"j"

photo: arcspace
the ellwood walkway
art center college of design
pasadena

yesterday was an extremely difficult day to get through. early morning, my best friend's brother phoned me but i missed his call. then i got a text message right away. my best friend, peter, is on a job in shanghai, china, so we haven't been able to speak to each other.
anyway, he wanted to let me know that my mentor "j" had passed away. he was only 33 years old.
it's 17 hours later and i still cannot stop my tears.
what i want to share is that, if it wasn't for him, i would not have got myself accepted into art center college of design.
he was the only one who saw something in this 19 years old girl, he inspired and encouraged me that the sky was the limit. to think back, when you are young, it is so crucial to have that and i am forever grateful. i wouldn't have struggled to find myself as a designer and an artist if it wasn't for him. he didn't just tell me to go for one thing, he taught me to keep my options open, try everything until i find what i love. and i did. it was graphics and photography. i never looked back to do or be anything else. i would not have it any other way.
now i realized, i must inspire and i must encourage, even just one person at a time.
"j", i will never forget you and thank you for guiding me out of the box.

fortune baby

"fortune baby"
acrylic & digital
2009

"a child absorbs with great sensitivity the mother's teachings and training, her actions, her emotions, and the whole image of a human being. and in this process, the child imperceptibly amasses personality traits and thus inherits fundamental human culture. an old proverb says that the child is the mirror of the mother. institutions may conduct course of education and may impart great knowledge to their charges, but it is beyond their power to give all that a mother and a family can give."~daisaku ikeda

this is a piece celebrating the conception of a new life from two worlds in the 21st century! i used acrylic paint for the main subject, the fetus. then i designed the rest in photoshop. it took me a couple of days to finalize the concept for this piece, once i decided, it was easier to design it. i love it!

just briefly...
the concept behind this piece is that this new life is an integration of two distinct cultures. in nichiren buddhism, when a new life exist in a practitioner, this unborn is consider a "fortune baby". thus, you see 南無妙法蓮華經, the mystic law of the lotus sutura, as the other main component. the mother is a nichiren buddhist, as the father is of mayan decent. i decided to use the mayan astrology symbols to illustrate the mayan part of this unborn.

with my own personal experience, i decided to design this piece on behave of all single mothers who have to carry an unborn for 9 months all by themselves without the support of the biological sperm donors. and because of this, they are heroic revolutionist of our time and they always give birth to greatness! so it was very important for the red revolution stars within the lotus flowers!

you can find 8x10 prints here, my etsy store. i will have them in the local stores next month!

syphiell

"underwater"

syphiell, emilie dionne, is a young fantasy and horror artist whom i discovered on etsy a few days ago. after browsing her etsy store, here, i fell in love with her art. now it's a must for her to make a piece for me...

what i love about her art is, she doesn't just draw or paint something pretty. some of her pieces are pretty however, they all seem to have a twist to them. and that's what caught my attention.

"burning flame"

the above was the first piece i discovered, ohhhhhhhh, i love it, i felt that burning flame! then i needed to see more and more and more! i wonder what's the story behind this piece!? i should ask her!!!

"death dance"

i love this one because it's not the expected female who has a skull painted face. you see those a lot but look at this one, it stands out because it's a bit on the horror side but it's not!!! love love love it! it's dark but on the soft side, i like that!

"rosana"

of course this caught my eyes! smaller eyes, high cheekbones, and it could look like me! :)
anyways, check out syphiell's etsy store and her website.

unagi salad

for a super fast and healthy lunch date for 2, try preparing unagi (eel) salad. i believe the proper term is called uzaku = unagi salad.

what you will need:

1. a bag of salad from trader joes
2. 1/4 lb grilled eel (unagi ni kabayaki)
3. pinch of salt and sugar
4. 1 tbsp soy sauce (optional)
5. love

i eat very light so i don't use any sauce, and that is it! that's about $10 before taxes, super delicious and nothing can top this! one of my favorites! but of course you can add any additional items, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.
although it's so simple, don't forget make it with love! it makes a huge difference!
you can find grilled eel and everything else at 99 ranch market, or here. seriously, right? :) enjoy!

red hydrant press

"patin del diablo"

so my current fix is the ideas of angels vs. devils. i am intrigued with what artists create when they design or paint their versions of the devil. in reality, the devil can be the person who wakes up next to you, just a normal looking being. thus, my fasination is who ever started the red looking man with horns?

i searched for "devils" on etsy and found many different things. i came across alynn guerra's etsy shop the redhydrant, or here. i must admit, i got off track with angels vs. devils, gotta leave that for another time because this is much more interesting! sorry!

i truly love her philosophy with her approach to her art.

