Last picture..

..with the old cell phone camera. (well perhaps) I was planning on just keeping the old Motorola D&G Gold Razr I have had around, as it was a semi-decent 2.0 cell camera for use for 3 years now. (Plus it had this spiffy Star Trek communicator thing going on in the looks department.) Frankly, while both the Razr and the new Blackberry I just got are equipped with a 2.0 mpx camera, I still think it was better than my new cell camera's abilities quality-wise. (The Blackberry seems to produce really grainy and fuzzy shots) Last night, I was going to do a side by side comparison and see how each translated to the web blog however, right after this pic the Razr just simply died.

The D&G Razr/Motorola was always a little temperamental. In the past there would be times when the phone would appear to be 'dead' and pressing the power button would cause the panel to briefly light and then go out again completely. And even with the charger plugged in, it would not power up. Sometimes taking the battery out, popping it back in again and attempting recharging would help. But not so yesterday. I have heard of this same thing happening to many Razr owners, who have told me Motorolas simply just "die" or "go zombie." But I think it's some kind of internal circuit charging problem. Or else, when the battery is dead flat, the mains charger is rendered useless and can't hold the charge being processed by the electric outlet via the charger accessory. So, the internal charging circuitry will not switch on to allow it to take a charge from the mains charger, etc. A vicious circle and another wasted electronic device for the junk drawer.

Oh well. Good thing I just got a new phone with a camera but I haven't fully tested that one out just yet.

AFTERNOON UPDATE: Actually, I have just tested the BB out (see below) and the results are piss-poor truth be told. So, that's what the BB/Curve can do. Pretty dark, and if you lighten the exposure then the clarity is lost and it comes up too red and even more grainy. Not even sure what that purple streak could be.(??!!)



I have a feeling I am gonna miss this old Razr, (I was right) even though it over-exposed indoor shots and made them have this red cast. Still, I rather liked the effect. Hopefully I can fix it.I like having a mess of cameras to use for different results.

I realize that most cell phone cams are not the greatest, and that I was lucky with the razr. So the verdict is in: The BB is not good for pics, but it is still a nifty device in countless other ways.

C'est La Vie,

K~

Full speed ahead..

Just a quick shot taken during a little pre-show shopping and prep over the weekend. Gotta love the Warhol quote, and I'm happy to show off the wooden frame I'm holding. What a find! It has a darling little brass key on it, and the frame itself seems to be made of a decent quality wood. (maybe stained oak?) I got it for under $5.oo -surprisingly. Nice when things happen like that.


After finally hunkering down and doing the proper research, I got myself a new phone plan and a new phone device. I chose a Blackberry. (Over an i-phone, no less - go figure. ) I'm happy with my choice. Now I feel a little bit more up to speed with technology. It's a pretty novel little communication and organizational tool for the price. A few bugs to work out synching it up to the Mac, but so far so good.

The last week has been pretty productive in terms of organization and gathering things for upcoming projects and also the October show. There was lots of pre-prep shopping and various fun mini-adventures over the weekend. (procuring blue PVC, religious medallions and communal wafers among other things.) A mix of work and play intertwined, which is always great to experience. However, along with keeping in-step with my goals and the big picture, some things still must change. There have been a few obstacles here and there to tackle in other areas, some which could effect my work and current workspace in a negative way. And so, this week my motto seems to be a mix of: "Damn the torpedoes - full speed ahead!".. and "Spit diamonds, but be graceful."

Which, with as polished as I like things to turn-out and as strong as I know I can be when necessary, I find the latter statement quite fitting for me to recount over and over. It's just a matter of clearing a path and then fitting all things in their proper place. Which, I intend to do to the best of my ability and as flawlessly as possible.

Shine on...

K~

Upcoming show...

JUNC Gallery & Boutique
7 Deadly Sins - Group Show

2205 Fern St.

San Diego, CA


Opening night: October 3rd, 2009

So, what's your favourite sin? There's bound to be something for everyone in a show featuring a taste of all 7!
Come view a little artistically interpreted vision of the Cardinal Vices. Each on display and ready to be bared to all. Artwork from the hands, hearts and minds of a number of fine local Artists will be featured. (I've seen the roster and this promises to be one of the best group shows of the year.) I will have two or three pieces in the exhibit, and a few tricks up my sleeve as well for opening night attendees. What fun! Confession anyone?

