Beautiful Losers

OK just watched Beautiful Losers documentary again to gain a little perspective back. Here is a quote from Mike Mills at the end of the movie that helped me today. It might not be exact but it's real close.

"It is good to be able to say that work is rad, to not be like oh that work sucks all the time, which in art school is what you get trained to do, nothing's good enough, everything's shitty. It is so much more powerful to say that is rad. I love that. I wish I did that."

And then he basically says if you are looking at people being interviewed about art in suits, making jokes, or reading press or articles or watching TV "don't believe a fucking word of it."

Deja Vu

I just realized I am reliving what happened to me at Denison University when a teacher told me I couldn't draw. Only this time I know they are wrong and I am not quitting.

Cover Art

I was trying to organize my art on my computer and came across these covers I did for the Portland Mercury. I likes them! They are daring. My art tends to be a little weird and awkward and more often than not art directors want something a little prettier. I do pretty dessert and food, but my people are usually a bit off. So thanks Portland Mercury!

Please continue to check out cakeandlobster.com as I am trying to add new stuff regularly. Thanks!

New website!

I gots me a brand new website. Cake and lobster, two of my favorite things. The new site is easier get around, I do believe. You can buy pictures there too! Or just look at them, although buying would be a good idea for presents and stuff. Holidays are coming up you know. Get on that.

I am going to try and post new stuff regularly in my spare time. HA!

Check it out: cakeandlobster.com

Home

So I'm trying to get to the point where I feel completely at home here in Philadelphia. Almost there, but not totally. It should help when I get some furniture I suppose. Then I could invite people over. Get the social ball rolling.

It seems I still have an arm clinging to Los Angeles and can't quite let go. My head is still half hanging out in Pasadena and that might be keeping me from fully committing to here.

This weekend I didn't have any plans except for a trip to Ocean City, MD to see my sister-in-law on Saturday. (Yes that counts as plans, but it wasn't based in Philadelphia.) On friday I was originally planning to drive down to Maryland, but it was raining and gross so I waited. Here I was on Friday with nothing to do. Back in Pasadena I have a group of people I can call to do stuff with at the last minute. Here I have friends, but I am not sure where I stand with everyone yet. I don't want to be that pesky person who doesn't realize they are annoying. So I did nothing and waited for something.

It was weird. I've got my old high school / college friends in the suburbs, my illustrator / designer friends in the city and the new friends I have yet to make at grad school. Where do I fit in? This makes me feel all mushy and nervous. And I don't want to let go of my world in Pasadena. What to do? All these worlds.

I know it will all settle in and it is normal and it will be what it is supposed to be, but I am used to being the social organizer. I was comfortable in Los Angeles. Now I am uncomfortable. Exactly what I asked for. So I'll shut my yap and deal. Jeez.

Back to school!

School starts tomorrow! I gots me my pink back pack ready to go. Can't wait to smell the dittos and eat some paste. Maybe we'll see a filmstrip the first day. YAY! I am going to wear shorts under my skirt so the boys can't see my underwear by accident. Dang. Regressions.

So excited to be the oldest broad in school. Not sure how I feel this time around. I am glad. It really doesn't matter how old I am. I am almost over that. Almost I say. Who cares. Whatever. Not going to think about it.

Moving my ass on outta here

I haven't written about my grad school experiences just yet because I haven't really experienced much. A few weeks ago I did go to PA to find an apartment in the hot moist philly air and loved every minute of it even though it sucked. I also stopped by the campus to look at where I will be spending much of my time. Classic college.

Italian market is my new neighbor. Olives, cheese, cured meat. I am going to punch frozen cow carcasses and drink raw eggs, but I will not run up the art museum steps.

I am ready. Leaving Friday. Yes. This is the right thing to do. I am certain.

What the hell am I doing chronicles

Kinda crazed right now, moving out of the studio I shared with some fantastic artists for a little over 5 years! Headed to grad school this fall.

So I've decided to write about what it's like to give up one perfectly good life and trade it for a completely unknown-what-the-hell-am-I-doing life. In two months I am headed to Philadelphia to get my MFA in painting. I am excited, but equally terrified. Too late to run back so I'm makin' like a baby and headin on out. Nuts.

I have started over before so I figure I can do it again.

Last party at Yosemite

I am sad to say we are all moving out of Yosemite Studios at the end of this month. It has been a great run and some amazing artists have worked within its walls: Calef Brown, Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, moi, Seonna Hong, Carlos Ramos, Megan Whitmarsh and for a very short but sweet time Korin Faught. Working with these incredible people has definitely made me more successful and daring. It has been a privilege.

