Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?

With just two days left before the Red Dot Auction, we wanted to share with you the stories of the artists who have donated art work (or in some cases, more than one) to this year’s Red Dot Auction. This fundraiser, now in its sixth year, benefits the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Today we feature artist Melissa Phillips. Melissa Mae Phillips (a.k.a., The Cheeky Whale) has been painting, illustrating and designing for nearly 20 years.  She currently lives in Utah with her husband and 2 children. She can be reached via her website wwww.thecheekywhale.com or on all social media: @thecheekywhale.

Will you go home with Melissa's donation to this year's Red Dot Auction? (It's beautiful, sweet, and funny BTW.)  Ticket’s available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is now available at Heritage Auctions, click here to place your bids

Which Artist's Work Will You Go Home with at the Red Dot Auction?

With less than two weeks until the Red Dot Auction, we wanted to share with you the stories of the artists who have donated art work (or in some cases, more than one) to this year’s Red Dot Auction. This fundraiser, now in its sixth year, benefits the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Today we feature artist Jeffrey Speiser.Jeff Speiser’s talent for art was recognized at an early age. His kindergarten report card noted that he was the “best male artist in the class.” (Thanks to his mom for holding onto his report cards for all these years). Jeff attended Cornell University where he majored in Film and Animation. During and after college, Jeff worked as an assistant animator and layout artist for Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, MTV Animation and on the Academy Award-nominated short, The Chicken from Outer Space. Today, Jeff continues to work in design and marketing where he has completed projects for brands like Disney, The Walking Dead, Marvel Comics, the NBA, the NFL and more. Jeff lives in Celebration, FL with his wife Julie, son Connor and daughter Willow.

Will you go home with Jeffrey’s work at this year’s Red Dot Auction? Be there to find out. Ticket’s available at ChuckJonesCenter.org/RedDot. Pre-bidding is now available at Heritage Auctions, click here to place your bids.

There Are No Mistakes in Art!

Lessons in Doodling and Art-Making, a Creative Classroom Led by Children’s Book Author (Crankenstein), Writer, and Director (Nickelodeon), Samantha BergerCreative Classroom, a Chuck Jones Center for Creativity Free Event

How great would it be if you never made a mistake? Learn from the creative imagination of children’s book author, TV writer, and director Samantha Berger, that “in art, there are no mistakes” in this Chuck Jones Center-sponsored Creative Classroom. But even if you can’t make a mistake in art, that doesn’t mean discipline isn’t important. In this class, Samantha Berger will show you that creating something every day along with thoughtful doodling will lead you to new discoveries and ultimately to brilliance.

“There Are No Mistakes in Art” will take place on Sunday, January 24 from 2 to 4 PM at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Ave., Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA. It is free and open to the public. Reservations are a must as seating is limited. RSVP to Programs@ChuckJonesCenter.org or by calling 949-660-7793 x 107.

About Samantha Berger

She has written picture books, Crankenstein!, illustrated by Dan Santat (Little, Brown, 2013), A Crankenstein Valentine (Little Brown, 2014), Witch Spa, illustrated by isabel Roxas (Dial, 2015) and Snoozefest, illustrated by Kristyna Litten (Dial, 2015).

She has also written picture books like Santa’s Reindeer Games, illustrated by John Manders (Cartwheel, 2011), Martha Doesn’t Share and Martha Doesn’t Say Sorry, illustrated by Bruce Whatley, (Little, Brown, 2009, 2010), which won a Parent’s Choice Award Honor.

Samantha has also written cartoons and promos for Nickelodeon and other networks along with comic books, commercials, movie trailers, theme songs, slogans, magazine articles, poems, TV-books, sticker books, and professional books. You name it, Sam writes it.

And when she ISN’T WRITING….She’s doing voice-overs, traveling the world, and helping rescue dogs.

About Creative Classrooms and the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

Would you plant a garden, then not water it? At the free Creative Classrooms offered by the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity children and adults will have the opportunity to tend and nurture their creative garden. Recent scientific research has found that when you activate an area of the brain it works like a muscle; it gets bigger and functions more efficiently. And MRI studies have revealed that creative activity activates more brain areas than just about any other kind of activity. Like fertilizing and watering the plants in your garden, engaging in creative processes, whether artistic or scientific, allows your creativity to blossom and grow strong.

Author and illustrator of the enormously popular “Louise Loves Art”, Kelly Light, led the first Creative Classroom in February 2015. A fan and devotee of all things Chuck Jones, it was through a chance encounter with Jones in the late 1990s that led Light to really focus her energies on the work that made her most happy: writing and illustration. “In less than 10 minutes with Chuck Jones, he made me realize that creating was most important to me and that in order to be successful at it, I had to find a way to make it my life,” said Kelly Light.

“The Creative Classroom” workshops, currently scheduled one each quarter, offer children and adults alike, a safe and nurturing platform for exploring and exercising their creative muscles,” said Craig Kausen, chairman of the Center and Chuck Jones’s grandson. “We are at a critical turning point in our economy, from a manufacturing to a service economy and what business leaders are looking for in new hires is the ability to think creatively. One in six new jobs being created in California today is in the creative industries.”

The goal of the Creative Classroom workshops offered by the Chuck Jones Center is to encourage students to find within themselves a world where the laws of gravity don’t apply; a world where the space-time continuum can be altered; a world where they’re in control to break the rules. Imagine then, applying that kind of creative thinking to everyday life. How would they solve the problem if they weren’t constrained by rules, expectations, and assumptions that are imposed on us and we impose on ourselves? 

Besides children’s book author and illustrator, Kelly Light, other Creative Classroom leaders have been award-winning actor and children’s book illustrator, Richard Kinsey; and creator of the syndicated daily comic, “Rubes”, Leigh Rubin. After Samantha Berger, the next Creative Classroom will be led by Melissa Northway in April 2016, author of the “Penelope the Purple Pirate” series of children’s books.

The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is a 501(c)3 public charity located at 3321 Hyland Avenue, Suite A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 in the hip new meeting place for unique shopping and fine dining, South Coast Collection (SoCo). For more information on these and other programs offered by the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, visit ChuckJonesCenter.org.