Etch-a-Sketch

Dean Down Henry Street

a new illustration -- created for a friend & inspired by the two images below:

James Dean

Brooklyn Heights

remembering how much I love using guache - can't wait to do the illustrations for deivie!!!

would love to do a bruce-nauman inspired installation with Christmas lights. love this holiday lite brite greeting below (uncertain who it is by):

perhaps use a poem from the past (2007) for some "lyrics" for the piece:


Struck

My body flashes
...and the film unravels

My brain flashes --
And the lightening kills me

My brain flashes
And the techno won't slow down.

Project Christmas

Mission: make homemade christmas cards with watercolor paper, red acrylic paint, litho linoleum block, red & gold glitter, & gold foil

Result: festive childlike originals

Etch-a-Sketch

Sleepy Hollow, 2003

Colloquial Chimes, 2007

some old pen & ink work - the first, "Sleepy Hollow," is my final project from my first class as a UVA art student - definitely time consuming work! and i had to hang out in the graveyard by my dorm to complete it... !!!

the damsel in the bed drawing/painting, "Colloquial Chimes," is the result of some actual old school ink-pen work I experimented with my fourth year upon the suggestion of my professor - would actually like to go back into it and add some more detail...

Etch-a-Sketch

Some of my new works: dramedy-eque pieces from my

"celebrities & serial killers" series:

Beautiful & Dirty Rich, 2009

Curtain Call, 2009

detailing of the band - in progress -


preliminary drawings - dancers

sketch - ladies in waiting

Commission Me This...

A piece i finished this wk for a friend as a gift to her boyfriend (such a sweet/personal gift!!!) ... and the pic of him on his boat that inspired it!! fun to paint realistically again - haven't really done since I was set free second year of college... but it's like riding a bike - once you know how it doesn't really go away.

inspiration

boat detail

sail/sky detail


Fly-Bye, 2009

She Paints Me Blue

My present palette for the piece i'm working on, Curtain Call, inspired in part by Bloody Social's tune of the same title...

palette for Curtain Call

ART BAZAAR!!!

new site!

www.deivie.com

showcases my art/emerging line!!!

trying to get music up but having difficulty :(

imagine "we own the sky" (M83) is playing on repeat in the background... or perhaps in a series with "endlessly" (Muse) & "hey boy hey girl" (chemical brothers) ...

will figure it out soon though!!!

Sweet Talk

"Sleeping is giving in,

no matter what the time is.

sleeping is giving in,

so lift those heavy eyelids.

everytime you close your eyes lies, lies! "

Rebellion (Lies), Arcade Fire

She Paints Me Blue/Sweet Talk

i occasionally get inspired and dabble in some word-art - courtesy of my fabulous magnetic poetry set...

inside, 2008

desire, 2008

unfocused, 2009

him, 2009

Ideals

Evening Raga, www.janhuling.com

spotted this amazing sculptural piece by Jan Huling on my walk home from brunch one wkend and was completely enamored by the precision and intensity of the b/w lines and colored patterning. another piece I want to own -in part because I can imagine it playing lovely melodies a la "deep into the forest" by Michael Nyman... in part bc it would be my first real sculpture...

Christina's Closet

fashion show, Sept 11 @ the Tent, Bryant Park

found amazing new vintage store near apt from which bought KILLER leather skirt with gold buttons (sorry did not take out gold pen - shoes have sweet gold chains, too)

Sweet Talk

Santa Conversazione - a theme I want to explore:

"Oddly enough, the group was beautiful. Mr Beebe, who loved the art of the past, was reminded of a favourite theme, the Santa Conversazione, in which people who care for one another are painted chatting together about noble things -- a theme neither sensual nor sensational, and therefore ignored by the art of today." -- E.M. Forster, A Room With a View

Christina's Closet

American Apparel casting, 429 Broadway

She Paints Me Blue

ketubah - "it is written"

spent the weekend working on a piece for a friend of mine who is getting married this weekend (yay!!!) - it is a ketubah, which is a Hebrew tradition presenting marriage contracts in an artistic way as a keepsake for the bride and groom. as my friend is not of Jewish heritage, though, I've written it in English opposed to Hebrew. her wedding colors are mostly sapphire blue and silver- so i went abstract and used blues/purples and a touch of grey.

the words she chose are beautiful, my favorite line being the quote -

"I am my beloved and my beloved is mine."

ah, i love romance!

