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!