2022 is the year of the tiger. I won’t go too much into my process this year, mostly because it was a lot faster and less tortured. What can I say? Occasionally, things are less fraught! I think part of that was just giving myself permission to…enjoy myself. Revolutionary. So that’s what I did. I wanted a really colorful card this year, and more of a full image instead of the minimalist design that I usually choose for my cards. Since my day to day job is in graphic design, it’s easy for me to default to a more design-oriented card, but after all, I trained as an illustrator and I wanted to showcase that. I wanted a warm, tropical jungle of color and texture for my tiger as this winter has seemed extra gray. Some of you may have seen on my instagram that I’ve been experimenting with some abstract painting. I think all those color experiments have opened me further to the color I’ve always loved, but have used sparingly, or purposefully. It’s been a tough couple of years and I think whereas I always wanted a reason to use a certain color before, I’m okay now with just using a color because it feels good. Isn’t beauty reason enough on its own? Beauty and pleasure have been in short supply over here, so in 2022, I’m saying yes to both of those! Happy Year of the Tiger, everyone! I hope it brings health, wealth, and abundant peace and happiness to all.
Chinatown Volleyball
During the summer and fall, the park downstairs from my house hosts a lot of volleyball games and tournaments. The teams are made up of local middle and high schoolers, and are co ed. They'll spend the whole day playing and cheering each other on, practicing their digging and their setting on the sidewalks of the park. I thought I would play around with watercolors, but after a few disasters, I packed up my bag and came home. I pulled it out a few weeks later and, thinking back to that day, added in the black ink to define the court and the trees, and the buildings from across the street. Finally, I made a few (tiny) volleyball players and collaged them in. Another good reminder that just because it didn't work out on location doesn't mean you can't salvage it at home!
Debate Night
Monday night, I watched the Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. At first, it seemed like we'd see a different Trump than the "tangerine trash can fire" that won the primaries. He sounded like maybe he had an argument about trade, rather than the word salad strewn with casual lies he usually employs when speaking publicly. For a second, I thought, maybe he did prepare, and I got a smidgen worried. Not for Hillary exactly, because she's had a lot of debate experience, but for America. I thought if he could make himself sound halfway plausible, he might be able to reach some voters that have so far been undecided.
Trump sounding halfway plausible for two seconds.
But then, as the debate went on, and Clinton needled him on some of his past comments, the old Trump emerged, the one who can't let anything pass, the one who keeps smearing people even after it'd be to his advantage to move on. He melted down like a CheezWhiz volcano, and Hillary Clinton got to look at America like the cat that got the cream.
Nevermind, CheezWhiz volcano in full effect.
You may not love our choices, but if you have to cross a chasm, do you go with the bridge that you don't totally trust, or do you just throw yourself off the precipice? The thing that makes me really sad is that even after this election, after Hillary wins (I really hope she wins), Trump and the ugliness he's brought out in our national discourse won't go away. He's legitimized conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and alt right nuts and made a place for them in the mainstream conversation.
Whatever you think, please do register today, and VOTE on November 8th.
Year of the Monkey
Happy Lunar New Year! 2016 is the year of that wizard of the impossible, the monkey! Now is the time for creative energies and inventive minds to flourish: apparently, in the year of the monkey, all bets are off. According to this website, it's going to be a good year for my sign, the Rabbit. "Progress, finally!" it says. Sounds good to me.
I made a couple of collages for the Year of the Monkey. It seems to be all about experiments and new things, so it seemed appropriate for me to try to push forward in a new medium.