dear kiki...

Self Portrait Challenge~Celebrate...Swag...

Well, well well...it's Self Portrait Challenge time again...I got it together this week...This month's theme has been...well challenging...I think because it is not my habit to think of something weekly as a celebration...but I think it is something that has been good practice...to try and do it more. This week I'm celebrating some swag...a cool perk of working at curve magazine sometimes you get some cool swag...I got lots of little goodies today but this was my favorite...a super cute tote bag from Loyal Army look at those cute little bunnies and hearts!!! I must say I fell in love with their bags...I wanted like 5 of them...that's all for today...I'm sooooooooooo tired and I still have a bunch of work to do tonight before I can relax and go to sleep...
xoxo

I want you to know...~

...the way to my heart...watercolor, ink and acrylic from my sketchbook...moleskin...I don't want to have to tell you how to get there...I want you to just know the way...Is that too much to ask? Perhaps...but I want it anyway...and I would know the way to yours...and I deserve the same...I've been writing up a comic storm and can't really explain in words how happy creating comics makes me...I forgot what it felt like...all of my activities and hobbies make me happy but something about creating comics fuels my soul like nothing else...maybe it's a first love kind of thing...Archie started it all for me...him and Betty and Veronica...those hot little minxes...also to be filed under you might be a dyke if...you were obsessed with Betty and Veronica and not Archie...and Betty and Veronica's hot little cat fights...and in fact preferred the Betty and Veronica titles to the Archie titles...just maybe...mmmmm...comics...
xoxo

Illustration Friday~Tales and Legends

This tale has forever disturbed me...Illustration Friday this weeks theme is Tales and Legends...goood theme....sorry for the bad picture...
Rumpelstiltskin  ( Rumpelstiltzkin )

There was once upon a time a poor miller who had a very beautiful daughter. Now it happened one day that he had an audience with the King, and in order to appear a person of some importance he told him that he had a daughter who could spin straw into gold. "Now that's a talent worth having," said the King to the miller; "if your daughter is as clever as you say, bring her to my palace to-morrow, and I'll put her to the test."

When the girl was brought to him he led her into a room full of straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and spindle, and said: "Now set to work and spin all night till early dawn, and if by that time you haven't spun the straw into gold you shall die." Then he closed the door behind him and left her alone inside.

So the poor miller's daughter sat down, and didn't know what in the world she was to do. She hadn't the least idea of how to spin straw into gold, and became at last so miserable that she began to cry. Suddenly the door opened, and in stepped a tiny little man and said: "Good-evening, Miss Miller-maid; why are you crying so bitterly?"

"Oh!" answered the girl, "I have to spin straw into gold, and haven't a notion how it's done."

"What will you give me if I spin it for you?" asked the manikin.

"My necklace," replied the girl.

The little man took the necklace, sat himself down at the wheel, and whir, whir, whir, the wheel went round three times, and the bobbin was full. Then he put on another, and whir, whir, whir, the wheel went round three times, and the second too was full; and so it went on till the morning, when all the straw was spun away, and all the bobbins were full of gold.

As soon as the sun rose the King came, and when he perceived the gold he was astonished and delighted, but his heart only lusted more than ever after the precious metal. He had the miller's daughter put into another room full of straw, much bigger than the first, and bade her, if she valued her life, spin it all into gold before the following morning.

The girl didn't know what to do, and began to cry; then the door opened as before, and the tiny little man appeared and said: "What'll you give me if I spin the straw into gold for you?"

"The ring from my finger," answered the girl.

The manikin took the ring, and whir! round went the spinning-wheel again, and when morning broke he had spun all the straw into glittering gold.

The King was pleased beyond measure at the sights but his greed for gold was still not satisfied, and he had the miller's daughter brought into a yet bigger room full of straw, and said: "You must spin all this away in the night; but if you succeed this time you shall become my wife."

"She's only a miller's daughter, it's true," he thought; "but I couldn't find a richer wife if I were to search the whole world over."

When the girl was alone the little man appeared for the third time, and said: "What'll you give me if I spin the straw for you once again?"

"I've nothing more to give," answered the girl.

"Then promise me when you are Queen to give me your first child."

"Who knows what may not happen before that?" thought the miller's daughter; and besides, she saw no other way out of it, so she promised the manikin what he demanded, and he set to work once more and spun the straw into gold. When the King came in the morning, and found everything as he had desired, he straightway made her his wife, and the miller's daughter became a queen.

