samskrits

Yin & Yang

2012-02-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

The Chinese myth of moon & hare, also a wonderful blog by bookbindery mistress and artist Barbara Simler, is one of my favorite myths. Living here in the US we grow up knowing the face of the man in the moon. In Asia it is more common to find the hare in the moon, toiling away, churning the elixir of immortality for the moon goddess Chang'e. I love the idea of the moon having both these sides, one side of the man's face and also the moon rabbit, maybe they're friends and occasionally hang out.

While researching symbols and imagery I came across the counter part to the moon hare which I had never heard of; the three-legged red crow. Together they make the balance of yin yang, commonly represented by the Taijitu symbol which we call the 'yin yang' in the West. The moon hare represents yin or darkness while the three-legged red crow is yang, light. Western culture has assigned 'good' and 'evil' to the black and white of the yin yang but really it represents balance. We can't have light without dark, up without down, hot and cold, etc. opposites that ebb and flow and settle into balance.

The image that I created was a gift for someone dear to me, struggling through a challenging time in my life I was trying to express the idea that opposites attract and can live in harmony though there is a constant give and take.

The folklore isn't accurately represented visually because really the hare is darkness and crow should be red and representing light. For aesthetic purposes and clarity I went with the classic white rabbit in the light and a black crow. In future I think I might try and stay more true to the folklore because presenting an accurate depiction is very important to me.

Hare & Crow (detail)

Hare & Crow

SOPA & PIPA

2012-01-19T09:34:00.002-05:00

The internet is all abuzz with the debate and protesting of SOPA and PIPA bills that the Senate will be voting on this coming Monday. Please watch this video and write and call your Congress, representatives and Senators urging them to vote 'no' on these two harmful pieces of legislation that will ultimately limit our experience of the internet.

Do you really want judges to have the power to determine whether or not your website, social networking or media sharing site is infringing on the entertainment industry? These people should NOT be in charge of policing the internet when they aren't experts. The internet is the only place where we can globally share ideas freely and instantly, let's keep it free.

You can also read a very comprehensive article on both bills at Techdirt here.

*sorry for the video overlap with the side bar, I am not tech-savvy enough to fix the ratio!

Photos & Figuring It Out

2012-01-03T18:16:00.000-05:00

Spent today re-shooting my works and trying to get the best images to show size and texture. I'm enjoying the multi-faceted process and slowing down to do things right. Photography is something I struggle with and I really admire people who express themselves in that media, it doesn't end when the shutter clicks. Selling things online you have to have the best representation of your wares and the only way to do that is with really great, interesting and accurate photos. I'm learning...slowly...baby steps.

Here are a few of my redesigned altarpieces and I think they look pretty rad. The newly added patterns are reflecting the shapes, forms and motions of the images graphically. I really love very simple color schemes there's something to be said for things that are visually quiet.

Tarjani $40

Generosity $40


Varada Mudra $40

After these facelifted pieces are up on the old Etsy I will be turning my attention to a hanging mandala series.

I still really want to do a lovers series too and I got so many responses for suggestions I think I at least need to do one or two couples, there are just so many great stories! I think it would be hilarious to play with the idea of good vs evil too, opposites attract! If you can think of any lovers (or haters) leave suggestions in the comments.

2012 Divine Inspiration

2012-01-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

The past few days have been a creative blur (see previous blog post ritual & sacrifice), I've been having a ton of ideas related to the biznaz side of my creating, side projects, fashion and pushing myself to just DO whatever comes to me with no fear or having to explain why (I do what I want!).

WHAM! this morning I wake up and like a possessed robot I pulled out all my inventory for Etsy and said, "NOPE." and proceeded to 2012-ify all of my collection. Whatever genius has decided to reside upon my head, thank you dear friend for this most productive visit, you can stay as long as you like.

My listings via Etsy are in process of being totally kick-ass, knock your shoes, socks AND pants off! I feel like a total madwoman but it's the best feeling to just be inspired and workandworkandwork until you have achieved your vision. As an artist you have to take the risk, your work is NOT precious it can be created again and again better each time.

Here's to 2012, getting weird, letting go and being completely in the nectar that is creation and inspiration. Get into it people, it might be our last one!

Here are some sneaky peeks at the newly designed stuffs, seriously excited to share this divinely inspired work!

the bunch

so fresh

so clean

Are you psyched? I am!

Ritual & Sacrifice

2011-12-31T20:18:00.001-05:00

I am welcoming the New Year and with it so many many exciting possibilities and projects! I had a wonderful few days off with my lovely family.

This holiday I received an unexpected gift from the Universe, a pristine pheasant carcass! This pheasant was killed by an owl in nature, no animals were harmed in the making of this post.

Inspired by a bit of silliness and the urge to dress up in ridiculous garb and make-up I photo-documented the plucking of my beautiful bird as an homage to death metal and satanic sacrifice. So, as a disclaimer: I am NOT a Satanist, nor do I condone ritualistic slaughter of animals unless it is a part of YOUR culture and rituals in which case you probably do not have the Internet.

I listened to Mastodon Blood Mountain while taking these photos, I suggest you do while looking at them. Listen to it on Spotify!

the 'sacrifice'

the get up

the make-up

the fruits of my labor

Pets & Portraits

2011-12-21T19:03:00.003-05:00

Pet portraiture is one of things that I would really love to do more often. People LOVE their pets, I know because I have two cats and they're way cooler than you (except when they barf on my stuff).

So, below is my first pet portrait commission: Lulu.

I worked within the same parameters as my other altarpiece book forms. The portrait is an original ink drawing and I hand-patterned the paper with a dog silhouette stencil I made and colored in with Derwent colored pencil in gray-blue.

Want an altarpiece of your pet? Get at me through my Etsy: Samskrits

"Lulu"


image size is 3.5"x5"

original photo

Channukahmas: How We Halvsies Do It Part Deux

2011-12-21T16:31:00.001-05:00

So, today is the first day of Hannukah, I think? I could never really figure it out sometimes with the sundown thing. Last night would have been the first night to light the menorah, which I don't own. I generally line up 9 candles and that's my makeshift menorah. As you can tell if you read my previous 'Part 1' of the holidays in my mixed religion household Christmas was the heavy hitter, for one obvious reason...presents.

Most people think that Hannukah is eight crazy nights of presents being showered upon you...erroneous. When Christmas is the big holiday, in my house at least, we only got one present for Hannukah, maaaaybe two. My most remembered Hannukah gift was a set of personalized pencils with 'Sam' on them, like the ones you would find in a card store near the cash register along with personalized key chains. I think my present the following night might have been a notebook so that I could use said pencils. It was a weird Hannukah.

My brother and I would try to play The Dreidel Game but we would get the rules all mixed up and end up trying to see who could just make the dreidel stay up longest, being the younger I mostly lost at this feat.

So, the first of night Hannukah is the most critical for candle lighting to my Mom. We HAD to do it at least that night. Second and third night usually made it on the list but fourth, fifth and sixth at least one would fall to the wayside and then we tried, sometimes failing, to end strong with seven and eight. I loved lighting the candles. They looked so mysterious being the only light in the kitchen which was always harshly bright white. The soft light would reflect and sparkle off the tin foil underneath the menorah that caught the dripping wax from the drip-less candles. My mom would light the shamash and read the prayer on the back of the Hannukah candle box with one eye as she covered her face. I liked to arrange the colors of the candles so that none repeated. I also liked to pick off the dried wax from the menorah and see how big of a chunk I could get at once, it's the simple things.

