Libra

Libra

India ink and liquid gold acrylic on 
Arches 140lb, tea stained, coldpress paper.

I've always scanned the artwork to post on here, but this time I photographed it and found that the color is much more true, including the line work being much more clear. I used my little rinky dink Elph (I think it's like six years old), so this may be a good excuse to upgrade my camera.

There's gold in them wings!

Capricorn

Capricorn

India ink on tea-stained paper with liquid gold highlights.

One more of the zodiacs that I completed over the winter. (I'm also using this for an IF post because it fits so perfectly for the topic "carry".) This one was snapped up immediately. Weirdly enough I find that people really identify with these zodiac pieces. (I wonder why?... Actually, no I don't wonder. Everyone has a zodiac, so it's pretty obvious. Goodness gracious, I better not start rambling.)

I find it really hard to catch the richness of the color and texture in a photo, not just for this piece but also for all my pieces. So I try all sorts of different angles, and it still doesn't quite work. But it does catch those metallic, gold highlights (maybe, I think?). Maybe processing the photos into web compatible files loses some of those details.

Anyway! Look! Look! The gold is all over the red cloak where the yellow shows!

And here it's in the headdress! (Sorry the photo's at an angle but I wanted to catch those shimmers.)

But (hoorah!) you can definitely see it in the water here!

Nova - Solo Exhibit at Euphoria, New Haven, CT

My first solo show (woohoo!). It runs through June 30th at Euphoria, 57 Orange Street, New Haven, Connecticut. I'm posting this late due to my busy schedule (and as of late, a lack of blogging prowess). There's currently two weeks of arts related activities happening in New Haven; The International Festival of Arts and Ideas, so if you happen to be there for some artsy related happenings, go see my work. I'll post photos of the opening reception in the near future - as schedule allows!

The invite above shows "Leo" from my zodiac series.

Scorpio.

Sketch for Scorpio.

(Note: This post was written before the last post. Because I had been in a sickly state, I felt the need to whine about my being sick and post that one first. I am happy to report that after attending work for only two hours on Friday, and after a fully swollen face on Saturday, I am very-muchly recovering. Though I do find my hearing to be a bit funky still.)

This sketch went through a bunch of changes, and I think it's very close to being done. I'll most likely revise it when I create the final drawing in prep for inking. I know of at least one thing I'd like to change, that strap across her chest. It completely makes the eye just get stuck on it. And once it's stuck, it doesn't move.

Almost all the sketches are complete now. I'm reworking Cancer and only have Pisces to finish. What was to be a simple task has turned out much bigger than I planned. I'm not sure why I can't keep things simple. This was to be a bunch of small doodles, teeny, tiny, simple drawings. But they're already growing both in idea and physical size.

I have to keep reminding myself that it's okay to let things go and let them develop. I'm not only trying to apply this principle to creating stuff, but also to my life in general. Kind of a go with the flow mentality.

And onto other news...

The lemon is operable once again! Many monies, and a tax return later, it drives in superbly buttery shape. Meaning smooth and flowy. I can no longer hear a deadly rattle emanating from the rear of the vehicle, and am reporting fewer bone rattling, road bumps.

Capricorn and The Lemon.

Sketch for Capricorn.

Capricorn detail.

I got too involved with Capricorn. It began very simply, just a woman on a goat, and then came water, then the cloak, and it went much further than I intended. I was hoping to keep this much simpler, not as detailed. I just enjoy the process too much. That's okay. But I have a goal that I'd like to keep to. Which makes me want to rant. . .


Some force out there is working very hard at trying to keep me down. If it's not one thing then it's another. With the absolutely rotten year I had in '08, I was hoping that with 2009 the luck would change. Nope. Wishful thinking. Kaplooie! The lemon (that's the vehicle) crapped out. After dropping it off to get it looked at, I found out this morning that there are so many things wrong with it, and the past few months of driving destroyed the brand new tires I bought less than 7 months ago. Well, I could get it running again properly, if I put a few grand into it. Yes that's it!

I'll go find the magic money tree,
and have it rain 100 dollar bills on me!

I rely on this monkey cart to get me to work everyday (45 min each way), and have been borrowing my father's vehicle over the last month, but he needs it back, which is understandable. So what do I do now?

Well, let's see,

A) I could hitchhike to work, or

B) I could force the car to drive to work, park it there, and sleep in it, though I'm not sure how I would take showers in the sink.

C) I could buy a used motorcycle with the bit of moola back from taxes. Though come winter that would be an issue.

D) Quit my job and live in a cave in the woods, hunting and gathering.

Hmmmm, other options.... Anyone?

The direct impact of this conundrum is putting quite the cramp into getting the store up and running. If funds are being directed at the lemon, then there are no funds being directed elsewhere. Oh the joys of life!

Not to despair!
I shall the lemon repair!

And all will be quite fair,
as I stray from my lair,
like a proud legionnaire
riding my bronze mare.

Encounter, I will, a sight that is rare,
a raging, thrice horned bear,
that I duel, and ensnare
in a web of golden horsehair. . .

Zodiac.

Leo

Aquarius

Gemini

I've been working on some sketches for the store pieces I want to create, which are based on the zodiac. I figured that this is a good project to work on for a few reasons. One, I'm in the middle of moving living spaces, and also setting up the art studio the way I want, and still moving into that space too. Because I've got so much going on, these pieces are relatively small so I can have them travel with me and work on them whenever I have some time. This is only because I can't sacrifice as much time as I would like at the studio on some of the larger pieces I've started back up on (which now are on hold again). I think this may end up being a crazy month. I'm trying to accomplish a lot of things quickly.

So these zodiac pieces just started out as random little sketches and doodles, and I thought, why not do all twelve, keep them small and quick. Though the thought of doing them as quickly as I would like is fading. I tend to fall too easily into details and perfectionistic tendencies. I admire artists who don't put too much thought into their process and let it happen naturally.

Wait, I'd like to rephrase. My process is detailed at times, but the creation does happen naturally. I never take pencil to paper and say, "this is what I am going to draw, and this and this have to be in the image". I may say, oh "Aquarius, let's see what happens" and then whatever comes out is what I channel onto the paper. Though, the medium I use, however slightly different, changes the effect of how the idea presents in itself in the end. The three above are all about the same size, but even though the weight of the paper is relatively close, the texture is slightly different. Aquarius is on a very, very, silky smooth paper, almost a semi gloss, where the pencil travels skid-like across the surface, which gives itself easily to a type of flow, like water. Leo, was on a standard sketchbook surfaced paper done with the exact same pencil. And gemini, on smooth, higher end, copier paper (i draw on whatever I can find).

Leo (detail)

Aquarius (detail)

So if you can, follow these random thoughts: I don't think about characteristics I'd like to present, I think about the people or situations I know who do represent, in this case, each sign. For instance, I don't have religious tendencies, but let's say that possibly, if God was the creator of all things then he could be a Leo I guess. Look at all the attention he gets. Leo, the sun. Look at at her, creating her world, becoming the center of her world. Leo, the creator, the attention whore, and I say that with love. I love Leo's. Some of my closest friends throughout life, they're quite brilliant people.

Aquarius. I'd like to paint her, she bears water, like a mother giving birth. A pure form of nature. Aqueous, she becomes the water she has to bear. Many close family members are Aquarians. They become what they strive for. It's an odd way of describing them, but it makes complete sense to me.

Gemini, hmmm. That was about line and form, and will need more development.

Gosh, I wish I had some cookies.