New Item!: Cool - Tsumetai

What I would give for having a nice Olympic sized pool by my house. So hot I'm melting. Actually all this week it's been so cold in the San Francisco Bay Area I had to break out my winter tights already. Thankfully the weather is warming up for the weekend.

I just posted a new ACEO if you wish to purchase a bit of original art. Check it out!

Cool - Tsumetai - Original Tranding Card (ACEO) Sized Art

This also reminds me: It's shopping seasod! Back to school sales are also when clothing stores bring out their fall/winter inventory. Blow outs on lighter, cotton clothes for those last hot days of summer. There are some bargains to be had!

What Do I Do With a Goof?

See this piece on the right? It says 大喜び (おおよろこび pronounced 'oh-oh-yo-ro-ko-bee'). What does it mean? Delight, or glee.

Yes, glee. Like the TV show with not teenagers singing their parents' high school pop songs with some newer songs thrown in for fun.

Anyway. I made this piece to sell. I wanted to show a little bit of humor and pop culture in my otherwise super classy shop. (I'd like to think it's classy =p) I took this picture and did the biggest facepalm I've done this month.

So what's the problem? I can't sell it anymore. There are two strokes missing from the 喜 section. It's like forgetting to cross your t's and dot your i's. I feel like an idiot.

But the irrational, likely artistic, part of me can't bear to just throw this out. The little fella didn't choose to have two strokes missing. Do I give this to someone? Do I leave it somewhere to find? Any idea would totally help.

Rest Well, Old Friend

Sometimes it's hard to let go. Time passes and at some point they just tell you 'Leave me here, I'll be fine. Go on now. Don't worry about me anymore.' You don't want them to go but at the same time you can't bear to see them suffer.

I can't believe I'm saying this about a paint brush.

I've had this student grade sumi brush for about 7 years now. I learned calligraphy with it. I practiced sumi-e with it. Brushes have come and gone but this old brush was the constant in my collection. Now I see signs of its age. The hair doesn't hold ink as it used to. The suppleness is gone. The once strong brush base lost its foundation. The old ink doesn't wash off like it used to.

For some reason, I thought it told me, 'Just one more time,' like in sports movies. The old veteran just wants one more shot before riding into the sunset. It'll have just enough strength for one more piece.

I looked through my sumi-e book for an appropriate figure, and found the chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum is considered one of the 'Four Gentlemen' of sumi-e, representing fall. When brewed as a tea, the aroma and taste are believed to cure the flu. Chrysanthemums are found in Japan as symbols of the Emperor and the royal line. A dignified way for my old brush to go.

The finished piece is still drying. I will be using the finished picture as part of a larger project.

Oddly enough I want to give the brush a small funeral. In Japan it is believed that certain objects have a spirit (神 pronounced kah-mi). Such spirited objects should be properly revered (not thrown away) lest the spirit comes back to curse you. I'm very sentimental with this brush. A memorial is the least I can do for it.

Rest well, old friend.

I'm in Treasuries!

Seriously, this is an overwhelming amount of love to discover while I was out this long Memorial Day weekend. I honestly don't know where to begin thanking everyone for adding my work to Etsy's Treasury East galleries.

What makes Treasury East different from the (defunct) West and Main? First, Treasury East is permanent. Second, you can create however many galleries you want. What stays the same? Etsy IT system ninja administrators will determine what's hot by clicks, comments, and if it's been linked to other websites.

Thank you thank you thank you for the support and love! <3

Click here to visit 'Gorgeous Greens from the Handmade Highway' by bprdesigns


Click here to visit 'Fine Writing' by ericadaley


Click here to visit 'Things that are yellow for no reason' by CarolynsCollection


Click here to visit 'Romance is Golden' by Analiese

I Made a Treasury!: Chinoiserie

In my college days I took Asian Art History class to fulfill my humanities requirement. (That sounded like a lot more fun to me than 'Intro to Anthropoligy'.) It surprised me to learn a lot of what I considered "Asian" art are actually European and American interpretations of ancient Chinese art. It was a huge trend back when the mythical East was considered a magical land, not the other side of the world. Genuine Chinese art and earthenware sold like hot cakes with the rich. Enterprising artists did their best to mimic this popular style. Hence the French term for the movement, Chinoiserie. It's "like Chinese", but that doesn't mean it is Chinese in origin. Congratulations to everyone that made it in the listing and the alternate candidates!

