smARTy paints

Design Job for "The Mad Burrito" Durham, NC

2011-11-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

From time to time I take graphic design jobs, and I don't usually post about that kind of thing in trying to keep this blog primarily about art and illustration, but I did this really fun gig a couple months back and I just thought it was too cool not to share! The job was for a new Mexican restaurant opening up in Durham, NC and I was to help them in logo design, a character design for their t-shirts and other collateral materials, and their sign design. The people at The Mad Burrito were super great to work with and you better believe I will be eating there if I ever make it out to North Carolina! :)

Association of Hawaii Artists Annual Contemporary Show 2011

2011-11-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

I was honored to have just recently participated in the Association of Hawaii Artists Annual Contemporary Show 2011. These kind of juried shows are always competitive as they are curated by one sole person and there is never enough room for all the art entered, but I was happily surprised and thankful to get 2 of my paintings accepted. I showed up to the opening with my camera, so here are some of my favorite works by other artists in the show... (You can see my own newest painting that I finished for this show at the very top and here on facebook too.) I need to add some names, but in the meantime enjoy browsing and hopefully I'll get those credits up soon!

Catching Up & Blue Canvas Magazine

2011-11-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months and I am currently playing catch up, so here are a couple pictures and newer paintings of mine from the Kailua art festival back in July. You can see more over on my "Charis Art" facebook page. It was a beautiful day in Hawaii, I met some cool people and sold some art, and had a great time eating & drinking with friends at Buzz's Steakhouse (what a great location) later!

I've also joined the Blue Canvas community in the last few months and am having a great time with it, absolutely loving checking out new and unknown-to-me artists. Do check out my CharisD artist profile and have fun browsing all the beautiful artwork by so many talented artists!

Upcoming Show: 1st Annual Windward Art Festival

2011-06-20T00:32:00.000-07:00

Come on out and see me in Kailua July 4th at the 1st Annual Windward Art Festival! Right after the Kailua Independence Day Parade, Noon to 4pm.

Blurb from some of the festival promotion: "Charis will be showing and selling some of her original sumi ink & oil paintings along with limited edition screenprints, greeting cards, art booklets, and mini paintings. Her images are loose, expressionistic, colorful and romantic. Inspired by fashion illustration, she paints people caught daydreaming in imaginative wonderlands and curvacious women in fabulous retro bathing suits soaking up sun and sand. Go to www.charisart.com for a sampling of what you'll see at the festival."

Vector Illustrator: Chihhang

2011-06-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

Cool Vector Illustrator: Karrapa

2011-06-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

Karrapa

Vector Illustrations

2011-06-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

This month I've been working on making vector art for the purpose of selling on stock websites. Yes, that's right, it may only be a step above making clip art, but it's a fun way to make a little extra to pay the bills! I'd rather be drawing or painting or making images on my computer than anything else, and there are some pretty amazing illustrators out there doing this kind of thing right now frankly (will share some later), so I'm happy to have found another creative outlet (hopefully a useful one too to all you graphic designers out there!). Here are some of the "graphic illustrations" that I've been working on recently... I've been trying to maintain a hand-drawn feel even though they're vector graphics. Having fun turning old drawings and illustrations of mine that were just sitting around doing nothing into digital art, and I'm enjoying looking for needed new subject matter as well. It seems like all things wedding related are always in need for everything from invitations to wedding websites, etc. so I'm going to start there as well as making illustrations of animals and day to day life situations, "lifestyle illustration" as they call it.

Better Digi File of My Peacock Painting

2011-05-16T02:01:00.000-07:00

I'd been meaning to get a better digital file of this one for a while, so here it is now, whalla! :)

Very inspiring tutorial by Jane Radstrom

2011-05-16T01:22:00.000-07:00

Check out the pictures, they tell a thousand words of the story even without you having to buy the demo, and be sure to watch the trailer too. I love Jane's process and mix of messy and loose along with accuracy and beauty... It inspires me to work this way more and to not be afraid of starting off very expressionistic in my paintings and illustrations, as long as it tightens up in just the right places as it goes along!

