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Today, is no different than any other day where I find myself with very little energy but big plans.  I've not figured out how people in New York with toddlers balance everything.  It's proven to be quite hard and I do miss so aspects of my old life, like being able to log 40-60 hours in my studio, work a 9-5(9-4 in the summer) and still hit the bar for a night cap.

Now I have a full routine that seemly runs from 6am to about 9pm and if I am lucky and there aren't lot of dishes.  After 9, it's time to be creative. Well most nights that what I think while I'm washing dishes, then bottles and then the rest of the dishes.  I finially sit down on the couch and most nights turn on the television to watch my latest anime. Oh wait, I only actually watch about half of it and slowly my head is pulled closer to the seat cushions of the couch and I'm sleep. 

As I dream, I wonder if the inspiration has left and only to realise it hasn't. Then how can i bring myself to create work at home and in my studio.  At home all of my old spots have been taken over by the baby and her mountain of stuff or other random other stuff.  Guess I should go to my studio, but damn that's about 17 mins away on bike.  That place has changed as well, after sandy filled it with two feet of water. The energy is gone and it's been hard to get it back going.  I remember one statement from my undergraduate professor, 'you have to make art all the time especially when you don't want to.' Well, I shall try if I don't fall asleep on the couch first.

It has been only a week!

Seven days ago, I was sitting in a hospital waiting for my little girl to come into this world.  Now, is the cause of lots of missed sleep and different type of joy.  She seems to always be happy, unless she is fussing and such about a few different factors.  She is sleepy, hungry, soiled herself, has to burp, or my favorite wants to play but doesn't know what to do with herself; so she makes noise and smiles a lot.  It has to be one of the cutest things, I've had the chance to witnesses so far.  Outside of this little lady, things have started to come along nicely.

First, my friend asked me to talk about my work at the school she teaches at.  Second, I will be showing in my studio gallery in August.  I now have a deadline to finish all my works from Divina's Candy land, that I started working on last year.  Lastly, I might have a chance to do put together my first art and burlesque shows.  I've been thinking about doing after I finished the first few paintings and started going to the shows regularly. This also gives me a reason to finish some of the portraits that I put off for the last couple of years. I have to say, I miss going to the shows and can not wait until I have the time to be back out watching the performers do their thing, but for now I have alot of paintings and drawings to complete in the next few months.  Motivation!

Happy 1 week of life Nora!

Here are two of the larger paintings from Divina's Candy land!

The beginning of my infatuation with burlesque

First, it's been a very long time since I've made a post to this blog.  Over the course of the last 5 years after leaving the MFA program at Pratt, I've watched my work change and grow.  First and for most my work's subject matter took a bit of a drastic change, which I think is good for me.  I was making works about couples and their situations which seemed to hold my interest for a while. After attending lecture by Eric Fischl, I knew I wanted to try something similar.  He spoke about his process and his thought process about  and how he used his models in his kredfield project.  I set out to try something similar and the first project New Domestic was exciting and fresh and then Interior Situations was just as exciting but I didn't have the same intensity about it.

Around the same time, I attended my first burlesque show. Still new to New York City, I walked into some small venue in Williamsburg and there were rolls of chairs, yellow walls and gold curtains.  I actually did not know anything about Burlesque or knew what I was getting to as I ventured out to see my friend of thirteen years or more now perform.  This show was called Last Night at the Starliner Lounge, which played out more as a film noir rather then a set of individual shows.  I was blown as my friend Broadway Brassy, blasted out different songs during the performance.  This is what burlesque was, a comical theatrical performance featuring characters who striped.  What is not to like, but I was wrong thinking all burlesque was like this.

After seeing this show, I didn't jump right into the scene but rather continued on with my life and painted the couples.  A year or so later my friend's show was the Wednesday night show in Soho at Corio, here I had the chance to meet my first burlesque performer. Lefty Lucy, she also turned out to be my first burlesque model as I was seeking a change in my work.  One night while she was in my studio modeling, she invited me to a show on the lower east side.  I went in thinking it was going to be similar to the only show I had seen in many different incarnations, but came out a shocked.  This was show was completely different and from there, I started venturing out to the different shows.  Now I find myself at a show at least two to three times a month and I always have fun. 

Below are the first two works I created of Lefty Lucy.

 

 

I think this will make a great image.. How does it feel to only have a half a beer in the frig.. its so sad. so so sad.


I really like this image too.. one of my favorite past times. Playing videogames on my futon.. what could be better, maybe having more then one beer to do it.

first digital sketch for the begining of the new paintings

I know that it might look a little funny now, but It will look much better as a drawing. I've not more sketches to develop, but this is my start.

Next series of paintings

I've been thinking about this for a while, but have haven't made any progress yet to make this new series a reality. I believe it is going to be about more then the consumption of alcoholic beverages, but the life style that surrounds it. The people that you meet, the environment and even the journey home from the pub. Well, first of all it will be a move away from the relationship of couples to the relationships of friends and strangers. I guess, I'm going to begin with a typical experience, starting from the pregame to the late night meal.

Now, I've gotta find a group of friends that would like to be involved in this project. I'm going to try both creating videos of the different scenes as well as still images. Getting drunk to create art never sounded so great. Soon, i will start this project and one game for a few nights of debauchery.

Digital Painting Sketch

This is my first attempt at stitching photos together to create a composition. I'm very excited about doing this painting, its going to be 32.5 inches by 96 inches or 2 feet and 8 and half inches by 8 feet. Making this the largest painting I’ve done so far. By the way, the figures in the kitchen will not be in the painting.

On the other hand, I have been researching Hyper-realism specifically for painting or sculpture. Hyperrealism is defined by the use a photographic reference to create a painting, then focusing on all the details within the picture plane. Outside of the technical aspects, the painting is to create a world that references the real world but instead creates a more narrative drive fiction above that of the reference photo. Well, I think it is time for me to explore this concept more, time to get my reading glasses on.