▒░░ Smiling Antimatter ░░▒ Art Works

The opening night for the Smiling Antimatter when very well. Thank you very much for all those who attended. It meant a lot to me. These are my works for our group show, Smiling Antimatter. My apologies for my horrible photography skills. I realize more and more that photography is a basic survival skill for an artist. When the show comes down in July, I will have a better scans of them.

Ta-da!

Out of All Them Bright Stars II
Mixed Media on Wood Panel
24X30"

This is a second in the "Out of All Them Bright Stars" series. The title is from a sci-fi author Nancy Kress' short story. I'm a big fan of her writing, especially "Beggars in Spain"

Out of All Them Bright Stars II
Close-up shot

Engine Summer
Mixed Media on Wood Panel
20X24"

 "Engine Summer" piece is dedicated to my favourite book with the same name. I've been drawing pseudo auto engines a lot lately because of the recent comic on Engine Summer I did. The author of Engine Summer, Mr. John Crowley actually wrote me back (I sent him a comic link to his blog). He didn't have to. Um... of course, I fainted when I saw his comment. Another proof that he's the awesomest author in the world.

Deus Ex Machina
Mixed Media on Wood Panel
20X24"

 "Deus Ex Machina" means "god out of the machine." It's used when complicated problems in a story is solved by an unlikely solve-it-all event. One of my favourite book, Chrysalids is often criticized for Deus Ex Machina ending. Sometimes, those kinds of ending makes me angry, but most times, I don't mind when they are well used. Almost a relief.
I also thought... since I was running out of ideas, a bunch of machines would definitely save my ass. What's more fitting than the title "Deus Ex Machina"? Also, it sounds very badass. Anything in Latin sounds really epic and badass!

If I sound like some sci-fi dork, then yes, I am. If I read in English, I have a hard time reading anything other than sci-fi (of course, there are exceptions like Jon Krakauer). It's because I LOVE reading sci-fi. I can read other books, but it takes me a lot longer time. In Korean, I can read anything. I just finished 1Q84 in Korean. I feel guilty reading in Korean, because I can feel my English deteriorating every time I read in Korean. But I wanted to try Haruki Murakami (the author of 1Q84). A book about people having lots of sex in a strange world (like Murakami's)? I'm not going to get through it in English unless there is one of the following: aliens, clones, nanobots, space travel, time travel, apocalypse, etc.
I don't know what I'm rambling about anymore... My apologies.

My wonderful friends and also talented illustrators in the show. I love them.

Please check out our show, if you haven't yet. It's up till July 1st. Here is more info:

https://smilingantimatter.wordpress.com/
You are cordially invited to the opening reception of Smiling Antimatter, a group exhibition by Toronto's hardest working illustrators. 
Participating ArtistsVicki Nerino • Britt Wilson • Roben Nieuwland • Selena Wong • Ale Diaz • Ilichna Morasky • Ty Dunitz • Hyein Lee • Franzisca Barczyk
At Steam Whistle BreweryExhibiting June 1st - July 2nd, 2011 

Map

Lastly... It ain't Hyein's blog without some pathetic sketchbook drawings.

Sorry for the poor drawing quality. It was very dark, so I couldn't really see what I was drawing. They were done last night, when I went to Junior Boys' show. I love that band! I had such a great time. But... I was all alone. What kind of loser goes to a concert alone?! It was awkward to stand around alone waiting for the bands to play. I don't think I have been to a concert alone for like ten years. The last concert by myself was Mayhem (Norwegian black metal band), and I could understand why nobody wanted to come along. 

... in the end, the Junior Boys show was just great. Along with their heart pumping classics like Double Shadow and In the Morning, they played a gem like Parallel Lines. Oh my god. They really raised the roof. They sound better live. 

So anyways... As I was alone at the venue, sketching, waiting for the bands to play, I thought "Man, I fucked up. I really fucked up in my life to go to concerts alone. I fucked it up."

