Standing still

There's been a lot going on these days; teaching, learning, meeting, talking, working, creating, movin' n groovin'.  Motivation along with inspiration has come and gone and I'm trying to get back into it.

I have a lot of work-in-progress right now.  Paintings, photography, website, love life, holiday social life... nothing of which is going particularly well but moving in the right direction.

I have taken on the challenge of teaching myself HTML and CSS.  Once I started freelancing I knew it would be the best way to get my work out there by building my own portfolio site.  I looked into A LOT of sites that you can just drop you're content into, but really what's the fun in that?  Plus, I'm a curious person. I love learning new things all the time.  I bought a couple books, picked friend's and colleagues brains and off I went.  And here I am now, at a standstill.  I know what I want the site to do and how I want it to function but I think I am getting myself in a little over my head.  Any help/guidance is always welcome.

Finally have started painting again.  It's always something I love to do but finding the right time to just dive in and get my hands dirty is always my biggest challenge.  For some reason anytime I really get started on a painting and get into it someone always calls with some FANTASTIC idea to go do something.  One Sunday I declined all offers and sat and got my visions onto my canvas.  While this masterpiece is well on it's way... once again, I find myself at a standstill.

Photography... well, I can't really say I have too many projects going on right now but a few Christmas cards will be in the making in the next couple of weeks.  I'm realizing that I love my photography more and more every time I do it.  I am starting to think it may be something I would like to invest a little more time and money into.  I usually like my results so much more than a lot of my painting and graphics work.  (Will share some of the recent headshots in a moment)

Personal life... not too much to say.  Men come and go, friends are always there.  That is one thing I have to say I am truly thankful for this holiday season the friendships which are continuing to grow!

Quote I am living by at the moment, "...we are here for a good time, not a long time."

Headshots: K. Hammett

NYC Fall

Off in a new direction

Sometime you really have to take a leap of faith and believe in yourself as much as others do.  I have been told a lot that people think I have a lot of talent and like my work but not until recently have I really begun to believe that they might be right.

My friend Matthew is writing a one-man-show called Gay Zombie, I must admit I am pretty excited to go see it!  If your in NY you must come out, it's opening right before Halloween.  I have to give Matthew a lot of credit, not only is he very talented but he has always remained true to himself and done what he knows is right for him, which may not be the norm.  This week he and I and an amazing make-up artist all got together to do some promo shots for his show.  I have to say it was talent coming from all three of us that made the shoot go so well and I have to say I am pretty impressed with the finish product.  

I am inspired by others everyday but I have to say, today, I am inspired by my own abilities.  

Here are my favorite shots from the shoot.

Life Changes

Can't say life has been dull or boring the past few weeks.  A lot has changed, but I think it was time.

Ever feel like you get the kick in the ass that you've needed to really head in the direction you would like to?  I believe that is what has happened to me.

I went on vacation with my family, which gave me a lot of time to sleep and relax before heading back into a crazy week at work.  I have to say no matter how many times we visit the same place, I love it just as much if not more each time we go.

Photography is back!  Here are a few shots from OBX2010.

See ya next year OBX!

Rainy start to the week

Cold and rainy end of August here in NY, a little slow at work, which has left a little down time to bop around.

I have a small obsession with icons right now and came across quite a few I like.

Especially loved these for back to school.  Just so fun and playful.

Also came across a few cool design ideas.

I absolutely LOVE this idea... definitely something I am going to keep in my bag of tricks.

I have seen quiet a few dye-cut projects that I really like as well.

This one in particular for the School of Visual Arts.

That's all for now!  

Up, down and all around Seattle

I've been back from Seattle for about a month now and have finally developed some of the pictures I took.  Seattle is awesome place to just chill, hang out and eat some very delicious fresh fresh fresh food!

I was with two of the best people to explore a city with while there, which just made the trip that much more fantastic.  Here's a little look at the 3 day marathon all over the rainy city (which it didn't rain until the 4th of July, oh well).

Our tourism day started of course with a ride up the Space Needle.

A few views from the top of the Space Needle.  Seattle has some of the coolest skies I've seen.

