Nik Arnoldi Dot Com

Ages...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:38:20 GMT

It's been far too long...

As exciting as it used to be to update about my life bi-weekly, share my views on the world, and publish my art all in one place, I have felt stuck with the format of this journal.

So on that note, I'd like to put out a request... has anybody had any experiences with other blogging sites? Which ones are comfortable to use, that allow for a good sense of community? I'm thinking about Blogger/Wordpress style sites that I can import cleanly my journal entries so they display well on my website. That way, I'll be a bit more current with my goings-on. Facebook is fun and all, but I do find that I edit myself quite a bit because I don't have much of a chance for elaboration. That said, in blog format it is much easier to explain my blunt views on the world, then allow myself to digress, and finally bring it home with a decent conclusion.

But enough about that.

I'll be blunt about a few things: I don't understand small, yappy dogs. Small, friendly dogs are ok. I guess it's a different kind of personality it takes to have these types of animals, but I see it as a trend sweeping the world. Where have all the big dogs gone? I miss seeing German Shepherds, Great Danes, and Labrador Retrievers everywhere. I don't want to be able to carry my own dog... if so, not easily.

People + Roads = Idiocy. I don't care if you're on a bike, in a car, or even running... Stupidity is amplified when people are required to conduct themselves to reach a designated destination. I've had more frustrations en-route anywhere than ever in my life... mostly because I spend more time getting places being that my work and home are six miles apart. That doesn't sound far, but on a bicycle, it really requires one to analyze his surroundings.

I can't think of much else, right now, aside from the things about my own life that aren't easy.... but that would be just complaining. Growing pains are just my main issue right now, preparing for huge changes and really "becoming" that adult I've always hoped I'd never have to be. I feel like this moment in my life could be the conclusion to a huge chapter in my life that I'll look back on fondly, but be pleased to be over with. It's like when a couple talks about when they were young and in love and bohemian as all get-out, but had all the frustrations of living in poverty and working their asses off. That's kind of where I am... where every moment is bittersweet and I can't let it pass for all my wants and needs.

Life isn't easy, but it's amazing. I have been pleased to find someone I am in love with, who makes me wildly happy, who also makes SENSE. It's always a collaborative effort talking about anything we take on. We support each other through the thick and the thin and have both grown so much in just a year's time. We're coming up on our first ever St. Baldrick's event... a culmination of fundraising efforts that ultimately end when we both shave our heads to donate to childhood cancer research. Together, we've raised over a grand... not an exorbitant amount of money, but it's enough to say we put our hearts into this. Shaving our heads will be an experience to truly stand in solidarity with the people who have experienced radiation/chemotherapy and have lost their hair unwillingly. Kelly will feel it probably more than me, being as she has had long dark hair her whole life and it's more of a social stigma to be a woman and bald. I'm excited to start over with her.

All in all, I've been still cranking out the art, madly. Recently, I've just finished my ninth comic book (this one written by one of my students), as well as several commissions, two shows, and a music video. It's been good... I've been motivated... Now let's keep it rolling.

Too Long ago!

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:12:40 GMT

Yes, it's been far too long since I've updated...

To be brief, here is a list of the awesome:

- FIRST show in Denver was at the beginning of this month!!! It was a blast, and at the gorgeous Jet Hotel in downtown Denver. I think I'm going to get back into the swing of these shows.

- My best friend from middle/high school just got married to his college sweetheart... So I had the honor of standing up as his best man in Wisconsin. It was a whirlwind weekend, but awesome.

- Going to see TV on the Radio tonight!! I have always wanted to see them play, so it's nearly impossible to retain all my excitement.

- My summer was awesome. Spending so much time playing Pac-Man and going to the zoo with Kelly, as well as moving up closer to the Capitol building here in Denver have all made my life that much better.

- FINISHED THE MURAL AT THE CHURCH!!! No pictures yet, but it was seven rooms, 40 or so yards of hallway, and 8 ft ceilings. Crazy work, but it's over now. I can't wait until we have our finishing party... the church has hired a professional photographer to come for it!

- More jobs are on the horizon.

- I'm working as a 3-4th grade teacher now and I LOVE it. Though it's a big pay cut, the organizational and creative challenges the job proposes have kept me excited about life.

- Kelly and I finished the painting below, about three months ago. It was a fun piece, and it's about 5 and a half feet tall.
I can't wait to do more collaborative projects.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Home

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 06:52:49 GMT

Where have I been?

