I love to draw

Drawing with India Ink and a brush is one of my favorite things to do. Here are some from my sketchbook. You'd think now that I am not posting 5 days a week I'd have more to say.

My triathlon is this Sunday. Wish me luck. Yikes!

Hey Update Crazy

I have decided to post on the blog only once or twice a week now. It is too much to think new stuff everyday plus doing the one-a-day paintings (on which I am behind again). I am FRIED. Yeeeehaw and crazeeee!

No art today just pics!

Hello! Wednesday night a bunch of us went to the preview of Tim Biskup's new work at Billy Shire Fine Arts. The show was cool and different, very raw. I like to see artists changing it up and he definitely has. Check it out if you can.

After the preview, there was an after party at some bar on Hollywood Boulevard. These are pics from that. We got a wacky and took a bunch of pictures of us punching each other. It was funny...really! I guess you had to be there. I have a weird sense of humor. So do my friends. They are the BEST!

The top pics is one of the few "nice" ones. That's Frieda Gossett Jr. Clayton the 3rd on the left, Aaron Smith in the middle and me on the right. I actually wore a dress and got gussied up. I needed a little girly girlness as I am usually in paint covered jeans and tee looking the slob. My friend Arlene Guerra styled me. She is a stylist and is staying with me while looking for a place to live in L.A. She moved here from NYC. She also makes really cool jewelry.

The middle pic is of Frieda gouging out Mark Todd's eyes. Hilarious right? And the bottom is Esther Pearl Watson socking Gary Baseman in the jaw. Classic! I have a ton more, but I think it would best to stop now so you don't think I am too much of a freak.

I am Lucky

Esther Pearl Watson is cracking herself up in the studio right now. She must be working on a new Unlovable, the very funny comic she draws and writes. She totally laughs at her own jokes all the time. Hey if you can't crack yourself up then why would anyone else think it was funny? Check out Unlovable in BUST Magazine every month. Heck yeah.

Stop Talking

Don't feel like writing anything today. Am stressed out. Yeehaw!

Dear God Don't Be Ugly

This is a new sketchbook. It is all just India Ink w/brush drawings. Some of these were in Graphic Magazine #10. This is one of my favorite books.

Butter is good for you

This is the end of this sketchbook. It is for sale on my website. Butter is good for you if you don't eat it with a fork.

Hve a good weekend. Hopefully I'll have some thing interesting to say next week.

Marvelous Catered Bathing Suits

Most of my art relies on random choices of images and words. Even though they seem random I think there is always a subconscious reason for why I choose the words and images I do. Usually I figure it out later.

Is that too art-speak? For some reasion I find that artist statementy art-speaky stuff really off-putting and bull-shitty. You know, where people describe their art as so meaningful and important like "my art comes from the passionate troubled visions while representing the dichotomy of commercialism vs. human tragedy and the existential crisis of the domain of man." (I just made that up, but hey if it were someone's real statement I might actually want to see the art ha ha). I don't know why that annoys me so.

Even if you aren't one of those blowhard types, writing about art always comes off as a little pompous.

I love sandwich

Today I went swimming in the morning and then rode my bike to the studio and now I feel too tired to do my painting for the day. I WILL do it, I'm just spending a lot of time staring at the paper with nothing on it. Staring. Staring.

This triathlon is kicking me butt. I really do love sandwiches. It might be my favorite food. Random topic switch. OK gotta get the energy up to paint and then ride home.

I deserve Ice Cream

Here is a little series of pages of varying sizes. I really like this artbook I made. It was for sale, but nobody wanted it. Wah.

I used someone's old recipe cards. Recipe cards are great. When I go to estate sales there is always a box full of recipe cards with stains and fading and hand written notes. I find them comforting. My mom kept her recipes in this looseleaf notebook type thing. It is filled with cutouts, handwritten recipes. Looking at it reminds me of home and growing up. I am glad I have it.

There is history in a family's recipes. I am always glad to take them home from an estate sale, give them a new home.