TaaaaaaaaaDa! Silkscreens by Charis! :)

2011-05-16T00:48:00.000-07:00

Finally! Here are 5 versions of my favorite silkscreen to have produced over at the Honolulu Academy Art Center this fall. Yay, it feels good to have really accomplished something. :) (Or 30+ somethings, which is the beauty of silkscreening!) The ones that turned out well I will eventually take over to KALEID Gallery and add to my wall with the rest of the goodies for sale. In the meantime, I am mostly considering this a test run. (Sorry, the pictures are a little more dark and distorted than I wish they were.) I did it in 5 different color schemes, some only subtle variations and others more blatantly different, and am currently deciding which one to do a further more extensive run of. Any votes? Which is your favorite? :) I am leaning strongly towards one of the reds...

Thanks for looking guys! I appreciate getting to share my work with all you friends, family, and fellow art lovers this way, and am so thankful for the digital age and how it allows us to stay connected even with the Pacific Ocean inbetween us. XOXO!

Another Cool Silkscreening Post

2011-05-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

So today I am going to send you Kevin Dart's way... He's one of my favorite contemporary illustrators out there, and I noticed he has a new post about silkscreening that gives another really good look into the process for anyone new to it and curious, and it's full of great photos too. Worth checking out!

(Above is one of my favorites of his images, though not a silkscreen as far as I know. I think he usually works digitally.)

First incredibly rough test print of my silkscreened mermaid

2011-05-08T03:58:00.000-07:00

So many issues. Lot's of spots where the screen had some muck in it and didn't burn through quite right, need to tighten up the registration (how one layer goes on top of the other), and need to work out/refine some issues with the image itself, especially that danged rock she's sitting on and maybe the whole entire background... But you get the idea. :) I'm liking that it's getting something of a vintage looking quality going for it!

Speaking of Silkscreening... Glenn Barr

2011-05-08T02:27:00.000-07:00

I thought THIS was a pretty cool blog post over at 1xRUN showing how the printing process works through some really great photos etc of Glenn Barr's "Vinyl Girl" 5 color silkscreen.

(Photo thanks to 1xRUN of course.)

Windward Artists Guild Annual Juried Open Exhibition

2011-05-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

This month I have the pleasure of having one of my paintings in the Windward Artists Guild 51st Annual Juried Exhibition in downtown Honolulu! Chris and I went to the opening and took lots of pics. I was very pleasantly surprised with the level of craft and quality of art in the entire show. Oahu has quite a few very good artists and a thriving arts community! I am so happy to be discovering that, and looking forward to getting more involved out here.

Below are some of my favorites from the other artists in the show. There were a couple really awesome paintings that I really loved... Enjoy!

"The Appeaser I" by Karen Brizendine

detail of "(un)caged" by Saumo Puapuaga

My favorite piece from the whole exhibition: "Hangover Sunday" by Saumo Puapuaga

"Secret Cove" by Laurel McGuire

"Glow" by David Friedman & "Secret Cove" by Laurel McGuire

"Makapuu" by Diane Snyder

"Jellies" by Joan Allen.

"Cafe at Akihabara" by Yumiko Glover

***The statistics: 67 artists entered 157 pieces of art.
The Juror: Vince Hazen accepted 63 pieces of art, from 49 artists for the Exhibition.

View artwork image list here.

Speaking of Silkscreening...

2011-05-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my SUPER ROUGH sketch for my next poster print. Going for a retro fashion-y mermaid sort of thing. :) Working on the drawing this weekend, then plan to be in studio printing lots and lots next week to complete it.

Also, I've posted a couple other photos of in-progress paintings from my new Hawaiiana series on facebook if you're interested. Can't wait to finish a few of em!

(Almost done with the revamp/refreshment of my website too: www.charisart.com)

First ever showing of my art in Hawaii!

