Apocalyptic footnote

We're getting near the end of May, so here's a reminder that on my Etsy store there's a coupon code for 10% off, and that's MAYDAY. So yeah!

Ya know, I've been wondering if I should take a different direction with this blog. I -really- don't like to spam, and when I'm talking only about what I'm doing... well, just seems self indulgent (and nobody wants to hear someone talk about themselves all the time).

I'm on the fence... ah well.

By the way, stickers are coming!

randomness and vending preparing

ok, first off...


also, check out this guy's blog, I really like his work.

Anyway... I've been busy, which of course means I had to get a sinus infection on top of that, very annoying. In pushing the vending bit, I've been compiling a list of what I may need. Here it is... subject to editing of course, and btw I modified this from a list I found online:

Product/Packing
• Envelope with:
• Business card
• Return custom coupon code for Etsy shop
• Thank you note
• Bags (sm, med, large) for sold items


Literature/Paper Products
• Business card book
• Business cards
• Brochures/post cards
• Vendor coupons
• “Good luck at the craft show today! Take 15% off any product at my
booth to celebrate all of your hard work!”
• Include booth number
• Extra price tags
• Extra price stickers
• Sales binder (track which items sold and for what price – make chart)
• Custom order forms
• General price list signage
• Photo album
• Cheque ID verification chart (name, phone number, amount)
• Craft show information sheets
• Receipt book
• Email sign up sheet


Office Supplies
• Calculator
• Pens (lots)
• Sales notebook
• Sharpie
• Clip board for custom orders
• Extra loosleaf on clipboard
• Stapler
• Extra staples
• (painted?) covered bulletin board
• Thumb tacks/pushpins
• Five drawer rolling shelf to contain items


Sales Related
• Cashbox
• Float
• $20 – 5
• $10 – 7
• $5 – 7


Tool Kit
• Exacto knife
• Scissors
• Tape
• Double sided tape
• Duct tape
• Tape measure


Display Related
• Camera
• stool/chair/s
• Table cloths
• Small mirror
• Booth set up (stand, ???)
• Vista print banner
• Bakers twine
• Business card holder
• Decorations for table
• Dolly for transporting items
• Corner shelf for display


Cleaning Supplies
• Mini trash-can
• Trash bags
• Hand sanitizer
• Tide to go
• Paper towel
• Lint roller/brush


Clothing
• Linwood avenue apron
• Change of clothes (inc. Socks)


Food
• Bottled water
• Protein bar
• Simple snacks
• Spill proof coffee mug
• Spill proof water bottle


Health & Toiletries
• Bandaids (first aid kit)
• Advil
• Hand lotion
• Deodorant
• Make-up kit
• Mints
• Hand sanitizer
• Kleenex
• brush
• Hair ties

During down time:
sketchbook
small painting (bring acrylics and brushes)

Of course this doesn't include the booth or the inventory, which I'm working on. I feel this is just going to be an ongoing process...

Mythos

I think about what the purpose is of why I make art occasionally. These things are necessary, as the whys and wherefores directly affect all future decisions as to what and where I go next in my life as a whole. As I've stated earlier, I'm making inroads into vending. The reason why is not entirely so much because I have a strong need for capitalistic gain from my work, but more so that I am trying to achieve a certain lifestyle. I want to make art, travel around and meet interesting people, take part in events and performances, and otherwise live a quiet life surrounded by wonder. Today I've been chewing on how great it would be to buy some wooded land in the country, build and rent out a cabin or two for folks who want to go all Walden. In order to do these things I need to get closer to working full time as an artist, which will also involve other things I'm sure, such as teaching, or lecturing, or something related (doing one thing all the time is boring anyway).

But that's not the purpose to making art. Everyone has a mythology, a story about themselves that makes up who they are. The things they surround themselves with reinforce the story, and advance it (because the story of our life doesn't end till we are dead... and sometimes later than that). Clothing, furniture, tv shows, things we like, even the people we hang out with help validate who we are and can push us forward towards self discovery as we continue the path of the story of our lives. I call it a myth because what we believe about ourselves isn't always the reality, like say how a boy may have grown up in an abusive household and now believes he is worthless. That's not true, but he's decided as of this point that this is what he is, and whether he continues to believe that or whether he chooses to change the story about himself is entirely up to him.

