Life & Art Dump. OC.

This is my art from the last two'ish years. I'm kind of in a slump right now.

I thought posting about it would maybe re-inspire me.

FEEL FREE TO CRITQUE OR SUGGEST THINGS!

This is a wood block print on a t-shirt. Bats are my motif. Their the go to when I dont know what to draw.

This is a starting sketch for another woodblock.

This is an interpretation of a phoenix. It is about 3 ft x 3 ft.

This had to be printed by having small steam roller run over the inked wood a few times. This was difficult to calculate the correct amount of pressure and ink. Thus a messed up print. The fabric is hand dyed old bed sheets I had laying around.

The starting sketch of a dragon on wood. The older I get the more interested I become in them. In western culture we use them as an avatars for our vices in stories. They horde gold, destroy, steal maidens, etc. We create the stories of knights battling them as a reflectionnof our own internal struggle. But in eastern culture this same creature is a symbol of fortune and luck. This peice came about during my Joseph Campbell phase.

This is a shot of the wood inked up.

Some examples of tye dye I used to do. Colors to me an expression of a mood and figures are the story. I like to think of the colors like a sound track to each peice.

This is a picture of tye dying with snow.

And this is what happens when you use fabric dye on paper.

I was very surprised by how little the dye made the ink bleed.

This is where I originally saw this figures going before they were dyed.

When I saw these colors on the figures. They came to life.

Moving forward. This started out as a peice about

Finished peice. To me this wasn't about the final product it never is. Its about the journey. Also worth mentioning these are usually made in a day or two. I can get really into what I do and not sleep for 24-48 hours.

This the start of a linocut. This is where you carve a linoleum block as a opposed to a wood cut which is carving into wood. It's a lot easier to do as well as a lot cheaper as a material.

This was inspired by the idea we are all cyborgs. Anytime you are using technology to improve yourself you are falling into the definition of cyborg. I thought about how often I am glued to my phone. I was also thinking about about our self vs. our online self when I made this. Inspiration at the time included: Snow Crash, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Futurism, and the Ted Talk by Amber Case http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now?language=en.

This is the start of my mural about the education bubble. This was a 48 hour mess fueled by Grimes and listening to alot of NPR's Marketplace and a touch of The Big Short.

My printmaking teacher couldn't stand the penises everyone was drawing on this wall. So I was fortunate enough to granted permission to cover it up.

I was thinking about how everyone I knew was leaving school with $20,000 in debt or more. I was thinking about our future. An entire generation who is starting their life with these weights around their ankles.

Looking back at this now it feels #5edge4u . I want to revisit this idea but I'm a dumb person who is bad at explaining things. Also this is acryic, silkscreen ink, and silkscreens pasted to the wall with elmers glue. DO NOT USE ELMERS GLUE. USE WHEAT PASTE.

I said earlier I'm posting because I'm in a creative slump. It's been about 8ish months since I last made anything or have been inspired. It feels like I lost the best part of myself without that creativity. I try to draw or make things and it just ends in crying or sleeping at my desk. Anybody have any suggestions? I used to see this beauty in everything and now I just sleep days away.

Hey look an unflattering selfie with a self depricating description. How original!

I've been depressed my whole life and it normally comes and goes in waves. I can manage it pretty well by expressing it through art or what I'm reading lately. It's sort of a cycle you get used to I grew up going though weeks of being suicidal to months of being fine. You know how to plan to plan your life around it. But these months of numbness that has me pretty much bedridden. I haven't made anything or finished school. I can't even play video games let alone read lately.

I'm really afraid I'm not going to be able withstand all this much longer. I think about sucide up to 20 times a day now. I haven't seen my family in months and have basically isolated my self from my few friends. And any time I reach out the conversation turns into people making me feeling guilty for being sad or about them. ( I attract a lot of narcissists as a defensive mechanism to not open up.) I'm SORRY for dumping. It's bee so so so very long since I really was able to share my feelings. I'm somewhat hoping if some how I could just start creating again I could releive the heaviness of this gloom. I also want to apologize for my grammar!

This is my last peice I want to talk about. These are linocuts over silkscreened images of 1950s suburbia. I come from a town in the U.P. My hometown is surrounded by forest. Growing up my hometown slowly desteoyed more and more of this forest. The woods I played in, the trees I gave names, and the places where the animals lived. Every year they would sell more of the land to clear. And when the woods was gone the animals still roamed. Like ghosts. Every time I visit home more I recognize this place less and less. I wish I had the words to tell this story but I'm not a writer.

This is my cat Piper. My little Pied Piper (she was named this because I was watching Silicon Valley at the time). Again sorry for my grammar and how much I wrote! Like I totally deserve the down votes coming my way.