this too

Christmas gift for my beloved: a parasol and a holy cross. 
I do believe they compliment the eternal flame.

steal my bike

Adventuring with Philip

did you know horses have human teeth?

image i took at  the twin falls county fair: my pentacon never fails me

A HAIKU:

mini horse raffle

i purchase tickets inside

a lady; reward

Clown in the Moon

I think, that if I touched the earth, 

It would crumble; 

It is so sad and beautiful, 

So tremulously like a dream.

-Dylan Thomas

Orbs

Time wears her not; she doth his chariot guide;
Mortality below her orb is placed.
--Raleigh

Tricks > Treats

Enjoying the shenanigans of a lovely October 31st : Skills attributed by Philip

This Is A Recording

If you are in the Tucson area, don't miss the opportunity to catch This is A Recording screening at the Conrad Wilde Gallery on November 4th. Stellar work to be shown by yours truly along with some amazing international artists!

el gusano : project

My good friend Ivy asked me a while back to illustrate a children's book/ lullaby she and her husband Joel created. Here are some images of what the final product will look like. So far I'm at 32 pages, which seems appropriate for the story. As some of you may remember, my past relationship with story telling/ illustration wasn't as upbeat, "The Story of the Sea Elk" was deemed too depressing by my target audience... So I've scrapped the storytelling part, I think I will stick to pictures...

More updates on this to come... Hoping to have everything ready for Ivy by December 5th!

Welt am Draht

This past Sunday, my favorite local cinema put on an epic showing of the 1973, made for TV film Welt am Draht (World on Wire.) Although the German translation was hard to follow at times, the story leads the viewer through a time in the future where a computer project called Simulacron (which is able to simulate a full featured reality) becomes convoluted with the lies and deception of individuals running the super computer. I can only describe it as a brutalist's version of the Twilight Zone.

Above: Dr. Fred Stiller of Welt am Draht

Below: Myself emerged in a project designed by my Slovak friend Pavlov.  

 Recurring themes included mirrors, circular camera pans, sexy automobiles, lipstick, and telephones. The whole drama got me thinking about how, in perceived reality, reality is just really a simulacron of our own design. Therefore, nothing in reality is really real, because "reality" is subjective.... Right? In short it was a wonderful way to spend 4 hours on a hot Sunday afternoon.

consanguinity

Early this morning, my sweetheart and I hit the mean streets of Tucson for some much needed yard sale therapy. Our haul was a huge success, and all at under $10 it was a super fun Saturday activity...

 

Booty: Bart Simpson doll circa 1990, Billy Joel concert t circa 1982, various geodes, stack of well collected singles including a Sonic Youth ditty I am SUPER excited to play at the next record night my friend Dan and I host at the Red Room

Philip with various treasures found in his tool shed

 

Continuing my pie and pastry ventures with these UBER jems... Betty Crocker is no joke

This could have been helpful...

For the past few weeks I have taken some much needed time off in my home town of Twin Falls, ID. It's been a lovely trip, and I couldn't have asked for better weather (especially since it was 114 degrees when I left Arizona.) I spent some time with my dog, I went to the county fair, I had some quality time with my grandma, I learned how to make some killer pie crust; it was nothing short of being a super vacation... However, after an unfortunate series of events, I was stung by a wasp. On my top lip. Multiple times. What are the odds of that happening you may ask? I have no idea. All I know is that when people refer to "bee-stung lips" in beauty magazines, they really have no idea what they are talking about. Because the look is close to that of being psychotic and far, far away from being considered glamorous... I've included in this blog a list for you, readers, to help prevent this tragedy from happening to any of your precious faces... I just wish I could have known some of these rules sooner...

Tips to avoid bee stings:

1. Don't wear perfumes or colognes.

2. Avoid wearing brightly colored clothing, especially floral prints.

3. Be careful what you eat outdoors.

4. Don't walk barefoot.

5. Try not to wear loose-fitting clothes.

6. Stay still.

7. Keep your car windows rolled up.

8. Rinse your garbage and recycling cans and keep lids on them.

9. Don't hang out in the flower garden.

10. Call a professional to have unwanted bees, wasps, or hornets removed.

Wonder

Peak pose : Pachimottanasana

Yesterday marked the final day of the first part of my Anusara yoga training. Unlike the immersions I've participated in, this week was truly focused on the nuts and bolts of teaching a yoga class, and subsequently, taking the seat of the teacher. It was overwhelming for sure, and I often found myself questioning my intentions throughout the week. Our final assignment was to teach a 45 minute class to a friend based on a lesson or inspiration we had during the week. I chose a theme based on the idea of "wonder." In yoga one can often become overwhelmed by a sequence or pose that may be unavailable or beyond their reach for that day. To wonder what a specific pose feels like, or for myself, to wonder how it will feel to be in the seat of the teacher one day, is truly empowering. Finding wonder within ones' self by using muscular energy to draw into inner awareness and organically extending out to further outwardly express oneself can ease that sense of being overwhelmed. The sequence I put together incorporated forward folds and supine twists to steady, and introvertly investigate with wonder the true self within the pose.

Here it is!

Surya NamaskaraA

Surya Namaskara B

Trikonasana

Parsvakonasana

Adrha Chandrasana

Parsvottanasana

Parivritta Parsvakonasana

Pavrita Ardha Chandrasana

Paschimottanasana

Janu Sirsasana

Ardha Matsyendrasana

Paschimottanasana

Savasana

Peppersauce

Family fallout shelter? Family fallout party!

 I was lucky enough to get out of the heat for a few hours this weekend to go hiking and cave exploring. I ran into a cow, chased some lizards, and stuck my head in a suspicious cavern. The whole experience got me thinking about bomb shelters.