I've been asking myself that for a while. I've been a lot of places, though not so much geographical.

Cards lately have been telling me I need to focus on the things that matter: health, love, and family. I don't find this hard to do considering it just makes sense right now to be in the moment, enjoy things slowly, and not dwell upon things. Though stressed, I've been content, still finding something about every day that I've liked. I share my life pretty openly with Kelly and that makes finding those things pretty easy.

Now that I'm up on the hill, I can see the capitol of Colorado from my house. It's nice being close to everything, but even nicer being in a place I'm happy with. It's a manageable, small studio, with hardwood floors and an antique charm. It reminds me of my old studio in Minneapolis, though not as stuffy. Even getting outside is less stuffy, as streets are wide and neighborhood-ly in this area.

I have a show coming up... it feels like I'm awake again. The last few years I feel like I've been playing "artist", but not quite doing it. Now I feel like I'm doing it, but hardly finding time to play. I came home from the Lookout Mountain mural an hour early to do some of my first paintings in this new studio apartment. I hope it turns out ready for the show.

The mural is about a month from completion; this I find odd seeing as I've been working on it for over a year. This is easily the biggest piece I've ever worked on. I can't count the hours I've put into this, the things I've painted over, the existing murals that I transformed and fit like puzzle pieces. It has been a real adventure molding my style to paint behind and in front of what was already there to create some depth and make the paintings alive.

I've been feeling alive lately, and for that I am grateful.

Yes-INDEED.

Mon, 23 May 2011 22:17:31 GMT

I stumbled across this link about distorted thinking, and though I don't think it's the end-all be-all of distorted thinking, it does bring a few people to mind:

Click Here

On the sunnier side of things, the school year is almost finished here at MSD. It'll be hard saying goodbye to all the kiddos, but it's for the best. I left my contact information here so that if parents still want me to babysit I can still offer my services. It can be a headache at times, but working with kids brings a lot of light into my life. Even on those difficult days, it still feels like I'm doing something important... and they've done something important to me. They've taught me patience, to stop taking myself so seriously, to be confident even while acting silly, and how to be a fair and just judge of a person's behavior. I've learned that a person has to be separated from their actions, as those actions are often a result of reactions to things they don't understand.

My bicycle is amazing. I would take pictures if my camera were actually working, but this bike just makes my life better. I was glad I was inspired to buy a new ride when I was shopping Craigslist for a bike with Kelly. Now whenever we ride, it's just so much fun. Sexy bikes make for fun rides.

Ocean Phoenix

On the arts/work side of things, I start at Eyedea Worx on June 20th.. EXCITED! This will be the first time I've used my arts degree to get a job, and it'll be nice to work somewhere that I can really develop my skills and feel like I'm helping the business grow.

My website has been redesigned by the very talented Michael Marrujo. LOVE it. This guy is talented and he also did the website for Burning Bamboo, which will be going live some time this summer.

The Kids on the Mount mural will hopefully be finished by the end of July... I've started working on the rooms where the paintings were damaged by the flood over winter break. Already the Red Rocks room looks complete, and I have only a couple more to repair after that. Just this afternoon, I realized I have been at work on this mural for a YEAR already... I've learned SO much from this project. It will be a relief to be done with it, however, with free time that I can dedicate to some of the other things I need to do.

That's the tip of the iceberg of things I'm doing that are solidified... in addition to those things, I'll mention a few of the things that I've just been working on: "Japan: A Love Story" graphic novel project with Sonny Zwierkowski, "Field to Front Door" logo design, getting "Space Fruit Oddity" printed, tattoo designs for myself and others, jam paintings with Wally Burkholder, art gallery opening with Michael Marrujo, and as always the Brothers Nielsen graphic novel (or as the story is called now, "Depart from Guam")... My plate is full, and I hunger for more.

Appreciation

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 23:33:55 GMT

It's really easy to get frustrated when you don't feel appreciated for all the hard work you do.

I'm certain there are boatloads of people who read that statement and are thinking, "HELL YEAH, it is!"

Sometimes those people are even ignored, or forgotten about.

If you're one of those people, you probably think, "Well, I wonder how much they'll miss me when I'm not here anymore.." or "would everything come crashing to a halt if I weren't here??" I find myself thinking it all the time. It's downright irritating and makes a person feel like he's being used.

