Tuesday, December 16, 2014

rock n roll school lunch

today I was inspired by Dylan's ugly school sandwich. I was like "why doesn't anybody write an anonymous blog or whatever about a new school lunch item every week and write snarky commentary?" from now on, this blob will now be dedicated to HA no way never. BUUUUTT, you can find our shenanigans at @rocknrollschoollunch (inspired by the late, great Wesley Willis's "Rock n Roll McDonald's"). yeah, it's an anonymous acct, but I am counting on the fact that most of you are from the Netherlands (crowd cheers) or the Philippines (crowd roars)and won't hold this against me.




ANYHOW, entered the Scholastic Art and Writing National Contest today (the day before the deadline, in my fashion). I finished my last piece this morning. WELL, HERE IT ISSSS. I had to give it a title (grrrr), so I titled it "Manus" (Latin word for hand) because LOL PRETENTIOUS AND ARTSY WHAT A COMBINATION!!!! No, I just couldn't think of anything and Latin = origins and the drawing was pretty technical so ya know . . .




Wednesday, November 12, 2014

library

today at la bibliotheque: two adults having a meeting over McDonald's in the dark corner of the children's section, and greasers watching Star Wars on a laptop in the garden. Also, a tall girl with a green wig and an annoyed guy wearing crocs.
the end

but not quite

okay so parsons summer intensive or csssa summer arts school? list of pros and cons coming soon.
the reflections contest awards ceremony is a week from today and . . . I don't really know what to say about it other than that.

we got an interview with filmmaker and photographer Natalie Neal for Zine Club about three weeks ago (?), and I am happy to see that she has also gotten many more interviews and much more attention in places such as Written Citizen and September Issues. we like you, natalie, we really like you.

 
 
some finished song art I did for The Efts! These guys have some really original music and sound going on, so you should go check them out on Soundcloud and Google Play. They awesome. Disenchanted, Soulbound, and Wednesday Song are my picks ;)
 
 


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

blah

so many things. the reflections contest ceremony is November 19th and I am scared. we don't know who wins what until the names are called and the deal is done. I feel like my idea and theme was really strong. I hear they judge a lot on that. there's one that is technically strong but the idea isn't as strong or passionate as mine. they did painting and I did collage - I hope that doesn't affect my success, that I did a collage. who knows?

I just have had this vision of wearing my red dress that I got from the thrift store with a denim jacket, my black stockings and my black doc martens. do you ever get a vision/dream that is so excruciatingly real that you can almost taste it? I can just picture coming out of the auditorium with first place and the amazing feeling of knowing that you have made it to the next level of the competition. I can even see my excited mannerisms as I walk. coming back to earth, I don't even know why I am putting a lot of thought into this contest. maybe because it's one of the first. I'm lame.

so many opportunities but SO LITTLE TIIIMMMMMMEEEEE.
I really wanted to work on something good for the national scholastic art and writing contest, but I don't know if I will be able to do finish more than one big piece . . . if even that.


oh hey its bae
trying to practice the drawing of figures . . .

pastel self-portrait



 
ANYHOW, if you are feeling extra donation-y (as in fifty cents - five dollars range), your contribution to Zine Club at zineclub.bigcartel.com is sooooo appreciated. if you are looking for more information before investing your hard-earned quarters, go to gohszineclub.blogspot.com


the big news at Zine Club these days is that we have NATALIE NEAL on board for an interview AND to premier her new short film "Seashells" at ou launch party that will take place in January! Natalie has done music videos for numerous bands and places like Urban Outfitters, Nylon Mag, Oyster Mag, and many others. She also has another short film, "Rose and Sophia", that is a great fourteen-minute escape from life (warning: may cause your bedroom décor and/or wardrobe and/or suburb to feel inferior)

also participating in the first issue of the zine, out in dec/jan time, is MAGGIE THRASH, staff writer for Rookie Mag and overall just a great fiction writer and comic artist! She has agreed to contribute a piece of fiction to the first issue, which has my eyes watering and my heart thumping.

BUT WAIT THERE IS MOOORRRREEEE!!!!!!!!
zinester and artist ANKE WECKMANN has ALLLSSSOO agreed to an interview! plus, etsy star ELECTRASHEART SHOP has happily abided to send over some items that we will be giving away as prizes in contests/raffles at the launch party!!!