This is why stories and images resonate with us. Sometimes we come across a song or poem or see something that reflects where we are and adds a bit of truth which helps us move past or move forward. Sometimes that bit of art or music of performance exposes us to something entirely new, and in this we grow in new and unexpected ways. This is how we feed our souls. Often folks may not even know they're doing it, like when a teenager hangs a poster of some formulaic pop icon on their wall. As much as that pop icon is about selling product, that message speaks somehow to the young person. They want to be with or be like their idol, even though they are unknowingly falling in lock step with a machine created to make a lot of money using vapid messages that have no real substance. We are what we consume, if we only absorb material that is fed to us on a mass market, or believe what we hear on radio and tv without questioning, then our stories become vapid and carbon-brittle.

So what I've been doing and will probably continue to do is try to present images that are unexpected. I make images don't see, that I think should exist... such as the women I paint, they have been described as strong and in some cases erotic. I often choose to create images of women that are average to extremely thick because that's what the reality is, and yet that's not the kind of images I see. The symbols, the alchemy, or any other hidden meaning that I work in doesn't need to be fully understood by the viewer (although it can be more fun if the viewer gets it), what I want to let people know is that there's more to our lives than what we currently know. The world has layers of existing, layers of culture, layers of thinking. We live side by side with people who may have a completely different understanding, like your neighbor may be obsessed with Trans Mississippi Wooden Submarines from the civil war, and recreating them may be apart of what he does. My point is there are things that go on in this world that aren't easily accessible, and takes some digging to discover. I don't necessarily want to show you what they are, but I want you to know that what you know can be completely different to what may be possible.

So back to the myth thing. My work is partly about those mysteries, and what I think is great is to create these little mysteries that people can take with them. Existing with original art affects a person, the image they see every day becomes a part of them, and how they react to that image (even if on a subconscious level) becomes a part of their mythology.

I guess I will see how the vending thing goes. I'm looking into creating more practical and portable items, and if/when that happens I'll let you know of course.

instead of music, I'm posting a video from the Starwood Festival. I'm going to be vending there this year, more on that later.

Lady Power Rant

So not to long ago I got a request online from a guy for my website URL, which I of course did give him. He later responded with something to the effect of 'wow, you're really into women power huh?'. I was bemused.

I don't really often explain what my work is about, but of course I have some notion. It's fine if people don't come to the same conclusions. My goal is to nudge people in a direction, not drag them kicking & screaming to whatever point I'm trying to make. I feel that 'all art is propaganda', meaning that everything we see, from commercial advertising to high art and everything in between, that is created by man presents a concept, belief, idea, and leaves an impression. When we see something it can leave a mark on our psyche. For example I saw a commercial for Arby's the other day, talking about how it's 'feel good food' and showed an example of someone eating the food and thus... feeling good. Who doesn't want to feel good? I almost kinda wanted some, even though I try to avoid eating fast food. Another is I was looking at a jewelery shop selling hammered wire hair barrettes, naming them after goddesses and likening them to stars, moons, and suns. The influence here is one would buy a piece not only because they thought it would look good on them, but that it may also align them with the ideals that the piece represented. Granted these examples use words in conjunction with visual stimuli to sell products, but it also works in art. A woman viewing an old painting of mine that involves a stripper smoking said seeing that kinda made her want to smoke too, even though she had never done so before. This extends globally. Places in the South Pacific got television later than most other parts of the world, and this was one of the places that were less concerned with body image. In fact they actually have a dance that the women do where they tied sashes around their hips to make them look as large as possible & then danced on tables, people (men and women) who were on the thicker & more robust side were considered desirable. Then in 1996 TV arrived, and eating disorders shot way up in teens 36 months later. 74% believed they were too fat, and 15% used vomiting to control their weight, something unheard of before. When something is presented as the ideal, seemingly regardless of where it comes from, we seemingly subconsciously align with it, even try to become it.