Click here to visit the 'Chinoiserie' Treasury

I'm in a Treasury!: RED

Before I went to bed last night I posted a new piece of art depicting tulips. I wake up and discover it's already in a treasury (I'm on the bottom right corner)! And the curator's first one! I feel so honored.

Maybe it was a good idea to post at a random time. Please go check out Myamigo's very first treasury.

Click here to visit the RED Treasury

New at the Shop: Bloom - Saku

Posted a new item at my Etsy shop. It uses a new 'canvas' for me called shikishi (しきし pronounced 'she-ki-she'). A few accepted translations for this smooth cardboard surface is 'sign board,' 'autograph board,' and 'art board'. If you ever go to a Japanese restaurant you may see celebrities sign autographs on these boards. Very good for inks, watercolors and light washes.

I liked the balance between the realistic branches and buds with the more pop graphic design of the blossom. It was also my first time really using my watercolor pencils to a significant extent in my art. I'm clearly having far too much fun with this style.

As always, it's available for purchase for US$25.00

Art Session: WIP shot.

Working on some Tiki-themed artwork for The Hive Creations. This one is still drying but I love it already. There's the face of a tiki on the left, volcanic stone in the middle, and a really bright slice of pineapple.



After some dinner and a break I'll be back to work making the final piece to this puzzle.

Gung Hay Fat Choy and Happy Fat Tuesday!, New Outlet

My neighbor is Chinese and gave me a red envelope. She treats me like I'm her kid. I know red envelopes should only be for little kids but she's such a sweet old lady I couldn't help but accept the gift.

Happy Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras y'all! My boyfriend is giving up sushi (his favorite food) so we're going to eat a big sushi dinner tonight. I decided to give up on online shopping for Lent. It's going to be nerve wracking because I love the convenience and the distraction at work. More time for calligraphy and art!

Other news: The Hive Creations, a neat Tiki-themed gift shop based in Florida, has accepted my consignment inquiry! Now I can reach a whole new range of customers. I decided to create original artwork that combines to form a set if a buyer wants to get all three paintings. Really excited to take part on this new venture.

Christmas Presents: Something small and sweet

Erin and I were roomies during our college days. She's moved on to graduate (before I did!) and is now doing awesome things in concept art and video games. I decided to send a little Christmas Present with the Christmas card I mailed her.

Erin has a huge thing for bats, and I have this terrible, unbroken habit of drawing cute characters. Sure enough there was a blank ACEO-sized card that was screaming at me to doodle on. The little doll this bat-girl is carrying is my interpretation of Erin's boyfriend.

I'm in a Treasury! - Tsukiakari

Many thanks to suiseki for featuring my Tea - Cha series in their "Tsukiakari" (moonlight) treasury! They added a little bit of poetry to boot!

Click here to see the 'Tsukiakari' Treasury
in the moonlight
subtle shifting patterns
against the windowpane

Christmas Presents Batch 1

Whoo boy good thing there's rain today. I was forced to stay indoors and paint.


The first painting I did was for a good friend who's a huge Sonic the Hedgehog fan. I did Sonic in my personal favorite form, Super Sonic. Back in my middle school years Dragon Ball Z fanart was my life. I drew Goku so often that now I don't even need reference images for his Super Saiyajin form. Early Super Sonic images resemble SSJ Goku too. I decided I liked the gold paint I used so much that I would use it in my remaining paintings as a tying theme.

I continued on to my Secret Santas. Since this is a comic book themed Secret Santa I knew I would be doing a lot of research to get the right characters, authors, and facts. On top of 'normal' presents that I planned to give them anyway I decided to make a few paintings as well. I would hate to waste good acrylic paint too.

The next painting was inspired by Superman: Red Son. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend it. Imagine if Superman crash landed onto Soviet Russia rather than the United States. The Man of Steel is Stalin's greatest komrade. This painting doesn't depict a specific scene from the comic book, but I felt it would likely be in it. If you look carefully you may find another familiar DC character in the darkness.


Continuing on my next Secret Santee's favorite Green Lantern character is Guy Gardner. I admit I wasn't pleased with trying to depict a bowl cut, but I learned through a few character biographies that Guy Gardner has the strange haircut in homage to his own favorite comic book character. So the bowl cut stayed, as well as the funky 70's era vest design.


