Name: Brent Lindsey

Age: 12

Hometown: Sachse, TX

We met Brent back in March at the Vinyl Thoughts Art Show in Dallas, TX. He was showcasing his very first custom Munny and we were so impressed that one of our team members purchased the piece. We thought that Brent was a pretty cool guy, so we wanted to introduce him to you and let you know more about him.

Brent’s created Sackboy (from the videogame Little Big Planet) at his school’s Vinyl Exams weekend workshop.

Aaron Brothers (AB): How long have you been making art? 

Brent Lindsey (BL): I’ve always loved to draw. But just started clay and Vinyl this year.  

AB: When or how did you get into Munnys? 

BL: My art teacher The Sanders showed me Munnys and they caught my interest. 

AB: Are you working on any new ones right now? 

BL: I just finished a piece for Jr  VASE. 

AB: Can you tell us the theme?

BL: “the everything” is a painting where I basically just painted what I saw in my classroom. 

AB: What are your other hobbies?

BL: Baseball

AB: What’s something cool you’re going to do this summer?

BL: Taking a trip to Colorado with my family.

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We’re also excited to be partnering with Brent’s teacher, artist Mr. The Sanders in his effort to bring art to our schools and to get families involved in art together. His second Vinyl Exams workshop is scheduled for July 23 in Garland, TX.

In MUNNYWORLD you can do anything you want! Now is your chance to Make It Your Own and enter it in the worldwide competition taking place on the Kidrobot Facebook page, just click on the special Custom Contest tab. You can start uploading your creations now through May 31. Enter any size MUNNYWORLD figure as many times as you would like. All winners, other than People’s Choice, will be chosen by a Kidrobot panel. Share your work, check out what other people are doing, vote for your favorite design and win some awesome prizes!

For more information on on the Munny World contest, check out Kronikle, the Kidrobot blog.

*This promotion is in no way sponsored or administered by Aaron Brothers.*

We’re excited to announce that Aaron Brothers won the International Art Materials Association (NAMTA) Business Innovation Award for our work on last summer’s Artrageous campaign.The program was a collaborative effort between Aaron Brothers and some of the leading art supply brands on the market. Working together we brought a new style of art to many of our loyal customers and brought in all new customers by embracing the art that they love.

We brought great new products into our store including items from Montana, Copic, KidRobot and Crescent. We staged 3 live art events in San Diego, San Francisco, and Austin, TX. And, we had many great submissions to our Black Book Challenge contest.

This award is the result of a lot of hard work from people throughout our organization, our great partners, and our customers.

We want to share our gratitude to all of you who shopped in our stores, came to our live events, and participated in the Black Book Challenge Contest. Thanks so much!

A special thank you to our generous customers and our field for making our 4th Annual Great Frame Trade-In a huge success. This year we donated over 12,000 frames to Habitat for Humanity and other charities. These frames will be re-purposed and used to decorate countless homes. By trading in your frames we beautify our community and the planet! 

This year, our corporate team partnered with Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity for an extra special event. Habitat selected a family to whom we awarded a special prize package. We created a designer wall of frames from our “trade-ins,” plus custom framed family photographs to create a home full of love and memories.  Debra Gloria donated a family photography session. Thank you Debra for your special gift!

Again, thank you for making the world more beautiful – one frame at a time!

Aaron Brothers team painting frames. It was a little windy, but we powered through.

We primed our frames then painted them with “Marble” color Montana Gold.

Frames in progress.

Hard at work cleaning and prepping.

The homeowner already had these great stencils on the wall. We incorporated them into the design.

Finished wall.

Metropolitan frames from Aaron Brothers.

Our custom framing master, George, put together a great piece as the anchor of this wall collage.

Our good friend Tim Holtz has a unique, online educational experience coming up soon. Watch the video and then sign up here.

Over the past four years, Aaron Brothers’ Great Frame Trade-In event has collected 22,000 frames for charity. This year our GFTI goal will be our biggest to date: 17,000 frames. This is an opportunity for our customers to do good for the environment, do good for others, and get a great deal for themselves. You are in invited to bring in used frames – in any condition – and receive a coupon to use on your in-store purchase. Old frames that are still usable will be donated by Aaron Brothers to local charities.

*Dates:* Sunday Feb 26 – Saturday April 14, 2012 

*Offer:* Bring in any used frame to receive a coupon for: $5 off any regular priced frame of $19.99 or less – or – $10 off any regular priced frame of $20 or more.

*Beneficiary:* Our primary beneficiary of donated frames will be the local chapters of Habitat for Humanity, Intl.