"i create art to help me understand and assimilate my everyday life tribulations. there are is a broad range of themes in my work: a ludic approach to civilization, images of cultural and political history, and images that have echoed my own life experiences and culture.

the construction season series

there are two sides of this story,

-the paradox; we build more roads that take us to remote places that were not accessible before, but we destroy those places in the process.

- the satire; the construction mess we experiment after the winter is over, here in michigan people say that we have two seasons winter and construction, i mix both in my prints."

you can find more about alynn guerra here.

i came to appreciate pieces that are carved from a variety of knives and gauges after i discovered dennis mcnett, more info here.

"death gathering cycles"



"what is mine..."

i love art that is soooooo conceptual, not just making something pretty or just for a nice view...concept is the core of a successful piece of art. this piece is not only conceptual but amazing. from the piece, to the title, and to the explanation (long or short), all these components must sync. to the eyes of an artist, it must be felt by your audience.

her pieces caught not only my eyes but my heart, then you just know that you want to see more and to know more...and to own some of these precious pieces!
i adore artist who carves their visions and their feelings out, it's just so incredible!
i'm still deciding which one i will purchase for my collection to hang in my studio...so many...

"los bicicleteros"

katsuya hollywood

katsuya
hollywood

saturday evening, as i arrived @ katsuya in hollywood, i felt something familiar. philippe starck was in my mind...but i got distracted with the people, food, interior designs, etc. everything was gorgeous! from the plates to the waiters/waitresses to the restroom sinks, seriously, amazing!
it wasn't until i was in the restroom when i saw the s+arck on the katsuya paper folded hand towls. it didn't say philippe starck but i knew, this is first class philippe starck design! i wasn't wrong when i felt something familiar!

as i recall, almost every where you go in paris, germany or italy, you often see starck's product designs everywhere. in los angeles, we are fortunate to be able to any of his hotels in beverly hills to view and enjoy his designs!

(stock photo)

in the very near future (next year), i will be seeing his work at the delano in miami! and hopefully felix restaurant at the peninsula hotel in hong kong or the volar nightclub in shanghai...oh there's just way too many!

i feel that as a designer, i have much more appreciation whenever i am actually in such a beautiful designed hotel or restaurant. i observed the whole place, the people, the tables, the chairs, the graphic signs, the ceiling, etc. i even checked out all the paparazzi out side katsuya. that's how insanely this place was. it always takes me back to art center years, from conception to execution then to the final product. how stoked it is when it's in the real world!

(stock photo)

oh and the food...most fancy or high end design restaurants have average food. but not katsuya...it wasn't your ordinary japanese restaurant. they had a delicious menu! i didn't have any single dish as the food came as shared for our party. most of the photos turned out pretty dark as it was pretty dark inside!

ajitsuke inari age sushi

if you ever have last minute dinner parties and you like to make a nice delicious dinner for a couple of guests, i recommend ajituke inari age sushi (seasoned fried bean curd with rice) with sake!

what you will need:

1.rice
2.seasoned fried bean curd (comes with powder vinegar)
3.liquid rice vinegar
4.sake (rice wine not shown)
5.love

the seasoned fried bean curd usually comes with 12 pieces per package. so if you have about 4 guests then you should get more than 2 packages. the package i paid was about $2.99 without tax. so 2 bean curd packages and 2 bottles of sake for 4 people is under $20 and delicious! that's assuming you have rice already at home! if you don't it is not much more!

for 1 package you will need about 3 cups of cooked rice. the package in the back gives you better instructions than me! and best of all, it doesn't take much time for your dinner party!

you should be able to find everything you need at the 99 ranch market, here.

i prefer to use liquid rice vinegar so that's a little extra, about $3 a bottle before tax. i can't really say how much i put it because i never cook with measurements. i cook food with love, seriously, i do! and it always tastes delicious!

i don't make time to cook often but when i do, 99.9% tastes awesome because when you cook from the heart, it will never let you down! from italian to taiwanese...i am a pretty well cook but not a chef or anything!

grigio

"我 heart 媽媽" i heart ma ma
2009

for mother's day, i designed 'i love ma ma' in chinese traditional characters. i have made buttons, magnets, and 8x10 prints. i'm trying to raise an x amount for the s.g.i. may contributions this year. so for these items, 75% of sales will be donated to s.g.i. usa!