Snakes in the Forest

Snakes in the Forest
20X16"
Mixed Media on Wood

Having a really really busy Spring. I've attended FITC conference last week. I volunteered as a cotton candy maker at the event. My hands cramped by the end of the night, but it was a lot of fun to give away cotton candies. People smiled at me as they got cotton candies, and that made me feel like a rock star. Oh the things I'd do for some smiles! There were some amazing talks and technical workshops. But the best was at the very last; Kyle Cooper talk. He is the man who did opening credit for Seven, Gattaca, Superman, Spider-man and pretty much everything else. Oh man, I remember the first time I saw Seven. I was mesmerized by the opening credit. My heart sank when I first saw Gattaca opening sequence too. His talk was amazing. He also seemed to be a decent human being. There were so many memorable quotes, but what stood out the most was; "The only thing what you have in life is what you give away." He talked about giving to other people and involving others. I was deeply moved. I want to be a better person and become as nice as he is! It's just so awesome when a successful genius also turned out to be a nice person.

I also went to almost all the after parties. I think I am getting better at this "art of mingling at parties" without being overly creepy/nervous. I remember me being too nervous to go to my own art opening parties. I am actually having fun these days and meeting a lot of people. I've been having a difficult time lately and I thank everyone who spent time with me, taking me to places & keeping me company.

Above image is what I've done for my wonderful friend Erika's Canvas Collective website. You can download desktop wallpapers of mine and other illustrators' work. The original work has beige & blue colour theme, but I like the blue & pink theme better.

And... here I give you... Hyein as a cotton candy maker!

Memories of Enemies Opens Tomorrow

A sneak peak! This piece is giant at 30"X40". Okay, all my pieces are giant for this show.

I am having a show with some of my talented and awesome friends: Vicki, Britt, Roben, Ilichna, Alej, Selena and Franzisca. I am so very excited about the show. I also love the venue, it is a huge old fashioned beer factory made out of bricks! That building makes me think of Dickens novel. The opening is tomorrow, please come by if you are free.  Oh I have 3 new giant pieces for this show. Here is the event info:

Opening Night is Wednesday October 6, 2010 

from 7-11pm

Steam Whistle Brewery, The Roundhouse, 255 Bremner Blvd., Toronto. 

Event Page

Another sneak preview (I will post the full image after the opening tomorrow. This piece is also giant at 43"X60")

And here is our poster. You might have seen these around town. Roben painted this amazing munkey. :)

It had been an absolute chaos past month; painting everyday and dealing with school bureaucracy. And again, not sleeping for 3 days... On top of this show deadlines, I had to prepare for a presentation and plan a workshop. At the end of the day yesterday, I started to hallucinate. I actually saw a guy walking through a wall!! So amazing. I recommend sleep deprivation to anybody, any loving family. The talk I gave at OCADU was pretty bad, I kept forgetting what to say, so I stopped in mid-sentences a lot. I taught 8 hour intense AfterEffects workshop on Sunday. Thankfully, despite of the hectic course schedule, it went very well.

Anyways, I had a good rest today, and not quite ready for more crazy schedule, but I got to do what I got to do. Say hello to me at the show! If you cannot make it to the opening, the show is on until October 31st. I'm so excited...

Can You Stay Pure.

 I really shouldn't be doing a blog post (in the middle of the horrors of grad school. I should be writing papers). But it has been long enough since these works had been in display, so I shouldn't wait any longer either. These works are huge. Definitely taller than I. Maybe you've seen them around town somewhere. I don't know where they are installed. If you ever walked by one, please do tell me. Here is the complete map of the project.

Sean Martindale, an idealistic colleague of my program stopped me on my way to a farmer's market on my pimpin' bike. He briefly told me about Toronto Street Advertising Takeover (TOSAT). "Can you have them done in two days?" I always wanted to tag along to his brilliant projects, so I said yes. He told me the dimensions and I didn't think much of it. Once I got to my studio, I realized... OH. 67.5" by 47" is taller than my height. I already lost a day exchanging appropriate info via email. I had one night to draw them. So there I was, alone in the school studio, desks put together to make room with a lot of Korean soap operas playing at the background. Not sleeping for art isn't anything new. I haven't drawn in this big scale since Sheridan College so it was therapeutic. I even got to see a couple being topless on their condo balcony. Win-win situation.

My art supplies look like garbage. And yes, some were actually garbage.

Being a cheap (I was educated at school to do this in Korea, actually) person that I am, I have a pencil extender to get the most out of that small stub of a pencil.

