so inspired!!!

this picture so perfectly captures how i feel right now. i feel like i jumped to get the goodies on the table, and while on my first attempt i didn't actually make it - if i can just hold on a little longer, i'll be able to pull myself up and get the reward.

i participated in NoDaRioty, a local art market featuring all kinds of artist. i sold an AphroWoman piece that i wasn't really expecting would sell that night, but a couple walked in, saw it, and immediately responded to it. and though i didn't sell much photography (though i was able to grow my art collection with some trades), i got so much positive feedback on it! it feels strange to do something so personal and people like it - not only do they like it, but they are truly affected by it!

i put all of me in my art, but i don't give nearly enough time to creating. i can accomplish so much more! thank you mr. cat. your persistance is my inspiration this coming four day weekend!

super mario fix

clever.

ROBERT MARS

some incredible artwork i stumbled across by artist Robert Mars.

"I am determined to capture the independent aesthetic of the not-so-distant past that has been replaced by homogenized corporate culture and standardized cityscapes. Industrial design, graphic design, architecture, vintage neon and mid-century icons all render important roles in my work.

My paintings employ layers of color, subtly collaged printed matter from the 1950’s and 1960’s, and stark, black imagery. Remote, indistinct landscapes capture the once poetic, and now nearly lost highway strips of the American past. Formerly the promise of hope and prosperity; these icons are now a sign of desperation and ruin."

Supermarket Shooter

tryna up my street cred, i decided to go shoot in the supermarket GUERILLA style!! this is what i captured before i got kicked out. i'm so hardcore...

jessica is cool.

chillin wit' jae (part ii): throwin' $#@!

chillin' wit' jae (pt i of a possible iii)

some days when i have off work, i like to just drop in on jasiatic
and shoot the poo. she's cool 'cause she lets me hang out, kill a few minutes/hours and play with her kids. we talk about photography and a personal thing or two. she'll shoot me for her blog. i'll ask her for tea. she'll get up an make herself some and (i honestly believe) forget to make me some. she's a pretty busy woman, but she makes it look like fun.

k-pilla (at work and at play)

"...it's where you at"

faux real doe...

my big brotherly duties

last night my little sister asked me to create a poster
for her seventh grade stundent counsel campaing.
i created this. it's simple - i know, but i hope it's way fresher
than the posters actual seventh graders created.

yes we can!!

it went well.
everyone's work looked great on the walls and complemented each other's work.
a nice amount of people came out.


hopefully, more people - new people - will come out for the next gallery crawl.


in the meantime, check out these shows:

living is your job...

so show up.
and show up on time.
sometimes the job sucks,
but the pay is good, and the benefits are amazing!

texture, dreams, & rustic pinwheel

a tributeto CHD:WCK - WTF?!?!?

CHD:WCK! is the GREATEST!!!

...well, he WAS the greatest.

remember when CHD:WCK! was 20?

you know - before he started drinking beer.

before the go-tee and the shaved head.

back when he was in jersey and wasn't so old and homely looking.

before the plaid shorts.

before he got all artsy and $#@!.

you know - before he was CHD:WCK!

when he was just Chad.

THAT'S when CHD:WCK! rocked!!

before he died, CHD:WCK! sucked @$$.

too bad he died.

we'll miss him.




the thing i find ironic about this is, the period "when michael was cool" was when it was becoming apparent that he "wasn't". sometimes i think he was on some stuff too, but that's part of who he was. if he was normal he wouldn't have been a genius. his misfortunes are tragic, but you either like someone or you don't. you don't give them an uncomplimentary tribute.

"you one of them fishes, I know your mind switches",

PREFACE:i only come here to say it,
because once it's down on "paper"
i can return to it to see it everyday.

i was reflecting on a conversation i had with my big sister recently.
i was reflecting on my internship and reflecting on my job (both of which i enjoy).

i feel like Common when he said

"i'm writing for my life cause i'm scared of a day job."

i realized i'm scared of a "9-5" - not because i'm lazy.

i've realized i don't fare well in situations where my excellence has to be validated by others. i don't like having to impress somebody every day and proving my worth to them. i'm not the perfect employee, but i hate when what i do well is overlooked by others. i love when i get to work and someone gives me 6 to 8 hours worth of work to keep busy. i hate when i get somewhere and there's nothing to do. a bad work day for me, is when i'm busting my @#$ or when i go above and beyond, and it is unsure whether my work is appreciated.

