There's Treasure Everywhere.

“We all want meaningful lives. We look for meaning in everything we do. But suppose there is no meaning! Suppose life is fundamentally absurd! Suppose there’s no reason, or truth, or rightness in anything! What if nothing means anything? What if nothing really matters? Or suppose everything matters. Which would be worse?” ~Bill Watterson – Calvin and Hobbes June 05, 1994

support your local artists

RAW artist. March 1st showcase. $10 now. $15 at the door. Click the pic to visit the site and buy your ticket. See you there.

photo © Kyle Wong

How To Be An Artist.

Once upon a time someone shared this with me. Obviously there isn’t any sort of concrete guideline on becoming an artist. Honestly I don’t feel that this should be limited to just artist or people that wish to be creative. I feel that following the activities listed here will open the door for creativity but will also open the doors to fun and spontaneity in everyday life. a lot of these, if followed may also just lead to being a better person. Try them out. Make up your own. And most importantly, don’t keep this to yourself or do them alone. Share your experiences with your friends. :)

How To Be An Artist:

Stay loose.
Learn to watch snails.
Plant impossible gardens.
Invite someone dangerous to tea.
Make little signs that say yes! And post them all over your house.
Make friends with freedom & uncertainty.
Look forward to dreams.
Cry during movies.
Swing as high as you can on a swing set, by moonlight.
Cultivate moods.
Refuse to 'Be responsible'.
Do it for love.
Take lots of naps.
Give money away. Do it now. The money will follow.
Believe in magic.
Laugh a lot.
Celebrate every gorgeous moment.
Take moon baths.
Have wild imaginings, transformative dreams, and perfect calm.
Draw on the walls.
Read everyday.
Imagine yourself magic.
Giggle with children.
Listen to old people.
Open up.
Dive in.
Be free.
Bless yourself.
Drive away fear.
Play with everything.
Entertain your inner child.
You are innocent.
Build a fort with blankets.
Get wet.
Hug trees.
Write love letters.

loving days.

Happy Valentine's Day. :)

go out and tell somebody you love them. and enjoy something sweet with your sweet.

Love you all. ~z

wishful thinking.

Some days I wish I had the freedom to be as crazy as I really am. 24/7

year of the dragon.

After having been recently informed that today marks the beginning of a new year, the year of the dragon, i suddenly thought of Sisqo. Remember Dru Hill? Remember the front man? He wanted to see your thong. Yeah, that guy. I can't help but feel that he should have planned his career a little better and saved this smash hit album for this year instead of dropping it back in 1999. Maybe he was worried about that whole y2k thing. idunno. I’ve had the album (ahem. i mean cd) for a while now but i've never really listened to it. not the best but after so many plays, it just kind of grows on you. i've decided to go ahead and put it on my ipod and put it in my car's 6 disc changer and leave it there for the entire year. And listen to it once a week. Crazy? Maybe. i'm going to attempt to introduce this albums titles into aspects of my (everyday) life. Kind of. Maybe. iduuno. I’m just tryin' to set some goals.

1. Unleash the Dragon – I guess this is where I show you my style.

2. Got to Get It – I’m comin fo’ that a$$.

3. Is Love Enough? – maybe I’ll question how deep your love for me really is.

4. 2nite (Interlude) – see #2.

5. How Can I Love U 2nite – see #2.

6. Your Love Is Incredible – see #2.

7. So Sexual – see #2 and I push the limits of provocative-ness with my photos.

8. Thong Song – lemme see it!

9. Incomplete – this is where I take time to reflect on my actions.

10. Addicted – see # 2.

11. Dru World Order (Interlude) [Dedicated to Dru Hill] – pour out a lil liquor…

12. Enchantment Passing Through – road trip & see # 2.

13. You Are Everything [Remix] – I’ll just keep this track in heavy rotation.

p.s. Was anyone else aware that there was an actual video for the first track and I guess the official album? I don’t think this was meant to be released to the public. Ever. :| But hey, I’m no critic. Go. Watch it for yourself.

p.p.s. I’m just bulllshittin’. Except for playing it. Tack 13 will get worn out.

inventory...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. Actually it’s been over a year. Life hasn’t been too exciting. Despite what most seem to think, it's been downright boring. Ugh. With the new year upon us and the occasional talk of resolutions, I decided to take inventory of my life. I’ve got to do something with the old before I can move on to the new. Leaving it all behind and starting over isn’t an option. We are what we are. And what we are is often defined by what we have or haven’t done and what we do and do not have. As many of you know, I have tons of film. I’ve been scanning the images for quite a while but I can’t seem to stay focused and on track with them. I know it’s not necessary, but I feel that something has to be done with these before I can move on.

