An Update

So…continuing on my quest to be the world’s worst blogger, I just thought I’d let you all know I’m still alive and painting over here, lol. Right now I’m working on a snowboard (the first one I’ve done in quite a while) and I’m pretty excited about it. I only actually have 2 snowboards left, so I’m happy to be adding back into that category of art! I’ve been on a big 90′s music kick lately, so I’m thinking this board will be in that vein as well…we’ll see what happens with it.

Anyway, I know this is a short, tiny little update, but I will be posting pics of the new board when it is done – hopefully soon!

Hearts, hugs and all that jazz. <3

Musical Manifestations

Have you ever listened to a song with your eyes closed and actually paid attention to what the music makes you see?  One of my favorite exercises in the only high school art class i took was when the instructor put on some music and told us to let it guide us.  I still like to do that sometimes – but now I tend to use paint instead of pencil.  Sometimes when I hear songs I see images, but most often it’s color.  Sublime is yellow and orange.  Paramore is red, orange, blue and purple.  Social Distortion is dark red, black, vibrant blue.  Hem is soft yellows and earthy greens.  Gin Blossoms are green, blue and yellow.  So on and so forth.

When I DO see images in songs I have a hard time not sketching them.  Sometimes they are strong enough that I can’t ignore what my mind wants to see in real life…that’s how the Social D snowboards were born.  I recently acquired some old cupboard doors – 5 of them to be exact.  I held on to them for some time…not quite sure what I wanted to do with them.  I knew I wanted to turn them into a series of some sort, but I just wasn’t sure what the theme should be.  At some point I decided it had been long enough since I had done any music based pieces, and so these became the Music Boards.  I’ve finished with 4 of them, and those are hanging at my buddy Jim’s Mr. Pickles shop in Midtown (the MARRS building on 20th Street).  Here are a few for all of you who can’t visit my art in Sacramento…

The Music Boards #2 - Deeply Grounded

The Music Boards #4: The Beginning

My sculpting skillzzzzz. Spackle is my friend.

The Music Boards #3: Not As Much Fun. A view into my world...this was taken before the piece was finished. Never mind the messy work station, look at the art!!

I’m starting the final piece now, but I’ve decided to blog post my progress as I go…sort of show you guys how I do things.  I’m hoping to get that started within the next few days…cross your fingers that I can fit some art into my busy schedule.

In other news, Jack Rabbit Special now has music up on our Facebook page!  Be our friend and give it a listen – feedback is ALWAYS welcome!  Still working on getting our songs available for download – seemingly that is trickier than we thought.  We have our first pseudo gig lined up (a friend of the band invited us to play at his wedding reception)…next stop Arco arena.  Watch out!!

Welp, it’s February.

And I haven’t posted a blog since November.  Gah.  I suck big fat gangrene infested toes, I know.

In art news, my work has been hanging at the new Mr. Pickles shop at the MARRS building on 20th street for about a month now.  It will continue to hang there through February.  There are a couple of new pieces up there – if you’re in the area, swing by to check ‘em out!  For the rest of you, I unfortunately haven’t taken pictures of the new stuff  yet so I can’t post it here.  Sorry!  In lieu of that, I figure I will update you all on what has been happening with me outside of the art-making business.  Let’s see now…

I have been doing a bit of modeling, mostly for my friend Andrew Crabtree.  He’s been doing a set of pictures based on the DVD covers for the TV series Chuck.  I also did some pictures for him back in September, which you can see here.  Andy’s a great guy, and he’s always looking for new models.  If you want to take some pictures with him, feel free to contact him via his webpage.  Andy is also working on a silhouette series – this is my contribution to that one:

Those are a pair of my mother's cutoff shorts from the 70's. True vintage, ha!

I also did a job a few weeks ago for George Streng.  He was doing a fabulous series on subjects with tattoos, now showing at the Blue Wing Art Gallery in Woodland, Ca.  You can see some photos from his series here.

What else, what else…oh yes, the bands!

Sound Kitchen (my cover band) has been doing very well, and, in fact, had an excellent show at Folsom Hotel a couple weeks ago.   Our next show coming up will be at Heavenly Ski Resort on February 27th.  We’ve played up at Heavenly before and it’s always a screamin good time.  Next show in the area will be back at Folsom Hotel on March 5.  I’m hoping for another good crowd – if you’re in the area, come on out for the party!

My originals band, Jack Rabbit Special, is in the process of recording demos.  I’ve been sick and/or out of town the past two weeks, so my cohorts have been spending my time away laying down their instrumental tracks.  Hopefully I’ll be able to do vocals over the next few weeks…next step website and marketing, here we come!  My entire experience with the Jack Rabbit guys has been very positive – I joined them back in May or June of last year, and since then we’ve been able to write an album’s worth of songs.  I’m very much loving the experience of writing and practicing…I fully expect to enjoy performing live with these guys just as much.  We shall have to wait and see what the future holds there.

