Quickest sketches ever - the week in review

Anevay and her friend Alameda on the J-train before school
Wet (because of the rain!!!) strangers on the J-train

My group on a field trip today- fast, fast, FAST sketching amid insane children!
A sleepy Anevay sucking her thumb...

Hahahahaha- hope you weren't expecting anything in the way of perspective!
This week I concentrated mostly on my writing, but I did a handful of 5-20 second sketches, mostly on the subway. I also looked at a lot sketches done by other people (via drawing sites on the Internet), and after seeing that most of them were executed far better than anything I've done lately, I've come to four conclusions: 1) I don't have the patience these days to concentrate on lines; 2) I don't have the time to sketch; 3) in between my bouts of writing, I'm going to do it anyway, because it's fun to draw without a care, for no reason except to just have it out; 4) and finally, Anevay loves sitting with me on the train, doodling away...

A few more:

Self-Portrait Party?

I've been very busy the last few days, as I've decided I will finish the rewrite of my novel for my birthday. The blessed day is coming up in just another week or two, which means I'm spending my days hunched over my computer, trying the best I can to circumvent tangents so that I might finally pull together the last few chapters.

Exciting times!

Unfortunately, slaving over the book means that I've needed to let a few things slide...

Sorry roommates, for the dirty dishes you may have noticed in the sink. And sorry friends and family, for not responding right away to your phone calls and emails.

I also extend my sincerest apologies to a small handful of half-worked canvases, piles of t-shirts and sweatshirts that are begging to be embroidered, and my sketchbook, which hasn't been touched by a pen in over two days. It's not that I'm wanting to neglect all of you, it's just that although I have unbounded levels of creativity, there are only so many hours in a day...

Sigh.

Oh, I should say sorry, as well, to the one or two of you who have managed to get through the sludge of my postings the last few days. I am aware that they have been a bit... sloppy?

(Wait... this is assuming that there are actually one or two of you who actually read my postings?!)

Anyway, although I might be winning the fight against tangents in my novel, I clearly need to learn how to get to the point in my blog posts.

Sooo...

My parents are visiting in a couple of weeks, and I'm trying to figure out our activities. The Brooklyn Botanical gardens, if the weather permits, are a given, as is Sunday brunch. The choir that one of my roommates is a part of is having a concert one of the nights my folks are here... I'm also envisioning a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. But what to do with the rest of our time? Something we've never done before?

This morning my friend posted a link on his Facebook page about a woman who had a self-portrait party with her family. (thanks again, Bruno!)

After paintings a few hardwood blocks with a base color, they got to work on the portraits. Here's what they did, straight from the horse's mouth:

"We then gathered acrylic paints, paint brushes, paper plates (to use as individual palettes), and set up tables to give each person in the family a workspace. We also had a couple of big mirrors for people to use for reference.

We let people choose their blocks one by one, then everyone got down to work. Some people used the computer to take a picture of themselves to refer to. Everyone was pretty into it as soon as they found out what we were doing. The guys ended up taking the longest on their portraits.

I love seeing how people interpret their own appearance - the features they choose to emphasize, the details they have to include to make an authentic portrait."

Ha! I love that the guys spent the longest on their portraits! But I won't write any more about this, as that would be yet another tangent... (um, about narcissism?)

Anyway, I love the idea of my family sitting around drawing self-portraits. Portraits of each other could be interesting, too.

Hmmm...

Why stop with my family?! I've lived with many roommates over the years, from many countries. I wish I would have had the idea earlier to ask each of them for a self-portrait.

Well, I can start now!

(I swoon writing this, but I can imagine that my roommates might be rolling their eyes? 'Cause maybe, in addition to leaving my dirty dishes in the sink- I swear there are only a couple of coffee cups, two bowls and a couple of spoons-, I'll become that roommate who asks for portraits...)

Yep. That's my post for the day. Just the one. Pray that I finish my book soon, for if I don't, who knows what my next post will look like! (Stream-of-consciousness, here I come... James Joyce, eat your heart out!)

OK, I need to get back to working on my book. I'll have to save family/roommate portrait sessions for later.

Oh, man... That reminds me of the week in high school that I worked as a telemarketer selling portrait packages at Olin Mills Portrait Studios. Yikes.

But that's a story (ahem, tangent) for another post...

Click here to read more about a self-portrait party! (The post is from way back in January, but it's still fun!)

