Divine Revolution Magazine

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Neato:



I was selected to be the cover art for the September/October issue of Divine Revolution Magazine. From what I can tell, they discuss art, poetry and other writings, eco-mindedness, spirituality, and raw/vegan/healthy eating.

There's also a music video, called Living Darfur, directly to the right of my Sand Flower painting, that I highly recommend. It's set in Darfur, and (aside from the music) shows the daily life and culture of those living there. Rad. I love relevant things.

It's a cool site. Go visit! :o)

Well, here's the Living Darfur video, by Mattafix:

Burning, Hidden, and Blush.

Some new ones:




Burning, Hidden, and Blush. These 3 pieces are now available in my Etsy shop.

I'm planning to send these to a gallery soon, but for now I am offering them on Etsy. :o) They will be available until I take them down. I won't give notice, so I apologize in advance if I take them down suddenly. (If you really want something, let me know ASAP.)

Each one is 8x10 inches, and $150. I have 2 more to list later on, same size. Think aqua.

I really like Hidden, because it became the "color study" for this new huge lavender one I've been working on.

The huge one is a little bit different than my other stuff. For one thing, it's thicker. :o)

Political Haha

Now, I stopped really watching SNL years ago, and I was never that much of a fan at any point in my life, with a few brief exceptions, but I have to admit that this opening skit from last night is maybe one of the funniest things I have ever seen EVER.



Ahhhh, brief moments of joy in an otherwise stressful campaign season. Get 'em while you can!

Unwelcome Change


Maybe because it seems like Summer never really got started, but I'm not particularly ready to give it up for Autumn. I swear, one day the sun was straight over my balcony, providing perfect light for painting, and then POOF the next day it's at an angle behind the trees and rapidly moving towards the horizon by like 4 pm. Dag nabbit. I am smack dab right in the middle of a large painting too. ::sigh::

Well, anyway. I think it's September that I don't like, what with all the mourning over summer being gone, but I've always said that October brings many good things to me. So... Yay October. When it gets here.

In the meantime, I've been contemplating how to get myself on a more "normal" schedule. Actually, I'm not sure that such a thing exists for artists. Maybe I mean more "structure" rather than schedule. I get confused on how much time to spend on any one thing. I really really really really really want to finish my art book, but I keep getting distracted by painting instead. Painting and watching election coverage.

Election coverage ended up turning into Colin and I watching Season One of The Mole (COOP!) on YouTube. We already knew who the mole was, so it's kind of fun to watch the mole being all moley during the course of the game. I think Coop gives it away though. He obviously knows said mole better than the other players. I like how they insult each other by shouting "MOLE!" That wouldn't really work in real life.

"Buck Melanoma. Moley Russell's wart. Not her wart. Not her wart! I'm... I'm the wart. She's my tumor. My... my growth. My... uh, my pimple. I'm Uncle Wart. Just old Buck "Wart" Russell. That's what they call me. Or Melanoma Head. They'll call me that."

[hahahhhahahhhaha] (That was for Colin.)

Oh, and the big fancy November show I'm planning is going to be in February now. Just FYI. :o)

"Well, more time to paint, right?" --says basically every single person I know.

Indeed. The universe answers my lack of sun problem. Hurrah!

Hungover

... and I am definitely not speaking of alcohol.

I've been in a fog lately. Sometimes I get tired of painting. Not painting for painting's sake, just tired of doing the same thing, and looking at the same paintings. I've just been drowning in paint. (ew.) I've been trying to finish up the tiny ones to send to New York, which means that a lot of room is being taken up in my studio, preventing me from working on the large pieces that are holding my attention. But, I'm finished now. Just gotta get 'em ready for shipping.

I've also been in a political haze for weeks. (Make that: months.) That's not a bad thing, I'm glad to be interested, and glad to be informed. Political apathy irritates the bazooka joe out of me. I only say this because this is the first (okay, second) presidential election year in which I haven't been apathetic. But, I am WAY MORE interested now. It's just.... blah. War, economy, insurance, security......... all so very NOT creative and artsy things.

