One year in NEW YORK CITY

Round two for the NYC summer. Got started a bit later this year and is now in full swing.
The Feast of Saint Anthony marked our first year in New York. It's a 2 week long street festival that signals the beginning of summer. I also marched in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade with the group from Dr. Sketchy's. Took a dip in the ocean to celebrate summer after the parade.
I'm working on my comic book. Very slow going on that one. I'm also starting work for the Saints & Sinners show in Baltimore.

Mika bought me a bicycle as a gift to get in shape and commute. I'm really out of shape and have only ridden the bike twice. Been using the heat and my exhaustion from work as excuses. They really are prohibitive to riding but I have to get in the mindset to not let that stop me.

I really enjoy riding the bike. I just got a water bag for my backpack so no more excuses!
It will be a few weeks before my legs are ready for the regular commute to work.

Speaking of work, my current job sucks ass even more. The few tips I got used to budgeting are now shot to hell since I started working at the new store in Midtown. I'm lucky if I walk with twelve bucks for a morning shift. I'm looking for new work to say the least.

I am also looking at prices on tattoo equipment. It's high time to start forging a path as an artist and stop working for jackasses who don't give a fuck about me.

chinese take out

These are 3 of my favorite Chinese take out restaurant names. Hung far Low from Portland OR, New Big Wong from Washington DC & Lucky coming in the Bronx NY.

spring cleaning

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I cleaned my studio to get ready for what I hope to be a busy summer working. School is over and now I am going to apply what I learned to getting illustration work. Working at the coffee shop is barely making my ends meet. In addition to making new art and looking for buyers, I'm also looking for a part time job that will make me more than 300 bucks a week. Mika's helping as much as she can to help with the bills but at this rate I have only another month before finances start to really get stressful.

On the bright side I sold my first art in NY at the Open Space Gallery in Beacon. That's a good start. An awful toothache caught me off guard this week and going to see the dentist to fix it next week. Perfect timing as my planned diet was to begin this week. Sean Wheeler stopped in the city for just one day during his whirlwind East Coast tour. It was so good to see him. Hope he moves out this way. I sure do miss my friends from Seattle.

Planet Wings opened up last week after almost a year of construction. Is it any good? Uh, fuck yeah.

Went to Woodstock for Mika's birthday a few weeks ago. Stayed at Kate's Lazy Meadow Motel. It's a funky little dive motel in the Catskills owned by Kate Pierson from the B52's. Mika got lots of shopping done and we had a really fancy birthday dinner. Upstate New York seems to be the place we both want to move towards.

working

Started working this week at Oren's Daily Roast, a really great coffee roaster here in NY.

Getting excited about my art show Thursday at Ave. A Sushi.
I'll have to bail on school because the opening is @ the same time as class. This week was spring break for SVA so I'll miss two weeks of school.

I'm off to Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School again today.
Mika has been put under Gob and Dash's sleeping spell.

When I get home tonight I have to finish Jenneve's birthday painting,
Mika's birthday painting and work on paintings for the Zealous show and the Open Space show in Beacon. In addition to all this, I am doing studies for my velvet paintings now.

I also have to start putting ideas together for a show in Baltimore in September.

work is good.

Almost over the yuck

Things I can be thankful for

my studio and my gift for art and music, coffee, a comfy bed, my computer and my trusty assistant, being alive to experience the massive human creation that is New York, Mika, sleeping, fuzzy sleep helpers,
Frank Zappa Lumpy Gravy Ale, Pistachio donut and the Best Pizza on Earth-mine! Snow.

the yuck

It's been a week now that I've had the yuck. Going to the doc on Monday to confirm that it's the yuck and give them money for anti-yuck drugs. Perfect timing because my fat lazy stoner boss pulled the rug from underneath me at my job without so much as a warning. Maybe in his smoke addled mind he had it all worked out, but it came as a complete shock to me.

I got some great painting done and it has forced me to rethink my direction artistically. I've had some time to reconnect with people via email that I've missed due to way too much work. New doors are opening as I close the one on a waste of time little pizza place in the Bronx.

Going to Dr. Sketchy's tomorrow for the second time. I need a good life drawing session to energize my brain. Looking into the options I have for pursuing a BFA @ SVA. I'm really enjoying my classes and am ready to tackle a degree. My website may never happen. Just when I thought I was going to get something going..nothing. The designer who offered to make my site has basically ignored my inquiries and I am again looking for someone to make it happen. I'd do it myself but if I did it would be 2020 by the time it got finished.

One thing at a time.

artistic breakthroughs

Just signed up for a new class at SVA. This one is for learning how to market myself as a visual artist. Missinglinkart dot com will soon be a reality. Working on Michelle's big-eye painting is almost done, the velvet paintings are in the works, the first CHOAD recording is a couple hours from being mixed down and a new issue of the CHOAD comic will be out in April. Oh Yeah, and I finally shaved after 4 months.