After partaking in the Philly Zinefest & having an awesome time laughing, drinking a 40oz with fellow zinesters and smelling hippie city body odor, I’ve decided to partake in the Scranton Zinefest with the same folks because I fucking loved it & my friends are cool too! As my last zine was a bit time sensitive, a play-off of the great Occupy movement, “Occupy My Cubical,” I could not re-use the same zine again. I’ve never been the comic-strip kinda gal, but one framers kind of like me as much as I like them, it is how I roll, saying enough with so little to say. Right now I am just playing around with ideas. Luckily I am around funny people most of the time so it should not be long until I’ve got something solid happening other than a healthy poop.
Rough sketch of recent zine idea:
SHARKASM: [ To be confused with SHARKGASM if you’re anything like me. ]
Here is a crappy, grainy (sorry) cell phone photo of the recent heart painting for the 5th Annual Jinxed Heart Show 2012 in Philly! I thought about some songs I’d like to paint to, and Two Headed Boy by Neutral Milk Hotel came to mind. Then I remembered I already did a drawing to that song, but I liked the idea of twins. So, instead of actually painting fetuses, I painted FEETus’s. Cheesy but fuck it, it seemed to work. Come to the show if you’re around, I had a sneak peek of the show when I dropped it off and it’s pretty damn awesome!
"Twin Feetus" Jinxed 5th Annual Heart Show 2012: This Saturday, February 11, 2012 6 - 10 pm @ Jinxed Philly 1050 N. Hancock St. (in the Piazza) Philadelphia, PA 19123
When I have the television on I can never just sit there. I have to draw, or paint, or eat. I have a small appetite to drawing it is most times. Day in the life of Brandi. Black & White.
I was just listening to the newest Radiolab episode and my hands could not seem to relax. I even managed to unintentionally organize everything on my desk in height, so after tapping my fingers on the desk to the sound of the radiator I just whipped out some paint and started to “paint doodle” I would call it. It’s a half ass painting/ not paying attention but more I posted the pic cause I wanna prove to my buddy Clint that I am in fact wearing a towel on my head because I am procrastinating going outside in the snow. It is very warm inside, just like it is in a uterus.
A good friend of mine is a pretty big fan of Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’. She asked me if I could paint her something for her newly decorated black & white bathroom and I said “why not?’ I immediately thought of that movie and imagined Jack Skellington sitting on a toilet which then converted his name in my mind to Jack Smellington. It made me giggle so I went with it! She purchased a 36″ x 24” canvas, I told her the colors I had in mind for an idea of what she was looking for and then marched to my art corner and had my way with the paint! I had in mind mixing Tim Burton’s style with a Claude Monet type brush style. The painting is about 60% finished, I am thinking of having his legs stick out of the outhouse because he is gigantic! & maybe Sally’s silhouette in there somewhere trying to get as far from the smell as possible. (hard to tell in the pic because it is a cell phone snapshot but Zero has a pin on his nose also). When this is finished (hopefully tonight) I will post a better resolution photo so detail will be visible. Woot!
This is what I have so far…
Jack Smellington (60% done) Acrylic on canvas 36" x 24"
“I am the shadow on the moon at night / Filling your dreams to the brim with farts. “
I’ve recently come across an extremely well-done and inspiring video about the John Muir Trail on Vimeo.com that captured the beauty of backpacking and the beauty of exploring nature in America. If you happened to watch the Ken Burns documentary on American National Parks, I was one of those folks that became emotional towards the end. If you’ve backpacked before you understand. There is something about being out in the middle of nature with nothing but a pack, some water, enough food to survive on and time. You learn more about yourself and others than you ever thought you would or could and no matter what you go through while you are out there, you always have a urgency to go back. Sure, to an unexperienced backpackers mind it is all just a hippie gathering full of drum circles and drugs but for that I just smile. The ignorant can only find out for themselves how amazing this country can be if they take the time to appreciate it’s free beauty. Here is the video:
In 2009 I met a lot of amazing folks on the Appalachian Trail. I would have to say those days were some of the most eye opening days of my life outside of Africa. I realized how real and amazing people can be, I felt at home and within minutes and with one introduction we felt we knew one another for years, after all, we were there for the same reason and that’s sometimes enough to understand a person. Everyone on the AT (Appalachian Trail) at some point if thru-hiking gets a trail name ( & a beard if you’re a guy), Forever you remember that person by their trail name because that is what will suit them the rest of their life in your memories. While I was out there I drew a few doodles of some of the hikers I met.
