DOUBLE WIN !

uh oh.... could it be?! did somebody get another DOUBLE win for the second year in a row? i think so.....

check it out here !!

munny crazed

happy memorial day!  things haven't calmed down quite yet, but they should be soon and i'll get back on track with more art to show. this friday is the autumn society's awesome shell-shock (a ninja turtles art show & tribute) at brave new worlds. here's to hoping i finish my piece in time!

just for fun and so i don't get too comfortable with not updating:

i love the way all my customs look together. not the greatest photo or set up, but it still makes me giddy. i always enjoy seeing other artist's process shots, so below is a photo i took on one of my long customizing nights of working on 8 different figures at once. i'm aching to make more!

baby's first masterpiece

it saddens me to neglect you so, but i promise to get back on track real soon. i've been spending every waking moment moving my whole life into my adorable new apartment. i can't even express how nice it will be to have things the way i want and need them to be, accessibility-wise. the things as little as being able to easily grab paper towels (without accidentally pulling the entire roll off because i can't reach) or being able to use the "nice" dinnerware (that in my parents' house is stored in the upper cabinets) instead of the old crappy stash. ok, those are just a couple of the really little things that are a little less important than the flat surfaces, big shower, and low everything's (etc), but they are still what will give me a subtly, yet infinitely better quality of life. i am beyond relieved to put an end to struggling up that stupid, long ramp into my parents' house, especially after a long day at work. and by long day at work, i mean day i didn't get an unhealthy but wonderful overabundance of sleep.

i got a little crazy during my endless packing hours. it grosses me out to pack away dirty, dusty things, and i tried to put an end to my being a junk collector- so i cleaned and sorted everything i own. and this is what i found:

a special treat for you all! one of my very first drawings of all time. a hamster. age unknown. enjoy that.

paralyzed man stands up thanks to new therapy

hurry it up, people. time's a wastin!



read article here and view VIDEO here

(CBS News) NEW YORK - For the first time, a patient paralyzed from the waist down -- a 25-year-old man -- has been able to stand up on his own and take a few steps. CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports the credit goes to an experimental new treatment.
Rob Summers was a star college pitcher five years ago when a hit-and-run accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.


"When am I going to walk again?" Summers asked his doctors. Summers says his doctors told him, you'll never walk again, or take a step - nothing.
They were wrong. On Thursday, researchers working with theChristopher Reeve Foundationannounced that Summers is the world's first patient to stand using a new therapy that could fundamentally change the treatment of paralysis.
"I stood - independently - stood," Summers says. "After not having moved anything for four years ... and I stood."


The landmark findings are published in the journal Lancet. They challenge conventional thinking that signals from the brain are needed for walking.


What we've really discovered is the neurons in the spinal cord can do all the same things as the nerves in the brain," says lead study author Susan Harkema, of the University of Louisville.
Summers' injury disrupted the nerve pathway that normally triggers walking. Researchers implanted an electrical stimulator at the base of the spine that - along with special exercises - allowed his legs to move without input from the brain.
"I stand about an hour a day," Summers says. "I can move my toes ankles knees, hips all on command."
He's also made other meaningful progress - regaining bladder and sexual function. But he's still wheelchair-bound, and doctors cannot say whether he'll walk again on his own. But, every day, he remembers the first time he stood up.
"It's that moment that continues to give me the hope for tomorrow, and the future for this project - and helping out millions of other people in my same situation," Summer says.
He's only able to take steps with help, when the stimulating device is plugged-in in the lab. So it's nowhere near ready for widespread use.

THE 3B SHOW PREMIERE (Video by Steve Czarnecki / BTTF.com)

i've briefly mentioned my awkwardness before (...ok, more like every other post) but now you get to see it LIVE! i'm awkward enough in photos, do we really need live action?

THE 3B SHOW PREMIERE (Video by Steve Czarnecki / BTTF.com) from The Autumn Society on Vimeo.

i'm going against my better judgement by posting this, but here's a video from opening night at the 3B sShow at gallery 1988 venice in santa monica. it includes a super brief interview with gallery 1988's co-owner jenson karp, myself, and a few other artists. it's kind of a big deal for me to be posting this considering how painfully awkward i am. i was indescribably embarrassed to speak, let alone watch it now. not to mention, i was sick and lost my voice the day before. i obviously should have described my inspiration for my bttf piece in a bit more detail, considering how much there is to it... so instead, click here to read my post all about my bttf piece!

the opening was a blast. i was and am absolutely in love with a ton of the beetlejuice artwork. we were visited by not one, but two deloreans, and to my excitement, my coolness rank raised when i got in the driver's seat for a quick cheesy photo shoot. huge thanks to gallery 1988 and chogrin for having me in yet another amazing show.

.....unfortunately, my fun time was cut short when near the end of the night, i got sick and was forced to head back to the hotel for the beginning of a long (long), horrible (horrible) stomach virus. awesome.

photos of the show, from the opening, and more details about the night coming soon!

munnyworld megacontest

my 8 customs entered into the munnyworld megacontest! feel free to "like" them on the entries page.  i'm pretty sure you can find all of them on pages 2 & 8.  enjoy and "like" all the other customs you like as well!  and please excuse my horrible lack of photoshopping/editting skills in the collage above...

i'm relieved and excited for the month of april to be over.  i dedicated the majority of the month to customizing kidrobot's munnyworld figures. customizing has increasingly turned into one of my absolute favorite forms of art, so when i heard there was yet another contest, i immediately became eager to make as many customs as possible. i'm not going to lie, i am of course dying to win something, but i always have so many projects going on that i was just really excited to have a reason to prioritize customizing above all else. i also used this as an opportunity to show off my customs to a large audience, tons of people check out the contest entries page, so i made a bunch in hopes of many eyes viewing them, something i may not normally get. to my surprise, i got a lot of positive comments and emails which is really exciting because i can't tell you how obsessed and in love i am with every piece i make. it's kind of weird and unnatural.

check out full photos of my customs posted so far here!

so the munnyworld megacontest entry period is over, time to relax!  just kidding. tomorrow, i head across the country to california for the autumn society's amazing 3B show at gallery 1988 ! then, literally the moment i return home on sunday, it's time to pack up my entire life, and move into my very first apartment. i will absolutely be writing about that once i'm settled, only because it's a place built especially for people in wheelchairs.. which means lots of awkwardly low and flat everything's. ahh life as a wheelchair. whatever that means. but of course, all this craziness and business wouldn't be complete without waking up yesterday with a horrible sore throat that feels like i'm being torn to shreds with thousands of knives. thank you doctor for telling me i don't have strep, but even more thank you for having no idea what the problem is.

see you next week !

slinky

this is slinky the lemur!  i tried to challenge myself (just a tiny bit) by keeping the sculpting to a minimun and focus more on taking advantage of the given shape of the figure.  i love to add on and make things a little more unique, so i have a hard time staying too simple.. mostly just because i get excited and want to make them detailed as possible.  i used kidrobot's trikky DIY figure to make my lemur prisoner, with the only sculpted addition to the figure itself being his tail.  i thought it would be fun to turn him into a cute little prisoner, a not so innocent cute little prisoner.  i amused myself with the little shank in his back pocket.  

instead of writing in random numbers, i used numbers that actually meant something to me to give it a personal touch.  just a little subtle (...subtle for everyone who doesn't know me at least) detail to create a personal connection between myself and my little kritter.

very, very busy week followed by an even busier month. very exciting things for me and changes in my life. more details on that later. i'll do my best to keep you in the loopty loop!