The last one for the weekend is this painting. My Secret Santee is a Patriots fan as well as a DC fan. I put two and two together. His favorite Patriots players (Tom Brady and Ben Watson) as his two favorite DC characters. The hardest part of this painting was matching the colors to the official ones for the Patriots uniforms. That blue (officially called 'nautical blue') isn't quite Navy but not quite indigo. The red is just ever-so-slightly brick red. Ah well, at least it made filling in the line art with color worth the wait.


Phew, done with the first batch! Four down and four to go!

Lotus Series 4 of 4, Presents (continued)

Last one for this series! I'm glad they're all up at my shop now.

Art - Lotus Series v1 - 4 of 4 - Mixed Media on Plywood


Looks like my Internet Secret Santa list has exploded. I'm keeping my vow to give handmade presents, though for my SS these will likely be paintings or drawings. Hopefully my Santees won't find out about this blog and spoil their surprises! =o

Lotus Series - 3 of 4, Presents

Another painting before Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the madness only known as 'The Holidays.'

Art - Lotus Series v1 - 3 of 4 - Mixed Media on Plywood


I'm sure I'm not alone in my decision to send some handmade presents this year. Running a craft shop has given me plenty of extra materials to put together for fun gifts. Maybe it won't be as charming as my niece's construction paper Christmas ornaments, but they'll be made with love all the same.

I figure at the rate I'll be mailing presents I'll be known by first name at my post office.

Lotus series - 2 of 4

Now up for sale at my Etsy shop.

Artwork - Lotus Series v1 - 2 of 4 - Mixed Media on Plywood



This piece is a big departure from the first one. While the first was very graphic and symmetrical, this piece seemed to grow from the single large paper petal in the middle of the flower. Lighting has once again made the lime green background far too saturated.

Going up for sale - Lotus (series)

After weeks of hard work and putting paint marks on my coffee table I'm officially ready to put these babies up for sale.

It's a pain to take pictures of something that I intentionally made so bright. Too much light and its "Oh God my eyes burn!" Too little light and none of the colors stand out. In my mind it's better too bright than not bright enough.

Here's the first one already up for sale at my Etsy shop.

Artwork - Lotus Series v1 - 1 of 4 - Mixed Media on Plywood

By the by...

...I made it into another art book! Hooray! =D

This book's theme is 'paranormal' to correspond to the October release date. Preorder the book now before its 250 copies are sold out!

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/858441

Lotus - My moment of zen

I make a point to block off at least one part of one day in any given weekend to have a moment of zen. Some people go to the gym, others go to a night club or bar, I decide to put the supplies I bought over the week to good use.

The Asian Art Museum visit still lights a fire in my soul. The statues and depictions of Buddha over a lotus captured my imagination. I could also hear my Asian art history teacher in my college days telling me how such and such monks traveled to some faraway land and such and such and Buddhism spread. (Yeah I swear some lectures sounded just like that.) I wanted to do my own take on the lotus flower. What drove me the following weeks was to find the right materials to bring it to life.

A lot of trips to Michael's and JoAnn's, buying little tubes of paint or brushes and whatever else. "Oooh that'll work perfect," or "Look! And it's on clearance. Mwahahaha I have shopping karma today." (Yeah sometimes I cackle in public places. Try it some time it will make you feel a lot better.)

I finally got to painting today. Catching up on shows I missed on my DV-R, I was happy as can be. Of course I made a great mess on my coffee table. There's still glue stuck in my fingernails. But you know what?

Worth iiiiiiiiiiit!





I am seriously considering making a series of this lotus and selling them at my shop. But I want to see how this piece turns out after the glue really dries.

Very satisfied with my work. Time for a late night snack and then a long night's rest.

Needs more color--In case you were wondering.

Just in case you guys were confused about what I was kicking myself over, here it is:



I'm not completely discouraged though. I now realize I have to do something else to realize my vision. On the bright side this piece does show the silver pixie dust I mixed with my clouds really well. Time to make some adjustments and improve.

Needs more color. Ichibankan and Daiso for cheap stuff

I've been working on my first serious painting in forever and I'm not happy with it. Sure watercolors brought the soft texture I wanted but none of the color saturation. So after work today I'm gonna get get myself a starter kit of heavy body acrylics and some brushes. Maybe some gel medium too, since I want to do water themed pieces.

Also thank goodness for places like Ichiban Kan and Daiso. These two shops provide decent goods on the cheap, sort of like Target and Wal-Mart in the U.S. I've also been frequenting those stores when I want to get Japanese art supplies without the Japanese price tag. Granted neither of these stores have a deep selection of art related goods, but they got the stuff you'll need in a pinch.