This is the result of the first received DRAWsome:
for jade, whose cat named kitten "doesn't take crap from anyone!" with her always-open eyes, tufts on her ears, and lobbed off bobcat tail.

more about DRAWsome on Loobylu
or one of the sold listings, so you can read the details

more will be available soon, when I am caught up with those I still have to do!

That studio i blogged about earlier this week didn't really work out. I took a tour, and the interior just didn't match the exterior in charm, the price was higher than advertised, no sinks in the studios, and the part that really bummed me out: it's not really a building for creatives as advertised -- almost all the suites were taken up by medical practices. What I originally envisioned being a lively artists studio is actually a 'quiet' and professional building, which is great if you're serving up acupuncture, but if you're trying to break out of the monotony of working at home & the loneliness of a lack of art community, it's just not what i was looking for. it makes me question whether i should be getting a studio at all, or if I will ever find something like what I'm looking for in San Diego.

anyway, in other news: this FRIDAY (wait, that's today): the Enormous Tiny Art show opens in LA at the Living Room (hosted by Nahcotta): here's a link to my work There is work from over 25 artists in the show.
3531 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026

and, next Friday, June 13th, I'm in the group show at Art Star in Philadelphia, PA titled "Draw 4" (a show of drawings) it's my first show at Art Star!
623 N. 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19123

I'm honored to be shown by both galleries (Nahcotta [their first west coast show!] and Art Star) I think they both represent some of the best artists making work today, always seeking new energy + emerging artwork to show. I am proud to own work purchased from both galleries in the past, and really am humbled that they both asked me to show.

i redesigned the blog. this layout looks so much cleaner and neater to me, but i'm left with the burden of tagging the last ~900 posts which i never bothered to tag the first time around. i tagged about 250 of them before i had a dark, sad thought about the impermanence of electronic media such as blogs and how it seems shortsighted to care if entries are filed according to subject properly. what happened to good old consecutive order, anyway?

it's sort of ironic for a journal designer such as myself to keep a blog at all, no?

anyway, not much else is new. i drove for my first time this week since i broke my shoulder (~7 weeks without mobility greater than 4mph) it was kind of scary.

two quotes from "The Beautiful and Damned" by F Scott Fitzgerald (which i am currently reading)

"Art isn't meaningless... It is in itself. It isn't in that it tries to make life less so."

and

"Frantically, I get a thing I call sentence-fever that must be like buck-fever. It's a sort of intense literary self-consciousness that comes when I try to force myself. But the really awful days aren't when I think I can't write. They're when I wonder whether any writing is worth while at all -- I mean whether I'm not a sort of glorified buffoon."


on a sidenote, while i love the plethora of design blogs and often find myself clicking around them for hours in wonderment, has there ever been such a sheer mass of work so readily available, so out of context? it does sort of make it all feel meaningless and oversaturated...

i guess that means i have sentence-fever or whatever its visual equivalent must be.

so, i'm officially 27 as of yesterday. i am terrified! if i die this year, let us all be weirded out together.

yesterday started as the worst birthday on the planet (allergy inflicted pinkeye in both my eyes!!! i have to put eyedrops in my eyes every two hours. i have since discovered that 1) pinkeye is gross and 2) having to do ANYTHING every two hours is incredibly boring and sucky.) but the day really turned around thanks to my mom and sister who showed me a wonderful day. (high tea, vegetarian brunch and book shopping!) can't wait to spend my free time (ha! what free time?) in the summer lazying in the yard with my new books.



we ended the day watching grosse point. has anyone heard of this show before? it's genius. also a bday gift.


remember how a guy broke into my house when i was home earlier this year and scared the life out of me? his trial is next week. should i go? i'm scared of him seeing me and me seeing him. i'm scared of being targetted again. sometimes i wish i had a stand-in to go through the horrible parts of life on my behalf.

a few days ago, i thought i should try to update every day with a different + new artwork. but the days are over so quickly, by the time i've remembered my self-imposed challenge, i'm lying in bed trying to coax myself into a few hours of sleep!

ripped from the pages of my sketchbook:

you think you're getting the worm, but the worm gets you. (and you lose your hat?)

my birthday is day after tomorrow!
i've always been afraid of turning 27, though. you know, the 27 club

for all the people who sprung up and added me on goodreads, you guys are sneaky, non-commenting readers. i had no idea you were all out there.

this is a little bit of a cross-post, but hey, i'm pretty sure you all don't read every word i write on every site, so why not.

sometime this afternoon, i will be closing the shop until may 22nd. (alaska, here i come)



also, i'm in three different art shows across the country opening shortly:
"the sight of sound" opens in pawtucket, RI tonight, may 11, at machines with magnets studio and gallery.
"happily ever after", a group show of fairytale themed work, opens at suite 100 gallery in seattle, WA tonight, may 11th
next week, may 19th, is the opening of "power in numbers", a benefit show in los angeles (all work priced at $100 or less) in los angeles at gallery nucleus.

that about does it. many thanks to my incredible assistant and good friend tess for her continued awesomeness.

happy international self-employment day!

you all are superstars.
don't forget it.


(gritty, raw sketch but you get the idea)

i am so, so fortunate to have the people in my life that i do.

how is it that working alone all day, the loneliest job ever maybe, i've managed to make such incredible friends and acquaintances? every day you all astound me with your humor, generosity, compassion and selflessness.

thanks to leigh, leah+magpie, marie, jenny, alison, tess, and natalie who sent me the awesomest cheer-up care package ever. i'm thinking of diane too, i am so excited for the project we'll be working on, and so honored you thought of me for it.

despite everything horrible that's happened already this year, i just really appreciate knowing i have people like you, bringing me so much fun + laughter + hope, and balancing out my tragedies in doing so.
it's true.

i want to see the world this year.

would you show me around the city in which you live?