But after this afternoon I had a few minutes to put it all in perspective. Yeah, sure it can be annoying to even miss a simple "thank you," but I figured it's about time for me to get off my damned high horse about it. I'm not here to be admired or praised for what I do. While I admit that it can be encouraging to be told that my work is appreciated or even enjoyed, I'm here only to leave this world a little better than I found it. I try to put that in perspective whenever I do something: "Is this going to make someone's life a little better?" or "Am I going to benefit anyone other than myself from this?"

It's foolish of me to feel downtrodden or upset when the things I do are not recognized. The people in life who make all the difference aren't the ones who come to mind first, but the people who rarely come to mind at all. And I'm not out to make the biggest difference or save the world or anything like that; I just want to do something that makes me feel useful.

So today marks the end of my petty annoyances. Though I put the expectation of the kids I work with, I don't ever want to be someone who is pedantic about other people's manners other than myself. Naggers just annoy people; instead I'd rather lead by example.

On a completely unrelated note, this painting (after being cut into jigsaw puzzle pieces and set into a beautiful black frame) was one of the top sellers at this year's MSD Auction Among the Stars. It went for over a grand!!!

Space Fruit Oddity

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:57:56 GMT

I had a moment yesterday that was like the sun coming in through heavy blinds.

Sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to keep working on the things I do since nobody requires of me to publish my own comic book and I have no real deadlines. I wonder often if I weren't as self motivated, where my arts career would have gone (if anywhere)...

So yesterday I was noticing in my Comic Book Creation class that some kids were having difficulty finishing up their projects to be scanned. Feeling a bit energized after my last cup of french press for the day, I took the opportunity to share with the kids my very first sketch of Coffeestain Comicks: a ballpoint pen doodle of Fred the Pear drawn while I was in college. They laughed a little noticing the changes in the early versions of Fred and all unanimously agreed that the new look suits him well. It was refreshing to look back at my old sketchbook was by chance still in my back pack and show the kids how it all began. For the rest of the class (after they were bored of standing over my shoulder of course), they worked diligently on their own work until the end of the class.

Fred "the Pear" LaFruit, circa 2004

Fred "the Pear" LaFruit, circa 2011

Things have come a long way. They even giggled a bit at the "big dog" I drew... which was supposed to be a friendly cougar named Giorgio.

In moments of doubt like the deadline for a big project, it's fun to look back and see how far things have come. I have about 75% more motivation to finish "Space Fruit Oddity" TONIGHT and it will be epic.

I'll Fight ya for FREE.

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:41:24 GMT

Several weeks ago my grandmother Kate Glinski passed after a long fight for a great life. She pulled through in one of her darkest moments after news of the Green Bay Packers getting to the playoffs, and was determined to see them win. She even held on long enough for me to come home for the Holland House show, and I was lucky enough to say goodbye to her. It was a heartbreaking moment, but it was a relief to know that now she's resting with her husband, my grandpa, Ed Glinski.

This piece was one I started the night I received the call about her passing, and finished after the funeral.

I unfortunately did not have the chance to go home and pay my respects... life deals those cards at times, but it's been getting better.

Norther

On the plus side, I am back at work after spring break's relaxation and adventure.

We took an amazing road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the final home of animator Chuck Jones, and current home to loads of beautiful art and inspiration. We were lucky enough to stumble upon some amazing galleries, including that of our aforementioned animation master. It was a religious experience, to say the least.

(yes I am a nerd for snapping this one... I couldn't HELP myself... )

The rest of the break was spent busting my butt on the mural project up at Lookout Mountain. ONE more finished room, and a bit more hallway has been attacked by my mad brushes.

This marks ONE MORE finished room!

Though I THOUGHT I was a bit ahead of schedule, the deadline for the completion of the mural has been pushed forward to the end of July. YIKES!

I can do this, though. Ten hours of work in one sitting is no sweat, and I've got a lot of energy left. It'll be an awesome experience to put to rest a project that has already been three years in the making. I've been working on it for a year already.

And as I work hard, I also play hard. This weekend I celebrated with Kelly the Colorado Rockies opening day and went to the game the next day. I think I finally understand baseball. It takes a serious ninja to play some ball, and this is a sport of precision.

JAMMING OUT SO HARD TO TEMPER TRAP RIGHT NOW THAT IT'S UNSAFE FOR THE EARS.

Life is flipping GOOD.

live in the nooowwwww, mannnn

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:54:03 GMT

My biggest flaw that I can think of right off the bat is that I find it difficult to live in the moment. As often as I preach it, I forget myself and jump ahead to the next half hour, several hours, days, months, years.... I need to stop that.

