This is the piece I entered for the "Just Desserts"show at Monkeyhouse Toys, curated by my friend Mary J. Hoffman. The show was a great success! It was truly a pleasure to be included with so many talented artists... including some pretty amazing puppets by my friend Lori. They had seat of honor in the front window! My piece is for sale at Monkeyhouse for $250. It should be up on their website soon if you're interested in purchasing online.

The opening happened a couple nights ago, but if you want to see some really cool stuff, go check it out!

Mayra, who runs the shop, has the neatest collection of children's toys! I was sorely tempted to buy a few for my niece, but I just dropped a load of money on Maggie's vet bills... poor thing's been terribly sick, as you may have seen in the journal entries I just posted. These may be her last few days... Hopefully she snaps out of it soon!

Thanks for reading!

Exerpts from my sketch journal...

Maggie's still hanging in there... I'm going to give her a few more days to see if she improves...

Summer Hiatus

Hooray! I'm officially on my summer hiatus from South Park! Season 16 was fun to work on, and I can't wait for number 17! The Art Department at South Park is truly filled with exceptional artists, and I'm glad I get to work with and continue to learn from them.

This summer is going to hold all kinds of fun, and hopefully, career-building opportunities... For one, I'm participating in "Just Desserts," a show curated by my friend Mary J. Hoffman. Here's the flyer for that if you're interested in attending:

Also, in July, my boss Adrien invited me to be a visiting artist at his booth in Comic-con. Hopefully I'll be able to scrap together a little sketchbook before then. Adrien, the Postma brothers and I are also making a collaborative sketchbook, so there's going to be plenty to share in the future! If anybody out there is planning on going to Comic-con this year, feel free to stop by! I'll give more details as they emerge...

Thanks for reading!

Dog Paintings

I started two more dog paintings. Yippee!

 28"x 22"

 18"x 24" -I started this one at my mom's house when we had another painting night. She did a wonderful tree painting that I didn't get a picture of :(

Both are in progress. I'll post more when I finish the big one and these little ones!

Desserts

My friend Mary is organizing a show for May with a dessert theme, and she's including me. So I started brainstorming some ideas that I've had bouncing around for a while.

I play around in Photoshop with ideas and colors before I settle down to actually painting...

The final product will look nothing like these, of course... but it's always good to get the bad ideas out before you start on a complete piece!

Thanks for looking!

Visit from Mom

 My mom came to visit me for the past couple days, and we had a wonderful time cooking, playing Scrabble (she kicks my ass every time), drinking wine, and playing around with ink and gouache! I made the one above of the cat...

 She drew this face. I've seen this face since I was very little. I think everyone who draws has their "stock" face that they ALWAYS draw. This is hers. Her sketchbook is always filled with them! I wonder if it's meant to be her...

Annnnd after a couple bottles of wine, we collaborated on this crazy thing... heh! Drinking and drawing kills, people. Always remember that.

We also went to LACMA to see their "In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the US."  Here's the link: http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/in-wonderland

It was, quite frankly, one of the most amazing, inspiring shows I've ever been to at LACMA. I could've stayed in there for hours.

We saw the Two Fridas:

It's AMAZING in person!!! The painstaking detail and the scale of the painting are just... overwhelming. I almost cried when I saw it. I've seen some of her work in person before, but they were all her smaller works. To see this huge canvas filled by her was massively inspiring and moving.

 I also saw one of my new favorite paintings, "Birthday," by Dorothea Tanning. She just died a day or so ago, and the art world lost an amazing talent. Her work has alternately enchanted and disturbed me since I was a child... It was amazing to see it live!

Remedios Varo and Louise Bourgeois were there too, with so many other amazing artists... To see all these astounding, creative works grouped together in one show was really a once in a lifetime treat. A lot of their paintings don't truly come across unless you see them in person. Internet images and pictures in books just don't do them justice! If you live in the Los Angeles area, DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW! I took issue with a couple details about the way they organized the artists, but all in all, it is not to be missed.

Thanks for reading!

Drink N' Draw

 

Half a bottle of wine + Photoshop = Crazy drawings!

Argh, I have so much stuff to scan in, but again, I am being lazy... Anyway...

Thanks for looking!

A Thought For My 70th Post

Some good advice...

Not giving a fuck and just doing, despite what the negative inner (or outer) voices tell you is key to any art practice. People may think I suck, but who really gives a shit? Not me. I keep making stuff anyway. I don't want to confine my self-worth or habits to what society or critics deem necessary or proper. The most restricting thing you could ever do to yourself is listen to the trollings of other people. So... Make stuff! Make stuff for you, and make stuff until your house is filled with it.

Then post it on the interwebs so I can have a look at it, too! ;)

Make stuff, share it, talk about others making stuff. Rinse wash, repeat. I think this is the key to a fulfilling art life!

Painting in Progress

 Dogs in a field in progress! Big one- 3'x4' acrylic on canvas. I used to hate acrylics, but I'm starting to get used to them... I think it's all about layering fat over lean. I used to just go straight to big, fat swabs of color. I've learned what a mistake that is.

  It's best to build everything up slowly, using lots of water in the process, trying color after color until you feel you've gotten it right.

Sorry for the crappy picture quality- I admit I'm not much of a photographer, but I'll have a nice photo taken when it's done!

More to come! Thanks for looking!