When a year had passed a beautiful son was born to her, and she thought no more of the little man, till all of a sudden one day he stepped into her room and said: "Now give me what you promised."

The Queen was in a great state, and offered the little man all the riches in her kingdom if he would only leave her the child. But the manikin said: "No, a living creature is dearer to me than all the treasures in the world."

Then the Queen began to cry and sob so bitterly that the little man was sorry for her, and said: "I'll give you three days to guess my name, and if you find it out in that time you may keep your child."

Then the Queen pondered the whole night over all the names she had ever heard, and sent a messenger to scour the land, and to pick up far and near any names he could come across. When the little man arrived on the following day she began with Kasper, Melchior, Belshazzar, and all the other names she knew, in a string, but at each one the manikin called out: "That's not my name."

The next day she sent to inquire the names of all the people in the neighborhood, and had a long list of the most uncommon and extraordinary for the little man when he made his appearance. "Is your name, perhaps, Sheepshanks Cruickshanks, Spindleshanks?" but he always replied: "That's not my name."

On the third day the messenger returned and announced: "I have not been able to find any new names, but as I came upon a high hill round the corner of the wood, where the foxes and hares bid each other good-night, I saw a little house, and in front of the house burned a fire, and round the fire sprang the most grotesque little man, hopping on one leg and crying:

"To-morrow I brew, to-day I bake,
And then the child away I'll take;
For little deems my royal dame
That Rumpelstiltzkin is my name!"

You can imagine the Queen's delight at hearing the name, and when the little man stepped in shortly afterward and asked: "Now, my lady Queen, what's my name?" she asked first: "Is your name Conrad?"

"No."

"Is your name Harry?"

"No."

"Is your name perhaps, Rumpelstiltzkin?"

"Some demon has told you that! some demon has told you that!" screamed the little man, and in his rage drove his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both hands and tore himself in two.

New Review on Wiretap Music~The Bruises

I missed Self Portrait Tuesday this week but it has been kind of a CRAZY week for me...I'm so busy it hurts a little...that's OK though it's a good busy!!!! I have lots to share this week...first up my newest review on Wiretap Music a CD review of The Bruises CD...check it out here and check out the whole site while you are there...it is AWESOME...lots of info...lots of reviews and AMAZING video of the featured bands!!! Our next show is on February 24th at Thee Parkside so mark your calendars if you are local it's gonna be AWESOME AND AMAZING!!!! I did a new poster for that show and will be posting that soon as well!!! In other news my internship at Curve Magazine started this week and I am writing for them already and it is sooooooooo AWESOME...never tell I'm a writer by my...wait for it...AMAZING vocabulary would you???? Haaa haaaaa!!!! Anyway I'm just really happy about it, so far this year had rocked my world a bit...you know...it's gonna be a good one...I can tell...
xoxo

Illustration Friday~Plain

Well I am a day late but I wasn't home all day yesterday so I didn't get a chance to play with this weeks Illustration Friday until today. Sorry my scan is slightly cut off...watercolor, gouche, ink, dr. martin dyes and pastel on paper...This weeks theme is Plain...with this topic I just thought of all the things in life that are not plain...This piece is about my city...San Francisco and it is a city that is ANYTHING but plain. I definitely found my heart here...
...enjoy the weekend!
xoxo

so I totally like heart Gossip Girl...

yeah...it's true...I totally do...it's one of my absolute FAVORITE shows...as sad as it is...oh well...sometimes when the whole world sucks, cheezy TV makes me happy...thank you gossip girl...thank you...Gossip Girl right now you can catch the first season re-runs on the CW Wednesdays at 9pm or on the cw and starting Jan 28th it's moving to Mondays at 8pm...with new episodes!!! YAY!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the show!!! It's like 90210 but a little better and a little worse...in all the right ways...Although that's a whole new TV day...right now wed is a good stay at home night for me...gossip girl at 9pm and then another super FAVE Project Runway  on at 10pm...sigh...i heart wed. nights...but Mondays will just be more reason to rock and better anyway because I have class on Wed nights now so i won't miss Gossip Girl now...I just realized that...YEEEEEESSSSS!!!!

What are my other TV faves...well I seriously heart Rock of Love and now there is a Rock of Love 2 YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!! and I seriously heart Tila Tequila and there will in fact be a Tila Tequila 2...life is soooo fucking great right now!!!! If you didn't know Tila Tequila is the first bi-sexual dating TV show...which is you know...not really all that queer...she obviously prefers boys...and a lot of the chicks on the show seem to feel the same way and are I think faking it for TV and are also probably robots...but it's still highly entertaining and bringing girl on girl to the main stream a little more...and it's totally dumb...it may make you dumber by watching it...sometimes I want to be dumber so I will like the world more...Stupid TV is like extra therapy for me especially since I am at home making stuff most of the time, and thus it is my constant companion...

