DAY 7

Morning!

Well My Parents moved on to their next destination (my house in San Francisco) and I got to have a Parent slumber party along with my roommate & his brother. We trekked around San Francisco and got to visit our favorite places It's always interesting to figure out "what would my dad like" which is usually completely different from what my mom and I would like, although in this case we could find some common ground: exotic car dealership. Dad and I posed in front of some Porsches to imagine that they were our own :)

If you haven't discovered Korean Barbecue yet, let me introduce you. You, I'm pleased to introduce you to the MASTERS OF MEAT. They have these carefully crafted marinades that just really work and they cook meat in a way that makes you feel proud and lucky to be a carnivore. Along side any meat that you may order, they will give you a myriad of small side dishes which are a combo of pickled veggies or tiny dried fishes or other marinated items, that taste AMAZING when you eat them with your food.

In Addition to the korean restaurant, my Mom and I found this store that you must visit called "Daiso" which is between SF and Daly City. It's basically a Japanese Dollar store. I will leave the discovering to you. You will thank me.

Succulent Plants by the way are supposedly very easy to manage and survive in many different climates and don't need alot of sun or water. My grandmother is an incredible gardener and has this way of making her patio seem like a magical, well kept wonderland. We took some clippings from her succulent plants (which just means cutting off some healthy shoots from the main plant) and putting them into some soil. They looked kind of sad and floppy at first, but they actually grow a root structure extremely quickly. It's been two days since we planted them, and they are starting to look strong and are beginning to grow upwards. Its really a miracle.

To top it off, my roommate was gifted a Limited Edition Beatles Rockband game for the Wii which is probably one of the most fun things you can do with a group of people. I'm having a really excellent time over this holiday and really truly value my family time. I know it's a common realization, but as I've been getting older I've really started to become aware of how fragile life is and how our family really is so precious.

Day 6 Norman Rockwellesque Vacation

Good Morning :D

Here was my lovely trip to Carmel (One of the most beautiful places to live)

We met up at my grandmother's house who I have been visiting since I was a wee lass. Carmel is one of those nostalgic places for me, the smells, the little streets, the beach. This is one of the only west coast beaches where you can bring a dog-unleashed, so the beach is always filled with happy pups playing around with each other and their fastidious owners tailing behind with plastic doggie bags.

My family is really excellent. I'm so grateful that they are in my life. I think we've all gone through alot of changing together and working our quirks out, so it's actually really fun and filling to be with eachother. We don't really plan any events, so we just sit around talking, laughing, cooking, eating.

My Grandmother Dop (the unique named coined by me when I was a toddler) makes THE BEST pancakes. Thin and fragile, buttermilky/crepe-ish. They are paired perfectly with butter and her seasonal home-made jam. This time she made a jam out of a fruit I wasn't aware of called a "pluot" which is an Aprico-Plum hybrid. So the jam was ruby apricot colored and tasted like a richer version of apricot with hidden basetones. I grew up with this every time we visit grandma and I love that i can be an adult and still come back to it. It's good every time.

The homes and such are my grandmother's neighboring houses. The town really is filled with incredible custom storybook homes on teeny tiny lots. You should go there just to take a long walk and get home inspiration.

I hope you had a really joyful holiday, whoever you may be.

DAY 5

Mornin' - Most of you are opening presents right now :D Have a nice time!

I'm on my way to Carmel today to spend some quality time with Family.. Carmel is one of the most beautiful spots on earth by the way, so I'll try to include you on that, as well as some funny dog pictures hopefully. I think one of my favorite pass-times growing up was dressing up animals and my brother.

Here's my finished painting from last night.. I'll be posting a time lapse video of my process shortly (though I need better lighting in the future).. I've only got one electrical outlet in my studio, so things can get a little tricky.

Day 4 Model Label & Letterpress Books

Wakie Wakie Eggs & Bac-ie!

Here's the label for the boxes that I'm packaging the cervixes in - thought it turned out really well:

Also I got to go work in the studio today downtown.. I love this studio, it's filled with old printmaking equiment and huge windows that let in tons of sunlight, overlooking South San Francisco. I went there because they have huge cutting tables for this project I finally have time to work on. It's a letterpressed book called "it's Nice to be Nice" - filled with little memories I have of things my Grandfather used to tell my mom and she used to tell me. Ways to be courteous to other people and to just be "nice" for lack of a better adjective.

I'll show you the finished books soon, the printing for this was the most fun part - My mom came to visit and we were in the studio together working on the press. She was my supreme helper, we got it down to such a rhythm. This little book is infused with good memories and feelings :) Below are some pics of the studio as well as me cutting/folding the pages for my book.

Day 3

ehhhhh. I'm awake. Feels like pulling a bandaid. Gotta hop out of bed quick.

But here, for your enjoyment:

MEDICAL MODEL PART II

Finally I finished these Cervix Medical Models. This was a really long process! It took a very long time to figure out exactly what materials I needed to use for the model itself so that it can be clamped and sewn into like real flesh.. and still be transparent enough to see into the pink "core" area..

The awesome part has been creating the stand for it, which you saw in my previous medical model post. In one of the pictures you see liquid silicone being poured into a mold that I made.. It takes about 1 day for it to "cure" and become its mature, bendy silicone self.

For you DIYers, I figured out how to make custom plastic packaging using sandwich bags and a woodburning kit. There's a picture of it below - but the trick is to pick out a woodburning tip that is somewhat rounded yet pointy (not too sharp) There needs to be enough surface area in contact with the sheets of plastic so that they melt together instead of just being cut. The next important part is that the two pieces of plastic are TOUCHING eachother.. If there is any air between the plastic sheets, it won't melt together, it will just cut. I used a metal chopstick to hold the sheets in place, and I ended up making pretty cool packages for my silicone models (which I wanted to keep very clean in transit). Hope you like! - I'm super proud

Day 2

Gah. I'm awake. It burns.

Here's the new addition from last night though. I added the beginnings of her skin tone. I see that my lighting needs to be fixed in places all around. I don't know if there's an actual term for this, but there's this point you can get to with oil paint where the painting can't take any more white paint. For instance, the paint was so thick and wet last night that I couldn't make a proper highlight on her shoulder any more, if I try to blend the white, it just gets absorbed into the base color. If I decided to blend green into the skin or something, it would have blended just fine. I just need to wait until it dries a little - its so hot in my room it should be ready only after a few hours.

DAILY INSPIRATION Day 1

Herbert Baglione - Street Artist. I love how he uses black, white and gold.