limabean kritter

this is limabean.  he is the commissioned bunny i painted after the connect exhibit in trenton.  i found out that both of my pieces, peter the bunny and jugs the orangutan, ended up selling during the exhibit, which is pretty awesome. i like limabean, he looks radioactive.  limabean also is 18"x24", a larger size than basically all the existing kritters today.  love working big, i want to do giant ones.  all the time

flexiciser

last sci painting of the week, from 2008. still pretty obsessed with it..

one last contraption we found at the expo was the flexiciser.  it's pretty awesome. i can stay in my wheelchair and exercise.  huge part of the reason i hate exercising is getting in and out of stupid machines.  i despise all the set up.  this would be perfect.  you just strap your feet in and go. once strapped in, you start the motor and it moves your legs for you. although you can apparently also get an upper body work out with it as well.  but here is the benefits from it:

"•Improve recovery time.

•Maintain muscles in paralyzed limbs

•Protect skin from pressure sores

•Gain greater control over bladder and bowel function.

•Promote muscle balance & coordination.

•Increase stamina and strength.

•Prevent atrophy

•Improve circulation: Cardiovascular and Pulmonary.

•Improve range of motion & joint flexibility.

•Promote digestion & colon health.

•Feel better and accomplish your daily activities."

http://flexiciser.com/

i think it's a pretty good one. like everything else i want, it's also very expensive.  why aren't i rich yet? check out this video to get a better look of what the marchine looks like and how it works.  i'm too lazy to look for a better video, but this one's short and gives you the idea.

blogger won't let me post this video for some reason, but if you're interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDXFp77juKQ

i still have more exciting stories and inventions to show from the expo.. just a few more.. next week (or whenever i feel like..)

3E Love

like my other posts this week, here's a random sci-related (mostly regarding pain) painting from 2006. 

more of the abilities expo! tim and i came across the 3E Love booth. we bought some apparel because we liked the symbol, and slapped on some sweet temporary tattoos. but we didn't even know what it was really all about or how it got started. of course i looked it up online when i got home.  here are our fake tattoos. we're romantic.

"3E Love is a disability awareness clothing line and marketing company founded in 2007 by siblings Annie and Stevie Hopkins and their family & friends. The mission of the company is simple; to create and market products and services that embrace living life no matter the obstacles, and by doing so, educate society and empower those with disabilities to love life."

"3E Love, LLC. and it's properties are the creation of the late Anne Hopkins (1984-2009), who as an advocate, entrepreneur, artist, and student, demonstrated what is possible when you love life. Anne's accomplishments in her academic, social, and family life were vast and will be remembered dearly, but her spirit and message can live on forever through the work she left for others to finish."

you can learn more about 3elove on their website http://www.3elove.com/, and i encourage you to read more about annie and the company, and also to buy lots of crap.  it's fantastic. when we got the fake tattoos, i kind of fell in love with the look of its simplicity on my skin and i am considering getting it permanently somewhere on my body.. i've been wanting to design a cooler "handicap" logo as a personal project but this is too perfect, and cuter than anything i would've come up with. although we didn't spend too much time at their booth, everyone, including founder stevie, seemed extremely nice and friendly. very cool company

handcycle

a 2007 sci-related drawing. to go with my sci-related post. close enough. i want a bike!

i really don't know much about these things, i don't know if there are different types or brands or anything at all....and seeing as there's little to no chance of me getting one any time soon, i don't really care.  what i do know is that i would kill for one right now.  last year's abilities expo was the first time i actually took a minute to check out a handcycle. although i was unwillingly forced to test one out, i ended up in love with it, and i've been wanting one ever since.  they are flat out fun to ride and a good source of some exercise. i've done the "arm bike" exercise crap that you put on a table top and just works your arms, but never a full bike that you ride and steer. i just keep picturing myself riding around the parks in hamilton on sunny breezy days. mmmm. and getting lots of obvious stares from moronic strangers, followed by me ramming them in the ankles and splitting their shins in two.... anyway! i didn't test drive one this year at the expo, but i did admire them from afar and long for them to be in my arms. the thing that bugs me the most is that if i were to get one, i would never be able to use it on my own terms.  i don't think i could physically take it out by myself, and i don't think i would even want to alone.. which means i'd have to rely on someone else to use it.. which means if they don't want to.. i'm screwed, and there goes a couple grand out the window, and a sad, sad kc. but that's besides the point. since my wheelchair is purple, i'd like my handcycle to be hot pink. i will be anxiously waiting for some sweet generous stranger to buy me one for my birthday in july. 

