I fell in love with California

Can you see why? I stayed in Oeanside for a week but I also spent time in San Diego and one night in Los Angeles. California had Z written all over it.
I hope 2012 will take me to other destinations - actually I'm sure it will. :)

Upward and Onward!

I decided to go on vacation for a week only to come back to work with no time to move into a new place. I'll be doing packing shifts every night after work until my next free day. I've moved around 10 times since I graduated college and lived in 3 different states. We'll see how this new place goes. If anything, it won't be too bad commuting back and forth from work. I'll keep bouncing until I find a reason to come back down from the clouds.

As with any project I work on, I always tend to get distracted by finding a pen and drawing on myself. It's an odd habit I've had since I was a kid. I get bored or side tracked and if I have a pen, I draw on myself. I am the owner of 4 tattoos so drawing on myself makes sense. hahaha For a girl I really do not have a lot, most of my belongings consist of art supplies, clothes and knick knacks and of course my giant deaf cat. He really doesn't help with the moving process and always proceeds to hide away from me for weeks after we move. You would think he would be use to the moving by now! Not really. He's an old man and set in his ways. Moving to new places always gets me super excited and I can't wait to move in. I always have the intention of staying there for more than 2 years, but the universe finds a way to keep me moving to a new destination. I don't really fight to stay because I'll get that itch again and I'm ready for something new. 

So I move Upward and Onward as one of my bosses says all the time. 

The eternal optimist with the soul of an traveler and the mind of a surrealist. 

Online doodling

I found this pretty sweet online doodling pad via DOODLE IDEAS and played around with it for 30 minutes. This is what my mind came up with.

I DIYed my turtles.

Pinning on Pinterest led me to finding a super awesome tutorial on making old t-shirts into sweet tank tops.      ------------------------------->    TEE to TANK TUTORIAL
I've had my TMNT shirt for a couple of years now and as much I loved it, I barely rocked it outside my house. I felt it made me look too tom boyish or frumpy. I am also not a fan of high necklines or turtlenecks on shirts.     No Sir, I don't like it.
I know what looks good and what works for my curvy body.

So after a very unexpected raunchy and loud Thanksgiving dinner with my family, I went back into my Bat Cave and started my first DIY project ever. I am a fan of all DIY - just not patient enough to follow through so I don't do them. However, this was a good start to future DIY projects - this weekend I am going to refinish my dresser. Again, I've never done that before - so I googled instructions and I'm hoping for the best.

                                 Here's my t-shirt before I hacked into it with some scissors.

I got it awhile back at a Hot Topic store - don't judge. Lucky for me, the 80s/early 90s came back and now all my childhood memories have become retro fare for the masses to buy.  Don't care. I do what I want. haha The whole project took me about 45 minutes to complete. It would have been faster if I had a sewing machine but I did have my two hands. My grandma would be proud that I was sewing something by hand. 

It's not like it was super complicated, it's just not something I'm naturally good at.  And if I can't figure out a step - I just Macgyver the situation and find a way to make it work. 

                                          Lo and behold, POOF it's done. TA freakin DAH!

I love it and totally looking forward to repeating this with other t-shirts. Only in complete solitude I am ever able to complete art and other side projects. I get distracted too easily if people are around. It makes me want to drop my project and socialize for hours. Then I lose my steam for creating and spend hours procrastinating on something else that it is not creative at all. It's a bad habit  I know. 

Being more disciplined is on my to-do list. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. :)

I'm going to California next weekend and I'm packing my new tank top in my suitcase. It would go well with my hot pink shades, cobalt blue sneakers and blue skirt. Sounds like a total Hipster outfit - oh well! It's all good. Life was meant to be enjoyed and not for over thinking what others may think of you.

I go into the world now with a new tank top and a new found excitement for other DIY awesomeness. 

Burning the candles at both ends

I'm moving out in 3 weeks. I'm leaving for California in 2 weeks. I'm running my first 8k race in 3 weeks. I have an art deadline to meet in 4 weeks. And I still need to finish applying to grad school. oy vey!
It's a cluster fuck all in the first couple of weeks in December. I never intend to do that to myself but again I don't really put much thought into my future actions before saying yes to everything. And now I find myself slightly overwhelmed by the near future.

I'm saying good bye to my 20s and hello to my 30s - insert nervous squeal. I guess I pictured myself in a different place by the time I turned 30. My dream was to be living abroad, working on art, having a job that would support said art and being in love with a quirky, a little off in the head yet lovable boyfriend. We'd be living in a loft on top of some mom n' pop shop with our pets in an apartment filled with paintings,wood furniture and knick knacks out the wazoo!

These images popped into my head here and there as I was venturing through my roaring 20s. RAWR!

My current reality is quite different. My constant moving, short attention span and lack of direction have led me back to me hometown for the 2nd time. I've been bouncing around like a spaceman on the moon ever since I graduated college. I'm deluding myself in thinking that I could have a life like Indiana Jones (one of my all time favorite movies) searching for the Holy grail. My holy grail isn't some ancient cup but an inner drive to continue exploring outside of my routine. I want to see more and I want to see all of it. One teeny tiny problem...I'm not a rich bitch. So looks like Spain, Brazil and Prague will have to wait for my arrival, in the meantime I've settled for moving up and down the East Coast of the good ole' USA.

 It has proven to be awesome, the most horrible idea ever, full of adventure, pain, some of the best times ever and uber expensive. zoinks!

I think to myself that maybe if I had chosen to stay put I would be in a better place right now. But how would I be able to shut down my free spirit. Ok dude! We cannot go anywhere. We are an adult now and we must act responsibly with caution and logic. That is sooooo not me! My sister? Yes. My mother? Of course! Not this zeatle. So why do I keep trying to settle down?

