randoms.

attended the boise weekly cover auction last week and it was a great experience. i tend to shy away from public events where my art is up for display in general. i think most artists do. with my little sister in tow- her wearing my name tag 'cause i'm shy, right- we sat and watched the bidding process and boozing of locals and art patrons. i loved the energy. i love this community. and seeing my fellow artist friend's work being sold is always inspiring.

for those who don't know, i'm one of the artists participating in the trey mcintyre project's 9+1 show. it opens first thursday in december. i saw some of the arts turned in the other day and was blown away. there's some amazing stuff worthy of checking out. plus, you're supporting a great local dance group. they do pretty amazing stuff, those guys.

i'm still working on collecting a bunch of my art for selling. there's a lot of small stuff like sketches that i never did anything with and random boise weekly illustrations that i'll probably sell for very cheap just to get rid of them. i hate seeing art in drawers when someone would rather hang it up. anyway, i'll have those posted and for sale at some point in the near future.

what else? oh. one of my favorite british tv shows has made it across the pond to the states. i was skeptical at first, but it's looking to be pretty promising. i feel about 13 years old when i say i'm excited about it:

Skins - MTV Shows

boise weekly cover auction

hey guys. the boise weekly cover art auction is happening tonight at the historical museum, so be sure not to miss it. i've got a cover in the auction this year, so i'll be in attendance as well. details on the photo below.

i'm finishing up a few pieces for the trey mcintyre project. they have a group of artists involved in what is called 9+1. there are nine dancers in the company and one trey mcintyre, hence the name. artists were encouraged to attend rehearsals and watch the performance and follow their inspiration to creating art centering around the dance company. i just wrapped a video interview for the trey mcintyre project this morning. on account of my backpacking trip, i am the last artist participating in the TMP 9+1 show to shoot a video and i've been told they're posting them up on Trey McIntyre Project's facebook page if you're curious. my interview promises to be the most awkward one.. meh. one can hope.

i had a meeting yesterday for a project i'm pretty excited about contributing to. i'll post more about that when i've got something concrete in the works for it. annnd. i'm still going through my art stash and will post more art up for sale later this week.

up for this.

i've finally returned from my backpacking trip around europe and the uk. it was an awesome time with ups and downs and beautiful moments. i'm working on finishing up my trip journal since returning. finding time on the road to keep up with writing each day became a struggle. there was too much input and not enough downtime to record it all. while the memory is fresh, i'm going to finish it. i have to.
i feel like so many people talk about doing things and never do them. seeing the world and putting all your belongings into a pack strapped to your back? seems to be one of the things that everyone dreams about doing, but never quite comes to being. i won't lie. it was a hardship. it was expensive, even living as cheaply as possible. finding time off work was near impossible-- finding the time, in general, where you didn't have responsibilities barking up every avenue wasn't an option. the only thing i knew was that my time was short. responsibilities only grow over the years. i had some money saved up, i quit my job, booked the tickets with my friend and we didn't look back.
if you want to do something, do it. quit talking about it. you'll find that if you say "yes," the world opens itself to you and you have everything to gain from it.
remember that your time will run out and you have the rest of your life to make money. a pal i met while staying in zurich, switzerland said something that stayed with me during my travels: you follow your dreams. even if it keeps you poor in money, you'll always be rich in life.

also. i'm going through my stash of art. i need to make room for new stuff. every single wall in my house is covered with it-- not that this is a bad thing-- but i need the space, so i'm going to be selling a bunch of stuff cheap just to get it out of drawers, cupboards, and off the floor. stay posted over the coming weeks. i'll be digging out everything i've got around this place.

Brett Domino: Justin Timberlake Medley

hahaha.

skipping school.

it's friday, you guys..
and all i want to do is skip work.

flashback cafe.

closer than anything..

admittedly, i've got this curious obsession with twins, conjoined or not. this Evelyn Evelyn project of jason webley and amanda palmer's intrigues me-- and yeah i know it's not real, but i'll play along. this tune off my summer playlist is haunting. probably more suited for fall or winter with its cinema-worthy string orchestra swells and eerie circus toy glockenspiel tune, but it's included nevertheless.

there's an "Illustration Showdown" group art show coming up for August's 1st thursday. an homage to schlock illustration like dogs playing poker, participants- 'sides myself- include: Bricolage, Erin Cunningham, Julia Green, Alexa Howell, Kelly Knopp, Ben Minter, John Padlo, Tony Rios, Jason Sievers, April VanDeGrift, Rick Walter. (gallery alexa rose, august 5, @5pm.)
last, some of my summer playlist:

suspicious for the winter - empty streets
cocorosie - lemonade
bloc party - kreuzberg
edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros - desert song
rogue wave - lake michigan
malajube - montréal -40°c
foals - spanish sahara
the virgins - rich girls
van she - changes
the lovely feathers - lowiza
evelyn evelyn - evelyn evelyn
beth orton - stolen car
nneka - heartbeat

and the malajube video for montréal is genius. i've no idea what they're singing about but the illustrations made this video:

food coma.

finish on the in-progress work:


i've had a ridiculously hard time coming up with ideas for this show theme "wild times." i cannot get past stupid things like spring break girls gone wild or boozy bashes, skinny dipping.
so instead, i'm starting to gather ideas for things that are quite the opposite. like, buying cat food on friday nights and like, computer games.. book clubs.. ha. i don't know.. what else is unarguably not wild?

lovely.

^a song from my summer playlist from Montreal band The Lovely Feathers. i really like how this video was executed and adoringly admired the band's acting chops. "lowiza" is also available for free download off their site. go here.
summer playlist to be posted soon.

working on art stuffs still... forever and ever, amen. here's some photos of my latest in-progress, shot for some technique tips: