Get 'er done

It's time to start cranking on work for upcoming shows. I'm such a procrastinator... but not on purpose, the days just seem to melt into each other and then suddenly i'm staring a due date right in the eyes. But here's something that made my life. Years and years ago i was perusing an old copy of Country Home (i love that mag) and saw a picture of this old factory cart that someone was using as a coffee table. I immediately vowed to have one of my own someday. Well, fast forward several years, and recently i bid on several on Ebay and kept getting outbid at the last minute, and by the way if you're one of those people... you suck... so decided if i could find the chance to "buy now" i would. Well whaddaya know, i found the most beautiful specimen of the factory cart ever!!!! Here's my baby. Pre-1900 even. Love.


And here's a little synopsis of my painting steps. This was for an upcoming art benefit auction in December. It's based on the movies that inspired us as kids. Of course, i had to go with the Muppet Movie. That was my first drive-in flick and i LOVED it!!! Anyway, first i prime the board, then i size the sketch in photoshop, and then transfer the drawing onto the wood, not unlike the tattoo process.

Lay out my palette. I don't know how many pics i have of my newly layed out paints. I love it.
Hi Darla in background giving me the stink-eye.

then i just go for it, usually staring with filling in the biggest bits first.

and then onto the smaller bits. No real magic involved... just me... paintin'.


Finish up with a little aging and viola! I'm done.
thanks for peekin'!

Man, what a busy week!

So the OC Weekly issue came out on October 8th. On the 10th we were invited to go party in Laguna to celebrate the Best Of issue. I guess every year there's a big bash centered around this very issue. This was the first time i got to see it all in print. Very fun, especially the burlesque dancers & free beer! Also cool to overhear people talking about how great the cover looked. Made me happy :)
Mom & Dad showed up to support their daughter. Thanks you two!

And Bunches, enjoying the night and looking tres chic in his new glasses.

As an added bonus, my bestie Sloan surprised me by making it out! Had so much fun that night, thank you all!
My good ol' friend Jeffrey Newcomer popped in this past week. We put down quite a bit of wine and ended up dismantling the TV. whoopsie. Seemed like such a good idea at the time. Anyway, Jeff, great to hang with you... and anybody who needs shirts made, or embroidery, see him and the lovely Sarah at Embroid Me Northrigde!

This was an unexpected gift this past week. Somebody in the neighborhood BOO'd us, and left this bucket of goodies on our doorstep. I love shit like this!

..and obviously, it was a wonderfully fun surprise for the boys!

Also, this past week was the annual visit to the pumpkin patch...

Then onto Disneyland with the Soto's. Just me & Dylan on this trip. Had a great day with my boy!
And this is fun... I'd always heard about Walt's wife Lillian's favorite horse on the carousel Doubloon, and that he sports a gold tooth. I'd never found it, and am always on the hunt. Anyway, I'd just finished telling Jeff Soto this very story when blammo.... he finds the horse!
cool.
Also this week I took the boys up to Camp Wrightwood where Sloanie works. Sister Heather was here for a visit with her three boys, so we made it a Girl-Day-surrounded-by-Little-Boys day. What fun having the run of the place with 5 little boys to chase!


The leaves on this maple tree glowed. It was just too beautiful for words!

And also this week, we went to a pirate party put on by our friends the Racine's! I cannot even describe how awesome all the decorations were for this party! Thanks guys. Here's Michael munchin'

and some good ol' pirate chests! Craziness.

Here's a small illustration I did in the midst of all of the hoopla...
whew... i'm beat from this week!

OC Weekly "Best Of"

So here's the finished product on all the hard work. I can't tell you how much fun I have had doing this project. I have a handful of the cards posted on here, but they can all be seen on the OC Weekly site


I was especially happy with the cover. She turned out really sweet, yet still sexy.
The following are the full-page illustrations....






and these cards were made for 1/4 page illustrations...




Dylan staked claims to the Small World piece :) It made me happy to see him so in love with it.


So anyway, that's what I've been doing with myself lately. I can't wait to get my mitts on a copy :)

The happenin's

Okay, well here's a small sneeky peek of the OC Weekly cover in progress. It comes out this Thursday, so I'll post more art then.
Dylan is now in Pre-K and had his first field trip this past week. Luckily my Mom went with us so I didn't have to try and manage both boys by myself. Thanks Mom. We went to Parrish Apple Ranch in Oak Glen, just up the street from us. Seriously, the yummiest cider EVER!!! Plus we got to sample some apple pie!!! mmmmm....

And these past few months have been crazy with fires in our neighborhood. This picture was taken of one from our front yard in September...

And this one was taken from our backyard last week.... It's pretty crazy there was a 16 year old boy arrested after this latest one. He's responsible for about 12-14 fires in our areas dating back three years.


Here's a sneaky peeky at Bodie's Halloween costume. :) This makes me smile. And this past Friday we went to Disneyland for Mickey's Trick or Treat Party. Bodie stayed home with Nana, so me, Dyl & Honey went. This rocked my socks, here's Sally & Jack walking around the park. I'd never seen this before and these costumes were phenominal!!!

Here's me trying to lop our boys' head off with my sword...Honey went as a jailbird, and of course, Dylan as Lightening McQueen!

Me & Dylly... whew, I really wish i had more excuses to dress up like a pirate. I love it.

And my bunny is molting... poor Ollie.

Life is pretty busy right now. I was lucky enough to be asked to do all the artwork of OC Weekly's "Best Of" Issue. It's a pretty intense job, 6 full page color paintings, full color cover, and 50+ spot illos, all full color as well. But I'm having an absolute blast on this project. I"m very proud of the work I've done so far on this one. I think it's due to come out October 8th or roundabouts there. If you're a local, watch for it!
And, as some of you may know, I'm really big on making our backyard birdie friendly. So this last project was a simple one, but one that I've been wanting to do with boys for awhile. We gathered up some pine-cones on one of our morning hikes, slathered them with butter and rolled them in oats. Tied them up to the trees in the backyard and tada.... eco friendly bird feeders. The boys get so excited when they see the birds eating off of something they made.
And this past week we took them to the "JumpZone!" in Redlands Ca. I am all about this joint now. It's pretty much like walking into Pleasure Island sans cigars, pool, and donkeys...
it's a kids dream come true.

My lovely friend Hilary and her son Noah joined us for some of the action. Actually Hilary is the one who told me about this little jem!
Dylan on the off-road slide
Bodie in the basketball castle. I was kind of wondering if adults can rent this place out and just go nuts for the night. Man, that'd be a party.
And here's a little picture of me and boys taken today.

It may be awhile before I can sit down and blog again. On a pretty strict deadline with everything...but I'm super excited to show things off when I can! I'll be back!

burlesque & bunnies

Here's a quick little painting I did for this crazy book thing about a pair of Siamese twins who are burlesque dancers. The story gets really creepy & strange when they hook up with this guy and the sisters end up with this total jealousy/power struggle thing happening. Anyway... a bunch of illustrators were asked to contribute to the project by making a piece of art dealing with the story. Pretty neat. Here's mine
I really like this gal. I don't understand why, but sometimes when you don't have a lot of time and you can't fuss with things... they just come out with a really nice energy. I was really happy with the brush strokes on her.

And my birthday was in June so Hubby got me this little guy *Ollie*
He's a Jersey Woolie and I am in LOVE!
The boys dig him too!


I need to get back to the grindstone on the painting front... but I've just been dealing with this incredible level of exhaustion. The boys neither one seem to sleep through the night...so I've had little, or totally broken sleep for like, 4 years now. Plus I cut out caffeine....maybe not the smartest move right now... but hell, I'm down 15 pounds thanks to drinking tons of water and eating better...and a crazy morning hike/jog with the boys every day. I've just been trying to listen to my body lately and it keeps sayin' "More Sleep Sister!!!"
And I can't believe it, but we're gearing up for Bodie's 2nd birthday this Friday. Sadly his birthday party will be rather tiny...this is such a busy time of the year for everyone. Now...if I can just control myself around that birthday cake...

Ex.Arte

Not that I even pretend to be considered in the same league as the rest of these guys...

I am happy to announce Hobbs & Kent ex.arte cufflinks have officially launched. This project has been in the works for about a year... and I can't wait to see them in person. They're sending each artist a few samples this next week. The first series of artists are Gary Baseman, Jeff Soto, Gary Taxali, Ray Ceaser and myself. The theme had to pertain to "foursome" so I chose the four cardinal directions.




And here's a shot of me at this weekend's wine party partaking in some Absinthe. Cheers!

FIRE!

From the San Bernardino Sun:
"YUCAIPA - A wildfire started about 3:50 p.m. on Thursday in the hills north of Oak Glen Road and west of Yucaipa Regional Park. The fire came within 75 yards of homes along Golden Crown Way in the Chapman Heights neighborhood before fire fighters had it under control.
"My mother-in-law opened her front door and yelled, 'fire!'" said Diana Gamache, who lives on Golden Crown Way. "The flames were coming right at our houses."
Fire fighters had the blaze extinguished at about 5:30 p.m."

Yeah, so this is what happened at our house yesterday. The fire broke out right behind our next door neighbors' house. Me and the boys were out back, saw the smoke/flames...and got out of there. I didn't really know what else to do...all I could think was "just get to a safe spot". Luckily, the conditions weren't bad... there wasn't a lot of wind. But pretty scary all the same.


That white house in the picture is our next door neighbors' Tom & Bonny's home
Michael got home about an hour after the fire started and snapped some pictures from the backyard.



It all turned out okay, thankfully. Dylan was a tad traumatized last night because the firemen were still up behind our house working to put out any flare-ups, and it still smelled like smoke. I'm going to be a bit more nervous during the hot/dry times living here.

It's about time

Okay, I know... I know... I've been just terrible on the blog updates. So this one will be a bit long. Here's a little piece I did for MModern Gallery's Russ Meyer Tribute show. It actually opened a couple of weeks ago. "Vixen's Fishin' Hole"
And finally, some new merch my way!!!! I happen to be a fiend for tote bags... I love 'em. These are $20 apiece/ plus $5 S&H available through my website:

See here to purchase either of these fun little bags. And big thanks to Embroide-Me Northridge!
I've been feeling a bit crafty these days... so I whipped up a couple of these chalkboards to put up around the house. I thought it would be fun to have one by the dining table... for menus, or good quotes... whatever.
Took Dylly to Disneyland for his birthday a week ago. I didn't know this, but if you're a season pass holder... instead of paying your way into the park for your birthday, they give you a gift card for $70 to use in the park. Awesome. So Dylan got his giftcard and went nuts. It was a really great time. Both Mike's parents and mine joined us for the day there :)
Here's Mr. B in Toon Town.
And Mr. D giving a good birhday pose!
And I never get handmade things... I'm always the one making them... so I was tickled to get these two surprises. First a great door hanger for my studio made by the very wonderful Amanda Crum. See her delightful blog here. Thanks Mandy!
And some May Day Goodness came my way this past week. A very wonderful, yet secretive, neighbor made this beautiful Mayday basket and left it on our doorstep, leaving me giddy with excitement. Thanks You ;)
and, alas... Spring is here, Spring is here... it's the best time of the year!!!


Dylan and I made these really cute ladybug stones to put around our garden. I'm really loving our backyard right now... and terribly excited about the hydrangea plants blooming this year. Last year would have been the first year for blooms... but Bodie fell into them and broke off all of the stems. So fingers crossed for this year!
So that's my update. Now it's off to bed... our beloved little Bodie Bear has begun sneaking out of his crib during the night... so tomorrow we build the big boy bed for him. Man, they grow up fast.

Crazy days

So I'm outside with the boys today, and Dylan climbs up onto the slope in our yard to pick me a flower... he's up there for about 2 minutes, and he comes back and says "I need a bandaid for my owie"...I look at his arm and discover a damn snakebite! I'm freaking out because he said he couldn't feel it and the only snakes I've ever seen around our house are rattlers. It starts to get real red and swell and I had no idea what to do... ice? a bandage? All I knew is that if it was a rattler there might be some ugliness coming. Well, long story short I got on the horn with the hospital... they went through a bunch of questions...told me to keep a close eye on him...told me what to watch for...and luckily none of that real ugly stuff ever happened. This pic was taken about 6 hours after the bite, no more swelling or redness. But a real big lesson learned about living in a more rural area....and sadly this was the lessor of terrible things to happen today...but I can't even begin to get into the other. Thhhpppt on today.