We ate Bubbe's latkes and had matzoh ball soup if the whole family got together. I made latkes once with my Bubbe which resulted in a lot of smoke and my mother being upset at the smell and mess being made in her kitchen. I couldn't handle the smell but my Bubbe was so bent on sharing her tradition with me that when I threw up I couldn't bring myself to tell her how sick it was making me feel...Jewish guilt is killer.

Even though our traditions are kind of half-ass, they are ours and I think that's what it's all about. Hannukah is eight days to really remember the miracles, big and small, that happen in our lives and honor them. Holidays get so trite with presents, money and consuming what we don't need or sometimes even want (looking at you Christmas sweater from Grandma). Why can't we just get together with our loved ones, our families both blood and extended to take time together? Can't we get back to a simpler time when the holiday was meant to celebrate each other?

This year I donated to the Heifer Project in my family's name, you should too, they are an amazing organization that helps families and villages in the world to sustain themselves

Heifer.org

Chrismakkuh: How We Halvsies Do It Part 1

2011-12-17T17:50:00.001-05:00

I grew up in a mixed religion home, my dad was Methodist and my mom is Jewish. It made for some long winded explanations come holiday time of the year. I had to explain that we had a tree AND we lit the menorah, but no, we didn't get presents for 9 days, we did sometimes eat a Christmas ham we also spun the dreidel, ate chocolate in the shape of coins and definitely wrote a Christmas list to Santa.

I always loved picking out the Christmas tree it was my favorite thing about the holidays. The smell of the pine trees as we walked around the lot of Ging's Family Nursery searching for THE TREE. My mom and I always wanted the fat round tree and my Dad and brother wanted the tallest. When we finally settled on our Douglas fir I would be fascinated as the college kid, home on winter break, would casually wrap up our tree and help my Dad strap it to our car. We would drive our fresh smelling tradition home. One step closer to presents, hot chocolate, egg nog and no homework.

The tree would live in our garage the piney scent replacing the oily smell of baseball mitts and tools until my Dad decided that it was ready to decorate. The decorating of the tree was a HUGE event because it meant crossing the border into the "Dead Room". Most families have a living room in which they, well, Live in. My family has a dead room. The only time we are allowed to occupy the most central room in our home is during a special occasion such as a major holiday. At these times proper behavior must always be observed and if you messed up the vacuum lines in the carpet you should at least try and push them back in place before mom noticed.

The Decorating of the Tree meant that we were allowed passage into the dead room and not only that, we could sit on the couches and even make (somewhat) of a mess. In turn my mom got to assault us with the same Manheim Steamroller and Kenny G Christmas tapes.

It begins with my brother putting the lights IN the tree, not on ON...in. It does look really nice but he is rabid about doing it correctly. It's best to let him do this process alone so as not to get blamed for making the lights blink or go out or being set with the task of finding the one. bad. light. on the whole. effing. strand. Once the tree is properly lit from WITHIN we commence with adding the ornaments. Boxes pulled down from the attic are sifted through and there is much nostalgia shared. My dad would pull out every single ornament and go, "AAaah! I remember this!"

A place for every ornament and every ornament in it's place, the matching reindeer always go on the bottom of the tree, the pink and blue frosted ornaments always at the top but not the tippy-top that is reserved for The (golden) Angel who shares her place with a Star of David my brother made eons ago.

My side of the tree is the left, full of years of angels and ballerinas made at church bazaar craft fairs sent from my grandparents, while my brother has the right side full of bears, Scooby Doo and fishing related ornamentation. Wildcards like shiny glass ball ornaments and things that have been around so long we don't know whose they are can go anywhere, as long as it doesn't drag down the branch and cover up another ornament (especially if it's one of my brother's).

On this night my brother and I would get one more ornament to add to the years of collected memories, one more to place on our stalwart tree's branches and our tree always withstood it all. Finally, the silver garland to wrap it all up in shine. Then we sat on the couch opposite our creation, turned off the lights and turned on our tree. To the collective sounds of 'Oooooh' and 'Aaaah', we basked in the glow of ever growing Christmas cheer.

Haste Makes Waste

2011-12-07T22:19:00.001-05:00

Being an artist it's unavoidable that you will make waste, I have so many little pieces of scrap paper, bits and bobs, odds and ends. I love being able to conserve it all and put them together as little beautiful Frankensteins. Sometimes I think they come out better than my conceived and executed ideas!

Illuminati Enneagram

The enneagram is a symbol that represents the up and downs of life. Encompassed by the circle, life goes cyclically and in a constant wave of ups and downs, without the down times we wouldn't appreciate the times we are blessed with abundance, security and comfort.

This particular image is quite personal to me. The bleeding all-seeing eye of the Illuminati stares out from within the ups and downs of life, the blood dripping onto a fully blossoming rose. Someone was taken from me just as I was coming into myself as a person and being catapulted into accepting this loss I clearly saw both myself and the natural cycle of life, it's hard, frustrating, trying but we move onward and in its ugly times; there is beauty.

Star of David

From something heavy to something pure pattern and getting lost in the details. I get so caught up in the line work and pattern, it's euphoric and meditative to noodle away at it. I was inspired by the rose windows of Catholic churches, mandalas and the beauty in symmetry.

P.S. made my first Etsy sale and I can't say how elated I am! :0)

Treasured

2011-12-01T18:43:00.001-05:00

I curated my first Etsy Treasury list today! I really love seeing what people are crafting, finding, re-purposing and sharing within the Etsy community.

I love the color gray (grey?) and I use it often in my color palettes and especially in my wardrobe which consists mostly of black, gray and brown. I would like to blame this on working in the service industry but I actually just really love neutral tones.

I picked gray as my unifier because it gave me such a broad range of items to look through. It's also the first thing I think of when I want to describe the fast approaching winter. I love the cold colors of the sky, the crispness in the air and the quiet whiteness of the first snow.

Most of the things I picked remind me of winter or they're just really beautiful and I covet them, the holidays approach nearer my friends (hint). My favorite thing I added was 'one gray hair', someone actually is selling this...AMAZING! How could I NOT add this to my list? I beseech you, I had no choice.

Here are a few items and a link to my curated Treasury: Soft Grey Winter

Hand of Glory & 6

2011-11-29T18:23:00.001-05:00

I created 6 more book forms for my Etsy shop. This time I used the paper that I hand patterned from my previous post for my end paper and I think it really is just what this series needed. My favorite piece out of this series is my Harry Potter inspired reliquary!

image size: 3.5"x 5" total size approx. 7"x 5"

In the Chamber of Secrets Harry follows Draco into Borgin and Burkes and encounters the Hand of Glory, a severed, mummified hand that is said to give light only its beholder. A favorite talisman for thieves and other persons of shady reputation Draco uses it to escape the Room of Requirement after using Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. (Haven't seen it? What are you waiting for!) So, enamored as I am with the hamsa symbol I merged the two together to create one creepy image.

Hand of Glory

A few more from my new series, see the rest at my Etsy store: Samskrits


Jewel

Meditation

I've been working with a lot of neutrals, blacks and browns. I did this to keep everything simple at first, not sure where I would want to go after I made the first few book forms. Now that I've made a good amount I think it's time I move forward with some color!

