The way I communicate can make a freakin eunuch mate.

New show! New mailers! Printing in the studio today:

As a present for the glorious coworkers of orange glory, I made orange ornaments!!!! Cheesy!

For scale... orange eyes.

And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

It's the last day of 2010... a year that has treated me very well. This is where I get all sappy and reminisce over the blessings this year has brought to me. It was a year of firsts. These are just 15 of the many.

1. First trip to SXSW, for winning an art contest. A chance to see a lot of amazing bands, meet a lot of amazing people, and add some serious street cred to my resume.

2. First bike week in Rochester. So much fun!
3. First major bike crash since two summers ago. Skinned knees and bent wheels.
4. First tattoo (thanks Greg).

5. First time seeing a Langhorne Slim show since SUNY Purchase days. A lot of amazing concerts this year.
6. First live painting with a band.
7. First time falling in the Erie Canal (yeah, it's been a clumsy year as well).
8. First out of house studio since college, where I'm blogging from RIGHT NOW.
9. First full week catering job at Chapin Mills in Batavia. Zen.


10. First Five Boro Bike tour. It won't be my last!


11. First time organizing an event... the first annual Rochester tweed run!


12. First bike ride out to Marge's... a bar on the BEACH. One of many Rochester hidden gems discovered this year.
13. First Rochester Indiefest.


14. First time biking around NYC in traffic... so much fun, as long as you have someone with you who knows the ropes.
15. First time having an old professor at an art opening, I was so honored!

Here's a toast *clink* to 2011 being even better!

Zuzu's petals aren't there either, George Bailey.

This Friday I had the distinct honor of being invited to a prop-making party for a film. We made inventions to go in a crazy inventor's room. I made the prototype for a shark submarine, which would be very helpful in case of a tsunami.

Close up on the SHARK SUBMARINE.

Final poster for show, with type!

Yesterday was a wonderful day for skiing. I tackled my favorite trail... and the sun shone. Today was not as fortunate, I went out and broke my glasses on a hard spill.

We'll rock this house.

Progress on the poster. Type is coming!

Here I go, giving in again

The holidays are upon me, and I have lapsed in my blogging. Apologies all around! I've been working this week diligently on a poster on a show coming up in January (at the Bug Jar for all of your ROCHESTERIANS). I've been looking at a lot of Dan Danger work for inspiration, and this is but one layer of the final piece that will be coming your way :)

Thank you to all who came out for our first ever FIRST FRIDAY in our studio! We had a lot of fun meeting everyone, and getting to know our neighbors! What a blessing it is to have a studio in such a creative space. Below, a blurry part of my wall display.

More blurry pictures! From the Langhorne Slim show last weekend! What a fun time, I visited with some good old friends in Ithaca, and ended up at Castaways, a seriously fun venue. Thanks for the fabulous day and show, friends!

we know the smells and the sounds, we know a lot of people. we know the way things go down.

Sorry it's been so long on the blogging :) I've been working on this new piece, and I'm extremely frustrated with the face at this point. It's so close to completion, and yet so far away... I need to spend some time away from it so that it can come to me.

I ate a lot of meat over this past holiday, including this delicious beef enchilada while shopping on black Friday in Woodstock, New York with the family. I swore I wouldn't shop on black Friday... but it doesn't count in a cute hippie touristy town with little shops instead of a big old mall, right?

I spent the holiday with some family, and we visited some of those who are no longer with us.

A sketch I'm working on for a lino of penny farthings! How fun! I'm going to be working on this piece for the show (that's right, SHOW) on JANUARY 15 AT ORANGE GLORY. This Friday is also a showing of work, please come visit me in the Hungerford Building in my studio! It's number 345, and you will be able to not only buy my own prints, but art from Caitlin Yarsky and Fawn Brokaw as well. SWEEEEEEEEEET.

you, to me, are sweet as roses in the morning.