Christina's Closet

hailing a cab, 8:56 am, wednesday sept 2nd

"He does dress better than I do, what would I bring to the relationship?" - Clueless


i love illustrating -- but i haven't really been keeping up with it. thus, beginning today, I'm going to start sketching my ensembles - a "What I Wore" archive. perhaps other subjects will emerge in the future- as long as they will be willing to model! - but, for now, solely moi.

Etch-a-Sketch

Sweet Talk

"I didnt go to see the city

I went to see it around you"

Chris Garneau, Relief

She Paints Me Blue

the inspiration: Cinque Terre

Stop! Dimentica, Oil on Canvas, 2009


my latest work - finally finished.

though odd, I paint like I read: a novel that's thought-provoking and serious, like Gladwell's Blink, is followed by the most indulgent fiction I can find - i.e. Twilight. In the same sense, a contrived, poignant work is succeeded by it's antithesis: something airy, bright, and seemingly devoid of depth. The former's essence, the emotional background, creates the beauty; it's the exposure, the underlying vulnerability, that is the art. However, it is the latter's technique -- the strokes, the color combinations, the vibrant patterns -- that form the art.

art = the why vs. the how; the planned vs. the spontaneous; the deep vs. the shallow

One may not probe to uncover what this piece of mine signifies as there is little ambiguity. I've replaced secrecy with honesty, for, unlike many of my works, this landscape is a landscape in the purest form. Without a story, nothing is clandestine; tragic romances don't linger under the guise of fair maidens and guardian angels in this scene. Rather, the natural mood of the setting is created by how it is painted - not what it is about.

...and I need both forms of expression: the direct & the elusive. one mode grants me serenity, allowing me to focus on the actual piece, clearing my head of its intangible congestion. The other brings me closure - I twist the feelings I've suppressed into fanciful narratives as revealing as diary entries; once they're on the canvas I'm in control. the drama, though relived, becomes less of a reality and more of a fantasy - a work of fiction. one cannot stay so attached to a story. and that, in essence, is how i let go and start over.

despite the differences in motives, i actually am always thinking about how i feel --there always is meaning behind my work. the difference is that sometimes I intend to be thinking and other times i do not. but whether i'm exploring the theories of Nassim Taleb or merely learning the rules of Quidditch, my thoughts are there. waiting. withheld but disclosed; hidden but shared; locked up but set free.

Spectacular Vernacular

remaginary - \rē-ˈma-jə-ˌner-ē\ adj.
derived either from reality or from fantasy - the actuality of which is both unclear and unknown; ambivalent & confusing.

Sweet Talk

"She refused to believe that things could be the same in different places; and since what had gone before was so bad, what was to come must certainly be better." --Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary.

Though it may seem escapist of her, Madame's motto actually holds truth: our setting, just as that in a novel, affects everything about our plot. perhaps i notice this more because i'm experiencing it now, having just relocated from the UES to Chelsea. already i feel more like myself, surrounded by the artistic culture i identify with; that aside, i'm uncertain why i have this conviction that life in my new locale will be > life in the old.

Maybe the goal is control: by playing "author" we can write a new story by solely redecorating, without having to change ourselves. but are we merely changing our image, the idea, of who we are? Madame Bovary imagines herself dancing whimsically at Parisian masquerade balls, all the while resenting her life in the suburbs; a homemaker is not who she is, but rather what her environment has forced her to become. to change she must run for freedom.

