coursing

I think it comes down to me being interested in creating something for you. For you to be apart of and for you to feel good about. For you to be in, for you to be taken away. I dont know shit is generally how I roll, and its true, this isnt my calling, this isnt my talent or my jam, but I am fixated on creating places and environments that take you out of the daily and bring you to a place of peace or a place of pain or a place of heavenly space orbit. Who the fuck knows. Im trying though, and it feels right.
So, we have the teepee coming up, and after that Ive got plans. So many plans, not enough funds.
$$ZZZZ

in the dark

Last week Miles took me to 'Scrap'- a junkyard meets craft store thrifting hybrid in Bayview. The place was amazing...walls of old National Geographics, crates of old 45's, canvas, yarn, old photos. wood, cloth, etc etc etc. While there I scored a handful of old photos as well as some super rad slides. I love this photo because its such a simple mess up with its bleached out tones and lack of focus. Ive also been really into the subtle overlapping of shapes and tones all around me, and though this isnt too subtle, it certainly has triangles and rectangles that carry over throughout the photo.
I just cant get over how much I love found photos. I plan on making this one into a birthday card, but first im going to use it to make a drawing in paint. Exciting!

not dead, just busy!!

Hi!
Its been a really long time since I've posted and I wanted to give whoever reads this a little update on shit thats been going on in my neck of the woods. I am moving into a ten bedroom CASTLE on June 1st with ten amazing artists, musicians, seamstress', and the like.
the process of figuring out roommates, applications, etc has been time consuming but worth it...we will have an amazing little art/food/music collective going by this summer!
Ive also been feeling pretty inspired artistically, I am excited to start a few projects and expand upon some ideas and concepts ive been throwing around in my little brain. As soon as i have somehting exciting to share, I will!
Ive been really into more sculptural things, as well as shooting like crazy with my little point and shoot film camera that Miles gave me, I just need to remember to bring in my film more often.

I found this website called "The Company of People" and im really into it. Im into alot of the artists, and the idea of having a little collection of artists work all on one big website is really cool, and this site specifically has a really cool DIY aspect to it. Check it out if you get a chance.
Other than that Ive been working alot, going out alot, crashing my bike alot, and writing silly poems. I really want to write a childrens book. Its a new goal that hopefully somehow I will reach. Okay, well, check back soon, hopefully there will be something more interesting than this long long rant.

(image from The Company of People)

Elderly Couple, San Rafael.

I have no recollection of this time. It wasnt mine, it isn't mine. I can speculate the era it was stolen from, and I can piece together the lives of these two with my imagination and my thumb. The only solid story I can write includes Sonoma County and a photographer names Paul Strahm. I've always loved the name Paul which is odd as its my bastard Fathers name. I could google a Paul Strahm but what fun would that be? I found this photo a few years back, tucked into another forgotten drawer in a stack of beautiful forgotten photos. Someone had died and all his or hers possessions had been donated, atleast the mementos nobody wanted. But I wanted this photo and its hung thumbtacked to a collaged wall in whatever house I've lived in since. Its a haunting photo. The relationship of these two is difficult to read, are they husband and wife? Brother and Sister? Why does she look so much older than he? Is it in her shapeless dress and pulled back hair? His suit is nice and fits well, he has a hankerchief in his breast pocket. Her glasses are gold-rimmed, her ears sit low. He looks impossible upon first glance, but his eyes aren't that scary. Who knows who these people are. Who knows why they mean so much to me, and why I hang this photo near me wherever I am. Do you like this photo? What do you think of it?

sneak attacks/bikeriding with a camera

biking with a camera slung around your neck is incredible. not only did the steady tick-tocking of it around my neck send me into song writing frenzies, but i had the chance to snap photos of weird people and buildings that i normally wouldn't seek out. when you are stopped at a crosswalk, some strange and sad and funny things happen. i don't mean to say i have some epic sociological findings to share, but i am really happy at how rad my bike rides to work and to bars and to friends are. i see some beautiful things everyday, and some things that make me really ask, "what the fuck??". its good. get my heart beating and brain ticking.
here are some of the photos from the first roll i took with the old canon automatic camera miles found for me at community thrift. they are blue tinged and mostly out of focus, but I'm into them and i cant wait to shoot more, especially from my bikes-eye-view. if you wanna see more unimpressive but kind of interesting photos check out my flickr. i put them all there!


