Boxing Match

Here are a couple of my commissioned boxes from the December vaults.




this was for a baby named Dax, there are sweet felted bananas and a sprinkling of sequins on the lid!



My psychedelic friend ordered this way-out 13th Floor Elevators box. The colors made my eyes freak out.



This was ordered as a Christmas gift.

I wanted to keep it I was so pleased with the way it turned out!


These came out really nicely too. My first experiment with the triple thick gloss.

the interiors are getting more creative and fun. ;)
Well, that's what I wrapped up 2007 with. 2008 will be even better!

The Year Winds Down

Just about everyone who got a gift from me this year got it thanks to etsy.com I opted for buying handmade this year and decided to forgo the malls (as usual!) I recommend supporting the little DIY arts and crafters and putting money in their pockets when you can.
I also was able to craft up some boxes as gifts and they were well received, I made my nephew (a skater) a spiffy felted skull box but stupidly didn't take photos before I gave it. :P
My sister got this snazzy Siouxsie box and I think she loved it, she kept remarking on it and smiling ;)






I've been experimenting with felted design cutouts....and sequins. I also found some gloss called Triple Thick that is THE best shiniest stuff. I'm already working on another box and with good reason...
I've got a trunk show coming up! In February! So, I'm starting my new line of Valentines boxes and cards and participating in a show I didn't have to bust balls organizing for once. And that's how I'm starting the year. I've joined this group called the Etsy Dallas Street Team and it's all us Dallas (metro) crafters that have shops on etsy. I'm also planning on joining the Oak Cliff Artisans group and making this year a year of new connections and support groups. So already I forecast a busy start to the year. Add in to the fact that Dulce wants to keep me on as an artist supplying them with fresh canvases and I'd say my studio is going to be hopping. Which makes me happy.
;)

memento mori

my latest offering:
tigerbee.etsy.com

Catch the spirit!

Yes, sometimes I feel like an 8 year old trapped in a 31 year olds body. And you know what? It's fun! I think it's important to always remain a child at heart and as a child if I wasn't playing outside I was glued to the dining room table drawing and making stuff.
I took a walk this morning, thought about how my myspace blogs were mainly me complaining about something or other and harping how I need to clean my apartment. Boring! After seeing some nice jackolanterns and Halloween decorations gracing some neighbors yards I really caught the spirit and I was homeward bound to fish out my scissors and glue. I came across the bright orange flyers that were made for the Factory party and was inspired to make some paper pumpkins and festive leaves (ones my cat wouldn't try to eat) and here is what I came up with in about 30 minutes. Why spend $ on Halloween decorations when you can make some easy ones yourself? :)

Can you find Andy Warhol? Graphic leaves for my cornucopia

I found some REAL leaves and traced them onto colored paper- the fun part was the Andy faces on the back. You can do this with any fun flyer, even spooky themed ones! Cut em and put em where you want!


Pumpkin balls!

These are simply made from strips of paper and a glue stick. I experimented with glitter on one and on another I added a green paperclip on top to hold a nice shape and added a litte green raffia for a vine. You can't see it so well though. :(

What's cooking in your Halloween cauldron? :D

boxing match

It's back to making boxes until around about Thanksgiving time. Here's my latest custom order...I call it the "Grottu" box after the guy who ordered it. Yes, that's a "scuz fink". Kinda cute?!

more boxes to look at:
electriclollipop.com

Pictures

Just wanted to post a few pictures of my latest painting before I run off to the ol' 9-5. Have a great day!

dulce means sweet

Well, I was keeping this under wraps until it came to fruition but my meeting with this consignment store turned out sweet. Like candy.
I have 6 pieces on consignment at this swank showplace on Oak Lawn Ave. One of the pieces is my newest, just finished, hot off the press painting. I think they'll be hanging in about a week. Please go visit my pieces. :)
I'm drinking some bubbly because all my hard work has finally started to edge those doors open a little. On one side of the scale you're working on hardwood floors with bruised ankles ruining your eyes over some blob of paint and the end result is your stuff is hanging amongst triple digit price tags and hopefully soon- to be hanging in someones lovely home.
The joy of creating and letting go.
I'm going to keep this little moment for a bit.
Dulce Interior Consignment Showplace
2914 Oak Lawn Ave. Dallas, Tx.
www.mydulce.com

Mole

Wow, I had NO idea moles were such freaky looking creatures. At any rate I am identifying with them this week. I'm sequestered underground doing inventory. I'll blog about my art adventures when I have some. Looks like work is the big entree on lifes platter this week.
Bummer!