We divide things into little boxes. Tv, movies, boxes of stuff we buy at the store, magazines, youtube clips, cheap prints you see hanging in office hallways, commercials, graffiti, comic books, fine art, etc... while consciously you know the difference between all these things, your subconscious is less likely to do so. We are so strongly influenced by what we experience, whether it be 'real world' or virtual, or even from dream. How much one gets affected will depend on the person and the type of stimulus shown to them. If it's something they're already interested in they will be more likely to be influenced by the idea that the image/s represent, also the same if they are the kind of individual that is easily influenced vs someone who isn't. Regardless, if you are constantly bombarded by images & sounds that center around an idea, you may eventually be led to believe that what those images & sounds are 'right'.

Kinda puts truth to the saying 'garbage in, garbage out'. If you surround yourself with people & things with no substance, you will be much less likely to have substance yourself.

Anyway, back to why my work is all 'Woman Power-y'. It's not really something I intended (well, not entirely). My art is somewhat biographical in the sense that most of it is based off of something I've seen, felt, or heard. I think I paint mostly women because I am one, and I've always had a certain fascination with icons. Too often when I talk to women do they put themselves down based off of their body image, or defer to the opinion of others when making decisions on what they wish to be, so one of the concepts behind my work is that women can be different, there's another way to exist. I don't care if a lady chooses to be a barefoot and pregnant housewife or a CEO, I just want women to accept themselves with grace who they are and to feel empowered to be whatever they want to be. This isn't an anti-male thing. I love me some mens, don't get me wrong here. In my world there is no such thing as 'if you're pro-this you're anti-that'. Besides, showing women in this way is a message just as much for the guys as it is for the chicks. I wouldn't say this is a conscious thought every time I set down to compose a work, but it's a base theme as I this is very much a part of what I'm about.

Part of what's bringing this up for me is there seem to be wave of anti-feminist backlash that is just rolling along and getting stronger, which is leaving me concerned. An officer in Toronto during a presentation at Osgoode Hall Law School regarding sexual assault told the students that women can avoid being raped by simply by 'not dressing like sluts' which prompted this amusing backlash. Apparently now Slutwalks are being scheduled in other parts of Canada. Related is is how women need to dress less provocatively & maybe let their daddies pick out their wardrobe because men can't control their lust. I have always found it interesting how some men put the blame on women for their misogynistic tendencies. Ugh, there's lots of other related crap I can rant about, like this (they're trying to do the same in Georgia and tried and failed in Utah), and this, and this, etc. I'm all for ladies expressing their sexuality, but it seems to me that many artists (musical and otherwise) are being sexual without any context... meaning they're being sexual not because that's how they feel or who they are, but because they want the attention that it brings (example: Britney Spears). It's been an amusing thought lately that when the Spice Girls where big in the 90's how cheesy they seemed, and now they seem so 'Pro Girls' than any role models out there today (Lady Gaga aside, not really a fan of her music but I find what she does interesting).

Whew! Enough of this lady-ranting business! Here is Ani DiFranco, 32 Flavors

oh please LIKE ME! (and other social crap)

I think, that when all my social media sites are properly in sync it'll be a happy happy day. I'll be taking part in some shows later this year, and I'm planning on doing some traveling around (more on that later). So I figure it behooves me to make all my ducks be in little rows. I admit I do like the Facebook, but I don't want to publicly broadcast the conversations that I have between friends (who cares right?). So, I made a Fan Page. If you'd like quick posts, seeing my art in progress & new finished stuff, or interesting art related things, go ahead and like my page (you can also just click the 'like' button on the right). I promise only interesting things, and not to spam the newsfeed. I'm working to link it up with this blog and the sketch blog I have, so you should, in theory, be able to get all your updates there. I also have it synced to Twitter, so if you use that you can just get all your updates from there.

So yea, all terribly exciting eh?