*About Habitat:* Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found new hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem - decent housing for all.

Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 400,000 houses, sheltering more than 2 million people worldwide.

Aaron Brothers proudly carries products from Canson, a worldwide leader in fine papers and art supplies. They recently launched a new website (CansonStudio.com)that we are excited to share with you.

Canson Studio allows art enthusiasts, art students, creative minds, and professional artists to learn about its wide variety of fine art papers as well as paint and color products.

Canson Studio is a place in which artists can find everything for their everyday artist needs whether it be paper, pads, paint, pastels, sketchbooks, or digital fine art paper. Artists can find their favorite must-have items and discover how a wide range of art products work together to achieve a wide range of techniques and artist work.

Canson Studio allows users to:

• Choose and select material from a wide selection of products through the e-catalog.

• Access a unique “Tips & Techniques” platform for informational tips on product usage, and gather advice from experts.

• Learn more about favorite brands, check out new products, and create a login so site visitors can select their list of products in which can be printed and brought to their nearest art store.

• Compare up to 3 products at once based off of features such as color, grammage, technique, and mediums used.

Read part one of our article with Artist of the Month, Paul Sirmon, here.

How did you get started customizing vinyl toys?

A few years ago I found out about vinyl toys. I can’t even remember now what the first thing I saw was. It was probably a Kid Robot something or other. Then I found out about people customizing the blanks and I had to get in on that deal. So I bought a bunch of blanks of varying styles. I didn’t do anything with them for the longest time. I was afraid to mess them up. The blanks are beautiful by themselves and I have a fear of making something worse than before I started. Eventually I worked up the nerve to start. I did a few that I’d never show anyone. Next I did a couple for friends and recently had some in a show. It’s super addicting and I’m now working on pieces for a second show.

How would you describe your style?

I struggle with style. I don’t think I’ve really got one. It’s funny because I want some of my graphic design interests to spill over into my toy design, but it hasn’t quite gotten there yet. So far I’ve just tried to represent things/styles that interest me. I like to find a single idea or theme and really drive that. Plus I think people identify with things they recognize. So it’s worked out great so far that things that interest me also connect with other people. Another thing is that I obsess over detail. That can easily be a fault, but I get excited about subtle detail. A little thing that can push a design or art piece to the next level. Something that a casual viewer won’t notice, but someone will. And then we kind of share an inside joke. Kind of like the butt crack on Eddie the Yeti I recently did.

What are your influences?

Robots, squids and zombies, oh my. Basically if I can make an undead mechanical tentacle look cool then that’d be the trifecta of success. Also Victorian and Art Deco styles influence me. Oh and anything post-apocalyptic interests me. I like old analog electronics and things that are made with artistry. And apparently I like sentence fragments and rambling.

Is there anyone whose artistry you look up to or are challenged by?

I’m a huge fan of Ashley Wood, Brian Despain and Travis Louie, just to name a few.

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Paul created the amazing Mega Munny pictured here for our Frosty Friends event in November. You can see more of his work here and here.

We’re excited to be working with custom toy designer Paul Sirmon this fall. Paul is designing one of three 20” Mega Munnys that are being given away to three lucky customers who attended our Nov 5 Frosty Friends events. We picked Paul’s brain to try and figure out where he gets those wonderful toys.

Where are you from?

I’m from Texas. Originally from Amarillo, my wife and I moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 2003.

How did you get started in art?

I’ve always been an artist of some sort. I loved to draw as a kid, but I was also very good at math. So that meant I needed to be an architect or engineer and that’s just what I drove toward. I spent my junior high days drawing metal band logos on book covers and denim jackets for my friends.

In college I decided I didn’t want to spend so much time in architecture school so I needed a change. I wanted to work with letters and type so someone told me about the glorious job of graphic design. So that’s what I did next. I’ve been a designer for over 15 years now.

What keeps you engaged and passionate about your craft?

I see bad design and ugly things every day. It offends me to see things that don’t enhance our lives. So I take it as a personal responsibility to beautify this place as much as I can. Also I just can’t not think of things I’d like to see and therefore create. My mind doesn’t stop. It’d be nice if it did sometimes. Then I could take a vacation. Fortunately I enjoy art/design so much that my hobby is my job. It’s just a part of me. I can’t separate me from them.

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Stay tuned for part two of our interview with Paul Sirmon and follow Aaron Brothers on Facebook to watch all three Frosty Friends Mega Munnys take shape. See more of Paul’s designs here.