Sometimes I have to just not paint in order to paint. That doesn't need to make sense to you. I'm just blathering.

This is kind of fun:


If you read this in the next 2 days, you can see the actual treasury on Etsy here. It's this amazing concept organized by Vicki Diane of VickiDianeDesigns. Sometimes you forget that the artists on Etsy are real people with real faces! This is a great way to show the artists behind the art. I especially like that one guy up there. Top row in the middle. I have a big crush on him. Is it wrong to have a crush on another artist? It's just that he's so cute. I can't help it. And lookie, with our pictures right next to each other, I can pretend that we're *together.* :oD ::squealing and swooning::

;o)

Sacred Beach

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Taken at Polihale Beach on the Island of Kauai. This is where the Hawaiians believe the spirits depart the islands for heaven. I agree that it must be true. It was certainly the most beautiful beach I've ever seen in my life, and I'm pretty sure it might be the most incredible beach on the planet.

Each print is available in Interrupt's shop on Etsy. They make a gorgeous set.

"Do you actually use all this stuff?"

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I'm not really sure what the girl behind the counter of Michaels meant by that.

I have bought an incredible amount of supplies recently. For some reason, I was really trying to use up everything I had before purchasing more. And! Because my grandmother sends me a new 40%-off-one-item coupon every other week in the mail, (hee) I decided to buy up a bunch of stuff. I have a show coming up and some large paintings to paint. I looked like the Liquitex poster child. (This was not paid for by Liquitex, Inc.) (heh)

(Actually, I use many other non-Liquitex products.. I just bought a whole bunch of it that one day.)

(dangit.)

(can you hear me when I talk in parentheses?)


I imagine other full-time artists can relate, but I cannot believe how much money I spend on supplies. When I start to hyperventilate at the cost while walking back to the car, Colin has to remind me that this is my job [and passion], and how I make money to begin with. Sometimes it seems as though I buy very little else. I only recently bought 3 new shirts, because all the rest of mine have paint splatter on them.

[I just recently realized that when we live in Hawaii, I will get to use real Hawaiian beach sand in my paintings!! :::squeal::: The real trick will be how I'll be able to peel myself off the beach long enough to actually paint. Hopefully Pele won't have a problem with me stealing her sand. I only take small bits. And I make pretty pictures with it. Hmm. Maybe I'll leave the black sand alone. Just in case.]

Sorry. Sidetracked.

Ooh! Caught on camera! A specimen from the elusive Designus Graphicus species:

Not Exactly Tropical

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But not exactly not...


These pink clouds were floating by directly overhead. Wispy and pink, they were.



...and despite not taking very good care of my 2nd plumeria tree on the balcony, it's proving its worth anyway. I love plumeria. They're really just the best flower in the whole world.

It was weird out today, cloudy and humid. I loved it. I guess I would prefer it to be sunny and humid, but that never really happens in Southern California.

I've been very peaceful lately, an interesting contrast to how much work we have before us, how much planning we are doing, and how out-of-our-element we've been feeling. I don't know why, exactly, but maybe it's because all of this work is going to benefit our long term goals in a really powerful way. I feel things starting to click. The work and opportunities that are ahead of us seem to be a direct response to our goals, which we've been speaking out loud as much as possible.

I'm such a romantic. It's hard for me not to take things like pink clouds, blooming plumeria, and warm humidity as some sort of encouragement that we're on the right path, a path that will eventually lead us to achieving our life-long quest to move away from this awful place and forge a new life somewhere else, in a place that feels like home.

Oh, cool, the sun just came out.

Namesakes and leather

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Okay, backstory: So I bought this awesome wallet for Colin at Christmas from my friend Arlene at Sewlutions by AMO, and it was so awesome! Soft and sturdy and wonderful. Handmade leather stuff!! (Sorry, Vegans.)



