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.