Dairy allergy?

So over the past few years I've developed a milk allergy. Up until recently, it never bothered me that much. My face would get hot and I'd sweat a little bit on the bridge of my nose, that was all. Never enough to actually deter me from consuming anything with dairy in it. But lately, for some reason, it has spiraled out of control. I'd break out into hives, puke, and spend the rest of the evening on the toilet. I think I'm still okay to eat stuff like bread or anything with a tiny amount of milk, but things like cake, creamer, and yes....cheese, are becoming completely off-limits. I know, I know, you SHOULD weep for me, because it's a fucking tragedy. I already can't eat red meat, but I've never missed it. I swear to god, if I become allergic to fish or chicken, I will kill myself. I'm already having a hard time finding joy in life without cheese, if anything else is taken away from me....I will lose it.

So I'm on a quest, I'm looking for dairy-free blogs and recipe books, trying to make a general lifestyle change, because for the past few weeks I've had the "fuck you, milk allergy!! I EAT WHAT I WANT!" attitude, and let's just say...it has not gone over well. Basically, I'm sick of feeling sick all the time, and I think I'm ready to change my diet.

I bought some benadryl, goat cheese, and a boatload of toilet paper to celebrate my last day of dairy consumption. I will be incapacitated for the next four hours. Thank you, and goodnight.

Negative: A Triptych

Well, what do you guys think? I'm only moderately satisfied with it. But then, I'm never 100% satisfied with anything I ever do. I think that's the key to continual improvement. I know now what I would've done differently, but that's neither here nor there. The important thing is that I tried something new, and with some tweaking I could have a really cool new way to work.

Well, I'm starving, so I'm going to grab something to eat before I drive to Texas for memorial day weekend. Nothing major planned, just a lot of relaxing. Oh, yeah, and I have a job interview on Tuesday with Performance Printing, which is kind of perfect since I will be super chilled out from all the lazing around I plan on doing. Wish me luck!

Processes.

So I've been working a lot with tape lately, and just kind of exploring what I can fully do with it. Usually what I do is throw some paint down on a piece of wood, put tape down and cut it away. I decided to reverse the process this time though, to create the image in tape first THEN put the paint down, and peel away the tape, to create a negative image of my drawing. Here's me working on it last night:


God, if this doesn't sum up my life I don't know what does. Computer, Gray Owl coffee, tape, paint.



I finished the art part of it last night, now I just have to get it hang-ready and I'll be showing it at Studio Zen for the next few months.

I'll post images of it when it's done.

Dustbowl Stuff!

So here are most of the paintings I had put together for the Dustbowl Arts Market which was at the Norman Music Festival a few weeks ago. I wanted to make everything really affordable to so I worked kind of small and got all my frames from the thrift store before refinishing them.


Definitely NOT Inspired by China


Anglerfish


Definitely NOT a Self-Portrait


Cuttlefish


The Mayan


Eel


In Utero


Definitely NOT Mickey Mouse


Vulture


The Haitian


And of course while taking these pictures my little man tried to help. By blocking the light and pawing at everything, of course.

Cuz he's special like that.


Everything I didn't sell I'll be putting up on my etsy, which is still in the making so I won't post the link, but as soon as it's ready I'll let everyone know. That's all for now!

Onward and upward!

So much has happened since my last update. We hosted another art show at Studio Zen, first off:




Poster designed by me. I participated in the show this time, and I feel like I've had somewhat of a breakthrough because I really love working this way:





I have big ideas for what's next.

Me and Olivia (aka REGAL CREATURE) are putting together an etsy to sell our wares on, so once that's up and running I'll post links. Here's our logo (also designed by me):



I love that Boo is our mascot.

I also recently participated in the Dustbowl Arts Market, here I am in the early morning chilly as hell and waiting on my partner in crime to show up:


I had a lot of small, affordable paintings at the market, and once I've edited the pictures of all of them I'll make a separate entry for them.

Anyway, I have updates on my biking progress but I'm going to make a separate entry for that too. In other news, I'm trying to move ASAP, could be as soon as two weeks and as late as September. Who knows! More info on that later too. Love you all!

Wow.

Some blogs are so self-indulgent and obnoxious it makes me want to erase myself from the internet.

But, of course I won't. I realize the hypocrisy in saying this on a blog, haha. I have a few new paintings a lot of stuff to say! So once I get my pics in I'll have a huge new entry, hooray!

In all things, progress.