2011-05-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

It's official, I am now an exhibiting Hawaiian artist! This painting (fully completed with glitter and all back in 2009 ;-) and one of the largest paintings I'ver ever taken on at somehting like 38 x 38 inches) just got accepted into the 51st Annual Windward Artists Guild Juried Open Exhibition (runs May 2, 2011 to May 27, 2011) at Pauahi Tower, 1001 Bishop Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96813. For my island friends, opening reception is this coming Friday from 5-6:30pm! This should be just the first of many opportunities to show out here as there is a thriving arts community on Oahu, and I'm looking forward to sharing all of that with you!

Stations of the Cross Art Exhibit 2011

2011-04-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

This easter themed exhibit was shown in downtown Santa Cruz, CA last weekend. I got to collaborate from afar with 3 awesome ladies, Sarah, Drea, and Celeste, and this is the street-art-inspired piece we came up with. Check out more photos on my art facebook page.

Screenprinting

2011-04-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

So I've been taking a screenprinting course over at the Academy Art Center at Linekona. It's been really great so far and I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the arts community here in Honolulu. I can't believe the class is almost over already, in fact. I've really enjoyed relearning and honing in on a skill I only got the briefest taste of in college. I'm working on a couple prints that I'll scan in and share here when they're all done, but in the meantime here's a little taste of the process.

For my first series of prints I chose to work from a sketch I made in a life drawing workshop a while back (above--we were super lucky that day to have a really great creative model who played around in a sheet therefore allowing us to draw fun drapery too). That's all it was to start with, just pen and ink, no color. Then I scanned it in the computer and played around with color and pattern and planned out my layers (also above). That's 7 layers total. I'm doing it in a couple different color schemes. I've got one more layer to complete at the studio this week, and then I'll be able to share the final result...

Tara McPherson

2011-04-30T21:50:00.001-07:00

Man I LOVE Tara McPherson's work. I've liked her for quite some time now, but I've just been perusing her website and found even more paintings that I absolutely drool over. Above are (just) 4 of my favorites! (That elephant is so cute!)

Izzy on Sketch Theater

2011-04-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

You gots'da check this out. This is one of my favorite people from art college days and ever, one of the smartest, most talented artists that I know... Mr. Izzy Medrano himself on Sketch Theater! You won't be disappointed with his squishy inky cuteness of anthropomorphic sketchyness!

Izzy's blog.

More of My (Charis) Art from 2010

2011-02-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a revamp/major update session to my website charisart.com, need to get the 2010 work up, and need to get a lot of things well photographed etc., but found this and thought I'd post it as a little bit of a teaser in the meantime. :) (From my summer 2010 show in San Jose, "Darndest Daydreams" @ KALEID Gallery. Thanks to the lovely artist Romanoos for being my model for this one.)

Art Center Library has a Twitter?

2011-02-21T19:35:00.001-08:00

Apparently so! And it looks to be a decent source of interesting art & design happenings: http://twitter.com/ACCDLib

Mongolian Artist Solongo Mellecker

2011-02-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

Found this and thought it was pretty cool stuff!

Speaking of Street Art...

2011-02-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

I finally saw (now Oscar nominated) Exit Through the Gift Shop last night and thought it was AWESOME. Going on a Banksy binge now as I am literally watching this next, right now as I write this post!

I was fortunate enough to be in NYC 2 years ago when his Village Petstore & Charcoal Grill was open and was able to go see it with 2 of my favorite design-professional friends. There's no better day in New York than geeking out with other fellow art lovers! I'll try to dig up some of the pictures from our visit to post sometime. (Above: one of my favorite's by Banksy, from his visit to the West bank.)

Eric Baily

2011-02-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

Just looked at the website of one of my favorite San Francisco based artists for the first time in a long time, and was delighted to see his latest. Love his mixture of street art subject matter in a figurative painterly style. Here are a couple of my favorites...

Google Art Project

2011-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

Google street view, but inside the best art museums. Nuff said.

http://www.googleartproject.com/

Highly Recommended: "To Draw is to See"

2011-02-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

The work of inspiring Art Center teacher Norm Schureman who was tragically killed last year.

