The grass is greenest where you water it

Sold in a floating glass frame
$35 including shipping and handling
email me if you're interested

Rooting

I'll admit I havent been the best at keeping this blog updated. Art is a tricky mind game for me. I sit down to do something and the hardest part seems to be getting past the hump of negative self-talk. Why do I think I deserve to do this? No ones going to like it. No one cares about art, and no one cares about MY art. All of these things I know aren't true. But when I spend the majority of my time working with these thoughts, little mistakes happen... Bob Ross would call them happy accidents I guess, but I don't think there can be happy accidents with a fragile medium like paper.

Oh well. Onto the next, I guess.

Deeply connected with intuition and wisdom

If you asked me a year ago if I would be where I'm at today I'd probably laugh about it. I'm not just talking about where I am in the physical world, but how I feel, and what I'm working toward. My brother introduced me to this guy Dallas Clayton that does kids books... One of my favorite pieces by him says, "I'm excited to see where this is all going"

Sold in a floating glass frame, $65 plus $10 shipping and handling

If I know better... I don't know better

The evolution of my artwork has been an interesting one, and is still (and always will be) in flux. I'm not gonna lie about it, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Some days I walk into the studio with one idea, and leave having completely forgotten about my original plan. Other days I'll just sit and stare at my cutting mat and think how I'm being a complete chicken head and should give up my hopes for a 9 to 5. I'm learning this is my fuel that keeps me there all day, and keeps me coming back.

With all that being said, heres a video of a piece of paper I cut today. Why tree bark? I have no idea. Like I said... I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. But I'm not gonna stop now.

"Sit still ho, I'm tryin to kiss you"

Alright, here is some serious truth:

Starting back at the bar made me realize how mentally, physically, and creatively taxing it is to do that kind of work for me. Please don't mistake that last sentence as me being ungrateful or bitter about being back behind a bar - I don't mind the work. But I never understood that I could find work that feels natural and leaves me with more energy until I was able to tap into my creative side a little bit more.

My foot hurts

Sometimes I wonder where I used to lose all of my time before I started making and creating. What I would do on my days off, or even why I felt validated in letting myself have a day off. It seems like now-a-days if my wheels aren't turning, then I better have a really good reason for it.

I woke up yesterday morning, and my foot was on fire. After a simple google search, the internet said it's either cancer, I broke my foot or I have a bunion. Or maybe I just bruised it. So fine, I figured that is a sign to take it easy at the gym this week. Rolling with those punches,  I drove over to the craft store because I needed more blades... I bought the place out of their blades last week, and they don't get a shipment in until Friday. Fine. I went home, got online, and tried to buy the blades that I use in bulk. The website says they are out of stock.

Shit. Sometimes life forces us to calm down. I figured that was a sign that I needed to sit still yesterday... rest my foot, rest my hands and take a day off... Which is the hardest thing to do now that I have a real career goal. Even taking the 30 minutes it takes to type this blog post I have to mentally force myself to not get up and say this is a waste of time.

I'm not gonna spend the next four days waiting for that store to re-up on the things I need. I guess I just have to make do with what I've got. Maybe I need to do something else, or learn something new that doesn't require the tools I don't have right now.

So, even though I promised myself I would take the day off yesterday, I still went into the studio and spent a few hours messing around with the dull blade I had. I figured I might as well make another flower. Maybe I'll put a bouquet of them together if I continue to cut them out. That might be neat looking. So anyway, heres a picture of me with the thing I cut yesterday.

Why a picture of me AND the flower I cut, you ask? For a few reasons:

 1. Because girls always have to find an excuse to take a selfie.

 2. Because my blades are dull that flower kinda looks like shit up close. 

3. Cause I look adorable, duh. 

Hey look, my 41st blog post

If I could make a career out of the things I DONT want to do I would be well versed in it by now. Making 6 figures would be a walk in the park. It's a real learning curve to pick ONE thing to do and just roll with it. 

So, heres a flower thing. I think I might do a series of flower things. Because who doesnt like flowers things?'

Email me if youre interested in this little diddy. Or maybe just email me anyway.... I donno the last time I got just a regular ol' email.

"My hand hurts" (One Cut)

$55 plus $10 shipping, sold in a floating glass frame, and no duh my finger is totally not included.

"She helped me learn how to read, and I showed her how to swing" (One Cut)

These little boogers are getting harder to take pictures of.

