New Workshop!!!

I just signed the lease on my new studio and workshop in downtown Phoenix!!
It is a co-op of about 10-12 artists, but it is huge warehouse and we're each have a huge chunk of it.
I am hugely, HUGELY excited. Not having dedicated studio space has been a huge barrier to production; I dont want to make a mess at the home studio, cant get paint on most things, and having to tidy to some level of presentability every time time I have a client come over for a consult.

Now that I have dedicated, mess-making, paint-slinging, painting-stacking, hammer-cut-saw-dust-freindly workshop space, life will be much more beautiful.



MMMMMM Yummy, space...
(I have to get a "caution: men at work" sign.



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My view from the loft...



What to do, what to do...
(No more bathtub paintngs! ;)

944 Party at the W Hotel

I was invited to do some body painting for some of the promotional models at the 944 Magazine 8yr Annivesary party at the W hotel.

It was great! Lots of people walking around having fun, and I was able to do some awesome body painting for the models. Then by the time we were finished people were queuing up to get themselves painted!

I wish I had gotten some more pics, but here are a few that I did grab...


Promotional models


Some volunteers :)
More can be seen at www.944.com

The End of The World- As We Know it

Today Im posting a little off topic- This post is neither art, nor life, but rather another realm altogether that I work often work with but rarely comment on: Marketing

I guess it relates in that it takes art and makes it a part of our life in a different way. As artists, in addition to being our own managers, we are also manufacturers, distributer, marketing team, sales person, public relations, legal department, fulfillment, and often delivery service for our goods. (Man we need to outsource!)
Anyways...


The Folks At Sony Pictures have taken viral marketing a step further with their new picture "2012"



With their marketing campaign, at no small production expense, they have essentially "produced" a creatively engineered an alternatively reality.

Im not saying it is a bad thing- I think it is great marketing! And it honestly looks like a good film- honestly, something is needed to differentiate a half way decent film from the continuous sludge of garbage hollywood is grinding out these days.

But Take A moment, Check this out::

Click the links a litle bit ((and make sure you check out the video at: http://www.thisistheend.com/2009/01/welcome-to-the-apocalypse.php
ts hilarous)

Allow yourself to be pulled into the environment created, be impressed, get excited- it's great material, and it does make you veeeery excited to see the movie...

Now take another moment and step back, observe these effects, and look closer at what they have achieved here: An entire reality built around the up coming movie.

Privately produced videos distributed through Youtube, their public reactions, and several websites tout:
+A book that was never written (or was it?)
+An international research and conservation organization that does not exist
with a history that never occurred.(or did it?)
+Professional, academic endorsements never made (or were they?) by people who do
not exist (or do they?)
+A grassroots awareness movement led by an avid (albeit suspciously media-savvy
and technically gifted,) fanatic named Charlie Frost (using the internet as
his own AM talk radio station to answer questions and disseminate information
bout the the truth or myth of government plots, survival measures, multiple
spiritual historial (And psychic)revelations predicting the end of the world,
and several scientific theories speculating on its cause.


What's the point you ask? Well to me, its easy to see how if someone lived inside of their computer, you could think it was all real. (If a gullible person happened upon these vidoes, googled the keywords, watched the "research presentations," if it wasnt for the fact that the "fanatic" portrayed is played by Woody Harrelson, we'd be worried!!)

Now lets revisit that: "someone who lives inside of a computer." hrrrm...
When was the last time you talked to your mom in person? Read a newspaper?
When's the last time you got some world news first-hand? Or from a reputable, impartial source?(That could be 10 or 20 years for some of us...)


Has it gone too far? Or does it offered insight into how far it can go...

I remember the feeling I got when I first saw the planes crashing into the WTC... I was like "WTF"(no pun intended) thats a crazy idea"- and then I went to class.

To me, this campaign illustrate how easily a few websites can present some carefully choreographed and well presented fiction, and make it look veeeery compellingly much like fact. Incorporating current news events, popular science fiction, some micheal crichton novel premises, create an entire environment simulationg "real life" occurences.



knowledge to arm yourselves with people.

Roooooar

Laid in some of the first basic colors on one of the dragons I sketched for our would-be client yesterday. (I think he just wanted to talk to Yuko and see the baby. He could have just said so... But I got some bad-ass sketches out of it!)