So what were these drawings for? Bunch of frustrated street artists decided to take over the advertising and substitute with art. Frustrated by our cityscape dominated by advertisement. Fight against capitalism? That sort of thing. Sean Martindale is one of a few people in my program I truly respect. He's ethics, theory and practice are consistent and he makes stunning art that makes you stop. I was his fan before I even met him when I noticed his poster plants. I was waiting for a light to change on Queen and Spadina on a gray day and noticed his poster plant. I was so jaded from illegal advertising (I didn't even know they were illegal until I heard Sean's talk) that covers the city like so many other Toronto people. Seeing the illegal advertising cut up to harbour a fragile green life-form was beautiful and moving. And made me think of... yeah, the nature's triumph even after we are long gone.

Poster plants weren't his only work. All of his works are almost equal in emotional impact. Google his name and you'll find out about his other amazing projects. So to be honest, I just wanted to participate in whatever he does. I cannot honestly say that I was purely angry at advertisements to work on TOSAT project. I know there is something inherently wrong with Capitalism (I suppose it's felt by everyone except rich people. For one thing, why is it so expensive to put a roof over our heads?). But I cannot clearly point how to make a better world where everything works okay. I always hide behind the excuse that "people who are a lot smarter than me tried to figure out for a very long time". Flawed human beings as we are, I have no idea how we can fix everything. I'm in a fatigue. A lot of people before my generation tried to change things and failed. We saw Communism come and fail. We saw many pseudo political trends come and fail (hippies and punks?) which led us to be cynical towards any attempts. Also as a participant of Capitalism system, I am often hesitant to bite the hands that feed me (or hands that might feed me in the future. I never got any ad jobs yet).

Sean has a designer background, and his fearless criticism on his potential clients are so admirable. In Hideo Okuda's novel Southbound, his character says,
"In this world, there are things that change slowly by fighting back till the end. Things like slavery and democracy. Equality wasn't just rewarded for free by some nice powerful/rich people. People had to fight every step to achieve it. If nobody fights the society doesn't change. I'm one of those people (245)"
Art doesn't have much power to change society but I'm happy that there are people like Sean who stands up for us (rights to not to become some corporations' marketing ploy everyday) , no matter how small it seems.

My intentions for participating with TOSAT weren't pure. More than criticizing advertisements, I wanted to flatter my ego by making people see my art work. Hey, I got a tiny bit of press too on Torontoist (except that they don't know who did it).

Anyways, I rambled nonsensically long enough. I'm going to go learn how to be a morally better and just person (at least try) watching Michael Sandel's lectures. Maybe after these lectures, I'll be able to participate other art projects like TOSAT with clear mind.

Even When Strawberries are Falling From the Sky, We are Sad

"Technology is ethos, not devices" - Jeanne Randolph
In the present day, technology is not the iPhones, iPads, eBook readers nor computers. Technology as ethos is the god everybody firmly believes in (well aside from money I suppose). We are always pushed to become more efficient and productive. What should be applied to the machines are being applied to human beings. We are told, "Do time management, make plans, be efficient, and for god sakes, do not show any emotion! It's nothing personal that I have to fire you." We live in this repetitive, boxed-in daily lives and come home to a boxed apartment. Is this just current phenomena, or has it been like this ever since we discovered fire. I have no idea. One thing for sure is that most people are unhappy with their daily boxed lives. We cannot be efficient and on schedule all the time. Shit happens. We are not machines after all.

Someone very close to me is chronically depressed. Not many people understand her as she seems to have everything. A beautiful place to live, a good job with benefits, lots of fun travels and lots of money. But as my friend once told me, material things are not a path to happiness, I suppose. I thought of printing her a t-shirt that says "Severely Depressed" with a quirky smiley. But I don't think she'll find that very funny. So here it is, an art work instead for her and for all of us who has to run the rat race. We are sad in our boxed lives. And even when good things are happening; even when strawberries are falling from the sky, we are sad.

This art is for the Strawberry Festival at Port Hope with my collective Not an Octagon. It's far (near Peterborough) but guaranteed good time with tonnes of strawberries. Let's defy productivity and eat some strawberries under the hot summer moon.
This Saturday June 26th at 6pm
Facebook Invitation

We Mop!