But it does make times like this a bit easier, knowing that when I have a pretty snotty sinus infection and busy times at work, that I've got an exciting trip to Santa Fe planned with a special someone. A day of relaxing in the hot springs of Ojo Caliente will most certainly provide relief from the challenges I've been taking on lately.

Ripples
$100

After a month away from the paintbrushes up at Lookout Mountain, I had a chance to get down and paint for a bit... WOOT! I have so much more work to do but I am excited to be near completion with this room. Here is a taste of it... the one wall that is pretty much 100% complete. :)

SO TIRED.

I think I've got next year planned out. Thailand is out... but I'm still getting my certification to teach English as a foreign language. I'm tentatively planning on working in Denver until the end of NEXT school year, just to give myself some more time to finish the gross magnitude of projects I have to wrap up before leaving.... and of course fit in some more quality time with a certain lovely lady...

Alright. I'll start living in the now... tomorrow.

to tame a fox

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:41:13 GMT

Scene:

Nik is relaxing in his living room with one of his two very furry and fat Maine Coon Cats. The other cat is opposite him, curled up and asleep in a blue raggedy armchair. Sun is seeping in the window and making for a very serene environment.

....SUDDENLY

cat # 2 SPRINGS from armchair (faster than ever witnessed by human eyes) and attacks invisible flying MONSTER!

... cat realizes the monster isn't just invisible... it actually doesn't exist.

... cat promptly stares at Nik, apparently blaming him for this hallucination.

.. cat promptly falls back asleep.

-----------

A beautiful brown-eyed brunette brought this canvas over for us to paint on a couple weeks ago... and after only an evening's worth of painting, we finished this piece. I must say, I'm pretty pleased about it. :)

Going Lunar
(collaboration with Kelly)

Next weekend is the Holland House show... WOOT!

Still NOT sharing pictures of the pieces I'm bringing to the show. I'm saving those until they're on the walls in Wisconsin. :)

I have lots to share but I'm only picking and choosing what to post.

If I were a dinosaur, I'd be a Montessorious Rex.

Ace of Pentacles

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 04:38:18 GMT

The Vince Lombardi Trophy has finally been returned to its rightful home. The balance has been restored.

On that note, I'm too distracted to write about all the other awesome things on my mind and in my heart. I'm just going to list a bunch of things that I think are awesome, share a painting, and go home and sleep like a wee bebeh.

THIS STUFF ROCKS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW:

My new laptop. It's a black ASUS and its name is Richard. Dick for short.

Depeche Mode. Neil Diamond. The Ramones. And Interpol. My heart has had an eclectic soundtrack right now.

Gary Busey in "Silver Bullet". "Taaaaaa-daaAAH!"

Misfits, the television series. Watched season 1 in a week and I'm not a guy with a lot of free time. That says a lot. AMAZING soundtrack, awesome shooting, and the characters are so intriguing...

The Brothers Nielsen.... This graphic novel I've been illustrating is starting to come true! Holy shit!

And a painting... commission for Marcelo!

La Fee Verte

The cards have good things in store. Life is SO good.

On a related note, have you ever had somebody remind you of something you said, and been SO flattered that the person remembered it?

Weekly Schedule

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:33:52 GMT

Here's a normal week in the life of Nik Arnoldi.

Monday through Friday, 6:30am - 3:30pm:

Wake up... or attempt to do so. At least APPEAR awake... coffee will come soon. Get on that bicycle at 7am and ride to work. Work in the morning until noon with ages 3 through 6 in my primary classroom. Take a brief break (if available) and then help for an hour in a different primary classroom. From 2pm until 3:30, fix, update, and maintain the computers around campus.

Monday through Friday, 3:30 - 11pm:

Bike home. Find food (or make dinner plans with pleasant company). Gather canvases that need to be packaged and shipped and bike (halfway back to work) to FedEx. 9pm-ish... change into paint-stained clothing and enter the studio. Paint until sleep hits. Ignore sleep and try to work longer. Allow sleep to finally win and saunter reluctantly to bed.

Friday Evening:

Find something AWESOME to do.

Saturday, noon until 4pm:

Intense work session on graphic novel, "Brothers Nielsen" with Nathan LeMasters. Beers are often included.