In other news, my friend Shannon’s Sweet Valley High and Gilmore Girls blogs have both been receiving quite a bit of attention lately.  Check them out for yourself!  She’s an excellent purveyor of snark, that one!  Oh, I’m so proud of her!!

Okay, that’s it for the moment.  I will be a good girl and take some pictures of my new art very soon, I promise!  Love and hugs for all!!

It’s November…

…and I’m falling behind on here again.

My neighbor spent most of yesterday hanging Christmas lights on their house and front lawn.  The result is that I now have a nice light show coming in through my front window at night.  I love the lights, but what I don’t get is how the urge to decorate for Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier every year!  We haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet people!!  Sigh.

The flip side to this is that it has me thinking now about the holidays and what I might be able to do before then…which leads me to this:  commissioned work!  As of right now, my art slate is fairly clear, and so I’m putting myself out there for commissioned pieces!  Christmas cards, Chanukkah cards, portraits and abstract pieces as gifts, custom painted picture frames or furniture…if you have it and want it painted, I’ll most likely do it, lol.  Additionally, snowboarding season is coming up.  Let me know if you want the coolest, most original board on the mountain – I’ll custom paint your board for you.  Let’s talk ideas, people, think out of the box and I’ll see what I can do for you!  Contact me asap so I can get your piece done before the holidays are REALLY here.

Oh, and happy early holiday decorating, for those of you who are into that.  Cheers!

Music, art and tattoos

So if you know me, you know that I love music – I sing in two bands – and I have sort of a love affair with Social Distortion going on…and that part of that is my love of tattoo art.  Lately most of my art has revolved around these two things – tattoo style and Social Distortion.  The latest thing born of these …uh…obsessions…has been a series of snowboards called – obviously enough – The Social D boards.  Two of these boards (#’s 2 and 3) have been sold, and the other two are currently on display at Side Show Studios.

Social D #1 - Gardenias - inspired by the song "Footprints On My Ceiling"

Social D #2 - Romance - inspired by "Don't Take Me For Granted"

Social D #3 - Society's Blood - inspired by "I Was Wrong"

Social D #4 - Palm Trees - inspired by "Hwy 101"

All four are very different, but, I feel, share commonalities both in media and style.  Of course the content is all Social D related, but different subject matter, I suppose.  For these pieces, I took old snowboards and first covered them with newspaper clippings…some carefully chosen as with #3, and some chosen at random, as with #1.  I used tinted matte medium to decoupage the boards with paper and then painted over them with lyrics that struck me and images I felt jibed with the words.  These boards are the most fun I’ve had painting in a very long time…the last one especially was a lot of fun for me.  Beach images always perk me up, and attempting to stylize the water in #4 was at once challenging and satisfying.  It’s one of my favorite pieces.

I also dearly love classic flash tattoo styles.  I combined that with some of my own songwriting to get this lovely piece:

His Eyes Are Mine

This one (also currently on display at Side Show Studios) was done on canvas, but with the same newspaper decoupage style I used for the boards.  It’s also 3-D like “Broken Hearted” is…I’m not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the heart and the banner are all sculpted up using molding paste and spackle.  The words are from a song I wrote for my dad called “Lullaby”…”his eyes are mine” because we have the same exact color eyes…although I suppose “his eyes are mine” can really mean anything you want – that’s just what it means to me.

I really try to use my art – both singing/songwriting and what you see here – to both express how I’m feeling at the moment and try to create something the world might find aesthetically pleasing.  I’m not one to apply abstract meanings to art – mine or anyone else’s…and although I don’t necessarily discourage that, I feel like maybe that is why I feel drawn to placing text in my art.  It is what it is…*shrug*  Hope you enjoy!

Wow, I’m a terrible blogger

So…yeah, I am horrible at updating this thingy evidently!!  This is a solemn vow to update at least once a week from here on in.  Yeahhhhh, I can make this happen!!

A while back, I commented to my dear boyfriend (J) that I sometimes surprise myself at how resilient a person I am.  I mean, I get upset or angry or sad like anyone else, but I bounce back impressively quickly, I must say.  I’m not sure if this is normal, and I’ve even had some feelings of guilt over this (which were quickly allayed by Kate of KateC Says fame).  I just can’t help it…anger never sticks with me very long.