I am having a group show, "Just Act Natural" in Kingston. My piece here is called "We Mop!". These bunnies look like mops and they are sweeping the forest ground. Yeah, I know. I am not too happy with this work either. However, I just didn't have enough time. *cry* My plan to have a painting & illustration focused summer has been shattered. I'm teaching 4 classes this summer (fun classes, I promise!), working as a research assistant, writing thesis paper and auditing a summer printing class. I also work at my parents' store on the weekends. I'd like to live in a world where I can just happily paint, but what can I say. We all gotta pay the bills. Anyways, here it is. Haters gonna hate.

Here is the info if you in the Kingston area:

Studio22

320 King St. East (2nd Floor), Kingston, ON K7L 3B4

Creative Directors: Ally and Hirsch Jacob

613.842.9895    map   studio22 homepage

Exhibition: June 25–27th, 2010, 1–5pm daily

Reception: Saturday, June 26th, 2010, 7-10pm

You can view my artist statement for the piece.

Boobs!

Boobs!

Mixed Media 9X12

Holy Mongoose... my apologies for abandoning this blog for a month. I've been taking a walk in a wild side. I've opened a food blog through a Korean blog portal. What have I done! It has been too addictive. Because of the shear number of people that uses that site (population in Korea is about 20 million more than Canada, all in a space smaller than Ontario), I've been getting a lot of comments from random friendly strangers. There is nothing more addictive than a false sense of popularity. I've been writing a lot in Korean lately, which is detrimental to my English. It's been only a month, and I already feel like I forgot how to write in English at all.

One might say, "who cares, you are having a good time. It's a hobby". But time is a luxury I cannot effort at the moment. So does my horrid English.

So... I decided to stop my Korean blogging madness. It had served me nothing but wasting time. I'm going to continue write food stuff here instead of that god forbidden Korean blog. Seriously, it's as addictive as gambling (making cross with my fingers). Good lord deliver us!

Here is my food blog in Korean if anyone's interested. There are ample amount of pictures. Please do not use Google translators. Contents are embarrassing at their best.

London Fog

Anyways... changing my topic drastically... the very top art, "Boobs!" is my latest work. I'm having a show in Washington DC, opening in March 1st, at Art Whino G40 Submit. I'm representing Canada~ Woot woot!

Here is more info about the show: Art Whino G40

Sadly, I haven't been able to paint for a quite some time. I swear, doing Master's is sucking creativity out of me. It's all theory theory theory, presentations, meetings, seminars, readings and endless proposal/application writings. However I'm going to stay positive. Illustration has to jump from the print medium, and I'm seeking answers.

So the painting took unusual amount of time and few expensive mistakes *cry*. The end product was sub-par. I was upset with it. However, after looking at it long enough, I got to like it even with its faults. Hopefully I'll do a better version of this. As I was shipping this to the show, I had a hard time letting it go. I want to hang it in my wall!

Okay... these are falling boobs. This painting is against everything I am thinking and learning about at the grad school. Boobs?!? Just boobs?!? One can critique that this is a deep insult to women everywhere, objectifying women as just body parts, etc., etc.. But seriously, I just wanted to paint nice soft things with cute face on it. I do enough theory at school, let's just paint it and get it over with.

Oooooh~ The magic of floating frames! I stocked these during a sale at Curry's (art supply store chain in Toronto area) last summer. I regretted getting these then. But who knew they would come handy! It made my work somehow better. The old maxim was right. Presentation is EVERYTHING. Now I'm going to use floating frames everywhere I can afford.

Jellyfish Wrangler

What a late post! This post should've been made a week ago. But because of my Master's I'm very busy. Hopefully, something will coming out of all this madness.

I am having a show with my friends in the theme of "The Side Show". The opening night was Nuit Blanche night, but the show goes on till Sunday. If you are happen to be around Queen and John street, please come take a look.

Here is more info:

2ndHalf Gallery
250 Queen West, Toronto, ON M5V 1Z7

Above work is called 'Jellyfish Wrangler'. It was many weeks of contemplation finally coming together.