Saturday evening:

Work on commissions and/or pieces for upcoming shows. Maybe take a break to watch a movie. POSSIBLY spend time with good company. Get to bed by 1am for the next morning when...

SUNDAY:

I get up bright and early to catch a ride up to Lookout Mountain church, where I'm working on the biggest mural commission I've ever touched with my brush. This lasts from 8am (ish) til 7pm. Go home and COLLAPSE.

Commence cycle all over again.

As crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Page of Wands, Knight of Pentacles

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 19:11:37 GMT

2011 is turning out to already be a pretty awesome year for me.

Not only have my brushes been steadily working away, I have also been truly experiencing Denver at its best. This week alone I truly realized how fun Denver can be by getting out for karaoke, seeing a band play, and ending the week with a couple hours at the ice skating rink. Blessed, to say the least that I'm in a city that offers all that in short biking distance. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing Devotchka for their Valentine's Day show. I'm expecting it will at least be warmer than the last show I saw them, since that was in a snowy field of Keystone Ski Resort.

Even randomly, when I was at the airport on a layover on my way back to Denver, I was able to take a stranger out to dinner, and we had some great conversation.

I guess I have just finally put trust in putting my ass on the line to keep things positive... and for that it has rewarded me.

Life is most good.

Also I have all my pieces ready for the Holland House show in Green Bay! Here's a sneak peek.

Blizzard's Edge

BRRRR!

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:19:42 GMT

Hot dang it's friggin' cold!

I've grown a bit less able to mentally block out the effects of cold weather.... I think it comes from my concentration on being able to break the effects of seasonal affective disorder. Lately, I've been rocking that skill to the max.

THIS GUY (why which of course I mean myself) has been painting his face clean off. Things have just been so good for the arts that I rarely have a moment to sit down unless it's with good company. I just feel like all of my displaced energy has now been put into the things I truly love, and now it's giving back to me in big ways.

Upon my revisit to Cleopatra's Hookah Lounge (which used to look like THIS....) I noticed that not only did the place look like it received a TOTAL makeover, but it was under new management as well. Upon speaking to the manager and realizing he is a pretty cool dude, I immediately struck him a deal to get my murals BACK up on the wall. Hence, the process of re-painting begins... in my humble opinion better than it was originally.

Progress at this rate means I need to update my website soon. SRLSLY. I'm not quite sure if I want to go for a full overhaul and hire somebody to do it, or if I should just put more into the current design. Votes? www.nikarnoldi.com Please do let me know! I don't want to put my effort into something unless I know what in the world I'm about to do with it.

And OH MY GOODNESS. I was lucky enough to create a large post-apocalyptic piece in the dungeon level of "Doomsday Manor". Residential murals are my favorites, but this tops the list. Not only were my dear friends abmann and lady_fox kind enough to put me up for the time I was working at their house, but they treated me like supreme royalty the whole time. Will was kind enough to keep my under-caffeinated growls at bay with delicious lattes, and I had my own room to manufacture some z's. And when the mural was finally finished, they took me out to Magnus in Madison for the MOST DELICIOUS MEAL (holy crap, three courses!!) I have EVER had. Undoubtedly, I enjoyed it full-heartedly.

I did manage to spend lots of time with family over my break as well, which was a nice change of pace. My little sister (who is 5, by the way) suggested the brilliant idea that I should have thought of myself.... for my upcoming display at the Holland House in February, I will be painting a series of small panda portraits! Last night I took the idea for a test drive and painted one up. My sister and I also went to the movies a few times, which was nice. I think I spoiled her to death with how many presents I gave her for this holiday season.

Speaking of this holiday season, one commission in particular stood out from the crowd in size and subject matter... This quite possibly was my favorite effort the whole holiday commission term.

During the course of painting this commission, I made an effort to finish one canvas per evening of work. I don't know how I manage to do all this work with another full-time job that takes up my days, but the time must be coming from somewhere. I swear, I do have a life.

And on the topic of my "life", a good friend of mine went with me last night to see Black Swan.... WOW. Director Darren Arnofsky definitely brought it to the next level. This movie is arguably his best work, and Natalie Portman made it perfect. I admire her for putting so much effort into not only training an insane amount to do the ballet scenes, but also for bringing her dark psyche out to truly blow away the audience. I was stunned. I think I need to see it again.

2011 is already proving to be SO much better than the year that preceded it. I love my life.

Happiness

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:39:14 GMT

I feel like I've been cashing in on all the good karma lately.