Also, my themes will be expanding, I am (obviously) very interested in the spiritual, symbols, charms and iconography of religions and cultures. I will continue to explore this genre but spiraling out to include more of the occult and mysteries and also some main stream things. I have some really great plans for my next couple of series and I can't wait to share them with everyone!

Pattern & Paper

2011-11-26T16:37:00.001-05:00

For my most recent group of book forms for Etsy I couldn't find the right kind of pattern for my end paper so I patterned and hand painted it myself. It took for-ev-er but it was worth it! Hopefully, as time progresses and I begin to have some small success with my store I will be able to work more and more independently of store bought products. I aspire to be completely self sufficient as far as making my own papers for decorative and drawing purposes. I have a vision of studio with pulp and screens, drying racks and presses (my inner artist is drooling).

the beginnings of my pattern, post gridded

all finished, sorry for the halo effect. the pencil guidelines reflected in the light of the flash.

brand new 6

all the end papers are completely different because they were cut from the larger sheet, it was really awesome pairing them up with their drawing counterparts.

I'm really looking forward to doing more pattern experimenting for my creations so I don't have to rely on the mass marketed patterns in art stores. I try hard to stick to handmade papers usually from Tibet which I find have the most subtle and beautiful textures and patterns but it's not always easy to get the to art store.

Check my Etsy listings to see these guys all set up in a natural environment! Thanks for looking!

Turkey Thursday & Black Friday (& Cyber Monday too)

2011-11-23T22:50:00.001-05:00

I posted a little while ago about a gift I made for Mark before he left for FL for the winter&spring I just added it to my Etsy as an example for a custom option! For the holidays I'm also offering free shipping until the New Year, whaaaat, that's crazy! (I know!) OK I kind of feel a little like a car salesman so I'm going to stop.

Here's some newer pictures of my tiny romantic crafted keepsake as well as the photo I used to paint my little portrait.

This photo is more true to the colors taken in the outdoor natural light

hey!

Wolf & Sheep

2011-11-19T22:57:00.001-05:00

It happens less than I'd like to admit but sometimes I get wrapped up into a beautifully creative mood. Where everything I touch comes together just as I had hoped, words, colors, shapes pour from me and it feels like I'm channeling some unknown muse/genius; the vehicle for their expression.

It happened while I was away in Sarasota very, very late at night while I was trying to work out some emotions. This little thing was born:

I haven't written any prose in such a long time and this just flowed from me, it was very satisfying. The more I read it and want to add to it the more I see how it is expressing very deep emotions from within. Here it is typed out to be read more easily:

This sheep in wolf's clothing.

This skin will protect me.This fur will keep me warm/

These claws will defend me, keep me alive until dawn.

In the forest I will hunt you.

Through the trees I will speed/

Gaining faster ever closer, the space in between.

My desire growing stronger, my manners more weak/

Hunger deepens, but my resolve is meek.

I'm considering adding another stanza but of course the genius has left me so maybe when I am inspired with the Divine Creative presence again I will go back to it.

Watch this fantastic TED talk about genius by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, she is adorably endearing and funny.

Salty Sea & Fine Flour

2011-11-18T18:43:00.001-05:00

Sarasota has been beautiful and warm just like the people I have met here. I've never walked on a beach with sand as fine as flour until now and I don't think I can go back to Long Island's rocky shores ever again. I've been pretty spoiled with food and scenic shoreline vistas. Not to mention the time I got to spend with my favorite, favorite which has been relaxing and perfect. Back to chilly Philly I must go tomorrow morning and back to work!

happyhappy

never nude


hawk brother

I'll be back in February, Sarasota, thanks for having me!

Other than that, I was featured in an Etsy treasury by whitelightproject ! You can view the treasury here. I have a few new prototypes and forms in my mind that will be manifested 3-dimensionally very soon, looking forward to hearing opinions and critiques on them as soon as they are up!

Trips & Trip-ups

2011-11-13T21:51:00.001-05:00

Everything always gets really chaotic all at once! I finally opened the Etsy store only to realize that I have so, so much to learn about making my wares look really appealing. I'm in the process of re-shooting my current works as well as working on some new imagery and prototypes of new forms.

At the same time I thought this would be a great time to try and get my website up and running...I know nothing about websites. BUT my really super awesome friend and photographer Shelby Skumanich does and together we've been trying to install WordPress onto my database with no success. BUT, I know I'll get it soon I think I just have to start all over from scratch. So, samskrits.com will hopefully be live within the next 2 weeks and have something moderately (or fantastically!) interesting on it.

I've been playing with Photoshop to enhance my images and here are some that I treated similarly:

I'm also preparing to leave tomorrow morning for Sarasota, FL to visit my man-love, Mark and try to be productive while being inspired by moderate temperatures and the company of one of my most favorite persons. I will bring you all back a seashell.

Furniture For Sale

2011-11-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

Since I'm poor I'm selling a bunch of my stuff to raise funds for art supplies and also trying to make room for my new fancy acetic lifestyle. So check out my listings on Craigslist if only for the humorous copy ala this dude who was the inspiration for my cavalier attitude, besides that I know I have really nice furniture that pretty much sells itself.

(Come on CL sellers let's spice things up a little bit if you're going to sell that worn out 80's kitchen dinette with chrome details at least entertain your readers.)

Here are the links and also a guide in case you aren't sure if you could use any of my awesome stuff:

If your floor and feet are cold you need a: RUG

If you're standing a lot you probably need: BAR STOOLS

If you're cutting carrots on a cutting board across the sink you probably need a: KITCHEN CART
If all your books, movies and 8-tracks are still in boxes you probably need: BOOKCASES

More Etsy (for your Betsy?)

2011-11-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

More reliquary book forms posted to Etsy today, check em' out! more styles are soon to come as well!

Varada Mudra

Protection

Tarjani

Five For Fighting

2011-11-05T19:10:00.000-04:00

It's taken such a very long time for me to find where my heart lies in this vast world of creating but I have finally rested upon a marriage of book form and original artwork, now it's time to get to work!

I've put up five pieces to my brand new Etsy store: samskrits Go check it out and give me some feedback!

All Seeing Reliquary Book Form

Generosity Reliquary Book Form

Vajra Reliquary Book Form

Hamsa Reliquary Book Form

Illuminated Reliquary Book Form


all gift wrapped up just for you!

Namaste!

The First Eight

2011-11-04T22:34:00.000-04:00

A preview of my reliquary book forms: pocket images of protection, good luck and power. Coming to my Etsy store really soon so check back soon for when they will be available for purchase!

'Vajra'

All (gift)wrapped up

'All Seeing'

'Tarjani'

17 Sacred Mudras

2011-11-03T19:41:00.003-04:00

Embarking on this project of reliquaries I am now starting to ask myself, "What is sacred?"

I have always loved the hamsa. I just traveled to Israel and saw the Sephardic symbol everywhere. It's simple design is beautiful and meaningful, protection and good luck all in one. The hamsa can be found in many religions and cultures throughout the Middle East and also in Christianity. It's folkloric appeal makes it easy to appreciate as a secular as well.