However, this weekeng Hubby & I hosted a wine tasting party that was an absolute blast. Here are a few pics... Lots of cheeses to try...

lots of mingling....

LOTS of wine :)

Friends Byron & Laura.

The girls of Colden Crown Way, Bonny & I.

Bonny goes for a quick nap while Hubby talks up some of the local wine...

Tom, Donaldo & Bonnie havin' a great time! We really can't wait to do it again... that was just too much fun!

Okay, I HAVE to get back to painting. Our youngest, Bodie, has had major ear infections in both ears... so there hasnt' been much sleep around here. Subsequently, not much work getting done either ;)

For a long while now I've been wanting to make little signs to hang around our backyard. I originally thought about painting directly onto the fence itself... but hesitated with the thought of the elements ravaging it. Instead, I decided to make a sign I could hang... and then just take inside when the weather gets rough. So here's the first sign to grace our backyard... an ode to my sweet little family :)

I did it the other night while I was sick, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go... but I like it.

I got some good ink in "Deadbeat Magazine", this awesome Australian publication... just got my copy this weekend and was blown away by the quality of it...

Not only some seriously gorgeous photography, but the color, the thickness & weight of the paper it's printed on... all top notch. I am really flattered to be a part of this issue.



it's a quarterly mag, which I always find nice... plus there are some insanely amazing cars and chicks in this bad-boy! Thank you Sarah, for contacting me about this! I need to get to painting on for the Russ Meyers tribute show at MModern Gallery... but first, some sleep after last nights' lost "blankie" fiasco. Oh, and big Congrats to the Soto's on welcoming their new little one into the World today! Yay Natalie Rose!!!!

City Pages

I did the cover for this week's City Pages in MN, and had so much fun doing this illustration! I think the type at the bottom of the page really capped it off.
also did an interior illo to accompany the story. Wanted to do a blacklight poster kind of thing.

The boys have been keeping me busy. It's cool though, they're really starting to learn to play together and are having a lot of fun with each other. Here they are pretending to take a nap in Dyl's bed. Bodie looks as confused over the date stamp as I was... Mom hooked me up with her camera after mine recently broke... but I just now figured out how to get that stamp off. Thanks again, Ma!
We have a new park in the area that just opened up so I've been taking the boys on a walk every morning and ending it at the park. Here's Bodie and his little homie Noah. Noah's Mom and I go walking together on Tuesdays & Thursdays... so they have been getting their playdate on!
Okay... there was no sleep to be had here last night, so I'm going to hit the hay, after I finish my wine of course! Nite all!

Bonzai!

Commission for a good friend of the fam, JB Clegg

some art...

For an upcoming show entitled "Le Petit Morte" in IN.
My piece is 10" x 10" and called "The Moment After" Acrylic & gold leaf on wood.

And now... it's on to J.B.'s piece. He's a good friend of the family that wanted to somehow mix his love for martial arts with drag racing. Here's my sketch... now on to paint!

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! Me and Hubby are celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary today... and its' also the 12th anniversary of our first date. Love ya Hon!
It's been nice and chilly here in Yucaipa with these winter storms coming through. We keep getting occassional snow flurries.... which are fun for the boys and just beautiful to look out the windows and see!
This little hummingbird was sitting in our Wisteria tree watching me and the boys... and the snow falling.

Dylan showing off his snowflake catching skills.

So I've been meaning to put up pictures from the opening of the "Pin It Up Babycakes" show. Absolutely the most fun I've ever had at an opening! To make it even better though, our good friends Sloan & Joseph met us up there. Here we all are in one of the rooms before leaving for the show.

Here's me & Honey by my artwork inside 111 Minna Gallery. Emma Mount's amazing work is to the right.

A shot from inside. I took these earlier in the evening, by the time the show was in full swing the place was packed.

Sloan & Joseph sitting by my paintings.

Artist Christine Benjamin and myself. Photo courtesy of Christine.

Artists Ben Walker & Michael Slack came to peep out the festivities. I'd had a few beers at that point...

We staked out a table right in front for the burlesque show. Here's Bombshell Betty, Jessica Whiteside and another dancer, pre-pasties...

This gal was a blast to watch! She made me want to own a pair of feather fans!

This was the first burlesque show I'd ever been to... and I can now say I'm hooked.

