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.