Light Grey Iceland Residency 2019: Team Minke
August 7th - August 12th, 2019

The Light Grey Iceland Residency Program: Team Minke includes a diverse group of concept artists, photographers, visual development artists, art directors, and more. Team Minke residents are from various cities around the United States, Philippines, and Malaysia.

Throughout the program, artists will adventure through The West Fjords of Iceland, visiting some of the most active, geothermal, and remote locations. The day excursions include hikes around boiling mud pots, sleeping volcanoes, basalt caves, geothermal pools and more.

Read more about our 2019 artists-in-residence teams below:

Team Minke: Kamille Areopagita, Brandon Bird, Melissa Gay, Shof Coker, Charis Loke, Faith Schaffer, Austin Reinkens, Casey Stone-Pirrie.

Kamille Areopagita
Cainta, PHL
Website
 

Kamille Areopagita, is a fun-sized illustrator and animator based in the Philippines. She works freelance creating illustrations for games and exhibits, concept art for film, games and animation, and animations for different shows and products. In her own time, she loves to watch shows and movies, write, exercise, cuddle with her dogs, eat steak, and play with her dogs. She always has a project or three in the works and always wants to be doing something, with a few lazy, self-care days interspersed in between.

‘I'm looking forward to jumping way out of my comfort zone traveling to this far, far land, and meeting and learning from the unique farrago of experiences and insight from creatives from their own far, far lan

Brandon Bird
Los Angeles, CA
Website
 

Brandon Bird is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work blends humor, pop culture, and high concepts. Originally from Sacramento, he earned his degree from UC Santa Cruz and spent two years as an artist-in-residence at Cornell. A collection of his work, "Brandon Bird's Astonishing World of Art" was published in 2013 by Chronicle Books.

‘I'm looking forward to crawling around on rocks and getting rained on and in general being challenged to leave my comfort zone and do things I do not normally do.’

Austin Reinkens
Pasadena, CA
website

Austin is a Pacific Northwest born and raised designer/animator, who is currently based in Southern California. After graduating with a degree in Animation, he began working as a Color Stylist and Character Designer for Warner Brothers and Dreamworks TV. In his personal work he often pulls inspiration from myths and legends from around the world, for the characters he designs and the stories he tells. Recently he has started to dip his toe into the worlds of comics and VR, exploring new ways to tell stories, beyond his go to of animated film/tv.

Shof Coker
Encinitas, CA
Website
 

Shof is an illustrator/art director born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He attended the Memphis College of Art and graduated with a BFA in illustration in 2009. Currently, he works as an  Art Director at Jam City, San Diego.

Previously, he's worked in Chicago, Seattle and San Diego for Activision and Sony as a character designer. Recently, he art directed the 2017 award winning animated documentary, "Liyana." In his spare time, he plays soccer and draws sci-fi comics such as "Outcasts of Jupiter" with his brother.

‘Looking to be humbled by sprawling primordial landscapes. Hopefully swap some knowledge, stories and rich experiences with good artist folk.’

Charis Loke
Penang, MY
Website
 

Charis Loke is an illustrator and educator based in Penang, Malaysia. Drawing upon literature and visual culture, she makes pictures that evoke wonder and curiosity, depicting fictional worlds and current issues with a deft combination of traditional and digital media. Her work has been recognised by the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, 3x3 Magazine, and exhibited in the US, UK, Nepal, and Malaysia. As a member of Arts-ED, Charis works on community arts and culture education programmes for youth.

‘Seeing with new eyes, soaking in conversations and ideas, creating in a completely new and unfamiliar landscape.’

Melissa Gay
Nashville, TN
Website
 

Melissa Gay is a Nashville-based illustrator of books and tabletop roleplaying games whose client list includes Baen Books, Llewellyn Worldwide, Hay House, Apex Press, and many, many game companies. Her Imaginative Realist work has been featured in ImagineFX Magazine, io9, tor.com, and several of the Infected By Art anthologies. She is co-founder of the Bird Whisperer Project, a member of the Changeling Artist Collective, and is on the moderating team of the art business group One Fantastic Week. Her passion projects include sci-fi sumi ink painting and her acrylic space paintings, which have met with international success, and the Association of Science-Fiction and Fantasy Artists recently honored one of her paintings with the Chesley Award for best gaming-related illustration.

‘I cannot wait for those all-day hikes, and for the art they will inspire! This may sound weird, but the thing I’m most looking forward to is the smell of the earth and air— it’s different in different places, and to me is one of the most visceral keys to feeling present in a new location! Here’s to adventures with new friends in an old land!’

Casey Stone-Pirrie
Burbank, CA
Website
 

Casey is a New England raised, Los Angeles based artist with a BFA in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. He currently works as a Background Painter and Color Designer at Rough Draft Studios, working on Disenchantment for Netflix. He focuses primarily on digital paintings, with an emphasis on environments. When he has time, he also frequently works in gouache and watercolor.

‘I'm looking forward to exploring and painting the local landscape with a great group of artists!’

Faith Schaffer
Burbank, CA
Website
 

Faith is a background designer working in animation. Her most recent credit is for Matt Groening's Disenchantment seasons 1 and 2. She enjoys petting cats, collecting vintage perfume bottles and eating desserts.

‘I'm excited to meet other creatives and have a moment to reflect in a beautiful new space.’