(oh and p.s. obviously not all of these were taken from my bike, but most of them were, and i suggest you sling a lightweight camera around your neck and document what you and your bike rides find.)

a few of my favourite things

okay, time for another "cool shit on the internet" post- only until I get film devleoped to share...

I stumbled across this london based tattooo artist on flickr...
I have never seen tattoos that look like this. They are dreams and nightmares, they are cartoony and traditional and scary and amazing. I only wish I could fly to London for some tattoos! (images from Liam's flickr)



I also stumbled upon Herbert Pfostl's Paper Graveyard. I spent hours looking at his work last night and I think its incredible. Its haunting and intuitive almost, its also very chillike and deranged which I love. Its so rad to find things on the internet that are inspiring and new. (image below from PaperGraveyard.Blogspot.com)



Also, Miles, my handsome and talented boyfriend has been taking the most incredible photos. I got a sneak peak at some new work he took last night, and its amazing. His work is often post-apocalyptic and eerie to me but very real. He has a blog he updates pretty regularly...look for a new post soon!(image from Miles' flickr....but also check out his blog!)

It looks like i've been really inspired by doomy things and mystical childlike demented things lately. I think this is good as I've started drawing and painting my dreams and alot of them require a creepy and ethereal touch.
Anyways,
tonight I am taking photos at Triple Crown for Wigwam, so if you find yourselves in the area, come by! Also, hopefully I will have interesting photos or drawings to post soon.
I really want to get more shit done.

Camera Obscura

Yesterday Miles, Drew, and myself went about the process of turning our apartment into a camera obscura. It was Miles' idea, and with his guidance we were able to succesfully do it- and it was so amazing!!! Definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of making. We covered every window in our house with layers of garbage bags, blocking out as much light as possible. Miles made a small, penny sized hole in one of the bags in the main room, he made a little lense using a straw, and his ear plug, and he was able to direct the light/image and focus it a little bit more onto our walls. It was an awesome experience, we all sat back on the bed and just watched cars, people, and bicyclist go by. It was awesome to see the wind blowing trees around and try and figure out what buildings we were looking at, and what signs, since everything was upside down. I took a few photos of the process, and Miles took a couple long exposures of the images being projected on the walls. They arent super crisp, but you get the idea. Just imagine being in a very, very dark room at 2p.m. and watching the world go by, upside down, on your living room walls. So rad!!!

entry #151, cooking with robots, teatime

oh hey,
I just realized that last entry was number 150. a milestone! I am happy I havent given up on this blog, though sometimes I have no clue what its function is, or why I post. Originally it was started to have one venue to post the party photos I took of all you guys. But then I got kind of bored with taking party photos all the time, so its turned into a jumble of music, crafts, photos, and food. Recently, Miles and I started a little food blog, its nothing special, but I am a new vegan and its nice to have a little place to catalogue cooking disasters and cooking masterpieces. Anyways, back to THIS blog. I am trying to figure out what to focus on...I think im going to take all the food out of this blog and transfer it over to Cooking With Robots. I think this blog will continue as an arts and crafts kind of blog, with postings of projects I am working on, inspirational things, art shows, photos/photo projects, as well as just nice things I encounter througout my days and the beautiful people I hang with. If that sounds good to you, then keep checkin in... It's fun to do this blog, it keeps me motivated, and its nice to share projects and shit with those of you I dont see on a daily basis!
So on that note, I leave you with a photo of the tea I am enjoying. It's my day off and its so nice to sit at home and drink tea out of a little pot.

The Real Show.

I wanted to make a world where you come face to face with the lady from your dreams. She's the one there, taking you deep sea diving, flying around Jupiter leaving trails of rainbows and cotton balls. She is the lady of the universe, and she looks sort of like an American Apparel ad, apparently, ha ha. Lana was my number one choice for a dreamland fairy godmother. We made cotton ball clouds and decorated balloons to be planets. The images captured what I wanted them too, though there are some definite lighting issues seeing that one of our umbrella flashes was not working. Also, I need to learn some serious editing skills, but, hey, I am trying!
Overall, I am happy with these photos, and I had alot of fun taking them. I was really inspired by The Knife's "Like a Pen" video. All the deep colors, shadows, urgency and closet like spaces. Also, I was sort of trying to recreate a little part of my dreams where the universe swirls around you leaving pretty dusts and little fairy godmothers to help you wake up.