Life is just purely good. I feel relieved and pleased to be back home in Green Bay for the holiday break, and every encounter I've had since the moment I woke up for my flight to Green Bay has been a pleasant, if not extremely positive one.

Sure, there's a lot of clarification going on and catching people up on the news (many of my close friends and family don't have nearly as much time as I do for the internet), but none of it has put me down at all.

I'll update soon with some pictures of the Christmas commissions, but I don't want to spoil it for anybody who wanted these pictures to be a surprise. This year's commissions were a fun bunch, and they really pushed my skills.

And today, I had the chance to feel like an awesome big brother. Taking my little sister to see Tangled, I was able to not only hang out with her on my own, but also make her feel a little more grown up too by allowing her to make her own choices of what she wanted to order, and find which theatre our movie was showing. And she was lucky enough to stay out late, getting home at the ungodly hour of 8pm. :)

I'm glad this year will be ending with good intentions. It wasn't an easy year by any means, but there were lots of excitement, travels, heartbreaks and aches, and healing. At the end of the day, I feel like I've learned so much from this all that it'll probably all be written in my autobiography some day.

Two mural commissions this week and next... one at Cleopatra's Hookah Lounge and one in Madison with my good friends abmann and lady_fox! I'm excited!

Also, I'm brewing up ideas for a set of pieces for this year's Holland House.... My wheels are turning!!

A normal day.

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:06:09 GMT

Fortunately, my trip back to America was a lot smoother than this.

I think yesterday was a pretty good day, all things considering.

After working loads on Leah Lemasters' commission, I decided to take a stop by Goodwill because I needed some warmer shirts.

After hopping off my bike, a strangely peaceful older lady stopped me and wanted to know if she could ask me some questions.

As per the usual, that means, "Let's talk about God."

Mentally prepared, she asked what I believe in. I said, "humanity". She asked what I am. I said, "human". She asked if I follow any religion. I said, "All religions have some essential truths to them."

She stopped to think for a moment, then said, "Well I get really good vibes from you. I hope you have a blessed day." I thanked her and wished her the same.

Walked inside Goodwill to find A HALF OFF EVERYTHING sale. Talk about good vibes!

Then returned home with some new clothes and a six pack of Pipeline Porter... only to realize I locked myself out.

Next door however, the neighbors were cleaning out their gutters with the help of a really tall ladder. I offered them a couple beers in exchange for some ladder rescue, and enjoyed the rest of my evening and my dumb luck. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Coffeestain Comicks Issue 7

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:57:49 GMT

It's ready and waiting to be put to print.

Coffeestain Comicks, Issue Seven.

I'm so excited for this one!!!!

I'll post little teasers here and there, if I remember. :)

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 14:12:09 GMT

So much has happened in the past few weeks and I've been ridiculously horrible at keeping up with updating it.

Before even starting this room, my friend Kira decided to get a good picture of the work in front of me.

Needless to say, it's a daunting task that I am ALWAYS up for.

It's only a start, but this is how far things are getting:

This is the check-in centre for the rafts... the room is a real concept room in that the classroom is actually supposed to be "in stream", with some of the seats actually making it look like another raft. This part of the wall will be finished with a couple painted rafts and som real-life life-vests that will be hung on those "wooden" slats.

But to review, here is the room I just finished!

All back in working order, thank goodness. One room down, three more to go.

Dressing like a man, feeling like a leopard...

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:58:03 GMT

I'm still working on getting those pieces out from the last big art sale from the last post, so if you're reading this and waiting on a painting, it's on its way as of tonight! My bicycle is fixed and I'll be porting those pieces, big and small, over where I have them mailed off.

This week I had an awesome argument with Wells Fargo about some "missing deposits", which were a series of checks that I deposited totalling over $1000. It was fun really putting my foot down and getting my money back, which they eventually found and will end up funding my trip to LONDON! So one of the things that you will NOT find on the list below is my bank, Wells Fargo.

I've just finished a giant watercolor piece as a relaxing break from the mural that I've been working on. Though my backup camera isn't the best way to take photos of this piece, this will have to do for now.

Holy goodness. 30 hours in on the mural job already and I'm absolutely knackered. The project itself is four rooms, floor to ceiling, entirely based on mountain scenes in the Rockies. All the animals are accurate to the climes of the different regions in the Rockies, and I've even painted a few local landmarks so far: most notably the Red Rocks amphitheatre.

