Shows & Projects

12 posts

Mocktails – Impossibly Good Drink Recipes

What Artists Drink

One of my hobbies is making drinks and cocktails for family and friends. There’s just something I love about mixing colorful liquids and spirits. I don’t know what it is about it…

Gatherings and potlucks, most of the time instead of bringing dishes, I’ve brought drinks. Everyone brings dishes, I like to bring something different. Besides, who’d want something made from obligation instead of love? I’ve done this so many times, it became an unwritten rule – Tanya makes the drinks. Cool, I love this obligation.

This inspired a series of watercolor paintings that I’ve been adding to over the years, Mocktails – impossibly good drink recipes:

 

Razorberries At Sacred Art Chicago

Razorberries-SacredArt01

Sacred Art Chicago is currently featuring my artwork as part of their Artist Showcase Series during the months of May and June! Last week was the show opening. Just for that night, I brought some of my sketchbooks for everyone to flip through, including the one from when I was 5 years old.

Razorberries-SacredArt02

The sketchbooks show the progress me of learning to draw through practice. And I’m still always learning and evolving.

You can check out my artwork at Sacred Art at 4619 N Lincoln Ave, here in Chicago, until the end of June.

Traveling Niagara Falls in the Razor Rover

RR-NiagaraFalls

For our last stop of the road trip, we saved the best for last: It was an amazing, beautiful, and refreshing dream come true to finally see an internet connection on my iPhone!

Yeah, we had no phone or internet reception in Canada, and had to catch WIFI just so I could post #RazorRover photos.

New York was just across the border from Niagara Falls in Ontario, but I thought I may have to swim a few feet closer toward America to get the internet service on my phone to work.

Thankfully, Stosh thought of better way to do that – turn the Razor Rover into the Razor ROWER! So, I did. And it worked! That’s when Stosh & Anya took this photo of me celebrating internet euphoria at Niagara Falls!

This concludes the Razor Rover trip to Canada. The first Razor Rover trip was in San Francisco, in March. Live-tweets of the #RazorRover are on Twitter and Instagram. Check out the previous stops we made along this trip here:

3. Traveling Toronto in the Razor Rover
2. Traveling Kalamazoo, MI in the Razor Rover
1. Traveling Indiana Dunes in the Razor Rover

More Razor Rover adventures to come!

Traveling Toronto in the Razor Rover

I can officially say I’ve been to a different country. (Although, I’m from Ukraine and live in the U.S., I’ve spent enough time in both of these countries to consider them both homes.)

Me driving the Razor Rover in Toronto, Canada
Look, I really am in Canada!

When we’re not getting high on fresh air, we’re getting up high on tall buildings. We got to the 114th floor of the The CN Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world, or something. I tried to figure out what rank of tallness exactly, and then instantly regretted it. Don’t even bother looking at the debates about CN Tower and Willis Sears Tower unless you enjoy being queasy from thinking about technicalities. Basically, I was in a tall building in Canada! Wee!

RR-CNTower2
The view from the CN Tower in Toronto – I think I can see Chicago from here!

Earlier this year, I made a resolution to see more places and made a goal to visit at least one state I’ve never been to. And so far this year, I’ve visited 3 new states AND a new country!

A couple years ago, when I finally became a U.S. citizen, I got a shiny U.S. Passport (which is pretty much the MULTIPASS in travel) so I gotta make good use of it.

The first Razor Rover trip was in San Francisco, in March. Check the blog tomorrow to see the final stop of this road trip!

Traveling Kalamazoo, MI in the Razor Rover

Stosh, Anya, and I traveling in the Razor Rover
Me, Anya, Stosh, and Stosh’s microphone traveling in the Razor Rover

When we arrived in Michigan, we found the beautiful Kalamazoo Nature Center. Anya and I roamed around the trails with a camera while Stosh roamed around the trails with a microphone. But interviewing nature wasn’t an easy task because of attention-whore mosquitoes. More like, Kalamazoo MOSQUITO Center.

Sucking in all the fresh air I can get at Kalamazoo Nature Preserve
Sucking in all the fresh air I can get at Kalamazoo Nature Preserve

I don’t usually purchase oxygen, so I don’t know what it typically costs on the market. Breathing the fresh air at the Kalamazoo nature trails was $7 per person. Pretty sure it was 100% pure oxygen.

Thankfully, the Razor Rover doesn’t pollute.

The first Razor Rover trip was in San Francisco, in March. Check the blog tomorrow to see where we headed next!