and you don't pay me enough!

and i don't have any vacation!

that's why i love art. i love looking at an image i captured or a piece of art that i created and thinking, "damn! i'm nice". i only have to prove it to myself. i recognize that i have a lot of growing to do as an artist, but when i grow, i see it. and as long as i see it i don't have to stop. no one can let me go, because i'm not the "most valuable" employee. i don't have to compete with others for my value to be appreciated. i don't have to BS anyone about what i do. i shoot stuff that doesn't move. and i do it well. i paint a woman with a big @#$ afro. why because AphroWoman is a hottie. and if you think she's as beautiful as i do - cool. if you don't - cool (now pardon me, cause i'm about to paint her again). i can let people see things how i see them. you can see what i think is beautiful. i can give you a piece of me. and that feels great. i could do this ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.

"i'm writing for my life cause i'm scared of a day job."

money's tight. but it's a recession. i don't need to worry about a damn thing. all i need to do is paint, paint, shoot, learn how to draw and paint better, draw, shoot, paint at dia's, paint with antoine, draw, paint with jaeson, draw, and paint. and when i don't have room to put the work, find some walls to throw that $#@! on.

preferably, someone elses.

my boo...

urban bushwoman

you are not alone - 06.26.09

i think this captures how we felt the day after michael passed.

fasting...

i've stopped eating. for the next week i will attempt to live off of water, natural-ish fruit juices, and the occasional coffee.
i decided to start fasting because i thought it would be cool (go figure). then i realized if i'm going to empty my body out, that would be a great opportunity to introduce myself to healthier eating choices.
the most significant effect of my fast so far though, is the break in routine. eating is so common, it's has become little more than a habit. if you offer me food, my default response is to accept. i almost always do something else when i eat- talk with my mouth full, surf the internet, or watch tv. on the first day of my fast, my impulse to eat came not from hunger, but the desire to feel the texture of food in my mouth.
not eating makes me realize that something is different - something needs to change, which is very needed right now, since i've gotten extremely comfortable in a space i don't want to be in.
this is the morning of the second day of my fast. last night was rough, but today has been good so far.

i shot katrina

pet peeve no. i

women under 40 who shave their eyebrows off and then draw
them in crook'd or too thin. (they're eyebrows - not lines).
sigh...

honesty pt. i

just feelin' a certain kinda way right now.
i wanted to start this thought and then i'll come back to it.

honesty is awesome.
everybody claims they want you to be honest with them, but most of us
aren't really honest. so many people can't handle honesty.
how often we tell people what they want to hear.
how often we walk around holding on to something we really need to let out because we don't want to be offensive. or because no one asked our opinion.
how often we lie to ourselves.

though i try to be, i'm not always honest. with myself or others. but i can say
i can take honesty. if something is burning at you, say it.
if you hold your tongue because you think it's just your opinion,
please speak, and know i already view it as such. your opinion might be helpful.
you can dress it up and make it look nice if you'd like
or you can give it to me raw dog and brutal.
but if you do that pull me aside first - honesty if sufficient,
embarrasment is unnecessary.

thanks to jasiatic and catherine for your consistant, brutal honesty.

jen woods!!

i had a chance to sit down with jen woods, creator of junkpie jewelry and all things circular. we talked about the process of creating, oil paints vs. acrylics, the future of the arts in charlotte, and the ever unpredictable Juicy Watkins. indeed, a nice way to start the afternoon.

...and in Queens

if you hop on the Number 7 subway train in Manhattan, when you come above ground in Queens, the first thing you'll see is a the five-story, block-long Technicolor industrial complex called 5Pointz. it is a building covered from top to bottom with some of the world's finest street art.

"On any given day, 5Pointz visitors can expect to find prominent artists, musicians, deejays, Emcees (rappers), and B-boys (break dancers) on site, in addition to filmmakers, photographers, and entire tour buses full of admirers soaking in the more than 350 murals."

The building is privately owned and used as a art enclave. 5Pointz gallery curator, Meres, intends to convert the complex into a graffiti museum.