The numbers…

Images scanned: 1,494

Digital: 21,579

Un-scanned: 15,883

Undeveloped: 3,204 (89 rolls) photos of you are some where in here.

Unexposed: 828 (23 rolls) you could be photographed with one of these if i like you.

4x5 Polaroid: 44

Total: 43,032

As daunting as this staggering amount of images seems to be, it won’t be that bad if I actually get started and stick with it. I usually only like about 10% of my work, and even less than that makes it online. Sorry if I owe you any shots. I can’t promise that you’ll see them this year but I will put forth my best effort to get them out. My goal for the year is to add 2,284 to my personal portfolio. Hopefully more. Unfortunately this lofty goal means I won’t be shooting much this year. My social life will probably be centered around the shooting of what i still need to shoot. The 23 rolls that I have left are primarily special and experimental. Stuff like discontinued Kodak films, extapress, ektachrome, super high speed, infrared (colour and black & white), velvia tungsten balanced and some other oddballs.

To view this project in progress, go to my tumblr. There's already a lot there and I'm committed to posting at least 1 new pic per day. Bookmark it and consider it your lunch break 'photo du jour'.

this isn't working.

dear free spirit,
i've decided to lock you away for a bit.

Traffic.

I've never been a fan.

Kenneth Koch Said..

"You want a social life, with friends.

A passionate love life and as well

To work hard every day. What’s true

Is of these three you may have two

And two can pay you dividends

But never may have three."

After reading this, there's a dissertation swimming in my head but considering I'm 0/3, I'll spare you. I'm just gonna kick back, enjoy my chromeo/prince/morris day/ apolonia 6/ vanity 6 playlist, work on my web site(stay tunned), and plan my art show.

a new approach.

On january 5, 2009 I wrote the words, “Learn to accentuate the aesthetic of action, embrace the beauty of bravado, and the adore glamour of glory.”

Funny how we always kick off the new year with such furore. I was all for it. I had a new abstract art project (start here) that spawned the beautiful thought of posting all of my photography work. Well, not all of it, but what I consider to be my better shots. I started with my first roll. Has an amazing lamp shot. A few weeks later some cool lookin' water falling. I had planned on submitting something at least once a day or at least the equivalent. Over a year later.. I’m only 210 deep. Granted, there was much more work involved than I originally thought. But still... I failed. I haven’t even been trying to post. I have the images scanned but when it comes to editing, resizing, changing format, and posting for the word to see, I’m just not doing it. Once upon a time I didn’t have the proper equipment to get the work done. Now that I’ve slowly acquired the proper tools to accomplish my goal I use another excuse. Space. I’ve run out it. BS. If I had actually followed through, I might have sold some work, which would have provided the additional space required for my work. Fucking excuses.

Getting back to those opening words. Not just something to apply to my work ethic, but life in general. In spite of my massive circle of friends (associates) I’ve always had this general disdain for most of mankind and their behaviour. Consequently I lacked a social life but I was ok with this. I decided to “live it up” like many of my friends had been doing. Living for the moment is not something I can easily do. I’m always too worried about the moments after.

Re reading my words I’ve realized that my intent was beautiful but my approach, not so much. I’ve had the luxury of being able to step outside of myself and look at things objectively rather than subjectively. I left Colorado once to shed weight from my life. Now I’m moving from California to do the same yet again. i’m about to ‘lose’ a few ‘friends’ but I’m ok with it. The people that are worth holding onto have shown me who they are. And that number is incredibly small. But I love you all. I now know how to conduct myself with people. It’s a delicate balance of keeping the world close enough so that we’re not completely removed and only know of each other in passing yet far enough away so that we’re not intrinsically involved in each others lives.

“Learn to accentuate the aesthetic of action, embrace the beauty of bravado, and the adore glamour of glory.”

This isn’t something you can just wake up and do. It has to be learned. It’s a matter of making our actions more noticeable and prominent while maintaining a certain grace. Holding onto that graceful form to impress those you meet and executing it flawlessly. Repeatedly. And deeply loving and respecting the attractive, and exciting qualities that make your notable achievements seem appealing or special. In short, watch your character.

better days

Yesterday was a good day. I wish more days like this would come along.

to the misunderstood.