i decided to open another shop grigio, away from snookybootzi because i wanted to keep the supplies on it's own. i also realized in grigiodesign, it was getting really mixed, from my skulls to my photography. i can't focus on one aspect because there are so many things to create in so many platforms.

on top of all, graphics has never left me as it is my second nature, i cannot deny it. :) so to keep things organized, all supplies will be in snookybootzi; all skull and folk art will remain in grigiodesign; and grigio will have graphics and non skull jewlery!

the unique thing about grigio is 25% of all sales will always go to s.g.i., 25% of all sales will always go to 'karingisshering' (caring is sharing). my twin little's sisters are building their non profit art organization to teach less fortunate children. i want to do as much as i can to support them as they build this great organization!

"生日快樂"(happy birthday) "我 heart 爸爸" (i heart daddy)
2009

"mr. and mrs. lopez"
2008



"mr. and mrs. gastelum"
2008

i also decided to make some buttons from some of my most beloved couple earrings! i am trying to list them all this week!

lunatiger

i purchased these gorgeous vintage beads from etsy seller lunatiger and when they arrived on friday, oh, i just had to use them right away. and out with these! i love love love them! they are all in the grigiodesign store right now.

"grigio acciaio"
2009



"velluto nero"
2009

"bailamos"
2009

believe winner

april 15, 2009 giveaway winner >>>

"believe" 2009

congratulations to:

jessica smith of florida!

may 15, 2009 giveaway:

"i love..." 2009

the above earrings will be the giveaway for may, you can see it at my etsy store. i will duplicate it but the skull will not look exactly the same due to the nature of "hand painted".
all you have to do is send me a message through email or convo me through my etsy store. i will randomly select a winner from the email messages. your email address will be only used for the giveaway for the month. i will notify the winner by email and i will post your name on this blog!


back to creating...

limegreenmodern

limegreenmodern says:

a simple splash of silver, 18 g sterling up-round-overs are handformed and hammered by me. the front and back lengths are just over 1 3/4". the front is hammered flatter for a bolder look. i then tumble them for a few hours to harden them and add a brilliant silver shine.

these earrings are a heavier gauge, and fit fine for those who have had their ears pierced for awhile. 18 gauge is a touch thicker than a standard paper clip."

i've been meaning to blog about these up-round-over silver earrings, can be found here. i don't wear jewelry every day but these are super great because you don't even realize you have them on since they are so light! if i rush out to the post office or something, i just put them on to go with my painting clothes, they still looked great! tracy at limgreenmordern actually customized these for me at 2.75" long since i love long and big earrings!

you will fall in love with these as i have! so please check it out!

i think these are the next ones i will be getting...



or these...



or theses...

oh i can't make up my mind yet! enjoy!

snookybootzi

this is the one of the reason i've been m.i.a. ! i just took a screen shot from my desktop... i don't particularly love the banner but it's okay for now as i have to move on to other things!

snookybootzi is my 2nd etsy store and will have mainly supplies, focusing on skulls and charms which i use for all of my earrings and jewelry! i also plan on putting my graphic design in this shop as i started on a piece for mother's day. so in a couple of days...

i redesigned a new one for grigio since it's over 6 months old! i love it! when i have time i will design a nicer one for snookybootzi!

mookychick...it's live

i was asked by moodychick's editor to write an article on anything that i make to be featured on their website. i was honored! and i chose to write on my skull flower clips. this one featured is up for grabs! just email me!

guitar voucher & aceos!

aceo
"guitar voucher"
limited edition of 50
2009
maximilian baud/grigio design

guitar voucher...

it was a when i turned a quarter of a century old. my dear friend maxmilian didn't have time to get me a present due to school projects. so he had given me this voucher with a drawing of a guitar as my birthday card...find this here. of course i have got the real thing soon after!

i hope i'm remembering this accurately...it's a beautiful thing to reminisce sweet things people have done for you! i find it difficult for me to remember bad things pass 6 months, i would have to really think hard...why waste time or energy right?it's hard enough to remember all the great things already!

the original
maximilian baud
2002

with his permission, i had decided to play with the colors of the image and turn it into an aceo artist card! because i've been busy designing my these aceo cards from some of my most beoved skull catrina earrings! these are all limited edition and can be found in my etsy store.

some examples of my loves...

"grigio"
limited edition of 100
2009

"salsa salsa ii"
limited edition of 100
2009


"tiger heart"
limited edition of 100
2009