As I was talking to J about this, I was working on a project – a small series of paintings I will post here.  I like to call the series “Nasty Conversation.”  It is currently on display at Side Show Studios. Anyway, as I was working, it dawned on me that…maybe I just get out all of my angst on to the canvas, thus sparing my friends and family of my wrath.  Maybe this is why during my 4 year haitus from art I was such a bitch…hmm…

Nasty Conversation

Maybe I should also make a solemn vow never to stop making art.  Keep the bitch on the canvas, LT!!

2nd Saturdays in Sacramento

I’m lucky enough to live in downtown Sacramento, CA.  Now, originally being from Southern California, I never EVER thought I would catch  myself saying something like that.  However, I’ve lived here for about 3 years now, and I’ve learned to love it. The air is cleaner, there are tons of tree lined streets, there is the river and Lake Natoma, and great downtown area which I am lucky enough to live near and work in, resulting in a 10 minute drive to my “real” job (as a receptionist an architecture firm) and the ability to go home for lunch every day.  Awesome.

Also, in this fabulous downtown area, is a burgeoning art scene.  I know, Sacramento art, right?  Bite your tongue!  Every 2nd Saturday of the month, midtown becomes a zoo with streets closed down and, instead of cars,  filled with people wandering around.  Art is displayed, bands are on nearly every corner, fashion shows emerge, and…well, basically, it’s just a super good time.  I’ve had the privilege of showing work at a few 2nd Saturday venues, some bigger than others, some more successful than others, but ALWAYS a privilege to show.  See, coming from somewhere near the very intimidating Los Angeles art scene, or the (dare I say) pretentious Laguna art scene, where getting an exhibition is near impossible for a newer, emerging artist…I have to say that Sacramento is a blessing.  There are hundreds of talented artists here, just looking for a place to sell their work, get their name out to the public, and here we have 2nd Saturdays – a perfect venue for just such a thing.

This month, I participated in a 2nd Saturday show at Luxe Salon on J street here in Sacramento.  They put on a big show, including a DJ, live guitar, and a fashion show.  I was excited to show my work, along with another very talented artist, Laurelin Gilmore.  Luxe featured a piece of my art both in the salon’s monthly newsletter and their submission to the midtown grid’s info letter – a piece that a good friend of mine actually purchased a week before the show, called Broken Hearted.  For those of you who haven’t seen it before, it is posted above.  My work will be up in the salon all month, so if you are in Sacramento and you missed 2nd Saturday this month, go check it out!

Hello world!

I’ve resolved recently to make a renewed effort into doing what I love for a living.  This brings me to the realization that I am a difficult person.  Despite my laid back personality and relative low maintenance lifestyle, I am difficult.  I MUST be.  I am an artist.  Everyone knows artists are nuts.  We are flakey, we are flighty, we are undependable and most of all, we are insane.  We HAVE be, I think, to endeavor to do something which so many people try and fail miserably in…and yet we can’t help ourselves and keep trying, keep trying.

Anyway, I was talking with a friend today about my fresh resolution and she was talking about her blog and I realized that maybe I should blog about my art.  I have a motivation issue, especially when things are starting to look kind of hopeless, so I’m thinking…this could be a great place for me to post new artwork, keep up my motivation, and just generally expound on my life and my art and…whatever.

About me:

Oh yeah, my name is Larissa.  HAI THERE.  I do have an unusual name…my Dad claims that I am named after Lara from Dr. Zhivago.  My Mother, however, claims that Dad wanted to name me Phred.  I don’t know who to believe.  At any rate, I ended up with a somewhat unusual name, which, when put in combination with my  middle name, becomes a very good url, since I have never EVER found another person named Larissa George.  So there.

I’m 29, I grew up in Southern California and now live in Sacramento with my lovely boyfriend, dog and kitty.  I have a much unused degree in Fine Art from Cal Poly Pomona…I graduated in 2004 a very jaded and burned out artist.  I have spent the years in between then and now working various administrative jobs and just generally drowning my creative side in paperwork.  I did it on purpose…I had to get away from art for a while.  It has just been in the past couple years that I have had the inspiration to start being an artist again.

My art tends to center around music, love, or nature…all three things I have a love affair with.  My perfect existence would involve making a living singing in my band (I actually sing in two different bands right now, it’s an AWFUL lot of fun), selling my artwork, and living on the coast somewhere warm, lol.  I don’t suppose this is too different from a lot of people’s perfect lives, so I guess I have a lot of work ahead of me!

I guess that will be it for now, but I’ll leave you by introducing you to three of my friends:  Mr. Emo Zombie,  Ms. Banshee, and Ms. Poisoned Princess.  These are 3 of my most recent pieces – they are all done with acrylic paint, and all are painted on used skateboards.  Enjoy!