IF: Plain

My take on todays IF theme plain. Like the butterfly flew from the plain, monotone world, and into color.

I think that my Friday Collage Lab pieces will be the inspired by each weeks IF theme. I kind of like the idea of that additional, once-a-week challenge, to make sure I am not all over the map!

You can be a smarty pants too!

**Advanced warning: most links in this post will ask to launch the iTunes application)

I saw something not too long ago on one of the news shows that iTunes had begun what they are calling iTunesU. If you haven't been, GO! At your finger tips are podcasts from some of the top schools and universities in the US, including MIT, UC Berkeley, Otis College of Art and Design, and Yale to name a few, PLUS MoMA has a few lectures, and and they are all 100% free! You can subscribe to a class, download the podcasts to your iPod and go to the gym, or just play the right off of iTunes, and not clog up your memory.

Yesterday I listened to a hysterical lecture called The Art of Literary Humor given by author Ian Frazier. I was sitting here gluing, and laughing out loud. (Click here to hear that podcast.) This reminded me of going to see David Sedaris last year at UCLA, which was way too funny! It is wonderful to be able to listen to a contemporary author, especially the funny ones, read their own essays because they paint such wonderful scenes in you mind!

I also listened to a few minutes of a Modern Art History class given by Jeanne Willet which was very cool. She has many lectures offered and covers everything from Impressionism to Dada. I will definitely be listening to those! I am also kind of excited to start listening to some of the podcasts from the Aurora Forum at Stanford.

The Smithsonian has a huge listing of music and dance from all over the world, which includes videos of traditional dances and OMG is it amazing!

Just think, you could actually study at on of these great learning institutions without the insane student loan debt! I really love the internet! I mean, I loved it before, but this is just too cool!

Art Whino opening!!!

One of my goals for 2008 is to be more active in the gallery scene, and this weekend kicks off my first group gallery show of the year! If you are in the Alexandria, VA area check out Art Whino. I am one of 18 artist in this show being added to their permanent collection! The show looks like it will be pretty awesome! I wish I could be there!

They have a ton gallery pics on their MySpace page.


The opening is from 6-12!

717 N. Saint Asaph St
Alexandria, VA 22314
O 703.462.4135
F 574.830.1651

If you are in the area and make it out, please take some photos and email them to me! I'd love to see!!

SALE ends 1/22/08

I want to send out a quick reminder that my annual birthday sale will be ending at midnight on the 22nd (PST). Almost all original pieces in my Etsy shop have been marked down 30%!!!

Right now I have lots of pieces that would be perfect for Valentines day!

**BLOGGER BONUS!! For the last week, all of my readers will receive FREE SHIPPING!! All you have to do is type 31Rocks! in the "message to seller" box at checkout, complete the checkout process with Etsy, and then wait for a revised invoice!!

Collage Lab and IF all in one!

I am so excited to finally be able to announce the beginning of my new blog called Collage Lab! Collage Lab is my attempt at the one-a-day scene, and a chance for me to break out of my self-imposed box! My goal is to explore all kinds of materials and styles and give my brain a little free time away from the portraits. I learned a great deal from this holiday season, and from having signed up for so many shows back to back! I love love love my portrait work, but I worry that if I keep going as damn fast as I am with them, that I will burn myself right out, and I just dont want that to happen. So, voila, preemptive strike, and the birth of Collage Lab.

I was going to try to begin January 1, but that seemed to be too much pressure ;), so now I choose today!

So, as inspired by this weeks Illustration Friday theme stitch, and my new found obsession with flowers (more on that later), I share with you this piece! I hope you like it!

Recent Commission

Laureen, 8" x 10"