A New Stage in Life

My American Art History class has finally reached the point in the course where we learn about Post-modernism and how new doesn’t always mean better and with all of the technology that we’ve been given, maybe we need to re-learn how to communicate and relate to one another. Many times we spend hours in front of the tv, computer or game console isolating ourselves and we wonder why we have anxiety being around other people and the thought of moving out of our parent’s house is debilitating. The youth of middle-class America haven’t been given the tools needed to become independent because our parents want to give us everything they never had growing up, but it’s a disservice. And if we want to find the career path that is going to make us happy, which may be a postmodern concept because we can’t all be American Idols, doctors and Basketball stars, after all, we have to learn how to work and be, not just independent, but self-sufficient.

I say all of this because it took me a long time to figure out that I could learn to work hard. I worked on my undergraduate studies thinking I could become a doctor so that I could do good in the world, help people, but more importantly support myself and my future family. It didn’t work out that way, because I wasn’t able to keep up with the studies for the pre-med program and I ended up taking philosophy and art courses instead. It took me four long years to reconcile the issue of being an artist and trying to become financially successful in a way that I know is very Americanized and the idea that success instantaneous and does not come from financial independence. It comes from giving every task everything that you have: your full attention and your best work, whether it is waiting tables or putting a brush to the canvas. Right now I’m sitting in the living room trying to get through a mountain of work: school work, GRE prep, marketing clients, Docent training manuals, the list goes on and on, while my husband is walking around the house with his guitar in hand working on the next “big hit.”

These Animals is working on their first full-length album and working with Directions International for their webisode feature on the DI internet tv channel that is in production as we speak. I never would have thought that we would be living outside of New York City and working on making it all happen.

At the end of the month I will be taking the GRE test to apply for grad school for Fall 2012 to work on a master’s degree in Art History. I’m incredibly nervous and I keep reminding myself that even if the master’s degree doesn’t lead me to a job in Marketing, Development and Curating in a museum or gallery (my career of choice) I know that it will give me the education I need to become more appreciative of art and perhaps lead me to teach, paint or even write, or maybe all of the above.

A lot of us have goals about what we want to be when we grow up, where we see ourselves in five or ten years and what we think it might look like when we finally move into the career path of our choosing. It means a lot of hard work and sleepless nights. But if you have a willing heart and set aside the self-doubt, simply doing the work necessary to get to the place that you dream about can be satisfying if you are patient.

Bicoastal Love

As a native of California living on the East Coast, I often get asked, “what the heck made you come all the way over here??” The answer is simple: I went to college in upstate New York, just south of Buffalo, in a little hamlet called Houghton, population 1,748 as of 2000. Saying that it was a change of scenery was an understatement: the snowfall and the rolling hills covered in fall-colored trees followed by the rain-filled summer days was unlike anything I had experienced in the Bay Area. My first May in New York was met with astonishment: “why is it raining?? It’s May!!” “What do you mean,” my friend replied. “Of course it’s raining. It always rains in May.” I couldn’t believe she just accepted all this precipitation as normalcy. I was surprised to find out that I had grown up in an area of the world that is extremely rare, it’s as if a faucet shuts off in April and turns back on in late October and in all of my 28 years, it has rained in my hometown on Halloween every year.

One would think that I would pack it all up and head back to the Golden State, but what made me stay was a little more complicated. I fell in love with a young man, a native of Buffalo, (who craves the mid-winter freeze as much as I crave the dry over-one-hundred-degree sumer), which is where I moved after graduating. Shortly thereafter he took the plunge into music production, studied at Purchase college, proposed, graduated and then we got married a week later in Tahoe, California and now we live in the “Greater New York City Area” (a.k.a. we’re too proud to say we live in CT so we pretend that we’re still New Yorkers).

So please enjoy my sentiments above! I hope to make t-shirts soon so I can show off my bi-coastal love!

 

 

 

Four Shows in Six Days

This week has been a whirlwind!

Friday night at the Brillobox in Pittsburgh, PA with Big Hurry, Saturday night at the Meeker Avenue Flea Market on Frost Street and Monday night at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn with Glorious Veins, and (last but not least) Wednesday night at the Cakeshop in Manhattan on Ludlow Street with Infinity Holtel.

Love the fact that the boys are playing so many shows this month, but boy am I beat! Keep a look out for more shows in the NYC area. These Animals is on the lookout for like-minded bands to put together consistent shows in Brooklyn and Manhattan. So if you guys have any great suggestions, let us know! And don’t forget to head on over to Facebook for more details about future shows.

In other news, I’ve been pretty happy with using watercolors over my “doodles” and thought I would try out abstractions. Let me know what you think!