I can hear the round of applause somewhere in the distance.

;)
Alyson

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

equal(?)


 
 
 
My submission for the Reflections Contest. The theme was "The world would be a better place if . . .", so naturally, I went the feminist route. Special thanks to Barbie and Ken for letting me adorn their bodies in society's customary sexist terms and double-standards.
 
I have been working on this here and there on the weekends for over a month and have been fantasizing about the day I would turn it in for at least that long, so today is somewhat strange magic.
 
 just listen and you will feel.
 






Anyhow, I really liked this because it is the perfect blend of cute stuffed animals and human organs.

 

 
 
 
I have been away for a little while because of my editor duties at ZINE CLUB(!!!) If you don't submit, do you even exist? HA chew on that . . . and then spit it out, head on over to gohszineclub.blogspot.com, and click the "submit" page on the right side. The rest will be history. Everyone who contributes will get a copy when it is published around xmas break :0
 
ALLLSSSOOOOO anyone who purchases a piece from my shop, brokenumbrellas.bigcartel.com, will get a copy too.
 
Lastly, check out September Issues, this AWESOME new collective and site that I am lucky to be a part of!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

oh yeah, she's losing it

for Nylon Mag, like the little fan I am.

Hey Kids (aye-aye, Captain),
the theme for the first issue of the Zine Club zine will be up soon on gohszineclub.blogpot.com. the theme is not a rule over all submissions, so don't think too hard on what you want to send to us. if you want to get reminders about deadlines/contests/OTHER FUN STUFF then text "@gohsz" to (951)801-4846. everyone's welcome ;0

I have been trying to get to the bottom of why doing this project, as we call it, has been giving us so many good feelings. We (me and Shaylie) kind of realized that the beauty of a zine is that it is a purely open forum for truly anyone to create whatever they want, with whatever thesis, and have it presented side-by-side with other opinion of different medium. how is it even possible for all these contrasting ideas to coexist harmonically in a totally AMAZING little publication? strange magic . . . that's all I've got.

make like ebola and SPREAD [the word]

anyhow, a playlist. I didn't even notice this, but Asleep by The Smiths plays before Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground. It reminded me that as lonely as things can be, or however much you want to "go to bed", if you hold on and wait for Sunday morning to roll around, things will get better. Please wait for Sunday morning.


Sunday, September 28, 2014

heartbreak nation #1: fantasy

catch me published in this cool new thing, Heartbreak Nation Zine, Issue #1: Fantasy
:p :0 :) ;)
thanks to Ines C at Heartbreak Nation for putting this little piece of awesomeness together :*


Saturday, September 27, 2014

zine club!!!!

hey guys,
my total immortal writer of a friend Shaylie and I have just launched our school's first ever ZINE CLUB!!!! The first meeting was last Thursday. We had a great turnout and are near the point of spontaneous combustion solely due to our excitement. The great part about the club is that it is open to the people of Great Oak High School AND ANYONE INTERESTED ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB!!!! We really want to reach out to everyone and give everyone a space to be published and be heard. There are very few spaces where that still exists, and we want to be one of them. If you are feeling up to it, check out the club blog (gohszineclub.blogspot.com) and send us your stuff at gohszineclub@gmail.com!!!! We would LOVE TO HAVE YOU.


you wouldn't believe how many people tried to argue us that zine is pronounced "z-eye-n" and not "z-eeee-n" but it's whatever.

Monday, September 15, 2014

today's quality internet








Being fully aware of the strange magic of your teenagerdom is like being awake during surgery. I don't know, it made sense in my head.

Anyways . . . 2 TRUTHS AND A LIE.

a) I am now a member of The Wandering Collective
b) I finished my pastel art project on time
c) I am the co-editor of my school's new Zine Club

 . . .

you figure it out ;0

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Sunday, August 24, 2014

perhaps

 Perhaps it is not even the person that our heart swells over, but what they represent to us. It is easier for us to become infatuated with one person who seems to embody everything that appeals to us than to obsess over separate things that aren't completely tangible/visible (states of mind, quirkiness, feminism, belief in alien life forms, the works).
 People are icons. We are simply walking, talking collages of everything that we have seen/heard/done/loved/hated. People are art(?).
  In somewhat related news, Andrew in Drag by The Magnetic Fields.



Saturday, August 23, 2014

baby's first (mini) zine




It's hard being bilingual . . .