My Doodles of Thru-Hikers on the Appalachian Trail 2009
The John Muir Trail has been on my list of trails to complete in my lifetime. That video reminded me that I still have time to take advantage of and get my ass working on a plan to high-five that goal! Experiences inspire art, and art inspires the world. Make it so!
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
To follow more of the Almost There: The Muir Project, check out their website
Breezer Gourley (respected member of the family!) Photo by: Brandi Krackass
Does everyone make New Years resolutions? If so what are they? I always think to make one but then I realize I test myself control all year! 4 months ago I gave up soda simply to prove to myself that I could and I succeeded! My New Years resolution is to keep testing my self control randomly! I hope everyone had a safe and radical New Years! Let’s welcome 2012 with high-fives and a strong spine. Cheers!
Tis the season to be thoughtful. Sometimes when the holidays settle down and my brain has time to jump around through thoughts that have been pushed aside to allow the day-to-day actions to be completed & I always end up sailing deep into memory lane when I was in Uganda, Africa. To not turn this blog post into a large emotional journal entry, I will keep this simple. August-October 2010 I had a lot of money saved up from working. I refuse to use my money for pointless things that I really do not need so I decided to go to Africa. I applied to teach and live in Uganda for a month or so and I was accepted. I purchased my plane ticket and within a few months I was on a plane by myself going to a 3rd-world country where I knew not a soul. When I arrived I was escorted to a small village called Golomolo near Lake Victoria where I lived among 300 orphans in a hut without plumbing or furniture (you get used to it almost immediately). I taught art & science to the children and I fell in love with every single one of them. The emotions I experienced I can not describe in depth enough for people to understand what a beautiful experience it was, I have never cried so much in my life, and leaving was the hardest thing I ever had to accept. I write this today because I woke up today thinking about my time there and I started to tear, I really miss the connection to humanity I felt while I was in Africa.
My Time in Uganda at Gossace Orphanage 2010: Dirty all the time & loving it!
Honestly, my first few nights in Uganda I cried almost every night. I felt guilty for taking advantage of so many things I had back home and how easy life was for me. I wanted to give every child that same life and so many times I wished to trade places. But the thing was, these children were as happy as could be! Happier than any kid I’ve ever seen in the States and then I thought “why would I want to take that away?” That is the beauty of culture. I admit, when I returned home I tried to work on some paintings I started in Africa but I got too emotional while trying to finish them so I have about 4 canvases that are not done and I wonder sometimes if maybe they are as complete as they will ever get. People ask me if I’d ever go back again and I reply, “If I could I’d be on a plane there right now to stay.”
My Time In Uganda 2010 : Unfinished/finished? Art, Getting Around, Teaching
If you’d like to see more pictures of this life-changing journey I’ve got more on Flickr
I know a collector of these Kidrobot Dunny Toys so for Christmas I decided to paint him a painting of him putting his South Park Dunnies on his shelf instead of actually adding to the collection. I also thought it would be funny to have a much larger Munny Toy standing boldly before the toys because the expressions on the South Park toys is “oh crap!” (a play off of Toy Story and every other movie where the toys come to life) I painted it on wood using Ink and Acrylics/ Wood Varnish.
The Initial Idea : SketchSouth Park is on the Wrong Shelf : acrylic/ink on wood
Oh joy to the holidays and paintings of pets! Can never have enough paintings of pets. Actually, that is a lie. There needs to be a limit between pet portraits and pet photos on fridge magnets. I think I saw more pet photos in tree ornaments this year than I saw of family! Though honestly, I must admit, a border collie with a ball in its mouth is so much cuter to look at than grandma sitting in a recliner reading the newest ‘Readers Digest’ still squinting even though the font size is already 30pts.
Alas, to add to the collection of cheesy pet portraits, meet Willow the amazingly nervous Italian Greyhound:
Willow the Greyhound : acrylic on wood
Hope you all are having a great holiday so far! Keeping it safe and drinking all of the wine you received as a filler gift! I know that is going to be my activity until New Years!
