The Kiss Felt Round the World.. or at least to me.

I got an amazing necklace with a pendant, one side, this image, the other side, a picture of just Frida. :) Sorry for the lack of updates, I was in Fairfield for most of last week, enjoying the holiday and my family, and seeing friends perform in an improv show. Now that I'm home in the East Bay, I'm in full 'make art mode'. I painted last night and will probably work on some more tonight after this, dispite how tired I am. I'll wake up early tomorrow and make a real post of things. :)

So much art to talk about and show it's overwhelming. :)

Making Christmas, Making Christmas...

Sorry for the lack of posts today. Some of you may know, but I am off of work for the next 2 weeks (Lame, so lame) but am still a busy bee! I'm making gifts this year for most people, and they are all turning out so cute! I slept in today, finished the last of my shopping and am working on finishing up these gifts in time for Wed.

Don't worry, I'll try to post something tomorrow, and after these gifts are given out, I'll be sure to post all the picture I've taken of the things I've made. I just have to share my creative goodies! :)

So, I hope you are all staying warm out there! Today wasn't that bad, but I did rock a shawl over my thermal when going to the store. My house is freezing, but I plan to take a long warm shower a little later tonight before crawling into bed with a good book and relaxing.

Hope you all have a great holiday season. Better posts soon!

Spot Light: Etsy.com

I love shopping online. Who doesn't now a days? Etsy is a wonderful online shop where you can buy vintage and home made things, of all sorts. Above is a purse I bought and am in love with from IfLooksCouldKill's shop. I've also bought stickers, buttons and pouches, as well as drooled over art, clothing and other such knickknacks. I really wanna open up my own shop as well.. if only I had the time! Check out the site, were you can buy & sell all thing hand made.

Comments now open to everyone.

While trying to keep up with my posting, I've been slowly adding new things to this blog. Notice the header image, and now a footer one as well... I'm trying to keep up with the tagging system (something I fall in and out of on livejournal) and while checking my settings I realized that I had my comments setting to only registered users. That's no fun. So now, you Mr. or Miss Anonymous, can comment as well if you ever should feel like it. Leave a name, don't leave a name, hell you don't even have to comment. But now you have the option to do so. Does something strike your fancy? Tell me! Want to share your thoughts? Go for it!

Banksy

Have you heard of Banksy yet? Well, you should! He's a graffiti artist, with some real talent. Not just tagging the streets, he's incognito and has a message. Or so we would all like to believe. He is illusive, though this article claims to have caught him... This page talks about the different sides and projects he does. My favorite? His fake museum work. It takes a lot of balls, or costumes I guess, to walk into a museum in the UK or US and put up your own fake work on the walls. He'll hang out and see the reactions.. how long it takes for someone to realize it's a fake.. It's rather amusing.


Even my favorite magazine Juxtapoz has writen about him. Check that, and more images, out here.

Threadless

I didn't know Threadless T's sold prints now! How awesome! I've been a fan of this site for a while now, and have plenty of shirts from there (Originally I loved the site cuz there are no tags in the back of the shirts, the size and names are just printed inside.. tags make me itch!) The site features wonderful artwork printed onto comfy t's and hoodies and such.

I have a friend Rob, who is amazingly talented, that submitted his own work to the site to try and gather votes to get it put onto the site. Sadly he did not win, but I would of bought his shirt! :)

But now I see you can also buy prints! Once I get money I shall fill my home with more art.

Home of the Vain

Stumbled upon this site today while looking for photography. This site called Home of the Vain, is amazing. I just looked through the entire photo archive. Holy Crap! They are so expressive. I'm rather impressed. Not all images are safe for work, but please do go check out the site.

Things you should see.

Artisit: Valerie Hegarty
Title: Bierstadt with Holes 2007
Media: Foam core, paper, paint, wood, glue, gel medium, plexiglass
Size: 103 x 85 x 7cm

check out more stuff like this here.

My life in pictures. Spring/Summer 2007

Title: I got nothing. Media: colored pencil, pencil, and gel pens.