So here's Thelonious Monk, Nice Work If You Can Get It.

tumble

Contain your excitement, the tumblr sketch blog is up. Fun trivia about me, I (or rather, my mom) have been keeping sketchbooks as far back as when I was eight. Not a one tossed, only time I lose one is accidentally (hey room service people in Chicago, I hope you enjoyed that!). What they mostly contain is metal vomit, observational drawings from cafes or wherever I'm at, and notes about whatever I want to look into later. Also of course are rough ideas for finished paintings, and the line work for digital prints. I want to post about once a day, but right before I set to do this my scanner decided to have some software issues and doesn't want to scan anymore. Honestly all my equipment needs upgraded, which will only happen when it needs to happen... and will probably happen soon if this laptop will stop being a bastard.

All this random joy can be seen at http://saraadrian.tumblr.com/

And also, I'll be going to Virginia for the Roanoke Marginal Arts Festival which runs March 3-8. I'll be taking a crack at performance art in the parade on Saturday, and causing general mischief. If you're in the area, come on out. The event happens in various places all over the city so check the website or Facebook for details. If you want to find me I'll most likely be with the Pos-Neoabsurdists.

& I don't feel like posting music today, so you get this instead. Later!

They say all rivers flow to the sea...

Well, that's it for 2010. Here we have the obligitory year end post where one sums up one's year or some shit. So sure, a year of up and downs, of deaths and births and the ever present change. Not quite what I expected, but then life never does go according to plan, does it? But despite the oncoming cold I'm getting, I feel better about things than I did last year. Only regret is I didn't produce more, but that can't be helped I suppose. So 2011, what does it hold for me? Seems travel is in the works, I've been invited to several different places for various different reasons. I'm working on a new series, which is going to be a departure from my previous work. I have a solo show in Columbus in September at What the Rock, and it looks like I'm going to be showing out of state, more of that later.

So yeah! Happy New Years to you and yours. May you get what you want and not what you deserve!

Blessed Be ;)

Below is a few videos of my favorite videos that I took this past year. I hopes ya dig!





In memory of Angelo Head, RIP

back in world

Well finally got the computer situation taken care of for now. I am now the proud owner of a barely used 3 yr old ibook, which may not have all the juice I want, will at least get me back on line and able to network and manage and do all the stuff I dig doing. So lets get on with what I've been up to.

Last weekend I attended Autumn Fires at Wisteria. It was a short weekend but good fun. I got to do a little iron oxide glazing on some slip cast bisque wear that my friend Casey Bradly had (see left), he runs the ceramic pit firing they have at this festival every year. So here's a fun footnote, this laptop has video editing software, so I get to show you how the event went. This was shot in one day, and shows the process from people making little ceramic works, to the firing (and the resulting bonfire party) to the finished product.

Wisteria Autumn Fires 2010 from Sara Adrian on Vimeo.

So yeah, it was brief but everyone had a great time.

& now, back to the studio! I've been buying wood panels and preping them for painting, and drawing up notes/ideas. That's my goal this winter season, just make stuff and not worry about showing and all that. With working full time and trying to make art I find it difficult to focus on showing as well, so I oscillate between being public and being... not. Just how I'm wired I guess.

It's Halloween/Samhain season, and it's time to get spooky. Here's The Raven, the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, interpreted by Omnia

In the still of the night.

These past couple weeks have been quiet, which is what I really needed after a month of running. I really need periods of quiet, so I can think, research and work. Research what? Whatever, doesn't matter what... it's whatever pops into my head. Could be about creation myths, or how to cook with sherry (I've been given two bottles of it, one for drinking and one for cooking... and I don't drink -that- much), or something related to current news or politics, or whatever. I like indulging myself in curiosities, I learn a lot and hence I have this vast weird pile of random info in my head of which you never know how it will come in useful.

So, it's time to get back to work.

For about a year now I've been working with digital imagery for prints. That got started because I was doing a round of interviews that were related to graphic design, and I needed to update that part of my portfolio. What it lead to was gilcee prints, and combining my drawing with textures and layers. It's interesting, this kind of work for me can be completed fast and gives some level of satisfaction. I'll continue with it, but it's more than time for me to get back into painting again.

I'm not as conceptual as many contemporary artists. I am an image and object maker. I want to make icons that can live in your home as well as in a gallery/temple/whatever. Something made by hand has more resonance and punch than any reproduction (and you have to see it in person, no digital photo of any art can match seeing it with your own eyes). The digital prints are good to work out ideas and get them across, and they can be more affordable to collectors. Nothing however to me can take the place of the one of a kind image.

