Recent Work: A Portrait of Packet and Daisy

I don't normally "do" pet portraits, but I was procrastinating on another project, so the inspiration struck to do a portrait of these pups who I love and have the pleasure to watch occasionally.

Work Crush: Margaret KIlgallen

While sometimes it feels like I don't have many crushes on women artists, I know that that isn't true, especially since I think about the work of Margaret Kilgallen almost daily. Before she died of breast cancer in 2001, she and her husband Barry McGee (who I also have a work-crush on) drew on trains, painted mural and smaller format works, and created installations. The quality of her line work was amazing- fluid and solid while still retaining a delicate beauty. Here are a few images of her work, as well as a video from Art:21 from PBS.

Work Crush: Terry Gilliam's Monty Python animations

For as long as I can remember, I've loved anything related to Monty Python. From watching episodes of Flying Circus on PBS as a wee one, to constantly checking Time Bandits (directed by Terry Gilliam) out from the public library, the work of those six men has formed a lot of my sense of humor. 

So it comes as no surprise that as a visually inclined person, Terry Gilliam's animation for the Flying Circus has long been a favorite of mine. Even as still images, they are quite beautiful. 

But nobody can deny just how amazing his work is when animated.

Recent Work: Rain Monste

This is another piece for my Color Theory class. I went a little bit bigger than my usual minuscule scale for this one...about 5 inches square. It's got raised layers to add a bit of a third dimension to an otherwise 2-D work.

Rain Monster, 2015. Gouache, matte board, glassine,cork. 

Rain Monster, detail 1

Rain Monster, detail 2

Rain Monster, detail 3

Recent Work: prototyping for an upcoming show

 My final assignments as an undergrad are coming up,  and it just so happens that I'm also working on some stuff for a wee exhibition in May. 

More soon!

Work Crush: Sesame Street

I, like countless other people of all ages, grew up watching Sesame Street, and to this day hold a special place in my heart for it, and pretty much everything Jim Henson had a hand in. 
While it's difficult to whittle down my favorite videos, here are a few:

Frank Oz's laugh as Bert is the best sound in the world.

I loved Robin Williams, and while this video does make me a little sad, hearing the crew crack up at the end is amazing.

A Sesame Street parody of Twin Peaks? How can I travel back in time and be friends with these people?

While this technically isn't Sesame Street, it is still a really great parody.

Blog mugs in the Etsy shop!

I've finally gotten around to posting a few of the blobby mugs I recently made! It's been surprisingly satisfying to play around with and adapt a familiar form, while also trying out some new techniques for glazing. On the white and blue mug, I used an aerator for the first time, which is essentially a little air-brush pot that lets your blow fine layers of glaze onto a piece using your breath as the catalyst. I was pleased with the initial outcome, so expect more from that piece of equipment.
My Etsy shop.

Work crush: Bruce White's velvet paintings

I've always been allured by velvet paintings. I have a few of my own, which I'll probably share in a later post of my plethora of tackiness, but for now, I'll just focus on my love for Bruce White's work. Someday, if fortune smiles on me, I'll have one of my very own.

PS: All images copyright Bruce White. Visit his page: velvetgeek.com for more of his magnificence. 

Ash (from Evil Dead)

Kane (From Alien)

Morrissey

Monsieur Ivan (Bill Murray in The Grand Budapest Hotel)

And speaking of Bill Murray....

New Works: SpaceMan

The latest assignment for my color theory class was to create a digital work that dealt with art. So I took the Space Man I did for the limited palette assignment, and made a gif:

I can't WAIT to make more janky gifs.

Work Crush: Thai movie posters

In 1999, when I was 15, I started looking at ebay. One of the searches that still remains a favorite is for Thai horror movie posters. There's something so strange and beautiful about how the characters are rendered, in an almost air-brush manner. The selection of imagery is also excellent, like the artist picked the very best parts of the movies to put on their posters. 

Evil Dead

Evil Dead 2

 More delights after the jump!

Recent works: color theory assignment: optical mixing

*Sorry for the untimeliness of this post. The house I'm sitting is having some ridiculous internet connectivity issues, and I'm not sure how to correct it.

For the optical mixing assignment in my color theory class, I decided to do something I hadn't done in a very long time, if ever: a self-portrait based on life. Taken from a picture for a transit pass in Prague from the summer of 2010, I stayed true to the structure of my face rather than just giving myself one huge eye and gumdrop teeth. I made myself green, because, well...I couldn't make it completely serious. 