 

true life, though
 
  
   Just a friendly little zine I made for my friend and resident goddess, Zoe.
  Some stickers from Rookie Yearbooks and lots of Mod Podge and Tacky Glue.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

not a self portrait

 
 
 
not finished (ha) but whatever. I think everything looks better in the sketch form, but this is it before I am forced to demolish it with pastels tomorrow . . .

Saturday, August 16, 2014

kind of whatever

I wish it were okay . . .
  
   Only gypsies can cry tears of pink glitter.

   Wood square. Acrylics, watercolor crayons, watercolor pencil, matte medium, glitter glue, diluted concentrated watercolor, dye ink/stamps, prismacolor colored pencil




Friday, August 15, 2014

a downward spiral

  
coming home

    Is there seriously a reality show called "Preachers of L.A."? I just saw a commercial for "Preachers of L.A." I'll remember this for when people start to question when the world started on its downward spiral.


This week.


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Monday, August 11, 2014

hello gorgeous

 
 

Suzi Blu's dog.
 
 
 
   I died and reincarnated today when I took my first steps into the Blick Art Store and saw that it had two stories. That place is everything good in the world.
 
       An old favorite ;).


Saturday, August 9, 2014

why

 
 
 
 
why

            Stay golden.

     Colored pencil, acrylics, stamps/dye ink, watercolor pastels, concentrated watercolor, purple sharpie :0



Friday, August 8, 2014

seasons

prismacolor pencil in blue lake


seasons

   New school year . . .
 Colored pencil, watercolors, china marker, stamps/dye ink on watercolor paper. New in the shop.




 "And when people change, we gain a piece, but we lose one, too"
   
 




just found out this week that the cover art Future Islands used for their album Singles is a collage by Beth Hoeckel, a Rookie contributer :0

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

strange powers

back of my sketchbook
                  What's yours?






Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Monday, August 4, 2014

finished cecilia







   I finished Cecilia. The curse is broken, I have actually managed to complete something. That is what I call strange magic. In any case, some [lots of] symbolism. Just watch the darn movie already ;)
  
   Acrylics, molding paste, glass bead gel, matte medium, distress crackle paint, glitter glue, Prismacolor pencils. As far as accents go - lace, scrapbook paper, string, rosary, faux flowers, dead flowers/grass/twigs, charms, ribbon, computer paper, china marker, notebook paper/red sharpie, newspaper.


Thursday, July 31, 2014

freshman year

long playlist, long year
   A playlist I made at the end of freshman year. I realize it's probably stuff you have heard before, but got to stay true to what last year sounded like.  ;)

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

remember me

new in the shop.
   When stupid Michaels discontinues not-so-stupid wooden cradle boards, I have to get stupid "wood squares".

   Just kidding - I'm pretty sure Michaels holds the keys to the universe. But those cradle boards were bomb.

   Just made this. Mainly acrylics, matte medium, stamps/dye ink, and watercolor pastels/pencils.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

marie et me




   What happens when I get inspired by Suzi Blu, who was inspired by Marie Antoinette. Guys, it's the food chain of inspiration.
 My second mixed media.

 Canvas. 2012. Acrylics, molding paste, colored pencil, accents, sharpie, stamp/dye ink, scrapbook paper, sketch paper, a little bit of cardboard.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Dirty Girls


 
 
      Dirty Girls is a documentary made by a high school senior in the mid-1990's, set to the tune of the noise that disturbed middle and high school culture caused by a group of teenage feminists and self-proclaimed riot girrrls.
     Apparently Dirty Girls has made the rounds on Tumblr and what have you for quite a while, but I just came across it yesterday (thanks, Rookie). If you salivate over documentaries (*cough*) or simply want to pretend you are in an actual feminist movement from the actual 90's (oh, well I guess that applies too), then don't miss out on this.
 
 
And some cat drawings . . .
 
purple Sharpie and blue watercolor pastel




Saturday, July 26, 2014

My Name is George (?)


Catch this guy in the shop
(link ->)
  This is George. George cannot talk because he is a stuffed bear, but he sees a lot going on around him. This is what he sees.

  Wood cradle board. Watercolor pastels, watercolor pencils, Prismacolor colored pencils, matte medium, stamps/dye ink, blue concentrated watercolor, sketch paper, carving knives, and accents.

Friday, July 25, 2014