Photo Field Trip - San Juan Capistrano

Spent the afternoon in San Juan Capistrano a few weeks ago. There was a lot to that town I didn't even know existed. Like a petting zoo?! And a bunch of tiny little cafes in old converted shacks (or at least that's what they looked like.) And trains, of course. Lots of trains.

Chelsea and I wanted a little time to practice our photography. Aside from the little old lady yelling at us for trespassing, it was an awesome day.

Tip: Apparently Ruby's Diner in SJC now has a full bar on the patio and offers a Mexican food menu. It also overlooks most of the city and gives you a great view of the Mission. Although I'm not a huge Ruby's fan, I certainly didn't mind that atmosphere, and I'd love to go back one day for a Margarita and some time kicking it on the patio. :o)

Sun Splatter

My husband wanted to do a little photo shoot a few weeks ago when the sunlight was still warm and bright, and fortunately I'm always a willing participant. I was wearing a hat that made pretty crazy sun splatter patterns on my skin.

Truthfully, I've been loving all this rain we've had in California lately. Normally October is a month of dryness and despair for me (I hate dryness) but this year I've enjoyed basking in the wonderful, cool humidity. My plants are happier too.

The only downside is, I can't wear my giant sun hats outside without looking a bit freakish. Oh well. Maybe everyone will think I'm being Summer for Halloween. ;o)

The Twitter Effect

So a tweet I made last week apparently went viral on Sunday, and along with 600+ new followers and thousands of comments, an artist made an illustration about it! Aaahh!

How awesome is that? The artist's name is Kiersten Essenpreis.

Art, from a tweet. Fascinating.

It was posted on The Next Web, as well as Gizmodo. (where so far it's been viewed over 100,000 times.)

Also, my face was on MSNBC.

Regarding what I actually said, I should clarify that it was an off-handed comment meant to be taken casually, and I'm not saying that I specifically hate anyone. Not you, anyway. It was more based out of a general feeling I have regarding the two and how each performs their social networking duties.

(Although I could do without hearing of your lady troubles; your medical issues; your vitriolic hate filled rants that promote political dishonesty, fear mongering, and inequality; your self-congratulatory emo angst; and you and your friends' occasional incoherent ramblings.)

Naw bro. Naw. Dude bro, naw. Naw dude. Bro. Naw.

In retrospect, had I known this little tweet was going to spread across the masses like wildfire, perhaps I wouldn't have used "hate," but rather "really annoyed at." Perhaps. It was merely the most concise way to describe my feeling at the time I wrote it. I certainly couldn't fit this lengthy blog into 140 characters.

To be fair, I'm sure the same issues occur on Twitter, depending on how you use it. For me, Twitter provides connection to other artists around the world. I actually enjoy reading about what mundane activities artists are doing during their day, because I'm doing the same things. It's kind of like a virtual office, which is pretty huge for most of us independent artists who work alone at home all day. It's not all mundane either, in fact I've learned of many incredible opportunities through Twitter. The link sharing qualities alone have literally advanced my career. And it's not just artists. It's fans, collectors, galleries, museums, scientists, business experts, entrepreneurs, and other talented, motivated people that I enjoy learning from.

I've never once heard a person who doesn't use Twitter describe it in a way that remotely resembles my actual interaction with it. Twitter gets labeled "narcissistic" a lot, though I generally hear that from Facebookers who update their Facebook statuses with nonsense 25 times a day. Ironic.

Hell, I get the news on Twitter almost immediately as it happens. So that's cool too. In some ways, Twitter is like a subscription service to the world, tailored to you in any way that you make it. If you follow trainwreck celebrities and boring people, that's what Twitter will give you. I like to read Twitter almost as a daily newspaper, giving me headlines of whatever aspect of society I've plugged into. Pro tip: Skimming is easy! You don't actually have to read every word written in your feed all day.

Twitter is really more about reading and hearing from others than posting boring, personal observations in a vacuum. If you're just shouting thoughts into the ether and expecting something to happen, it won't. I read Twitter far more than I write on Twitter. In any case, it's about sharing with others.

On the flip side, I don't get to see pictures of my little cousins whom I never see in real life on Twitter. I also really value the interaction I get with my close personal friends on Facebook. It helps me feel involved, even though I might be too busy to hang out every Saturday night at someone's house. And hey, I'm not opposed to uploading a hundred pictures at a time of my recent travels into albums on Facebook either. In that way, I appreciate having both. Truly.

But art is more than just my career. It's my life. I spend far more time thinking artsy thoughts, and stoking my budding entrepreneurialism than I do socializing with friends. At the end of the day, Twitter facilitates a wider audience for my work, as well as a broader spectrum of conversation with thousands of people I would never have met on Facebook. That can't be beat. I'm incredibly grateful for what Twitter has provided me.

Plus:

Ferris Bueller Performance Art

Lord Voldemort

Roger Ebert

The Big Ben Clock

Food Trucks 

Breaking News

I'm just saying.

