We're not really s'posed to talk about this..but//

So i carry this thing around with me EVERYWHERE..and i don't let anyone look at it. i never have..it's just something to write stuff down in, mostly stress related stuff. but I felt i had to share this one//

I have THE worst memory ever, and usually i can't remember the time nor place where i wrote whatever it was in this book just from the text, so i mark up the pages like you see here(stains of french vanilla tea, from when i was studying for a final with friends the other week)- from seeing that, i can instantly remember everything about that point in eternity when i wrote that, what i was going through at the time, the feelings i was enduring, etc. it's amazing what marking up the pages can do for you. Thank God for a visual mind. Keep your Hearts open.

Too young, and too soon..R.I.P. Matt McMahon May17,1991 - May3,2012

Your Hearts and prayers, please//

http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/news/12328625-418/family-friends-mourn-young-man-killed-in-naper-car-crash.html

Break Science/ city guts and human Heart on mirror/ April 12 2012

So my friend finally sent me the shots i've been patiently waiting for//

But this is ONE of my favorites.. Refer to March Update for the preceding stages of this piece

We had the final critique for our class today; we had to chose one work to talk about, i chose this one. When it was our turn, our professor would ask just us a series of questions about the piece and the semester.
Mine went a little different. Before she could ask me anything, i asked those at the critique to get up and look at themselves in the mirror. Immerse themselves, see themselves surrounded by this graffiti and keep in mind what they feel. Many said things along the lines of, 'it made me a bit uncomfortable,' or 'it was really cool, i really got a sense of what graffiti is and the message.' Looking back, i find it easier to define the goal of this work, it's simple;

1. If it changed how you feel about graffiti in some way, if it made you feel something along the lines of uncomfortability, then i've proven my communication through graffiti.
2. With graffiti there is a message, you just have to look close enough.

I then explained my art, in the way that most people worry about which colors to use, or what the composition will be, what to paint. I focus on what feelings i want to get out. The majority of my work is done from pure emotion, and living 'in the moment'. I asked students to help me deface this mirror, write on it, anything. I wanted it to be a communal thing, directly reflecting graffiti, as well as the ^living in the moment^ aspect. I included personal things to the wheatpaste collage in the lower left; a love letter/goodbye letter, shreds of a past sunflowers, soil from Providence, RI, a representation of my crush from this past spring, and other artifacts i was enduring within the time period i created this piece. I named it Break Science because of this song i found/obsessing over it during my work on this piece. I explained how huge emotions are for me etc etc, and how my work greatly reflects that. I could've gone on and on, but the point was, I was successful in conveying the message through something which is passed by unnoticed(most of the time) everyday, and brought the viewer into the scene, into another 'dimension', into my life every day.

Oh, and there was a high school show at COD a couple weeks ago(where this article is from), conveniently it was the night i put this on display there..forgot to put my name out there with business cards -_- oh well..

The Inner City Getdown

My man Chris startin out with their
first handimal

Honestly, stepping into my painting class on the first day, i never thought we'd have an opportunity like this. Never in my three years of college so far have i participated in anything like this for a class, nor has a single professor promoted their line of study in a field situation like this; real life, as real as it gets, pure interaction with art through the community. Our class, among others under the guidance of Professor Hereth of the College of DuPage were fortunate enough to visit the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Elementary School/Junior High in Humboldt Park, Chicago, to paint the stairway walls of a 100 year old facility with its students. Our mission was to decorate the deteriorating walls of the schools' main stairwell, using the childrens hands to form the animals which we would trace, then paint(like shadow puppets on a wall). Just a glimpse of the action//

these kids were absolutely owning this wall!

View from the top floor

 'Lilly'(her nickname) was among one of my favorite kids to work with. She's in..3rd grade i believe. Her favorite color is purple(and red and black. awesome right?!), and favorite animal is a tiger. so we painted a purple striped, red tiger!(: She was pretty open about family(her older brother was a favorite topic), random fun facts, and school- her favorite subject is math- math seemed to be a favorite subject at BVM..interesting. It was amazing, being able to work outside the classroom and get more out of it than just working with enthusiastic kids. And honestly, the kids at this middle school completely set the bar, shall we take another field trip like such. They just give you this energy, studying art for so many years, then messing around painting hand animals in a run down stairway. It just gives you a lot of perspective,and makes you appreciate how far you've come, that whole 'taking a step back' thing. The whole experience was just too exhilarating to put it in type, it doesn't do it justice.

Lilly putting the finishing touches on our red tiger. She painted a green
tongue because she said the tiger tried eating the Lilly flower but got sick from it.

We ended up painting for almost 5 straight hours with the kids, i ended up painting with 5 kids, ranging from 2nd to 8th grade- Yesenia, Anthony, Lilly, then the George and 'Bleach' duo at the end of the school day. The last two were really cool too, especially. George wants to be an artist as well, and has had quite the history with pets in his family(the name of his dog escapes my mind). Forgot to give him a business card for this site -_- oh well. Really amazing kids however, and that's an understatement. The light for these kids truly shines in Humboldt Park. Some shot of the finished stairwells//

Lilly's flower accompanied by a gnarly flower

A panda my friend was workin on

George's dog chasing a squirrel