Description from website: "This sketchbook features over 100 of Norm Schureman's master drawings. It is an absolutely stunning collection that showcases his talents as a designer and teacher. From birds to dinosaurs and from tanks to insects, every page is an inspiring example of his legacy. 100% of the proceeds of this book go towards his two sons, Milo and Kian."

From the June 2010 exhibit -- KALEID Gallery Photostream

2011-02-08T05:42:00.000-08:00

Just a couple pics, plus a little taste of fellow featured artist Murphy Adams's work too:

www.flickr.com/photos/phantomgalleries

Dr Sketchy's Vancouver presents Camilla d'Errico

2011-02-08T05:07:00.000-08:00

So cool!
Branch Photos - Vancouver BC CANADA

Camilla d'Errico

LAPD Art Theft Cases

2011-02-08T05:03:00.000-08:00

I found all this pretty darned interesting: http://www.lapdonline.org/art_theft_detail

More Mark Swanson...

2011-02-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

Did I mention I discovered him because I bought his calendar in a mini-mart? That's right. :)

His bio.

3 of My Paintings from June 2010 Feature Show @ KALEID Gallery, San Jose, CA

2011-02-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

That's how busy 2010 was. I was honored to be given a feature exhibit at KALEID Gallery this last June, my biggest show ever with over 30 paintings on the walls, and I didn't even have time to post about it! It went well! Everyone at KALEID is always so great, it was a huge honor, and the best part was that it forced me to finish a ton of paintings I had sitting in my studio. Here are 3 of them, will post more later...

KALEID press here.

Mark Swanson

2011-02-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

My favorite contemporary Hawaii artist that I've discovered so far! And OF COURSE, wouldn't ya know it, he has a rock star animation background. What a shocker that I love his work. (Sarcasm people.)

Mark Swanson

Charles Bartlett

2011-02-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

A new-to-me artist I had the pleasure of discovering thanks to my wanderings through the Honolulu Academy of Arts is British-born Hawai‘i artist Charles William Bartlett (1860-1940). I'm in LOVE with his color choices and line-work. I'm a sucker for that era and style of art in general, but now I have a renewed inspiration for the printmaking arts. Do check him out: "A Hawaiian Master Revisited: Charles Bartlett at the Honolulu Academy of Art"

I'm also looking forward to hopefully purchasing (or at least getting the chance to peruse through) the book: A Printmaker in Paradise: The Art and Life of Charles W. Bartlett

Honolulu Academy of Arts

2011-02-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

So one of the first things I did to check out the art scene here when I first arrived a few weeks ago was to check out the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Not too shabby! It's a decent sized museum (a bit bigger than the good ol Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena) and has a good variety of collections, mostly focusing on asian an pacific islander art. Of course, I myself especially liked the exhibits of work by 1800s illustrators who had visited Hawaii. Cool visual journals/travelog illustrations, some commissioned by newspapers and some by the military. I really liked the Hawaiiana exhibition room in general too.

Above: "The Lei Maker", oil on canvas, 1901 by Theodore Wores, US 1859-193

Art Education/Resource Websites I've Been Working On

2011-01-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

For kids, parents, and curious new artists.

Here are a couple of the website projects I was working on over the summer (still more to come and lots of kinks to work out, but you get the gist... for now):

http://charcoaldrawingtutorials.com/

http://chalkpasteltutorials.com/

(In-progress charcoal piece above by 15 yr. old art student Emma K.)

Hawaii art find: American Animation Art Gallery

2011-01-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

It's like my dream gallery, haha! Located in Waikiki right across from the oldest and most historic hotel in the area, the Moana Surfrider. Definitely geared towards, and run by, a foreign audience--pretty funny. The website is mostly in Japanese, but it's worth checking out if you like both good art/skills/craftsmanship combined with total Disney kitch(!) and a love for animation. :) http://www.goodartanimation.com/

Hawaii art: Kat Reeder

2011-01-03T16:46:00.000-08:00

First awesome art discovery in Oahu so far: http://www.katreeder.com/

Love Ms. Reeder's graphic illustrative style! Hope to meet this talented lady here around the island someday. Check out her facebook too. Above are a couple of my favorites that I've seen of her work so far.

