A Little More About This Geeky Gal

I was born to two geeks.

One, is my dad, whom was into movies, TV shows and Intellivision video games. The other, is my mom, whom needed to have a record or MTV music videos always playing in the house. Their pop culture preferences paved the way for my own music, cartoon and geeky interests that I would draw, often.

I can still recall running into my parents bedroom, at 7am. I would jump onto the bed and show them my latest creations I drew while watching the Saturday morning kids art show, Captain Bob. They may not had shown it then, so early in the morning, but my mom and dad were always very supportive of my artwork growing up. That was where my own Geek Gal Go brandmark came from.

This is me.

The bright-eyed, corduroy pants and Hush-Puppies wearin’, 80s child that drew everything in sight. Even though I am now a mom in her 40’s I will never forget to always be that little creative girl, at heart.

This week has been a lot of print cutting, frame cleaning and matte assembling to get my art pieces prepped for the show.

I can’t even count how many times I have been to Michaels. I believe the cashiers all know me by name now. Many frames were bought and many coupons were used (thank God) because buying printing materials has been EXPENSIVE. I have forgotten this, since I have been in the digital world as a graphic designer for so long.

I also have been getting my artwork professionally printed on poster paper and canvas, so cardboard tubes of joy have been showing up on my doorstep, recently. Among all of this, I have been setting aside time to sit and create several traditional pieces that I have been showing WIP (work in progress) posts of. Lastly, I have been working on advertising graphics which I will end this post strong with an ad of my art showcase opening. Hope to see you there!

My Art Showcase Title Backstory

For my art showcase I decided to play on the phrase “Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll.” I thought it was a great way to categorize my own three types of artwork, I will be displaying. After a little bit of word swapping magic the title for my art exhibit will be:

“Portraits, Cartoons & Rock’n’Roll”

I was curious, though, on the original phrase. I do this often. I like to know of the backstory to things. Why do we have “Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll” in existence? The first thing I thought of was the 60’s. I think this phrase pretty much explains the whole decade, right? Well, I went and asked the smartest guy I know, Google, and he told me that it was based off of a song in the late 70s...wha?! 

The song “Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll” was a B-side track off of an album called “Razzle In My Pocket” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Now here’s a fun fact that got my eyebrow raised, boys and girls... The song was released in 1977 - the year I was born (head explosion). You have got to check out this video. It’s has all of the 70’s vibes, man, and some far out wipe-in effects. But what caps it all off is the super-rad Ian Dury floating head that moves into center camera. It’s perfection.

The birth year connection to this raunchy classic inspired me to officially make this the art showcase with the most sexy, addictive, air guitar hands (get it) EVER! I’m now completing portraits and my art prints are starting to come in, so more developments and little artwork teasers are in the works. It’s starting to come together :)

When A Teacher Becomes A Student...Then Becomes A Teacher Again

If you were to have told me that I would be teaching a drawing class a year after I started up my artwork again, I would have thought you were crazy.

Teaching graphic design at a community college was one thing, but teaching something that has always been just a passion for me and to have to show my drawing to a class full of people?! That’s some nerve-racking stuff right there! In February, I had taken a drawing course, where I exchanged my teaching cred for the bright eyed-bushy tailed student and realized I had a lot to learn in some areas. I thought, then, that this art thing will be a long, bumpy road to travel on…but that didn’t stop me. With my chin up, I worked really hard on drawing every day, just like my drawing professor had advised me to do.

In July, I was suddenly under the spell of a possession jutzu. I walked right into a local literature and pop-culture company called the Storybook Cottage to ask if they were ever thinking of expanding their amazing writing and geeky fun events to include the drawing and illustration realm. The receptionist gave me the owner’s card and told me to send some ideas along. I remembered going home and just staring at the business card. Should I even bother? Would they just turn me down? I sent the email with my ideas and my art samples, anyways…and held my breath.

One hour later the owner responds, “Let’s chat further about this.” We met and she loved the ideas I had come up with. I was asked to come in and be a guest speaker for a kids book publishing camp. The kids in the camp were great and so creative with their book ideas. The teacher was back! :)

Today, is the day. The graphic design professor that became the art pupil is now the art teacher. I’ll be showing the kids some drawing tips and techniques for cartooning. Below, are some other classes I’ll be teaching in the Fall.

Learn to Draw Cartoons Friday September 20/ 4:30-6:30 pm

How To Design An Eye Catching Book Cover (Adults) Friday September 27/ 7:00-9:00 pm

Tim Burton Macabre Drawing Friday October 18/ 5:30-7:30 pm

Ghoulish Drawing By Candlelight Friday October 18/ 8:00-9:30 pm

Fantasy Drawing I (Wizards & Castles) Friday November 15/ 5:30-7:30 pm

Fantasy Drawing II (Fairies & Dragons) Friday December 13/ 5:30-7:30 pm

Naruto hopes to see you there!

For My Brother's Birthday I Made Him An Unfinished Megazord

I took some time off this summer. It was nice to get away from time to time and go on some family adventures, but now the summer has ended. It’s back to morning school prep madness of reciting simple chores and “did you remembers” along with daily bento box wrestling matches. The phone has been ringing more frequent with current client projects and new clients that have been requesting my artwork. It is all very exciting, but something is amiss…

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday. This year, it had snuck up on me. Back in May I was starting to draw a piece for Ryan. I knew how much he loved the Power Rangers, when he was younger, and thought of creating a Megazord art piece for his birthday, in September. I had plenty of time. I then got busy and put my borther’s birthday gift on the shelf. The funny thing about shelves is that you tend to forget things being placed on them.

Sigh.

This is what I have for him, an unfinished Megazord. I know he would be fine with it. I know he would just smile and say it looks great…but I’m not fine with it. I’m not OK with giving him an unfinished art piece. To me this symbolizes something. I have a lot of unfinished work to do. I need to refocus a little bit more on myself and my feelings. I think that is what Ryan is trying to tell me.

I also recently drew my brother, again. It has been a year since I had done the last drawing of him. This time, I drew him older or at least he appeared older to me. Ryan was happy in the reference that I drew of him. The reference was of a family shot during my wedding day. I need to revisit him more this way. I think that this is another thing Ryan is pointing out to me. He wants me to stop being sad and just draw his happiness.

Thank you Ryan, I love you <3