So we are having a little shindig to commemorate this occasion. Hope you can make it. The info is in the picture. I am going to be selling my art at really good prices and getting rid of furniture and a mish mash of stuff.

Thanks!

Snapped

I really like this painting. I painted it while watching "Snapped' on the Oxygen network. It is a show primarily about women who "snap" and murder, usually they murder a man that done them wrong. I get it. Murder is wrong, but sometimes you can understand. You shouldn't do it though. You should probably eat a piece of cake instead. That is a better option.

Anyway this is for a group show in New York on June 20th at my friend Alix Sloan's Gallery. Please go if you live in NYC or vicinity.

I'll try to make the next post less about moi and more about something else. OK?

No more Folgers for you. Cute Ass!

Dang! I haven't been writing in the blog much lately. Here goes. Lots of good changes coming up. After my show I took a break from painting (except for illo jobs)! And now I'm packing up the studio, packing up my apartment, putting stuff in storage and gettin ready to move to Philly to start grad school. MFA wooo! Crazy, cause I am little long in the tooth to go back to school, but I don't really care. I am trying not to follow other people's rules for living. It is much easier to do that. My rules seem to be working out allright so far.

I'll be back here for the summers and most likely will come back to Pasadena when I am done, but you never know right? I am going on an adventure. Scary and exciting.

I am also the new President of ICON6 Illustration Conference and the board and I are hard at working planning for the big event next year in L.A. in July. I do believe this will be an awesome conference and I hope everyone comes; illustrators, designers, anybody! More on this soon.

So as my friend Robert told me, "no more folgers for you." I think from now on it is nonfat lattes with no foam or maybe a large iced green tea instead. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds right to me.

P.S. You have a cute ass!

Well Behaved Sunny and Pleasant

The last day for my show is tomorrow! Here is one of the bigger pieces. It is 3 feet by 4 feet on wood panel. This painting is about being a lady and being pulled together and lovely and nice and delicate and well-behaved. There are bugs on the dresses that signify the difficulties that can come about when one spends all ones energy developing the outside.

I don't know about being well-behaved sunny and pleasant, but I spend too much time wishing I was more girly and pulled together. I want to be one of those people who just looks cool and effortlessly stylish. It is dumb feeling this way as it diminishes the qualities I have that are not superficial. Putting too much weight on the outside is a bit dangerous.

Pantyhose

So glad I don't have to wear pantyhose. They are horrible.

Sneak Peek Two

Here is another piece o' art from the show. I painted this cake before. I painted it again because I think it is beautiful and artificial at the same time. This show is odd. There are paintings of people, food, animals, and bugs. Oh my!

I have lost the ability to judge my own work right now. I think I like them. Usually I like my work after I have stepped away from it for a good amount of time. I do hope people enjoy the show, but if they don't there isn't much I can do about it. Oh well. So I must get back to finishing up the little things. It'll be nice to be done.

Most of the work is posted on the La Luz de Jesus website.

Official Invitation

Sneak Peak Nice School

Here is another image from my upcoming show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. It is called Pleasant Thinking. This show is about being nice, thinking pleasant thoughts, being selfless, putting everyone else first. These are qualities I was taught are desirable in a woman. While being nice is a good thing, a person can get lost in one's niceness. I explore this theme by using humorous images to show the ridiculousness and futility of trying to be nice and perfect all the time.

This isn't to say that everyone should be a jerk. On the contrary, people should be nice, but not to the point where your identity disappears.

If you are in L.A. next week please come to my opening! It is from 8-11 on Friday, April 3rd. Coolness!

Bon Appetit

Here is what my art looks like in a beautiful spread by an art director who knows how to use illustration! There are actually more spreads to this article. I thought it was very daring to use paintings rather than photography in a food magazine. Thank you Matthew Lenning!

I hope more designers start using illustration in more daring ways. There are so many amazing artists doing really interesting stuff out there right now. The potential is staggering. AND illustration is lower maintenance and more cost effective than producing a photo shoot.

Git yer nails done!

Here is another painting from the "Dear New Girl" book. I think working on these paintings with Esther was the precursor to our Beauty Road Trip. We had such a good time doing these that we looked for other ways to work together on stuff. Do what you love and good stuff will happen!

Jam Time!