Ten Little Facts - An introduction

[Well, since I've gained over 500 (and counting) new followers since Sunday on Twitter, I thought I should properly introduce myself.]

Hello new people! Nice to meet you. I'm an artist, you probably figured that out by now. I do this full time. Crazy, right? My art is Light Reactive, which means it changes colors all day, reacts to different lighting, and then glows in the dark. GLOWS IN THE FREAKING DARK! 

The quick version of me:

1. I live in Orange County, California, but I want to live in Hawaii. So instead, I travel to Hawaii more than I should. I'm going to Japan next Spring though. Because why not.

2. I'm 30.

3. I'm married to Walking Awesomeness. That's his official name, but most people refer to him as "Colin." He's also on Twitter. He's a graphic designer. He writes games too. And he makes Sad Robots and Fat Ninjas. Now you know.

4. I used to be an actor. Sometimes I still am. And by "acting" I mean "auditioning, driving to LA, and occasionally snagging a speaking part in a low budget independent movie that you'll never see."

5. I'm sort of obsessed with pop-science, cosmology, geophysics, and planetary disasters. I watch The Science Channel a lot.

6. I can beat you at Air Hockey.

7. The best advice I've ever received regarding my art was "Don't make it good." A mentor taught me that.

8. My only tattoo is of the coordinates N19º 58' 51" W155º 49' 45", which is written on my forearm, facing me, because I'm the one who's supposed to read it. It's my direction in life.

9. I've been eating sushi happily since I was 5, and now my art is on permanent installation at my favorite sushi restaurant.

10. So far, Enlightenment is my favorite painting I've ever made. This might change soon, because I'm really excited about my new collection.

That's it for now, we'll do 10 more factoids soon. In the meantime, comment, @reply, say hi, let me know who you are. I generally only follow people back if they reach out and talk to me!

And follow my blog for updates on me, my life, my art, and upcoming shows. :o)

Again, very nice to meet you all.

October

[taken on my patio earlier today]

It's here. I admit this now. There are pumpkins everywhere.

Have you seen those fairytale pumpkins? Have these been widely available for awhile now and I just don't pay attention to pumpkin trends anymore? They're rad. Along with other, gorgeous, non-jack-o-lantern type pumpkins I've been seeing out there. Seems like a shift back toward heirloom style, traditional pumpkins. Good job, pumpkineers.

So after that weird week and a half of 115 degree coastal Southern California weather (the hell?) it has rapidly progressed into a dark, gray, chilly October. Chilly like I want to wear slippers and make pumpkin soup kind of chilly.

Speaking of which, there's a new loaf of banana bread in the oven right now.

We spent the day Autumn-Cleaning. Kind of like Spring-Cleaning, but there are pumpkins everywhere outside. It was strange and wonderful taking breaks on the patio, standing in the drizzle, observing the new season. We have a nice little habanero plant outside. There are at least 10 orange peppers hanging from it.

They look exactly like pumpkin ornaments.

The Big Island Chronicles - Sunsets

And you thought I was done with Hawaii photos... ha.

[Actually due to a computer malfunction when we got back in February, I couldn't upload some of the best photos we have. Now that everything is squared away (and I've remembered I wanted to get back to this at some point) I can show you some of the real gems from our latest trip.]

:o)

It's hard to take a bad picture in Hawaii, to be sure.

Free and clear

 

Someone recently asked me if clear was a color. I don't know, is it? I think of gloss and reflection as a color, I suppose. So yes. Maybe. 

Depends on its intention.

I'm processing a lot of thoughts lately. Every time I resolve to write more, I don't. Every time I resolve to do more yoga, I don't. I don't like being told what to do, even by myself. Sometimes this leaves me frozen in time, confused, not making choices. A mentality that does wonders for being self-employed, I can assure you.

I know everything is a choice, and I hate when people gripe about their circumstances as though everything in life happened to them, like they had no choice in the matter. I hate when I find myself whining. I hate when I find myself whining about other people whining.

One foot in front of the other. 

They say.

I don't know if I've ever had this much going on before in my life. Commissions that I can't fit in. A huge solo show next Spring that I'm preparing for. (I promise I'll tell you about that soon. Any second now. Almost.) A new collection to complete before then. International travel to plan. An ailing doggie that requires a lot of care. Passports to apply for. Christmas balls to make. Christmas. 

Actually, erase that Christmas thing from your mind. The thought of it makes me queasy. It's still June, right? RIGHT??

There's this purple painting I'm making right now that I kind of love. It's almost done. The first official painting I've completed for that show I'm having in Spring that I haven't told you about yet. It's purple and crazy and heavy (I can barely lift it) and did I mention purple? Ideally I'll have it finished by the end of next week.

Two more huge paintings lie on the floor where they wait for supplies to be delivered so I can keep working on them. Eight canvases are stacked against the wall, waiting to have purpose. More canvas needs to be ordered.

I'll sleep when I get back from Japan in April.

Until then, here we go.