It looks kind of cartoony for the time being huh?
Wait till you see what im going to do with it :)

You can find me in the tub, with the bubbles... hehehe

Few hours later, looking for a solution...
I want to paint today, but it is TOO hot outside.
I came up with the solution for the indoor-painting problem i've been pondering-



I set up my easle in the bathtub!!
Its perfect! I moved out of my last apartment with out ever having touched the guest bath-tub.
This time I'll put it to good use. Its got its on water source, impermeable suface, drain,m its bleach-able, can clean it in a jiffy for any hows guests, and can just leave everything in there and hang a shower curtain when clients visit!

awesome :)



PS- Boo on Miramonte apartments For attempting to charge me $1,000.00 to replace the entire carpet of my last place due to a tiny paint spill.
Yay on me for keeping my quote for a $50.00 patch :)

Heat Stroke

This "Morning" I woke up and saw that it was about 11:00, and decided it was a good sleeping in day.

I got out of bed off to a good start, got two panels built for a black abstract tryptich that ive been working on...
It was hot outside. Like sweating through your shirt in minutes, dont touch anything metal, sweltering hot. I took a break to rebuild the resolve to get this done, today, and then went back, determined...

Disaster struck when I broke the drill bit off in the third panel.
The ends wouldnt square up right- probably result of a dull jig-saw blade instead of a proper miter. (Shortcuts :( and I was already frustrated with it, but wanted to get it done.

I decided to hammer the nail in anyway, hoping it would push the drill bit fragment the rest of the way through. The nail deflected came out the side of the frame, bent, and then got hammered sideways into the soft wood panel.

Frustrated, I "Accidentally" "dropped" the hammer through it.
I immediately regretted it, and realizing that this it is not at ALL like me to have such "accidental" "accidents", I deduced that I am probably suffering from some combination of
a) dehydration
b) not having eaten anything yet today
c) 207 degree temperatures on a concrete balcony.
d) heatstroke

and it is whittling away at my patience since 1 pm.

So I decided it was time to take an Onimusha break.

Balance...

Not finished but it will have to do for now...

My best go at traditional western style, one that has been growing on me since I began to
get to know some of its greater proponents. I tried to stick to the principals...
Still, I cant seem to keep my own style out of it.

The classic roses, a coverup for some youthful sillyness... :)
I tried a coupel of different versions: brass knuckles, pistol,
plain flowers, music... I hope she goes for this sparrow draft :)

It has been a good night.

I remember a while back, stressing over finishing a project for christmas
I stepped out on invites to the Hendrix house to unwind for a sec with the Primos...

Spent some time, but sadly needed to get home to finish producing my holiday gift certificates...
Then occured to me, hey, i can do it here.
Despite my best judgement and repeated attepts to gain "discipline" as a personal habit...
I borrow Banding's laptop and go to work, amids numerous distractions, on a project I had been
struggling for weeks to "find the time for."
And to my great surprise, got the project done.

I remember reflecting that night:

This is the way art should be done.


Not stressing over deadlines, bed-times, client constrains, or tommorrow mornings.
Couple beers,
couple drinks, little music (Selector Brez on the digi)
Good company, laughs and goofs, just enough seriousness to get the project done.
I was totally new to the idea- art for fun? Without a client or a boss or a customer... ?
Less business, less design, more fun, more art.
This is the way that ART is done.




This is another one of those nights.
With a noon appointment for tommorrow, for a piece I have just a sillhouette and 6-day old consult
rough idea, for; I find myself sitting with my sweetheart, downloading pics, catching up on memories.

Work coming in and out of focus to Yuko's mirthful soundtrack of self-sung songs,
giggling as she blogs and posts our pics.

Amids distractions numerous and pleasant,
Sketches and ideas freely flow, random bursts of home improvement, compulsive organizing,
("nesting??") scrapbooking
the "found art"-
the scattered loose leaf and sketches, to be found everywhere, evidence and aftermath of a recent
brainstorm, it develops.

Frequent stops to add to the growing list of "Important Things To Do Right Now"
As my memory pulls more of them from the cloud that has become my subconscious
in the blast of the life-altering news this new year.
Business Plan...
Spring collection...
Fashion design
Gallery Run...
New years update...
The new year's entire list of priorities shifted back several steps (And several weeks) by
this newest, greatest one, and the subsequent dependant necessities.

It has been a dreamy, dreamy few weeks.
at times fitful, at times frantic, sometimes calm, sometimes fantastic... but altogether dreamy.

At last to bed, tired, and satisfied, projects complete...
A few drafts on the board... a few more drafts than planned...
lol



I've always found the hand is quick and sure, almost to the point of seeming carelessness
the mind deliberate and painstaking, methodical and curious.
Exploring every graphic possibility... finding that cure.

I hope she goes for the sparrow draft.

Sweet Dreams.
-T.S.