Random Thoughts.

I needed a break from the fumes of spray paint so I decided to take up something that (1) had very little fume involvement, and (2) didn’t force me to go out into the c-c-cold Seattle outdoors (I take over the back porch when I spray paint).

So…Random Thoughts was born – my (greeting) card collection. I really dislike the word couple “greeting cards” and I am not sure why, but I do try to refrain when I can. I much prefer mini works of mailable art. But that's just me. They are simply cards with random content. Their purpose: To allow people to send cards to anyone they randomly think of when they see my card creations. I mean, when you look at these cards, your thought of the other person would have to randomly pop up. Ha.

Here's one:


The caption of the canoe women is found on the top right and reads:

"Girl Scout Counselors Paddled Two Days to Escort the Canoeists to Camp.

Invited to be the first men to stay overnight in Camp Onawandah, the Susquehanna voyagers bravely accepted. Here, near Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, Vida Davis and Fran Heckman, on their knees, demonstrate an Indian style of paddling a canoe."

I found it quite comical.

They are addicting to make. I may have to stay off my back porch for a little bit.

A Day of Disbelief.

Apparently art is running my life without my knowing. My mother told me that she worried over my health because I thought about art more than I did my own self. Ha. I guess that's when you know you have a problem.

I was on the front page twice today (and a sale!) thanks to Jack Sprat and Avenue Handmade. Both are really great shops by the way, which made me even more honored. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Morning: So Simple. Old Woman.

Night: A Girl and Hazardous Materials.

That was great, but I also got oh so much love through conversations and such. That had to be even better. Tomorrow's topic: Random Thoughts -- my card collection. Hooray! I'm going to go ahead and pass out now from art overload. Hopefully, I will have some pretty and colorful artful dreams.

Side Note: My favorite color is rainbows (yes, plural).

Oh Department of Licensing.

Seeing that we are on the topic of transportation and such…

My license was creeping up to its expiration date seeing that I shall be 21 in approximately 11 days. But who's counting? Mother Romano (my mom) had been nudging me to renew. I am more of a last minute person, so it is quite difficult to get along with her way of thinking sometimes.

Fine. Yesterday morning, I rolled out of bed, slapped on some clothes, glanced at a mirror, shrugged, slipped on my completely worn out green Converse shoes, and stepped out the door. I figured that maybe my picture won’t end up so bad if I just didn’t care.

I sat there in the department of licensing, patiently waiting my turn. Flashbacks of my childhood experiences popped up. I was some elementary school age with the book Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Just a little tip because I care: If ever you must make the trip down to the place of licenses, please bring Willy Wonka along. I am telling you, reading about oompa loompas is so much more pleasant then just staring at the digital numbers waiting for it to transform into the one that matches your golden ticket. Okay, white ticket. Just thought I’d make it a little thematic for a moment.

I got my picture taken. I tend to smile big because that’s what I do best. The photographer laughed at my picture after he took it. Why do I always get this response? He told me that at least it wasn’t a mug shot. Um…thanks? I didn’t even think it was that bad. Though I was slightly disappointed that my unibrow failed to be prominent because I haven’t touched a tweezer in a while. The unibrow that I was born with is just dying to show itself.

It’s always the features that you want to show up that never do.

I will talk about art tomorrow. I promise.

The Metro Bus Situation.

I am currently on a Metro bus. I am all about public transportation. Love the environment but am also unable to utilize my motorized vehicle since it is a stick shift and I am unfamiliar. An unfortunate event, but yay for environment preservation.

So, here I am, awkwardly pushed up against the window to my left while my fingers are busily typing up a blog post. My left elbow bumping the glass so many times that a bruise is likely to appear at a later date. Hopefully, it will be a fun shape. I like to make my seat partner as comfortable as he/she can be. However, it seems that I am trying to be as far away from the person as possible for fear of contact. This is not the case.

A quandary. I am always curious as to what the person looks like, but am much too sheepish to look right beside me for fear of eye contact. Eye contact could be uncomfortable with a stranger that close. I just stare out the window usually, or in this case, at my computer screen. I see a green plaid long sleeve holding a cup of Tully's coffee from the corner of my right eye.

