Very thankful for so much. I have a lot, exactly what I need to keep on keepin on. Thanking god everyday for the things given to me but more importantly,  the things taken away. It's been nice coming into a quiet and peaceful home, sharing my morning with Kaori. 

I'm so close to wrapping up the imagine and daydream series. Would have never imagined I finished a series, became featured in imaginefx and art directed a pilot to show.

I have a few more outfits from this new aesthetic exploration, and a new piercing; my tragus. I've wanted this thing forever,  and Trevor was amazing. The appointment was very quick and he talked me into getting the daith at the next visit !

The skirt needs to be ironed or steamed, it's been in storage for 2 years. I would prefer a darker color but the purpose is to use what I have on my closet. Adding a lace long sleeve shirt underneath is absolutely goated.  I did it with 2 boxy oversize sweatshirts too with docs and my shorter skirt , but I don't have pictures of those outfits yet. 

 Im probably going to revise this post later on tonight. Ive ordered a few things to get my black chucks wearable and  my pins to get the graphic cut outs onto the oversized Tshirt. Im going to style that with a black harness and metal necklace with either the chucks or my docs when they get here.

Anywho, this is how I styled my pink chucks today for my piercing appointment. I scheduled a tragus piercing, Ive ALWAYS wanted one and it looks amazing. On a scale of 1-10, Id probably put it at a 2-3. A bit more pinchy then expected but really not bad at all. Would def get the other one done

I wanted to find a pink graphic shirt to go with the chucks, but I picked out one of the band tees I was given at my friends funeral from her husband. They're big Ghost fans and he unloaded a ton of Ghost shirts on me and I love wearing them. I then chose a pair of my thrifted jeans, white tube socks and a chain belt. I have a sword earring in on my left ear, and studs on my right.

The cutouts from the bloody disgusting thrifted shirt. Ill be sewing or safety pinning these to my other shirt and styling it that way. I love exploring this as a new media!

Ive been into alt fashion for a bit but never felt I truly got the concept. Ive been watching a lot of thrifting vids and I enjoy thrifted finds. I bit the bullet on a pair of Burgundy Sinclair Docs, absolutely LOVE the silhouette of these shoes. I was going to wait until graduation but Ive got 2 more semesters to get the drip.

I figured Id have a few staple pieces and kind of make them my own. I love graphic tees but I sometimes dont always like the tee the print is on. In my finds above, the horror T, the print is all on the back. So what Id like to do is cut out most of the designs on both Ts(the BB T maybe just the icons) and bobby pin to some of my other staples.

I have a few black denim jackets and long/oversized black tshirts that would be perfect for this. I also picked up two pairs of chucks for about 25.00. The black needs a set of laces but I LOVE the red/black combo. 

I figure the black/red chucks with an oversize black T, black leggings , my IT socks and the horror designs appliqued to the basic pieces would make for a fantastic alt outfit. And I can reuse the graphics on other pieces too!

 Ive had a very good summer, despite the sudden loss of my longtime friend Alli, my summer has been relaxing and I was able to do some travelling, meet new people, and complete the Imagine and Daydream series.

  Im also excited to get back to school in a few weeks and finally wrap up this degree. Ive been thinking a lot of what Im going to do after. Do I pursue a Masters? Do I move out of NYS? There are a few opportunities coming my way and for the first time in a long time, I dont have a path forward. Not that this matters, I think for now Im just enjoying the ride. 

Also, Fall! Fall is right around the corner and I usually decorate early. I have plans for my living room already, new shelves to put up and maybe some light up trees. Ive already jumped into some horror, earlier this year I watched Together, SO good. I discovered "The Blackwell Ghost" found footage/mockumentary horror. Pretty decent for one filmmaker coming up with a brand of his own. Chernobyl diaries was another I found, fantastic premise but fell flat imo.

WWE is coming back to Buffalo next week and Im heading down to watch live, and then Breaking Benjamin is coming to Darien next month and I can finally grab a ticket!!!

***A few travel photos** 

 Sometimes the war within requires me to confront my opinion on whether or not I want to make content to share, for the purpose of sharing. Something scheduled. 

I've gotten into watching Amagansett press videos and his sons vids. Is it the worst thing in the world to have a spotlight in the public eye or am I selling out? I haven't decided. It might be fun to be a brand. Maybe not. 

Anyway,  some recent progress on the next book in the imagination and daydream series. I think it's time to start a new chapter . We press on boys .