In addition, he plans to open a school for aspiring aerosol artists, complete with a formalized curriculum that imparts lessons in teamwork, art history, and entrepreneurship in addition to technique.

http://5ptz.com/graff/about/

also if you're ever in DUMBO...

walking around in Brooklyn, my attention was grabbed by some really awesome artwork posted in a storefront window. so i walked into the gallery and "OH SNAP! guess what i saw!"

(except from http://www.leaguetreatment.org)
LAND, the League Artists Natural Design, located at 67 Front Street, enables emotionally disturbed, neurologically and developmentally disabled adults to develop and showcase their artistic talents. LAND is the newest project of The League Treatment Center, a non-profit agency that has been working with mentally disabled adults and children for over 50 years. Currently, it hosts arts classes in a variety of other venues.

“Too often the focus is on disability, now we are focusing on abilities,” says Hannah Achtenberg Kinn, executive director of the center.
“Many of our clients have been doing absolutely fantastic work that was not being recognized,” Carol Kasmin, director of Strategic Planning at the center, said. “We needed a venue to display their work, and this is what we came up with.”
“Before this, no one ever appreciated the work our clients did. This gives them a sense of dignity, a sense of self worth that they have never experienced before. Now they are seeing their work being admired, and they are feeling excited for the opportunity to be a part of the community.”
“Everyone responds to color, design, and beauty. How wonderful not only to be surrounded by it, but to have created it.”

Street art in BROOKLYN (DUMBO neighborhood)

"DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, is a neighborhood in New York borough of Brooklyn. It is located between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges." Apparently this is where Mos Def lives, and so this was my first stop in NYC. unfortunately, i could not kidnap the Mighty Mos or Kweli, but while i was in dumbo i saw some awesome artwork.

NYC...

finally... i've been able to edit my pics from my trip. it was good to be back. the trip as a whole was very refreshing. even the "odd" smells. here's some random shots i got while roaming the streets.

can't wait (well, actually, i have to)

tomorrow night, i'm rollin' to nj/nyc!!
i haven't been back in 2 years,
i can't wait to be back in my natural habitat.
all i know is i have a way there, a way back,
plenty of memory cards and battery chargers,
enough clean underwear and something to read.
it's gonna be an interesting ten days. if anything
particularly noteworthy happens, i'll make sure to keep you posted.

AphroWoman: circa '91

there's this dude walking around charlotte in a weird mexican wrestling mask. i never see him bothering anybody, but that doesn't make him any less creepy. if you see him around try and take his picture. i want to create a post of sightings on my website. i'll give you photo credits and everything. it'll be cool.

behind the scenes: tomika elise

this is what it looks like when cool artists produce cool art work.
so don't say you've never seen it.

behind the scenes

yeah... so this is what it looks like when i'm in
the YMCA art studio working on art and stuff (so articulate).
these were two of the three pieces i submitted for the Gentrify Me
show. the big one was in progress, but that's been done for a while
now. i just built 10 18" x 27" boxes in preparation for the
"Mac Pro for My Big Bro" Campaign.

Gentrify Me

Check me (and a host of other local artists) out April 3rd
at Dialect Gallery (3024-C North Davidson St, Charlotte, NC)
to see our perspectives on community decay and gentrification.

Feelin' Good

"It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good"
-Nina Simone

this "warm six days - cold and rainy the next" weather
has gotten me physically feeling a lil' funky, but i really
couldn't be in better spirits. i'm riding this streak
of productivity and creativity and i am loving the feedback
i'm getting.

having a website has been
such a validating experience, and it inspires me to
create new things. i'm trying to jump on every cool idea that
has recently passed through my head. and i'm trying to
collaborate with everybody on everything.

my mini jobs aren't paying the bills, but being able to work
in the arts is a privilege - something i want to hold onto,
so it's motivating me to press harder to make myself more
valuable as an artist, employee, and person. it's also making
me look harder at how to brand myself and develop an
entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic.

among the few things i want in life is to put things out into
the world that garner positive attention. and it's beginning to
happen. image - this time last year i was...
what was i doing?

Gentrify Me

i was honored to be invited to be a part of an art show dedicated to the artist's experience and perspective on community change and neighborhood redevelopment.

artists’ culture and creative entrepreneurship are often catalysts for community revitalization, while the realities of rapid economic development and displacement are often the outcome. the show is relevant to NoDa, along with many arts communities and cities across the country.

