Pen and Ink [Flitting Away]

Impressionist Landcape [Surrey, UK - The Countryside]

The English Countryside

During my winter holiday, I traveled to the UK to spend time with Andrew. It was a breath of fresh air being in England, after spending so much time in busy Los Angeles. The countryside is green, damp, fresh, and just so English. 

Andrew and I spent a lot of time relaxing at his small house, cooking, and having relaxing visits around Surrey. It was delightful and refreshing. This is my impressionist view of his father's back yard, painted from a photograph. I had recently seem David Hockney's paintings in impressionist colors, and decided to try myself. The sky was often dark and moody, but I loved it. It was quite a nice change from LA. 

I sent this painting to Andrew's brother, Tim, and his girlfriend, Shelley. I hope that it will remind them of home. 

Drawing on Paper [Tattered]

Tattered Hand Drawing

During my time studying drawing, I focused a lot on the hand: a very difficult subject for me to draw. What you see before you is a painstakingly detailed drawing on paper, with fine swirling and obsessive elements of line work. I spent weeks working on it, making sure that the finger prints had similarities to the human hand. It was quite an involved process, and when it was done, I was proud.

It was a windy and wet day in Salt Lake when the finished product was tucked away into my folder. On my way back to my car, a gust of wind knocked it out of my hands, and it blew the drawing into the street, only to be run over by a Hummer. I was heart broken when it happened, and I could not believe that all my work had been in vain. But several days later, when I came back to the drawing, I realized that it actually looked interesting in its frail condition. It had character and scars and resembled an old artifact. It was incredibly aged and somewhat eerie. I decided to keep the drawing as part of my portfolio, and I learned the lesson that projects are best kept indoors (not loose in folders).

Photo Series [Color Pop Jellyfish]

I begged my mother for a lava lamp when I was a child. Something about these devices really engrossed me. These photos of jellyfish were inspired by the lava lamp and pop art. 

Photo [Sealed with Wax]

Wax stick & seal 

"J"

We live in a sphere of instant communication. There is no need to wait when all social networks are at our smartphone fingertips. It's exciting and convenient having friends, family and a wealth of information mere seconds away. 

I still feel that nothing is nicer than a handwritten letter. There's something about script that carries far more weight than any other type of written communication and it really comes down to the fact that it's personal. Every letter is cherished and re-read, whereas even the loveliest of emails seem somewhat disposable. I have a true appreciation for handmade paper, stationary and old-fashioned correspondence and I count myself the luckiest girl in the world when a spontaneous from-the-heart note turns up in the old mailbox. It's trite but true that the smallest and least expensive gestures are without a doubt most meaningful.

Above are photos of my wax seal. It came from Urbanic Paper. 

Photo Series [Blue in Glass]

Beluga

Goblin

The Whale Shark

Floating Ray

Fish Eyes

Overlapping Axes

King Crabs

Captivated Audience

Admiring the Blue

Shadow  People

I find a melancholy beauty in aquariums. The creatures dance with such grace and fluidity in their confined walls. I always wonder if they're gazing back at us? Rays are particularly lovely in their angelic way and I find them to be the most beautiful beings.

For me, water is symbolically connected to emotion. Nearly all of the dreams I can recall take place in or around water. Its mysterious energy is truly hard to explain. That feeling comes on of being infinitesimally small when staring out at the sea, diving into a lake, or moving through aquariums (planetariums too). These photographs remind me of the eerie meditative and reflective spaces of our minds. 

The above photos echo the sentiment that sometimes it feels as though we are but mere shadows and reflections floating through life, just like the creatures we pay to see.

Photo Series [Candied in Japan]

Candied Kushi-Dango 

Candied Strawberries

Candied Clementines

While living in Japan, I traveled to the Dangiri Festival of the Kansai region. It was one of the most exciting events I witnessed. Men gathered together from their respective towns and pulled beautiful and heavy shrine-like carts through the streets. As if this festival wasn't colorful enough, I came across some side streets with street vendors offering sticky and sweet delicacies. You may recognize the strawberries and clementines but if you are unfamiliar with Kushi-Dango, you are not alone. I encountered these sweet but savory skewered dumplings for the first time while in Japan. They are extremely unique in flavor and have a chewy and doughy texture. Despite their resemblance to eyeballs, Kushi-Dango became one of my favorite treats because of their interesting flavor. As for the rest of the delicacies, I have never had much of a sweet tooth, but the colors and textures sure did satisfy my eye.

Acrylic on canvas [Chasing the Storm]

This is the first piece I've done since graduating university in May 2012. I missed painting so terribly. I hope you like the complex grays vs. the feminine tints. I am looking forward to producing more work shortly. I've set up a little studio so there's no excuse now. Working or not; I will be making more art in the coming months.

Mixed Media [Flag 2]

Mixed Media [Flag]

Mixed Media [Circus]

Acrylic on Canvas [Descend]

Mixed Media [Whiteout]

Mixed Media [Ozone]

Acrylic on Canvas [Forest]

Animation [Facial Expressions]

Happy-Sad: The face smiles, but the eyes give away the disappointment

Emotional pain: The shoulders raise, the nose and brows bunch and top/bottom teeth show with a gaping mouth

Worry: the eyes widen, the brows come together, the hand often raises, the forehead wrinkles, and the mouth becomes small

Rebelliousness: the eyes shut or go very narrow, the lower jaw juts out, the tongue shows, and the nose raises and flares

During my sophomore year of college, I took a course in animation. The majority of the semester was spent tackling facial expressions. During this time, I was grieving the huge loss of my mother, and was in a lot of emotional pain. The feelings I was experiencing came through in my study of animation; I was better able to render negative emotions than positive. If I could take the class again, I would spend more time on the positive expressions, but above you will find my studies from the course. 

Before taking this class, I had no idea how many muscles there are in the face and how our expressions, especially those of our eyes can tell so much. Want to know how to spot a phony smile? Look at the person's eyes. Are the wide or narrow? Wide eyes indicate insincerity in a smile. Though animation is a study of art and cartoon, understanding the way that the body shows emotion and expression is a good way to better understand people and pick up on their body language and the words that often go unspoken.

Sumi-E [Bamboo Forest]

Sumi-E [Peony]

Sumi-E [Chrysanthemum]

Sumi-E [Heart Notion]

Sumi-E [Grape Vine]

Sumi-E [Orchid & Foreboding Sky]

Sumi-E [Abstract Blast]

Sumi-E [Abstract Fountain]

Sumi-E [Chrysanthemum]