All shapes & sizes... playful, cheeky and wonderfully sexy!

Alice Stribling and Jessica Whiteside, the brains behind the magical evening, thanks the crowd for coming out!

Me & Sloan before heading back to the Hotel

So much fun!

Still finishing last minute business for the "Pin It Up Babycakes" show. I was really happy with how this painting one came out. "Puffing the Magic Dragon" is 12" x 36", acrylic on wood. I'm slowly trying to start working a little bigger... and I think it might really help move my art forward a little bit. Change is good.

A close up...

the scrollwork...
And here's a small piece called "Sucky It Up" 4" x 6" She's in a cute little frame as well. I decided with the times, I should probably do a few smaller, more affordable pieces for the show.


"Princess Corsets"

Still have two more little pieces to finish up, then ship everything out *hopefully* on Saturday.We recently took the boys up to Camp Wrightwood for the day to get in a little snowplay and sledding. Had such a good time, Dylan talks about going back every day.... literally.



Okay, that's my little update... I'll post the other two pics for the show soon! Bye for now!

Santa was here!

working...working...
We had a few family members over for Christmas Eve, and this dude was posted right outside of the door as people were leaving that night. We always have the freakiest things waiting outside, ready to leap into the house.

St. Nick brought Bodie a Quad. He's not so into it yet... instead he's always wanting to ride with big brother in his new ride...


I hope you all had a really great Holiday. I know the Carrillo's sure did. Back in April or May Dyl & I were watching youtube videos of Lightening Mcqueen when we stumbled across a little vid of the power wheels car. Dylan got all flustered, started to stutter and freak out..."I I I need that. I HAVE to have that!" I've never heard him act that way before or since. At the time I told "well maybe Santa will bring it if you're a good boy", thinking we could totally do that. Well then the economy and Mike's work went into the shitter. But Dylan had faith... Santa was bringing him that car. He talked about it incessantly. But the fact was, there was just no way to do it for him this year. We had kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be spewing out the words of the 'old man' in A Christmas Story when Ralphie says he "almost" got everything he wanted..."Well, that's life". But then the real Santa's in our lives stepped up and made it happen. Thank you Mom & Dad, and Nana & Pops for making a little boys dream come true!

'Tis the Season

I'm working on art for an upcoming show called "Pin It Up Babycakes" at the Minna Gallery in San Francisco in February. I'll try to post a few images soon. But until then... here are a few of the things going on here.

The boys are excited for Santa's arrival. Dylan wants the Jolly guy to bring him a Lightening McQueen Power Wheels car. He's got this whole scenario in his head that he talks about all the time. He's going to pick up his friend Shannon, and take her for a cruise up to the mountains in his Lightening McQeen car so they can make snow angels. He says he'll be driving too fast and Shannon will be telling him "Slow down Dylan! Slow down!"
Bodie's just kind of along for the ride this year. He's excited over everything, but is more interested in seeing how many ornaments he can bust up before the tree goes away. Ya gotta love Captain Adorable.

This past Wednesday the storm blew in a few inches of snow to our neck of the woods. Dylan and I stayed outside until 9 that night playing and having snowball fights with the neighbors. I love the cold weather! It totally puts you in the spirit of the Season.



And here are some other things that put me in the spirit. People in Yucaipa love to do it up at Christmas time. There are some serious light shows around our neighborhood. These are two of my favs. This guy and his two neighbors have lights EVERYWHERE and they have a radio station that you tune into while the lights flash around in sync to the holiday tunes. It's really cool. Plus the guy has the Grinch on one end of his roof...

... and Jack Skellington on the other. Last year he had a snow machine in Jack's bag that would go off occassionally. They also invite people to drop off canned food for the needy... and invite people to join them for hot cocoa. It's really something to see in person.

And then there's the people who decorate their house up like "A Christmas Story". They have Ralphie in his bunny suit in one window, the awesome leg lamp up in another, and Flick stuck to the flag pole with a huge sign reading "I Triple Dog Dare Ya" out front. Great job Yucaipa!

And last week was the amazing Riverside Art Museum opening of Jeff Soto's "Turning in Circles"
Jeff's the nicest guy ever, and I can't really explain how proud we all are of what he's done. If you're anywhere near the area.... GO!