"What My Kid's Art Says"

"These little kittens have lost more than their mittens. It seems to me, they’ve also lost their innocence."

Or so writes Dan Consiglio, who keeps a blog which he uses to write about kids' art.

Now, I'm all for kids' art- Anevay makes some pieces that defy genre, period, and even art movements.

But damn, is Dan funny. He seems to say some of the things we adults think but don't often say aloud...

My daughter once made something that looked similar to this:

Dan is pretty blunt about his feelings:

"This is the blog's first foray into sculpture. For obvious reasons, it is also the last."

(My dirty mind might add a few more lines about what this sculpture looks like, but that's neither here nor there...)

Anevay has also made pieces in the past that resembled this charming elephant:

Dan, however, gets down and dirty in his critique:

"This is pretty much self-indulgent garbage. The two eyes sharing a side of the face in an obvious nod to Picasso seem sorely out of place with the Max Beckman-ish rubenesque physique. Obviously created to shock the viewer, L seems to have played her hand too quickly; revealing too much, concealing too little. The one saving grace is the broad, foppish brush strokes, which nicely bring such a clumsy unelegant creature to life."

Click here to read more of Dan's blog, What My Kid's Art Says.

Any of you brave souls want to send Dan some of your kid's art? Perhaps you think he doesn't have the credentials? Well, he has an answer for this. He writes:

"They create it, I interpret it. And don't you think for a second that I don't know exactly what the hell I'm talking about."

And there you have it, folks. Submit away, and let me know the comments that follow...

Trip around the world?

So... I had forgotten that I added ClustrMaps to my blog, which tracks the number of daily visits as well as which countries the IP addresses are from.

Granted, I don't have a large readership, but I think it's pretty great how many individuals from different countries have visited (although I put this question to ClustrMaps: where exactly is the country of 'Europe'?):

United States
Germany
Canada
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Australia
South Africa
China
Poland
Finland
Estonia
Sweden
Netherlands
France
Europe
India
Indonesia
Bolivia
Nepal
Brazil
Israel
Austria

Anyway, this got me thinking...

I'm poor as dirt, and a trip around the world right now with my kid isn't possible, but how about you all write and let us know what are some of the coolest, strangest, most terrifying or gratifying or excellent aspects of living in your country? Or how about you send us some pictures of off-the-beaten-path hidden treasures, or even small local gems that you grew up with that you've always felt lucky to have?

OK. Don't laugh. I know that this sounds a little like me begging for penpals. You probably want to know what's in it for you...

How about my eternal gratefulness, and a promise to share a snippet of each and every one of your wonderful stories or photos on my blog?

Oh- not to exclude my readers (reader?) from the USA- Anevay and I would also love to hear about your local lore, treasures, and stories...

Finally, if anyone out there thinks it would be fun to fund a trip around the world for an unemployed single mom (and her amazing kid?), I'd be willing to exchange an online daily travelogue! (You- fair patron-, and me... Let's talk, pronto...)

Anevay's 'wallpaper'

Over the years I've had many people make comments about the art hanging on the walls of my apartment. Amid the few prints and paintings is a smorgasbord of images Anevay and I have cut out from art catalogues, artist books, etc... There are many nudes, including some rather graphic Japanese art prints from the Heian period, a few photos taken by friends (including some very funny ones of me), and a handful of seemingly random pictures that have actually been lovingly adhered to the walls.

Occasionally I grimace when I catch first-time visitors to the loft smiling and whispering what an odd collection it all is.

It's true, we certainly don't live in a West Elm apartment. (said with perhaps a bit of sarcasm?)

Nor do we live in a beautifully designed loft. You won't find a Le Corbusier chaise, nor a single piece of furniture that matches anything in the entire place.

What you will find is a sofa that my parents had when I was a kid, as well as a green couch that once upon a time belonged to some super duper famous person (who remains unknown, as no one seems to be able to remember his or her name).

We live in a functional, lived in space, filled with whimsical images, books and toys. (well, functional only if you don't open any of the closet doors, which threaten to empty their contents on the unlucky person who ignores my advice)

Anevay picked out all the pictures for the walls in her room, and I decorated her loft (and the staircase leading up to it) with flowers and ivy, as well as spraypainted purple stars on her walls and stairs.


Man, I started this post as a way to vent my frustration over not being able to ever buy new furniture, and the fact that I don't have enough bookshelves for the books that have exploded from the shelves in the living room and are not precariously perched everywhere in my room.

