old school cuz we're some old fools...

So here's a story. Back in high school my friend Sloan and I were super tight with a boy named Matt. I think we actually used to even call him "MATT- GOD OF ALL", but anyway we were dorks....
Long story somewhat shortened.... we lost touch with him our Senior year of high school, and about 7 years ago, while I was in Art School, Sloan and I dutifully spent hours on the computer searching for him. We found him in Florida... and sent him a random postcard with my website and "For a Good Time Call...."
He called.
And we've all been in some kind of touch ever since. Well, Whaddayaknow, Matt came to L.A. on business this past week, so he and Sloan toodled over my way so we could all hang out like old times. Man, it's been like, 15 years since we've seen him... but Damn it was fun. I guess with a truly great friend, years and years can go by... but it's like time hasn't skipped a beat when you see them again. Anyway, Sloan, Matt... I'm so glad we could do this!!!
And I know Matt, this is slouchy picture... but I liked it... and it's my blog.

Oh, and you had to know I was going to do THIS.....HAHA!!!!!
*Please ignore the sorry-ass painting in the background... I was 16*

Friends like you guys are hard to come by... talk soon Homies!

I'm painting some skate decks for a show in Australia right now.... here's a preview.

These things inspire me...

I saw this on Chris Ryniak's site awhile back... it made me cry

Dear little lad
Here is the story of my life
I lived on the moon
Grey flying snakes along
the mountains of destiny while
the three tailed monkeys
were drawing the stars.
Light from the Sun and I
hide myself on the dark side, alone
I’ve run so far
to find my way
Then I dream again… alone

Dear little boy, Listen
to the voices of your soul
it showed you the way
Of silence and peace
Follow your thoughts and fly
Choosing all the things that you desire
Giant Waves, fireflies…
Your dreams will be your only shell
Your secrets, your hiding place, my son
Don’t let them try
to crush your brain
let you go far
….my son

I lived on the Moon

Whippin' Cream

You and your pals are invited to attend the "SuperHero" exhibit and party during San Diego's Comic-Con on Thursday, July 24 from 7 PM to Midnight in costume or not. This is a free warehouse party featuring over 50 inspired "SuperHero" paintings and live music performances by the Modlins and SSI. This is an exclusive event hosted by Effen Vodka, Hi-Fructose Magazine, Ninthlink and Murphy Art Books.

where :
Warehouse Space : 1616 National Avenue : San Diego : 92113

cost :
There is no cost for this event. Cash bars will be available. 21 and over, with a valid ID

sponsors :
Sponsored by Effen Vodka, HiFructose, Ninthlink, Murphy Art Books

Here's my piece for the show... "Whippin' Cream". She's 12" x 24" and is selling for $1500



Michael and I are still not sure if we'll be in attendance to this one. The boys are both going through their own little rough patches right now... it makes it hard to do things involving long driving times...but I'm real happy with how the piece came out.
I worked last night until midnight, then Dyl got us up at 2 am wanting some chocolate milk. Back to bed for an hour, then Bodie got up at 3.... and never went back to sleep... I'm tired...

stinky cheeziness

For my birthday one year a friend bestowed on me the book "The Stinky Cheese Man & Other Fairly Stupid Tales" by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. I've always thought this book was pretty awesome... but it becomes even more awesome when your own child catches it's magic and you suddenly experience it through their eyes. Dylan is obsessed with this book, in particular the Stinky Cheese Man story itself. I read that story approximately 40-50 times a week... it's gotten to where he's got parts of it memorized and we do the voices of the characters together.
He loves the pictures in that book so much that he started begging me to make him a stinky cheese man... so I surprised him with this piece of cheesy goodness. I opted for corduroy & suede fabrics instead of real stinky cheese. It should last a lot longer that way. Anyway, here he is...
"WOW! My own Stinky Cheese Man!!!" was his response. Followed by "I Love You, Stinky Cheese Man"
I was pretty happy with how he turned out. I got enough fabric to keep on tap in case Bodie ever yearns for a stinky cheese man of his own.

And speaking of Bodie, the little man turned one last week... so we threw together a small shindig this weekend to celebrate. Here he is opening gifts. He tuckered out after this and had to nap for a few hours.
But the rest of the crew stayed and played. Here's Dylan weighing down the teeter totter...

A group shot of all the guys together.
Right now I'm working on a piece for a "Superhero" show that's being put together for the Comicon by Mark Murphy. Post pics on that one soon!

Genius

So our house is apparently chock-full of monsters these days. I was lamenting about our monster problem to Jeff Soto the other day and he gave me what could very well be the most fun little nugget of parenting info I've recieved to date. He'd read in Parent's magazine that you should get a squirt bottle and make a little label for it that says "Monster Repellent"... then the kid can feel a sense of relief as he sprays away the monsters. So today, after Dyl found a monster in the bathroom, I used this little trick... telling him "Daddy just picked up a bottle of this at the store, aren't we lucky!"
It was really awe-inspiring to see what a sense of relief this gave him... and to see how much fun it suddenly became to look for monsters.

As an added bonus I decided to just wrap up our bottle of Febreeze. That way Dyl could do a little multi-tasking by de-monstering and deoderizing in one swoop. Thanks for the tip Jeff, it worked wonders... and our house smells pretty darn fresh.
"Monster B Gone"... pick yours up today!

Other than that, just keeping cool in the pool! Happy Fourth o' July everyone!

