Thursday, June 22, 2006

Coming to America


I'm slowly getting more freelance illustration work with local papers. Here's a recent assignment I did for the NY Press about gay asylum seekers (for their Gay Pride issue). Check it out: Out Via JFK

I want to send a thank you out to Jerry, of lo admito, who hooked me up with this.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Behold, The Incredible, Ingenious, Glittering Jeff


Where does one start when describing Jeff? I've been meaning to post about him for well over a month now, and haven't found the proper words (and kept making excuses). He can't be fully described or appreciated through a measly blog post, but here's a beginning...

Jeff breezed into town at the beginning of April and stayed with me for a looong getaway weekend. It's truly a testament to our friendship that we have remained on the same page all this time since art school. We're still best buds, ex-roommate survivors, colleagues in art, and partners in crime. Besides two other people I've posted about on this blog, he's my longest running best friend. He knows me inside and out, and totally gets me. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. He knows all my neurotic insanity, my quirks, and funny ticks. Even though he's lived in Chicago for the past (seven?) years, and I've been in Atlanta (and now NY), we still get along just like old times. This was proven to me last Fall when he visited me in Atlanta, and this Spring when he visited me here. I can't express how badly I wish he would move to this city! (Hint, hint, c'mon Jeff)


We met freshman year of college, and we've been as thick as thieves ever since. From the very beginning, I've been dazzled by his electric personality, acerbic wit, and rebelious stance on life. He's the kind of badass friend you want to skip classes with, sneak over to the mall with, try on ridiculous clothes, have a few drinks, make fun of people, take in an obscure foreign film, discuss philosophy, and then possibly end the evening enjoying raunchy performances at your local male strip club while rehashing the arthouse fare you took in earlier. I've learned so much from Jeff. He was the spice I desperately needed in my life at eighteen, when I first arrived at art school. I was SUCH a goody-two-shoes back then! Jeff helped bring me out of my shell, and draw out my fun-loving, mischievious side. I only hope I've entertained, inspired, and possibly guided him as much as he has for me, as a friend, an artist, and a fellow thirty-year old (GASP!)

What's really remarkable about Jeff is his duality. He's like the bad kid in the neighborhood, always getting you into trouble, only Jeff also has a highly responsible, driven, and ambitious side as well. He's an amazing artist and filmmaker. I admire him for sticking to his guns, and not compromising his vision with his artmaking. He recently finished a feature length independant film titled "Into It", and is busy shopping it around to film festivals and the like. I think he's going to break out BIGTIME any year now, and I plan to go to the opening screenings of his films. I consider him a modern John Waters, multiplied by Gregg Araki, divided by Gus Van Sant in the making! I adore the dark, twisted, ironic humor in his work.

You can even IMDb him: just click here!
Jeff amazes me, and I can't wait to see what he does next.


Here's yet another pic. This one depicts his softer, sweeter side.
(right?) He's practically a gay male Cindy Sherman, capable of slipping into whatever role necessary to create a stirring film still or photograph. Here's to Jeff: a magnificent actor, performer, artist, and filmmaker...

...and of course, one helluva friend!
"CHRISTINA, GET OUT OF THAT BED!!!"

Friday, June 16, 2006

The Young


Younger guys are trouble. Wouldn't you agree?

Has anyone out there dated a younger guy, only to find out they were dating a male version of "Lolita?"

I wanted this illustration to sum up the cute, but dangerous allure of the budding young homo. Ha ha!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Summer Slacking


Summer is here and I've officially become a bad blogger.

But here's some Summer sketches to look at (to prove that at least I'm doing SOME work). They're devoid of life right now, but they'll eventually have puppets frolicking within them.


Thursday, June 08, 2006

Frogger


Hey everyone. Sorry I've been posting so erratically lately. I've been a little under the weather, feeling like a toad. The beginning of June ushered in a series of HOT, muggy days, that seemed to come out of nowhere! Once I got my ac unit the way I like it: blowing out nice, cool air, the weather decided to dip back into early Spring temperatures, sending my sinuses into freak out mode. Today, I have a case of the sniffles, due to all the forcast inconsistency. In addition to wildly wavering barometric pressure, life in New York can feel like a game of Frogger sometimes; You're trying to cross the street, and everything just seems to be out to get you, trying to squash you flat. Hopefully, I'll get back home to my lillypad safely...

Friday, June 02, 2006

Road Trip!


Memorial Day weekend came and went in a flash, folks! Three newfound, New York friends and I piled into a car and drove to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for a loooong weekend getaway. The news reports predicted rain, yet the weather couldn't have been more ideal. It was the perfect introduction to Summer!

We arrived in Rehoboth and found the beachhouse. It was gigantic. All in all, 22 guys were spending their weekend there! I knew most of them from Baltimore, from back when I was in school, yet there were new faces in the crowd as well. Way back in '97, '98, and '99 I had gone on a couple of Rehoboth trips, but I hadn't been in six years, since moving back to Atlanta. Now that I'm back in the Northeast, I'm back in the gang, and BOY, has it multiplied since I last went.

The weekend was mostly spent catching up with everyone, basking in the sun, and drinking...haha! There was plenty of beachhouse scandal as well, all of it too wild to report on this blog, but it was all in good fun. In some ways, the Rehoboth trips have come to resemble the frat parties we all avoided in college. It's funny how you can get a bunch of upstanding young professionals in a house on the beach over a holiday weekend, and all hell breaks loose! These are the moments worth living for. These are the stories and memories we'll treasure forever.