But as I write, I'm actually feeling pretty darn lucky... After all, how many kids can say that they're allowed to paint their walls, put up pictures that they like all over the apartment, and in general, are allowed a voice when it comes to decorating? My kid can! I think it's pretty cool...

Lady Elvis

Anyone who has met Anevay knows her love of Elvis Presley. Over the years she has collected DVDs, tapes, even Elvis and Priscilla Barbies. She has worn Elvis t-shirts, mimicked his dance moves, read books about him, and begged me to play his music before school in the morning. She even told me yesterday morning that at school she pretends to like Hannah Montana just so people will leave her alone about Elvis (although she later retracted this statement, and said that all she had said was that kids at school make fun of her for liking Elvis...)

(Anevay's Elvis Barbie)


(Anevay's Elvis Pez containers)

This morning a friend of mine let me know that her future sister-in-law is the lovely Laura Baxter Herbert, AKA Lady Elvis.

Cool, huh?! I showed Anevay Lady Elvis' website and needless to say, she was really excited.

(Laura Baxter Herbert)

Anevay and I talked about it, and came to the conclusion that because Elvis was such a sensitive soul, and because most women we know tend to be more sensitive souls then men (sorry, guys, I'm sure that you're all sensitive on the inside, but in our experience, we've seen that only a few of you have transcended the sensitive woman/tough guy man stereotype), that Laura probably makes a most excellent Elvis!

We hope someday to have the opportunity to see Lady Elvis in action! Click here for a peek at Laura's site...

Because I can't seem to get enough decapitations...

A friend of mine (thanks, Bruno!) sent me a link this morning for this cuddly little bear... For 16 smackeroos, he's all yours. Check it out.

Also, if you haven't read my past posting(s) on decapitations, click here for my thoughts on Barbie decapitations as well as a handful of fun pictures and info on some of my more macabre embroidered designs (some of which can be ordered in my shop).


Or maybe you might want to click here to read my Easter post...


Finally, all of this talk of decapitations reminds me of a book I read a few years ago called Severance, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler. A brief description:

"Sixty-two entries, each in the voice of a beheaded historical, mythical, animal or modern figure, make up the collection. Each is exactly 240 words, Butler's estimate of the number of words that could be spoken by a decapitated head before oxygen runs out. Among the post-mortem monologues Butler imagines are John the Baptist, Medusa, Cicero, a chicken, Nicole Brown Simpson, Maximilien Robespierre, Valeria Messalina and himself, 'decapitated on the job' in 2008."


Butler even wrote one of the entries in the voice of a dragon, and then on the next page, switches to the viewpoint of the dragon's killer, St. George, who he also imagined was decapitated.

Several entries take a light tone, but what lingers is an unsettling sense of the absurdity—and prevalence—of violence.

Enjoy!

After a quick stop at Prospect Park, Coney Island was all but forgotten...

Anevay and I met Clare at Union Square and from there, set out via the Q-train for Coney Island.

When the subway doors opened at the Prospect Park stop, however, Anevay suggested we go to the park instead of the shore, and with that, the three of us hopped off the train...

Man, what a gorgeous day. We even made it to the zoo. (a place that I have such mixed feelings about...)

There were many highlights...

Blooming magnolia trees, meerkats, sealions, a carousel, alpacas, and Anevay wrote the lyrics to a song in my drawing book on the way home.

My fair steed. His name, stated a bronze plaque, is 'Xanthius'. Whoa, boy...

I can't come up with a family-friendly caption for the above pic...
Behind Clare is a naked mermaid, which is apparently holding up the roof of the carousel?
Anevay as the lone Prairie Dog.
This was thrown up on the wall outside of C-Town (a grocery store here in the BK)
My lovely.

Last Supper Canvas - Part 3 (doubt sets in, and then washes away)

At the rate I'm going, I should be done with this canvas sometime by the time Anevay goes off to college. And to think, I want a total of 20 embroidered canvases! (with this one included, I'll have six)

The last couple of days I've been wondering why I've chosen embroidery as my most recent medium (for both clothing and canvases). It's incredibly time-consuming, is giving me wicked callouses on the ends of my fingers, and is not the most efficient way to make money (the long hours I put into making my things barely make my small handful of sales worth it).

I do know that I find the work calming, and that the last few years I had to spend working for rich assholes were hurried, making it difficult to sit and take time to do anything for myself.