I worked on this back in Spring/Summer of 2007, when a lot of stuff was changing in my life. You can see right into my mind with a lot of my illustrations. I never start off thinking "Oh, this is going to be deep!" I actually started this one with the part that's my hand. I decided not to change that one and leave it in pencil, uncolored. I can remember exactly where I was when I drew most parts to this piece, and what I was feeling. I didn't write "I've got nothing" but instead "I got nothing" this minor detail meant something at the time.

I hadn't been in school for almost a year, was unemployed, the car I just bought from a friend was failing smog and leaking oil... And I felt trapped, knowing where i wanted to be, but being pulled elsewhere. I was scared. But it was the middle of my transformation. Those things take a while ya know.

Words Inspiring Art.

Quotes from one of my favorite books, Silvia Plath's The Bell Jar, that hit me rather hard and inspired this little doodle, a few years back.

"The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence."

"Wherever I sat - on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok - I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air."

"To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream"

"How did I know that someday - at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere - the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn't descend again?"

Random Art.

At Victoria Station in central London.

I think it's awesome. Rather large, but awesome.

Understanding Joshua

You may be freaked out by now... or oddly intrigued, but when it comes down to it, we all want to understand Joshua. I stumbled upon this little guy on accident a few years back. There was a picture floating around on Myspace, of a bunch of guys, a girl, some milk, and this creature, and it freaked the hell out of me. I would bring the image up from time to time, hoping to shed some light on who this was, why this was around, and if there was more... 2 months ago, I got my answer.

His name is Joshua, and he is a puppet photographed by Charlie White. More images of Joshua can be found here... thought I warn you... Not all are safe for work. Some nudity, and some strong adult subjects. TransBuddha.com says "I don’t think any other artist has captured the vulnerability, or self-loathing of the male sex more accurately than Charlie White's Understanding Joshua series." Of course I saw only the creepy milk picture at first, and was almost disgusted by the image, until I saw the rest of the series. I sudden feel very bad for him. Joshua seems shy, distant, looking for approval, and very very self conscious. I've discussed with a friend how a movie about Joshua would be rather interesting to see, if done properly.

Here is a very interesting interview with Charlie White, about the creation of the project, as well as Joshua himself. It's a good read. If anything, it's that sort of art that really makes me think. Not all art these days does that, get us to think. Enjoy.

A post about a memory.

So, this photograph was taken of me, geez.. countless years ago... 4? or so I think... I always loved the way it defined me. Below is a piece i wrote a little over 3 years ago, when I first moved to Pleasanton, when I experienced a flashback to where I spent some time that summer. I enjoy this piece because whenever i reread it... it's all completely real again. Like I'm there, with those emotions and feelings. I did a play this summer called School of Jesus Fish, that took place in a mental hospital. Many of the characters reminded me of all the great people I met when in there. I still think about them a lot...

"It was almost 4:30, I needed to shower and get out of my pj's. I turn the water on full blast, a little too warm for most people, and jump in. Having a stand-up shower can be sort of a bad thing in times like these...

Shampoo in the eyes, always, without fail, I don't know how I do it. I shut them and continue to wash, going through the motion as one normally would do. After about 3 min. I open them to find the light flooding my still stinging eyes. Instantly I clamp them shut, trying in vain to stop the pain from getting worse. This time, while my eyes are closed, the images come back.

The flashback filled the room around me, though I couldn't see it with my eyes closed. I really believed I was living in a moment already past. The cold tile floor, that never seems to be clean enough to want to stand on it. The shower not pumping water hard enough, to make you feel like it's really cleaning you. I can hear voices outside the thick door, I smell the mass produced soap, the kind that everyone has to use here. A new bar every shower, so much waste in here. I know the too small, not soft enough towels are waiting for me. One to step on, when exiting the shower, and one to wrap my shrinking frame in.

I linger in the shower longer then I should. Other patients are waiting to use this stall. Most rather use the large shower, but it's too big and open for the likes of me. Or they like the bathtub room. I'm not allowed in there... The staff have the stupid idea, that I'll try to drown myself. I wouldnt do that, not here... So I opt for the small shower room. Just big enough for the standing shower, a plastic chair to hold your clothes, and a trash can, for the shampoo, conditioner, and soap, after each shower. This hospital smells... different. I'll never forget the smell. I still havnt.

