Moodboard #2 Black Forest Antique

Another moodboard I made today. Again, most of the images I used can be found on my tumblr.

Moodboard #1 Silk Road Vintage

A moodboard I created today. Most of the images I used can be found on my tumblr.

Home Update:

My livingroom, with Ghostbusters II playing on the TV.

And from the other side....

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park:



Some pictures from the Redwood Forest trail in the Botanical Gardens....

It reminds me of the Olympic National Forest, except on a much smaller scale! I miss that place, it is so vibrant, life and moisture and sap and green seeping in from the very air!















Next was the California Native Plants Trail, and then a lovely mother duck with her eggs!



























I think that one egg was broken, sadly, and she must be sitting on the rest. Poet took this picture, it's lovely.

He also took these ones of me, he sure is talented! How dramatic!























I took this picture of Poet, he's not the only one who can take classy pictures! (Although his are obviously much more professional, but I think I still make him look pretty!)














This one he took of me at home, in front of our classy mantle on top of our classy fainting couch. He insisted we needed "classy" pictures. Whatever you say, Abeulo.




So, speaking of neat vintage and San Francisco related things, I recently had occasion to visit Loved to Death on Haight Street.
Oh my, such amazingness! I couldn't believe how good their prices were, if you are into antiquarian, steam punk, taxidermy, or dead things in general, you have to make this visit. I got, among other things, a fox skull for $35. Very fair, more than fair! I will post pictures of all the cool stuff I got there soon.

New Goodies

I found these cordial glasses for $2 a piece at our favorite antique store yesterday:















Detail:
I love the gold detail, they are adorable! I almost want drink absinthe out of them, but I have never been a fan of anise/liquorish flavored things. I know I'll just end up staring at them on a shelf, I don't drink any liquors! haha
I also purchased the red candy dish and vase in the background from the same store, also for less than $5 each, although I don't recall how much. Also, we picked up a coffee table there. It's not spectacular but it was only $49, and it is certainly a better fit for our home than the modern(read: cheap), black, presumably IKEA-born table we had before.

Secret Room:

The hole to the room:


A close-up of the wallpaper (at least it isn't yellow!). Roses!




I still can't believe that this was discovered in my home after my recurring dreams on the subject! Maybe it's one of those things that magically appears just when you've learned to let go of the need to seek it!
I can't figure out what the room must have been for. It's too short to stand in, but the wallpaper seems to fit its dimensions which leads me to believe that it was built/used at it's current size.
Perhaps it was a separate attic space that the house's first occupants furnished as a playroom for their children. Who knows, it obviously hasn't been open in many many decades.

1970!

I always loved my parents' old pictures from their 'glory days' in the 1970s.
I'm actually quite envious of the sort of stuff they got up to! They traveled so much. My parents met each other in a political philosophy class, which goes to figure since I went on to become a Philosophy major; the perfect product of their union!
Anyway, here are some of my favorites from the mid to late 1970s, I'll start with Hawaii and other miscellaneous locations:


My mom.


































My dad.


























Total 70s! I love the shirt....
































San Francisco.....






Another one of my mom, with my dad reflected in her amazing 70s sunglasses! I now own that camera he's using.





















My all time FAVORITE picture of my mom:

Note the giant bowie knife and the hatchet. Because either one on it's own just wasn't enough, apparently. I have no idea what they were up to on this trek, but it looks amazing.
I know that at the time, my mom worked for the EPA as an entomologist, so she was often out and about getting dirty and playing with bugs. What a badass...
Also, my dad took all of the pictures excepting the ones he was in.

New Year's Resolutions 2010

New Year’s Resolutions 2010:

Last year I didn’t write up any particular New Year’s Resolutions, but around that time I was in a lot of turmoil so I wrote up some goals for myself to change my situation.
This year, things have been tumultuous, but mostly I have followed through and changed a lot of things for the better. New house, new relationship, new job. There has definitely been plenty of drama, but it seems like most of the loose ends have finally begun to tie themselves up.
Time to clean house and start fresh, and at such a seasonally appropriate time!