So these next few weeks and months will be set for me to begin a new series. The painting detail is acrylic on canvas, just a thought really. It's a portrait of a gothy-punk girl, I'll post it in full when I update my website which will be soon. I'm going back to wood, and the size will be closer to 16 x 18 or 18 x 24. What the subject is you'll have to wait and see.

Ah well, here is Eumir Deodato, September 13

Link-O-Rama

This past week has partly been preoccupied by family business, and partly by other business who's business is not yours. So because I'm a little doped up on allergy meds and I don't feel like ranting much, it's time for another installment of LINK-O-RAMA

1st off, for my artist friends, check out The Madness of Art
"The Madness of Art is a humorous look at Chelsea’s dynamic art scene in New York City. The Madness of Art is created by Gallery Owner and Art Dealer, Jim Kempner, of Jim Kempner Fine Art, drawing from years of real life experiences in the art business. Episodes are humorous and surprisingly realistic.

Jim Kempner writes, directs and stars in The Madness of Art along with his often co-opted Gallery Director, Dru Arstark, numerous Assistants, Interns, Art Handlers, Dealers and Artists.

The Madness of Art has been constructed through years of videotaping situations featuring artists such as Robert Indiana, Tony Fitzpatrick, Charlie Hewitt, Bernard Venet, Yoko Ono, and Steve Giovinco, as well as clients and family.

It is a fun and refreshing view of art from the gallery perspective.

The Gallery itself, Jim Kempner Fine Art, is located at the epicenter of the New York Art scene at 10th Avenue and 23rd Street. Each episode features a range of contemporary art and artists work of photography, prints, drawings, sculpture and paintings.

Stay tuned! New episodes will be revealed weekly!"

and now, some video crap

and here is something different

Ephemerisle Documentary 2009b by Jason Sussberg from The Seasteading Institute on Vimeo. My mind isn't blown, but looks interesting... but it also kinda looks like an art-douch boat party. We shall see how that develops.

So next weekend I will be at Wisteria on a work weekend (down in southern Ohio near Athens), helping clear trails and getting ready for the festival season. In a little less than a month will be the Summer Solstice festival. Here is some info from the organizers:

Wisteria Community is so pleased to announce our expanded summer
season of events and camping. Starting from June 20 through July 12,
we have three continuous weeks of activity to keep your soul fed and
refreshed. Come to one week or come to all three:
First event of the season is Wisteria Summer Solstice Gathering (June
20-27). Wisteria Solstice is an immersive intensive with hundreds of
people living in cooperative eco-spiritual culture. You will never be
the same after you experience how good life can be when responsible,
freedom-loving people come together to create a musical, artistic
atmosphere of love and creativity. Hear daily concerts on three
stages with quality musical and performance acts, workshops, ceremony,
speakers and much more. Check our Solstice pages (
http://www.wisteria.org/wisteria-summer-solstice.htm) for a growing
list of activities as we build the magical village for this turning
point of the year. Preregistration is required for Solstice, no at-
gate registrations accepted or discounts for partial attendance.

We’re becoming known for our “Temple to the Arts,” our outdoor
amphitheatre and stage with a booming pro-level sound system that
rocks the hills. Come bathe in the bliss. Enjoy the wonders of nature
in the company of like-minded others and other soul-satisfying
activities. In addition to hot showers, we have a cafeteria-style
restaurant with delicious and healthy food prepared fresh. For cold
ones on hot days, visit the Green Man Tavern.

What a year it’s shaping up to be here in the rolling hills of
southern Ohio. If you’ve never been to a magical festival before and
you are an Earth-loving person who believes in creating a better world
in a celebratory way, trust in your guidance and come join your long-
lost family. You don’t need to know someone to be comfortable here –
people are friendly and you can fit right in.