Traveling Indiana Dunes in the Razor Rover

Anya & Stosh at Indiana Dunes
Anya & Stosh at Indiana Dunes

A couple weeks ago, my friends and I went on the road trip in the Razor Rover from Chicago.

This is Anya and her boyfriend Stosh. We cruised through Indiana Dunes State Park. They seemed to be super excited about a bunch of sand and water and sand and water. You can’t see me in the photo because I fell asleep in the back.

Anya is actually my sister. But she’s my friend, too. Maybe she was adopted, but don’t tell her that.

The first Razor Rover trip was in San Francisco, in March. Check the blog tomorrow to see where we headed next!

State Of The Art Chicago Show and Driving a Subcompact Car

Last Thursday, I had a chance to be a part of State of the Art Chicago show at John Barleycorn River North.

If you like fruity drinks and ever go to that restaurant, you gotta try their Raspberry Margarita. So good! I had mine without salt. Because fruit + salt = nope.

State of the Art June 2014

The dining booths were converted into little gallery spaces! This was my booth for the night:

State of the Art June 2014

I was so happy to see some familiar faces visiting my booth!

The show was indoors and the walls were provided by SOTA – so I didn’t have to bring any of my heavy walls or tent. With my cargo being much lighter, I didn’t have to rent an SUV this time. So I rented a small car. A tiny car. Baby bear’s car:

Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 subcompact car was just right for this show. I loved this thing. It was a day for all things tiny: Driving this tiny car, just for one day, for a 3-hour show, in a tiny gallery space. The only giant part about it all – it was a lot of fun.

This concludes my art show marathon for a little while. You can read about my past art shows from the previous 2 weeks here: Wells Street Art Fest and Custer Fair.

I’ll be working on commissions and traveling until my next show,Bucktown Arts Fest in August.

Evanston’s Custer Fair, Flash Flood, and Driving an SUV

Last weekend, I was in Evanston, IL showing my work at the Custer Fair. It was nice and calm most of the day on Saturday, until about 5pm, when a flash flood raged through the fair.

My booth was located by a wall with a decline in the edge of the road. So when it rained cats and dogs, the water accumulated and rose to about 5 inches in the deepest spot.

CusterFair (1)

All the artists closed up their tents, and everyone scattered looking for shelter. Some people drove home, some people were hiding from the storm at the underpass nearby. I zipped up my tent and quickly worked to get all my art away from the water.

Thankfully, none of my work was damaged. But my feet got completely submerged in the water.

CusterFair (2)

From inside my canopy, I could still hear voices of kids and adults running through puddles to their cars. Thunder, wind, and lightning all around. Rain falling harder and harder. Flood rising higher and higher. My car is parked 3 blocks away and I’m stuck in this tent. What to do?

Take selfies!

CusterFair (5)

This is the face of a stressed out person, wondering if she’s about to die.

When the rain calmed down a bit, I walked to my car and drove to Target to get some extra waterproof bins to help protect my artwork.

The next morning, on Sunday, I wondered if this rain would continue, and if I should just pack up and go home. But the weather became beautiful outside! I got a chance to walk around a little and make this little video of my neighbor artists:

The show went on! Soon, lots of people came to enjoy the fair. Thank you to everyone who visited and I was happy to see you enjoying my work!
CusterFair (3)

I rented this SUV for the weekend. It was a brand new Chevy…something. I should have paid more attention to the make of the car because I really liked driving this one. It was a good fit for me and my cargo.

CusterFair (4)

It’s similar to the Razor Rover, but just a little more waterproof.

This Thursday, June 26th, I’ll be at Chicago’s John Barleycorn River North for one night with a few other artists. Excited for this show and to drive my next mystery vehicle!

Touring Chicago’s Wells Street Art Fest and Driving a Pickup Truck

WellsSt2014-1

The Wells Street Art Festival was my first outdoor art fair in Chicago. It was quite an adventure getting to my space and setting up my canopy and stuff. And at the end, taking everything down and packing up.

Thank you to everyone who visited my booth and took some Razorberries art home. Plus, I couldn’t have asked for better weather.

WellsSt2014-2

And I especially couldn’t have asked for better artist neighbors! I love meeting interesting and great people while doing art fairs.

Before this weekend, I’ve never driven a pickup truck. I generally avoid giant vehicles. I didn’t even want to drive my mom’s SUV back home in Galesburg, IL, even though it was fun the one time I drove it. This pickup truck was the only vehicle that was available at the car rental to fit my equipment, at the time.

Chicago roads get pretty narrow. When the man at the car rental place handed me the truck keys, I thought to myself – “Heeeere we go…” And then, I could barely climb up to get into the driver’s seat!