Things I Like, Lately

Guido's Pizza

Pretty Lights... a Colorado-based DJ duo who ROCK big time

Watercolors

Peace Tea

wearing animal tails

cooler weather... I wish it would come sooner! Still too hot here in Denver...

LG

Wed, 26 May 2010 03:41:04 GMT

I must so blatantly say, life is really good.

At 1 in the afternoon today, I sent out an email to the parents of my kindergarten classroom announcing that we're going to print paperback copies of the children's book I wrote and illustrated for our class auction project...

By 6:30 PM, over half of the parents have responded with interest in a copy of the book. In fact, in one of the parents requested to order FIVE.

I know that a big part of it is that their child appears in the book, as well as a full color illustration of him/her, but I'm just pleased that I could create a project that would be so dear to these families.

I love working with this school.

This commission was completed on Sunday. I am pretty darned happy about it. :)

On A Westbound Wind

You can really only get to Limbo via taxi.

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:36:19 GMT

Things have been remarkably good.

Which it's why it's off-putting to feel not-so good.

I'm trying to figure out what's been affecting me, but I feel like I'm in a funk. My confidence seems a bit off-balance, and I don't feel the flow of things right now.

I've been agitated, weary, and a bit down lately.

Think it's just that damned stress and distance. But mostly just stress.

Too Far West
$100

In other news, I am foster-caring for two 10-yr old long-haired kittehs. This will be interesting. I kinda like them already.

I told you I was freaky.

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:20:12 GMT

This weekend was wild like a wet lizard.

This photograph illustrates it perfectly.

This weekend was the annual charity auction for my school. The auction's theme this year is... you guessed it.. 70s disco! There was a live band, plenty of hors d'oeurves, good spirits, and great company. Most of the teachers and a good percentage of the parents were there, just making a great old time of it. I've got an incriminating photograph of one of our parents dancing on the bar with some ridiculous platform shoes that have dice in the heels. Needless to say, wild night!

The next day we had a class to make our cordas for the batizado in the Canto do Galo studio. Our capoeira class was pretty relaxed that day, but the process of making the cordas was LONG. I didn't get out until 5ish, but we started at 2. It's a pretty complicated procedure, but it starts to make sense after a while. It just takes some cooperation and patience, as well as concentration.

Waveland
$100

In addition to crazy fun weekend, I also had the chance to get some paintwork done. I decided to retain my sanity by working on a piece for my collection in addition to commission work. I didn't get the best photographic results for the last piece, but I hope that the commissioner gets a better photo in her home. The painting above was a way to relax my hands and put my heart in the right place. The painting below is a piece for a little girl's room, and I am so glad it's going to her. After a little collaboration with her mother, I had a pretty good idea of what she wanted and I'm proud of what we came up with.

Grace Kathryn

Lately on my mind has been the worry of people thinking I've lost my integrity in that I don't paint just what I want anymore. Though it may seem like I'm "selling out", I am not in the business of art for the product. I'm in it for the process. I spend my days working with young people, which gives me loads of inspiration and energy to infuse into my art. When I get home, I start my OTHER work, which is where I expell all that energy into paint and illustration. I don't like to stop. As evidenced by the pieces above, these are only a few of the artworks that I've done in the last week. I post my best works to share, but the rest of my work I do for my own personal edification. And when I finally go to sleep, I rest well knowing that I've been pouring my heart into the things I love to do.

Side note: I've started work on my SEVENTH issue of Coffeestain Comicks. Though I haven't put issue 6 to print yet, I have plans to do a limited run of them and reprint them as necessary. I'm debating on doing an anthology at some point... It's getting to the point that there are so much back story that people may be missing in just picking up a random issue. That, and it'll be a way for me to really push my older stories in a more refined direction. It's still just an idea for now, but until then I'll be sketching away on the next comic book, which has a new guest writer on the script. More on that when I get closer to completion!

In the meantime, it's Monday, it's beautiful outside, and as soon as I get off work I'm going to LOVE the bike ride home.

Calling Mr. Behr...

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:42:23 GMT

Right now, it's darned near impossible to keep up with all the work that I've been doing lately.

Over spring break from Montessori School of Denver, I spent my vacation painting a mural and training loads in Capoeira. I don't have photos of the latter, but here are some photos of the former.

