things have been a little sparse around Strong Odors lately…
It’s practically excruciating sometimes to ignore the blog, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do (or whatever).
Besides working on a variety of graphic design projects, I put together my first set of limited edition prints for a local art/crafts fair. It was a great learning experience and I was so lucky to have a friend walk me through some of the steps that were terrifying to me (ordering frames, for example).
I’ll have those prints available to purchase online soon (I actually have some right now… just email me if you want details), but I’ve been putting my energy into another project over the past week.
I’m going to Africa.
About two years ago, a missions team from our church returned from a trip and shared their stories in the Sunday morning service. I can’t really describe the feelings that I was experiencing, but right then I knew that I would have to go on one of the trips.
This February is the first time since then that my friend Dave (who also happens to be National Director of Christ’s Hope International) is taking a team back to Africa, and I’m going to be there with my sister and a handful of other folks from around Michigan.
I created a new website to spread the word and to try to raise some funds (I need to raise $3,500 in support to cover my expenses). I’ll also be blogging over there some of my reasons for going, my goals for the trip, information about the places and people to whom I’ll be serving, etc.
Please check it out, pray for me as I prepare to go and consider making a contribution.
Stay Up-to-Date
I’ll be posting updates about the trip via Twitter and Facebook. So follow me there and encourage your friends to do the same.
Tags: Africa
Taking a Work Break
Posted by Troy | Filed under News
I’m taking the week “off” for “work.”
Actually got some really great projects going right now, including something super-cool for the Traverse City Film Festival. The event starts in a week, so I’m putting in extra time (which means no time for Strong Odors.)
Which stinks because I’ve got cool stuff to share that’ll have to wait.
Check out some of this recent stuff you may have missed:
- Across the U.P. illustrations “Dogg” and “Smoking the Gun”
- All of the Self Project so far. (Kind of cool to see them all together)
- Goat Cheese Stuffed Burger with Traverse City Cherry Slaw
- Jump in the conversation with me and Thunderbeardo
- Robot Wolf-Tiger from Outer Space
Tags: original illustration
Fat Back
Posted by Troy | Filed under News
I’ve been distracted by real work this week.
I’m back now.
If you haven’t been following these series, today’s a great chance to get caught up:
Or go back and reminisce with some of my favorite tags:
Or check out my design portfolio… I’ll be releasing a new iPad wallpaper today.
Tags: original illustration