I’ve learned a lot this year, especially about relationships, so maybe that’ll be where a lot of my resolutions come from. But without any further ado, here they are:

1. Slowly start thinking about what I want to do with my life next. Now that the dust is settling, I can get pretty comfortable doing what I’m doing, where I’m doing it. So the next thing to think about is: what’s next when I have some savings and can go back to school? I don't know yet!!
2. Decorate the hell out of the house! I never did this in my other places because they never completely felt like home, but this place does so I want to make the most of it and do all the things I dreamed of doing when I was younger and imagined having my own place!
3. Stop stressing so much; I’ve just come out of a stressful situation that I literally couldn't legally extricate myself with (see: Oakland tenant laws)and the best way to appreciate it being over is to learn to enjoy my freedom. I have to not slip into anxiety too easily, which can sometimes happen when you’ve been wringing your hands too long. When you’ve been neurotic for months and suddenly it’s over, it’s surprisingly hard to let your guard down and enjoy things without constantly looking over your shoulder and expecting it all to crap out on you again.
4. Pay off my credit cards! This should be easy, I hardly have any debt (relative to most people my age) and I just got a really decent raise at my work ftw! So my goal is to do it by the end of the year. I’ve already taken the first big step, which is to almost exclusively buy on debit so I know I’m only getting what I can afford with my own money. Next is to polish off what little is left.
5. Stop forming co-dependent relationships with people. Next time I am in an unequal relationship, I need to recognize it up front. This resolution could also be titled ‘stop making excuses for people,’ because if I hear myself making excuses for a person over and over it’s probably a sign that I am too entangled in a situation I shouldn’t be in. If I get bent out of shape continually over a friend who’s self-destructing or being fucked up to others, it probably is a good signal to me that I should back away and just be less intimate with them, so I don’t have to force myself to be uncomfortable with behavior I feel compelled to judge.

This is my most important resolution this year, because I have to take responsibility for the fact that every time I have a falling out with some one it always feels like déjà vu. There’s a clear pattern, and that’s not something I can keep scratching my head quizzically about; I have to start blaming it on myself, because it’s not rocket science that I need to raise my standards and start picking up on warning signs after I go through the same disappointing scenarios 80 times in a row.

6. In congruency with #5: Don’t be reluctant to insure against harmful situations just because it seems awkward at the time. It’s better to err on the side of caution than let people into positions where it can affect your home, your work, and your finances, whatever. Example: I used to think that real friends didn’t need to sign leases, but now I know that real friends won’t have a problem signing leases because real friends would never ask you to put yourself in a situation where you would have to take needless risks for them. If they can say they’ll do it, they shouldn’t have a problem backing it up on paper. Stuff like that.

This resolution is about being confident, taking initiative, and being straight-forward with my needs from the get-go, and not letting reluctance stop me from doing easy things to avoid trouble in the future. It’s also about having the balls to call people on their shit; anything worth saying is worth backing up if they really mean it.

7. Also in congruency with the above resolution: reconnect with friends with whom I had equal relationships in the past, and make new friends to this effect. I don’t mind just having fewer friends but I know it’s probably a better idea to not be lazy and isolated, and to take the time and effort to foster positive relationships in place of the negative ones I’m pruning. Plus, there are so many interesting, independent, and neat people out there...I must seek them! ::strokes beard::
8. Travel more! Not only am I making more money than I was before, but my work schedule is waaaaaaaaaaay more flexible than at my last job. So I could easily arrange to take weekend trips (up to four days) without even using any vacation time! Poet and I can go to places within driving distance pretty easily and keep it cheap, camping or staying at b&bs or motels. I can’t wait to go up and down the coast, or visit the redwoods!
9. Last one: blog like I mean it. Like most people, I spend a bit too much time on the internet. So I want to make my time on here an experience worth having. Photos, art, ideas, etc......I want to share and find it all, and in a fulfilling way, instead of endlessly refreshing updates. I've already got a good start on this, but I want to make it a project.

Here are some totally unrelated beauteous photos by Andy Julia:

































I supervise the Lingerie department at my work. I have to admit I find it all so lovely, and have yet to grow tired of it. I'm also lucky enough to work at a swanky store that is very fashion forward and also luckily, not on the trashy side of things.





















I love lace in all it's forms!

I'm not happy with this scan at all, it's so grainy and the picture looks so much better in real life, but here it is:Brown color pencil on bristol paper.

A take off on this photo:

The unhappiness with technology aside, I'm very happy
with this piece and I feel like I finished it in good time.

When I usually draw women or girls, I tend to make them quite thin and lithe, probably because of the context of our current mainstream/alternative aesthetics, or perhaps as an act of self-insertion or a symbol of frailty, but probably for all of the above reasons.
When you look at these visions of beauty from the turn of the last century, they tend to be a good deal heavier that most pin-ups and models of our time. When I draw a girl from that era, I try to make her softer and fuller, to do otherwise feels disingenuous. Nonetheless I try to split the difference, use it as a bridge between this time and the past, one aesthetic bleeding in between inspiration and perspective.






