weekend

Weekend 5/3/17

in

Field Tripping

I'm headed to Long Weekend in Oakland on Saturday for Alicia Dornadic's show New Words for Green. I am so excited for this show! Alicia makes beautiful work with a generally delicate touch. I have watched her work in Hawaii become more loose and bold. She joined us at the last Sofa Sketch and it was so much fun to have her there. I can't wait for this show!

You can follow her on Instagram.

Long Weekend is an awesome space too. I have not been in person yet, but from the internet, it looks like they have gorgeous art supplies and other cool stuff. 

Reading

I hate to be a buzzkill, but this article about parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef dying is making me sad. When are we going to learn to change???

Seeing

Don't go thinking I sketched this! Suhita Shirodkar, urban sketcher extraordinaire did

Don't go thinking I sketched this! Suhita Shirodkar, urban sketcher extraordinaire did

A friend and regular at Sofa Sketch, Suhita has been capturing disappearing signs around San Jose. The site gives me a nice nostalgic feeling as I've lived here so long and know them well. I love her style between the freeness, accuracy, washes, line and color. A true master and total joy of a human, 

I love the illustrator Christoph Niemann. I recently mentioned the episode about him on the Netflix series Abstract. He recently went to the North Pole and made some paintings. I love how he only captures what is necessary. And you must check out this animated version on the National Geographic site.

Watching

Weekend 2/3/17

in

This past week has been a good one with lots of sketching and new ideas coming to fruition. I feel like the fog is clearing on where I want to head with my work this year and that feels pretty great. The election has had me in a weird space, as it has for many artists. I got annoyed last week thinking that dumb man can't keep me from making art! 

It feels like my new work will be larger and tell stories. I want to actually get started on my children's book this year. I want to bring my own experience, mix it with some fantasy and the current world for my new work. I can't exactly say what it will be, but I am happy about the sketches and thoughts forming.

 

Doing

Three sea paintings from this week.

Three sea paintings from this week.

I painted some postcards to send to congress this week. The idea is rough seas ahead. It felt really good to write those that I feel are doing good in the world, including Senator Kamala Harris. 

 

Listening

  • I listened to the Stuff Your Mom Never Told Me podcast episode A Skeptic's Guide to Women & Islam. It gives a really interesting perspective from Heina Dadaboy, a former Muslim who is now an atheist. Note, she isn't against the religion, but rather gives perspective on some stereotypes others have about it.
  • I've been trying to work on my Spanish again...well, as of today. I can get by but I really want to be truly bilingual. I love the Radio Ambulante podcast since I can listen while working. I listened to an episode Cuando La Habana era friki or "When Havana was freaky", an episode about a subculture in Cuba who would actually inject themselves with HIV as an act of rebellion. If you don't understand Spanish, I recommend listening to it on Radiolab in English.

 

Wildwood by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis

Wildwood by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis

Reading

Last week I mentioned I'm reading Wildwood by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis. I am mesmerized by the creativity and the illustrations accompanying the text. Check out this New York Times review if you want to read more about it. It makes me feel super nostalgic for books I read back then, much like the Stranger Things series made me think of the buddy movies of the 80's I grew up on.

 

Seeing 

Tonight is South First Fridays in San Jose. Some things I am excited to see: 

 

Lady sketches while watching a documentary

Lady sketches while watching a documentary

Watching

  • I sketched ladies while watching the women's lib doc She's Beautiful When She's Angry. Obviously super relevant in these times with a misogynist as President, the documentary will make you sad that we have to still do this all these years later. I ended up sketching ladies while watching. I at first randomly found an article on how Iranian women dressed in the 70's, so I drew Iranian women. Then I looked up African women and drew them. 
  • A friend recommended watching Lest We Forget: The Big Lie Behind the Rise of Trump. Just as we thought, but clarified with historical notes and commentary. Pretty frightening to see this recent effort for white supremacy.