WellsStTruck-2014

The Ford F150 XLT 4×4. This thing is probably 3x the size of any car I’ve driven before. Yet, somehow I managed to maneuver this truck through some really tight spaces to get to my booth at Wells Street. It’s a really nice ride and did its job but it’s definitely not built for a person my size. I felt like Goldilocks in Papa Bear’s truck the entire time!

This coming weekend I’ll be at the Custer Fair in Evanston, IL – I wonder what vehicle I’ll be driving next 😀

Traveling San Francisco in the Razor Rover

photo (6)

I finally visited San Francisco a few weeks ago. It was a pretty big deal because this was the first time I got to see a palm tree within its natural habitat.

Oh, yeah, and, this is the farthest I’ve ever traveled alone, to a place I haven’t been to, but have been dreaming of visiting for years.

I wanted to do a fun art project for this trip and was inspired by Land Rover. The little car I’m sitting in is the Razor Rover. It’s very lightweight. And no, I didn’t drive all the way to San Francisco from Chicago in it. Because that would’ve been crazy. I flew in on Virgin Airlines, and they are awesome because they let me take Razor Rover in my carry-on.

Oh, yeah, and, because they sing and dance in their airplane safety video and give you free tomato juice.

RazorRover-WIP

Before my trip, I designed Razor Rover, built it out of watercolor paper, and drew the details in with ink markers. Then I took the photos with the help of my iPhone, a fisheye phone-camera lens (thanks, Land Rover!), Joby GripTight Mount, and a bluetooth remote.

RazorRover-GGBridge

For my 29th birthday, I strolled through the Golden Gate Bridge. I spent  about 4 hours in the area. (One of those hours was spent charging my phone.) It was so windy that I didn’t think I’d be able to get a Razor Rover photo. Thankfully, one of the employees at the gift shop was able to give me a couple strips of tape to secure the Razor Rover to keep me from flying away in it.

There were a lot of people at the bridge that day and I got some weird looks while I was driving Razor Rover. I thought maybe it’s because they wanted a ride. So, I offered. But then they said stuff like, “Uh, that’s okay. Good luck!”

Weirdos.

RazorRover-UnawareDriver

At Pier 39, a few people did enjoy Razor Rover. Because it’s such a smooth ride, this guy didn’t even realize he was driving it!

RazorRover-LombardSt

Here’s me in the Razor Rover, attempting to go where no car has gone before: UPHILL the squiggliest street – Lombard Street.

RazorRover-RussianHill

When I got to the top, I parked Razor Rover to the side and enjoyed the view from Russian Hill.

photo (5)

During my first Razor Rover trip, this was the first time I stayed in a hostel, too. The Green Tortoise Hostel SF hallways have this amazing, colorful carpet. During my week-long stay there, I got to meet people from lots of different countries, including England, Australia, Germany, and Italy. Some of them were just enjoying traveling, some were backpacking countries and working temporary jobs, and some were visiting San Francisco for conferences.

RazorRover-Mia

I also met Mia, a glassblower from Finland, because she was staying in the same dorm as me. Here, she is testing out Razor Rover’s cruise control. Look, no hands!

It was her idea was that we should catch the sunset at Ocean Beach.

RazorRover-OceanBeachMia

Mission accomplished!

The Razor Rover trip photos were improvised on-location, and I live-tweeted and live-Instagrammed (it was very-instant, okay?) most of the trip. There will be more Razor Rover adventures in the future, and you’ll be able to see the live updates by following the #RazorRover hashtag from my Twitter & Instagram.

Tattletail illustration

The Tale of Tattletail

I’m excited to be a part of the SPECIES Showcase by Animal, coming soon to New Delhi, India. Artists were asked to create artwork of an animal. The only rule is that it had to be in the shape of the Animal logo. So, I created “Tattletail” inspired by parakeets.

Tattletail_500x300

The title of my Animal artwork is Tattletail, emphasizing the long tails of parakeets. When I was a kid, I got an aqua-colored parakeet named Kesha for my birthday. He was a sweet little bird, who learned how to talk and even tried to compose his own phrases. Eventually, he passed away. I missed him a lot. Years later, I did what any well-adjusted teenager would have done: I got a new aqua-colored parakeet and named him Kesha. But this one had a completely different personality and didn’t talk. That’s when reality hit me like a ton of bird droppings: No matter how similar the characteristics, each animal is unique and tells its story in its own way.

Additionally, here’s a tiny video I made that shows the drawing process and close-ups:

(Song: “I Like Birds” – The Eels)