What comes up missing?

Image from Teinosuke Kinugasa's 1926 film A Page of Madness

There are spans of time where things begin to fall short... Colors become subjugated from sensory tastes, and days fall as if they never existed to begin with. 

it ain't over

: till' it's over

Inspired Slump

I'm going to be honest, spending the past month in SWELTERING 110+ degree heat has been far from motivating. I've used the long hours of the day mostly trying to avoid the persistent glare of the sun, moving from overly air conditioned buildings via bicycle, to the poorly insulated box that is my studio. During the past few weeks I've taken solice from the weather by eating copious amounts of otter pops and discovering in a new found interest in bollywood videos of the 1960's and 1970's. I'm fascinated with the cinematography, set design, epic story lines, and of course, the dancing. I recently stumbled along Mughal-E-Azam (1960) not too long ago, and it has since manifested its way into a stem of research I'm doing for a new project. This film of epic proportions centers around the ill-fated love affair between the Mughal Crown Prince and his lovely court dancer. The intensity of their tabu relationship threatens to cause demise to the throne of the Mughal empire. Dancing ensues. I love everything about it.

Still shots from the court dancer's performance of Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya - Mughal-E-Azam

Psychonic Invisiblity

I found this ride in Santa Fe (image taken with pentacon.) It looks like something someone invisible would drive

How would you like to be invisible? To walk through the streets of a city unseen or unnoticed? To enter any building, mingle with any group and be completely unobserved? Impossible?

-Walter Delaney

Dads

It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago I was spending a whirlwind adventure with my pops over in Central Europe. After the disaster with the volcano, dad was able to get a ticket to see me instead of our failed London trip we had planned a month earlier. In a matter of five days we went to Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, and back to Prague. I like to call the whole experience "Central Europe through the eyes of a Goulash Connoisseur." Regardless of the goulash, we took many long train rides to see the Prague Castle, Budapest Castle, Slavin, the opulent museum quarter square of Vienna, and haggled at many, many street markets. It was an experience that I will never forget, and a trip that I will probably never have the chance to take again, and for that I am forever grateful.

 My dad posing with an appropriate sign in front of an amazing Goulash restaurant in Prague

 On the Train to Budapest from Prague

 On the train to Vienna from Bratislava (I still have yet to figure out why dad was trying to read the Slovak news)

 

 

In front of a wall in Prague... Dad being a good model

At Slavin, a 15 min walk from my flat

oxygen to breathe

Inspirations for this otherwise uninspiring Tuesday: 

BKS Iyengar and Modest Mouse's "Cowboy Dan"

Hot off the presses!

A bitty preview of my writeup in the 2011 University of Arizona MFA catalogue now available for purchase here! Good times will be had by all whilst reading this lovely collection of images from my thesis show.

update to no update

Frame 2 of 3 from the recent show held at the 5th at 6th Gallery last month

Coming off from a month of huge changes has set my Arizona summer clock to a painfully slow, tick tocking. Not only have I installed/de-installed two group shows, I was "hooded" in my masters graduation, completed 11 full days of yoga immersion, was hired for two different positions (one of which would have kept me in Tucson until May of 2012, and the other requires me to fold t-shirts), rekindled a special bond with my equally special man friend, and made the difficult choice to leave Tucson in January to potentially set up myself in Austin, Texas. Needless to say, I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm finding that the "post-masters slump" is something that no one could have prepared me for (and actually no one in my program attempted to). I mean, who really wants to end up working in a dead end retail job after countless hours of art obsessed study and research?

Finding it hard to matriculate back into the other real world, and hoping that good things lie ahead.... otherwise, stick a fork in me because I'm done.

i can see through time

Upon joblessness I plan to work here...

Now that the most important days of my academic existence are coming to a close (at least for the time being) I have had a lot of time on my hands. Currently I'm reading Steven King's The Stand to quell my impending summer boredom and inevitable "what am I doing with my life" dilemmas... Not only is this novel terrifying, it's giving me some weird dreams. For example, last night a close family member forced me to walk off the edge of a boat and then I found myself eating strawberry pie at the bottom of the ocean. I think post graduation isn't going to work for me...

crawling under covers

Install Shot from Thesis Exhibition!!!!!

Things went off without a hitch, although it was definitely nervy... Next up Orals Review at 3pm!!

In Limbo: In Sleep Away From Our Home

In my head, I've been going here a lot...

Title of work to be shown this weekend at open studios downtown! In conjunction with "4 Story" at the 5th at 6th gallery, our group show will be open to the public this weekend for the studio tours happening in and around Tucson. Check it if you are in town!! Also, today marks the last day of install week.... I am so tired. I need a gluten free cookie.

let the install week begin!

Let us begin here, Photo girl show!

Day one of an epic week of installations! It's not even 11am and I've already been to home depot... Lets hope I can make it to Thursday in one piece.

saturday following a friday

4 more days till install... me nerves are all a flutter

Icon

A few days ago I had a post dedicated to the lovey Flannery O'Connor, and since then I've been thinking a lot about female role models that have been influential in my life. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of males that have shaped a lot of my interests in the past 25 years of existance, but really, it's all about the ladies. So as I've been thinking of this, and subsequently embarking on a new path of post thesis life, I've started a list of sorts:

My SHEROS, by Emma High

 Anne of Avonlea

 Anne Curry

 Bjork

 Flannery O'Connor

 Gwen

 Kiki Smith

Laura Ingles Wilder

 Charlotte Bronte/Jane Eyre

 Sheryl Lee

Lisa Simpson

 Martha Colburn

Miranda July

 Debroah Stratman

 Dolly

Cosette