“Say wh-aaat? Condoms you say…?”

A couple of months back, a friend sent me a link for an art competition in Vancouver – he thought it might be perfect for me. It was.

The contest asked for an art piece to be used in conjunction for an upcoming safe-sex campaign, it had to be ‘sex-positive’ and use religious imagery.

Tall order. And...I love new challenges, and aside for the paintings, I wanted to try out new art forms – I decided to go digital with this.

And this past weekend, October 31, I received an email at 2am…

“…Dear Tina,
Congratulations, your entry has placed THIRD in the YVR Sisters Art Contest! We thank you very much for your entry, and are thrilled to have your art on the covers of our upcoming condom packages... “

What an incredible feeling! Not only did my digital piece placed 3^rd but it will be used in their condom packages as part of the “We Care Red Ribbon World AIDS Day Celebration.”

Totally Godsmacked… :)

So, below is the 3rd winning digital design. 

Many of the images used has specific and particular meanings. Before you scroll down pass the image, to continue reading what I meant it to be - what does the below image mean to you? What does it say to you? Just a fun, cheeky poster, or something with  deeper meaning?

"Come Dressed For The Party" (Digital)


Besides the obvious imagery and text you see, the center cherry contains a very subtle, loosely based 'sacred heart' with a bite-shaped as it 'bleeds' a cross to mimic the shadow cast by the condom hanging off the cherry stem - and in the middle, a question mark.  

Aside from creating a 'fun sex-positive' design, I wanted to convey a very important statement, safe-sex SHOULD over-shadow any religion dogma, and not vice versa.

Okay. Putting some serious away for now....... 

HEY, I'm gonna be on a condom package yo'! 

T 

Red Hot Chili Peppers said it best..."I got a bad disease, from my brain is where I bleed..."

I felt like I was bleeding out, and whatever momentum I had gained with my art was slowly fading away. Dealing with personal rubbish can certainly take away from your focus of what is important.  I realized that I was putting energy into wrong places, wrong people, wrong situations. It was time to figure stuff out and take back my life. I decided to unplug and go offline….literally and figuratively.

And for two months, I did exactly that. I went back to things that made me happy, and it felt great. 

Slowly, I regained some internal peace, some sense of self. Those who hurt me, places that dragged me down, and situations that I should not be in, was all far behind me.  I could breathe again.

In weeks to follow…

…website;

I redesigned my website. It was the ‘bane’ in my ass. As mentioned in an earlier post, I hadn’t designed websites for a long time, and having to re-learn new ways of the WWW was challenging. Website.V01 was not really what I had in mind, so I whacked it. The latest design’s better. I found a balance between HTML and CSS - I've used the new banner I created for the website here for the blog too.

…silent auction;

My painting, ‘The Black Sheep’ was part of a silent auction in late August – my first. It was the most unnerving experience but the most rewarding. As a new artist (not even wet behind the ears), confidence, at least to my way of thinking comes from understanding who you are as an artist and what your art is saying.

With the ‘Black Sheep’, a photographer friend, after a long pause, remarked that I had a unique style of painting, and that he would be able to recognize any of my paintings. So, um wait…I have a style? I did? I mean I do? I do! 

That little bit helped me walk into the silent auction event with a little sass… I had style, dammit! And what made the evening more rewarding? I had word later that evening that 5 people ended up out-bidding each other trying to get my painting. What? Really? My painting? Gee....



"The Black Sheep" (2012) Acrylics 30x24

What an incredible day that was. I found out I had a style and there were people out there who liked my art

Two months passed, a lot has happened, mostly internal changes, except one. A friend noticed that I looked ‘lighter’, as if a weight was off my shoulder.  Yeah. A body-weigh worth! Ha!

What’s next? Plenty. Aside from designing a book cover for an author (thriller e-story set in South Africa set to be release late 2013-ish), I am working on a short 'shorts' animation call "The Lonely Zombie" - thus far the biggest challenge.

Also, I am working out an idea creating a new character for a future comic strip, "Suzi Spongz's Soap Box & Other Inappropriate Things"


"Suzi Spongz's Soap Box & Other Inappropriate Things"

"...Where I go, I just don't know, I got to, got to, got to take it slow. When I find my peace of mind, I'm gonna show you some of my good time..." -- and so I begin.


T 

A work-in-progress...comes to light

...and where there is light, there are 'joyous echos of heavenly host singing'. Say what? Not you? Ok. Maybe only me.....

So I am on roll this week. I have steadily been drawing everyday and night. I am liking this groove I'm on; slow and steady pace. I feel 'the zone', that sweet spot where I feel the pull, the need to create.

This past Tuesday, I started a drawing on an image I had in my mind: Clouds. I allowed my hands and my Spirit to just...draw. As the image of the clouds appeared, I began seeing a tree, floating atop broken mosiac-ish bits of Earth - as the drawing came to life, on the second day, I saw the words, 'Broken Eden'.

'Broken Eden', of course the image is a play on the origins of 'religious man and the lost Eden'. But I think for me, is more about the loss and disconnection of all that makes us a natural being.