I wasn't going to post the following image, but here it is:

I know, I know, it's a big headed girl with big eyes. My teacher at Sheridan, Joe Morse told us, "If you ever paint a big head girl with big eyes, I'll kill you. I will seek out and kill you." He meant the trend (maybe that trend is 3-4 years old now) of Mark Ryden style.

I felt guilty painting it, and that's probably why it didn't turn out as I intended (always find an excuse not to blame my feeble painting skills). I really wanted to paint a girl coming out of a cupcake, and usually, giving into your impulse is a right thing to do. In Jonah Lehrer's "How We Decided" book, our hunch/subconscious/gut feeling is actually a supercomputer. It access all the information without your awareness and gives you a gut feeling.

What am I talking about... So anyways, my 'supercomputer' failed for my Cupcake Girl painting but did okay for the Jellyfish Wrangler.

One last thing about The Side Show... Being in Master's is a strange thing. Other students are all mid-career professionals. Everyone has much more experience than I do. So I always feel intimidated, and it's impossible to fit in. Telling people about the show was a joke (maybe it was arrogant for me to even telling people about it. What can you do. I'm young, therefore stupid).

"I'm having a show with my friends on Queen Street..."

"Which gallery?"

"2ndHalf gallery"

"Never heard of it."

End of conversation.

Either this or nicely shutting me up about the show.

I came to realize that in the real art world, 'which gallery' is very important. I was vaguely aware of the different types of art galleries, but I wasn't aware (naive and dumb, I know) of gallery hierarchy. If your art work is not showing at the top serious galleries, then your art work is not worth seeing. There is a truth to that, but it hurts nonetheless. Would my 'lowly' illustration works ever show in top serious galleries? Probably not.

Sucks.

Feature at ILikeCharacters

I've been featured on ILikeCharacters.com! I thank my mama for raising me right.

The top two featured images were for my future post, but oh well... If you want to see them in person, you can pop into our SOS show in Kensington market. The very top piece is already sold. :)

I Cried a River Over You

I Cried a River Over You

Mixed Media on Wood

14"X16"

$350

It's a sad sad robot. So sad!

Needless to say, I sang "I Cried a River Over You" all the while I was working on this piece. This was done for the previously mentioned Magic Pony show. But this one didn't get sold. Oh so sad!

I'm actually in a pretty good mood today, full of optimism. I am starting Master's program at OCAD this September. I had a small chat with the Dean, Martha, and I am very excited about doing my Master's. (10 year of post-secondary education, Santa Maria!)

So it's a bit hard to post a picture with a crying robot. If you'd like to cry a river, I recommend you watch Pixar's "UP". Most people must have seen it already. Good god. I started crying five minutes into the movie, and just didn't stop. My 3D glasses were foggy from all the tears, I couldn't see very well.

Don't think I'm soft, emotional or anything. I'm tough. Here is the proof: Thug Life!

SOS Show in Kensington Tonight!

My fellow talented illustrators and I are having a show in the Kensington Market!

My pieces are inspired by my recent trip to Bruges. I'll post my art work after the opening.

Opening is tonight July 30th, 8pm at 165 Augusta Avenue. It's a month-long show so please drop by sometime. I'd love you to come and maybe buy an art or two. :D

Gallery Hours:

Mondays - Closed

Tuesdays - 10am to 5pm

Wednesdays - 10am to 5pm

Thursdays - 10am to 5pm

Fridays - 10am to 5pm

Saturdays - 12pm to 6pm

Sundays - 12pm to 6pm

I Made a Deal with the Devil

Blue Beard's Bride

9X12 Mixed Media on Stonehenge Paper

$90

Santa Mongoose!

It had been the craziest month in my life so far. The craziest! To my shame, I am hardly ever this busy. I signed up for many shows and they all happen to be on July. Four shows in July!! On top of those, illustration projects flew in. Can a mere human being pull this off? Yes, yes she can. I'm the living proof of it. Bags under my eyes, bloated from sitting all day everyday and acne... Oh I paid dearly. Worst of all, I had to cancel ever anticipated camping to Algonquin this week with friends. I'm all alone in Toronto.

There are loads of new illustrations I should be posting, but I've been too busy. So please visit again in the near future.