I've mentioned it before, and I will again, I absolutely love drawing hair and the wrinkles in clothing. Recently, I received a beautiful gift of a book about (what else?) the history of bicycles. I was amazed to find vintage bike posters by such prominent artists as Mucha (MASTER OF HAIR AND WRINKLES IN CLOTHING) and Toulouse-Lautrec. These posters were made before cars, even! An example of a Mucha below:

Is there a point to this rant? OF COURSE THERE IS! I recently slated an ACTUAL OPENING date for a show at Orange Glory... AKA A DEADLINE. God knows I needed one. Thinking of the first piece for the show (which will also be the promotional mailer) I thought back to all of the times that I have skipped bike events for the studio lately. I guess this is my retribution. The final will most likely be mixed media.

A final thought, one that has recurred about five times to me today, "We always condemn most in others... that which we most fear in ourselves." Working on not being as judgemental of others...

The arena is empty, except for one man.

Last night was the official BOUT FOR BOOBIES!!!!!! It was so much fun to hang out with the fellow artists who did breast casts for the cause, the roller girls, and the fabulous people of Rochester who came out to support the cause! Together, we raised $4000 for the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester! WHAT WHAT!

My dear old friend Jen (whom you may remember from a previous post) has a fabulous new blog about the things she sends out in the mail... handmade with love, of course. She was kind enough to write nice things about me on her blog as well :) I love getting mail, what a pleasant surprise! I took the bag out shopping at the public market this weekend.

The holiday season is nearly upon us, and I finished up the image for the front of the postcard today! Very ski-centric, the postcard is about EMBRACING THE WINTER. Year after year I'm overwhelmed with the amount of people who live in Upstate New York who constantly complain when the season is upon us. Love it or leave it, suckers!

All I wanted was a good song, and a fair friend.

I recently started a local musician series, for a themed show. My first painting was finished today, Seth Faergolzia of Dufus, during the final Dufus show at the Cakeshop in Manhattan. Surprise, Seth! Sorry for the crappy photo of the painting :(

It seems like there are craft fairs going on every weekend in Rochester. This weekend a few good friends were in the Mayday Underground craft fair, so I stopped in to visit. I was reminded again how much I want to take a letterpress class when I saw Dock 2 Letterpress' booth. This poster from them suited me quite perfectly.

The holidays are quickly approaching, as is SKI SEASON. I was reminded of my love affair with old ski posters recently.

I've been sketching out some ski gestures in preparation for my holiday card :)

i. am. a. road.

Final piece for Backwords. I hope you like it, gentlemen. I felt the "starburst" background added that Americana feel that their music encapsulates so well.

I destroyed my cell phone, because I self-own.

Happy (post) Halloween! I had a blast this weekend :) My costume was Rosie the Riveter, empowering ladies everywhere. An actual picture of my costume will appear when I actually get one :)

My coworker, Rich, celebrates his birthday on October 21. I felt the need to finally succumb to his request for a lighthouse painting. Every single art show that I have he says "if you had a lighthouse painting, I'd buy it". Well, tomorrow, he can have one for free :)

More work on the buffalo... thinking about a design for the exterior, since it seems so stark.

I know I won't be defeated anymore, where the buffalo still roam

I'm still alive, I swear! I've been super busy putting together the First Annual Rochester Tweed Run, which took place this weekend. We had about 30 people in attendance, not bad if I do say so myself. More official pictures on the way, but for now, here's a nice group photo of everyone looking quite dapper!

Yeah, I was pretty excited to get dressed up and ride my bike!

I got to see the fabulous gentlemen of the band Backwords again last weekend, and this is a buffalo print that I'm working on for them.

hey man, slow down!

First and foremost, yes, I own a car. This month inspection was past due, and I was forced to make some repairs to my car to drive it legally for another year. My car fixing budget being extremely low, I suddenly had the time to do some of the commissions that my mother has been begging me to do for awhile. Below, her sister, Beverly, approximately age 18.

My mother may argue with me about the "weird color" usage. In other news, I had the pleasure of seeing the band Cuddle Magic this weekend at the Bug Jar. Their nine piece group was incredibly tight, and I found the music so enjoyable, I purchased some cds. I recommend that you check them out, and see if they're coming to a town near you soon!

Living Dastardly.