The hallway will be cold, even when I've completely dressed. You can never be fully warm, without shoes. It's the middle of Aug. shouldn't it be warm? Going into the hallway means no more privacy. There will probably be 5 or so people pacing up and down it. Even the old man, being pushed in his wheel chair.. up and down, back and forth, by polite nurses, who try in vain to have conversations with him. All he will do is drool, and yell horrible, dirty things, to her, and to the world in general. Or scream for his wife. We never found out if his wife was alive or dead... But he wanted to see her really bad. Leaving this stall means 3 juice boxes, another container of yogurt, and more snakes, waiting for me in the fridge. Neatly labled with "Jack H." which tells all the other patients to back off. They are trying to fatten me up.

When you arnt allowed to shave, you can never feel like you're getting clean, no matter how hard you scrub. Or how many long showers you take, in between meals and group therapy meetings. You long for the first shower you get, once freed from these walls. But know that when you get into that shower, you'll regret leaving the hospital so fast. Every time... It never changes.

I'm shaking, the hot water seems to run forever. So many people, showering so many times, and yet the water is still filling the room with steam. But your bones never seem to warm up, you shiver through the entire shower, knowing soon that the water will have to be turned off... And the cold will come and envelope your body... A blanket of frost that curls up around you, keeping you company. I stand letting the hot water rush over me, wishing I could stay here forever.

A door slams, I hear wheels rolling down the hall. Lunch trays... Voices get loud, heavy footsteps move down toward the day room. I hear the normal "Where's Jack? She has to eat her lunch." call. I sigh, and push the knob that turns off the shower. Take a few deep breaths, before opening my eyes.

And I'm back in my shower, here at home, in Pleasanton. Water is off, I'm shaking as the cool air moves all around me. It's time to dry off and get dressed. I'm in this world now."

Hidden Art.

Diego Rivera's mural down a well titled El aqua, origen de la vida. (Water, Origin of Life) has always been a personal favorite of mine. Diego Rivera (December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican muralist, active communist, and husband to my personal favorite artist Frida Kahlo. He often painted famous people, as well as himself and those around him, into his paintings. This mural was actually painted inside of a well, Mexico City's Lerma River water system. Media: mixture of plastic polystyrene in the fresco pigment, then varnished with transparent rubber. The mural featuring Mexico's past oppressors, it's native people, it's future hopes... all above the water, are met with the world underneath it.. organisms and an intricate pattern of teeming protoplasmic life. I especially love the hands pouring the water through the tunnels... showing that yes, water is the start of all things, big and small.

The fact that he'd do such a massive job, that is undoubtedly gorgeous, in a place that would hardly be seen by the public... and knowing that the water would eventually wash the whole thing away, amazes me. There was no way to save it. I would of loved the chance to see it in person before it was destroyed. His giant murals inspire me to want to do the same. Every trip to San Francisco I comment on how I want a wall, just one wall, to paint on. To leave my mark. I guess I'll just have to start with a room in my house (once I own one!).

My favorite magazine: Juxtapoz Art & Culture

Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine.
I've been reading this magazine for almost 5 years now, and a friend of mine got me a subscription last Christmas. I'm coming down to my final months and realized, I really need to renew that! It's much easier when it comes to my house, and I get the special covers you can't buy at the store.

Through this magazine I've learned so much. I've found artists that changed my life, John John Jesse, Mark Ryden, Audry Kawasaki, and Sas and Colin Christians to name a few. (Don't worry, if you don't have time to google them all, I'll be posted about them at some point!) I am inspired by the articles, cover my walls with the pictures, and dream of having enough money to buy all the awesome toys they advertise in there.

Here is one magazine that can provide you with news about exhibits across the nation, websites to buy figures, clothing, shoes, and art... As well as inform you on anything 'art' that is going on right now. I've bought Mark Rydens book Fushigi/Mysterious Circus through that magazine. Sure there is plenty of art in there that I don't like, and tons that I love, but that's art. It's so subjective. What one person thinks is amazing, another person can think is crap. That's why I love art, I'm sure I'll post something you will find completely boring and ugly, but other things will fascinate you. Art is supposed to make you think, get your mind moving. Sigh..
Until next time!