I'm trying to be more conscious of my decision making. At the heart of it, I'm a post minimalist that loves being an impressionist. So I care about showcasing the process and I love capturing the essence of the thing. I have to actively not produce messier work but something more sophisticated and drawn out. In layman's terms, I need to slow down and take my time and not let the stream of conscious win. This is what I'm trying to do here with the last 3 books on the series. I have more control when I plan which makes for easier final work.

 

A few things that give me some comfort. I've been watching Lana solo life reels, she's a 20 something that has no friends and lives alone. She had bought these wine glasses and puts her diet cokes in them. I never drink soda but tonight I indulged with my breaded chicken . It definitely makes you feel a bit more sophisticated drinking from them lol. I'll stick to sparkling water from now on though. 

Also my two new jellycats arrived for my coffee bar. My mom got me a large coffee cup and I picked up a macaroon and an espresso shot. Really cute 😍 

 

A few shots using some 90s polaroid presets in lightroom. I havent been feeling up to drawing lately. And Im unsure if I ever will again. Im still creative, but because of all the emotional damage done to me the past 3-4 years, I just have no desire to invest in it anymore. The constant lows and highs have been a bit too much and maybe I suffer from Anhedonia, maybe its permanent loss but the mountain is too high to climb now and my resiliancy has faded. Maybe switching over to photography will be good for my soul

 I finally made it down to North Park Theaters 14th annual Ghibli chalk contest. Its been a few years, battling my own demons and life's toss ups that I havent had the desire to participate. Proud of finishing this one.

I had made a quick concept sketch of what I wanted to do, wanted to keep it simple and only a few colors to save money/time. It gets very hot, and in the past ive spent the full 2 days working on a piece. Blending hurts your hands, and there's always a risk of bad weather passing through. One year they did a DBZ/Ghibli mashup and I chose to draw Haku alsongside Shenron/Shenlong. It ended up raining overnight and I couldnt get back to it, but a local photographer had gotten some nice photos the previous day.

I placed 2nd for a Kiki's delivery service homage to the bread sign outside the bakery one year, and the first year I ever did it, I was living in my hometown 4 hours away and drove to participate. I ended up drawing Ponyo's mom, Granmamare and it was my first time experiencing the heat.

Anyway, here are the shots of the finished piece. I chatted with the guy who runs it, Chris, who ive known for a long time. I bought him a milkshake from Churn down the street and we talked about the upcoming Odyssey movie and I might have a board game night buddy now for Gather and Game downtown. Will I go see ODyssey? Probably. Will I like it? Thats debatable.

 

Breakfast with walden

 I think that words like pictures are an expression of artistic thought. 

 Reading is inheritenly good for the soul , it's fuel for the creative drive. Like my separation from social media and an expectation to keep up with the digital joneses,  I have been having my meals away from my pc, away from phone and all things that keep me a buzz ( I know I took the picture....I digress). 

 I hopped back into the illustrated Walden. Part memoir , part philosophical musings,  it's a fantastic reminder to gain a sense of self reliance and to live simply. Ive written down some of my favorite phrases and quotes and use it as a bookmark. I highly recommend this book to those who have lost a sense of their footing. This is a great early morning inspirational read and I like to indulge myself after a workout or walk around my neighborhood. Fresh air and a fresh mind.

Trying to be better everyday,  as futile as that may be. Perception over reality 🙃

 

I should have some new art soon! I was on my way to pickup some art supplies for my late dogs memorial painting and then we had a severe thunderstorm. I decided to just wait it out and enjoy the storm!

 Havent updated since april 11th, holy smokes. 

Life has been good and busy! I dont have any new art to showcase as anything Im doing now is NDA. But I should be bringing on a new client shortly and I have 3 new books with my old client to wrap up.

I did, however, check out a local Japanese import market - Makoto. Theyre really close and Ive been wanting to go for ages just never had the time. It was a GORGEOUS day so I finally headed over. TONS of blind boxes, food, snacks, skin care, etc. I picked up some koala cream filled snacks, finally played a gachapon(Green ball) and got a pink fennec fox. I got Calcifer from the chibi blind box, one of my favorite characters. The Card captor sakura outfit stand figure was actually super cool and I used to watch that show as a kid, some of my early art was influenced by it. I ended up getting Sakura's school outfit. A recent Miffy fan, I got a Boris the bear keychain, some really cute office post it notes, pens and some nail art stickers that Im going to have put on the next time I get my nails did.

The packaging, real cute! I even added in my Rishi sweet matcha box because thats going in the sketchbook too. First time trying it!

The haul

The cute

I posted the boxes/tags because Im going to be adding these to my sketchbook. I love the artwork that some packaging has and I really want to save it in my sketchbook so I can look back on it and appreciate it again. I think mod podge is going to be the way to go!