New Work!!

LINDA @ Hilobrow

Head on over to Hilobrow.com to view Karinne Keithley Syer's amazing serial novella illustrated by me. http://hilobrow.com/

One awesome piece of artwork I did manage to produce while in graduate school is this painting/installation in John Crowe's class. It was probably the most ambitious and funnest thing I've ever produced and I hope to have an opportunity to create it again someday but larger scale, and with plywood instead of cardboard. This was the prototype.

Golden Days

My life is hell. I am sad to say my illustration and comic career has been on a back burner the last year and a half. The reality of this weighs down on me daily. It is beyond my control as this lack of productivity is mostly due to my being ridiculously busy with my graduate studies at Mass Art here in Boston.

My infrequency of posts and updates to my blog and website in recent days frustrates me beyond belief.  I rarely get to make art these days which kills me. It really really really kills me because creating art is what I do, its what I've always done. It's part of my core. It's a major part of my identity. I've always referred to it as my superhero power, because I've always been able to draw and be creative with ease, and as such always interpreted it as a blessing, a gift of sorts. For example, I really envy friends who really understand math on a profound level, like almost as if they see the world through a mathematical lens because my brain just doesn't grasp things that way. We all have that special something that we know we're good at and hold close to our hearts. For me, its always been art.

The transition from occupying this constant space of creativity and productivity to virtually producing nothing but writing papers and designing lessons and learning curriculum constantly from morning to night has been very difficult for me to handle.

While I am really excited to eventually get certified to teach art, and combine my love of art with my love for kids together, boy let me just say, this has been bumpy ride.
The good news is that I am almost done with my program and am hoping some of my time can be freed back up to remind myself of who I am; artist on fire! Nevertheless y'all should stay tuned, there will always be more to come, I can promise that. But more importantly, I found this full page advertisement in a 1930 newspaper I found in my parent's attic. I think its a pretty beautiful representation of the caliber of work during the golden age of illustration. So beautiful.

                                                    My rolling Betty Boop arm wheel.

new in-between time work

Well, my struggle to create work while I am a graduate student continues...If it wasn't for 'Linda', Karinne's serial, I would be creating close to no work whatsoever except for the occasional sketchbook page I am able to fill during classes. While I should be paying attention entirely to the professor, I do tend to doodle. Going to art school kinda excuses this behavior, and I find most professors don't seem to actually mind as long as you are engaged in the class discussion, they are willing to let it slide, it is art school after all, and I'm like, furthering my skills...But as luck would have it, I actually managed to have two weeks off before the fall semester begins, and I was not only able to crank out a few LINDA drawings, I also managed to start this guy. Watercolor, ink, aerosol, and gesso on wood.

Stay High 149 Numero Dos

I just bought Stay High 149's new book today at the ICA out now on Gingko Press; The Voice of the Ghetto. And of course it's great, classic old school graff tales. Here is the legend himself rockin out his classic tag, showin' us how its done.

LONG MINUTE!!!

Woah....It has been a ridiculously long minute since we've spoken. I'm so sorry, do you feel neglected? So much has been happening, I do so apologize. My world has been going through a change as I've spent the last six months very outside my comfort zone; in the world of academia!!!. I trudged through a very tough, ridiculously stressful first semester of graduate school where I am seeking my masters degree in ARTED so I can pay my bills by becoming an elementary art school teacher. KIDS + ART = me happy and inspired!! Besides mounds of homework, all the mega-networking, appointment making, inconsistency in schedule, deadlines, paperwork galore, etc, etc, I barely have time to make any artwork this days!! It's killing me. But what I have managed to create are images for Karinne Keithley Syers’s novella and song cycle "Linda", a hollow-earth retirement adventure with New installments appear every Thursday @ http://hilobrow.com/tag/linda/ .
Karinne Keithley Syers is a hugely talented dancer, choreographer, teacher, writer, ukle strummer, multi-media artist based in California. Linda is her baby. I provided the images. Here are some samples of some of the work that has been posted. Thanks to Karinne, Kickstarter, and Hilobrow and those who donated to the fund!!!

I've been busybusybusy the last couple of weeks. I participated in two murals this past week, while juggling a weeks worth of homework and a bad flu. One was in a private office at Timberland 's Clothing HQ up in Exeter, New Hampshire and another with the BEAUTIFUL CLASH CREW @Kulturez Skate shop in the Garage in Harvard Square in Cambridge Mass. Here are some photos.

In case readers you are wondering about the lack of posts, let me reiterate, I have recently become a graduate student at Mass Art , and to be expected, my workload is enormous. I am not creating as much work as I would like to be. But I have managed to work continuously on this one piece when I get a chance.

Portland Mercury Covers exhibit at Powells

I spent sometime in Portland Oregon a couple of months back and made my yearly visit to Powells; the greatest bookstore possibly on the whole planet. And I stumbled across The Portland Mercury's Covers Show that was on exhibit in their gallery. My timing couldn't have been better. Some real top designs from some big names as well as local artists. Top show, very nice. Here are some of my standouts:


(Travis Millard)


(Jeremy Fish)


(Yuko Shimizu)

Jayboy is the man

I know it's been a minute, I do so apologize. I am in graduate school and as you can imagine, it's no joke as far as the workload goes. Enjoy this video about Jaybo in the meantime.