Okay. We have just arrived to the bus stop of my seat partner and he is ready to get up and leave. This is usually my time to take a peak. Alright, done.

This is just a mere glimpse of my awkwardness. Trust me. A glimpse is all you really need.

Ah. Motion sickness is paying me a visit.

Mannequin Love.

Remember the mannequin of my very first post? Well, here's what I made out of it. I knew there was a reason behind my motivation for taking a mannequin's picture.

A Favorable Outcome.

Still recovering from the flea market that took place yesterday. It was such a pleasant experience. Great music and great people were present. But more importantly, the marvelousness of the vibe was hard to ignore.

I had 0 hours of sleep on me. It came to the point where blinks were mini-naps. I tried my best to hide my sleepiness by over-smiling and this resulted in sore cheeks. I was up all night creating more wall art because I felt like I was running low. I managed to produce 6. How, I do not know. I was probably asleep when I did it. Maybe that is where my best work originates.

I ended up selling a few of my creations. Yay. Following the event, I passed out as soon as I got home and woke up 13.5 hours later groggy and hungry.

3 things I would like to accomplish this week (remember, I say a lot of things):
(1) Bring my scibbles on a napkin and sketchbook paper to life. Same old story. I'm probably up to 32 ideas by now.
(2) Start a card line out of my work. I've had plenty of nudges to do so.
(3) Order postcards, or something of the like, and abandon them in local coffee shops to promote my work.

Random addition: If you would like to be a stealthy individual, here is a site to educate you. You are welcome.

Lego Art.

I just came across Lego art and it is amazing. Wow. I was a tomboyish kid, so I was all about Legos (and still am). My Lego pieces never made anything like this though. Maybe I bought the wrong kind.

Punk Rock Flea Market.

I am currently enjoying a cup of green tea chai latte and an almond croissant at my favorite local coffee shop, Fresh Flours. Of course, my croissant explodes whenever I touch it. Crumbs are everywhere. I am constantly brushing off the tabletop, my Mac, and my articles of clothing. I probably look obsessive to onlookers at this point. I've checked the underside of my red cardigan sleeve in search of powdered sugar so many times that it got tiresome. People are just going to have to deal with it.

I am devising a game plan for the upcoming Punk Rock Flea Market that will be held this Saturday. I heard about it from Julia, a fellow Etsyian and Seattleite. I accomplished putting together the receipt and napkin scribbles of ideas for my next creations in my sketch book. I am up to 13. Definitely won't be able to do them all. We shall see how it goes.

I just found a huge croissant crumb on my keyboard and I have no idea how it got there. I am pretty much a Christmas tree of almond croissant ornaments that fall with every jerk. It made sense in my head.

Art Drought Ends.

Finally!

After two long non-art weeks, I created my piece entitled "Two Beautiful Art Forms." It feels good to be back. I haven't listed it yet, so this is quite the sneak peak.

I'm honestly not quite sure how this idea came about. My mind works in mysterious ways. I knew I wanted a sumo wrestler piece and as I often do, I included an image a little different than the first. I find randomness to be refreshing, which is what I like to revolve my art around.

I hope it is enjoyed by others as much as it makes me smile.

Oodles of Doodles.

Okay, maybe just two. Made with Indian ink, which is a first for me. I have been thinking about having a doodle collection in my shop. Not sure though. They are more for my pure enjoyment.


"Want-To-Bes": Two ants pretending to be something that they are not.


"Listen To Your Heart": Sometimes the brain just won't listen.

I Twitter as of last night. Currently, I am just telling myself what I do which is just fine. However, if you are in the least bit interested in checking in on me to see if I'm doing alright: http://twitter.com/margins

Sunday Sale-age.

Ah geez: 2 words that describe a lot of my life situations.

The fact that I failed to mention my first 2 sales which took place on Sunday is complete madness. Here I am chit-chattering away about mannequins and statues, but my sales? No mention. Due to this circumstance, I am going to double blog today (an unheard of act). I am even going to somewhat shame myself in this trendy coffee shop by typing with my elbows pointed uncomfortably outwards in the air. This table is much too high for me, which isn't unusual.