In the non reality TV forum...my new fave is 30 Rock I just finished it on Netflix and hot damn is it one of the fucking funniest shows on TV right now...besides The Office You can catch the 2nd season of 30 Rock on nbc.com...soooooooooooooo funny...seriously...watch it...trust me dude...

You know what else I heart???? FLICKR!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously I love flickr best thing for inspiration and sharing...love...love...love...always there for me...always full of awesome inspiration...exhibit A

If you haven't discovered the amazingness of flickr...please do...join...share...explore...be my contact...get inspired...trust me...like totally...for serious...
xoxo

celebrate alone~Self Portrait Challenge

Celebration week 2 of Self Portrait Challenge ...lately I have been celebrating my aloneness, my solitude. With the holidays bringing up some loneliness...lack of family, lack of girlfriend loneliness I started to really want to fully appreciate all the GREAT things about being alone. I began to fully indulge more and more all of my simple singular pleasures...and it felt gooooooooood!!! I was inspired also by artist/writer Keri Smith I have several of her books and Living Out Loud has lots of suggestions in this area. I first read that book about a year and a half ago and am only now really trying a lot of the activities...they seemed like such good ideas but I'm really good at pushing my own needs aside for whatever I feel has to be done...no longer! What a dope, I should have done this a LONG time ago! Her ideas for play and resting seem really simple but are so important and so many of us just get caught up in our lives and forget to nurture ourselves. All of which is key to fostering creativity. I have felt more relaxed, at peace, inspired, creative, energetic and motivated after my indulgences than ever before! Although I still can't sleep...sigh...

I have been making events out of days where I commit to doing nothing but exactly whatever it is I want to do that day. Those days have been some of the most amazing of my LIFE!!! One Saturday I spent the morning and afternoon painting and drawing and making comics. I made myself a comforting nutritious meal for dinner, had a glass of wine and listened to music. Then I dimmed the lights in my room and lit candles all over and put on the itunes. I made myself a new inspirational playlist and then I listened to it...in the dark...and sang and danced around my room and then wrote and wrote and then just laid on my bed for hours listening to music in the candlelight. That was seriously one of the best days EVER!!! I was so inspired by that first attempt I started doing that all the time, always different activities but trying for an entire day of me being alone and doing my favorite alone activities. Sometimes it's a half a day or a couple hours and that too has been really great but those special days are my favorite!!! 

I started making lists of all of my favorite things to do alone that make me super happy~

• reading in my bed
• going to the movies
• cooking a fancy dinner
• having a dance party in my room
• painting/drawing/art
• listening to music in my bed
• making new playlists
• walking all over the city without needing to go anywhere with my headphones on
• writing
• going to live shows
• riding my bike
• taking photos
• writing in my journal
• laying in my bed
• exploring inspiration on flickr
• reading blogs in my bed
• petting and playing with doggies
• taking long hot showers
• reading only comics in my bed
• baking
• art art art art art art art art art art art art art art

Not only do I make as much time as possible for the above activities I make an effort to do them in ~style! Don't get me wrong I still get lonely sometimes everybody who is single does, but I also fully appreciate being alone. I wanted to really focus on me for a while and you can't really do that if you are in a relationship. I have been focusing on what exactly I want for myself and then taking the necessary steps to get there. That has been highly rewarding. Oh and I get to sleep in the middle of the bed...I seriously LOVE that. Take some ME time...seriously DO IT...indulge yourself...whatever that means for you, make your own list and start having FUN!!! One of the BEST things I have EVER done for myself!!
xoxo

happy monday...

How much do you want to punch me for that title??? So here is a piece I just did for an awesome local band Parker Street Cinema. They asked me to do this for a show coming up, if you are local you should definitely come check them out!!! It was a really fun piece to do, they basically just let me do whatever I wanted with it...lucky me!!! I've been obsessing about mixed tapes lately...probably for the past 2 months on a regular basis...I still have most of mine...anyway probably watching too much High Fidelity!!