The off to the Sci-Fi museum we went...

Then to the Music Experience Project.

A few other events happen this day... none too worthy of reporting, unless you would like an hour recap of the AMAZING, "naughty" dessert we had at Serious Pie.  If you're ever in Seattle you must try to budino, it will change your life.

The flowers are Pike Place Market are to die for.  

They have huge bouquets for $7-$15!  I've never seen anything like them.

The freshest, most delicious produce in the US, hands down!

I would eat so well if I lived in Seattle.

Shots down by the sculpture park.

4th of July at Snoqualmie Falls, it was dark a dreary nothing a good waterfall can't fix.

Goodbye Seattle!

Me me me time

Finally finding some time to get my life back in order.

The new apartment and traveling for work has recently taken over my life and I have to say at times has been more than overwhelming.  Low and behold though, now that I have free time, I don't know what to do with myself.  I have a lot of little projects that I would like to get done but somehow... my ass has glued itself to my new couch.

Coming down from such a high for three month my body is finally crashing and I am sick... in July... and it's 95 out!  Funny how life works sometimes.

I had the chance to spend a week in Seattle and definitely got to see a lot of the city in that time.   My calves were happy to be sitting on a plane for 6 1/2 hours come the end of the trip.  Seattle is a gorgeous city surrounded by water and mountains and some of the coolest skies I have ever seen.  We lucked out with the weather, of course, until it was the 4th of July and rained most of the day.

I still haven't loaded the thousands of pictures on my to my computer so those are to follow.

What I learned about Seattle is that I will never fit in there.  It's a mixture of early 90's grunge, hippies and simple types.  All of which I wish I could be from time to time but my heart is in NY for now.

Band flyers everywhere on Capital Hill

More pictures to come.

Head spinning busy

Oh geez it has bebn awhile.  Things have really picked up at work and with life in general.  Between moving and traveling I haven't really had much time to think about things I would like to.  I have found a few things that have sparked ideas in my head and I can't wait to find some time to actually execute them and share.

From yarn weavings to broken mirrors, I'm hoping this summer isn't so busy and I can to put these inspirations to good use.

Please stay tuned.

Sloppy wonderful mess

Rain, rain go away.  Sometimes I really don't mind the rain.  It forces you to stay in and just get things done or... convinces you that yup, it's okay to just stay in today and veg!  Today was a bit of both.  I got a painting done and it gave me some time to just sit and relax.  Painting is one of those things that I absolutely love to do because it's mindless; at least for me it is.  I have a vision in my head and sometimes it comes out on the canvas and more times than not I get an entirely new creation than what was originally in my head.  Honestly, so many times I have tried to do exactly what I picture in my head and I go about executing it entirely wrong BUT in the end... somehow... it just works.  That is basically happened with today's project.

I wanted to do a city scape that was a bit more hand drawn and not so perfect.  I'm trying to be a bit more loose lately so I figure I should try that mentality with my artwork too.  I wanted to have these white buildings that were drawn in with Sharpie marker... but THEN, I thought it needed some texture so I added newspaper to just give it a little something extra.  Well, you know how that goes, one thing led to another and I then wanted texture in the sky... and I whitewashed the buildings because I didn't want the newsprint to be legible... and then the paint started to run and I liked the way it looked so it turned into one sloppy mess and my bedroom floor aka my 'studio' now is a piece of artwork itself.

I decided even before I began painting that this was going to be for one of my roommates for her new place (sadly, we are parting ways after two years, but I could not be any happier for her).  When this mess began to spin a bit out of control I made her sit with me while I painted (she did not know this was going to be for her), so I kept asking... "do you like this?"  "do you think this works?"  "it needs something else doesn't it?"  and I know her well enough to know she's a fan of whatever I do but at the same time tell me the honest truth.  Finally I couldn't hold it in any longer (this being after she told me she loved it) and I told her it was for her.  I love making people happy!  It only took two years of her asking me to paint her something for it to actually happen, but sometimes you just have to wait for the right inspiration!

Tada!!!