NuDrive

here is an old SCI related painting from 2006...just for the sake of showing art on an art blog.  but onto the more important part:

first and foremost.  both tim and i thought that this was the by far the coolest invention we saw at the abilities expo this weekend.  i will wait for one of my millions of generous readers to buy it for me now.  NuDrive. i tried it out at the expo show, holy crap. what a fun time. not only is it fun to use, it also "reduces the force needed to self-propell by up to 40%," "reduces the risk of shoulder degradation and injury by shifting shoulder loading," and what i didn't even realize till i checked it out online, it protects hands/wrists and improves hygiene.  i don't even want to know how dirty my hands are from pushing around all day and touching my wheels that touch the nastiest grounds (gross). it also is incredibly easy to attach and detach, to use, and seems easy to pick up on with enough practice. i want it. oh what a glorious day it would be to have a chair that's easier to push on stupid, annoying surfaces.  so check out the cheesetastic video below and see how this fantastic contraption works.

http://www.nu-drive.com/

rocko's modern art

the autumn society's summer shows begin in june!  this is my piece for the 90's show.  everything 90's: tv, movies, video games, music. so fun, i'm very excited to see everyone's 90's pieces.  this has just made me want to do a loong series of nicktoon paintings

i went to the abilities expo this weekend, so the rest of this week's posts will be about all the insane and expensive inventions and contraptions that i am dying for... and will probably never have.


ps- thank you dad for the awesome title of my nicktoon painting

upcoming painting

upcoming painting.  i did the sketch and colored it in photoshop (please don't make fun of my horrible photoshop skills). but i plan on painting it similiar to that, on a big, big scale... hopefully. trying to do more with my one-eyed girls, aside from characters and just on random colorful backgrounds. this is just a baby step to bigger and better things.

quick and mini 1EG's

teeny tiny 1EG paintings. 1-2 inchers tall. tiniest ones to date.

more bigger 1EG exercises that i painted, trying not to think about what i'm painting and just paint. the 2nd one was a horrible fail but that's okay.  reminds me of the grinch. i painted them all outside in the hot sun on my deck, and it was amazing. despite the spiders. i've been waiting for the stupid rain and clouds to finally go away, so i can start doing my artsy stuff outside everyday. mmm fantastic

KAOTIC KRITTERS: dinker and punk!

dinker the opossum and punk the pink gator!! designs i had lying around forever and finally painted

1eg mini paintings

mini painting exercises. just mini paintings without thought or reason.

more on the way that i just haven't taken pictures of yet

sealife kritters...again!

corky the blowfish!  my favorite fish, by far, are pufferfish.  specifically porcupine puffers. i used to have a tank full of them, and other types of puffers. they were absolutely fantastic and had way too much personality for being a fish.  i was in heaven... until i got more fish, who came with fun diseases and killed my entire tank. i gave up after that. i miss them. this is my generic blowfish.  i'll make a porcupine puffer kaotic kritter in the future, maybe even all the types of puffers i had, in memory of my happier days with a tank full of friendly puffers.

and this little guy is squiggles the octopus. this is definitely a sketch in painting form. very, very quick and sloppy.  i had some piece of cardboard from a poptart box lying around that i had painted, probably about my sophomore year of college. don't ask me why i saved it for so about 4-5 years. i got the urge to paint on it last week... obviously without much thought or effort

friend 1EG's

i owed my friend a painting for about 2 years before i finished this.  (not COMPLETELY because i was lazy, it did take a long, long time to decide on what she wanted!) but she wanted me, her, and our other friend painted as 1EG'S.  i think it looks like us, mostly since we each have such different hairstyles that none of us look the same at all.

mr smiles!