Been a long time... And happy new year!

2011-01-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven't posted in AGES! And I have missed it! Had a pretty good excuse for all of this year tho. ;-) Planned a wedding and a big move this year, and got married in November!! Much love and happy new year to everyone from Chris and me! Now me and my wonderful new hubby are happily beginning our relocation (due/thanks to his job with the Navy) to Oahu, Hawaii. Been here all of 6 days so far! So expect lots of Hawaiian themed posts and art. I'm excited to get back into this blog and share all my new art discoveries, paintings, and new projects here in Hawaii. Aloha everyone!

Another little something by me...

2010-04-05T03:29:00.000-07:00

Was painting Betta fish all January. Finally got around to scanning one of them. :)

P.S. This Sunday! North Bay Art Fair. I'm exhibiting so come if you can!

I have a new favorite artist!

2010-04-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

Vincent Bakkum. Just discovered thanks to the third volume of the Illusive book series on contemporary illustration!

Camille Rose Garcia Scope-NY

2010-04-05T03:20:00.000-07:00

Just discovered Camile Rose Garcia's latest online right now. Man I would have loved to have seen this show!

Breathtaking (and Adorable!)

2010-04-05T03:14:00.000-07:00

Had the good fortune to see this in Carmel a little while back. The jpgs in no way do any justice to these amazing paintings. They are so so luminescent and well done in their color and rendering that they absolutely GLOW in real life. (And they're HUGE! 36" x 36")

This week's inspiration...

2010-04-05T02:53:00.000-07:00

Mucha
Milt Kobayashi
Michael Carson
Sandra Suy

Line of Style: Fashion Illustration Spanning the Globe

2010-04-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

Here's something else at Gallery Nucleus that I'm really looking forward to, if only looking at all the images online.

The art of "God of War": Izzy M.

2010-04-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

Way to go Izzy! This last weekend there was a show/panel/signing of and about the art of the latest "God of War" video game at Gallery Nucleus. Another thing I would have totally gone to if I were in LA right now. If you're not familiar with Izzy's work, you gotta check it out!

New Painting

2010-02-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

This is fairly new. I finished it a couple months ago and it just came down from a show at Michael Angelo Gallery in Santa Cruz. Still trying to come up with a good name for it. So far I've been using "Watcha Waiting For" in the meantime of coming up with something better. (I'm trying to use song titles as titles for my paintings. Anyone guess who that song is by? ;-) )

Andrea Offermann

2010-02-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

Here's another very talented and hard-working artist/illustrator I went to school with back in the day. Check out her awesome stuff! The above is my personal favorite.

Landscapes: PETER KRAUSZ

2010-02-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

(Sidenote: Thanks to everyone who came out to support at the artist's reception at Davenport Gallery the other day! So many cool paintings shown. If I can get some pics of some of the other artists' work to post I will.)

I'm not a big fan of landscapes, but Krausz's I really like. I got to see some once in person in LA, and the way he layers the paint creates an incredible luminosity in the rich colors. Here are just a few examples.

"Heartless Acoustic"

2010-01-28T23:01:00.000-08:00

I finished this one up a few months ago but never got around to posting it, so here it is. It's going to be in the upcoming "Love and Chocolate" show at Davenport Gallery. Come see it in real life soon! :)

Dr. Sketchy's Roadshow at the Alternative Cafe

2010-01-28T21:41:00.000-08:00

This last Friday I joined in on Dr. Sketchy's Roadshow (which is essentially a life drawing session except way more fun with burlesque-esque models and poses!) at the Alternative Cafe in Seaside. It was loads of fun and I hope they bring it back more often! I was also pleasantly surprised to hear the roadshow is sponsored by Baby Tattoo Books, a publisher I was already familiar with and whose books I love, and the founder himself was there in person. Hopefully I can suck up a little of that inspired artistic entreprenuership by osmosis. :-) Anyway, here are the 2 drawings of mine that I thought came out the best from the night...