Non-specific anxiety

Experiencing non-specific anxiety right now. I do this on occasion. I think it has to do with the triathlon. It could also be that I haven't eaten that much today and drank two 20 ounce Diet Cokes. I quit for a while but have gone back. Need to quit again. I am all or nothing when it comes to DC. It is a problem.

I am so green

Hey I rode my dang bike to the studio today! This is a big giant feat for a person who drives to the CVS 3 blocks away from my house. Not looking forward to riding home though. There is a huge hill I must conquer. It was super fun going down though. Yeehaw!

There is allergy stuff in the air cause I cain't shtop sneezin!

ArT art aRT art ART.

If you are in Chicago Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson are speaking at The Museum of Contemporary Art and at Quimby's books.

Don't eat that

Don't have much to say today. It probably would be better if you didn't eat that. Gotta go and do my painting for the day. I am finally caught up on that. Then I am digging into my super big paintings. I am not teaching a class this summer so I am going to use the time to get gritty with the whole big ass painting thing. Ya dig?

Old Tart

The hills are on fire. Last night it smelled like burning in my house. Took the bottom picture on my way home from the studio. Smokiness. It is so strange that there are random fires all the time in Cally. Even though I have lived here for 10 years I am still a Philadelphia gal at heart, fires in the hills and palm trees everywhere still kinda freak me out. I'll be driving along and all of a sudden I'll realize that I live in California. It's weird. I'm weird.

Here are some more pages from my handmade salad book. I think I am obsessing over getting older. The top one is about all the ways you can die and the middle one just says "old tart." Everyone gets old.

Potato balls, cheese dreams, frankfurter bunwiches

Hello I am back at home. It is good to get away from California. This place can be a little wack. Glad to be home though.

This here's a totally random handmade book o' art. It is filled with my favorite things; cookbook collage, hand type and my personal neuroses. It don't get any better than that for me. Back to my roots. Heck yeah.

Gotta go. I am tired. It is hot out. Random. Is good.

home

I am on my way home from Pittsburgh this afternoon. Look here for some art for tomorrow.
It is an incredible spring day. I miss Pennsylvania!

shiny new stuff at the mall

Went to Macy's with my sister-in-law yesterday. Was feeling all good and cool. Then I walked into the bright shiny white gleaming store and suddenly I looked like an orphan in a charles dickens story. Please suh can I have some more? I hate going shopping because of that. This has nothing to do with art but felt like commenting cause I never go to the mall and now I remember why. Now I want all new clothes, a new car, new furntiure, a face lift, a personal chef and 100 pairs of shoes plus a big purse with a logo on it. Then I wouldn't feel so gross being around new stuff.

out of town

I am in Pittsburgh visiting my family. If something groovy happens and I take pictures or do a cool drawing this weekend I'll post it. OK?

Jury duty sketchbook

Jury duty is a great place to get some drawing done. This is a book from one of my many jury duty runs. I have friends who NEVER get called for jury duty, friends with jobs who pay them for jury duty. While I don't mind doing my duty it is a little annoying to get called every year especially because I work for myself. They don't give a crap if you work for yourself anymore. Oh well.

When I was applying to art school I used a sketchbook of life drawings I did while on jury duty since I didn't have access to nude models. It worked!

These drawings I did while sitting on a jury for a limo driver who was on trial for not returning the limo after his shift was done. Boring. The time before I was on a jury for a murder, a guy accused of killing his wife. That was NOT fun. Boring yet disturbing. Not at all like Law & Order.

I be back!

San Francisco was groovy. Met some new excellent people. I love it up there. That city is the most beautiful place. If I was a writer type I would describe it better than that. Gee whiz it sure is pretty. Anyway, it helped being up there with new people and doing new things because I have been so whiny and insecure and poor me-ish lately. AND the charity auction raised $14,000 buck-a-roonies!

Also I went to the book launch /reception for Exactly, a book published by 826 Valencia. It showcases stories written by kids who were tutored by 826 Valencia and paired them with a different illustrator (I was paired with Connie Chueng). Pretty cool. The cover is by Jacob Magraw-Mickelson and I think it is exceptional! On top of that I got to meet Dave Eggers. I am big fan.

Well gotta run. I am behind on everything. I'll post some of my art tomorrow. Peace out.