The point of this assignment was to use two or more colors in a way that from a distance they appear to be a certain color, but when you get near, you can see the distinct colors laying next to each other. Think pointillism from your art history class.


                                             

 Let's build a face!

Work Crush: Postcommodity: Pollination

This past week I was in Phoenix visiting my parents, which is normally a relaxing, though uneventful affair. Luckily, this trip happened to coincide with 2 pieces by the art group Postcommodity showing at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Having known one of the group's members, Raven Chacon, for quite a while, I was very excited to see these pieces in person.

More!

Recent Work: Getting home.

I recently visited my friend Anna Reser in Norman, Oklahoma,  where she's going to school for her master's degree in physical science (Focusing on images of the American space program).
I flew into Dallas since it's about $200 cheaper than flying into Oklahoma city.  Unfortunately for Anna,  two days before my flight home,  something fell out of her car's engine.  Fortunately for me,  there's a commuter train that runs from Norman to Fort Worth, with a connection to Dallas.
What was supposed to be a 3 hour ride, with a 2 hour stop and finished by another hour of train riding ended up being an 8 hour non-stop train ride.

More rails after the jump

Recent works: left handed self portraits

In December,  I broke my right (dominant) arm right above the wrist,  which I then had to have surgery on.  This resulted in me not being able to use my right hand for about 6 weeks.  During this time,  I began to draw daily self portraits with my left hand,  as a means to keep some form of normal art practice.

Some of the results:

Not too shabby.

Work Crush Wednesday: The American Astronaut

From the day I was lucky enough to see this projected onto a movie screen in 2001 (at Madstone Theater here in Albuquerque, NM), The American Astronaut has held a special place in my heart. Black and white, lo-fi, musical, sci-fi, weirdo, amazing.

Behold the glory.

Paying $20 will never bring you more awe and pleasure. Your friends will be so envious that they will probably steal the DVD from you (I have personal experience with this fact).
The American Astronaut website.

Explore that above link some more to discover the majesty of Cory McAbee's creative font. 

Honors Thesis: Movable Parts

My last year has been preoccupied mainly with the completion of my honors thesis work, a series of collectable figurines housed in 5 toy vending machines. Movable Parts refers not only to the fact that the figures are individual pieces that can be manipulated at whim, but also draws attention to the movable nature of the vending machines. Placed in a gallery, as they were for only one night, the machines defy traditional conventions of an art show: each piece is priced so that every audience member can become an "art collector". When the machines are separated and placed in public locations, they themselves become mini-galleries in unexpected places. 

Unlike other shows at the John Sommers Gallery (in the UNM Art Building), the public was not allowed access to the show until the end of the first week.

More Parts after the jump.

Work Crush Wednesday: Antony Gormley's Room and Tanker Drawings

As I'm taking a color theory class this semester, I've found myself noticing color in new ways, especially when color is interacting with itself. I haven't been able to stop thinking about these paintings by Antony Gormley. Although they are just layers of black shapes, there's so much depth and space in these pieces. 

Antony Gormley, Room V, 2014

Antony Gormley, Rest, 2013-2014

Antony Gormley, Room III, 2014.

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. 

Visit Antony Gormley's site for more of his gorgeous work.

Color Theory: Abstract Space

Meant to post this last night, but after spending five hours cutting and gluing hundreds of tiny pieces of paper, I needed to get my body away from my desk. 

Color Theory: Abstract Space, stage 1

Color Theory: Abstract Space, stage 8 (final)

All 8 stages shown after the jump!

More news from nowhere...

Wow. Long time no see. This last year (in which this blog remained silent) was a doozy for me. My time as Director of the ASUNM Craft Studio came to an end, I did a short but fruitful internship at 516 Arts, finished my honors thesis show (more on that to later), and now I'm finishing my my final semester at UNM, and also doing an internship at the Tamarind Institute. Whew. 

Besides my thesis project, artistically, I've been trying to juggle productivity with work and school, as usual. While last year was incredibly productive (as I'll illustrate in my next post), I didn't really have a chance to work on projects just for fun. I did participate in a large group show at Winning Coffee, with a creature theme for the month of October. I used old techniques that I've come to love, but also added some new elements, including the addition of crystals and sea urchin spines to pieces. I was actually very pleased that this piece didn't sell....because I loved it almost too much to part with it. 

The Healers, 2014. Clay, crystals, sea urchin spines,

wood, acrylic, gold leaf.

I've also continued to work on my ceramic Blobbies, which are piling up faster than a mound of tribbles. So for now, I'll end with this photo of some (but not all) of the blobs hanging around my living area. More updates SOON.