A little experimentation

2010-01-28T17:27:00.000-08:00

Finished this little one up last night. Just playing around and experimenting. It's different from my other work, and I like it. It's a little too mindlessly decorative (as oppossed to having a hint of narrative which I try to include in my other works, besides the fun fashiony ones I suppose) for me to do this kind of work all the time, but fun nonetheless.

Shelly Wan

2010-01-27T02:43:00.000-08:00

Shelly went to Art Center too. I didn't really know her, but I saw enough of her work even back then to know she was (and is) amazing. I was perusing her blog recently and found this gorgeous piece and had to share it. The colors are beautiful and I love the almost square composition. (I'm always a fan of square paintings!) Shelly's whole blog is great. I highly recommend checking it out.

Davenport Gallery

2010-01-27T02:32:00.000-08:00

I was very honored a couple days ago to be called upon by the owner/curator of the new Davenport Gallery (in Davenport, CA just up the coast from Santa Cruz towards San Fran on your way up hiway 1). I've passed by the location many a time thinking it would be the most awesome site for a gallery, and low and behold, as of a couple months ago it finally is! It's such a cute old-timey storefront that was recently renovated and holds a lot of historical significance. There's even an old one-cell jail behind it! Apparently it was used mostly for the rowdy inebriate from time to time. Anyway, I'll be participating in it's upcoming February Valentine's Day themed show. And I'm so excited! (Click on Upcoming Exhibitions.) More news to come about openings and whatnot...

Ooooooo, check this out

2010-01-27T02:28:00.000-08:00

Walt Peregoy Exhibit in Encino

Joshua Petker

2010-01-26T22:02:00.000-08:00

Here's another artist whose work I thoroughly enjoy and who I don't think I've mentioned yet here: Joshua Petker.

More...

2010-01-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

Here's another cool artist/illustrator and new discovery to me: Gregory Manchess. The above is my favorite piece that I found on his website.

I don't know what it's called, but I love it.

2010-01-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

Came across another Glenn Barr painting online that I absolutely love.

Left over from Christmas

2010-01-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

Did this little ditty back in December for an artist gift exchange at KALEID Gallery in San Jose where I have some work up. I have fun making my starry eyed girls. :)

Brooklyn Bridge Girl (by me!)

2010-01-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

I never did post this all done, so here it is, one of my city lights series. This jpeg is darker than the actual painting, but you get the gist.

Jillian Tamaki

2010-01-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

http://jilliantamaki.com

Yuko Shimizu

2010-01-19T21:27:00.000-08:00

www.yukoart.com

Kagan McLeod

2010-01-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

www.kaganmcleod.com

Dennis Brown

2010-01-19T21:09:00.000-08:00

Cool illustrations.

Robert Carter

2010-01-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

ROBERT CARTER | CRACKEDHAT ILLUSTRATION

Karen Klassen

2010-01-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

I'm having fun right now discovering new illustrators that I love. Check this lady out:
www.karenklassen.com
http://www.commarts.com/fresh/karen-klassen.html
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KarenHasCabinFever

Today's Inspiration...

2010-01-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite artists that I discovered back in my college days at a random Pasadena art gallery: http://www.jialu.com/

But why's all the rum gone?!!

2010-01-19T03:24:00.000-08:00

'Sposed to be whiskey actually. Just finishing this one up, a request of my boyfriend. He gotsd good idears. :)

Krista Huot @ Gallery 1988

2010-01-19T03:20:00.000-08:00

Loving this new show at Gallery 1988 SF: Krista Huot "Nepenthe"

Getting back in the swing of things

2010-01-19T03:14:00.000-08:00

Wow. The holidays and so much more have distracted me from updating this for far too long. I'll try to catch up some over the next week or so. There certainly is plenty to share! In the meantime, here's a quicker-for-funner piece I finished a few months back. Enjoy. :)

Booth #235 at APE!

2009-10-06T00:17:00.000-07:00

October 17 & 18 - Alternative Press Expo - Here's you a link to more info.

Some Press is Always Good!

2009-10-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

Almost Here!!!