The lovely Ms. Jennifer Fisher.. the first time I've drawn her since high school (feeling old here)! Check out her blog... she's a freaking awesome girl with a knack for writing and drawing :)

This First Friday in Rochester was quite fabulous... I finally got to see the work of Andy Gilmore on display in a gallery! I highly suggest you check out the ongoing Geometries show at RoCo.

Another lovely show from this past Friday is the Cinemonstrum show ongoing at 1975 Gallery. This show featured many awesome local artists, including some works by a dear friend, Matt Roberts. Horror movie villains and monsters? Yesplease.

oh my god, shoes.

I finished my piece for the shoes show! It developed in an interesting fashion, with more watercolor than I originally anticipated. Onward to new projects!

I've got mine

So I bet you've been wondering where I've been the past few weeks. That's okay, I was wondering too. Rochester Indiefest was a blast! Lots of live painting, good art, and great music. I had the honor of meeting the gentlemen from Backwords, and one of the highlights of the weekend was a late night sing-along to old Beatles tunes with them and the gentlemen from Walri. Truly, it was a fantastic evening. In other news... planning of the Rochester Tweed ride is in full force, with less than a month remaining! My good friend Neeti from Tree in the Sky helped me out with some type for my flier.

I've been working on a piece for the Shoe Factory Art Co-Op, here's my sketch that's on its way to being a final piece. As always in my life, it is bike-centric.

I had a lovely getaway to New York this weekend, and got to visit my brother in his new place! Yay Gordon!

The Dufus final show was freaking sweet. I got to see some good old friends on this trip, and meet some new ones, like that chick Regina Spektor. What a great weekend!

paint. live.

I'm doing some live painting this week, come and check me out!!! It's all a part of Rochester Indie Fest. I'll be outside of Boulder Coffee (on Alexander Street) Thursday and Saturday while the bands play. I will also be selling PRINTS! WHILE SUPPLIES LAST LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! I've been practicing my paintings on glass... from sweet photos taken at the New York State Fair of livestock. During the process they turned out to be food-centric, I ran home to get my copy of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" to pull French words and epic quotes from. I LOVE how they look when they're layered!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUSTIN

A Happy HAPPY birthday to one of my dearest old friends, Dustin Angell. I grew up with this kid. I watched him play baseball with my little brother, as my mother likes to remind him every time we hang out in Syracuse. Our high school art room antics were simply the best. Water bottle wars, clay sponges being thrown across the room at each other, picking on Bamerick or whomever was nearest to us... those were the days. I wasn't as serious of an artist then, definitely. Dustin's talents always seemed limitless in the art world. We stayed in touch through our undergraduate lives in art school, me attending many different ones, Dustin going to Alfred University. We ended up working together at the Sterling Renaissance Fair one summer, making the hour long commute together every weekend, singing along to Dustin's impressive music collection in the car... in full period garb. The past few years I haven't seen Dustin as much as I'd like to, but he remains an ever-present favorite person. His work will inspire you, as it continues to inspire me. Check it out here.


Happy birthday, Smokey D.

you've got a strange magic

I celebrated this Labor Day by begrudgingly going with my parents to the New York State Fair. I had the mindset of a cranky teenager... I had seen it all... I was way too cool for the fair. Growing up in Syracuse, we went every year. I went to high school behind the fairgrounds. I was SO OVER IT. I went... and... I actually had fun. GOD FORBID! I got a lot of great photo references for projects there, I never realized there were so many animals there that I don't get to see in everyday life. Goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits... and this cool guy. Look at the edging on his feathers, how they separate into beautiful shapes of their own. How beautiful is he, I can't wait to draw him!

Speaking of drawing, I have officially paid my first months rent and moved into my STUDIO SPACE OF MY VERY OWN (well, that I share). It's been two working nights here so far, and it feels great. Free from the distractions of home, I can make messes with ink and paint and not worry about them when I wake up in the morning. The only thing is... it does get a bit lonely out here. Come visit me!

FIRST linoleum block printed in my new studio!

Finished illy for the tweed ride flier! My friend Neeti is going to lay out the type for me, which helps a ton and lets me focus more on other projects!