A Day without a Gay

Gay marriage backers set "Day Without a Gay" event

By Peter Henderson

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Same-sex marriage advocates plan to "Call in gay" on Wednesday in a protest designed to show Americans how big a part of daily life -- and the economy -- gays and their supporters are.

The Internet-organized project, which follows California's passage of anti-same-sex-marriage Proposition 8, urges "Day Without a Gay" participants to skip work and volunteer in the community.

The idea is creating a controversy over how to garner support without protesters hurting their cause.

Californians struck down same-sex marriage last month, reversing a court decision that had affirmed the right. The November 4 vote stopped gay unions in California -- one of a handful of states, provinces and mostly European countries that allowed it.

After the vote, protest marches targeted U.S. temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, who were top supporters of California Proposition 8, which limits marriage to a man and a woman. That led to a nationwide protest day on November 15.

"In order for this movement to continue it can't just be about marching and being pissed off. It's got to be creative in different ways to get into the hearts and minds of moderate voters," said daywithoutagay.org creator Sean Hetherington.

The Los Angeles comedian and his boyfriend, Aaron Hartzler, put the focus on volunteering, although one of the groups behind the November 15 rallies, jointheimpact.com, urges people to shut businesses and avoid spending anything.

The protest appears inspired by the 2004 film "A Day Without a Mexican" which imagines the effect on California of a day when there are no Latinos, leading to chaos on the state.

Source

Now, I can't participate, which sucks but I had a hard time coming into work today. I knew I had to. I knew I couldn't punish my co-workers with me being gone, since I know how they feel about the whole topic. Hell, my car is STILL covered in all my "No on 8! Love is Love!" paint. Earlier this year when San Francisco allowed gay marriages, my good friend took a picture of this graffiti art and sent it to me. (this image I actually googled up, since I'm not on my home computer to get the original image, but it's just the same, only smaller). It seems based off the poster I had growing up, with two women laying in bed kissing. Note to self: find that poster, it's very pretty.

No matter where you live, or what your opinions are on people of a different sexual orientation... You should believe in love. Love is love, and everyone should have the right to be with someone they love. I know I want the right to marry whomever I choose, man or woman.

Though I had to come into work today, I'll only give about half the effort. ;) Love!

Spot Light. Up and Comers!

Today's Spot Light features my co worker Ed, and his photography. Click the link to check out the rest of his work.


I've known Ed for a year and a half now, and he's that guy that always has his camera with him. Here at work there are times when we need to take pictures of things, and he's right there, ready with his Nikon D300. He can bring out the beauty in anything. Be it this Praying Mantis that hid in the back bushes at our office, or the amazing sites he saw during his Mediterranean Cruz this Fall, or just his friends hanging out.


I admire photographers more then any other type of artists. Maybe it's because I know I cannot do what they do. With illustrating or painting, I can describe the world as I see it, through my very distorted inner eye. Photographers do the opposite, they can show us the world that is around us, still using all the detail that I love in art, but this time its real. This is how the world really looks. Colors and shapes and angles.



I collect photography, saving it to my computer and getting them printed out on sites like Snap Fish, and then arranging them on my wall. What started as a wall to hang pictures of my friends, and memories I didn't want to loose... has grown into it's own art exhibit, featuring these two, as well others taken by Ed.

Now when I look on my wall of pictures, I can find the colors and shapes I want to use. It's impossible to ever achieve the vibrant colors that his camera lens finds.


And that's my first Spot Light! :)
Thanks Ed, for allowing me to write about ya!

Your inner selves.

Just about everyone feels as if they have another side to them sometimes. The easy persona you put on when at work, or when the family is visiting, or even the coping mechanism you use when in a situation you would rather not be in. Even celebrities fall into this at times. Beyonce's new album deals with her Sasha Fierce side.. and Garth Brooks ruined the awesome career he had when he 'became' Chris Gains... Now I'm not agreeing or denying that I am the same. But if you know me, this all makes perfect sense.