Packin'

I finally finished my painting today. Note to self: take photos of it before you pack it up. Yep, packing up my artwork because they're traveling to a meeting with me. Got a little prospective deal in the works this week. Cross your fingers all my hard work may be paying off bit by bit.
Thinking about how crazy this week is going to be is just making me exhausted. I think I'm turning my brain on auto-pilot until inventory and climbing mountains of tasks are over and done with. Not even sure if that last sentence made sense! My bed is calling me with promise of sweet slumber.
The "mystery pains" still persist. Before all is said and done I'm going to be on opiates and knee deep in hospital bills. Health is a blessing I wish I had been blessed with.

Launch!

That's a picture of my little Hamuchan pencil topper. Isn't he so cute? I got him at the Kinokuniya bookstore in SFs Japantown. It's that kinda day today. I am missing San Francisco and it's too cold tap water.
I think it has partially to do with seeing Sea and Cake last night, getting beer spilled on my shoe and being airconditioned to death at House of Blues. It all amounted to me being freezing, which I always was in San Francisco.
Things have really picked up in the hive. I launched my new site! Well, it's like a simple baby site that I wanted to have online so when I get a pro to design it they have a better feel of what I'm doing and want. Please go visit it and give me your feedback:
www.electriclollipop.com
Since I launched it I got some good leads of places interested in my artwork. Don't want to jinx it though so we'll save the champagne for another blog hopefully.
Anyway, steady working on my latest painting. Another productive weekend in my little hive. Buzz, buzz...off I go.

Work In Progress

I don't really show my work while it's in progress but I thought it would be a good process for me on this painting. For one, I can look at it and think about it while I'm away. It's pretty wide and the camera didn't get the whole canvas but it will serve it's purpose. Well, this is my newest painting. It's like a fusion of my newest paintings, some of my older paintings and who knows what? Subconscious filtering.

Hit Random

Theres a picture of my friend Richard Ross wandering around the show I curated: The Natural State. I have amassed lots of photos of my most recent escapades and just wanted to post a few as nice reminders. This show was fun and the artists were so talented. It was a lot of work but I think I should be ready to do another one in the Spring so hope everyone is steadily coloring up their canvases.

Last weekend I went with my sister and family to Traders Village to see the Native American heritage Festival. This is always a treat! There are dance competitions and it is really so lovely, all the costumes, community and mmmmm Fry Bread! You can go sit in the teepee and browse all the vendors selling their Native American wares. I was broke so ended up buying some seashells from this man called The Seashell Man. Seriously. I need a name as cool as that.
It was mega hot and I think next year I will go to the night dances if the weather is steamy again. I came home sunburned and ready to upchuck my Indian taco. Heat and Tigerbees are a bad mix.

Heres a picture from my birthday party. My friend brought me this "Italian Godzilla". Although most people think it's just a dinosaur. He and I had several dances together. I'm still trying to figure out where to put the little monster in my apartment. Kind of already looks like my apartment was devastated by monsters!

