Behind the Scenes at Stuart Ng Books: Dreamcon 2016

Dreamcon 2016 was the 9th annual incarnation of this special event: an exclusive art show for artists at Dreamworks Animation Studio. Each year's event has a theme. For 2016, the decor and amenities celebrated 1920s Paris...

The Olive Walk pathway on the Dreamworks campus is where all the artists are set up at tables to display their personal art. Wandering the show is glimpse into deep reservoirs of creative talent. How do they manage to do personal work on top of busy professional lives??

Success at this level takes balance.... focus... and inspiration.

Dreamcon director Angela Lepito and her team put so much work and love into all the details of this event. The artists appreciate it. There's themed food and music. And thanks to Angela, an annual invitation for Stuart. His book booth set-up brings some drawing inspiration with his hand-picked selection of titles for this show.

Here are some of the books Stuart selected to bring for this event.

The show last just one afternoon. This year's show had spectacular weather.

The attention to detail is evident. Gift bags for participating artists have the logo for each year's show and theme-inspired goodies.

The Dreamworks fountain was decorated with Monet-inspired lilies...

Live music...

French pastries...

And of course... all sorts of art and artists...

Familiar faces in the crowd included Chris Ayers http://www.chrisayersdesign.com/

Stuart was able to get out and visit with many exhibitors. Thanks to the hard work of SNB crew manning the book booth: Angela, Ivan, and guest crew member (and recent law school grad) Mary.

I was also wandering... and enjoyed finding art to share here on the blog.. and in cards that I send to my pen pals.

Loved the shapes and impact of these images by Monica Ahanonu http://www.mahanonu.com/

Letter press cards!!! by Melinda Farrar. http://www.melindafarrar.com/

Was happy to find these since I was not able to attend the annual Printer's Fair at the Intl. Printing Museum. http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2015/10/la-printers-fair-2015.html

Resistance is futile when it comes to Sherlock fan art.. this print by Ciera Rose Chamberlin http://cierac.blogspot.com/

Artist Mike Hernandez at his easel, painting of the Dreamworks fountain.

Activity booths included fortune telling... photo ops... caricatures.. and flower arranging..

Greeting cards.. art by Connie Jaio Wong... http://connie-wong.blogspot.com/
featured this image of famous cliff and beach area near SNB/Torrance location.

Stuart stopped by many more tables than me... but we happened to be here at the same time.. enjoying the art of Kelsey Eng. http://www.kelseyeng.com/

And I always enjoy seeing the dragon art of Nicolas Weis http://www.nicolasweis.com/

Best of all.. at this event, he usually has a sketchbook or two on display. Seeing the artists' sketchbooks is a phenomenal privilege.

Dreamcon from last year is where I discovered one of my favorite plush art finds -- the fabulous Huggable Koi of Bonnie Robinson Stewart. https://www.facebook.com/huggablekoi/

Bonnie's quilted plush are epic examples of color and craftsmanship. Her new "black cat" plush were a hit too.

Art and adventure awaited plush art pals Koi #10 and Koi # 22..

First stop, the paper moon photo op...

With the Monet-like lilies in the fountain...

No one can resist a visit to the Dreamworks animation campus koi pond...

Koi #22 (below) is a Star Wars saga inspired piece, created for a film-themed gallery show. He was exhibited there with a Godzilla quilted plush and a koi inspired by the film Grand Budapest Hotel.