Scenes from an Opening

Even thought I carry my digital camera with me everywhere I go I always forget to take pictures.  So Thursday night was the reception for the Bitchin' at the Bad Dog Show where my piece Hell Cat was shown and the only photo I took was the one above.  That's right, the one where you can't even see who's in the photo. But you can see art hanging up in the background!  It really was an art show and not just me and two of my closest friends loitering in an alley!  Joanna Goss and Christian Campos are the ones in the picture.  I hate such a great night.  The show was packed with people, food and beer.  I drank all the PBRs I could stomach and then we all made our way to our favorite bar.  The next day was spent on the couch watching an all day marathon of The Pick-Up Artist.  If you haven't seen this show you're not missing anything.  But it made for a great hangover lazy day.

Check out Cassie's blog for more photos of the show and an awful picture of me making an awful face!

Business Cards and Margaritaville

So I just made business cards for my blog/etsy/email address. I'm not sure if i should have used the image that i chose but i really like it. The image below is what you will see on my cards. What do you think? Spooky?? My friend Anna was my ghost model. She did a great job standing in the heat with wasps everywhere. Best little Ghost Model yet!

Also, I'm suppose to send a shout out to my sister Lynne, my Aunt Kim, Chad and Fun Bobby. They are at a University of Kentucky game and have assured me that while tailgating they will check my blog for updates. In honor of them being drunk at a game (is it football? basketball? lacrosse?) Here's a video Kim shot of us all at a wedding last year in Louisville. This was shot after the reception and sadly a lot of the people in the video are sober. Guess who it is!

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In non-shout out news I went to Dick Blick today and bought tons of markers and paints. Then I went to IKEA and bought frames. I could spend hours in both of those stores but I was with a group so we had to be quick. It was a fun trip and Darren, Kurt and I sang Girl Talk songs the whole way home. Now I'm going to put my new markers to work and make some art.

Have a good Saturday!

Blogs that I like

Today I thought I'd pass along some great blogs to read. Some of these people are the reason why I was so excited to start my own blog. This first person is someone I found on Etsy and fell madly in love with their work. http://leililaloo.blogspot.com/ is her blog address. Her work is beautiful and her site is fancy too!


This next piece is by Abbey Hendrickson. I was fortunate enough to meet her a couple of years ago at a print conference and became an instant fan of her work. Recently I found her blog and it was so inspiring. You can check her out http://aestheticoutburst.blogspot.com/.

And this beauty is by Cassie Christenson Edwards. She's a classmate of mine in grad school and her work continues to amaze me. You can follow her work and life here: http://theadventuresofcassie.blogspot.com/

And lastly but not leastly is my good friend Michelle Moode. I've always admired Michelle and her work. Frogmans 2006 was where we finally realized what great friends we are. Because she lives on the west coast I'm able to keep up with her the best through her blog. Check out her beautiful artwork and hear her funny stories here:

http://millionsofpeoplehappy.blogspot.com/

Check it out and find something new to love!

Studio Toad and Hellcat

This little guy has been living outside my studio door lately. I keep an eye on him to see where he is. I have to admit I'm not very fond of toads, they kind of creep me out, give me the willies. But I feel like this guy and I are becoming studio companions. I need to name him. Any suggestions?

I finished a piece for a show that's opening this weekend. It's called Hellcat and it's the first time I've done mixed media on a manilla envelope. I'm pretty excited with the finished piece and am looking forward to working on more stuff like this. The image below isn't the best but if you click on it for a larger version it shows more details in the work.

Thanks for checking it out!

Fluffy Ghost Land Cloud

I just uploaded this little dandy to my Etsy site.  It's called Fluffy Ghost Land Cloud and can be yours! It looks great in an IKEA shadowbox frame.

This is the description:

I love drawing Ghost Land scenes on little paper doilies. This is one of those drawings sewn to handprinted Japanese papers with a waxed doily framing the image. The little guys floating in the image are part of a narrative that comes out in my work. They live in the ground and they keep an eye on everything going on. They love to snack on rainbows.

Check it out! And send your energy to the friends and families of DJ AM and Travis Barker as well as all the four victims of yesterday's fatal flight.  The late  Little Chris just lost a brother in a car accident and has a newborn baby at home.  It's truly tragic.  Send some good energy their way, please.

Reality Bites and Wall Decor

Once again I'm at Panera having some lunch and computer time.  Sometimes these are my favorite moments of the day when i can sit by myself and leisurely check my emails and read all my favorite blogs.  After this I'm going to go back to my studio where I'm currently painting and drawing on manilla envelopes.  I'll post updates of my work soon.  At Panera when they have your food ready they call your name over an intercom and it sort of reminded me of Reality Bites when Laney gets a phone call at a restaurant and they call her name out and she awkwardly answers, "Yeah..."  I feel like I have a lot of those awkward moments in my life and they are plenty funny after the fact.  Do you have any good awkward, cringe-y stories?

So, the image today is a part of my wall. I filled up some IKEA shadowbox frames with all my favorite childhood ephemera.  The owl was a gift from my friend Katie.  She got it at Anthropology.  This is just a happy little moment in my life.

Have a great weekend, Dear Readers...

Avatars and ACEO Cards

I just changed my avatar on etsy. I'm not sure if I love the image or not but i needed a change. Plus, these are some images of some of my ACEO cards on Etsy. I had never heard of these cards until I joined the site but they are a neat idea. It's a cheap, quick way to get your art in other people's hands. These two are Ghost Lands. I combined two etching plates and drew into them with gel pens. Fun times.

I have worked quite a bit on the stuff in my studio and am eager to post updates. I just need to get some photos taken. I have a critique Friday. Wish me luck!

My First

This is the first post of my new art blog! I'm sitting in Panera nursing a cold with soup and a latte.  I thought that I would introduce myself with pictures from my new studio and some works in progress. It's another year in school and like the beginnings of most years I'm not quite sure what I'm doing. So I'm playing around in my new space and trying to figure it out. Enjoy!