2009-10-05T23:54:00.001-07:00

"Miss Sealy and Puppy"

2009-10-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sneak peek at the zine/kids comic book I'm working on. It's about a dog and a sea lion who turn out to be soulmates...

Chris Sanders

2009-10-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a project that involves drawing some sea life, so I came across this and thought it was just so rad for it's line quality and character. (Chris Sanders)

A little Arthur...

2009-10-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

I've been looking to Arthur Rackham for inspiration again lately, and I found this amazing illustration that I'd never seen before. Damn his stuff is awesome!

Trina Merry at The Abbey in Santa Cruz

2009-10-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

Trina just had another opening, this time at The Abbey in Santa Cruz... Love her use of red and teal!

Plus she's currently part of an awesome group show at Psycho Donuts in Campbell.

More from the Alternative Cafe in Seaside

2009-10-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've totally slacked on updating this lately. So I'm gonna try to make up for it by posting a few things all at once. First, I went to another cool opening at the Alternative Cafe in Seaside. A little more subdued, decorative, less edgy but therefore almost nicer, happier, and prettier paintings this time around. Here are my favorites from the show. Check all the work out.

Today's Inspiration...

2009-08-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Shippen Green.

Me at KALEID Gallery & Lacey Bryant too!

2009-08-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

Yay! My stuff is officially up at KALEID now! Do check it out if any of you are ever in San Jo. And come on out to the First Fridays events for sure to get some good gallery hopping in. (I'll be there for the opening this next first Friday of September, so join me if you can!) It was good to get my wall up, and awesome to meet some of the other artists they represent too. I really enjoyed meeting Lacey Bryant for one, and I loved her art! (Hers is the bottom image, one of my latest is the top. Do check out her website to see more!)

Comic Con 2009

2009-08-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

I have slacked on blogging about this, but a couple weeks ago I attended Comic Con for my first time ever! There was so much to see in and take in. But just to share a couple highlights, 1) I got to see Chris Sanders, creator of "Lilo and Stitch" from afar. I highly recommend checking out his website. It's got some great stuff on it and I always enjoy visiting. I wish he'd had his hula girls sculptures for sale at this con though! Apparently he is currently working on a new feature over at Dreamworks, so watch out for that world!

2) James Jean was present to sign copies of his new release The Kindling. Something else that I highly recommend and sure as heck bought my own copy of!

3) A new discovery to me (thanks to a little Wisconsin wisdom :-) ), the art of Derek Thompson and the other Pixar artists at their booth. Fun stuff and nice people for sure, very cool to chat with. I recommend their comic book release.

There was so much more, but that will have to do it for now. I'm definitely going next year for a couple days, as long as my claustrophobia from the costumed crowds lets me...

San Francisco CONTROL exhibition juried by the Guerilla Girls West

2009-08-09T00:54:00.000-07:00

This last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the opening to the CONTROL Exhibition at the SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. I went both to see an interesting and thought provoking show, and to support my friend and fellow artist, Trina Merry, whose work was selected to be in the show by the Guerilla Girls West and curated by Karen Gutfreund with two local chapters of the Women's Caucus for Art. Yay Trina! (The second photo is one of the gallery goers staring at her brilliantly eye-catching piece.)

The show was 100% women artists, so rock on girl power! Here are a couple of my other favorite pieces from the exhibition... Bottom picture: a poignant piece on the horrors of female genital mutilation. Second from bottom: a painting about releasing the need to control and learning to let go. Top picture: the painting behind us gals and under the show title celebrates the progress in education for African girls. That education lets them be controlled no longer by their society through ignorance.

Great News! KALEID Gallery...

2009-07-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Great News! I found out recently that I will be exhibiting at KALEID Gallery in San Jose for the next few months, starting in August! I'm excited... and thinking about all the work I need to get DONE. (By the way, the above photo is of a painting I am currently in the middle of inspired by the lovely and talented musician, my friend, miss Jessica Donnheimer. You really should hear her beautiful songs.) Speaking of KALEID, another friend and KALEID exhibiting artist, Trina Merry, just got back from Haiti where she helped less fortunate kiddos over there create some beautiful art... Do check it out.

