A very big thank you!

I cannot even begin to thank everyone who came out to the Patchwork and Urban Air Market shows! For someone this awkward, meeting people is actually the best part of my job. I've always heard it was good to go outside (one and a while), but people are so much nicer in person than the internet. To be real, the Bay area is filled with some pretty awesome people (and that includes vendors).

To start with Urban Air- I might have challenged nature a little with my perpetually cynical expectations, so I will ignore the fact that it did rain, my tent did fall over and San Francisco was donned with our bi-annual clap of thunder on that particular day. Still, it brought us all closer together, and though my ghettocrafty sign bled pathetic, blackemokid tears from the water, it all worked out because I made another sign. A better sign, so eat it nature.* And, you know what? The sun came out and people still wandered the streets

of Hayes Valley - even in the rain.

Action shot of me being unsure
of what to do with my hands...

Patchwork was invariably less dramatic (being on the summer end of the Bay) and the show was, you know, indoors, so it was naturally lovely and balmy out (a sensation you try and forget about, living in a wall of SF fog). Only once did I knock all my cards from the stand with my yeti hands. The one smidgen of alarm was a 4 year old's plot to kidnap Madame Pancake, but poor Pancake weighed more than both the child and her conspirator. 

All in all, the past two Sundays were a total blast. Again, it is thanks to all of the people who made it possible, and the ones who came out to give company to us lonely, trapped vendors.

Now I will get back to doing whatever it is I do. Here are the last few pictures because I have no idea where else to put them.

Yeep...totally awk

awkawkawk

 

*Don't eat it, nature. I'm not challenging you again.

Awkward as my namesake

Doing a show you haven't vended before sort of feels like the first day of high school. You wander into a swarm of other (cooler) people who somehow seem to know what to do and never need directions. You don't know the other big kids or where to find your locker. You worry about the snickering over your clearly budgeted booth display and signage. Granted, I am nervous about any situation where other humans might pay attention to me, but if you are somehow unfamiliar with the idea of anxiety, it is living through life with this consistently looping in your mind.

However, unlike high school, once the show begins that anxiety tends to dissipate (as long as my tent doesn't blow away and barrel through all the other vendors.) But until then, I will continue to expect the worst, as any respectable person from New York does.

So, on that note, come visit me over the next two Sundays and make sure to throw stuff at me and slap the books from my arms. It will actually be a helluva good time (as long as the weather holds and the "big one" doesn't happen and swallow us all into the earth...).

Party whale demands fun!

5/5 Urban Air: http://www.urbanairmarket.com/
5/12 Patchwork: http://patchworkshow.com/craft-fair-locations/oakland-events/

Herbology

Judging by my affinity for antique reference books, it's actually quite surprising it took me this long to come up with the botany charts. Every year I find myself listening to entire Harry Potter series on audiobook while I work (Stephen Fry you are my hero). However, on a note of how I function ("function" being a relative term), I generally have been starting the series in the middle, finishing it, then starting over from the beginning...which is sort of illuminating as to how I work in daily life (and amazing that I get anything done). As a result, I essentially know more about magical plant properties than I do real plants - and even more so now. I think my next pass through life-at-Hogwarts I will be taking notes...

On a side note, my dear Bay Area friends can come visit me (and my unicorn) this summer at one of these fantastic events. Seriously, they are so many great designers lined up- it is going to be amazing!

Linkses:

Urban Air Market:
https://www.facebook.com/events/130607333769923/
Patchwork Show 
https://www.facebook.com/patchworkshow?fref=ts
Indie Mart
http://www.indie-mart.com/events/new-year-new-indie-marts-helloooooo-2012/

I'll also have future updates posted on the calendar here:
http://www.awkwardaffections.com/bio.htm

Muertos and Mascots

I painted this while listening to the Game of Thrones audiobook, and now all it reminds me of is The Wall, White Walkers and Ned Stark being infuriatingly, stubbornly noble (as if I didn't already know what happens). At any rate, it has been a portrait kind of month for me.

Also, just in time for the spring fairs, Awkward Affections has acquired a new mascot! She still needs to tell me her name, but I think the shop has unavoidably succumbed to the unicorn motif (because I just couldn't resist getting the wax seal... I mean it's awesome. I feel like a prince...)

The first show is just a month away and you can come meet this lovely creature in person! I'll update in about a week with some of the showcase dates (I still have three more to hear back from).

And now for something completely different...

Lately, I have been working on a few other projects that really...have no explanation. Going back to the illustrator roots!

"Formally Primal"

I have also been working on printing and stretching my own canvases. I am using Epson Exhibition Canvas Matte. The print quality is fabulous, though the canvas is thick and impossible to fold the corners the 'proper' way. I recommend using a "prevent paper abrasion" setting on your printer if you decide to do this yourself. The paper is thick and this setting will allow for more feeding space and...well, prevent smudging and "abrasion" as the canvas goes through the printer. Let it dry overnight and spray with a protective coating. The ink will scuff if handled too much, but doing this will reduce the chances at least. It'll be a hot mess if you begin stretching before the ink is dry. You can see the canvas stretching here:

(murdery looking process pictures)

Love in the 90's

Apparently, I am hitting the nostalgia hard this month. It must be those looming taxes making me regress harder than if I were to cross paths with a bouncy castle. But I don't care what anyone says- I absolutely adore 90's X-men (especially these two). Gambit was the fourth love of my life, and Rogue was just way too cool to be jealous of. They are my all-time favorite couple* despite that issue of never really being a couple (and let us not discuss how Rogue hooks up with anyone and everyone she is capable of having relations with). Maybe the tragedy of their situation never sank in as a kid, but comics and cartoons have always taught me to never believe in tragedy.** No one truly dies, Magneto really just means well, and Rogue and Gambit will find a way to make-out.

Anyway, my life wouldn't be complete without painting them (this will probably be one of many, because I find my old work hard to tolerate). I was aiming for a 90's palette that would get the point across without making anyone want to puke.

Quick show of process, because I love when I get to see under other artist's skirts. This isn't the best drawing example, but I never remember to take progress pics...Also, I am an old lady who only recently discovered applications for photo collages (I mean apps), so be prepared for another month of Brady Bunch style art display.

<3 Kaz

*hyperbole

**this is a big fat lie- I just have selective memory

da da da dada-dada

I was just so excited to finish this that I am skipping the Tauntaun Anatomy post. Now, before you say it- I know many levels are missing, but I wasn't a fan of how that layout was working with the rest of the map. Believe me, I spent too many hours replaying the Vanilla Dome to pretend it isn't important- but that, Valley of Bowser and Star World (etc) will just have to wait.

This map is a little different than the others. I originally wanted to just make the "continents" without elevation, but so much of the personality is about the different levels (that's a weird pun- I mean planes). It may not be antique-y enough, too bright, too similar to the original, but it's working for me (I hope it works for you too).