17 drawings of Tibetan Buddhist Mudras

my hamsa! (for Bubbe)

Reliquaries & Keepsakes

2011-10-27T19:05:00.000-04:00

I've always been really taken with religious artwork from The Reformation and Fourteenth and Fifteenth centuries but since I watched all of The Tudors on Netflix a few weeks ago it kind of kicked off a new level of obsession. Which then turned into a bit of Jane Austen obsession as well, (two words: Mr. Darcy) damn you Netflix suggestions. So, when I wanted to make a keepsake for my wonderful man, Mark, who has flown south to Florida for the winter I painted a small self-portrait housed in a tiny reliquary so he doesn't forget the face of his true lady love. The little guy stands on it's own and also can be fastened shut with the twine and button.

7 3/4"x5", bookboard, book cloth, hand printed Japanese paper, oil on canvas, twine, found button

Inspired by this marriage of my two loves; bookmaking and fine art painting. I have dived into a production of a lot more of these with various internal images. Here is a sneak peek of my desk as I'm working on the first set of four!

Until next time friends, namaste!

Deer Witch

2011-10-06T07:49:00.004-04:00

A while ago a friend of mine told me a legend from his area that was about a deer witch, a woman who transformed into a magical white deer. This is my first in-progress portrait of this interesting character.

Upon some (very minimal) research I think he might have mashed up two separate stories, that of 'The White Lady' an apparition who haunts a certain area of Westchester, NY and also the Great White Deer which if you spotted is a sign of great fortune. Either way I think they idea of deers and ladies are always a good combination.

Finish

2011-10-06T07:46:00.003-04:00

The finish for my fuzzy hat self portrait!

I Make Stuff #2

2011-08-19T00:01:00.003-04:00

Recently inspired by belly dancers and gypsies I decided to take one of my Indian wrap skirts and modify it into a gypsy bustle. I used an electric sewing machine for the very first time and really started to wonder why I waited so long to use one...I felt like I had moved out of the Dark Ages.

I Make Stuff #1

2011-08-14T20:16:00.004-04:00

I always have band t-shirts that I love but I never ever wear. Being unemployed is giving me some time to tackle projects I normally don't have time for and try some fabric cutting techniques I've been meaning to use.

Besides that it's just a super dope image The Number 12 Looks Like You is a friend's band that is awesome I definitely didn't want this shirt to waste away in the bottom of my draw. You can check them out here and here and buy their latest album here. I'm happy to say I'm pleased with the way it came out!

Morgen's Durga

2011-08-10T00:31:00.004-04:00

I am lucky to have a dear goddess sister who has given me a lot not only with her friendship but also with her creativity and drive. Besides being an amazing prana-flow yoga instructor under Shiva Ray she also makes beautiful adornments and wares to be found here and here.

She's an amazing force and one day during one of her yoga teachings, on Mother's Day, she spoke about three aspects of the mother-goddess. The three devis Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga. These three aspects are abundance, loving sweetness and strength. Months later an image of this three headed devi came to me and I knew it was meant for Morgen.

Everything in the image has meaning related to these three devis. I'm happy it has a home with a woman who so embodies these traits.

Beth's Munny

2011-08-09T22:58:00.005-04:00

A while back my awesome friends at Hero had a Mobile Munny designing party and while I was semi- pleased with how mine turned out I knew I could make it better (sometimes I choke in front of others). As a parting gift I decided to re-gift my Munny back to Beth and Mark but totally redesigned. This is what was birthed:

New Year, New Post

2011-02-08T19:27:00.003-05:00

This year I'm buckling down and starting to actually work. I've painted more this year than last already, win. These are two paintings I'm working on for the same body of work. Trying to navigate through the details of large scale portrait painting is interesting and a struggle but I'm learning a lot by making a lot of mistakes.

*These are unfinished and really quick photos.

2' x4'

14" x 18"

new painting

2010-10-21T09:14:00.002-04:00

Just started this painting, one layer down now I will begin to push and pull areas of highlight and shadow. This is one of my ideas in my series of paintings called 'Beasts of Burden'. Inspired by the Rolling Stones and Hieronymus Bosch I'm thinking about animals of carrion, women, beasts, melding the two together. How we are pieces of what we carry around with us regrets, questions and the burden of living life and loving. It's the first idea I have felt passionate about since I left school and I hope to see it through. I already have another painting that is mostly done but no one can see until it's finished!

Critiques and questions welcome, please remember though it's only the first layer and there is no light source I am playing with metaphor and theme with this one. Most likely this is just a study for a larger work on the same idea.

Great Art Sale Part II

2010-09-17T12:03:00.006-04:00

Hello All! The second installment of my great art sale!

All artworks are original pieces unless otherwise noted. All artwork was matted with archival quality material by my good friend Jody Selin! Sizes include the mat and are standard for easy framing.

Prices don't include shipping but I will mail! E-mail me at samskrits@gmail.com for more info.

'Victoria' 8"x10"
$40

'Ophelia I' 11"x14"
$50

'Ophelia II' 11"x14"
$50

'Ophelia III' 11"x14"
$50
(or $100 for the 'Ophelia' series)
'Ophelia' series: SOLD

'Aesop's Bear and the Owl' 11"x14"
$50

'Valkyrie study' 12"x16"
$60

'Ali G' 12"x16"
$60

'Maiko' 12"x16"
$60

'Sisters' 14"x18"
$65

'The Creature' 14"x18"
$65

'Valkyrie' 14"x18" (print)
$65

'Deer Skull' 16"x20"
$75

'Harajuku Girls' 16"x20"
$75

'Tibet' 16"x20"
$75

'Pisces' 16"x20"
$75

'Egon' 18"x24"
$75
SOLD

'Outdoors' 22"x28"
$80

Great Art Sale Part I

2010-09-17T11:56:00.005-04:00

I'm selling a bunch of artwork that is ready to go to a new loving home. Please e-mail me at samskrits@gmail.com for more information on any of the below pieces.

'Frank' 20"x24" framed
$250

'Chad' 18"x24"
$200

'Roly Poly Fish Head' 10"x10"
$75
SOLD

new painting-phase 1

2010-09-02T14:02:00.004-04:00

Beginning a painting for my friend Kerry of her and her dog, Guinness. The picture is really strange and very orange so I'll be using secondary reference and also planning to make a looser more painterly image than my previous tighter ones.

at least I can entertain myself

2010-09-01T15:35:00.004-04:00

Some ridiculous illustrations a friend requested of me while drinking copious amounts of wine, him not me.

'Jabba the Jew' or 'Jewba the Hut'

translation: 'feh! non-Jewish Princess, to me you're beautiful'

'Mein Furrer'

sketchbook

2010-08-08T17:11:00.004-04:00

So, I got a new brushpen a while ago and have been filling up a small sketchbook with really random drawings and thoughts.

desktop wallpaper

2010-07-11T12:05:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I feel the need to create a new desktop wallpaper. I've never made one before and while this one is ridiculously simple and yet still took me about an hour because my PS skills are rusty...I like it. Leaves room for a lot of creativity especially during the holidays.

Name ideas?

happy 4th

2010-07-04T09:26:00.002-04:00

Finally moved in to the new place, stuff is everywhere! Mine and his, we are going to take this extra day off and spend it sorting, organizing and working to make our new place a home. The cat is tweaking with all the changes.

I have an art cave that needs to be set up properly but once it is it will be awesome. Our kitchen is huge and I can't wait to start cooking delicious meals and trying out Indian recipes!