This week I'm participating on the "We Made a Deal with the Devil" show. Here is the road show website:

http://methinkspresents.org/expedition

The show will be on the road for a month, from Toronto to Halifax!

Above image is a preview~

One of the things that greatly effected my childhood (along with Aliens, Terminator, etc.) was the tale of Bluebeard. Such a strange story possibly inspired by a serial killer, Giles de Laval. The story book - now banned in children's section - used to give me a lot of nightmares. I always wanted to do something with this story, so here it is. I plan to do series of large pieces based on this concept.

'Vevare, Ve Very Vare' is Bela Lugosi's line.

After I submitted this piece, a friend told me 'be ware' is one word. FML.

The Good Show

Our illustration collective, "Not an Octagon" is having a show tonight at Balsam in Beaches neighbourhood. Artists Pat, Liz, Wendy and myself are going to be exhibiting. It's one night only, from 6pm at Balsam Bistro: 2343 Queen St. East (at Balsam Ave.) Balsam Bistro is a beautiful little restaurant in the Beaches neighborhood offering a delicious menu and a full bar. Local musician Peirson Ross will be performing a few songs.

Sorry for the last minute posting. My life has been out of sorts ever since I got back from my trip. Stay tuned for the trip photos and Speculoos!!!

Solo Show at Greenavi

Yesh, yesh, another show! I'm having a solo show at Greenavi organic coffee shop on Queen West.
The paintings are there for the whole month of June, so please drop by! I recommend delicious London Fog and some vegan cheesecake. It's a charming and relaxing coffee shop owned by artists.

490 Queen Street West • Toronto, Ontario • M5V 2B3
Store hours:
Monday to Friday 7:30am – 8pm
Saturday 9am – 8pm
Sunday 9am-6pm

Ok, you must be sick of Hyein's shows... but more shows are coming up. Busy busy busy...

Sinking Ship

This is for the RRJ article on small magazines' survival in this global recession.
Click below image if you want to read the article.


I get depressed everytime I think about this damn recession. The whole world is changing because of this.
*sigh* Let's ignore the problem, hope for it to go away itself. (probably a bad idea. One should adopt to change... but my room is so warm and cozy)

To distract you from all the gloominess out there, here is an exciting and hopeful TED talk on how bacteria talk to one another.

Birds n' Bees Show

This is my piece for the upcoming Birds n' Bees show this Friday.
Not that this piece has anything to with birds nor bees... I didn't know the phrase "Birds n' Bees" meant sex until AFTER I finished the painting. How come nobody told me that!? Why birds and bees? Well, no one to blame but my Engrish. The show is a fundraiser for Sheridan Illustration graduates this year. It is held at Jerome Jenner Gallery in Toronto (Junction area). Sheridan Illustration Council and Jerome Jenner Gallery Presents
THE BIRDS AND THE BEES FUNDRAISER SHOW
Opening Reception: MARCH 20, 2009 (7PM – 11PM)
Admission is free. Refreshments and music provided.

Please do come! Many talented Toronto artists are participating. It'll be a good time, oh yes it will be.
I want to write more but it's too late at night. As a Korean saying goes, "Never write letters at night". It's because at night, people become overly emotional. So they tend to write things against their better judgment. In my case, I'm overly sleepy.

But... one thing before I go...
COCONUT ICECREAM HAS LANDED IN CANADA!
This icecream is ridiculously good. I ate till sick, leaving me craving for spicy Korean food.
I eat sugar for food (sugar should be a sweetner, not food), so I was going to cut down on sugary stuff. These diabolical evil coconut icecreams ruined my eat-relatively-healthy plan. Goddammit.

Flavours I bought:
Ridiculously good.

We Come in Peace

Tsk tsk... those naiive scientists! They are busy making AIs, but don't they know, as soon as the computers become sentient, they'll rise against us. You know it!
And they know how to lie too. Don't trust them when they say, 'We Come in Peace'

These are very recent (hot as hot potatoes!) illustrations I did for a snowboard design competition. There are many things I'd like to fix still, but I would love to ride snowboard with my own designs. I used to snowboard a lot in my teens until it got boring. It gets boring if one's too chicken shit to jump at all (not that I'm particularly good at downhill either. Sports hurts). Due to my fear of jumping, my five-year love affair ended. I think having a butt-ugly board also contributed to my demise. Back then, there were no girl boards. Seriously. If I win this competition, I'll go snowboarding. Promise to myself. My second design is 'Daruma'. It's a Japanese wish doll. I made a new year's promo for this, so more explanation closer to the new years. If I had more time, I would've fixed scattered flowers more... you both win and lose with randomness.
Also check out my friend Ian's awesome submission too!