Making new year's resolutions is easy enough, sticking to them is the tough part. Yesterday was the first day in a long time that had suitable biking weather, and since it was my day off I knew I had to take advantage. After six months off the bike I went on a 14-mile bike ride. Surprisingly, my legs don't hurt so much as my neck and upper back. All that straining into the wind, I suppose. The skin on my face is so dry today, I should have worn a balaclava. This is what I'm riding these days:



Surly Long Haul Trucker. As I was biking from one end of Purcell, where I was raised, to the other end (a whopping seven mile stretch), I had a new found respect for a town I had always thought of as bland and boring. I realized that this quaint, lazy little town is exactly the kind of town I want to bike through when I tour across America on my bike. I don't know when this bike tour is going to take place, maybe at the end of the summer, but I hope to one day span several states on my bike, rolling through small towns on little highways, stopping only to take pictures, sleep, and eat.

But first, the dreaded century! I'm still waiting on my heart rate monitor to arrive in the mail, plus I need new batteries for my cyclocomputer, and then the training will commence! In the meanwhile, I'm just getting my ass reacquainted with a bike seat.

In other news, I designed my boss's business cards and they finally arrived today, I gotta say Overnightprints.com does a damn fine job for a VERY reasonable price. We printed this:


Front


Back

with rounded corners. We ordered 500 of them and it was only about $40 total. I always google "overnightprints coupons" before I order and almost always get some kind of discount. They are awesome, and their staff is incredible and very timely at answering any questions you have for them. I highly recommend them! And I highly recommend myself if you want a design ;)

Since I have been doing so many designs lately, I think what I'm going to do is have ten or fifteen basic card designs to choose from for $50, or I will do a personalized design for $75 (plus cost of printing). It makes more sense to me to do it that way. Once I have my basic designs I'm going to put them in a portfolio and go around town to various businesses and promote myself.

Speaking of promotion! I got the fliers for the art show printed today and they look awesome! I went around Campus Corner and Main Street and put them all up. I'm really looking forward to this event, but I'm also kind of nervous about painting in front of everyone. I think I'm going to have to bring my iPod and block everything out.

I have a few oil paintings I'm working on at home to get me geared up for the event. I'll post them once they're done.

peace!

It's an art show!

So Studio Zen, where I work, is hosting an art show in February, and will be a part of the monthly Second Friday Art Walk. I just finished making the fliers for the event:


[Sorry if it's huge]

I'm very excited about this event! Me and a few of the participating artists are going to start painting at 7, and at 9:30 we are going to auction off our paintings. I observed a live paint at Standing Buffalo, a Native American gallery on Main Street and it was so much fun! That's actually where I met Micah, one of our participating artists. He does amazing work, I can see his work being featured in Juxtapoz. Here is a small sample of his work:







I love his paintings on vinyl. You can check out his website here.

Another artist, Olivia Cuenca, was my roommate in Savannah, Georgia for two years. She was a fibers major and does incredible tactile works with creepy tentacles:







Creepy cool. You can check her out here.

And last but not least, from the KND we've got Mr. Haveldids and Nots, a terribly talented artist:







I think I might need to steal the sloth painting, I'm so in love with it. Maybe we can do a trade, hmm? You can check out Mr. Haveldids and the KND here.


So yes! Everybody mark your calendars, this is going to be a ton of fun. There will be wine, cheese, live music, beautiful (and maybe a little creepy) artwork, a live paint and an auction at the end of the night! It's going to be awesome!

2009, you so fine.

2009 was the best and worst year of my life. I had some of the most amazing and devastating experiences I've ever had. I entered the year bearing a heavy heart after one of my close friends passed away. I dealt with an overbearing workload from the last few months of school, strife from a long distance relationship, and eventual breakup, but I also went on three vacations and graduated with my BFA in Illustration. There were moments of sorrow, moments of pride, and ultimately, a change in my direction. At the end of the day I had to come home, my new-found debt in tow, to try and figure out my next move. 2010 is all about refocusing my attention in the right direction. My new years resolutions:



So, in case you missed it, I'm going to be updating my blog more, and focus more on my artwork. I've been easily distracted what with my life having been somewhat chaotic since I've moved back home, but I've got to move past that, to grow and progress. I promise a better me this year.

And now, a visual recap of 2009.


rip


my last few months at scad


epic costa rica y mi amiga mejor


graduation/havin the best roommate ever


my brief excursion to ATL


making new friends


getting reacquainted with old ones

and of course:

my return to ZEN