If you are a veteran of this good way of life, we’ll welcome you, your
families and encampment of friends with open hearts and open minds.
We’re getting geared up and excited and looking forward to a beautiful
year. We’ll be waiting for you to come to your summer home here in
the singing green hills. –Wisteria Community

So yeah! For more info about this and the other events at Wisteria check them out at http://wisteria.org

For music, we have the Gotan Project, Epoca

Randomness!

So, I'm really tired today. For the last five days I have not been sleeping well because of a combination of allergies and anxiety dreams. After talking to a friend online and just saying whatever was coursing through my head... I thought to myself 'self, this should be shared with the world!'. So yeah, don't take anything in this post seriously, or personally, because it isn't. Today I am stupid, and terribly random.

BTW this isn't properly edited either, so most of this will be straight crap.

***

When I die, render my fat into candles and burn them in the memory of some forgotten saint.

For some reason your mother is a bitch slap of a whore.

I cover myself with meat and spit rabbits. Your tree limbs have nothing, and you can't hold me with your roots. It's like you've forgotten everything, you wear no clothes and stand in the street waiting for someone to love you. Unbound, arms wide and the wind whipping, you welcome the sun in the early morning. The air is moist and cool against your body. You may feel like singing, and you do as if there is no one to hear. If you could take flight, you would. But grounded against the pavement it's all you can do to start running into the wide open street. Traffic could come at any moment. You could die, you could be discovered with all your faults and people will expect you to be shamed. Crawl into a hole, die with the guilt of being open. But don't you dare give in to them. You run. You fly. You take everything that you can and give more. You can do this. I know you have in in you. Fear is nothing but the small voices holding you back, bringing you down, making you regret you're not the person you want to be, that you wish you were. Your depression, your loss, your sorrow, is really anger at allowing all the small voices within and without to stop you from running.
So defy them. Stand naked in the street, unbound.

Man I could use a Reuben.

I keep thinking it's later than it is. Ham is falling all over me, my horns are covered in pig.

So um... hey, I saw you over there and I thought you were rather attractive. Would you like to go back to my apartment and I'll show you my etchings?

I want a skirt made of earthworms, living worms... but sitting would be a problem.

I'm not as vulgar as you think you are.

***

Ok that's enough. You have a good Friday. Oh btw the image below is a digital print titled 'Welder' a kind of modern take off of the Goddess Brigit. Have a good weekend!

Research Mode...

I'm always looking for stuff, and here's what I'm looking at lately.

Check out this photographer Courtney Brooke. I like all the arts, but it takes a groovy vibe-thing to make me pay attention to photography. Her work has this otherworld 70's but contemporary aura and color, & she does a nice job of framing up her images. Courtney has a flickr account that looks like it's updated regularly, and a blog that is not, but it's worth checking out. I found an interview here at Revel in New York, so yeah if you wanna peer into these depths it's worth a read.

Another interested and related footnote are these 'inspiration blogs' that I keep stumbling across. Courtney Brooke has this one. Witch Mountain is kinda interesting, so is Sun in Scorpio. There seems to be a ton of these. If you know of one you really like post it in the comments so we all can have a look-see. My only complaint is that some of these don't reference what the image is or where it came from. If I find one that has lotsa great stuff I'll post it.

Here's something completely off topic. I've been looking at getting a corset and I found these folks at Absolute Corsets. I totally know where my tax refund is going this year. Plus size clothing that doesn't look like a bag and is made out of decent materials can be hard to find. Almost makes me want to take up sowing... almost (maybe someday when I have time). I don't classify myself as 'goth', but I like vintage style clothing, and if I had the cash I'd dress in a strange combo of contemporary and WTF and vintage on a daily basis. So I found this link here that has some promising stuff. Some of the links are broken, and some are more for ren-fair folk or people who do reenactments, which I don't. If you like the same kinda stuff, maybe that will interest you.