...
Okay, I tried to act all detached and cool about things... but this Christmas scares me chestnuts! I work every Christmas at my parents' custom embroidery store in a mall. We've been there just over 10 years. And every Christmas has been absolute insanity. There were so many customers, we couldn't sit, drink or eat. All four of us (and sometimes more) worked in a small store in frenzy. We once had to work 27 hours straight (embroidering embroidering...). But this year... there is NOBODY in the mall. I've been going to the store to help out, but I'm not needed. We just sit and watch highschool kids browsing around. Yes, economy is collapsing and it's depressing. Also, thanks to media scary tactics, people don't spend money even if they have some. Making things worse.

Rich and supposedly-smart people in Wallstreet ruining for everybody in the world. Like Alfred said in that Batman movie, "Some men just want to watch the world burn".
How are we illustrators survive in this harsh economic times? I simply don't know.
I wish I didn't quit that job at a coffee shop.

Square Foot Show

Square Foot Show pieces are done!
Top one is "Suicidal Penguin", although I think during my delirium, I wrote "Sad Penguin" to submit. Actually... I thought if I say 'suicidal', the painting won't sell. There is a funny yet not so funny story behind this penguin painting. I stood up all night once last week. It was first time in like, ten years. Even at school, I at least got one or two hours of sleep. And I couldn't even sleep the following day to meet deadlines. So I was so tired to the point of hallucinating. I was seeing evil clowns, purple clouds... It was creepy. Then I had a brilliant idea for a painting. Hey, why don't I do a bunny suicide painting!? Then my superb brain went further. Why don't I make a whole book of bunny suicides!?! Brilliant!!! I was so proud of myself and did some sketches. That night I slept deeply and well. The next day... what the??!? What was I thinking in my sleepless delirium? Of course there is a book of bunny suicide and I happen to love that book. And of course, the real book is million times better than crazy scribbles I did the night before. Wow, that's a long story... so anyhow, I changed the bunny to penguin and made use of one of my sketches.

The second one is, well, "Everybody Dance". Er... the roundish thingy on right of big bear on the foreground (God all mighty! That is a bear) is a baby seal. You know, they roll in snow with their round bodies? Yup, that's them cute baby seals.

What a crazy summer I am having. It's work after work. Today was one of few days that I got to get outside. Well, I had to, in order to submit Square Foot pieces. It was a strange sensation, finally being out of my apartment and walking. I met my friend Britt on the way home, we walked along Queen street, talking. An hour walk felt like a second. That was nice, even though I was in awkward anti-social mood. I really should get out more and socialize with my friends...

BUT... one more huge project to do. This new project is so huge, I won't be able to rest until August 16th. Vishnu bless my soul.

Anyways, Britt and I are both in Square Foot show. So do other 700 artists. Oh and my brother also. Come and check them out.

Location: 100A Ossington Ave. 2nd floor
Exhibition dates: August 16th 12pm -September 7th, 2008

Bunnies & Xocolat!

I just really really like this painting because bunnies are always nice. They are fluffy and so (oh-so) nice. This was suppose to be rough for the infamous flipbook assignment. I went to the final with these small rough paintings. It was not a very good idea to paint the whole 60 something page flipbook. After many nights of missed sleep, I started hallucinating, seeing creepy dust bunnies everywhere.

The flip book was on Dagoba Organic Hot Chocolate crystals. Fair trade and vegan! Hallelujah!
This beautiful hot chocolate crystal has these little chocolate nuggets that stay solid in the hot solvent (preferably soymilk), and they softly melt in your mouth. It's fun to fish them out during drinking hot chocolate or eat sunk ones after drinking. I think this hot chocolate has chili powder in it. Yum.
Even though it's organic with no artificial fillers or anything, I still think it's negative on health. It is a sugar bomb.