(I found this photo on Cozmo Fox Owlsop's facebook page. And love it.)
The title of this blog post was inspired by a rad website that was posted by a previous drawing teacher from SJSU on facebook titled "I guess I'm floating." The point of her post was essentially to watch this killer skateboard video with a new Panda Bear song linked to it. This song pretty much made my day the other day. Plus there is a super amazing playlist on the right side of that page, so check it out if you're lacking musical inspiration and need some new tunes in your life... I've been listening to it now for 2 days. Sweet amazingness.
(This is what you can expect to see me looking like on a typical day in San Francisco in my bedroom.)
My art was featured in grae's magazine this week by surprise. I don't know the girl who started it/runs it, but she somehow found me and said she's been following my art on the web. What a lovely feeling <3 I'm proud to be a featured artist on their site, and encourage everyone to check it out.
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), by Arcade Fire, saved me from thinking that I'm the only person on this planet who feels this way lately, and pulled chords on my heart like no other song usually does. I listened to this song on repeat for about 48 hours straight and I'm still obsessed. I can't get over it. At least read the lyrics if you don't care for the band:
They heard me singing and they told me to stop,
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock,
These days, my life, I feel it has no purpose,
But late at night the feelings swim to the surface.
Cause on the surface the city lights shine,
They're calling at me, "come and find your kind."
Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small,
That we can never get away from the sprawl,
Living in the sprawl,
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains,
And there's no end in sight,
I need the darkness someone please cut the lights.
We rode our bikes to the nearest park,
Sat under the swings, we kissed in the dark,
We shield our eyes from the police lights,
We run away, but we don't know why,
And like a mirror these city lights shine,
They're screaming at us, "we don't need your kind."
Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small,
That we can never get away from the sprawl,
Living in the sprawl,
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains,
And there's no end in sight,
I need the darkness someone please cut the lights.
They heard me singing and they told me to stop,
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock.
Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small,
Can we ever get away from the sprawl?
Living in the sprawl,
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains,
And there's no end in sight,
I need the darkness someone please cut the lights.
This song, Helicopter, by Deerhunter, is also insanely beautiful and magical.
And in case you were wondering what I've been doing lately, other than indulging in amazing music, staring at inspiring SF sunsets, snuggling warm-hearted friends, thinking too hard, sleeping so much, and dreaming my life away... I've recently been asked to create some designs for the new line of No Enemy clothing -- for men's, women's, and kid's sweatshirts, as well as women's t-shirts. The line will be all California inspired, as No Enemy is an all organic, made, produced, dyed, and manufactured in California company. I'll be sure to post links as soon as the designs are finished and the clothes are available for sale on the No Enemy website :) I'm very, very stoked to be a part of No Enemy, and very excited to be sharing my designs with the masses <3
I'm also currently finishing up designs for two separate wine labels, and look forward to sharing those as well, later this year.
What else?
I posed naked for the semi-famous SF photographer Merkley??? (Google him if you're curious or scared about what I just said, and let me tell you, from the bottom of my heart, not to worry, because it was a very cool experience and a classic artistic endeavor to be involved in.) The tasteful, collaberative and creative final picture will be available for sale as poster size prints, as well as in the upcoming book of his newest series involving 111 girls and dreams on 11.11.11 @ 111 Minna Gallery in SF.
During November/December 2010, I was working as a Design Associate for a modern print design firm in SF -- Minted.com, and as soon as that ended, I was hired to take a bunch of photos for a new restaurant's website -- Pasion, in SF. For about a week, I was waiting tables there, but thank goodness, that didn't last long, and I'm back in the freelancing creative art/design game. Each and every day of my life I'm finding how much I truly appreciate my personal life style, values, and passions. My individuality is very important to me... possibly even more important than I realize.
Conclusion to all of this: I'm basically making it a point to get involved in any and all creative projects that I'm personally asked to be a part of. Why not?! My friends and supporters mean the world to me. The people who appreciate my talents and inspiration are who keep me going. Any projects that I believe in, I will stand up for.
With that said, unfortunately, I did not make this piece myself, but I stumbled upon it online while googling photos of bears and found this, and LOVE IT: check out this rad street art of a bear and some wolves.
Oh yeah, and finally, one more music video of a band/musician that I was fortunate to see and meet during the summer of 2010: "Still Sound" by Toro y Moi.
Annnndd one more epic quote to finish off this much overdue blog post, thanks to Kelly Hackett:
"Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives... and to the ‘good life,’ whatever it is and wherever it happens to be."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