Anyway. I loves me some Thelonious Monk, here's Epistrophy.

nothing important

KAJTKYBSAH5S
you can ignore that, it's just a code for verification

Someone stole my sketchbook out of my car. What the hell!? Also there's some personal stuff going on so I don't have much to report this week.

so, you get this instead:

Link -O- Rama

New Zealand woman sells souls to highest bidder
well... yeah!


from here

waste your time with Browser Pong

and then... here's an animation short

Descendants from Goro Fujita on Vimeo. from here

Environmentals

Well looks like the weather FINALLY BROKE here in Ohio. Weather is heating up (if you can call 40's-50's °F heat... well it's not freezing so whatever!), and the Spring Equinox is coming up in a couple weeks (March 20th this year. Because it's a solar holiday it's subject to change). I'm going to some kind of bacchanalian (2) festivus that day, and maybe I'll tell you about it... and may be I won't (if I don't it's because it was just SO CRAZY I didn't want disclose details in public). Anyway, good day to get stuff ready for planting, and starting new things, and eating chocolate bunnies. I'm starting to practice spinning poi again. I'm ok... not great. I don't perform or anything, but it's something I like to do. Here is a video of me from last year at a Wisteria if you're curious. Ah... keeps me off the streets.

So here are some interesting footnotes.

My friend Eddie showed me this link about this low impact home built in Wales. Built by the people who now live there, with only a chainsaw, hammer, 1 inch chisel, and minimal experience on another project. Most of the timber was found local. The walls are straw bales covered in lime stucco, this is a technique that was developed out in the American West in the 1800 where wood is not easy to come by. Total cost is £3000 (around $4,500 US), and nearly if not completely self sustaining. Check out the guy's website, he also has links to other orgs that build similar structures. Nice that someone is demonstrating that living with a low carbon footprint doesn't have to cost a lot.

Also, if you're into scuba diving, check out this underwater river in Mexico. Great photos!




Anyway, here's something different for you. Song is Maggot Brain by Funkadelic

I'm riding a meme!

So I happened to be online when the Conan O'Brien / Sarah Killen thing blew up. Basically what happened is that Conan decided that Sarah was going to be his only follower.

She went from 12 followers to over 4000 in an hour.

I was amused, and I had some time to kill, so I banged out the illustration you see here.

If you want, printable version here, and yes I sent her a URL to it of course.

Update: Sarah is taking part in Susan G Komen Race for the cure, give her a donation whydon'tcha!

To follow her, go to http://twitter.com/LovelyButton

To follow Conan O'Brien go to http://twitter.com/ConanOBrien

and, if you want to follow me, I'm at http://twitter.com/saraadrian
But really, all I post are blog updates... most of the time.

If you want to continue to follow this, visit the Official Sarah Killen Fan Page (btw, I didn't start it). Oh, and yay she likes the poster!

So there's your randomness for the day. By the way, yes I am with Coco

For music, here are the Momentary Prophets again, trying to get on to Late Night with Conan O'Brien (trying to keep a theme here). I think it's funny...

Print in process...

To the left is a detail of a print I am working on. What you're looking at is a vector image. So far I've completed several drawings that will be combined to create the final print, and scanned them in to the computer. Then I use photoshop to clean up and define the line to my satisfaction. I transfer the image over to illustrator and convert it to vector where I'll make changes. Doing this gives me greater control over the quality of line and allowing me to adjust the image to it's final size. In the sample on the left I am smoothing out the inside of the shape, the outside I am leaving rough. When this process is completed for all the images I've drawn I'll bring them back into photoshop, where I will add color, and in this case I'll be including 'scrapbook' images of scanned textures, (leaves). When the final image is complete, I'll send the file off to be printed using the Giclée process. When the prints come back they are ready to be signed, and I may frame one or two, and then they will be ready for show or for sale. Right now I'm only doing small run limited editions. Once the file is printed that image is not reproduced again except for promotional stuff.

So yeah, that's what I'm working on right now.





While I find that video amusing, it's giving me an internal dialog about ecstatic dance, and how so many cultures have incorporated it into their spiritual tradition. These folks probably believe the Christian Holy Spirit has come upon them, but I see not much difference between this and other forms of divine possession. As an experience it's not something we westerners understand or encourage, but regardless of whether you believe that they are having a true spiritual experience or using it just as a reason to freak out... it has a benefit to the psyche. People feel... something, better maybe, feel like they've touched or been touched by the divine. Just something that's rolling around in my head this morning.

I think people are hungry for authentic experiences.