$40 Sold in a floating glass frame (finger not included) and $5 shipping

  SOLD

Daria (A Commission)

Do you mind if I commiserate for a second?

Cool, thank you. 

The studio space I rent, I share with four other people. The rooms are divided by a partition with a shared bathroom in the middle. This means when Candy farts, I can smell it. When Chris plays the drums, I can hear it. When I scream Drake at the top of my lungs, everyone can hear it. We just got someone new to rent out the largest space and I think he's living there. I also think he smokes cigarettes inside, because everytime I walk in the place reeks of butts and stale booze-breath. You know what I'm talking about...when your friend gets too drunk and falls asleep with their mouth open- the whole rooms smells like hot booze breath. Needless to say, its been an exercise of patience to continue to bring myself to go and breathe this in until the work is done for the day. I've called the rental company three separate times about it, so I'm not sure what more I can do. The paper needs to be cut, though, so I bare through it. 

With all that being said, Thanks to Hannah for giving me the idea to make such a rad paper cut out. The cigarette smell was giving me a mental block I didn't think was possible. 

Just practicing

I've been sitting on the idea of cutting this out for about a week now. I started this on Friday and put it aside because I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it without ripping it... I came in this morning, after taking a few days off and looked at it and refused to not at least TRY to finish it. I tried my hardest, and learned that I might not have the right kind of paper to continue to make such fine cuts... and I might not have the right kind of blades either. Either way, I'm proud of the outcome, even if its not perfect. 

Man in the Mirror (One Cut)

I remember one of my first cassette tapes was Michael Jackson. I used to play and replay the scene out of Free Willy where one of his songs was featured. I would set my stuffed animals up in a row and make dances up to his music for my "audience". I remember the day he died I was living in New Zealand, and told my flat mate through the door of my bedroom... I had to go to work an hour later. I wouldn't say I was devastated, but it was definitely the end of an era for me.

$35 Sold framed plus $5 Shipping

The Come Up, Pt. 1

In hip hop, the idea of a Come Up is to FIND something that is of value to you. I found that art work is my Come Up, especially paper art

This piece isn't for sale, because I wouldn't even know how to sell it.

Built for Two

This little dude was definitely a challenge, and I figured I was going to have to cut it at least twice to get it right. I really surprised myself with getting it on the first try. 

$30 Sold in a floating frame, and free shipping

Love it to Death

I'm not so sure if I can explain the reasons why I decided to make this one. The title spawned the idea, that's all I really know.

A commission! It's like... my second or third commission!!!!

As a working artist, I imagine that commissions might be a difficult thing to deal with. The client has a vision, the artist has to interpret the vision and its our job to get it just right as per their idea. I can imagine that this could be a really trying thing to deal with, but my friends are fucking awesome and have (so far) given me the creative freedom to run with a loose idea. 

My friend Brandon and I just love Drake. I've gotten three people ask me to cut Drake out of paper for them, but Brandon seemed the most serious about it, so I took his order on first. Those Fleur de lis kept breaking on me in the middle of the cuts, and the shading on his face will look much better on my next Drake piece.

Always learning, always gaining 

Turned the page onto something new

Most of my ideas are probably subconsciously stolen from other artists, but I'd like to think that I get the most inspiration RIGHT when I wake up (usually the thought wakes me up) or when I'm at the gym, lifting weights and gettin' super huge.

I think on this day I was at the gym and gave myself the challenge of cutting elephants out of one piece of paper.... who knows why I keep coming back to the elephant. Maybe its my spirit animal. Maybe I think too much about spirit animals. Maybe I just think too much.

Let Go Totally

I unabashedly admit that I listen to self-help podcasts every day. Sometimes I listen to the same ones over and over again, and most of them surround the idea of the buddhist practice. I spent way too long on this one, lost a few days to cutting out the little pieces of the folds of his robe. I almost cried over this piece of paper, can you believe that? Not very Buddhist of me. 

A rose from concrete

I don't really know where the idea came from of making Tupac, but I think I really liked his poetry and lyricism and the whole idea of it being a real belief in his world that a rose could grow out of concrete.

My friend Bethany is a para-legal and has one of the most interesting and creative minds I've ever come across. On a pretty regular basis I send her text messages when she should probably be doing work asking for help in the middle of my works in progress. Most of the time its choosing a title, but on this particular piece she helped me a lot with the content. Hey Bethany, if you're reading this - Thanks for helping me finish this one. I love you a whole butt ton. 