She and I got to talkin' and yada yada yada, she liked my name(s) so much, she wanted to use them on products, and of course I thought that was completely rad. :oD

Today she emailed me to let me know that she'd created another totally awesome handmade leather product (sorry again vegans) that used my name! (!!!)

Introducing, The Maddox:



It comes in a couple different colors, and she might add more colors too. So cool. Ahh... all those times I made Colin carry my IDs and stuff because my outfit didn't have pockets and I refused to carry a purse.... I think I'm gonna have to get one of these. I mean, it's called THE MADDOX!

Oh, and there's a Shayla in the works at some point too. Huzzah!

www.sewlutionsbyamo.etsy.com

Whoosh

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The sound that my new schedule makes. I now have to move at hyper-speed in order to get everything done before *the big show* in November.

Lookie, a new color study:




Available in my Etsy shop.

It's one of two that I worked on along with a new Orange painting that I'm finishing up. I don't know that I'll be doing more (color studies) than that, because of my previously mentioned Whoosh Schedule. I have to streamline my whole process here. There's a lavender moon painting floating around my head that needs to come out and get on canvas soon.

Very soon.

[whoosh]

A Bigger Boat



The top one is actually a blank leather journal, yet to contain anything. Colin and I have stacks of these blank journals between us. We love the concept of blank books, we just never fill them with anything. Too much pressure. But, I like this one, it says CARPE DIEM on the front. It makes me *want* to write something in it. But I don't know what.

I've never been the type of person to keep a journal, and I don't really see the value in recording the various boring details of my life. I'm also rarely inspired to write down a stream of thoughts or emotions. Like I said, I'm not really a journal person. I'm a blank book person.

Meanwhile, I'm about to immerse myself in a new project again. It's exciting every time I do it. I like having a deadline. This project is a bit bigger than previous ones, though. Bigger event, bigger results. Bigger is fun.

Even the paintings get bigger when I'm preparing for a show. I must designate most of my floor space to white canvas again. Sorry, Joey. We'll play fetch at Christmastime.

I have so much to do that I even started working on a schedule of sorts, to make sure I have enough hours each day to get a lot of work done. It's time to crawl back into that obsessive, constant, productive period of nothing-but-painting. My spare time will be spent in business meetings and organizational tasks.

If only I had something to write all this down in!!!

bah.

I am a Sand Artist


(actually, Colin created that turtle for me.) :o)


So last week I submitted my work to someone in NY who was writing an article about Sand Artists. I even told her in my email that I didn't think I was exactly what she meant, but that I did use sand in my art, so I was submitting just in case.

Turns out, she liked my art and immediately sent me more information, and 8 interview questions about why I do what I do. This was very interesting for me. I hadn't thought of myself as a sand artist exactly, even though I use sand in almost all of my paintings. Answering these questions helped me recognize that I use sand very purposefully, and even emotionally in my art. Here's one of my answers:

"Part of the thrill I get in each painting is allowing the chaos factor of working with water, paint, and sand to alter how the paintings look. Sand is very absorbent. The paint sinks into the sand as the sea does into the shore. I try not to stop this process too much, because I enjoy allowing the sand to affect the paint the way it naturally wants to. I want the texture and feel of the painting to fully represent all the unique aspects of real sand."

:o)

Oh, and I just found out (like 10 minutes ago) that I have a really really really super amazing crazy exciting wonderful SPECTACULAR event happening in the future (November, actually) that I can't WAIT to tell you more about. It's really that terrific, and really does require all those adjectives. I'm talking, next-level. Really. I'm going to keep saying "really." It's that good.

Phi Interruption

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Remember when I said that Nova Palette was my new favorite piece from Interrupt?


Well... I think I'd like to revise my previous statement. Cause this one is pretty freakin' rad. It's called Phi Palette.

Up for me this week: Working on a book, (heh, that sounds cool every time I say it) working on an interview about Sand Artists that I get to participate in, learning more about international shipping, getting Luminary and Wisdom ready to meet their new family, and initial planning of 6 small paintings to send to 2 different gallery locations in New York!

[and I haven't even had coffee yet!]