Because I still like the idea of coming home to something constant. I could go up,down, sideways and every which way but the idea of having one safe spot seems nice. I just haven't found that one spot yet. It's like falling in love, right? When you know it's for real real and not for play play.
uhh.....yeah it hasn't happened to me yet.

C'est la vie!

I march on with a new do', my tattooed arms carrying my sketchbook and my deaf cat trotting behind me. I'm not a crazy cat lady. I got him because I wanted a dog. I know! It makes no sense.

But the day something in my life makes sense...I might just want to stay. No promises though.

I'm ready for you California!

Eugenio Recueno

The juxtaposition of states.

NEW YORK: 

 

 

 

 

  

VIRGINIA:

 

 

 

Creativity has no limits!

At some point my creativity tends to branch out to other areas of my life. Let's say makeup. When I was younger I rebelled against anything that represented a girly status. I wanted nothing to do with being girly or pretty. I just wanted to be me. I was a bit of a tom boy. I chose baggy shirts twice my size and loose jeans to cover my body. I was not too keen on how I looked. I didn't want the world to see me.

As the years went by, I realize there's nothing wrong with looking a little nice here and there. My mother would prefer me dressed to the nine, looking like a lady all the time. Her impression of her eldest is more of a quirky female hobo. I've slowly gotten better over the years. I learned I could change my look just by slapping some makeup on my face. So everyone once in awhile I will indulge and go to the nine of my face.
Sometimes I go against boring neutrals and go for a splash of color 1) I chose purple to make a contrast with my brown eyes OR 2) I go all the way and get creative during Halloween like this past one I went as a Day of the Dead woman and I continue to practice with makeup here and there like in 3) It's practice for this upcoming Halloween - I'm going as the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz.

1)2) 

3)

I don't want to limit my creativity to any one form of art. I want to do all of it and explore every nook and cranny of this world - painting, drawing, sculptures, makeup, photography etc. And so should everyone else. You learn so much of yourself when you let your creative side out every once in a while. I take it everywhere I go and I wouldn't be the same girl without it. 

INSOMNIA serves my imagination well

I just got hired to work at a regular 9-5 job. No more late nights stocking brownie mixes, cans of corn and giant puffy bags of fat free popcorn. There's nothing wrong with that occupation, I know this because I was a part of it for a good 7 years, but I wanted more.  My brain felt like day old oatmeal. Stale, cold and with not one interesting grain of cerebral activity.
So I got a new job and new working hours.
......uh...but I am use to going to bed super late. wait? I have to be at 6am? curses! ok. This is going to taking a little more than just a week of adjustment. So here I lay every night staring at the ceiling imagining that sweet siren named Sleep. I want her to shut my eyes and send me into my dreams in seconds. I have the best dreams! I want to fall asleep easily for once.
(yes. I know I can take melatonin. But I haven't gotten around to it yet.)

I have more energy in the nighttime. The past 7 years have been to perpetuate a perfect night owl existence. I perfected it so well while I live in Brooklyn. So well that I had to move back so I could remember what it's like to live in the light again. haha Yet. Still. No sleep before 3am.
I became so restless last night that I got up and went over to turn on my iPod. I tend to want to fall asleep to the sounds of Sam Cooke, Adele, Jill Scott and Ella Fitzgerald.

No such luck. Something was itching to get out. So with only 3 hours left to sleep, I got up and walked over to my desk and began to draw in my sketchbook. *SIGH* This feeling is so well known and comfortable. My hands wanted to create art!
I was listening to Angus and Julia Stone's "Big Jet Plane" and it was just right to sail into the late nights seas of my imagination.

This is what I came up with:

Insomnia brings out the deeper images that lay dormant in the recesses of my imagination. I am one odd duck. But I became so consumed by the process that I felt like Van Gogh! I was a crazy bearded artist living in a tiny space, with art scattered everywhere and empty bottles of liquor all over the floor. 

I do go a little mad when I sit down and create. 

It felt so good to draw. It felt so good to let my imagination get out and breathe some fresh air. It felt so right to be an artist. It felt so damn good. 

I got 2 hours of sleep. I went to work. I kept falling asleep at the computer but managed to get all my work done properly and on time. I can't get 2 hours of sleep everyday. But last night was just right. I was meant to draw and to create and to live in my own late night bubble surrounded by art. I love that energy. One day I'll find a balance between the two. One day the two of me will meet, have a shot of tequila and be best friends. 

For now they are just strangers passing in the night with no time for small talk. 

I find love in the wrong people. One day I will get it right!

The beginning....

I've been working on my sketchbook for THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT 2012 World Tour.
Hmm......harder than I thought to make the sketches come together and still be able to make them stand out on their own. There are images and thoughts that become part of this creative process and my mind doesn't want to fuck up this project.

My theme is : It's summer where you are

You would think that would be easy but I want to go beyond the usual summery images we see all the time. This is where I start to over think my images and/or get distracted by the internet. I want to draw how summer makes me feel to put it bluntly. It's this super high and my energy starts to skyrocket as soon as that sweet season rolls around. My goal is to work on it at least an hour every day after work.
This is what I have so far.

That is part of my front cover for my book. I'm starting to really enjoy drawing a lot more lately than I have painting. My drawing skills are a lot better than I my painting ones. haha. But this is what I need to never lose my creative juices. I give myself "homework" to keep my creativity fresh and my cat ChiChi is always right by my side as I delve into drawing madness! Although he just falls right to sleep as soon as he gets next to me. My ever present fluffy companion!