Subway daily Portrait

With everything portrait I feel is about finished I take a photo. This condenses the image and sometimes pronounces a problem to where I can then see it. I then go back and rework it until I feel the problem is solved. Then I change the photo to a Grey scale and check the balance of darks and lights. This helps with accuracy in shaping forms and determining foreground and background. In this piece I feel the the background is confused too much with the foreground and doesn't have enough movement in and out of the piece. Here's a color shot to show how this process helps with understanding the elements of a Mixed Media  Portrait.

Shilo Suleman Enhanced Book Designer

My book is about power house girls from all over the world and every once in a while one of my characters comes to life. Shilo Suleman is one of these special young Indian women who is making a great impact in the Enhance Book industry. So this seriously powerful young girl is tops in my book. Her TED talk is awe inspiring for those who write and or illustrate children's books. She is the Creator of KHOYA available as an I Pad App. Check it out guaranteed to change the way you see (read) books. Click on Shilo Suleman above for all the links to her endeavors.

Kickstarter Project Idea

I expect to take this novel into the enhance book realm. Which is relatively a new concept in reading comprehension as I see it. It could be seen as pure entertainment to others but as an art educator I see everything through that lens of broadening perspective and possibilities. I had set a goal for last summer and then had some personal issues that un-stabelized me for a moment. Trying to concieve writing, illustrating and now a enhanced book app is daunting and sometimes feels unrealistic. So I now I'm focusing on getting interested people involved and learning how to work with others. I love doing things myself but I must really look at the momentum factor at this point. Technology? App design needs to be done right and with a company that knows what it is doing. I have contactedn  Zentro Media who happens to have offices in Santa Barbara and New York which would be ideal (since I spend summers in Santa Barbara). There is a problem though.....I am a few steps ahead of myself. Edit edit edit edit yes........ so I have found a perfect editor who is "on Board" and is perfectly suited for the job. I'm thrilled and the ball is rolling again and happy to say in many different directions at the same time...that is how I work best anyway. 

Daily subway portrait

"When God was a Women"

Sometimes if your open and available books just fall into your life that encapsulate everything you've been trying to process. In fact I would like to talk about creating a new genre of writing. Id like to call it Anthropological fantasy/fiction. Yes that will do. If I could do it all over again I would be an anthropologist. There is no time left for this now.....I've set other goals that will take the rest of my life. So I appreciate women who have done the research for me. Yes I know we should always do our own research but I'm taping into so many beliefs from so many cultures and as far back as ancient times that one just gets lost in the sauce. Remember I'm an artist first, which means I organize the chaos around me to form different ways of seeing. Truth or faith can never truly be fact anyway. Making sense of things is what makes us feel knowledgeable and the passion for our beliefs just gives stability in righteousness. In other words we believe in what we have the ability to believe in...not in the hardness of research, living against the norm, fighting against family tradition and now with the extensive perspective offered in this book, a systematic demolition throughout history to overthrow the Women place as original Creatress.

Portrait subway series

Original done in charcoal and water brush. Added magazine texture to re-image into a traditional head dress of ancient times.

Subway portraits concludes restart

Re focusing incorporates every aspect of life. Every thought, every action becomes an element in the process of output. Stages in writing seem to come in well balanced waves. I sit and absorb, with little judgement, for months... open....allowing life to simply happen the way it just does. Now the stage of preparation has begun. I have my palette of good and bad experiences filling my most colorful mixtures of chaos. Now it is time to pour.....taste....pour some more.....spit! Then take down the new recipe!