As for artwork updates I have fallen in love with a new brush pen and as soon as my scanner is hooked up I will be posting all the drawings from my tiny sketchbook. I have also started a large painting of myself nude, but not sure about the comfort level of showing it. I want to push myself into a place I've never been before comfort wise and I don't know if this is the way to do it. I also want to experiment with big dripping paint and hyper realistic areas, a mix of loose and tight that I cannot seem to achieve. Try and try right?

I have a positive attitude about the new found changes in my life, there is no looking back, only moving forward.

ricky jr.

2010-05-10T17:18:00.006-04:00

A really horrible thing happened at the restaurant where I work this past winter, a friend of mine was shot and killed. It was a traumatic event for everyone at the place because we are small and all of us were more or less are friends. A lot of people left and many changes have happened since this event.

Not that Ricky and I were really tight but he was a sweet kid and I always loved seeing his face in the kitchen when I came into work. He always had a joke, a smile and a wink for all of us (especially the girls). His wonderful family misses him so much and the only thing I could think to give them was a portrait of their son and brother. So, finally finished months and months later:

It was framed by the awesome dudes at Avenue Art and Frame on Delaware Ave. The photo doesn't do the frame justice, the painting is floated and it's a beautiful gold tone with markings that match the markings in the back.

The family seemed to love it, it's no replacement for their loss but I hope it gives them comfort.

priscilla project

2010-05-10T17:05:00.005-04:00

So, I had an old painting in a show recently in B-lo. It was only for a day or so, I didn't even get to post about it before it happened. It was to benefit the Priscilla Project, an organization that helps underprivileged women.

her name is Etta

inspiration?

2010-05-10T16:57:00.002-04:00

I found this poem in the Oprah magazine:

When you love someone.
You do not love them all the time,
in exactly the same way,
from moment to moment.
It is an impossibility.
It's even a lie to pretend to.
And yet this is exactly what most of us demand.
We have little faith in the ebb and flow of life,
of love, of relationships.
We leap at the flow of the tide
and resist in terror it's ebb.
We are afraid it will never return.

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

This poem is so honest and beautiful about the fear we all have of being happy or of losing something really awesome or something maybe we THINK is awesome. I guess it just reinforces my thought that we need to be fearless in life otherwise experience passes us by. You wanna end up in the old folks home with no stories to tell?

news and stuff

2010-05-10T16:33:00.005-04:00

So, it's been a while since I uploaded anything....because I'm lazy. Lots of changes are going on in my life some good and some unexpected and tough to deal with. Let's catch up, shall we?

I'm relocating to a bigger space sometime soon, I'm looking for an apartment as I write this actually. I'm really looking forward to a new space because with that comes fresh beginnings and also opportunities for redecorating! I love my tiny apartment but it's time to move on.

I love my job, business has been great and all of our customers down at Merge have been a blast! I recently made a new friend in town from LA doing a show at Buff State. His name is Eric Schwartz and he is a very funny comedian, check out his stuff on YouTube. He likes pineapple juice. ALSO, we are totally organic now and the food is amazing. Check out the Merge website for events and our new spring menu. (wow, I sound like a commercial sorry.)

I recently started doing P90X exercise program and getting back into shape. I've put my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu studies on hold for a few months. The aggressive mentality needed to succeed and tackle obstacles I run into while training became too draining for me. I look forward to getting back on the mats when I'm more mentally prepared, right now I'm stretched a little thin. I'm trying to take care of myself physically and mentally.

While some really bad things have happened to me in the past few months I'm trying hard to simplify my life while simultaneously realizing that life is infinitely complicated. We are all touched by death, loss, regret and hopefully, if we are lucky, love. It's all a part of living and while I don't LIKE the shitty parts, the great parts wouldn't be as wonderful.

sketchbook

2010-02-05T15:56:00.002-05:00

just drawing some chicks while at work.

working on my pinup poses, what kind of pin up should she be?

some drawings of lola being lazy

figure drawings

2010-02-05T15:47:00.003-05:00

impact gallery women's national exhibition 2010

2010-02-01T10:39:00.002-05:00

I made it in the exhibition!

Congratulations,

Your work, Ivan, has been selected for Impact Artists’ Gallery’s 2010 Spring National Exhibition,

March 3-April 2, 2010 , RECEPTION: Saturday, March 6, 2-4 pm.

Exibition Hours: WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY 11A.M.-4 pm, SATURDAY 1-4 pm., Judge: Sandra H. Olsen, PH.D, Director, SUNY Buffalo Art Galleries.

Come to the opening if you're in town, I think they usually have cheese and snacks. Drinks afterwards!

impact gallery women's national exhibition 2010

2010-01-19T09:05:00.004-05:00

Here's my submission for this year's Impact Gallery Women's National Exhibition. Thanks to Justin, framer extraordinaire and Dr. Pepper enthusiast from Avenue Art & Frame who solved the problem of seamlessly hanging a skate deck.
This handsome devil is a portrait of my friend Ivan, I know he looks indifferent in the painting but he is a talented sweet man who moved away to follow his dreams in NYC, miss you Ivan!

Last year's submission (a portrait of myself, somewhere chronicled in this very blog) won me second place so hopefully this year I will be let in and with luck place again. Come oooon first!

progress

2010-01-13T14:04:00.004-05:00

Had some thoughts about my project that I thought I would share with you all. Input requested!

Recently while drawing I considered something: merging my two loves! I love to craft things and I love to paint but one always seems to get in the way of the other, usually the crafting in the way of painting. So, I thought why can't I do both? The images I've been sketching and playing around with center around the facade that women create for themselves in order to fit into the social construct of femininity, why can't I create all of my props and backgrounds to push this idea further? I plan on painting collecting and fabricating all of the necessary objects that will be in my paintings. Starting with a backdrop of a forest scene, which will be referenced from another of my favorite things: historical paintings. I plan to sit in front of this backdrop in my peacock costume and mask illustrating the idea how women 'peacock' very visually to get attention. (Ironically, if you've ever read 'The Game' a book about male pickup artists the term 'peacocking' refers to a pickup artist wearing something ridiculous in order to gain female attention i.e. cowboy hats, lots of jewelry, crazy shirts, leather pants, etc. all at the same time.)

I need to do some more research on peacocks, they're mating habits and also figure out how far I'd like to take the idea of looking like a peacock. I always wanted to make some wings for my costume (something I made 2 years ago for Halloween). I also kind of like the idea of adding in elements of how women 'peacock' like pushup bras, high heels, makeup and such but I don't want to look whore-y. BUT maybe that's the idea that I would have to push to the limit of looking so sexually heightened that would illustrate the ridiculous levels that women go to in order to gain attention from potential partners.

If anyone wants to go thrifting so I can gather some objects in order to start working on these things let me know. Thanks to Shelby for the peacock mask, Jon Eisenberg for letting me read 'The Game' and Jody for constantly reminding me that crafting gets in the way of my making art, now it will be a part of it!

On another note if anyone has a really good winter beanie hat knit pattern please send it to me, I can't find one!

christmas present

2009-12-31T11:04:00.004-05:00

Aside from my new slowcooker <3, cast iron skillets, thermal shirts, sweaters and socks I got a sweet little travel set of Reeves watercolors. I tried them out on this little number and they are quite fun, totally pocket size and once you get them nice and saturated have a consistency as good as any cake watercolor set.

I cringe to ask this question but: too Thomas Kinkade-y do you think?

figure drawings

2009-12-30T16:00:00.004-05:00

some new figure drawings from the Wed. night class at Sugar City. 5 bucks, nude chicks (sometimes dudes).

working on the arm/hand

i don't just love distortion in my music

the model's name wasn't Rachel but I really want to name her that.