Girls and Their Cities Nightscapes

2009-07-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Productive couple of days, yay! The top image is all but done minus a couple more embellishments in the city lights (I'm really liking it, which is great since like most artists I don't often like my own work), and the bottom one is just in progress, maybe a little over halfway... But I'm enjoying them too much to have the patience to wait until they're all done to share!

Melissa Garden Streblow

2009-07-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

And I just heard word that Miss Melissa Streblow just MAY contribute to the book as well! Check her out. :-)

Another Great Artist Addition to the APE Book Project

2009-07-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

Michael Caleb!

Finished!

2009-07-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Just meant to be a fun fashiony quickie...

"Garter Belts and Gasoline" show at the Alternative Cafe in Seaside

2009-07-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of my favorites from the show... I got to make it out to the opening last night. Big turn out. Hot rods lining the street outside. Cool stuff!

From the life drawing sessions...

2009-07-08T02:45:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a little something that came out of this figure drawing workshop I've been hitting up pretty regularly recently at Michael Angelo Studios. It feels good to be getting back in the habit of drawing the figure from life again. I must complain about the severe lack of male models though... :-)

Contributing (Untitled APE Book) Artist: Fabian

2009-07-08T02:21:00.000-07:00

Whoohoo, Fabian's in too!

(Oh, and of course also in the book: Romanoos!)

Another Cool Artist in Our Book Project

2009-07-08T02:12:00.000-07:00

Yay! Got word the other day that Magda will be one of the contributing artists to our as yet untitled APE coffee table art book project. Awesome!!!

Book Project and Two Cool Bay Area Artists

2009-07-08T01:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a studio warming party in San Jose for two of my good friends and awesome artists, Celeste Young (bottom image) and Trina Merry (top). I'd been meaning to write about the event earlier but just hadn't got my act together to get the photos up. Two cool pieces huh? And it was quite an event, 3 bands, and PACKED! I am also stoked because, and I haven't mentioned this yet either, but Celeste and Trina are contributing/collaborating with me and Sarah Curry, graphic designer, on an upcoming art book that we'll be releasing at APE this October! (For any of you who don't know, APE is the Alternative Press Expo. It's in SF and put on by the same folks who do Comic Con.) Very exciting all around. I think it's going to be a great project.

June at Corey Helford Gallery

2009-07-06T03:03:00.000-07:00

New works and a new show from another old Art Center classmate, Korin Faught.

Kevin Dart + Show at Gallery Nucleus

2009-07-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

Wishing I could make it down to LA in time to see this one!

A New (to me) Art Discovery

2009-07-06T02:30:00.000-07:00

Charles Dwyer.

Pete Han

2009-06-29T01:25:00.000-07:00

So I saw on facebook that my old A.C. pal Pete was featured on ConceptArtWorld.com. Nice work. Take a look-see!

The Alternative Cafe in Seaside

2009-06-28T04:21:00.000-07:00

And while I was in the bottom side of the bay with Romanoos, I finally got a chance to check out a gallery I'd been wanting to see for a while, The Alternative Cafe. It was pretty danged awesome. And there just aren't too many spots like this on the Central Coast, so I was all the more stoked. The paintings that tickled my particular fancy the most were by Mitsy Avila Ovalles (image above). Paul Torres had some cool stuff too. And not only that, but he seems to be a pretty cool guy too! (Yes, I fully admit I am saying that because he friended me on facebook!)

Anyway, I am looking forward to checking out what's new at the Alternative Cafe more often. And I am definitely looking forward to their next show which looks awesome, pinups and hotrods, more cleverly titled "Garters and Gasoline".

Another fun day painting in studio with Romanoos...

2009-06-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Just had to show off another one of hers I really like.

Man I wish I could just jet set over to the U.K....

2009-06-23T00:24:00.000-07:00

...to see this Banksy show. (Glad I got to see his Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill in NYC with my pals this last fall though.)

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

2009-06-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling the need to contribute a little of my own again, so here's a better file of the "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" painting like I promised. Thank you to my great model Mike, the M.i.C.