I won't pretend that embroidering is meditative (um, although sometimes it really is), but it does put me into a different state of mind than my usual multi-layered, shaded sketches and little paintings. Needing to concentrate on just a few lines is not something I'm accustomed to doing, nor is it easy for me. In the past, I rarely had the time.

My unemployment checks run through the summer, and will stop in early autumn. I'm still looking for work (obviously), and am trying to keep up my optimism, but the last couple of days I am feeling quite down, and as a result, am questioning all of the many projects I'm working on. In fact, this morning I couldn't write a single word in my novel. It wasn't writer's block as much as writer's disgust.

In a few weeks I turn 33. There's nothing to make me feel my mortality like being dirt-poor. In reflection, I never thought this is where I'd be at this age. I realize that many of my own decisions have brought me to this point (um, I have the mentality of an artist, rather than a banker, and have therefore made decisions based not on making as much money as possible, but trying to follow my art... ironic, as I worked in finance for three horrible years just to pay the bills), but I still can't help but wonder when (if?) some of my projects will pan out.

I think that feeling a little doubt is healthy- it will kick me into overdrive, and will make me produce more than if all my ducks were in a row. I have more to prove, after all. (although really, I feel a need to only prove myself to Anevay, my parents, and myself) I do not have a partner to help with Anevay, nor am I independently wealthy. (And yet, go figure, most of the advice I'm given comes from either parents in partnerships or from people who come from money.)

The thing that I'm worried about the most is that when I do find work again, I'll have to take a position in which I'll be just as miserable as I was at the last one. I have no aversion to hard work, but man, I'll tell you, I'm just not sure I have it in me to have the rest of my soul sucked out of my body.

Oh, man. I just read the paragraphs above and realized how lame I sound. Nothing better to kick myself out of a funk than realizing how pathetic it is to be in that funk! I'm usually a little less self-depricating... And a hell of a lot more joyful.

I'm going to try to walk around this weekend as though a lightbulb has been turned on above my head. That way, even if I don't yet understand my path- and even if I can't yet see all of the ideas that will make me walk it- at least I can feel bathed in its light.

Jeez. Now I sound like a totally insane nutcase who spends all my time reading self-help books (which I really, really don't, in fact, quite the opposite... the idea of self-help books gives me hives, unless I someday write one that makes me millions).

OK. Skip the lightbulb...

Instead, I'm going to hop on a train with Anevay and go to Coney Island and the aquarium. Maybe today I should skip work of any kind, and just enjoy the last day (besides the weekend) of my kid's vacation.

Although you know what? I'm getting the giggles after writing all the crap I just wrote above. Joy is once again taking hold... In fact, I'm feeling motivated... An idea just popped into my head for the next canvas. (I think I'll be bringing along my sketchbook to the aquarium today, as I'm envisioning sea creatures in suits sitting around a conference table)

Maybe I can figure out a way to make embroidery lucrative... Anyone out there want his or her portrait done in embroidery thread?

Spring sale in my shop!

$5.00 off each article of clothing or pair of shoes in my shop through May 1st of this year!! All of the items found in my store are hand embroidered. I do custom work, too!!

Simple joys...

The plan for today was to trek up to the Manhattan Children's Museum, go to Central Park, and grab an early dinner.

But things have a way of changing...

Anevay has decided that she prefers to have a lazy morning at home, and then spend the afternoon practicing her bike-riding. "I just want to be where it's familiar," she said.

I understand this sentiment...

Sometimes, being close to home, spending time with my favorite person on the planet, can't beat even the greatest of adventures.

Life is pretty marvelous.

Chungking Express, Sungha Jung, and California Dreaming

Have any of you seen Wong Kar-Wei's 'Chungking Express'? A mess of us watched it at my place on Easter (after eating an enormous late brunch). The song California Dreaming plays throughout the film, and I, for one, have had a difficult time getting the tune out of my head!

A friend of mine just sent me a link of Sungha Jung, a kid from South Korea, playing the song on his guitar...

Love it! (despite some painful out-of-tune moments)

Last Supper Canvas - Part 2

I transferred most of the animal sketches onto the canvas (although I still have a bit to add, as well as need to redo the dodo, which I'm not happy with, and sketch in the table, etc), and have begun the laborious act of embroidering. I think this one is going to take awhile, but I look forward to seeing the canvas fill up with color, and think it will come out looking nice...