HERE HE IS! mr. smiles. with close up of the rain because i love the way it looks. (click pics for larger view).  mr smiles is currently the biggest kaotic kritter to date, at 24"x36".  but i love working big so i'll be making lots of huge kritter paintings. 

mockery series: the lone lighthouse

so a few weeks.. or months (?) ago, i wanted to start a series of 1-night quick paintings to break myself from the commissioned art i am always doing.  something to just keep me grounded so i don't go insane doing all artwork for others, rather than myself.  i was in the bathroom one night and i zoned out on some cliche lighthouse painting my mom has hanging up.  my mom loves that crap. i kind of despise artwork of landscapes.. of fruit.. of flowers.. basically any boring cliche you can think of that everyone in the world has hanging in their boring houses .... no offense... so as my little exercise i am basically just copying existing "boring" paintings and making them creepy or discusting or whatever i feel like.  this was the first. unforunately i haven't  made any more yet, though i have lots of ideas. i was going to wait to post this one until i had more, but i have no idea when i'll make another one, and got impatient

sealife KRITTERS

jellers the jellyfish, soary the sting ray, happie the clownfish, and jam the starfish.  i was inspired to make some sealife kritters after a meeting with ovny last week. i didn't put as much time designing these as i usually do due to lack of time but i think they came out alright.  personally, soary is my favorite and i'm obsessed with him until i find a new one to be obsessed with.

happy mother's day!

i made this for my mom for mother's day. mama elephant and 3 trailing babies.  first baby is my oldest sister with the evil eye because she likes to terrorize people. second baby is huge-smile middle sister. and baby sleepy me, on wheels of course. i'm going to do this as a huge painting but i figured a small drawing would be better for my mom since i'm sure she doesn't need giant cartoon elephants to find a spot for.

we spent mother's day at the azalea fest, facepainting and selling artwork. it was freezing, super sleepy, looked like a trainwreck, super dehydrated, and didn't really get to socialize with.. anyone.  BUT it was fun, got to show lots of artwork, sold some prints, painted lots of attention-span-less kids, and painted a very special twenty-some year old's full face as a skeleton. the wind was unearthly but our stand held up well. we (aka my mom) finally i figured out the best way to set up and display work at our stand.  learn more and better ways every time.

1EG's of LOVE!

LOVE! here are the rest of the ink/watercolor 1EG's i promised last week. the first one is more confusing than i had planned, but i like it anyway

SUNDAY! come visit me on SUNDAY while i facepaint and sell cheap artwork at the azalea fest at sayen gardens. all day until 4. bring your mom for mother's day and buy her a pretty painting

KAOTIC KRITTERS!!

pandy the red panda, bottles the dolphin, and cornball the guinea pig have been sitting on my counter unfinished for months and months. so i finally finished them. here they are! next kaotic kritter to be finished should be mr. smiles, hopefully by next week if i have time.

i also spent some time rearranging and updating the KAOTIC KRITTER website! so go look at it and buy all the paintings for sale, now

http://kaotickritters.weebly.com/

forbidden ocean love: salty and humpster

salty the walrus and humpster the humpback whale. finally finished! so here they are, painted and adorable. humpster is pretty damn cute when you look at him upside down.. (or rightside up..) you should just turn your head and look at the pic above upside down. you'll get what i mean. if you do it. do it! he looks happier. i want to make a brand new humpster on his own, facing the right way, but i'd rather make brand new ones.

don't forget where these guys came from! the old dove statue i found. excited. and i hope lots of people looked as stupid as i did trying to turn their heads upside down to see humpster rightside up on their computer screens

ps- there's still time to enter for a free zombie 1EG here !

a few more salty humpster view here

CONTEST: free drawings

CONTEST! two free zombie drawings.
1. first one goes to the FIRST person to guess my favorite zombie movie! UPDATE: winner = andrew pfeffer with EVIL DEAD trilogy! i don't care who argues, that is totally a zombie movie.

2. second one: name the best horror movie! whoever i think names the best horror movie (any type of horror) wins 2nd drawing. don't be obvious! answer here, via facebook, or email. i'll give a few days to answer

you can guess/answer as many times as you want


RULES:
1. winner picks up artwork, or pay shipping.
2. if you want to play for fun but don't want the drawing, at the end of your entry, just say "this is the best drawing ever! but no thanks"

ZOMBIE contest tomorrow!

zombie!!! be here tomorrow at 11 AM on the dot for a new contest which may or may not be for some free zombies. one contest is for the fastest answer, and the other you'll have all day to answer. do it. it's fun. for me.