Kick It

I had a nice response from my myspace postings concerning my etsy shop. Although no purchases which would have been the nicest response! But a savvy gal in the UK who is making the site for an online store is interested in carrying some of my pieces and she is also doing an art store to sell paintings and wants me on board. I am currently trying out different avenues to get my work seen and exposed and SOLD. Hey, I'm living hand to mouth, ain't no shame in saying I need the money. So this little endeavor and I'm going to be shopping my stuff to some locals in the next few weeks and then my website and I'll feel like 2007 was a productive, creative year for me.
Today I have set aside for painting. Yep. I'm going to do it. The big canvas. It needs to be re-primered and started anew. I have a box commission I need to start delving into and some loose end ebay stuff to settle. Typical Sunday in the hive!
tigerbee.etsy.com

Plastic Pop

It's one of those weekends. I'm not quite ready to paint on the big scary canvas and am having to be quiet because my man is sleeping through a bout of vertigo in the next room. So I've taken to working at my worktable on some little crafts I had long abandoned. Those being the little plastic pop ornament thingies. I hated the idea of these perfect circles (I love circles) going to the landfill and since everyone burns cds you can just imagine how many of these things are out there. So while I'm not making a big dent I did tell all my friends to save these for me and my nefarious crafty schemes. Here is the first one I finished. It's sitting on etsy waiting for someones wall or fridge. Oh yeah, theres a nifty little magnet back there (and fishing line for wall hanging. The possibilities for these plastic pop things could be endless.

The Series

So I haven't blogged since the show and my vacation and while I got NO painting done on my vacation I did get my studio in order so now my evenings can be consumed with painting (when I'm not recording at Shapes Central). I'm not sure if blogger will let me do a slideshow but I'm going to attempt to show you my paintings I finished and which just came off the walls at Artclub

I've got a bigger than usual canvas to re-prime then I'm off to tackle my next piece. Momentum, momentum, momentum! My birthday present to myself is going to be investing in a nicely designed site for my art. Hopefully that wil be underway soon.
Till then I'm planning the next Lollipop Shoppe (we've been planning it for AGES!)called Glitter Glamboree and just loving the fantastic weather changes!
Bring on Autumn!

August

Jeez, it's been a heck of a long time since I've blogged here. Let's get the buzz up to date. So all summer long I've been working methodically on my new series of works and here it is less than a week away and the art show will be on me. Putting together an art show is ball breaking. If I had balls they'd be broken. Putting together an art show and a Warhol themed Factory party all in one night is just nuts. Add on top of that we're competing for a crowd with the DOMA and you'll see the burden I face with promoting the whole shebang. I have a good feeling though, that a lot of people will trickle down while they're in Dallas. At best we shall get the eclectic types who are tired of the norm and maybe only come out for such occasions where they can dress as Candy Darling or Andy and bypass the hubub of barhoppers on Greenville.
At any rate I've put together a top notch show and am excited to show my work again. A trip to the store for edibles and we'll be well on our way to getting the party started. I even made a special decoration for the party in the form of the iconic banana!

Dig that messy studio I'm working in! Well, it's really the computer room slash laundry room slash studio. Anyway that's what is going on right now. I've got some vacation time in September to recoop from all this hooplah and I'm hoping to get some more paintings worked on. In case you're interested here is what's going on Saturday:

Energy Race

I've sent out some invitations to join Energy Race, would you like to see how you can be more efficient and reduce your CO2 emissions? I've got a ways to go but I like the idea that you can see your progress and also how many people you invite and who they invite and so on and so forth. It makes you feel good about turning people on to helping the planet. A productive chain of good deeds so to speak!

12 Days

Looks like I have 12 days at the end of next month to get as far away from offices, packing tape and the hustle and bustle of work life. Ah vacation! I feel like I want to pack everything into that time...camping, hiking, road trip, beaches, painting. I just might. It's at least fun to see it on my calendar as a reachable destination now instead of an invisible wish lingering wistfully around. Since I'm broke but needing some surf n sand I might hit up Corpus Christi...not quite the paradie of Mexico or Hawaii but the closest and cheapest I can budget. Maybe it's time to sell some blood.

