RAW Artists Organization is a showcase of various artists from a particular city. It started out on the West Coast and is now on the East Coast and in many cities across the U.S. On Thursday, July 28th, 2011, Raw kicked off its first event in Las Vegas. There were visual artist with magnificent paintings drawings and photography. There were two rock bands; Down the Boulevard and Achilleion, a fashion show, a dance performance and a screening of my short film, “The Octo Circus.” (You Tube)

“The Octo Circus” @ RAW LV

“The Octo Circus” was the first event to take place at 8:45PM. The crowd at Tommy Rockers seemed to really enjoy it. If you missed the screening it was your only chance. There wasn’t time to screen it again. Perhaps it being the first time for RAW in Vegas created some complications. It was a successful screening though. I enjoyed sharing my little Octo Mom spoof with the artists and others. I loved seeing the work of the other artists. And the bands were very good too. Right before I left that night, the drummer for Down the Boulevard shared his appreciation for “The Octo Circus” and love for clowns by showing me a tattoo of a clown that took up most of his back.

If you’re an artist interested in showcasing your work, beware that artists must sell 20 tickets. I’m not a fan of  that, but I went ahead anyway as the exposure is good. So, it really pays to have a local fan-base. A lot of RAW seems to be word-of-mouth as well. I was referred to RAW Vegas by one of the models in the fashion show, Sara Gabriella. (Thanks, Sara!) It’s a tough business and sometimes you need to make sacrifices in order to get to where you need to go. Get your work seen!

My name is Ross H. Martin and I’m a RAW Artist!