The almighty Sotofish balloon out front...

Me and Jennifer Soto.

Jeff addresses the crowd, thanking everyone for being there...

This installation is insane beyond words....

a small fragment of that installation...



The wonderful thing about Jeff's work is looking around at all the details and texture and just falling in love with every inch of it.


One of his earlier pieces...


Jennifer, Shannon and Michael...

Me, Jeff and Travis "Buckle" Chatham! Art Center REPREZENT
It was great fun seeing faces I haven't seen in a long time. Not only Buckle, but also the Clayton Brothers. Also, Lola, and Nathan... I forgot to take a picture of you guys... it was so great to meet you in person finally!

An Amazing display of talent, well done Mr. Soto!!!!

Fall Retreat '08

Well, it's been a busy past few days here at the Carrillo Camp. Thursday we did T-day at the Carrillo house, Friday T-day at the Peterson's. By the way, kudos to my vegetarian mother on a pretty awesome turkey meal ;)
I stayed up painting this piece after the boys went to sleep that night until 2 am on Saturday. My girlfriend Hazel was having her baby shower on Saturday afternoon and I made this for the baby's room. Looked nice matted and framed.
I didn't get to see her open it though, because we were on our way to Camp Wrightwood for Fall Retreat '08. It's always such a good time. Mike & I were especially looking forward to this year because year '06 I was pregnant, and year '07 we had Bodie Bear with us... So this year was kid free and carefree! Here are some pics...
This cool bat skeleton they have on display.

Our neighbors and good friends the Poopies joined us this year for Fall Retreat.

A nice little table-scape before the meal. I wish I'd taken pictures of the food. Sloan made two Prime Rib Roasts, A rack of Lamb, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, & spinach with a balsamic sauce. Killer.
Here's Joseph and the pups.

I busted on some tree cookies like the old camp counselor days. I decided that it would be my yearly contribution. Everyone who goes up for Fall Retreat gets one.

So everyone got a little owl painting. I was quite impressed with myself that I managed to do all of this after drinking a hundred glasses of wine.

After dinner, hanging out, slapping bones, lazing by the fire...
L to R are Sloan, Matt, Christa, Julie and Tom

Sloan and Joseph had a coyote get hit by a car and die out in front of their camp last year. It was in really good shape so they found a taxidermist and had him stuffed. He hangs proudly on the wall of the lodge. Pretty cool.

Yeah, Sloan, I don't think we drank enough that night....
and what was this about anyway?

Super cute picture of Mike & Jami with their pups Lenny & Gigi.

Man that's always a good time. Thanks Sloan & Joseph for the good food and the hospitality. We seriously can't wait for '09!

So here are the other two pieces for the Hank of Oz show. I sent off the artwork today. "Flyin' Monkey Airlines"


And "Glenda's Beauty Salve"


This past week has been so busy. Last weekend we were double booked on Saturday night. Here's Hazel and I at her baby shower/ last hoorah. She looks so adorable pregnant. I can remember how weird it was for her to see me pregnant with Dylan.. and that's how I'm feeling now. It's just so surreal to see her this way.


And then it was onto MModern Gallery in Palm Springs for Brandon Steen's solo show "Gunky Gave me Cash". Here are Mike & I with Brandon and his lovely Miss Jane...

His work looks SOOOO super amazing!

I really like this picture of the two of them!

Saturday night they came out our way for some grub and some good company. The Soto's came by as well, which was totally cool! Here are Dylan and Shannon doubling up in Thomas.

Mom and Bodie Bear...

I really love this shot of all of us together. It was such a memorable night. I enjoyed it to the hilt!

Whew! Then if all of that excitement weren't enough... we took the boys to Disneyland on Wednesday. It was Bodie's first time to the Happiest Place on Earth. The carousel became his true love. We had major issues every time it stopped and we had to get off...

Dylan's a big carousel fan as well...

Watching the Pixar Play Parade. Dylan loves it... Bodie was left a little mistified.

That was a great time. And it was the most empty I had ever seen Disneyland in my life. We walked right onto every ride imaginable. awesome.
Welp, we're gearing up now for the Holiday weekend. Thursday meal at Mike's parents' house, Friday meal at my folks... and then Fall Retreat '08 on Saturday!!! Whoopee!