Rachel II

inching slowly forward

2009-12-18T16:17:00.002-05:00

What do I have to say and why is it important? That's what I keep asking myself over and over. So, I took all the scribbles I've been making over the past few days and tried to form them into at least a loose ball.

My theme is broadening into female identity. Through the use of myself as a character with costumes, props and scenery I plan to visually narrate and explore my ideas on relationships and female identity within our American society.

I've begun to read some books on artmaking to help me feel supported and I plan to read books on feminist theory that have been suggested to me by my wonderful friends. I hope to have discussions through Facebook to gather ideas from a wide range of people to help inform me on where I stand.

preliminary work

2009-11-25T11:17:00.003-05:00

Here are my first ideas sketched for my new body of work. The picture quality is so poor because I'm having some scanning issues so they were taken with my digital camera really quick. I don't know that I want to get into the meaning behind each idea just yet. There's definitely a lot for me to sift through before I can get to the core idea right now I feel like I'm just touching the edges.

But let me know what you think about these sketches/ideas and hopefully I will be doing some more refined stuff to work out kinks before I start in on the larger works.

prelim sketch for 'feathers'

prelim sketch for 'fight'

prelim sketch for 'nest'

new directions

2009-11-23T15:46:00.003-05:00

Recently, I quit my 9-5 to work part time and focus on making art with the ultimate goal of applying to grad school for my masters in painting. It seems that with more free time comes fluidity that I'm not accustomed to. I'm working on trying to buckle down to follow all the little paths that interest me.

Figure painting is my number one obsession and what I plan to build my portfolio around. I started a painting of my friend Lacey, who was kind enough to come by, dress up and sit for me. Like most of my projects after I get about 1/2 way through them I realize a lot of things that I should have addressed in the beginning of the project are starting to make the project unravel. So, I'm back to square one with my Lacey painting. How do we try and realize whats going to be a real problem with our materials, our set up, our reference, etc. BEFORE it rears it's ugly head?

In other news while I want to continue to paint friends and interesting persons I've tentatively started to think about the possibility of a deeper body of work. While my friends and family portraits will concentrate more on color, design, pattern, technical ability and story telling I plan to work on a more personal project related to the major changes I have gone through within the past 6 months. It's difficult to look at yourself as an artist and say the only thing really grabbing my attention right now is myself and then try to explain that to people without sounding completely narcissistic.

I plan to make these paintings large scale at least 5' tall I only have one concept for the first but I'm hoping as I ask myself more questions, watch more Art 21's and talk to more artist friends that will help get the ideas going.

fig. drawing

2009-11-23T15:28:00.005-05:00

I've searched for an affordable figure class all over Buffalo but most are offered at ridiculous prices with instruction. Sugar City located here in Allentown Buffalo is hosting figure drawing classes twice a month. Five bucks for 2/hrs of non instructive nude figure drawing. All levels of ability are encouraged to come.

It felt good to get back to my roots although after the 2 hours I felt like I was just getting started. Maybe in the future classes can be held for longer all day sessions where some serious drawing muscles can get worked out.

chip & kelly get married.

2009-11-13T15:09:00.004-05:00

My brother got married this summer and I did their invitations as a gift/project. They were married outside in a park but their reception was at Atlantis, an aquarium in Riverhead, Long Island. It was a really unique experience, not having been there before for an event these invitations were created not knowing what the decor looked like inside but I think they worked well.

art auction

2009-09-26T15:38:00.004-04:00

Tonight at the Buffalo & Erie County History Museum this little guy is going to get auctioned off. Half the proceeds go to the Historical Society. Artists were asked to submit samples and chosen to participate. The artwork had to be themed around Buffalo, NY. To me Buffalo is a unique city in that it was razed around the blue collar worker. As a transplant from the much larger more urban city of Boston this was an extremely intrigueing quality that I wanted to explore. My painting is of a car man, actually my coworker's dad (thanks Mike & Amy!) he works on the railroads in the area. I'm sharing the honor with about 50 other artists so if you come down to the History Museum for 70 bucks you get food catered by Oliver's and a live auction experience.

sketchbook

2009-08-04T20:22:00.004-04:00

Some more recent stuff from my sketchbook. Click to see in better detail!

ride for roswell

2009-08-04T20:09:00.003-04:00

Did this t-shirt design for my friend's team for this year's Ride for Roswell a bike race to help benefit cancer research. 'Vicious Cycles' was their team name.

impact artist gallery women's national exhibit

2009-03-14T19:55:00.003-04:00

Hey there sports fans. I entered a show recently as you might be able to tell from the title of this post and joy of all joys I got in! Not only that but I received Second Place out of 60 submissions, so eat that whomever told me I was not good at painting. A small contingency of women in Buffalo think quite the contrary. I won a nice little amount of money and an added line for my resume, hooray!

I am submitting another painting for a show at 464 gallery on Delaware called "I to I". I'm working on some more portraits on skateboards and will be moving to a new location that will kick start me working on my grad portfolio.

Lola, my cat, has been very vocal about all these things because she can't seem to contain her meow's. Either that or it's almost feedin' time...feedin' time.

japanamania

2009-02-14T12:36:00.007-05:00

I have a ton of travels planned, well, not a ton but the one I do have planned is a doozy. I'm going to Japan and in order to help foot the bill for this little caper I'm applying for a few grants. Sure, I'll have to like, do 'work' while I'm there then organize a whole exhibition of said work but it would be almost free! Here's some work that I sent in with my application for a grant with our neighbor to the north, good old Canadaland.

Other than that, I hope you had a happy valentine's day.

show time

2009-02-01T16:37:00.004-05:00

I submitted work to a local art gallery for their Impact Artists' Gallery 2009 Women's National Show and it got in so I will be showing the above painting sometime in the spring.

I am now going to make a lemon tart.

procrastination makes you end up behind

2009-02-01T16:32:00.003-05:00

So, back in Sept. when we were all capture with Obama fever I started a poster project and I finally finished it. I wish I could go back in time and submit it.

technology in the disposable age.

2009-01-19T13:41:00.003-05:00

Seriously, I love technology but I really hate the disposable-ness of things nowadays. Instead of getting both of my digital cameras fixed it's actually cheaper for me to just buy a new one, this is what the pimply faced Ritz Camera employee told me in the mall. I did some snooping because I just don't trust pimply faced Ritz Camera employees that are half my age (which would actually be 11 and 5/6ths) and are responsible for equipment that is exponentially more expensive than most things I own. Turns out that pimply kid was right!

So, thanks to our gloriously American economy going to hell in a hand basket Circuit City is closing and I got a brand freaking new Canon PowerShot Digital Elf. I love this camera, I know how to use it already so I don't have to read any manuals with tons of smiley/sad faces because it was made in an Asian country. Thanks AIB computer lab for buying these little point and shoots!

My favorite feature: all the different kinds of white balance options because I hate yellow-y whites from flourescent lighting! Also, the buttons have a really nice click-y sound because they're new AND it's chocolatey brown...mmmm. I would eat it but then I would have to buy another camera and if I make it to number 4 any time soon I will forbid myself to touch another digital camera without adult supervision.