Link -O- Rama II

Well I haven't done one of these in a minute. (by the way, the drawing is just something random from my sketchbook.)

So here's a groovy thing I found via NPR
Now, you may know I like Celtic folklore. Via this article I found out about the animated film 'The Secret of the Kells'. I'm a sucker for good animation, and I snagged a view of the film online (low quality though). It's pretty good. Well worth the Oscar nomination.

So yeah, if you want to follow this film here's a blog for it.

A few weeks ago I mentioned the movie Wizards, & how the artwork was inspired by Vaughn Bodé. Well I just stumbled upon a comic that Vaughn started that has been completed by his son Mark Bodé, called the Lizard of Oz. It's kinda crude like R. Crumb in content (but I think Crumb's artwork is better), but with more sluts. So yeah, if you like that kind of stuff, you can buy it or read it here. So yeah, there you are. Found via Nerdcore.

So anyway, I'm feelin' mellow, so you're getting Ben Harper, Beloved One

digital play

I'm been experimenting. These are all hand drawn images that have been scanned, turned into a vector image, then brought into photoshop for color. The advantage is I have control over line and color, I can make it much larger than the original drawing (for larger prints). I do try to maintain a somewhat organic feel, meaning I don't want people to point and go ooo digitial image, although I'm sure the trained eye can probably tell.

Nude sketch, with 'ink wash', just for fun.

Portrait. It's not really of anybody, I was just messing around & wanted to see if I could make a satisfactory 'inked' look.

Hare (for the Spring Equinox/Easter)... perhaps a little to 'rough'.

This one has the most thought. The text in the background are names of craters on the moon, who are also famous scientists, mathmaticians, philosophers, etc. The number, is how long it takes for the moon to orbit the earth (aprox 27 days, give or take a few hours/minutes). The crescent moon is indicitave of the theme of the image, and also symbolizes the maiden Goddess (waxing or growing larger for maiden, full for mother, waning or growing smaller for crone). Third eye for wisdom & psychic vision, & the poem underneath is for Inanna, and mentions her story about her descent to the underworld.

So yeah.

I can't get this song out of my head

so now it's in yours, enjoy! Via Dangerous Minds

just a dream.

I had this dream a while back. I wish I could build it, this thing I saw.

Imagine, you're walking in the woods in early spring, when the ground is starting to flower but before the leaves start to cover the canopy above you. This place is dotted with small clearings, the grass hasn't returned yet so the fields are covered with stale yellow. You come to one of these spaces, and you find yourself at the back of a building. It's clearly been there for a long time and it shows signs of wear and disuse. Vines that haven't begun to leaf climb it. There is no windows and no door. The top curves in a dome.

You make your way to the front of the building, the sides as you walk past them are narrower than the back, and you soon find yourself in a wide field, and that the building is actually a theater. The front is decorated in decaying carved wood and peeled paint. It looks Edwardian in style, and on each side of the stage there are steps that lead up to it. In the center of the stage there is a statue. It's about 7-8 feet high, made of wood that was once painted white but it's now flaking away, and this too is laced with vines, but you can make out the details clearly. It's of a woman seated, the style is almost Greek but there is a wildness to it. By wild I don't mean untamed, but wild in the sense that animals are wild, they have an assured sense of place, they have everything they will ever want or need, all they must do is live. The statue is gazing out over the landscape, she is a woman of indeterminate age but mature. Heavy breasts, large hips, she is covered in a robe but you see her feet are bare. She has four arms, and holds a sheaf of wheat, a bowl, a fan, and a flame. There is a feeling I sometimes have when I enter some places, like there is something special here, and I should explore and investigate, and -be- there. So, go up on the stage, and explore.

.. it went something like that.

Maybe I'll paint it, but I'll never come close.

So, new years has come and gone. Time to make some changes I think. What I'd like to do this decade is travel more. I'd -really- like to live in another country, even if only a few months. I do have some responsibilities here (home, cat), but it's time for me to recall the sense of adventure I had when I was young. I do need to find better work though, and I'm working on that too.

so, it's time for some Tom Waits, song is 'Come On Up to the House'