Park Life

I'm steady on my goal of dropping 5 more lbs, this is in conjunction with the 8 I already lost. Some things you lose and don't ever want to find again. So it's back to scribbling what I ate that day, buying healthier choices and rearranging my days to fit in 30-60 minutes of exercise. I've started using a step counter and my goal is 10,000 steps a day. It's actually not that easy to make that goal unless you really focus on it and don't cut corners. I feel at my peak in the energy department though, and that's a far cry from the depressing sadness and pain and ill health I was in before. Everything is all tied in together, your creative spirit, your health and the way you view the world and your actions. So if I'm cleaning up this aspect of my life I'm also cleaning up all the others.
I love being able to walk to the park on the weekends and get a little nature in while I run and walk. It's much more enjoyable than the gym. I am constantly mouthing the words "EW!" when I see some beefcake leave the machine all wet and sweaty or give it a cursory towel down with his already sweat soaked towel. Um, dude? That's not really helping. It's time to start planning my next hike out!

Jolly Roger!

I've got another box commission! It's for the ol' Pirate box I have on etsy. I really should've just made a few of these to keep handy since it's my most popular box. This ones going to be a gift to some little boys so I'll put some extra sweet care into it. Things are so much more magical when you're a kid. I think it's because you have hyper focus on things you care about and almost no knowledge or interest in what doesn't concern you. Making the world a pretty sweet place for the time being. Luckily I have lots of blank boxes stored up for commisison work so this will be a cinch. If you've yet to see my boxes, the ones that are left are posted here:
tigerbee.etsy.com
You can also look at the ones that have sold and commission them. Be sure to check the whole site, I absolutely LOVE etsy and the crafty community on there.
etsy.com

Pool Blue and Aquamarine: A Painters Journal

Today I started my first work. Not having any canvases I am using what I have (paper and board) until I can hunt down some nice canvas. The kind museum people don't scoff at you about, the kind you learned how to make in highschool yourself by pulling and stretching until your knuckles were bloody and the damn thing could bounce a penny off it.
I liked the two colors staring at me from my work desk and decided to keep these initial works spare and move up into the tangled masses of color if the work called for it. Those colors were "pool blue" and "aquamarine", granted they conjured up images of ocean vistas and swank swimming pools and my mind wandered to "vacation" instead of the work at hand. "Vacation" is now a place in my mind and not something you do. It is the ultimate as-of-right-now-out-of-reach place and I figured just right now by writing this...it can probably be used in my work. My work dealing with Nature. These works won't be about water though so it will be interesting to see how these shades work out in the context they're being used for. Are painters diaries so dull? I've read snippets of Paul Klees and Matisses journals and figured it helps artists sort their brains and ideas. I definitely need that. At any rate, the first work or sketch or rough draft is underway and I've conquered the hard part. Starting.

Green Thing

My sister is involved with this project called the Green Thing and on her site is the description that reads "The Green Thing is a collaborative project which incorporates many forms such as blogs, photography, video, art, collage, mail art and tags

To participate, post a green thing online with the tag "greenthing". You can also join the Green Thing Group Tag your photo "greenthing"

30 "greenthings" were mailed out to people who documented their greenthing and passed it on to someone else. We are using the "greenthing" tags to track them online and see where they are."

On my last visit to SF my sis was hard at work with the Green Thing and showed me some cool videos made by people all over the globe with their green thing. The idea is to do something creative with your green thing, post it for everyone else to see and send the green thing on so someone else can utilize it for the power of creativity. From what I can gather it's also cool to find your own green things and do something with them and post for the group. Pretty cool and taps into a creative group consciousness. I joined the group but have yet to post my green thing, since the art I'm working on deals with Nature I thought this would be a fun project to try to get my creative juices flowing. Here are all the links you need to find out more:
greenthing
greenthing group
There are also some cool videos posted at the first link so you can see how green thing is used in film media. Go Green!

