sauerkraut.....

so... i went and visited jenn, kim, and mackenzie last night (saturday).  well, upon arrival, jenn was smoking outside in their nook between the house and the garage.  so i stood out their for a while, till she was done. i had set my stuff down upon, what i thought to be a stand covered with a towel.  kim's mom came out and said hi but then immediately gasped.  she asked if i put my purse on top of "that" (pointing to the said stand) i said yes?! i looked down and it had sunkin in... it WASN'T a table covered with towel.... instead.... it was a TUB FULL OF HOMEMADE SAUERKRAUT!!!!!! well.... i wouldn't worry since my wallet isn't too absorbant and i just have my store keys and paper stuff inside.... but no... not only did i have that stuff in there... i had my phone in there as well... a place i rarely put my phone.  i normally put my phone in my pocket.... and of course the night i don't put my phone in my pocket, i put it in my purse.  soooo..... moral of the story... if you're going to put your purse on top of something... make sure to check if it's really a table, counter, or any other hard surface that won't make your purse smell like sauerkraut and ruin your phone.  and then this morning, my mother was trying to figure out what to make for dinner... as she was flipping through the recipe file, she states, "why don't i make golomki?"  for those of you who don't know... golomki's main ingredient is cabbage and sauerkraut.... she's so hilarious i tell ya.  anywho.... that is my crazy story.

NOW for some pictures.

Above (left):  graphite on paper.  i drew this off of a photo that was taken of my friend.  

Above (center):  permanent ink on paper.  i drew this for a gay friend of mine who was infatuated with lady gaga and this japanese characters called toki doki.  he wanted to somehow turn this piece into a tattoo.

Above (right):  permanent ink on paper.  because i started the one in the center, i created another.  except this isn't for anybody in particular. i drew this for myself.  :) 

 

above (left):  graphite on paper.  i drew this for an employee of mine.  her girlfriend is an aspiring musician.  she's been playing at local bars for quite some time and well, my employee decided to help her on her way.  so she wanted to surprise her g/f with hard copies of her cd.  she's a fan of whiskey and smokes a lot.  and here you have it... the drawing. 

above (right):  here's the actual cd draft.

above (left):  the birthday card i made for rachael, my coworker.  any time we hang out it always involves fun and food. and i saw this sticker and immediately thought of her.  

above (right):  the card's envelope i made her.

ps- emily... i have trouble with the formatting.  every time i want to add a picture, it goes down in a single file line.  i like how yours is set up where it's going across... but i'm having trouble, in that it sometimes doesn't want to move. (if this made any sense, let me know) :)

sick...

So, i'm kind of sick.... have had a soar throat all week and coughing.  meh.....

i'm going to make this short so here's some artwork :)

Above (left):  Drawing paper on wooden panels.  This was a collaborative piece.

Above (center):  Ink on paper.  I was flying out to SF a couple years ago and was obviously bored on the plane.  

Above (right):  graphite on paper.  i was bored one night and drew a picture of my brother's dice.

Above (left):  Colored pencil on graphite.  aunt stella works for a shelter and her organization was holding their annual event and was in search for an artist.  i was picked.  it was a lot harder than expected since we had to do everything via email & phone. but we did it :)

Above (center):  i drew this for my roommate karrie.  we were inseparable in college.  i knew her from day one of our college days.  i first met her at our minority of affairs meeting & knew that we were going see each other quite often.  i considered her to be one of my best friends.  one day, shortly after the new year in 2005, i believe, she received a terrifying call from her younger brother.  we were about to head out for the night, but did not see this coming.  it was one of the saddest things i have witnessed.  her mom and suddenly and unexpectedly stopped breathing and was not able to be resuscitated.  her mom & brother were her only family.  her dad was not in the picture, at least not favorably.  i will never forget that night.  i called my mom that night and told her what happened and told her i loved her.  this picture was a gift for karrie in tribute to her mom.  in the past few years, i have lost touch with karrie.  certain circumstances just didn't allow us to be the same as we were.  but i will always be there for her no matter what.  despite our paths going in different directions, they will some day meet back again.  may not be now, not tomorrow, now next year... but some day.  i'll always value our friendship and she'll always be my party partner.

Above (right):  permanent ink on paper.  something i created when i first moved back with my parents.  i took being away from eric pretty hard.  to go from seeing him almost everyday and being able to see him whenever i wanted to limited weekends a month.  i drew this and sent it to him. he loved it.  

 Above:  graphite on paper.  i created this piece for a friend of mine, whom i met at the bookstore when i was in college.  we worked together.  she was, then 17, a unique person.  not to mention, young.  she had many aspirations for her life.  after i moved back, she had moved to chicago to pursue a degree in comparative human development.  she seems to be doing extremely well and making a name for herself in the communities of LGBT & others.  she asked me to design a tattoo for her and both her and i worked together to create an idea.  she mainly told me how she wanted it to look (guidelines) and i put it on paper.  this piece can be found on her right lower leg (calf area). 

hope you enjoyed it.