It is time to JAM! This is a collaboration I did with Esther Pearl Watson for a book called "Dear new Girl or Whatever Your Name Is" published by McSweeney's. I may have posted this before a while ago. Cawn't remember. It was in that Italy show so it seems brand new cause I haven't seen it in years. Woohoo!

Forgotten Art

So I just got back some art from a show that has been touring Italy for FOREVER. I had totally forgotten the art I had sent. It has been gone for over 2 years. Anyway I'll post them over the next few days. They are all for sale in my store which I just updated today. Yeehaw! Also posted some new stuff on Esty.

In order to keep the economy going we all need to save a little AND spend a little. If we all did that then things would be Groovy. Right?

Anyway this here picher is of my all time favorite person Loretta Lynn!!

Pessimistically Optimistic

Now that my favorite Adam Carolla is no longer waking me up in the mornings I am forced to go to public radio. I don't like music in the morning. I need talk.

Anyway this morning I woke up to this: bailout, bailout, 60 billion loss, death, death, starvation, war, global warming, poison, mining, destruction. GEEZ. Why get up? YAY everything is going to hell! Would it kill the newsfolks to throw in a little something positive like hey the sun rose this morning and it sho was perty. Or 90% of the people still have jobs for now. Or I went outside this morning and smelled the jasmine and it smelled real dang good.

I can take the bad news but waking up to it ain't good. Why did 97.1 have to go top 40? I need FUNNY! I need Adam Carolla back.

Anyway here is a sneak peak of art for my April show. It is called "Pessimistically Optimistic." That's pretty much how I deal right now. I might change it and the name might change but it is a start. Peace out.

At Least We Have Unicorns

I got these wonderful sparkly horses from this website.

Neo Ultraman Escapism

Everyday I get some sort of bad news about the frickin' son of bitch economy. Friends and family being laid off or having their pay cut, magazines closing, big businesses trying to get artists to give them their work for free, all around suckiness. I am normally a very optimistic upbeat person, but each piece of news just makes me more pissed off and cranky.

I have to nip it in the bud before I become a solid bitter crotchity old lady. I am sick of all the crappy stinky shit so I am going to frickin' paint ridiculousness and the economy can suck it. I am escaping into my own ultraman laser art movement. Neo Ultraman Escapism. Whatever. It makes me feel better. Anyway these two paintings represent the sweet laser love between Ultraman and Marcia Brady. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Smile Through the Panic

I have been working on paintings by myself this past rainy gloomy week and not being my super social self cause I have so much work to do. When you are alone with yourself too long listening to NPR, reading the paper, checking out the news online, it is not a good thing. I am turning all Stuart Smalley. "I'm going to die homeless and penniless, twenty-five pounds overweight and no one will ever love me." I should probably go outside and talk to real people. Smile through the panic!

Someone should do something

I used to think that maybe I was an interesting and different type person, but when I delve into the world of blogs and facebook and computerness in general, I find that I am not all that original. Sucks. Anyway this economy is bad right now. Someone should do something about it.

Nice Droppings

I haven't been all that good on doing my drawings. Shame on me. Trying harder. I am a busy person. So this is a bird. Everyone draws birds. This bird is dropping some nice.

I posted a lot of new stuff in my Etsy store. Stuff for $20 bucks! I found a whole bunch of art I did for the Giant Robot Post It show a couple of years ago. Crazy.

Yesterday n' Today

Here are two drawrings for today and yesterday. I forgot to post the Obama drawring yesterday. Hey if you feel like buying some of these drawrings, I am posting them on Etsy. Trying it out, you dig? On another note, not that you care, I have anxiety and feel blah and blue. I'd rather feel free and pretty, but there is no way my boobs would work in this cocktail bra. Why bother anyhow? You might as well go braless. They are still flapping around. You know? Random.

This Summer Things Will Be Better

I am going to be optimistic and say that things will be better this summer. It is like what my mom used to do when we went on our summer vacations. We would drive to Edisto Island from Philadelphia, a long drive for a kid. Every time we asked how much farther she would say 20 minutes. For some reason it made the 12 hours drive much easier to take.

Join

OK I am back to doing a drawing almost everyday. Please check back often! You should join for sure.

Jam On It

This drawring is inspired by a playing card that I found while cleaning my studio. Jam on it sister. Wikki wikki wikki! Shake your booty and scream "Oh Yeah!"

I must! I must!

Going to try and post a quick drawing everyday, keeps me on my toes. This is the first one. I must, I must, I must improve my bust. The bigger the better, the tighter the sweater. I must, I must! Truth be told I don't need to improve my bust. It is already big and needs no improvement. WOO!