Self Imposed Art Camp

After taking a long, hard look at my finances it became apparent that I wouldn't be able to afford an amazing vacation this summer. SAD FACE! But I'm going to take some time off anyway, for sanitys sake, and really crack down on my artwork. My paintings have gotten pushed aside for some time now due to lack of space, too much going on in other areas of my life i.e. band, Lollipop Shoppe. But it is the one constant in my life that I've always had no matter what and didn't need to rely on anyone else for. All the bullshit and nonsense that comes with dealing with the music scene and the people it attracts is on the oposite spectrum of the process of creating your work. I always aim to only please myself in my paintings and sometimes thats a hard line to walk as a musician.
So I'll spend a little cash on some canvas and frames and really tear into my new ideas for a series. I'm hoping that our first Lollipop Shoppe at the new venue Artclub is where the new work will be unveiled. Of course all aspects of my multifaceted life have to clash and collide at some point, right?


Interesting art link posted on craiglsist today:
http://www.artsensible.com/

Make Me!

My sis passed on this cool site where you can make your own little paper beasts! Now get to work and stop reading boring blogs!

readymech.com

Still reading? Me too. Of late I've been exposing myself to more media. Not necessarily a good thing but it let me know the new Sea and Cake slipped out while I was asleep and I need to go pick it up. One of my fave bands ever! I am anticipating a tour this time fellas!
As soon as prom is done I'm focusing on paper and canvases. It's time to get the art machine crankin' again. Oh I've got plans in the works!

Fatter Platter

The words "my plate is full" is an understatement. This is a dang PLATTER not a plate and it applies to every aspect of my life right now. My jobs been way demanding on my body and every week theres some new little part that hurts, is sore or makes me think I lost a cog somewhere. Personally my financial life is in shambles. The phrase "living from paycheck to paycheck" should be emblazoned on my forehead and I'm beginning to wonder if my shovel is big enough to dig me out. As if those boulders weren't enough to push I frivolously take on organizing a huge party, nix that..PROM while I'm still in the middle of recording an album. Either I'm crazy or I can't find the OFF button but either way I'm not complaining. In fact I'm feeling at my peak in the power department. I feel empowered. I feel like I'm starting to see my daydreams come to life. This is a truly great feeling...seeing your hard work pay off and it's not monetary (though wouldn't that be nice!) it's spiritual payoff. It's the feeling you get when you finish a painting you love or write a song that means something to you. I'm not exactly sure how I got on this mountain but the top looks closer and closer every day.

Super Summer

When I think of summer being just around the corner it takes me back to those fitful last days of school. You were chomping at the bit for freedom, sunshine, riding your bike endlessly and nowhere....and you ended up playing Super Mario all day every day in the sweet confines of your dark airconditioned living room instead. Time is wasted on youth.
I'm making a quiet and personal goal to make my summer NOT suck no matter what. Even though it looks like theres not enough money on the radar for a vacation I'm going to soak up the little pleasures and drink from lifes cup where I can. I'm going to plan things to do, even day trips to strange places can be a bit of an escape. I will not have a super mario summer, though those were fun while they lasted.
One of the things on my radar is more hiking, I had such a blast at Cedar Hill State Park. And to coincide with me working out and losing some extra baggage I'm going to scout out a lovely pool somewhere....weekend beach getaway if fortune smiles on me. I'm crossing my fingers but ruling nothing out. It's also a priority of mine to get some paintings done before this summer melts away. I'm already daydreaming and can't wait to see what the next few months will bring.

What the hell, a new post!

Like many of my brethren bees I got lost from my hive. But I found my way back! I was thinking about doing something new with this blog but we'll see if it comes to fruition. My "other new" blog is kind of on hiatus as I don't have time to chase down resource links and no ones really posted any yet, but I haven't really been all that proactive in spreading the word so it's my fault.
At any rate this bee did not die out in the field, she's just been busy with life. I discovered hiking and how much I love it. My next step is to put some air in my bike tires and get some riding in before what we call Summer (and also HellFire) come to be. I've also sold off most of my handpainted boxes, started the packing process (possible new hive for me?), been vigilantly recording and practicing, booked a fantastic Summer opener show, been interviewed, have made some progress with those mysterious pains and generally been loving life for better or for worse. Maintaining this attitude will be a feat of strength but it's good to be back at the hive again!