when you commission art

Maybe wait until the artist has graduated from college until you commission art from them. I'm not saying I don't like the painting, I do, but it's quite a ways off from what I requested. Not the same colors, or the same size. Not the same all-over intricate detailing that drew me to the original piece that I based my commission on. And it took a solid two months longer than it was supposed to. Luckily, I'm an easy going gal, and appreciative of most art. At least she remembered that I wanted a whale.

RAWR.

Monster mugs. More to come.

want. want. want.

When I was in middle school I wanted to be a shoe designer. True story. I had sketch books full of shoes, mostly resembling Vans and Airwalks. I'm not sure how one becomes a shoe designer, so I settled for being an avid shoe purchaser. But now you can do both! Nike and Puma, and I'm sure every other brand has their own design program. I'll hopefully be purchasing these gnarly purple & lime kicks in the not-so-distant future. (Thanks, xian).

Uptown Market

I've chatted many a ear off about the Minneapolis Uptown Market that I'm organizing, and now I'm writing about it. The first of many entries, to be sure. Deal with it.

Inspired largely by Seattle's Fremont Market, here is our Mission Statement:

The Uptown Market is a venue to enhance the quality of life for the community through the gathering of local artisans, craftspeople, small business owners, area farmers, and neighbors. A place where small vendors can come and sell their goods to the public, the Uptown Market unites the community. The Uptown Market will offer an opportunity for community organizations to outreach to the public.

Progress is being made! We've decided on a location pending approval: 29th street between Lyndale and Dupont. I've also designed a logo (that may be replaced by a contest winner at some point), and the most excellent mr. freeberg has put together www.uptownmarket.org, which will no doubt be amazing as we progress. Details as they occur.

comic art-eth!

I've been working on digital collages of comics, both classics and webcomics, and then using them as a background for word bubbles, painting a light coat over all but the text. Classic comics include words like Kapow! Zing! and Thwip! while the webcomic pieces include Gah! OMG! and Blurg! I'm on a continual hunt for interesting words to turn into painted, action-bubble art. Jeff G. found a link showing all the action words on the original Batman television series, my favorites are the ones with "eth" as a suffix. Ouch-eth. Whack-eth.