$45 plus $5 S&H

I don't even know what "Living room-ready" means

My dad is a selling artist (his medium is paint), and has been less-than impressed with the idea of me kind of putting the paint brushes to the side and putting my cutting mat down instead. While he continues to support my decision and help me along with my process, he keeps encouraging me to make things that are "living room ready" or, as a fellow artist friend of mine put it, "nursery ready"

I understand the concept, and really had the intention of making this piece of art to be one of those things..... I wouldn't say its QUIIIITE nursery ready, but I'm gettin' there.

Unrelated add-in: Before today I had maybe 200 blog views in the 4 or 5 months of having it. In the last 30 minutes those numbers have tripled. I didn't know it was humanly possible to sweat so much by just sitting still, but its happening. All over this new couch I figured I needed.

$45 plus $5 S&H 

"I see through your scamoflauge"

Alright. The hardest part of making artwork is having to explain the idea and intention behind it. So I'm just gonna be really fucking honest here:

1. I love hip-hop. I love the way it sounds, I feel the beat of it in my stomach and its almost impossible to not move to it when a good song comes on. This is a reference to SOME hip hop song and I don't even know who said it first. But its repeated over and over again in hip hop culture, so when I sit in my studio for 6 hours a day, 6 days a week these are the subliminal messages that are fed to me when I have on the music I really want to listen to. 

2. 6 years after being in a committed and monogamous relationship I made the decision that I needed to find me again. Finding me means that I have to explore the uncharted waters of casual dating, which is probably the weirdest learning experience of my life so far. My heart has been shit on a few times, and it's been cuuuhhh-razy hard to try to not apply past hurts to present relationships. So instead of over-thinking everything I make passive-aggressive art work thats mediocre at best. Here goes back to that thought from one of my former posts, "Sometimes I get the impression that I don't finish the things I have the most trouble facing"

$30 plus $5 S&H

"Women"

This was the first piece of paper art I created and made myself finish. It's really interesting to be mindful of what I want to produce and how it seems to correlate with where I am in my life. I think most people struggle with anxiety and sometimes I really surprise myself with the dramas I choose to hold onto. 

$40 plus $5 S&H

Mirrors arent meant for picking yourself apart

I remember when I was in high school, when my mom first got sober I would sit in my room and cut out little cartoon characters of my friends out of paper. Right after high school I moved to Wilmington and met a guy and fell so in love with him that I forgot all about who I was, and became his girlfriend, and not much more than that. 

It wasn't until I started this whole process that I was able to remember what I did before I tended bar, and before I became "the girlfriend"

I started on this one after having lunch with a friend of mine. She is absolutely gorgeous, young, talented and motivated. But her skin is a mess, and I get the feeling that its her form of self-harm. I saw a lot of what was a younger me in her scars and I think I needed to make this to tell myself that it's okay to look in the mirror and love what you see, warts and all. No more picking at myself, physically or mentally. I didn't finish it, but sometimes I get the impression that I don't finish the things that I have the most trouble with facing. 

A retraction of my former self

I started this blog with the intention of posting everything I made, and kind of making this a chronicle of my life and the evolution of my art. I can't say that I've done the best job keeping up with it, but I guess now is the best time to start with that whole process. I quit the only job I ever knew about six months ago, in a desperate attempt to force myself into a situation that left me hungry to produce (and hopefully...eventually) sell my art. The process has been, and will continue to be on-going and CERTAINLY not easy, but working with my hands is what I know... and I have ideas that are bigger than just posting a status on Facebook. I find that my process of making and producing is so cathartic that I make and add to to-do lists all the time. The work is never finished, and its the most freeing and therapeutic thing I've done to date. With all that being said, I started this whole thing thinking I was going to be a painter. I promised myself I was going to paint 100 paintings and then figure out where my style was, what I enjoyed painting the most, blah blah blah. I got to about 50 and really just felt like I wasn't doing what I wanted. The medium is SO much fun, but damn it sure is a hard thing to do. I'm not saying I quit painting, but I definitely have to be true to what I want to make and that's paper art. This whole life of ours is a body of work, so I'm just in the middle of one of my first chapters. So here goes nothin'...

