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Monday, August 29, 2011

Stayin' Alive ah ah ah ah

Whoah, I gave myself a startle when I went to my blog home page. It looks so....new and.....spiffy! (for those of you who haven't followed for any length of time, I used the same template for over five years and last week just changed it)

I uh......what the hell.......have I been uh.......doing? Basically staying outside in the sunshine for as long as possible, and very little by way of 'art'. I guess I am in one of those dry spells. Ehhhh. I keep meaning to write down, on a series of 3 x 5 cards, what to do when these dry spells hit instead of doing the 'why am I not doing any ART' and freaking out all over myself schtick:



Oh, well, I did clean the studio. Shiny! It's kinda freaky how sparkly it is in here. Floor to (almost) ceiling. Bought some mums and potted them in big pots with lots of room to spread out and hopefully they will be the perennials they are supposed to be. Applied for a part time office job at a local acupuncturist....it's called Acupuncture for the People Awesome. Sliding scale, no income verification, you can be treated for as little as $15. That and selling some art could pay the bills.

Hey what do you guys do when you hit a dry spell? How many blogposts on the planet are there about this, anyway? At least a half a metric ton I would imagine. I know what Douglas Adams would say.....

I was recently reminded (during studio cleanup/cleanout) that one of the funnest, best, inexpensive investments are these:







Because then you can put your ATCs (if you are so inclined to trade) or ACEOs (if you are inclined to sell) inside of them.






They're so frikkin' cute. I mean really how fun is that, to make your own trading cards? Reminds me of when I was little and collected the cartoon cards from inside the Wonder Bread (remember that?).





There is something very cool about seeing your art in print, in different sizes, and in different contexts. A couple of my pieces are downtown for ESAP (Eugene Storefront Art Project). This organization fills empty street-facing businesses with local artists' works. I don't walk by the storefront my two works are in hardly ever, but when I did, I had to laugh.....one is a semi-serious landscape (the obligatory in painting class from a couple semesters ago) and the other is that Blue Jay one you know? It's not a nice picture of a bird; it's a human-bird hybrid portrait. Atypical for what you would see in storefronts. Oh, I didn't post that here, did I? I was pretty excited when I worked on it (first time painting on a canvas) but now, well you know how it goes.....so much further to take it.....but still, it was fun at the time yeah.



Anyway. I'm going to toast Sookie and the gang with a home made cranberry wine blended and watch the latest episode of True Blood.

I wish I had a spoon-straw.




Friday, August 26, 2011

Speedball Secrets and Uni Pins

Now, what do you think that title refers to?? Well it's not anything to do with mixing uppers and downers.  I just found out something! Look at this!






The end of the handle for the linocutting tool can be removed to store a cache of other tools! (or, whatever) (ssssshhhhhhhh).  Did you know this?? Ha! I only know it because I was leafing through a Daniel Smith catalog just now and saw it in a picture! Gee. The brayer handles do the same thing (I own two brayers). What'll I put inside those?? (shhhhhhhhh)

Here's another little tip: there is a great online store called Stationery Art where you can buy all sorts of goodies for very very reasonable prices and unbelievably low shipping costs.

For example: the Uni Pin. It's better than a Micron (according to some). I found the pens, the Uni Pins, on Stationery Art for about a buck fifty each. It's double that on all the UK sites I visited, and shipping is about six US dollars. At Stationery Art I bought four of the pens in varying sizes and shipping was two dollars. I received them in four days. They ship from Japan. I am shitting you not. Furthermore, the UniPins are awesomenessss.

Want one of those Pentel Brush Pocket Pens? Want to pay less than Amazon, even? Okay! On Amazon you could buy a pen with two cartridges for ten bucks and if you're a Prime member, shipping would be free. At this nifty overseas online store you can buy a pen and four cartridges (refills) for ten bucks and that immaculately conceived shipping price. I bought one last year. It works great.

Yesterday I decided to treat myself to a purchase: Pentel water brush pen. Where you fill the reservoir yourself. Oh yes. Four brushes for eighteen bucks. Niiiice!

Ahhhhhh......you must've seen that Credit Limit Report notification up there, sitting under the Speedball. Yeah. I can go to the community college and receive financial aid next term: but only for ten more credits. Then, they cut me off. I should've said I need THIRTY more credits instead of being honest and saying ten will do, when they sent me a notice and I needed to justify. Ah hells I don't even want to think about school right now. I'm still in summer vacation mode. Math? UGH.

I was going to transfer over to the University in Fall but then I decided to take summer off......summer off is feeling mighty fine, still.

Okay later you guys. Yona is gonna try and sneak me into the Eugene Celebration so I can see the Object Afterlife show (which she is exhibiting in). Ah! There's the call!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Industry and Mayhem






Just now home from taking down the show at Ninkasi. You see the state of things around here. If I drank Red Bull I'd be slamming a few cans to fortify myself before tackling the aftermath, reorganization, cleanup, etc........no sales at the show. Ah well. I did, however, meet someone who works at Ninkasi. James is a nice fellow; he said Ninkasi has been invited to pour at a Gala Event in BelAir to honor Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn (why??). The rep from said Gala Event, while visiting Ninkasi, said to bring some art.....my art. Ha ha! So I could mark up my sunflower print to, what, an easy grand or two? Seems like a pipe dream at this point but maybe I'll pursue the line of inquiry.