Hope to see everyone there. And don't forget to dust off those old rosary beads!

K~

Next group show: October 17th @ The Flame in San Diego, CA - Benefit for Marriage Equality Rights.

A little random Love..

from Chck-fil'a:


No modifications what-so-ever. Yes I swear, this was really the way may sandwich came.

Neat huh?

K~

Up for grabs this weekend...

In early 2008 after being featured in the Artrageous column of The Rage Monthly, I had somehow felt the urge to do something different or varied as to not pigeon-hole my work in any way. Part of me was feeling a little bored perhaps. So I became introspective enough to have gone through this period of near panicked "been there - done that." Thus, I was trying out all sorts of different techniques and applications in order to bring something new to the table. You know, just in case anyone was paying attention. I imagine at best, I was trying not only to challenge myself, but I was also trying to appeal to everyone in some way. (which is nearly impossible when you really think about it.)

I'm glad I went through this experimentation period because it is always wise to step up and try your hand at varied applications if you expect to grow. But honestly? This time it just helped to solidify for me that with the level of detail I like to achieve in a piece, I've got methods that work well in place already. In other words: "If it ain't broken - it doesn't need fixing." Improving on those methods and skills alone, is surely going to happen with time and age anyway. Why mess with it?

Personally, I like things to be smooth and polished, rather than over chunky or rough any day. Impasto and palette knife execution only was overall just too crude for me to work to my advantage. So in whatever I want to present to a viewer, the formulas I have been so comfortable and secure with are really in place for a reason.

Now in the process of all these trail and error ventures, was it fun? Well sure, why not? Yet I wound up with a bunch of paintings that can only be categorized as odds n' ends. Ones that didn't really seem to be theme-fitting or worthy of settling into any type of showing. Those I didn't like for one reason or another went into the void and most of the other pieces have all found homes. But this gal is the last of the bunch. The title is "Don't Do Anything I Wouldn't Do." and I'm going to say medium used here can best be described as the 'ol impasto chunk-in-the-trunk effect.

The piece is kind of a take on the movies of the 40's. How in all the old classics damn near everyone chain-smoked throughout scenes, and somehow we were expected to believe they would still look (or maybe even smell?) glamourous and remain the picture of perfect health. So much so, that people wanted to know just what Joan and Bette's brands were. And to be sure, Lucky Strike and Chesterfield made clear the public knew exactly. Gotta love American marketing.

The raised texture was a little hard for the scanner to capture, and I had to adjust the contrast to hide some of the shadows cast from the thick impasto mixture. Note* Viewing on the web shows more red than is actually present in the dress.It's really more of a rose pink than red.

Detail scan of painting (click on image)



2008- Acrylic impasto on premier studio grade canvas. The size is 12 x 16. (unframed) She will be at LeStat's just in time for the annual Adams Avenue Street Fair and Music Festival this weekend. Take her home for a song.

K~

Something olde...

The sketchbooks pulled from storage in the early Spring have been yielding some pretty fun (albeit antiquated) pieces of ephemera. I've been scanning in a select few here and there. A dragon done in (egads) 1986 while working at Pearl Art & Craft. I would have been that big-haired chick hiding behind the counter doodling if you missed me.



It sort of cracks me up how the old cliche is true, that of young Artists crowding a scene with detail to make due for other missing design elements in a drawing. Or else, being guilty of over-emulating their Artistic influences. (Duh kid, obvious Roger Dean influence here.) However, I still dig the curve and styling of the wings enough to post this today.

K~

My desert kingdom for a Yuengling porter.

I got to thinking about Philadelphia and it's rich selection of eateries today. And since I'll be headed back to N.J. for a visit in a few months, it made me wonder if Saint Jacks pub is still around? Then that made me want a Yuengling. (which is the only beer I'll even bother to drink.) And since you can't get it out here in C.A. this was a mighty hankering I had to pin down hard. So instead, I thought about this great Irish Bar and restaurant in Rittenhouse Square called The Bards, that had Quizzo tournaments and made this excellent Guiness beef stew. And now, after listening to this tune, I decided I'd be nuts not to head off to dinner at my neighborhood pub for a minor substitution of some kind. Sometimes you just gotta go with what your brain tells you that you yearn for or else!

Enjoy,

K~

Music Playlist at MixPod.com