I am not always creative. I can't always draw or paint like I did the night before... the month before... There is a mind set I have to be in to create. I call it... 'The Twins'. The artsy and creative Jaq, and her brother, the more angsty edgy poet Jack. Today I'd like to feature a poem 'he' wrote, a few years back. Usually it's stories, but I was always proud of this poem. And as each day I want to try and explain one of my pieces (2 i guess for this entry) and then do some more main stream posts, and some spot lights on artists that I love or know... Here is my first confession, my diving into myself to pull out something personal.

Beauty at the top of the hill. --- Jack Bond

There is a hill where you live,
in your little house, way at the top.
You are stuck there, but I visit you
bringing you tokens of my love.
You accept them, yet move on quickly.
Stabbing yet another knife into my heart.
Your tongue traces the blade,
you consume me, inside and out.
Your eyes glance, here and there,
but never meeting mine.
I light a cigarette,
letting the smoke fill the air between us.
Eventually the blood will dry,
nothing will remain but scars on my chest,
and the stain on my clothes that will never come out.
I forgive you each time, for the abuse you serve me,
always cold, always constant.

I am your dirty secret, the sin you want to commit.
I make the blood in your veins boil,
and the desire you hide, well I've fucked that.
I am your knight in a blood stained pin stripe suit,
shaggy hair, and painted black nails.
You wont admit I'm real, I'm nothing more then a dream.
But I am holding your frail frame tightly,
feeling you break in my arms.
I want to shatter your glass bones, see you in a pile on the floor.
Make your heart ache and crave,
as you do to mine, each and every time.
You are too beautiful to harm,
through your tears, I see the goddess each wants to possess.
I kiss your blood red lips, soaking you in, as long as I can.
Slitting my wrists as you push me back down the hill.

Angsty? Yes. Angry? Yes. Truthful? Yeah...

My hero, my inspiration, my life, and my love. Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo's pictures exhibition in San Jose, Ca

Saturday, October 11, 2008 through Sunday, March 22, 2009

Shedding light on the life and art of Frida Kahlo (1907 -1954), this exhibition features approximately fifty photographic portraits of the legendary Mexican artist. Drawn from the collection of Spencer Throckmorton, a specialist in Latin American photography, the exhibition includes works by several of the most renowned photographers of the twentieth century: Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Nickolas Muray.

These preeminent photographers produced remarkable portraits of refined artistry and technique that exceed the boundaries documentary photography. Nonetheless, some of the most revealing photographs in the exhibition were taken by her close friends and family, such as Guillermo Kahlo and Lucienne Block, who were also accomplished photographers. Overall, these portraits chronicle Kahlo from the onset of her artistic career until her death and portray her various roles as painter, patient, wife, daughter, lover, and friend. Many of the photographs offer an intimate glimpse of private moments in her bedroom, hospital room, studio, and garden. Other images reveal the artist's carefully constructed self-image. Often dressed in pre-Columbian attire, Kahlo demonstrates a deep interest in her Mexican heritage while discretely concealing her physically deformed leg beneath her long flowing skirts.

Highlights of the exhibition include Bernard Silberstein's Frida painting The Wounded Table, (1940), which juxtaposes the artist with one of her works in progress. Viewed as a whole, the featured images provide extraordinary insight on an artist who described herself as 'la gran ocultadora' or the great concealer. This exhibition is organized by Throckmorton Fine Art, New York.

Getting things started.

I've been an avid user of Livejournal for the better half of my life (I think I actually used DearDiary, and deadjournal at times, as well as my myspace blog often) I've had more user names then I can remember, but always thought about making one set art type blog.

Working in an office gives me quite the advantage on this blogging life. I'm online for 9 hours a day at work, and about 5 hours or so once I'm home. I'm a google-er, a wiki-er, and own a camera. Finding art everywhere is my life. During the day I'm Jack the Office Manager, answering phones, keeping the techs in check, and shipping to all over the world. But underneath it all, I'm just Jack. The girl that finds creativity the sexiest trait, and sharing with the world, an admirable lifestyle.

This blog will be just that. Finding art, making art, sharing art.. to whom ever reads this, if not for just my own enjoyment. I'll be adding pictures I find, sharing stories about things, and just leaving everything up for discussion. Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, art, anything.

And now, I just need to start posting!