Plastic Jungle

It's been one of those weeks where I don't want to get out of bed and I wish my laundry would wash itself. Low and behold though, I have gotten out of bed each day and surprisingly enough in a pretty bubbly mood.  Monday night I stumbled upon some great music which has added a much needed bounce in my step.

Some song I recommend (I have found myself air banding all over the city this week)
Plastic Jungle - Miike Snow
I Hear (Click, Click, Click) - The Rosebuds
Stitched Up - Herbie Handcock (ft. John Mayer)
Black and Blue - Miike Snow
Embers - Just Jack
Wondering Where You Are - Tyrone Wells
Take Me on the Floor - The Veronicas

Just a few that have me bopping my head, hands and feet on the train to work in the morning.

And I'm going to leave you with this little cutie fella for the night.
Cheers!

Up up and away

I keep a folder on my desktop called 'Things I Like' just for moments when you come across something and you know someday you'll be looking for it again.

I found this image a few weeks ago when I would doing some image research for work and knew one day I would need it for a little pick me up.  (no pun intended)

I wish I remembered who I got this from, but it's from Flickr.

Crazy, funky, fresh

Sometimes you find inspiration in the oddest places... and with this set of my work each painting had me asking "really?"  and answering "yeah, it just works".

With that said, not ALL inspiration is odd.  I stumbled upon this illustrator on commarts, Linda Zacks, and just fell absolutely head over heels for her work!  I love the funky style, hand drawn work, use of colors with blacks and grays.  Somehow she manages to capture everything I have felt, smelt, and dealt with since moving here.  I told people about her for weeks.  And to be honest her style was the main inspiration for my NYC Silhouette series.

Back to the odd inspiration thing... where yes, Linda Zack's style inspired them... of course there was other things behind them too.

Inspiration

Yes, I know, it's so strange... but I started painting and this story had just happened.

I have a small obsession for silhouettes and this story just showed hope.

End Result

Inspiration

I took this while at the DUMBO Art Festival Under the Bridge, one of my 

favorite art fests I have ever been too.  Brooklyn has THE best views of Manhattan.

End Result

Inspiration

There's no real image that inspired this next one, but I also love eyes.  I am going to be

vain and say I love MY eyes.  They change colors, with what I'm wearing, when I'm out

in the sun for a day, and even when I have the winter grays.  I also have a thing for 

loud bright neon colors right now.  AND lastly this just expresses how moving

to somewhere that you have your eyes set on may be appealing by sight but has the

possibility of being different than what you expected.  Something I like to refer to

as "shiny object attraction"!  Hence the silver stamped words.  

Lyrics are taken from the Matchbox20 song "Bright Lights".

End Result

It can come from anywhere... and I live by that.  I never feel the need to explain the "meaning" behind my work.  Sometimes, it just was a moment thing, the way my brush went, the twitch my hand, the words someone whispered to me the night before... the look a stranger gave me or the horror that life may hand someone one day.  It just is, and we all have our different ways of dealing and expressing.  

Back at it

Finally after many weeks of dreading trying to redesign my blog, I have found some time.

I also found time this weekend to get back at what I love to do most, which is take photos!  I convinced my roommate to join me as we trucked over to Brooklyn (of course the subway was running local so it took almost an hour to get there... it's like complaining about getting stuck in traffic, but you're stuck with 40 strangers in the dark).  Once getting to Brooklyn, I just fell in love the moment I walked into the botanical gardens.

Finally, a real breath of fresh air.  And I mean that in every context possible.  It smelled like home, fresh cut grass and blooming trees (this did not sit well with my allergies, but I dealt with it for the day).  Anyone who lives or visits NY, GO!!! (and I was told the Bronx Botanical Gardens is even better)  It was a nice different thing to do.  There were tons of families and friends hanging out, having picnics, running around and taking pictures.  I must admit, if I was ever taken on a date there I would have LOVED it (hint, hint).

Here's a small taste at what the day looked like...

I just loved the couple... they give me hope!

I boosted my roommate up into the tree
(also there was a man behind me asking if she needed a boost...)

I don't know what it is about spring flowers but they just melt away the winter greys!