The melancholy skies, the dried up tree, and broken bits of earth as parts of it floats away, speaks to a sense of loss. I added the red apple as a symbol of hope, wanting the opposite story to reflect, that the red apple was not the cause of 'the lost of Eden' but hope to reconnect and regain what is inherently part of what we are - the apple itself represents natural wisdom.

I am keen in adding more details to it - one of them, water to the left, bottom of the image. But somehow, I feel the need to move on to the next drawing.

'Broken Eden' will have to rest, afloat awhile....in my head.






Monster’s Art of The day: "Broken Eden" (Work-in-Progress)

...More Practicing my lines with 'karting-power'

Super Mario and  his "Karting-power" - yes pun was intended...I am discovering my own 'cutting powers'.

So, I been recently figuring out the different pencils and shading - especially on the hair & eye, which more practice is needed.

But what I noted most during sketching my first self-potrait (see below), I was feeling at ease; my hand and pencil was 'one', the movements was sure and confident. That has never happened before. It's kinda exciting and scary (in a good way).

Have I breach some internal 'power-up' for art? Do I get to go to the next level? Did I win some new 'coins or stars' that I get to continue in this game and kick-ass?

Whatever the case, I cannot deny that some changes are occurring.

I am Super Mario-oooo, with karting-powers onwards!

T



"Self Potrait"

...Practicing my lines

"Up, Up and Away"

If you can't take the heat, don't tickle the dragon...

...and as I look towards 2012, I take the time to reflect and salute the past year from the good, to the bad and the ugly.

Art. Certainly not a new subject. It became a focus in late 2010 (with a 12 week program at OCAD and the sale of a few paintings). Shortly in March 2011, I did my first art show at a downtown Gallery on Front St here in Toronto. Quite an eye opener.

I did not do much painting after, just a few sketches.

I could blame the 'lack of' on personal challenges I was facing then....but I am in the believe of holding one self accountable for all actions (or no actions in this matter). I won't go into details. I have decided instead to take the best from this experience and rise above the rest. Suffice to said, I made a choice to move forward to 2012 with zero toxicity in my life.

So...

Aside from the sketches, I did actively networked and began my website late 2011 (the site has since gone a remarkable change, a more cleaner design, which you might note to the blog's color change and the new banner I designed at the top.) I felt that an entire change was needed, to reflect the state I find myself in now.

As the new Lunar year of the Dragon swoops onto 2012, the great Tolkien wisely wrote, “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” – I am fully aware and am realigning my thoughts to the upcoming year. The year of the Dragon is said to be "auspicious symbol signifying success and happiness" - and coming from half a line of Chinese descendants, I'm taking it quite seriously.

In the next few months, I will be reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and practicing the suggested activities to ‘unfurl’ my creativity – and of course blogging my experiences. Some future projects are also in the works.

I'm seriously "tickling the Dragon"....or maybe tackling it? Either way, I am phreakishly excited for what is to come. Let the heat begin...

T

The seal has been BROKEN...

...and you know what happens next, right? Recollect back in the 90's (for those of you party animals who grew up those times) when you were at a house-party and you would NOT 'break the seal' by peeing because if you did, you'd spent the rest of the party going to the washroom?

Literally, the dam had broken wide open for me. My mojo-tivation was BACK, my creative juice. Hellujah!

Since July, I had lost all sense of perception and focus - everything. I was lost in space, floating aimlessly - struggling to find that je ne sais quoi that started my journey back into arts. It was such a blow because I was in such a roll with this blog, new paintings being sold in a store, new commissioned artworks, the website and forays into digital work again. Sweet Appalachians! You know what this does to a gal? I was devastated.

So, out of nowhere, last week, an inclination to just sit down and start working on my website with the logo/banner and breaking down codes for my website etc. Suddenly, I felt amazing and frankly, would not have been surprised if a choir of Angels showed up and started singing “Ahhh”!

Looking back, I realized that possibly, I may have been burnt out and started shutting down a tad with all the many things that was happening all at once.

Back in July, my full time job was getting very, very challenging and I was facing some personal issues with my partner - compounded into that, I am a single parent and the sole supporter and provider.

I could recall coming home and having just enough emotional juice to be aware and present for my son. And after dinner had been cooked and had, things washed and tidied, conversations and checking of the kid's day and homework, I was spent. I could barely wink. I was physically and mentally fatigued, and this was no way to a wonderful, artistic experience.

And somewhere between those moments, I lost myself. I lost my art.

But no longer.

I learnt, that often times, day to day stresses’ of life will indeed get in the way. But to not be discouraged or lose faith. I see now that the shutdown was my Spirit's way of rebooting itself. I am re-charged and sassy now!

So what is new on the plate now? Besides the website and logo/banner (see the blog's banner I updated last week), I am excited to continue with my Art A day experiment - and of course, my 2011 Halloween static card. No Flash animated card this year again, my Mac is down and so is the Flash on it!

Till Soon. Chin up and out!

T

Side note: You might be wondering why I used the ‘seal has been broken’ allegory? I think I had to pee real bad when I started writing this…

Side note 02: Talking about those house parties - I remembered when we gurls had to pee, we would go in groups of three's because, for some bizarre reason, there would never be any door at these places. So, two would guard the door, while the third....well peed! Secretly, I think the boys would remove them on purpose.