Musings of an Artful Mind

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Behind the scenes. Visual Elements Press: Under the Hallowmoon.

This October a two year long project was brought to completion. My talented illustrator and graphic design business partner Julianna Roberts and I conceived this lofty yet realistic plan of self-publishing graphic novels and children’s books while on holiday together with our husbands in Astoria, Oregon. We imagined as entrepreneurs it would meet the need of our creative selves that were not being fully utilized in our day jobs. Even while we attended Pacific Northwest College of Art, many moons ago, we noticed that our personalities meshed well and our diverse technical talents would apply well to a working business model. Carolina Medina-Dupaix and Julianna A.B. Roberts circa 2011. Here we are in Astoria, OR. The beginning of Visual Elements Press would later come into being over a delicious bowls of clam chowder. Under the Hallow Moon is an illustrated full color art book about the thirty-one days leading up to Halloween. It began as a tiny seed, a persistent th

On sale now Under the Hallow Moon by Visual Elements Press

Aloha, devoted readers, friends, and family. Please forgive me it has been more than a year since I have blogged!! I know it is a cardinal sin to let your art page go dormant for a month let alone over year but, riding the waves of life can be intense and learning balance is a lifelong exercise. Thank you for you patience and support. This year through the connectivity of the internet and social media a two yearlong project has bloomed. It is a graphic novel/ art book called UNDER THE HALLO MOON and produced by Visual Elements Press a new small business co-owned by Julianna A.B. Roberts and myself. Julianna and Carolina of Visual Elements Press Graphic novel /paperback Available at lulu.com http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/under-the-hallomoon/15322664 I also participate in the monthly art jam group called New Moon and our community’s work can be seen here, newmoonart.blogspot.com It is administered by Phoebe and Steve , who are also friends resid

Seashore blogs

Hello again friends, I have a new site which is providing a home for poetry and illustrations!! This blogspot site will continue to hold musings and art exhibit events and info. Please feel free to read my scribbles and ogle the drawings and why not start your own? Image of shell by me. Lovely thing about drawing shells and water you always get it right. http://imagesfromthesea.net

Faculty & Staff show at Honolulu Art Museum 2013

It’s no surprise that many of the worker bees humming through the open air corridors of Honolulu Art Museum and Linekona School (now Honolulu Museum Art School) are in fact artistic in their own right. Having organized muse staff shows in past it never seizes to amaze me at what a range of imagery and sculpture the humble guard or fastidious development coordinator will decide to share. We are increasingly guarded in our corporate jobs with sterile cubicles and climate controlled responses. Moreover, museums tend to have a reputation of being cold calculated markets of zeitgeist, which at best define the cultural echelon achieved by few and refuted by many. About two hundred years ago the artistic academies organized official exhibitions called salons and if you wanted to procure patrons they were the only way to go. Now with the open market of the internet it easier for artists to have their work discovered and appreciated.

Redwood City Mural @ Tacos Los Gemelos

At long last, a new post! For the last six months or so, my artistic endeavors that have saved me from the dullness of urban living have been minor exercises in appreciation and experimentation. I began to carry an art journal around everywhere I went and forced myself to observe and capture the world around me in an effort to come out of my post-graduate under-employed shell. It is so easy to be lulled into the coma like state of endless movies, internet surfing, books, and playing with the cats that I could not ignore the need to express and create which ultimately brings me calm and a sense of completion. One such example was a drawing exchange I promoted on my FB, where I would create a one of a kind drawing 5x7” watercolor paper drawing and in exchange receive one in the mail as well. Twelve postcard sized watercolor and color pencil images of architecture, night & seascapes, space, sacred symbols, goldfish and cats where sent to three different states over the course

The calm before the ASUCAR!

It’s t-minus three hours before the start of the 13th annual SomArts Dead of the Dead festival! This year there are 80 artists from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of receiving my docent training for the event. Luckily, since it was the day before the opening, many artists were on site giving their installations, wall paintings, and altars some last minute loves. Please note, I tried to credit each picture with the artist and a brief description but apparently, I do not blog enough to wade through the HTML to make it look right. If you have any questions about specific pictures feel free to ask. I’d like to share with you some progress shots of the various embodiments of this year’s theme Illuminations. We are expecting quite the turn out this evening and this month of October with return patrons that have followed this event from infancy as well as, the fleet week crowd, all the new transplants to the bay area, (such as myself) and of course