Why the Mango is Heart-Shaped

Watercolor on some very bad paper. I'm not sure if I like the looseness or if I think it looks a hot mess. It's based on a Filipino folktale about a girl who commits suicide and the mango tree grows from her grave.

Coming out of my transparent nerd closet

(photo by Rachel Krislov)

So, you might notice two new links in my sidebar there. One is my formal portfolio, the other is a selection of my costume work. I've been doing a lot of cosplay for ages and I've acquired a lot of skills in pursuit of that hobby, including sewing, wig styling, and, now, body paint. During my last semester at AIB, I interned for the American Repertory Theater's costume shop and turned my hobby into a professional skill set.

I've always been hesitant about posting my costume work, despite the skills I've learned from it, because the majority of my costume projects are cosplay. That is, costumes based on characters from cartoons, tv shows, comics, etc. I am interpreting someone else's work, taking it from one medium to another. That aside: It's...incredibly nerdy. I've always felt like there needs to be some barrier between my personal nerd life and my professional life. And. Really. That's kind of dumb. 

So here you are everyone. Some of the nerdy stuff I do. I may post a couple more photos from this shoot later. 

A side note: To the commenter on my last post, this is actually why my tumblr header is a line from Prometheus Bound; I was interning for the theater while production was underway and saw many of the costumes come together. I am incredibly flattered that you mentioned my blog title to Michael and Gavin.

I'm pretty sure my own degeneration is just getting worse and worse

I ran across a meme on tumblr. "Draw yourself exactly as you are right now."

So I did.

What I did with my summer vacation

Things I didn't do: Get hired, move out, get a rabbit, have my life go according to plan.

Things I DID do: Get turned down for a job and offer to volunteer for them instead and find out that it was totally worth it.

The photo up top are the nine apprentices I helped teach at ArtWorks this summer. ArtWorks is a summer program, but it's not a camp. The closest comparison I can make is that it's a paid internship, because all the apprentices are sorted into different co-ops (vocal, architecture, ceramics, dance, painting, etc) and their main objective is to learn an art skill, but they're also paid and taught about professionalism and good behavior on the job. There were also occasional guest speakers.

I applied to be an "on-site coordinator" for ArtWorks, a full time paid position, but it didn't work out due to lack of experience, as well as what the organizers perceived was a need for me to teach. So instead, I took on a part-time unpaid assistant teaching position for the painting co-op and it was seriously one of the best six weeks of my life. There is something really cool about telling an apprentice how amazing he's doing and watching his eyes light up. Or bringing in artbooks and watching one girl start writing the names of artists and movies all over her hands.

Apparently this went a really long way for a lot of them too.

So maybe I'm a little broke right now, but it was a great experience and I'm really happy I decided to take it on.

Fencepiration at Heights Arts

What was supposed to be a massive construction project just ended up being a big hole in the ground so artists Carol Hummel and Debbie Apple Presser began a public art project, using recycled materials to decorate the fence with a montage of the seasons.

Last week, ArtWorks, the group I'm assistant teaching painting for, sent some of the apprentices to help them with the project.

Steampunk Commissions

Two commissions I did for my friend, writer Ruth Hartle, of her characters Gale, Finn, Ella, and Wednesday

Returning from the Dead

"It is a matter of physics, a scientific fact that the human body reacts in very similar ways when anticipating food and sex. Capillaries swell, lips and membranes become engorged, saliva thickens and the pulse rises. It's no accident that the two pleasures have become... confused."
— Anthony Bourdain

For my senior project, I chose to examine the idea of "food porn," how we watch Food Network or look at food magazines and the food is just as primped and shined as any pinup. And, as Mr. Bourdain points out, our reactions to food and sex can be similar. So I'm juxtaposing luscious food with equally luscious girls.