My first sold piece is entitled "Zebras + Japanese" (yes, the plus sign is a part of the title):


This is actually my very first experimentation with the combination of collage and stencil work. I remember freaking out because the piece had large ridges all over the piece from the protective coatings. I walked away distraught and returned to find a perfectly smooth piece. It was a marvelous moment in which I realized that the marriage of collage and spray painted stencils wasn't such a bad idea.

And then, a couple of hours later...

...my piece entitled "Language Barrier" sold:


This is one of my personal favorites simply because I find symbolism to be pretty deep. The fact that there is no direct translation to the piece is fantastic. It allows the observer's mind to wander and find their own interpretation of the work. In addition, culture and language are near and dear to my heart.

I hope these pieces bring much gladness to their appointed walls.

My elbows are sore from their awkward positioning...

Sumo.

Okay. So I really should be studying for my Hindi final that will occur tomorrow but I just couldn't resist. Here is the first step towards my upcoming piece "Two Beautiful Art Forms" that should be completed by sometime tomorrow if I play my cards right. Of course, I say a lot of things.

This is a sumo wrestler stencil that I worked on with an X-acto knife this morning. It was nice to let some sort of creative energy out of me, even if it meant not finishing it right away (which is somewhat difficult for me to do). I have so many idea doodles found on napkins and receipts that it's getting a tad hard to keep track of. I tend to lose things. I'll be sure to post the final product if everything turns out as planned. Hey, what the heck. Even if it turns out horribly I shall show the shame.

My Hindi book is calling for me. I've tuned it out long enough I suppose.

(PostScript): I am having font/spacing issues in my blog that I can't seem to change at the moment. These sort of things bother me. I blame my mother who taught me how to color the "right" way (which is apparently coloring consistently from side to side) at the age of 3. This should never ever be allowed. It creates perfectionist monsters.

My Brain.

I have been art deprived for 10 days now due to last minute homework assignments and finals. Wednesday is the day that I go art crazy and not sleep until all of the built up ideas in my brain/doodles on coffee shop (unused!) napkins are found in my hands. Only 3 more days...

So what do I blog about during this art drought? I share a past accomplishment. I made this brain creation for a Psychology presentation before my peers and professor. My presentation concerned synesthesia - colored hearing. There are people out there who can see certain colors/designs/images when they hear sounds, which is complete craziness. I am very much jealous.

While others had very scientific-y power point presentations on studies and such, I went for a different approach. I stood there and explained that I did not have a power point, read a passage from a synesthetic, threw facts out there, and unveiled the mirror image of a brain with synesthesia - or how I believed it would look had I seen one. Made from pieces of cloth, t-shirts, hangers and lots of staples. My professor thoroughly enjoyed it and suggested a patent because, you know, someone out there is very likely to steal my idea. Very unlikely.

Moral: Sometimes, it's not all about the power point.

Danger with Flat Hat, 1971.

It's funny. Holding the photography-taking set of mind allows you to appreciate your surroundings a little more than usual.

Artifacts of art are strewn all over campus. This piece of art in particular entitled Danger with Flat Hat captured the mood of today's weather nicely. It actually made me feel semi-neutral about the puddle water in my shoes.

I had originally thought that the posed woman was pointing in the direction of the stairs on her left. However, from the photograph, it would seem that she is pointing over the fenced ledge. Somewhat unfortunate since next week is finals week and people may get the wrong idea. I know I would.

In any case, this sculpture struck me enough to block the people traffic of hurried (and probably annoyed) college students as I was taking the picture. All in the name of art.

(PostScript): I seem to have an infatuation with still, human-like figures. I'll worry about this later.

Mannequins.

The idea behind mannequins is funny to me and I'm not quite sure why. I remember as a child having some thorough conversations with mannequins that I would frequently pass around the local mall. A little chit, a little chat and a friend was made so easily. They at least had heads.

Headless mannequins worry me. I understand that only the body is needed to show off the clothes being displayed and I guess mannequin heads can be pretty creepy, but it gives off such an "object" vibe. Maybe I just take too many classes pertaining to this subject matter and all this education is getting to my head.

I am not too random of a person. I am not merely mentioning mannequins just because. I'm actually planning on using the idea of mannequins in my next piece. It was actually this mannequin in particular that inspired me. Once finals are all over and I pull myself together by trying to convince myself that I couldn't have done that bad...back to my creations I go!