Gentrify Me will be held at dialect gallery, located at 3204-c north davidson st, for the month of april. please join myself and a host of local artists for the opening on april 3rd at 6pm.

the show features artwork of myself, jasiatic anderson, dia1518, meika fields, laura grosch, john hairston jr., marcus kiser, tomika elise, moye, antoine williams, jen woods, and wolly vinyl.

have you ever...

paid $6.99 for a cd, and asked yourself,
"Damn! why couldn't this cd be $14.99?"
pick up that janelle monae at target and you will.

CHDWCK.com

OH SNAP!! how could i forget?!
last month i finally started working on my website.
well, on feb 28, 2009 i officially launched my personal
website, CHDWCK.com
it's great to have a place to call my own.
posting my work on myspace is alright.
it's a nice way to alert people that you're doing something new.
but the work looks horrible in that setting.
and people aren't really on myspace to see me.
i post pics here on my blog, but i doubt people really search through
past posts to see what they may have missed.
well, anyzwayz... i will updating CHDWCK.com every wednesday
with new work, and you can also contact me through that page.
um, that's it.
latr.

posers...

make it do what it do

a round trip bus ticket,
an unlimited ride metro card,
a camera,
an 8 GB memory card,
2 battery chargers,
a card reader,
10 changes of underwear,
3 changes of clothes,
15 bucks for the laundromat,
something to read,
a sandwich fairy,
and a phone.

i gotta get out of here.

i [heart] texture

because my work tends to be instinctive,
i'm constantly trying to look at it
and understand what it tells me about myself.
since i started painting, i've noticed
i enjoy work that is process oriented.
that's what keeps me interested in the project-
seeing what its going to become as it goes along.
and in my photography i'm continuing to grow
in my love of texture. i think it's cool how
texture reveals a bit of process.
paint peeling off to reveal the multitude of times
it was already painted over. staples
in a light post that show flyers used to hang there.
billboards that are falling down only to reveal
other billboards that were posted before it.
it's really cool and kind of tells a story.
i really like a good story.

natural woman

does God stack things?

recently, i began (begun, beginded, whatever) a
photo project called STAKS capturing images
of things that are stacked. i started noticing that
humans tend to stack things and there are plenty
of stacks to photograph. but so far, i haven't
noticed any stacks in nature, which leads me to
wonder, does God stack things? please comment back and let me
know your observations.
cool.
thanks.

chd:wck!

the road less traveled...

hey!! i know that guy!!!

JON REINFURT - i used to sit next to this guy
in seventh grade [pick a] class. i thought his
stuff was awesome! in middle school he was
drawing a lot of comic book styled stuff and
sometimes selling his work to other students.
the stuff he does now is completely different
but no less awesome. i recently saw one of his
illustrations on a magazine cover in border's books.
check his page out (the pics are linked to it).

malib beat konducta poster

quite simply, this is the next thing i need to own.
cool photography, much in a style i want to produce.
and since it's only $8.50 even the recession can't hold me back.
and then maybe i'll send him one of my prints.
i wonder if MADLIB likes AphroWoman.
maybe he can make beats to my art and i can make art
listening to MADLIB beats.

a fresh start to my day

jumped up this morning and decided to shoot something
i've been eyeing for the past few days.
i was blessed to find something even more interesting.

a quick glance backward, a few steps forward

the end of this year is approaching and so many good
things have happened in the past six months.
i've met a lot of people who have helped me grow as a person.
i've met a lot of awesome artists who are helping me grow as an artist.
i have been given the opportunity and resources to develop
and run an afterschool art program.
i 've gained a measure of clarity on my life and what i'm capable of.
i've gotten a lot of garbage out of my head,
which will help me get a lot of garbage out of my life.

thank you:
ratasha, mcelvanes of various shapes and sizes,
khalilah, develon, antoine, de'angelo, and others.

now i will go on to become an even more phenomenal person.
i will

1. put God first in my life
2. learn to value who i am and what i can offer others
3. stop limiting myself
4. be consistent
5. be non-apologetically Chad
6. determine exactly want i want and need
7. don't be afraid to ask for exactly what i want and need
7. remove the clutter from my my life
8. make myself valuable to others

and there are some things i'd like to have and do.
i will:

1. take more short trips
2. go to Africa
3. shoot hundreds of pictures of my closest family/friends
and variuos mothers-to-be
4. get an iMac computer and an a 120G iPod classic
5. hold the baby Glovers

those who pave the way

wanted to ref illustrator, james elston, since i "sampled" his work for a new collage piece i'm working on. i'll post that soon enough, but just wanted to give a shout. his work is simple, but it's really cool. i like the mechanical line style. something i want to incorporate in my work.