Wrightsville Beach Sunset

This was fun to paint. Starting to see progress, and recognizing my rookie mistakes as I go. This needs a little more time and love given to it, but I'm please with how its going so far.
Oil on Canvas
11 X 14

Influential Bart Simpson

This past month has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. With the changing of the seasons, moving into a new studio space, and moving into a new house I've been struggling with where to put my energy. When I'm at home I feel like I need to be making and creating art, and when I'm at the studio I feel like I need to be packing. Needless to say, I've been unsure in a lot of forefronts. I decided to take the day to cut up little pieces of paper into Bart Simpson. I feel like this dude has it figured out, and never really complicates too much. A lesson I am forever in the conquest of learning.

I'm glad you were born

On the 4th was my dads birthday. He's been such a huge influence in my life, and is always pushing me to do a little more than I think I'm capable of. Dad, thank you for being patient and understanding and listening to me when I can find something to complain about. I painted a cupcake for his day, and I surprised myself by the end of it - I really like this one! Always learning, always gaining.

"I'm glad you were born"

Oil on Canvas

Livin' easy

It seems like this is the winter that just won't quit. I spend at least 35 hours a week in my studio pushing paint around on canvas, longing for the days of sunburns and watermelon. It's almost April and Wilmingtons weather seems to want to stay in January. Summer is definitely on my mind.

6X6 Oil on Canvas

Available for purchase

Fort Fisher

One of my favorite places around Wilmington is Fort Fisher. My

 dog and I like to spend summer days galavanting around the park, while I carry her poo in special doggy bags made just for poo.
Oil on Canvas board 9X9

"Waste paint"

For some reason I feel like I should "keep" the paint that I didn't use on the canvas, so I've been collecting it in the box that my headphones came in
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Whatever Man

Whenever I find myself having a mental block, I tend to want to make this super hero I've had in mind. His name is Whatever Man and he's complacent, apathetic, and unapologetically aloof. He could be either the best super hero, or the worst depending on the situation. On this day I guess I was feeling a block with painting, so I decided to start cutting Whatever Man out of paper swatches that you can get from Lowes or Home Depot. This head took me at least two hours, after I realized that the swatches are really thick and hard to cut. Whatever. 

Because you dont have to be a foody to take a big doody

Just having fun with these letters, hoping to one day get them through a scanner and put them on some clothes.

Acrylic and paint pen on paper

Relaxing is a practice

This particular painting really got the best of me. I promised myself I would paint 100 paintings, or at least START 100 paintings, and then re-access the learning process. This one taught me a lot about learning technique, which colors go down first and using my paint rags to wipe away paint when its necessary to me. 

Oil on Canvas Board

9X12

Little Break throughs

I've been having a lot of fun with eating healthy and going to the gym on a regular basis. My sanity seems to rely on a healthy balance of listening to what my body needs and letting go of what it wants. On this particular day that I painted this I had tried this for breakfast... probably not my favorite way to eat an avocado, but definitely one of my favorite things to paint so far. 

This little guy is Oil on Canvas board

Not sure of the actual dimensions, but when I find my ruler I will update

Let it out, girl

I remember coming into the studio on this particular day needing to paint out a feeling I had. I can't remember exactly what the feeling was, or why I chose this particular subject to paint but it's one of my favorite paintings I've done so far.
Oil on Canvas
8 1/2 X 11

"I don't work on Saturdays"

I painted this on what I like to usually take as a day off. You know you really love something when the nagging feeling of wanting to paint comes to haunt you even when you know you should just take the day off.

8X11 Oil on Canvas

$50

Eggs on Toast

For the most part I feel pretty good about the way this one came out. Always learning, always trying.
5 X 7 Oil on Canvas

This is where I'm at today

5X7 Oil on Canvas
I had a lot of fun painting these eggs today.
$40 shipping included
Email me for more info
:)

The Art of Letting Go

I got back from Thailand two weeks ago, and have spent the better half of my time inside my studio chipping away at little paintings, teaching myself to trust the process and (most importantly) to loosen up with paint.

9 X 12 oils on Gesso Board
$60 shipping included

Email me for more details

The Sunshine State

My dad and Uncle Jim rented a house in Florida for a month and somehow I wound up here too. We took a commission piece from an old friend of his. Here is a picture of me slowly cutting in the shoreline. I'm really excited to see how this turns out, as its the biggest painting my dad has ever done and the first piece of art I've gotten to make with him.
Oil on Canvas
Three 3X2

Cocoa Butter Kisses

My first attempt at oil paints

9 X 12 on MDF Board