Two things that make me super happy

1. He requested I give him a mustache and skull so he could be a pirate for the day...



2. That this woman exists

Somewhere in Between

SO I got this awesome piece in the mail from Jason Limon the other day. It's called "Somewhere in Between".
he's a really cool dude, on top of the rad art...

Plus, like Colin Johnson, he sent extra goodies in his package. I dig these buttons like all get-out. I need to get my own little thing like this, some little extra surprise to pack away when I send out work. It's so much fun to get things like this.

Neighbor Bonnie was dogsitting this weekend. The pup is adorable, but we'll just say that Bodie was NOT a fan...

And speaking of pets. I revamped our little fish tank for Max & Ruby. I had all of this natural looking stuff in there (except for the tiki), and then it dawned on me that a kitschy fish tank is a fun fish tank. .. so now the've got colored rocks, a pirate's treasure chest, and some glow-in-the-dark plants to go with the tiki. The boys love looking at it.... and Max & Ruby seem mighty happy.

Much Love

Sent off my Tiki Mug today for the Gala Tiki show at DVA Gallery in Chi-town.

The type on it says "Aloha Nui Loa" which means "Much Love"



Just some real simple, sweet little gals...

And I just had to throw in a couple pics of Bodie. He's so cute right now, with that one front tooth. I think he pulls off the hillbilly look rather smashingly.


Also sent off a piece today for a trade with Jason Limon. I'm so excited, I LOVE getting new artwork for our walls! His stuff rocks, I'll post pics when I get it...

Birthday Hi-jinx

So back when Sex in the City was on HBO, my girlfriend Hazel and I would have our "girlnights", we'd make chocolate covered strawberries, watch the show, and of course, have champagne... then retreat to the jacuzzi at Hazel's house to drink, giggle and tell our innermost secrets.
When the movie came out this past week, Haz put together a Sex party...and 15 of us went to the movies together to enjoy our long lost friends, the girls from SITC. Hazel, in keeping with the tradition, made chocolate covered strawberries, and we cracked open wine and champagne in the theatre because we're fabulous like that.


God I love being a girl.


This past Wednesday, it was back to Disneyland with the Soto's to celebrate mine & Jeff's birthdays. Plus we've been planning on taking the kids there together for a long time now. They had a ball together. Here's Dyl and Shannon conquering the temple of doom.

...and the Jungle Cruise...

Running amuck on the treehouse


the ultimate in pirate booty...

Jeff and I sporting our Disneyland Birthday buttons. It's cool, you get all kinds of special attention when you're wearing one of these things.

Last night we had the neighbors over to celebrate my actual b-day. Bonnie picked up pizza and made her amazing hot wings, Mike got a cake, and I made Sangria. This is the result of mixing Sangria and a badly placed baby gate. My wrists have been messed up for awhile now. I've had a real hard time for years with my left wrist... and lately it's gotten really bad. I'm not sure if it's arthritis, or carpel tunnel or what.... anyway, we have this babygate we put in the laundry room to keep Bodie from chowing down on cat food, and I (with all the festivities) A- Forgot to remove it... B- Forgot it was there, and C-totally plunged over it head first, landing on tile with the really bad wrist to brace myself for the fall. So I ended my birthday on the floor of our laundry room in tears. My wrist and elbow are so jacked up. Such a bummer ending to a really cool week.

Flight of Fancy

I'll be showing in New Jersey this month at Crybaby Art Gallery. The show opens this Saturday, June 7th, runs through July 6.
Bethany Marchman has a solo show"Fauna" going on, and I'll be showing in "Flight of Fancy" with Kukula, and Pilar Alvarez. Here's one of the pieces I have in the show... "Dad's White Bread"

A close up...

And on the crafty tip, I made some stepping stones for our backyard to memorialize the boys while they're small. Everyone always says it goes so fast.... but when your in the middle of it, and waking up several times a night for feedings, spending your days tired as all hell and trying to work at night... it seems like they'll never get bigger, or more independant. I'm sure someday I'm going to look at these little hands and feetprints and cry, missing them being little...


And this past Sunday we actually got to enjoy a family day at the San Bernardino County Museum. My Dad always took us here when my brother and I were little, so I get really nostalic at this joint. They have a lot of really cool exhibits, here's a peek at the rocks/minerals.

The first time I ever saw one of these things, I was dropping off work for a show in L.A. and almost stepped on it. It seriously grossed me out.

When we would come here as kids, this guy scared the shite out of my brother. He's probably about 11 feet tall...
Once, when I was in my early 20's I came to this museum to be by myself and "soul search". It was Halloween, and I was the only person in the whole place. I have to admit, it WAS really spooky to be around this guy by myself. I kept thinking he was going to start moving or something.

Here' s me and the boys. They were a little preoccupied with the giant moose across from us...


The bird rooms. These were always my favorite. Although, on soul searching day... they freaked me out, too. That's a lot of little dead eyes looking back at you.

My bra was apparently also on display...

The museum has rows and rows of eggs to check out...

Dylan and I got all excited over the Road Runners, we see them all the time when we're out walking. We have them running through our backyard on occasion, too.

The Museum has this really cool exhibit about architecture going on right now. Here's an amazing dollhouse replica of Edward's Mansion.

And here's Michael braving the tarantula.

Going to Disneyland again this Wednesday! My birthday is this Thursday, June 5. Jeff Soto's is Tuesday, June 3rd... so we're diong a family b-day bash together at the happiest place on Earth. Dylan's SO excited to go there with Shannon...