I also have some exciting news, I have just been hired as an editorial intern at Curve Magazine! Yay exciting for me, amazing opportunity...the new year is off to a GREAT start!!! I start school today as well...YAY wish me luck it's my first day!! I have to try to add into a full class on wed because it was the only night class and full by the time I was able to register :( so I need luck...I think I will get it...I've had to be persuasive in this area before...I am a Gemini after all...
xoxo 

Illustration Friday~Stitch

Hey there, so this is the second group I want to participate in, it's called Illustration Friday There is also a link to the left.  It is an awesome group with tons of amazing talented people who participate...this is my first illustration, mixed media, watercolor, ink, gouche.  The theme this week is Stitch...this was really fun for me and I can't wait to participate next week.  It's great to do an illustration however you want and just for fun!!! Join up if your interested and at least check out all the awesome artwork!!! Happy Friday!!! I have lots more to share but that will have to wait until Monday! Have a great weekend, YAY I'm feeling better finally!!!
xoxo

Self Portrait Challenge...

sooooo...i decided after a really long hiatus I want to try to participate in some weekly challenges again...I love how they force me to be creative within some interesting parameters...make me think...and inspire the hell out of me...I miss that...so first up my beloved Self Portrait Challenge This months theme is celebration...I'm sick right now and in bed and the first thing I thought of with this theme were all the little things in life that make me celebrate...one recent event in particular...now I hate material possessions to be the basis of my celebration but from a girl who until VERY recently had a computer that barely, barely functioned and could not handle my file sizes to have a brand new amazing, beautiful machine...well to say it was a life changing moment is an understatement...for one now my poor roommies don't have to hear "Are you FUCKING kidding me????" or "Seriously???? WTF????" or "OMG I'm going to fucking throw you out the window" heh...heh...yeah...def a cause of celebration for me...my new baby is soooooooo fast....it's amazing...I can now run illustrator, photoshop and indesign...at the same time...without chaos...DUDE!!!!!! That's HOT!!!!!!! So this pic is a little older but v. significant...

Fake Holga Series...

I've been playing around with some recent self portrait's I call them my fake holga series...and here are a couple pics from my New Year's 2008...this last week was a strange but good week. It's so interesting that as you make positive choices to change your patterns and end toxic relationships the universe seems to change around you a little. Getting rid of the negative relationships seems to attract positive relationships.  Just my experience this week after making some choices. It was a good week in spite of the crazy weather here...trees are torn up from their roots in SF right now...crazy...and I had a really, really nice weekend. Friday was really nice because I got to spend some QT time with my east bay friends for a Birthday Party. Saturday was just plain crazy fun with lots of people I love to see. Today was an awesome day of making stuff, working on my comic and watching netflix...I just started watching 30 Rock...that shite is hilarious...Just a quickie post because I need to get back to work...







Axis of Evil New Year's Party...soooo much fun!!

Happy Noir~Year Party 2008
xoxo

this is how i roll...

made this today...when I said it earlier today out loud there may or may not have been expletives included...I posted it on the doors to my desk where I post inspiration...I wanted to share some pics of my room and how I work. I don't have a lot of space so I do what I gotta do...

this is my baby and my supplies print outs organized in my binder and one of my journals...I like to work on my bed a lot...which I am now realizing could indeed be the source of my continued insomnia...or at least have a part in it...but it's so comforting to make stuff from your bed...

my pencils and microns...i love you microns...in my sailor moon pencil case of course...

exhibit A on maybe why Katie can't sleep at night...this is my bed...this is who I sleep with...books, comics, journals, inspiration and fatty...he is the stuffed corgi...technically Ein from Cowboy Bebop but I have come to lovingly refer to him as fatty...god I'm a dork...oh and I like to dress him up and take pictures...um if you didn't already know this about me I really, really, really want dogs, a lot of dogs and fatty is my baby till then ;) naw he will always be my baby...

holler fatty!!! This is how he rolls, with his homies George and B...

My desk...Poor Little Dyke Girl piled up to the left...sneak peek for you...I like to have tons of inspiration around me...

More inspiration...outside of my desk and my tons of movies...sketch by Andi Watson love his stuff and the beautiful women are by Stella Im Hultberg whose work I adore and who hails from SF...
Thats all for now, back to work...too many projects too little time as you can see...I had an amazing New Year actually and I HATE New Years...seriously my LEAST favorite holiday...it almost always sucks ass and this year was perfect, so fun, with people that rock my world no pretense no crap just good times and good people...we got home at 5am...yeah we had a good time...I think it's going to be a good year...I'm surrounded by some really amazing people and I am so damn grateful for that and as hard of a year it's been at times I have made so many great positive changes in my life and it feels really good.
xoxo