This is a lovely movie:


I think I like Charlie Chaplin better behind the camera than in front of it.
What can I say, I'm a lover of Buster Keaton, that's the kind of lovable hard-luck case I fall for.
I still haven't seen the end of this movie, it's hard to make myself, I know it will be so sad!

New and Old Art

This is a quick pen sketch I did a couple weeks ago, however I do not have the means to complete it as I usually would before posting it online. While I wait for a new computer I don't have photoshop to add textures and correct color, I don't even have a scanner to use.
Believe it or not often half the work of using photoshop is to make an image resemble itself on a computer screen as it does in the real world.
In any case, here it is:



































And I'd also like to share an older one that I meant to upload previously but somehow missed:
This one was inspired by an image I found in a book of vintage erotica. I loved the concept of the image but it was done so simplistically for a magazine cover, and I wanted to try and spend a bit of time and detail on it, and do it justice.


I'm really proud of the line work and shading I did on this one. I titled it "Cannelle et Clous de Girofle"
which means "cinnamon and cloves."
I sort of love the somewhat naive concepts about eroticism and exotica that came from that era. Not that eroticism on it's own was a naive concept back then, we have a tendency in these times too look back on earlier times as being closeted and ignorant of sex, eroticism, and perversion. Trust me, they could be quite scandalous, they were human back then too, after all!
But I do love the idea of what at the time was considered "exotic" being automatically erotic, there are so many neat photos of such "naughty" fan girls haha....
Maybe I'll make some more art of that theme.






Here is the original:










































Mata Hari:

Other lovelies. Would we think these women were beautiful if they were walking around today? Probably not, we've learned such a critical eye! We should learn to relax and enjoy beauty out of context the way we do when we're looking at someone from another era.

Around the House

A few photos from my home.
It's still a work in progress, but here's a spot that's photo-worthy.
I'd like to put up more on the sides of the mirror as well.




Most of our walls are waiting for appropriate frames, at which point we have many lovely posters and pictures waiting to go up! When will that be? On Saturday! Our friend works at Michael's and is going to help us to pick some affordable frames. Frames can make a room, it's nice to know we don't have to wait indefinitely to find a reasonable deal that suits our budget.
This is all pretty exciting to me, this is the third place I've lived since I've moved away from home, but it's the first place I've really felt a connection to and that I've considered staying indefinitely. Therefore, decorating and home maintenance has become a constant preoccupation with me.
Also, I bought new "work" shoes yesterday:































Are the days of wearing combat boots everyday at an end? Perhaps. I work someplace quiet fashionable, I like to look at least somewhat professional at work, especially as a supervisor. I hope they are comfortable enough to wear all day! If not, at least I can wear them on the office days. I'm usually a stickler for comfortable shoes, but again...the budget!

A Backlog of Art Part IV

My most recent works!


Again....all sepia, rose tones, and gold, haha! I drew on inspiration from classic illustration, fairytales and mythology, and the antiquarian aesthetic.
At this point, you might begin to notice a repeating theme of dual symbols.
A snake and a peacock, here.

Here, two octopi.

Here, two birds.



Although at the time, the deep significance of such things were only just beginning to become apparent to me, in hindsight it's a clear reflection of a split occurring in my life.































I was moving from one experience to another, one life to another, settling into the realization that there was somewhere else I needed to be, and I found myself caught between two influences.




Now, I feel as though I'm in the right place, with the right person. Life still has so many kinks to work out, but there's nothing that beats that feeling of being on the right path, of making progress toward where you want to be.
I eventually found my way.















This is my most recent piece:
Pencil and gold acrylic paint on vellum tracing paper, layered over burnt butcher paper for texture, with pressed flowers and leaves.






















I'm very happy with how it turned out, although I couldn't show it digitally in a way that does it justice. For instance, I don't have a photo-editing program at my disposal at the moment. But at least you can see the gold!

A Backlog of Art Part III

2008-Present: Getting back to naturalism, texture, mixed media, sepia and GOLD!

This was a commission for an acquaintance, whose girlfriend does tribal fusion dance:


watercolor, pencil, pen, marker, and a little bit of gold leaf paint. You can't see the gold on this at all, this was before I figured out how to make it show up on digital copies of my art, but there's a faint halo and her jewelry is embellished with it.

Sepia pen and marker, also my first successful photoshop-created textured background.

Getting into the archaic, the mysterious, and the vintage. Using motifs inspired by art nouveau and illustrators from the Golden Age of Fairytale illustration such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac.











Almost caught up!
So much to share....