...a walk around the block (Plaza)

trying to regain direction.
the work of ryan, dia, and e.lisha have inspired me to get back shooting more of what catches my attention or my eye.
to put Jesus' words in a somewhat different context, "the lamp of the body is the eye. if your eye is focused, your whole body will be bright". i want to focus on creating work that i respond to, if i'm fortunate, you'll enjoy it too.

"don't quit your day job..."

hours are being cut and things
are getting tight.
it's about time to find a new way
to pay these bills.
don't think i'd do so well as a stripper
and i'm too old, skinny, nervous, nice, etc.
to start "pushin' weight".
any suggestions?

"I thought you were dead..."

i created this blog so that i could keep track
of myself and make sure i was being productive.
though i haven't posted in a month, i haven't been
bullsh... (well, not as much as i could've been), but
unfortunately i wasn't able to blog what i have been
doing this past month.
i finished these three new pieces from the AphroWoman series:
Class of '77 and Glamorous.
I got to show these at the Johnston YMCA's
annual Professional Women's Luncheon.
I also got to hang Glamorous in Antoine Williams' "Minority Report"
exhibit at the Art House in NoDa.

i'm now working on two new AphroWoman
pieces and another mixed media piece called... well, we'll see
that soon.

thanx to Antoine for letting me hang my pieces anywhere near your work at the show. i got quite a bit of encouraging feedback.

this month, i want to start re-focusing on my photography and design work.
now that i've said it, i'll have to jump on it.
latr.

Procrastination

web surfing to pass time in between periods of productivity.
here's something cool i found.




ok... back to work.

Kewl Azhel

some random shooting with my new homie, e.lisha.
we got to build on life in LA vs. NYC, Native Tongues M.C.s, and the joys of odwalla fruit smoothies.
overall, a very kewl experience.

AfroWoman - The Most Recent

a new commissioned piece - acrylic on wood.
i'm enjoying the learning process with painting
and creating. so much i want to do with this series.
it's gonna be a busy month.

He Changed The Game

Kanye and that Takashi Murakami are beasts.
This video is an inspiration to me as an artist.
I can't see this whole video not being conceptually fleshed out
before the release of the album, but the album art work
has random elements spattered throughout.

It would be so dope to release parts of a project as if
they were a whole just to later inform the masses that it is actually
a part of awesome series of works that fit together.
Then people could run around the world trying to link
up with people that have the other part of my artwork.
At the rate I'm going, my mother will simply have to find my
grandmother and one of my cousins to put the whole thing together.

ahem...
and without any further ado...

Yo, Son!! Check This New Hotness!!

Battlecry video created by Develon Douglas of Vocal Visions.
I'm in it, it has some hot chicks, and a dope beat, so automatically it's hot!!
But then - ON TOP OF THAT - it has meaningful content!!
Can you believe it? If not... watch!!

Inside the Artist's Studio

I got to capture a few images of calligrapher, muralist, award-winning children’s book illustrator, and friend,
Catherine Courtlandt McElvane, working on one of a series of Kidrobot's Munny Vinyl toys - this one having sold
at Niche Market's Vinyl Toy Exhibition on Sept. 5. I personally love Munny's and anyone who has watched Catherine's workflow
would agree it is amazing. I have to get my hands on some of her work, as i believe she'll blow up like Takashi Murakami.

snaggin' shots

got a chance to do something i haven't done in ENTIRELY TOO LONG...
i got to shoot a photographer. awesome experience and i'm proud of the pics.
i need to do what i need to do more often. thanks jasiatic!

oh SNAP!!!

i'm amazed at the power of focus.
i still often lack in focus,
but i've been amazed at how many people
i've recently been able to connect with - all of whom
are people whose work i've been paying attention to
or set my mind on in some manner or another.

my connections are really inspiring. and as i increase my
focus, i'm sure even more great things will come my way,
both in quantity and quality. AWESOME!