artsy update

 what a busy week!! i've been busily working on finishing up a new painting for Friday's group show at SOMOS in Salinas.  Finally finished that one on sunday.  This week i've been tackling the final touches on the painting that i did for Beautiology Beauty Salon.  it's the biggest painting i've ever done. I'm loving it, and i hope they love it too!!  Thursday 8.4.11 is arthop and i'll be at the salon (event page) for most of the night with a few of my paintings and merchandise.  make sure and stop by to see the new beautiology painting!!  i'll also have a couple of paintings at City Hall thanks to Ma Ly, who has a large exhibit there on ArtHop night.  Friday morning i head out to the coast for the Somos Alumni Group Art Show.  Should be tons of fun!

sneak peak at my new piece for the somos alumni group art show.

snapshot from july's arthop

some of my loot from july's arthop..art by Jessica & Amber

at BeBeO's July 22nd for the art reception i had there.

 Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the art reception at BeBeO's!  It was a fun, chill evening and great to meet some of the folks that i've seen around facebook :-)

BeBeO's

Maya

 Check out the full album of the photos that Maya took during the 100 Girls show which was on June 2nd, 2011. I think she did a nice job!!  view more pics here >>  A 5 year old's perspective of the 100 Girls Show

Below the cupcake tower...photo by Maya

San Francisco Trip

last weekend i went on a 3 day trip to San Francisco with my best friend Deanna. we had a glorious weekend! the weather was perfect, everything seemed to fall in place just like it should. the only thing that held us back was our shoes.  I'm just not used to walking for hours upon hours a day!!  The big city life is fun for a few days, however i'm not sure if i would like to live there.  I enjoy being alone, and i also enjoy silence.  My dream location would be a tropical beach, living in a cottage type house with lots of windows.  the inside would be very ecclecticly decorated with colorful furniture, comtemporary artwork and lots of sculptures of animals.  the walls would be soothing lavender, peach, and cream throughout the house.  there would be a rockslide swimming pool in the backyard complete with a rope swing. the frontyard would be a lush botanical garden.  my studio would be spacious with a shelving unit on one wall, art on the other walls, great lighting, and a long workdesk.  Someday i'll be on cribs...a girl can dream...

In the meantime here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend....

the view from the hotel room

 newest addition to my Dunny collection

beautiful jellies at the aquarium of the bay

Botanical Gardens

the coolest heart in san fran

outside the botanical gardens

penguins at the academy of sciences

soft velvety leaves

sunstars at the aquarium of the bay

so good jewelry store. had way to much fun in here

lunch at Calzone's in Little Italy

artsy update & travels

once again, i've been neglecting my blog. but i have a few minutes, so i'm going to do a quick catch up!
since the 100 girls show ended, i've been working on one single painting only..which is really weird for me. ususally i have a bunch of things going on at once. this painting however is so huge that it really takes up too much space in my studio area to work on anything else.  SO at the moment i'm completely enveloped in this painting...

a beginning stage in-progress shot

still in-progress, but coming together now.

 there are soooooo many more details to add.  the background is acrylic, with silver paint in many areas, creating a shimmering almost metal effect.  The girls are going to be completed in oils to make them really pop and come alive.  i'm still decided on how to finish their hair. this painting is for a salon, so the hair has to look damn good as well as the nails!

i'm using up so much paint for this painting. squeeeeezing the last drop out of these tubes.

 My next show is going to be a one night artist reception at BeBeO's in the Towe District held on Friday July 22nd from 5-8pm. my friends Mary and Lupe Oftedal who own the boutique are being nice enough not only to have several of my paintings hung in their store but also hold a reception where you can come and view newer paintings for sale, merchandise and chat with me. Should be a fun evening!  I can't wait to go to San Fran the following day with my bestie Deanna as well, so it will be a great weekend up ahead.

the flyer for my next show.

