Sketch Tuesdays and Aquired Art

Sketch Tuesdays are the shit. Cool artists that normally charge more than my student starving ass can afford, make some sweet mini pieces and sell them direct to the crowd; no commission paid to the gallery, 111 Minna

I love collecting art

picked up this cute little silhouette piece from Charmaine Olivia (blog here)

(rights reserved by Brian_Brooks )

Zombie

listed a painting on my Etsy store Dreaming Darkly...This will mark the first time I am attempting to sell something I've painted and endure the criticism and possible rejection of...gasp...no one loving it the way I do and thus buying it. Hopefully soon, I will get some prints up for sale of previously painted women(that were in a not-so-long-ago-post).

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52545211/queen-elizabeth-the-zombie

Scribbles

Had to head Southern-ly homeward bound last weekend due to the passing of my grandmother. While spending time on old stomping grounds, I had the positive note of hanging with an old friend and checking out his studio. His shop is a trip...a eye absorbing Memento Mori museum of curiosities and an incredible collection of art

just a couple tattoo machines...

(life, love, family...Twain wisdom)

Seems a pity that an artist such as Adam would be doing such a simple first tattoo on me. He has a tracing somewhere of my ribs for a rather large piece to be done in the future...I'm just a chicken shit, as I know that is going to be a gnarly painful spot.

Check out his website. He's appointment only but talented and well worth the wait:

Adam Turk

http://www.lhblk.com/

Seattle!!

Sometimes it doesn’t matter what kind of shit life throws at you or the funk that may grasp your heart, when a good song comes, it can lift the spirits causing you to just turn your face to the sunny sky and smile. If even for a temporary amnesiac fix, embrace it, good songs are good for the soul

Here’s just a few on my current iPod mix that make me feel better when I’m riding my two wheel whip:
The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon and Garfunkel
Two Weeks - Grizzly Bears
Wake Up - Arcade Fire
Mansford Roof -Vampire Weekend
Into the Open -Heartless Bastards
Home - LCD Soundsystem
We Own the Sky-M83
Ghostwriter-RJD2
Elephant Gun-Beirut
Absinthe at the Fly Honey Warehouse-Minus the Bear

There's many more...but these are just off the top of my head

Also, recently drove to Seattle to start bringing my things from storage to my new home and get a little ink work done. So happy to have normalcy again...even if I still have strong wanderlust

Acquired Art

I may be called a poser for one of the following:
A. I don’t live in NY
Or
B. I didn’t make it to the Broken Social Scene show in SF when they rolled through last, due to my lagging ass at purchasing tickets of which I cried into my bowl of Cheerios.

However, I don’t care because this design was great and the coloring matches splendidly with my walls. Mike King is the shit at rock poster designs and also very kind for putting up with my nagging over ordering direct from him.

My fingers are crossed that he’ll be doing a Black Keys poster for their current tour…I’d love to add to my collection.

Check him out
http://www.crashamerica.com/

Fourth of July shout out

To me, the 4^th was never really about the independence of this baby country, of which I still flirt with the ex-pat aspect, but more so, it’s about friends and family. My mom and the sister-that-I-never-had-but-adopted-through-the-neighborhood half Chinese-American girl across the street’s bday. Yes, I am blessed with the fact that me-being utterly horrid with remembering not only important dates, like marriage anniversaries, birthdays and the all important person's name-has the very fortunate reminder of our nation’s birth into independence as a reminder to the annual telephone salutation of celebrations for growing older.

So to Mei Li and my mother-Happy Birthday.

What else do I do on this holiday? Well, I drink. Mimosa’s in fact. While I am pleasantly stuffed with a well prepared vegetarian brunch for the housemates (by yours truly, thank you very much) and, um, *counts fingers* 1, 2, 3…4 bottles worth of champagne drank before 4pm…I am not only making those said bday calls, I am also reflecting on another family relationship…that of my brother’s and mine.

We may have had a tumultuous relationship growing up, that of a 6year age difference, with the fact that I once may have destroyed his first addition Millennium Falcon toy…or constantly intruded on the privacy of the inner sanctum of his bedroom…or the fact that I may have destroyed one or two of his first addition G.I. Joe action figures with the kung fu grip…How am I still alive you may ask, not suffocated by the mere two hands of my bro? Well, A. a 6’4” anger induced father and B. the brother taking his frustrations out in the form of violent “play” against said younger sister. Trust me, my brother got his revenge one way or another.

But past aside, I have grown to respect my brother’s intelligence, not only being the brain of the family but also the rock of my family togetherness with him later in life, as a great source of opinion and guidance. He recently graduated college, of which I am in awe and greatly proud…and thusly, I have entrusted him with documenting my artwork for “hopeful”(because I don’t think it’s worth selling) future sales and a chance to possibly build a creative name for myself. I know he will give the most straightforward opinion null of fluff, not only of my pieces but also of my future. Frankly, he is the only one allowed to get away with telling me “her face is not proportionate” or “her ear is too low”.

Thank you brother,

For your strides in life are great and your intelligence grows deep

You have provided me the best family love to keep

(me and said brothar)

My daily commute

I absolutely love my daily commute. I get on, zone out and best of all, I don't have to sit in traffic. I find that the Bart is so wonderful in its borderline soap opera mass transit world, that someone surely should devote a blog to it. Here are just a few of my favorite missed connections.

1. Would be rapper drunkenly promoting release ep
Your brash in-your-face-attitude marketing approach to the fair riders of the Richmond line of the late night Bart, found me enthralled. More so when my heart raced when you wiped your shoe smegma on the seat next to me. Was this a simple rouse for my heart or are you toying with my emotions?

2. Lover’s quarrel
Granted, I was in my own world of iPod musical pre-coffee morning commute haze, but when I heard the shouts from the other passengers over Radiohead, I must confess confusion. My all too American overexposed love of reality gore implored to missing the guy on girl fisting action-not of the vaginal variety-which lulled the train to a 15minute wait time until you both fled the scene

3. Not too young, yet too bold
Your beautiful chiseled face and model good looks kept me in rapt attention. Your willingness to disclose the fact that you, 24, have already been married and divorced to someone my age, hitched from Brooklyn to New Orleans braving the possible sexual trucker act/rape to your purdy mouth and would love to hitch again only this time with your beloved fixie, addiction/sobriety and free love openness attitude…in a mere 10minutes to myself, a total stranger, kept me from disclosing my real number

4. Poindexter
Don’t take offense to the title, a well dressed nerd is attractive, as was an obviously case in point to me eye fucking you for a good 3 stops which thusly caused you to jump ship in an almost Olympic speed sprint to another train in what I can only assume is fear that I will bite off your head after copulation. For this, I am sorry