New pictures to come soon!

suck it

2009-01-09T17:11:00.003-05:00

I know it's completely irrational because as far as I know I'm not 15 years old but I can't get over my Twilight obsession. I got the soundtrack for Christmas and while some jams sound way nu-metal some are really actually quite excellent and vampire-y I guess...I know.

Art day is planned for tomorrow but like an ass I broke my camera, this is the second one in like 4 months. So, no pictures until Chris gets home from Texas. I know all of the one persons that reads this will be on tenterhooks until I upload again. Sorry dudette.

363 more days

2009-01-02T14:36:00.003-05:00

No resolutions will be made here, maybe just a few attainable goals. I like this girl's ideas about resolutions. The holidays are over and I feel like I've run a marathon when really I have just been stuffing my face and sitting around reading Twilight, again (!).

Chris and I hosted a New Year's Eve party that was so much fun. Quiet with some good friends and nice conversation. A lot of people didn't make it out because of the weather so I feel like we need a redo.

This weekend I have plans to attack my paintings and try to loosen up a little more, so check back for reworked work. I'm also going to be entering a show for the spring at Impact gallery so I'll be gathering some older work together for that since it's got to be postmarked by the 17th. It would be nice to have at least one show on my resume!

-S.

a fork in the road

2008-12-16T11:15:00.005-05:00

Not to sound all melodramatic but the time has come: I'm scrambling to apply to grad school before the January deadline...take bets I don't know how this is going to work.

Check for frantic paintings I'm going to put in my portfolio that I'm sure won't even be dry by the time they get photographed.

Just in case, there is always next next fall.

Update: I just got pwned by my AIB professors all of which told me to wait a year and get my shit together basically. Thanks Amy Sudarsky for putting things in perspective, but I'm still interested in skateboards!

tubes again

2008-12-14T14:10:00.001-05:00

work in progress

detail of work in progress

I've been thinking a lot about Wayne Thiebaud, my painting teacher Amy Sudarsky and not caring when I paint. I'm trying to break out of micromanage mode and I think that if I can do that while painting objects as difficult to capture as tubes which are made of glass, metal and plastic while still making it look like glass, metal and plastic...I might be cured!

This is one of the biggest paintings I have ever done, definitely the longest. I'll have to measure it but the first picture should give a good idea of scale.

-S.

design, graphic arts

2008-11-13T19:56:00.004-05:00

Finally, it's done and I got the right file to Julie for her poster, wow I never thought I would have such a hard time finding the right version of the right file. I guess that's what happens with you name all your related files with not so detailed titles.

Update 1: I saw the printed poster at Globe Market on Elmwood and it was surreal, I think because it was next to all the other posters. I was like, 'I did that!' I wonder if anyone even noticed it?

Update 2: Saw the show on Sunday, Dec. 14th with Heather and it was so fun! So playful with such an underlying message. Very entertaining I thought and how cool my friends made the whole thing! I'm so happy to have been able to make something for them.

sketch

2008-11-13T06:01:00.003-05:00

I have a huge soft spot for pretty ladies and sometimes the urge comes over me where I need to draw them. This urge came when I was on a Bond movie bender (Dr. No, Casino Royale and Octopussy) after Chris and I had just gone to see Quantum of Solace, which I need to see again because I guess it's better the second time around.

I might revisit this idea (below) because I don't think it's that successful. Anyway, I think I did an ok job on the gun. If the above is a totally different vibe it's because it was inspired by an Anthropologie catalogue and the model had that face in EVERY picture, can't they just pause from looking wistful for one picture?

design sketch

2008-10-24T16:49:00.003-04:00

This drawing is going to be a part of a play poster design for my friend Julie and Megan's play "Dreaming Out of Digital" at Alt Theatre here in Buffalo. I was thrilled that Julie asked me to design it for her and had a lot of fun with this drawing, it just seemed to come together really easily. The finished poster will have a lot of type so that is my major challenge. When it's done I'll post it with all the info, go see the play if you can!

amanda

2008-10-12T13:30:00.006-04:00

New painting I have been working on for a few weeks now... and as always being lazy about.

I've been doing a lot of home projects trying to get ready for the cold season. I spray painted a new coffee table and end table set yellow and it took way longer than expected. Now that is done I have random sewing projects which include my Halloween costume...to be posted when complete!

lola

2008-10-08T13:04:00.004-04:00

I got a camera from my friend Derek on a trade and I'm still trying to figure it out. So, I took a bunch of pictures of Lola creeping around the apartment. I can't seem to get the light setting right just look at the cuteness.

design

2008-10-05T10:14:00.005-04:00

My friend Ivan works at Buffalo State College in the Theater Department and he asked me to make him a flyer for his new play. So, I did. I don't think it's that great, I would definitely change some things but it was just a flyer so hopefully it caught some people's eyes.

I didn't get to see the play but I read it to get a feel for the themes and it was great.

GObama

2008-09-27T20:11:00.003-04:00

So, I was going to enter this poster contest for the Working Families Party (you can win $1,000) but I am ditzy and thought for sure the deadline was in November...nope it was yesterday. But, I figured just to teach myself a lesson I would do the poster anyway knowing all my labors would not even have the chance of getting $1,000. It's good to practice designering anyway.

Working Families Party is all about blue collar America (sooo Proletariat right?) that's why I did the sort of Communist/Army/Sun Maid raisin-y type thing. I don't really know if it works to be honest but it was nice to do something graphic and sort of easy. I had some other ideas so I might explore them but to be honest they are all circling around the same theme.

You tell me, do you want to go out and vote for Obama now? I do.

2008-08-31T12:17:00.002-04:00

I don't know if any of you have cats but they can be really cute and then turn into the hell beasts they are spawned from. Last night I woke up at about 4 am to what I thought was Lola fraping
(Frantic Random Acts of Play -ing). She was making more noise than usual so I got up to check and make sure she wasn't committing kitty suicide. I found her under the futon growling with a mouse in her mouth. My cat is a vicious killer but not only a vicious killer, cold, calculating and cruel! What if I'm next?

She stayed this way for about a half hour until the mouse was dead from fear most likely. She seemed really intent on playing with her new dead friend so I crawled back into bed. Of course I was almost drifting back into fluffy dreamland when Lola jumps on my bed and starts to wiggle around. I turn on the light and yea, she brought the dead mouse in bed, thanks girl.

No camera still so no picures but I drew sketches. To be posted later along with some other drawings.

2008-08-21T17:15:00.004-04:00

I work with a woman whose name sounds like 'lasagna'. Still waiting for the camera to be fixed but some drawings are coming.

2008-08-13T18:22:00.002-04:00

Study of Ivan's head for portrait.

Mothra!

bummer

2008-08-10T14:14:00.002-04:00

I broke my camera, the whole lens smashed out of its housing. Derek the daring is great and said he will ask his friend to look at it and quote me a good price.

I'm starting on some cool trade projects. Trading tats for a custom painted matrioshka doll (Russian nesting doll) with Juan Mirage at H.O.D.. Possibly trading portrait painting of Derek's family for camera fixage or new camera. Still lagging behind on my website trade with Mike and now that my camera is broken it's going to slow things down a bunch more.

Does anyone know a good all-in-one printer? I hate mine, Epson Stylus RX620, it has an ink cartridge malfunction. It won't print, scan or copy if the black ink isn't at 100%. Lame! The best they can do for fixing it is send me refurbished ones of the same model, I'm on number 3.

amanda

2008-08-02T19:06:00.004-04:00

Today I photographed my two friends Amanda and Ivan for some figure paintings. I'm not good at photography but I took a lot of pictures for reference so that should even it out.