It’s not that nobody understands you.. It’s that you don’t know how to communicate. Expecting others to understand you by giving them something subjective to interpret is just, well… Stupid. It also helps to speak the same language as everyone else. If your definition of something varies from the social norm, maybe you need to reevaluate your defining process.

Example: I made this as a representation of how I was feeling.

Ask your friends what they see and feel. You should get pretty different responses.

the St. Hilaires

Here's the rest. Well.. Not the rest, but my faves from the set. Enjoy

A break from the monotony

Hey! Happy 2010! I know, I know.. I’m late. Like you pay attention anyway. If I had time to post here everyday or even weekly I wouldn’t have much of a life to share with you. Ok maybe I would but still, there is life away from the computer. I try to spend as little time on my ass as possible. Moving on… honestly, I haven’t been shooting too much lately. I’ve been spending most of my time looking through books of old negatives and transparencies, scanning, and then editing or retouching those digital files. Yesterday I decided to take a break from the monotony and went out on a shoot with my friend and her kid. I’d say it went rather well.

Once upon a time.

I fucked up.

be safe this holiday season.

Shenanagans...

So last night a friend and I went out bike hunting. At the local University bikes are a part of student life. Sometimes bikes are left unattended and sometimes bikes are just abandoned. The fate of the abandoned bike can often be tragic. Often they end up torn apart, vandalized, or just left to rust. Our first discovery was an unfortunate one.

Success! We happened across this lovely lil’ cruiser who had been left to rust. The sad part is that not much was wrong with it. Somehow the inner tube had gotten twisted up between the chain and the rear cog. Somebody just didn’t care. So sad... Meet “Spider”. Spider was rescued from the campus and will soon be enjoying many days cruising about the city and hopefully quite a few days down at the beach.

Point n Shoot Preview

Yesterday's shoot... More? Maybe..

just reminiscing...

we had some good times.

Art and Education.

The topic of today’s discussion: Art and Education. What makes an artist? And is something as subjective as art something that can be taught?

From an educational standpoint, in order to be (become) an artist you need to know the history of it, and not just your particular medium, but also a broad range, if not all of them. You also need to know what tools are available to you and you need to learn how to use all of them. You also need to know about other artists. Past and present. You need to know how to do what they did and/or what they’re doing. Then it’s time for you to learn the rules: composition, complementary colours, proportion, angles, form, function, and aesthetics. After learning all of this, it’s time to put theory into practice. While in practice you learn old outdated methods that are no longer in use but are a “good base” for you to start with. Then you move on to more modern advanced concepts and eventually start creating your own work.

Ok so let’s run over all this. In order to be an artist you need to realize that you’re not the first to do anything by impregnating your mind with knowledge of what all those before you have done and what those around you are doing. Then you need to find(not create) a style that works for you and your particular market and establish yourself. Then in order to stay in the market you must then keep up with the current trends in order to maintain your status.

So with all this you’ve learned how to dissect something and put it back together. You’re a critic with some background knowledge and some tools. Lovely.

Last time I checked, most artists had no formal training. For the most part, they were self-taught. Now of course some things do have to be taught to us. We’re not chemists, scientists, mathematicians, or engineers. We may be a combination of these but it’s unlikely. Those skills aren’t what make you an artist. They can help but we’re long past the pioneering days of anything. What matters is how you understand these and how they relate to each other and what you’re creating. And of course how you happened upon your revelation. :)

Now I ask you, without your formal education, would you still be able to produce what you’re producing? Would your work be original or would it be a subconscious regurgitation of something that you read or heard previously?

Would you be able to pick up your particular tool and figure out how it works? Would you be able to look at your results and decipher the good from the bad without any outside influence? Would you then be able to take what you had decided on to the public and receive praise from someone other than your mum? Would what you created be strong enough to leave an impression upon those who viewed it and also be an inspiration to total strangers? And with all of this, could you also take the criticism from those trained to dissect your work with their formal educations?

In short, could you do it without ‘knowing’ how to do it, and would you do it for the sake of doing it because it’s what you do?

Keep in mind, just because you know the rules, doesn’t mean you can play the game. You are more than welcome to be a referee on the field though.