Daily Zoo Book Signing - Minneapolis!

I'll be heading home for the holidays and will be having a book signing for the hot-off-the-press Daily Zoo: Year Two.







When: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6-10pm
Where: The Ayers Residence
4000 18th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407

I will have both volumes of The Daily Zoo available for purchase as well as notecards (great stocking stuffers!) and perhaps a few prints.

All are welcome. Hope you can make it!

The Daily Zoo: Year Two...a sneak peek

Here are a few images from the new Daily Zoo to whet your appetite. The books should be arriving any day now...

The Gifted Artist Show

This Saturday, December 19, 2009, I'll be participating in The Gifted Artist Show in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. It's a charity art show and auction to benefit the Loma Linda Children's Hospital. Artwork by many talented friends and colleagues will be on display and up for bid. I'll be telling the story of The Daily Zoo and my battle with cancer - I think around 8pm - and have copies of the just-published Daily Zoo: Year Two available for purchase and signing. Additionally, if you bring an unwrapped toy you will be entered in a drawing for prizes.

Come for some fun and to help out a great cause!

Saturday, December 19, 2009
5pm - 10pm
CCAA Museum of Art
12467 Baseline Road
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729
www.giftedartist.blogspot.com

See the flyer above for a map and a list of participating artists.

The Daily Zoo in Spectrum 16

Last spring, I was thrilled to learn that two images from The Daily Zoo had been selected for inclusion in the latest volume of Spectrum, the annual compilation of some of today's top sci-fi and fantasy art. Good news: Spectrum 16 just hit bookshelves and is another fine collection of some amazing work by many talented individuals. If you're not familiar with Spectrum and you like dragons, femme fatales, and big kick-ass robots, you should do yourself a favor and check it out.

My thanks to the jury for including images from The Daily Zoo and also to editor Arnie Fenner for including a mention in his Year in Review essay: "The Daily Zoo: Keeping the Doctor at Bay with a Drawing a Day by Chris Ayers [Design Studio Press] was an inspirational, often hilarious chronicle of defiance as Chris battled leukemia by drawing a new creature everyday for a year."

The Daily Zoo: Year Two...cover revealed!

It's official. The follow-up to last year's Daily Zoo - Vol. 1 has gone to press and will hopefully be available in early to mid-December. After completing my initial goal of drawing an animal a day for a year, I kept right on drawing on Day 366. The Daily Zoo: Year Two continues the journey with another year's worth of armadillos, babirusas, and zombie frogs along with further commentary on my artistic process as well as more reflections as I continue to learn what it means to be a cancer survivor. To whet your appetite, here's a look at the cover.

The Daily Zoo on Exhibit

Greetings all! Forty-five prints from the first two years of The Daily Zoo are now on exhibit at the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries on the Saint Mary's University main campus in Winona, MN. I'm exhibiting with the talented sculptor Maureen Costa and the show runs through November 11, 2009. The gallery is open from 9am-8pm, M-F and is free and open to the public.

I will also be signing books at a gallery reception on Friday, Nov. 6 from 4-6pm. This is also open to the public. If you're in the area with time to kill, please stop by and say hi.

More info on the event can be found on Saint Mary's blog here.

Next Day Flyers Blog Interview

(Yes, yes, I know. I'm one of the worst blog-posters...at least in terms of frequency.)

Next Day Flyers is a printing company here in Southern California that I use for my Daily Zoo promotional materials and greeting cards. They also recently started a blog with periodic design tips, tutorials, and resources. One of their newest features is that they spotlight various artists from time to time. Last week they were kind enough to feature me and The Daily Zoo. Please check out the interview if you're interested. My thanks to Karen Daniels and the Next Day Flyers team!

Time to once again return to blog-hibernation...but hopefully not for too long.