This little colored pencil jam is one of the studies for a painting I'll be doing of my friend Amanda. It's really hard to draw your friends, you really want it to look like them but also feel like them too. I'm planning on doing a lot more drawing so I can really learn the facial structures.

That is all.

findings

2008-08-01T20:34:00.004-04:00

I found this jpg of the first painting I ever sold for sort of serious. It was commission piece for someone's wedding gift. I wonder where they put it in their house, if anywhere. I really like farting dogs. As you can tell I was looking at a lot of Juxtapoz at the time.

The above header is a portrait of Chris, it was supposed to be part of a trade art project but I liked it a lot so my friend Dan let me keep it. I'm supposed to paint him another deck... eventually.

My tummy hurts from eating too much blue corn tortillas with medium spicy salsa and black bean dip. It's so delicious why can't ethnic foods and my Anglo-tum be friends?

Today is also the first day I used my exercise ball for more than 5 minutes. I bought it 6 months ago, hooray fitness!

2008-07-19T12:15:00.010-04:00

Above are pictures of a big box of broken amp tubes that my friend Jerid donated to me because he's nice. I've become fascinated with their space-like charms so I've been working on doing a series of paintings of them. See below.

-S.

2008-07-19T11:58:00.005-04:00

Chris went to NYC last weekend and I occupied most of my time with cleaning the house and working way too late but I did get some painting in which was really nice and therapeutic. I don't know why but I get a block in my mind that tries to tell me painting is hard and not worth it but when I'm in it doing it, I'll stand at the easel for 4 hours at a time working. So I must enjoy it a little right? Stupid brains.

Anyway, because I am around myself all the time and the cat didn't want to sit still I did a small portrait last weekend. I tried not to focus on the details too much and just play around with the paint keeping the colors really simple. I've been obsessed with black, white, orange and red. The blue on the neck snuck in there somehow. I always seem to get pthalo blue, the most intense and stubborn color to get out of anything everywhere.

Oh well.

unrelated: In case you didn't know about it there is a really interested internet service called ChaCha. You can access it from your cell phone by texting the number 242-242. It's basically like a mobile Google for people with PDA's and Blackberries. I thought I would be really clever and ask how to get dry acrylic paint out of one of my nice shirts. The solution came back:

mix 2 tbsp ammonia
2 tbsp white vinegar
and 1 tbsp salt rub into paint until it's removed then soak in solution for at least an hour and wash

Do not use this method it will make your clothes smell like vinegar even after you've washed them about 3 times. Vinegar smells like pee, I now have a shirt and pair of pants that smell like pee. But I don't get down on ChaCha because they are pretty helpful for solving minor bets about pop culture.

-S.

new stuff

2008-07-12T09:30:00.005-04:00

So much for updating frequently. Here is the invitation design for Mike and Ricki's wedding in it's original format, watercolor and ink on paper.

A more recent sketchbook image, colored pencil:

This is an image I sent in to a magazine contest this spring. The magazine is about Asian Americans in NYC. If you don't know about the Japanese trend of gothic lolita and sweet lolita style you should really check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion.

And also check out these Elvis fans in Japan: http://videos.howstuffworks.com/reuters/3000-japan-is-crazy-about-elvis-video.htm

I didn't win but I had fun researching and painting it, acrylics.

As you can see I'm all over the place with style, or so it seems to me. That's why I'm "developing communication". I've started oil painting again which is where I feel most confident and at home. For time purposes oil painting is out of question for me to use as a commercial illustration technique. So any suggestions on which style you think is more successful?

cakelava

2008-06-03T08:09:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I helped my friends Mike and Ricki with their wedding invitations. Mike designed it and I gave them an illustration to use. They sent it along to their cake maker and they liked it so much they put it on their blog. Here is a link to the post:

http://cakelava.blogspot.com/2008/05/godzilla-and-israel-kamakawiwoole.html

They make beautiful cakes, I wonder how they taste. I will post a good picture of the artwork once I get home later. Sick!

S.

Travels

2008-06-01T12:21:00.004-04:00

Ok, So the past two weekends I have been traveling visiting family. Chris and I went to his grandmother's 85th surprise birthday party in Yonkers. Getting tattooed the night before and then sitting for a 7 hour train ride really wasn't the best of ideas. We had fun nana was surprised and then surprised again that we even came down from the far away land that is Western NY.

This weekend I am at my parent's house on LI hanging with the grandparents. They made a very rare trip up from sunny Florida. We spend Saturday bbq-ing with the extended fam up in Wappinger's Falls. I got to see my cousins whom I haven't seen in ages and both my uncles in one place AND my Aunt Mary Ann. Everyone looks great and we had a fun time. I especially love Aunt Mary Ann's 3 footed cat Tommy who is technically a girl after a necessary sex change operation. Don't worry he's happy with himself.

None of this has anything to do with art making but since I have had two weekends off I plan on getting back to it. I am working on stripping a piece of furniture which is taking up much of my free time as of late but I'll still try and squeeze some painting and posts.

S.

One

2008-05-21T19:13:00.002-04:00

In lieu of my real website (coming soon!- thanks Mike Dolan) I decided to put up a sketch blog. I am doing things in B-lo, just very, very slowly. I'll try and be diligent in updating, friends should chastise me if I don't.

I have been working on tiny paintings of saints like these:

St. Catherine of Bologna- patron saint of artists.

St. Luke: patron saint of artists and crafstmen.

St. Roch: patron saint of surgeons and doctors.Sorry for the low quality photos, there isn't great light in our apartment. I'll try and post some better ones when they are all finished.

samskrits

Yin & Yang

SOPA & PIPA

Photos & Figuring It Out

2012 Divine Inspiration

Ritual & Sacrifice

Pets & Portraits

Channukahmas: How We Halvsies Do It Part Deux

Chrismakkuh: How We Halvsies Do It Part 1

Haste Makes Waste

Treasured

Hand of Glory & 6

Pattern & Paper

Turkey Thursday & Black Friday (& Cyber Monday too)

Wolf & Sheep

Salty Sea & Fine Flour

Trips & Trip-ups

*Furniture For Sale*

More Etsy (for your Betsy?)

Five For Fighting

The First Eight

17 Sacred Mudras

Reliquaries & Keepsakes

Deer Witch

Finish

I Make Stuff #2

I Make Stuff #1

Morgen's Durga

Beth's Munny

New Year, New Post

new painting

Great Art Sale Part II

Great Art Sale Part I

new painting-phase 1

at least I can entertain myself

sketchbook

desktop wallpaper

happy 4th

ricky jr.

priscilla project

inspiration?

news and stuff

sketchbook

figure drawings

impact gallery women's national exhibition 2010

impact gallery women's national exhibition 2010

progress

christmas present

figure drawings

inching slowly forward

preliminary work

new directions

fig. drawing

chip & kelly get married.

art auction

sketchbook

ride for roswell

impact artist gallery women's national exhibit

japanamania

show time

procrastination makes you end up behind

technology in the disposable age.

suck it

363 more days

a fork in the road

tubes again

design, graphic arts

sketch

design sketch

amanda

lola

design

GObama

bummer

amanda

findings

new stuff

cakelava

Travels

One

Furniture For Sale