(Ninkasi, by the way, is our local brewery)

Here are a couple of shots that my friend Jacque took while the show was up (once again I forgot to take photos and this morning I just wanted to get in, get out):

Umm...there are a whole bunch more pieces hung around the place that looked pretty nifty! The Ninkasi inlay piece in the floor is fantastic; it's done by local artist Jamie Buress.

So then I packed everything up (acrylics, prints, paintings, watercolors, inventory) into two bike panniers, slung my bigass portfolio over my shoulder after securing another flat containing the inventory prints to the rack on my bike, and carried two of my large pieces in my left hand while steering with my right, and rode home.

I looked like one of the Clampetts.

Thank god it's not raining.

Here are some excerpts from the Guest book I left for folks to sign.


"I think you guys & girls have the potential to ROCK MY FACE OFF!"

"Boom shakal-a-shaka! (ps this message would have been boring pre-beer. xoxo PDX"

"Amber waves really made this our last stop & a good one! come visit us in SF & try local brewing! <3 the vanilla stout! Cheers! A.W.R."

"Sophie, Thanks for referring us to here! :) -Adam & April SLC, UT"

"Love this beer! Eugene Rocks - Brendan's Mom from So. Cal"

"KOO!"

"Had a great time with friends! THANKS"

"great key lime juice! squeeze!"

"Dear Jamie, I Love You! I love your beer in my mouth! Love, The Wench"






YEAH!! Thanks, people! I made the beer myself, that's why I put an ARTIST'S GUESTBOOK here beside my business cards and ART for you to sign! ha ha!! pretty fucking hilarious, I think.

So there were actually a few comments directed to me, the artist, about the art. Which was pretty cool:

"How long does it take to heat up a pretzel?"

oh wait a second....(no this really IS in the guest book......it's like.......a subway bathroom wall or something!!)

"Happy birthday!! Oh oops my bad this isn't a birthday ard. Props on getting a showcase here, you're very talented I hope to see more keep it up brodda popping bi - N.......???"

Who wrote that? Were you inebriated? I don't care! Tell your friends to buy some of my awesome art! I am tired of looking at it on my walls!


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Occam's Razor

.....or, K.I.S.S.

I'm not going in to the finer points of Occam's Law of Parsimony, but it's the one I am going to use to remind myself and anyone else who wants reminding that looking in the most obvious place is often the path of least resistance......WHAT? Define 'obvious', you say? Ah! Obvious is obvious in hindsight I guess.

I wanted to add some things to this Olde Blog, like those nifty share bars with Twitter, Facebook, and a host of other social networking sites. I googled all sorts of phrases and read all sorts of tutorials and messed around with HTML and some of worked but not in the way I really wanted. Finally during a conversation with a friend she said she just added hers from the widgets in Blogger.

Gee. I guess it's been awhile since I posted, or dug around in Blogger to familiarize myself with the newfangled thingies. WHAT?! Define 'newfangled'!! Today's newfangled is tomorrow's Olde Passé.

You'll notice that you can now subscribe to the blog and receive emails whenever I post new content; you'll also notice that the Share Bar of Niftyness is now included at the end of each post. And it even works, I Liked myself and it shows up all shiny on my Facebook profile.

What else good came of all that? I practiced patience, fellow grasshopper. When something did not work, I did not lose my shit. I kept trying stuff. And tinkering. Lemme say that the most excellent weather is a definite help. WHAT? Define 'most excellent weather'!!

1: sunshine, blue sky, warmth, no howling wind

Warmth: Above 75 degrees.

Two weeks into August, our True Summer finally arrived. YESSSSSS!

Here are a couple of fun art things I did a couple weeks ago but lately nothing new except for doodles, sketches, stickers, and drawing on my leg.



Heh heh heh. Ever feel like that? Oh sure you do!!

I love these guys:


Watercolor and pigment pen on coldpress w/c paper. Best Friends Forever!!!

So yeah I also set up an Etsy store. No sales yet, but I haven't done a lot of Friending and Circling and Treasury Listing like I guess you are supposed to for promotion. The above two are $12 for an 8 x 10 print.

I'm also tossing around the idea of a making a website through GoDaddy. Any advice? Welcome to drop me a line or two in the comments or email.

My latest absolute favorite online comic/graphic novel is Dream Life by Salgood Sam (or Sadax Golum or Maxim Douglas). Do press on past the first page. His use of traditional and digital combined make for delicious viewing. I am over the heels in love with his style. I really do literally curse in admiration and awe when I look at his artwork.

That's it for now....oh wait! There's a new Hourly Comic up!


You can view the whole Day's Worth on our team blog over here. Think about joining us and post your own comic, that'd be pretty awesome.