“OnGray was a project that developed simply from the desire to do something random and creative with friends.” – Dave Delnea

Creative collaboration is a huge part of Delnea’s work. As a photographer and creative director he’s one of those true creatives, a real artist that loves playing and working hard at his craft. I’ve known Dave for about a year now and I can honestly say he’s brilliant, a real creative visionary. What stands out to me is that he doesn’t create in isolation – he’s always looking around to find collaborators.

The original concept behind OnGray was that Dave would get a few friends together and shoot a few pictures in front of a gray backdrop. It turns out a little vision goes a long way. As the idea developed it started to take on a bit of a vintage feel and soon involved stills, motion and a cast/crew of about 14 people. Dave’s posted the images in his Project Portfolio and there’s a fun behind the scenes video below too. I was involved at a production level – I’m the dork int he blue stripped sweater.

What I love about being around Dave is that he craves creative experiences in community. He’s passionate about getting to hang out with fun and brilliant creative people, being inspired by people with skill sets completely different from his own, and to be part of creating something that’s beyond what he ever could have come up with himself. If that doesn’t deserve a CREATIVEMIX shout-out I don’t know what does. You might remember Dave from last year’s CREATIVEMIX – he hosted the Photographer’s Den in the Exhibition. If you weren’t there then you have no idea what I’m talking about – but don’t feel bad. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, know what I mean, eh? eh?.

Posted by: Corwin Hiebert

A hipster bomb went off in Mount Pleasant! Oh man – the Tangents Art Show was tonight and it was a major hit! Great art, killer DJ, wicked room (Lifetime Space) all brought to you by Jeff Hamada (Booooooom.com) and the Lifetime Collective. We ran into some CREATIVEMIX peeps (like Dave Delnea) and enjoyed the commute to/from (a brisk walk just 5 blocks from our pad). Groovy Friday night out.

Posted by: Corwin Hiebert