 Also, recently did a trade with Miss Maryanne Oliver from Australia.  She sent me this beautiful painting a few weeks ago, and i am thrilled about it!! Can't wait to get her in a frame.  My studio is such a mess right now i can't even get to the wall to hang anything.  I have several original paintings from both local artists and artists from around the world that need to be hung!! 

by: maryanne oliver..just for me! ♥

 I've been enjoying the summer as much as i can, and so i've gone on a few weekend trips. Here are some of my favorite pics from a trip down to Valencia to go to Six Flags and also a trip over to visit my dad and Kayaking at Stillwater Cove by Pebble Beach...good times :-)

stillwater cove. i want to live right there at this coast. i only need a few hundred million bucks.

snapping pics while on the kayak

checking out the miniature world of animals that live in the kelp. very interesting little creatures.

just a perfectly beautiful day to be on the coast, or in the coast rather.

a little harbor seal...he was just checking me out :-)

 and now here's some pics from a trip down south to Valencia (just outside of L.A.) it was a beautiful day. but was a little hot at Six Flags.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites and it was sooo nice, but it seemed like everybody else had the same idea we did. (we used priceline) there was piles and piles of families there. the line for breakfast was insane.  but hey what can you do!  it was still fun to get away!

snapshot on the way, just before the grapevine.  looking pretty dry out here.

phew! just got to the park.  excited to get on some ride!

yummmy sandwhiches at Dink's New York Diner

on the way home. snapshot of a beautiful sunset. makes me at peace.

this weekend i'm really hoping to finish the painting i've been working on, and start on something new.  just a little over one month and i'll be going to school full time studying art at Fresno State.  I'm super excited about my classes...you may not be aware that i'm really quite interested in forensic/criminology type stuff.  at one point of my life i actually wanted to be a detective, but i realized quickly that probably wasn't for me.  however i'm still interested in why people commit crimes, especially when they are violent snap crimes. like when a husband catches his wife cheating and kills both his wife and the guy.  It fascinates me that "normal" people can snap and in a rage of passion do something so horrible.  so anyway, my classes are...Art (content & form), Art (intermediate painting), Art History (rennaisance *yay*), Criminology, and The Science & Art of Blood.   hehe :-) it will be fun, interesting and challenging!  wooh! 

until next time... 

"Elemental" progress pics of new painting

Here are some progress pictures of a painting that i completed last month. I titled it "Elemental", and it's acrylic on a 24x30 inch canvas.  The 4 elements are there..earth, air, fire, water.  I was inspired to do an updated version of an elemental painting after finding an old one that i had done proably 15 years ago. hope you enjoy!

close up

close-up of the sloth

the final product of weeks of painting. "Elemental" acrylic on canvas 2011

100 Girls Opening Night

I have been neglecting my blog a tad, i'm sorry to whomever if anyone is out there that actually follows my entries. :-)  There has been so much going on though, i will do a little catch up now and then more to come the rest of this week.

The 100 girls opening night has come and gone!  It is sooo bittersweet, definately one of those nights that i wish i could press a do-over button for. It just went by so quickly and i didn't take as many pictures as i would have liked.  Although there is still hope from my 5 year old photographer Maya, i have yet to see what is on her camera..there could be some gems from the little one's perspective. (i'm hoping!)

Posters of the 100 girls are now available in my Etsy store HERE . they look somewhat like this flyer above, except for i removed the words that are covering the girls and the bottom doesn't have the show's opening night info on it. they are about 11x15inches and only 5 bucks! If you are local you can still pick one up at the gallery. the show runs until the 25th of June, and the gallery is open M-Sat. 1-6pm.

the very creative girls at Gimme Some Shugah made these mini paintings to stick in the mini cupcakes!

♥ my sweets/pink corner ♥

*posing* with artist Rattananan at the show

For the up to date album of pictures from the show, please visit my facebook page HERE

If you are interested in purchasing one of the 100 girls paintings, i'm keeping an album up-to-date with what has sold so far here: Sold Paintings

I also want to express my extremely huge gratitude to a few people who have helped me with this project in some way, or helped made this show possible.  This show had been booked since 2009, these paintings took 365 days to complete. The framing and final preperations have been going on for the past 6 months, and it all came down to one opening night.  So anyway, thank you to...Deanna Bower, Lynn Markley, Patrick Van Zant, Shawn Sibley Athayasay, Diane L. Johnson-Mendes, Rattananan Karinsee...there is much much more who have done things to make this a great show and you know who you are and what you did! 

Also, HUGE thank you to all who attended the opening night or are still planning on going to see the show. I hope that you had a great time at the opening, enjoyed the art, the cupcakes, the wine and the company. ♥

Here's to the FUTURE!!