Crossings: A Gallery Show - Atlanta, GA

"Crossings" will feature the work of Killamari, Renee Rivas (me!), and Fernando Vazquez, three SCAD-Atlanta Illustration M.F.A. students. The show runs from April 12th-17th at StudioPlex, with an opening reception Thursday, April 15th 6-9pm.

On display I will have several illustrations from the children's picture book Elephant Picnic, written by Ronit Elk, to be published this Fall.

Here is a little more about the show from our press release....


CROSSINGS marks the culmination of the journeys taken by SCAD-Atlanta Illustration MFA students Killamari, Renee Rivas, and Ferni Vázquez. Each of their distinctive voices permeate through their art, as they bring us works both personal and professional. CROSSINGS represents the place where these artists' journeys come together before taking on to more journeys of their own.

"Songs My Enemies Taught Me" is a body of work illustrated by Killamari, that explores the fall of the Cambodian culture and the country's current struggle to revive it. Mainly focusing on the tragedies that occurred between 1975 through supposedly 1979 under the Pol Pot regime, these works tell stories through a series of illustrations and paper crafts. There are many overlooked tragedies that occurred during this time, and the aftermath still cripples the Cambodian culture today. Cambodia has a story to tell, and 'Songs My Enemies Taught Me' seeks to make these stories heard.

"Elephant Picnic" is a children's picture book that tells the story of a young boy who attends a picnic for elephants put on by the circus. Renee Rivas, who is illustrating the 32-page story, will have on display several of the artworks from the book before it's published in this fall.

"New World Gospel", by Fernando Vazquez examines the ongoing story of what happens when two cultures collide. Being born in Puerto Rico, the artist shares blood and culture links with Spaniards, Africans, and the aboriginal Taino indians. In this series, the culture clash is expressed through a visual syncretism of religious art and symbols from Spanish Catholicism and the Taino's Zemi religion. It seeks to portray similarities between the two, to see the other from one's own eyes, and to reconcile two of the cultures that laid the foundation of Puerto Rican society.

The show runs from April 12th-17th at StudioPlex, located at 659 Auburn Avenue, Suite 143 in Atlanta, GA 30312. There will be a reception held Thursday, April 15th 6-9pm. Gallery hours are 1:00-5:00 pm April 12th-17th.


Hope to see you there!

StudioPlex - Suite 143
659 Auburn Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30312

Fruit is in Bloom!

Now for something a little different.....

Been working a lot using Adobe Illustrator lately, but this recent project had me working a little with traditional media. I just finished a design and illustration job for a company specializing in edible landscape gardening and design. Created the logo, fruit illustration, and some print collateral.

Think it would be awesome to have your own blueberry or strawberry bushes in your own backyard? If you are in the Tampa Bay area, check Fruit of the Bloom out on the web or this coming weekend during Green Fest at the beautiful University of Tampa.

SCAD-Atlanta: Illustrated Map

I am going to have to put this piece down for a bit before finishing, but I wanted to post it because I like the direction it was heading. The last assignment was to do an illustrated map, and I chose my very own Home Sweet School to draw-- very appropriate to do a map of SCAD as my last assignment in my last class in grad school. (Oh, don't worry...still have my thesis to do--not done yet!)

Animals in Space: The Stationary Set

Just finished a set of stationary. I have been wanting to work again with the characters I have created for a nesting doll set a couple months ago. This was a super fun project. I love when I can create an illustration, and pick out different elements to create an overall concept and design a package around it. Below is a layout of all three pages of stationary (down the line I would like to do a fourth, which I already have an idea for).

At this point, I have really gotten pretty comfortable working within Illustrator, which has been a huge victory for me.

Illustration Friday: Adrift

To my Navy man, Pat. Happy Valentine's Day!

Illustration Arts Forum 2010!

This weekend was the Arts Forum here at SCAD-Atlanta--something I look forward to all year! Because of Snowmeggedon, one of the presenters, Jon Foster was unable to make it, but one of my absolute favorite artists, Helen Dardik made it in from Canada just in time for our "beach-like" weather. Helen has worked on a variety of projects from animation to editorial to surface illustration (like some of the recent products she has done for Blue Q). Her style has a hand-done, clean, and quirky look influenced by Scandinavian design. Her work is instantly recognizable as her own not only through her style but by her signature jewel-like palate which makes her work so much fun to look at and moon over.

On Friday she gave an incredible demo on creating patterns in Adobe Illustrator. This is something I had done a couple times before, without much ease or great results, so I was a little incredulous going into the demo. But with Helen's method, it was so simple and fun! This is definitely a skill I will use again soon for pattern making, which I have really enjoyed thus far. She also gave great tips for designing. Then we had a chance to try our hand at creating some patterns ourselves (see above pattern inspired by a recent project I have taken on-- more on that in another post though).

Also, Bill Mayer, Decatur native and recent Society of Illustrator gold medal winner, braved the snow and joined the Forum last minute. He showed us some of his work, including some pieces from his children's book The Monster Who Did My Math Homework, one of my favorites, and his very loose stamp sketches, one of which won him recent honors. These sort of projects are particularly inspiring-- illustration doesn't have to be highly rendered pieces, but can be simple, beautifully designed "doodles" from your sketchbook. He also shared a special and very personal project he was working on, which was a real treat for us.

I was kind of bummed that the Forum got cut short (I had signed up for a portfolio review on Saturday, but because of weather conditions the school as well as local transit had shut down). All in all though it was a really fun weekend! Both Helen and Bill were so generous with divulging their "insider secrets," and were really awesome to talk to. We were extremely lucky to have them visit us at SCAD-Atlanta!

For more about this year's Art Forum (with photos), visit the SCAD-ATL Illustration Department blog.

Illustration Friday: Muddy

I have been working very tight lately, with a lot of more realistic proportions. I wanted to try something really quirky and fun, without all the over analyzing. I doodled this today during Illustration Asylum (the illustration dept's club), and inked over it when I got home.