So with this ideal in mind, I've painted myself a setting of glamour, sparkles, and love, hoping this new palace amongst my fellow creatives will accelerate my success. Could Chelsea be my Paris? i suppose it is now that the true test begins.

Madison Avenue

The main thing I miss about living on the UES is my walk home (from work) down Madison Ave. the shops are brilliant & i loved experiencing the closest thing to CLASSIC nyc - something posh & refined - the city Anne Wells fled to in Valley of the Dolls. At 50th street I would always pass by Eden Fine Art Gallery (http://www.eden-gallery.com/). Naturally, as an artist attracted to beautiful works (and look for future places to show of course!), I couldn't help but stop in.

It was there I discovered artist Natan Elkanovich - the painter of the first two originals I plan to own. Upon conducting some research, i also discovered that Elkanovich and I are akin- the artist studied fashion design and worked as a costume designer before moving to painting. His scenes highlighting the glamour of celebrity, a series he titles "my icons," illustrate the beauty of the fusion of the art & fashion worlds. we share some of the same icons, as well: mozart, madonna, sophia loren, marilyn monroe, andy warhol, etc. But what differentiates these works from other celeb paraphernalia in the market is the textural style in which Elkanovich works; he uses a unique technique, creating depth/space & light with conglomerations of raised dots & star-like shapes. The beauty is not based on the subject- but more so how he has chosen to portray his well-known figures.

Unfortunately, the two pieces i SO desire seem to no longer be available. thus, if you are reading this post, Natan, please note that my walls will be forever lonely sans the beautiful Marilyn & James Dean works above.

My Latest Muse

i must have been too busy emulating Cindy Crawford as a child (i heart cindy) to notice another 90's super who has become my new muse - Eva Herzigova. she exudes glamour in a classic hollywood manner (like Liz Taylor - another favorite) & her combination of girlish femininity, dangerous sensuality, and poised sophistication makes her the perfect woman to represent my line -- or at least wear it. perhaps she'll be available for work in 2010??

For the Love of Mr. Wright

While perusing the Guggenheim's list of upcoming/present exhibitions, i came upon this little gem:

An entire exhibit dedicated to the man responsible for my love of architecture - as i had the fortune of viewing his Taliesin West (shown above!) on an elementary school field trip - Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright. Is his work not divine? http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view-now/frank-lloyd-wright

VIVA HAUTE COUTURE!

i, alike Amy Fine Collins in this month's Vanity Fair, have faith in the future of couture:

http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/09/couture200909

I would love to join the ranks:

"Just two Americans have ever been classified as haute couturiers—Mainbocher (retired 1971) and Ralph Rucci, who was accepted as a guest member in 2002. (After five years and 10 collections, a guest may advance to full membership.) "

which means I will at some point be living in Paris :)

"an haute couturier is a designer who presides over the creation of hand-finished made-to-order clothing, in a “laboratory” that employs at least 20 workers in Paris"

furbelow

Nina Ricci, Fall 2009 RTW

my trustee lexicon builder, http://www.dictionary.com/, has recognized my dedication (perhaps?) and has selected a fashion-related word-of-the-day in my honor:

furbelow
\FUR-buh-low\ , noun:
1. A pleated or gathered flounce on a woman's garment; a ruffle.
2. Something showy or superfluous; a bit of showy ornamentation.

filing cabinet

upon moving (and being forced to sort through the myriad of things I've collected over the years), I discovered that all of my thoughts -- the "research" i do: the articles i've clipped - the literature I've underlined - the images archived - the quotes i've memorized - the sketches i've realized - the melodies on repeat - (basically all inspirations compiled) -- though out in the open, have not been fully utilized. thus, in an attempt to organize my musings in a visual manner, i've decided to create this blog - tracking my works (designs, paintings, drawings, etc.) & reflections from the flash moment of conception through the final stages of development. consider this filing cabinet of boundless notions an introduction to the beauty of structured chaos -- a glimpse into my mind.