Shows & Projects

7 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

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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.

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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.

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

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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!

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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 😀

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.

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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)

Superstitions Art Show

My solo show “Superstitions” at ci|creative in Peoria, IL. The illustrations I created are around the subject of superstitions, luck, and chance. The show opened on a Friday the 13th of November, 2009

Superstitions show poster