music

Received my $45 guitar today. Nothing fancy, just a usable guitar that can provide a quick music fix when I need it. It's an electric blue acoustic, sweet sound, slightly smaller than normal size but bigger than 3/4th size. I like it very much.

Playing "Time for Heroes" by the Libertines today brought me straight back to 12th grade of high school when, weary almost everything in Manila, I dreamed of oldschool British rock, gin in teacups, the whimsy and joie de vivre of Dorian Gray combined with the residues of passion from the Romantic era, the modern backalleys and charming riffraff of Deptford, Catford, Watford, Digberth, Mansfield, or as Pete Doherty sings "anywhere in Albion".

Listening to so much synthpop, electronica, and trance these days--music that corresponds so well with fast-paced work, clubs, and big cities-- and then listening to these guys... well, it was quite a profound moodshift. I'm trying to perfect playing "Time for Heroes" because it is just such a good song. I may need a capo soon though, my voice strains at the lower notes.



Some lyrics:

The stale chips are up and the hopes stakes are down
Its these ignorant faces that bring this town down
Yeah I sighed and sunken with pride
You know passed myself down on my knees
Yes I passed myself down on my knees

What can you want now you've got it all
She says it's obscene
Time will strip it away
A year and a day
And Bill Bones
Bill Bones he knows what I mean
There are fewer more distressing sights than that
Of an Englishman in a baseball cap
Yeah we'll die in the class we were born
That's a class of our own my love
Were in a class of our own my love.

Girl by the beach

You see that picture under my About Me thing? Well I painted it over the summer in Manila. I wasn't happy with it- the colors were too dull and unrealistic. Added some yellows and bright blues, and glaze. Voila!

Click on the photo to see the full version. The thumbnail crops it.



I really loved that tree, the one that tried to uproot itself and fly away.

Static Communications

Picked up a pen last week and this spurted out of it.



It could be about people you've just met and with whom you are exchanging some electric signals, or it could be about people you've known for a long time. Who knew cyclops cats and robots got along so well?

For Inspiration

Two years ago, I visited the National Gallery in DC with my dad, and we chanced upon this painting: The Temptation of Saint Anthony, painter unknown. It was surreal in itself to see this piece in a room full of medieval-era paintings, iconic depictions of christ and very heavy, religious stuff. It's very Bosch-like or Bruegel-esque, and all the details are so meticulous and imaginative and the color scheme so refreshing. It also makes me wonder whether this prompted Dali's painting of the same title, although I suppose the topic is quite a popular one.

I haven't been too inspired to paint these days, and this provides wonderful inspiration!

paintings

These are a few paintings I did last quarter.

The first two below are from one series and are meant to be viewed side-to-side horizontally.

18" x 48" gouache and acrylic on bristol paper

Portrait of an Android Puppy:

32"x48" oil on canvas

And here's something I did two quarters ago (click for a larger image):

Acrylic on canvas

**Edit: I realize none of these paintings have my signature on them. Part of the reason I hesitate/forget to sign, is because I seldom get the feeling that a painting is "done". I constantly feel the need to add, to strip away, to cover, or to destroy, and that's a weakness of mine. Also, because most of these are done in art class and everyone in my classes don't seem to sign their works. During crit we all know who's who anyway and signing seems a little snobby. Whatever, I'll try to be better about that. :)

starting something new.

I received my first art commission the other day, and after much reflection on what precisely an economics major could do with her somewhat closeted passion for art, I decided to start an art blog with the intention that it should be motivating and fun. I've been meaning to make a website for sometime now, so this is a small step in that direction.