Art! and Robots!

First Thursday Arts Walk = good for Robots of all ages!

And Star Trek babes!

And of course... well... art!

The whole evening was mega fun - Art of Comedy at the Comedy Underground was assisted by some stellar robots and a Star Trek hottie. (aka friends Kirsten, Shawn & Spike - thanks guys!)

La Familia Gallery was packed with super gorgeous work by Chris White and Weston Jandacka - I was completely floored by the energy of Chris White's work and the velvety detail of Weston's. I still can't believe that I share a gallery with these guys!

And lastly I stopped by Mikal Whoberry's studio on my way home to check out the new encaustics he has been up to and of course he has taken to the medium flawlessly. The piece above is titled "Love Letters and Elephants" and it was one of my favorites.

Oh sweet Arts Walk - how you infuse my museful soul!

This First Thursday is Gonna Rock

Tomorrow is First Thursday Arts Walk in Pioneer Square where I plan to be in two places at once! Yes - two places at once! It's the miracle of art zest I tell ya... First up is The Art of Comedy at the Comedy Underground:

The Art of Comedy
artists: Rod Long & A Pack of Indie Crafters
The Comedy Underground
Details: First Thursday Website

Next up is La Familia Gallery where I'll be showing in a group show titled "Conceptual Vignettes". It is a whole show devoted to the power of the sketchbook and the artistic process. I will be showing some of my line drawing works on paper. Which I think is the first time ever since normally I show them on fabric. I can't wait to see all the other artist's work!

Conceptual Vignettes
La Familia Artists
La Familia Gallery

Springtime Inspiration

Yesterday found me at Cafe Flora in Madison Park and such a lovely park like afternoon it was. There is a simple pleasure in the leafy canopy of trees that I dearly miss living where I live downtown.

It was my first time to Cafe Flora and I'm sure I'll find myself back there again - the food was exquisitely prepared and I just loved all the little italics on the menu such as "gluten free" and "vegan". Very helpful for someone on a bizarre diet. I was there not only for Dine Out for Life but to meet with the lovely, inspiring possibilitarian Kelly Rae Roberts. If you haven't yet explored her artworks yet then you are in for a little spot of Grace.

The afternoon was filled to the brim with possibility by a little stop I made on my way out to Madison Park to check out Artist Trust on Capitol Hill. Oh my oh my. What a WEALTH of information they have available there. If you are a practicing artist or merely just dreaming of becoming one all you have to do is walk in their doors to be greeted with an entire wall of artist resources ranging from grant writing tips to medical care. I've always kept myself up to speed with arts-goings-on with their website but never had I stopped by their office. It is SO worth the trip that you should go. Go right now!

Over the weekend and before I got all caught up with frantically finishing paintings and preparing my application to Artist Trust's EDGE program, I spent some time in Olympia enjoying even more tree canopies and scooping up fresh organic produce at the Farmer's Market. Also while there I finally got a certain someone to model a custom hand painted shirt design of mine. This right here is an oldey but goodey! Perfect for the bass collecting geek in your life =)

Happy happy weekend y'all!

Enjoy

My motto today is to enjoy what I have while I have it. Plan A this gorgeously sunny Seattle afternoon was to get a little work done on my laptop up on the roof. Technical difficulties found me in the midst of Plan B instead: drinking iced tea and brainstorming in my journal up on the roof. Not bad.

The past week has been a blur just like this photo I took to commemorate the moment of finally finishing the 4 ft painting I started over a month ago. That's me going "whew!"
And now I'm already onto the next. I have another 2 ft piece of layer upon layers of fur and then I'll be moving onto a tiny series of 3.5 inch by 5 inch - all in line for my solo show in July at La Familia.
Speaking of which I just got into a fun little group show at the gallery for May featuring sketches and the artistic process. The show opens May 7th and should be pretty interesting!

Ever have one of those perfect moments where the music on the radio, the streaking light of sunset and the wind in your hair all line up to perfectly match your mood? I sure did on Friday.
And I took a picture just to see if I could capture it. And I think it kinda worked.

Happy spring out there - enjoy!

Eliminations

The Last Americano
Ink sketch plus digital colorization

I debated on whether to discuss a new journey of food I will be embarking on here. I try to keep this blog geared towards art and the business of art and don't consider it necessarily the place to discuss my personal journey with health and diet. But as soon as I sketched this farewell to my favorite morning coffee I knew that I should at least post my artistic ways of coping with the journey towards health.

I have an inflammatory condition that can be triggered by shifts in my diet and excercise. When I found out the root of my back pain over a year ago now I began the switch towards eating more anti-inflammatory foods and exercising more frequently. And it didn't seem to help. So I started seeing a Naturopath who put me on an anti-inflammatory diet which meant that I not only eat more of the good foods but I had to try to cut out the bad. Known inflammation triggers included processed wheat flours and nightshade vegetables. And it still didn't help.

And then a friend led me here: Whole Life Nutrition where they lay out guidelines for a simple elimination diet. Chances are good there is a food type that serves as a cumulative trigger for me and I'm determined to find it. So for the next few weeks I'll be drastically cutting all known triggers out of my diet. This means not only going gluten free but vegan as well.

No Eggs. No flour. No dairy. No soy. No nightshades.
No citrus. No tree nuts. No alcohol. No refined sugar.
No problem... seriously. It's worth it to me to know.

The only one that strikes terror into my soul?
No caffeine.
Oh my.
Whatever will this overly inspired artist with a day job do??

I welcome any pick-me-up/wake-me-up tips you may have that are caffeine free --- cuz I sure am going to need them!

April Dappered & Foolish

Happy April!

The NW finally saw a turn into spring-like weather this weekend - hallelujah! A little while ago I cut quite a few inches off my hair in anticipation for such weather. The curly unruliness is amplified however and it's turned into quite a painting disruption unless I pin it up or kick it back by Dad's ol' cap.

I'm not normally prone to taking pictures of myself but April Fool's Day had me feeling quite silly while painting in my dapper cap so I decided to capture the moment. There you have it - the artist bemused at her painting in progress!

The weekend was a pretty great one even though it kicked off on First Thursday with a non-stop downpour that kept folks from wandering too far for Arts Walk. Circus Contraption musicians were roaming the Tashiro Kaplan Building though which livened things up quite nicely. I caught a snap of them here in front of Leslie Stoner's glowing encaustics at La Familia Gallery.

And in other news I finally got a picture of the bamboo panels which were a commission I did for a music studio in Olympia. They sure make the space look fantastic!

Comedy of Craft

It's First Thursday Arts Walk time again and this month I'm involved with the shenanigans over at the Comedy Underground! If you plan on being out and about tomorrow evening for the Arting this spot will definetly be worth stopping by. Some of the most hilarious crafters I know are going to be there showcasing their smile-inducing goods. And come on - we could all use a good laugh these days

The Comedy Underground and Urban Craft Uprising joined forces last month to bring you the first ever Art of Comedy show during the First Thursday Art Walk. The Art of Comedy features artwork that is either humorous in nature, or made by stand up comedians.

Last month, our hilarious featured artists were joined by the funniest indie crafters this side of Tukwila. This month we’re back with featured artist, Kelly Lyles, who is sure to make you giggle with her pun based animal paintings. The indie crafters are back as well – and one of them has embroidered some not so nice things on pillows especially for you.

Look out.

The exhibit will be followed at 9 PM by an evening of stand-up comedy, with headliner SEAN KENT ("Last Comic Standing").

www.comedyunderground.com

http://urbancraftuprising.com/

http://www.kellyspot.com/