Peace, Love and Cupcakes

Somehow I’ve gotten SUPER busy…..I went from leaving my full-time job and cruising for the summer so that I could enjoy more time with my husband, family and friends, go on tour with this amazing band, so I could find out what my next step would be, to having multiple and possibly new clients (let’s hope!) whom I will be assisting with their online marketing local community events endeavors, going back to school for Art History, applying for grad schools for next fall, docent training at a local museum, and recently I started working at a little cafe for extra moolah.

I’ve also started getting back into my artwork, which feels amazing, and I hope to move all of my pursuits towards supporting young, local artists and grassroots artistic projects. I sometimes feel like I already live in an artist collective with all of the raw talent that hangs out at my house. My husband and I also have super talented roommates, but having all of these people around feels much more like having a family who shares their space, their time, their food and their passions with one another. One of our roommates will be moving out by the end of the month and it’s going to be a huge transition. He’s a major player in helping everyone stay motivated because of all that he does. He’s in a band, he’s an artist and he also recently quit his full-time job to give to spend all of his time on his music and illustrations. He inspires all of us to be better at what he do, and not only that, but think about how to be financially successful while doing it. So this post goes out to Adam McHeffey, musician, artist, illustrator and entrepreneur.

My husband cleaned out his studio/office today so that everyone could come in and practice or lounge and just hang out, and it’s going to make it more noticeable when Adam leaves.

As for my artwork, today’s drawing is about world peace, which, as many of you would agree, could be solved with baked goods. If everyone made cupcakes for their friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances and threatening super-powers, the world would be a much friendlier place. Don’t you think?

Zombies and Julia Roberts

 

Hubby has been working on his reel to promote his foley capabilities (see: n., “sound geek”) and I got to put on my makeup artist cap. Adam McHeffey from Swear and Shake volunteered to be lead zombie, terrorizing our suburban neighborhood. We had to stop a couple of times to let the cars and neighbors go by, all of them gawking as they passed, but the shots are great and I hope to send you all an update for that by next week.

 

The painting is coming along, but my brush technique is sorely lacking, so I’m going to keep it moving through the week, but if it doesn’t look the way I want by the weekend I may take some advice and work on something I’m more familiar with than portraits.

And the small beta fish might turn into a robot after seeing the “Art of Contemporary Illustration” at the Bendheim Gallery in the Greenwich Arts Council building with works by Ted Mikulski. It’s a free show in Greenwich, CT that will be up until November 6th, so if you get the chance, check it out!

Day 12

Only a couple days left of the tour and it’s been quite a ride. We’ve met some amazing people, hung out with family and seen of towns I’ve never been to before. I wish I had taken more pictures but I have a lot of good memories and new friends to take with me.

The band’s status online is picking up and they’re excited to be talking about new music and more tours in the very near future. It’s almost overwhelming to see how quickly everything has been moving since the boys first decided to go on tour and I can’t wait to find out what’s next. Touring has given me a lot of inspiration for my own work and helped me to open up a part of me that I don’t always allow myself to share. We’ve all had moments of joy in our lives and this entire trip is definitely one of those, but through meeting all of these artists, I’ve also realized that it can be beautiful to touch the darker parts of life as well and to try express them visually or with music without fear or trepidation. Emotions like fear, rejection, heartache and regret. With that in mind, I hope to use this blog to post pictures and artwork that are inspired by These Animals, their music and the wonderful people we meet along our journey.

How Far Is Too Far?

When you’re in a relationship with an artist, whether their medium is paint or guitar licks, there is usually a low period regarding their economic status. It doesn’t mean that things won’t pick up, it just means that right now you may be in a tight spot. As the “better half” of this partnership, one may wonder how long this phase may last. But what if it’s not a phase? What if this is it and you’re the one left paying the bills as the “responsible one”? It doesn’t always end up this way and it may be something we all fear because the gluttony of society needs us to fear as the “starving artist” because even though some artists do flash the glitter and the extravagance, some of them dare to reject consumerism and we need to vilify these people because perhaps they are showing us the truth about ourselves and because of this we think we have cause for fear when our partner doesn’t have a traditional source of income with the 401K, benefits and stock options.

But don’t we all remember the movies where the musicians always have a part-time job at record store/temp agency/meaningless, soul-crushing occupation that they are just using to bide their time while they are scheming their “next big move”? That’s what it’s all about and there are some that can deal and others who can’t. If you think you’re the latter, maybe you should have a talk or at the very least keep in mind that after your rocker-boy fling, you know that you need to settle down with that CPA that your aunt’s friend introduced you to at the last family get-together. It’s not for you and that’s OK. Just please, please understand that if you think you’ve gone too far outside of your comfort zone, you say something before it’s too late. Chances are that your partner already expects you and probably everyone else to feel this way. So speak up and let them know if coming home to “potential” rock star is not what you had in mind when you got together.

If you’re the latter, be sure to stay strong and tweet me for support!!