This was painted at a church up in Genessee Park, Colorado, which is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It's a beautiful place, with the room's view overlooking a wide expanse of evergreen trees and mountains off in the distance. Luckily, I had a ride to and from the site, otherwise my work time would have been severely cut due to the massive commute UP and the frightening trip down.

Needless to say, it was a productive break.

THIS weekend, is another busy one, packed with a visit from Mestre Acordeon to our group at the Canto do Galo studio, where he'll be giving some workshops. I am STUPIDLY excited, and there will be a pot luck dinner afterwards.

SO EXCITED!! ARRGGH!!

Soon I will post about the latest painting I finished, but I need photographic evidence of it first. Until then....

Going Postal.

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:37:59 GMT

US Postal Service = Epic Fail.

Once again, the Post Office has proven to be a very unreliable service.

In mailing this piece to my friend Candice, who purchased it several weeks ago, the Postal Service managed to put a huge tear in the canvas.

Boo on that.

So since she was so cool as to say that she still wants the idea of the piece and she didn't want a refund, I gave the idea a second chance.

sharper photos on the way... the sunlight has been very sparse lately...

Now that all is fine and good and the painting has been reproduced larger, with a better handling on the colors and what I was attempting to do with the swing in perspective (yeah, I went overboard on the self-critique on the first one), I'll be FED-EXing this one off as soon as possible. In the meantime however, it makes my house look nice and cozy.

Also, this painting, which started out as an ugly still life painting that I found in an alleyway, is now completed and hanging on my wall.

Point of No Return
$200

He's a big guy. I haven't taken the measuring tape to him (mostly because I don't have any), but he's bigger than my usual 18 by 24 inch pieces.

This in addition to all the work I have been doing on the Montessori School of Denver's yearbook cover, and our classroom story book (that I wrote and I'm illustrating... holy process Batman!)... I've been a busy guy.

But I have FRED stickers!!!!

Now that I know how easy the process is, I'm going to start doodling up ideas for other stickers. But until then, I've got 240 of these bad boys.

aaaaaaaand I finally have a wireless connection. This has been conveniently typed from various places around my house, including my couch, my bed, and my toilet. Ah, decadence....

Surrealistically speaking

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:31:07 GMT

I used to get so frustrated about feminism that I would write stupidly-long rants about it. Seeing myself as a humanist, I thought feminism was one-sided and not addressing the issue at hand: unity. So with that bias, I came across an article that posed the question, "Is There Anything Good About Men?"

Surprisingly, it had a few good answers, and it made me look at the human race a little differently.

Click here to read...

Aside from busying myself with rants like these that don't get much done, I have actually been rather productive. I have fallen into the habit of finding junk and making art of it. The results of these endeavors will be posted in the next entry, if all goes accordingly. I still have two more steps in cleaning up this gorgeous end table that I have found, and I have yet to get a good picture of the file cabinet drawer that I've made into a shelf/drawing frame.

All the other time is being spent working on a children's book for our class project for the kids in our class. It has yet to be written, but the outline is ready. This will be a fun project for both the kids to color/decorate as well as myself, because it will give me a chance to do fun caricatures of them all.

Scratch that, all of my other time is being spent covering up my recently blank walls. I thank everyone who has contributed and moved those pieces, and I'm glad they have found new homes.

Since then, I have been painting escapist pieces like this:

Panda Air
$200

Click Here to see it bigger!

and this:

Winter Ghosts
$100

This is a time of a lot of growth. It's not going to be easy by any means, but I will make my life better.

Rosencrantzycoatl

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:14:44 GMT

My mind is seemingly entirely detached from my hand as of late. I have been painting with my head in the clouds, fully removed from whatever is going on.

This, if you are on Facebook, you probably have seen already but I am just posting it for posterity.

I started painting this while I was in De Pere at about 4 in the afternoon. I finished it at 1 in the morning. It was hard work but It was the most exciting project I have worked on in ages. I painted this for Cleopatra's Hookah Lounge.

And to inundate this post further with more images, I share my most recent paintings.

Jumping Off Point
$100

Go Fred Go
$100

Tangled
$125

(Collaborative effort with Gary, Nathan, and Em.)

And last but not least, this guy:

Good Ol' Bullet Bill
$60

He was painted on a broken skateboard deck.

And if it weren't for the bullet in Mario Kart Wii, I would probably be a far worse Kart player. That doesn't say much, however.

That's that. I just needed to get it out there.

Also:

GO SEE "THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS."
I think it has won a place in my favorite movies of all time and I just saw it last night.