Stacks.

I'm excited to finally have some new work to share with all of you (this has meant a slight hiatus from The Slug Kitchen, but I will be back with new recipes very, very soon!).

This year, ArtSpan is holding a contest for the cover of their annual SF Open Studios guide, which they publish every fall for the event. Tons of local artists open their studios and spaces to the public over a month-long period, and each weekend brings new neighborhoods into the spotlight. It's a great chance for collectors to connect with artists on a more personal level, as well as for art students to get a look into more polished portfolios of finished work.

The idea was to derive inspiration from the streets of San Francisco. While there were several possibilities for this prompt, I went with something quite recognizable--the architecture. Ever since my first visit, I've always been in quiet fascination of the stacks of Victorian houses that signify this odd city. These houses can be quite loud in color and overly ornate in construction during the day, but at night, they look like old, towering ghosts. San Francisco is full of contradictions and opposites, and to me, these houses reflect that. 

I've been meaning to explore themes of home more in my work--I've done these "ghost" houses a few times in the past, and I think I'll continue the trend. I'm happiest with this piece, as I was able to polish it up a bit in Photoshop. I like the mix of the hard edges with the small imperfections throughout--as Margaret Kilgallen would say, "that's where the beauty is."

Revive.

This is a new lettering project I started this week. I've been really wanting to play with lettering more, and something I've been inspired by in particular is lettering that's composed of individual images. I LOVE succulents and have been trying to grow a bunch of them this year, so I decided to use them as my subject for this one.

It felt really nice to work in pen on this one. I might try to add watercolor to this, but it's a little on the small side, so I might end up having to painstakingly recreate a new bigger onw. We'll see! The text says "revive," which has been my constant mantra through these two months of applying, interviewing, and repeating the process over and over again. I think something will come through soon.