Portland Zine Symposium

For those of you living in or near Portland, Oregon, come visit my table at:

The PORTLAND ZINE SYMPOSIUM
Portland State University
Smith Memorial Ballroom
August 23rd and 24th
Saturday 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday 10 am - 4 pm
***www.pdxzines.com***

There will be lots of zines, comics, and art. I'm trying to have a new book ready for then, also. I'm pretty excited to be part of this.

South Wedge

The South Wedge event was a lot of fun and many of the friends I invited stopped by to see me, which was the best part. I'm having trouble posting pictures here, but you can see some on my flickr page: http://flickr.com/photos/sprouthead/2597338873/it . It's a farmer's market, so not as many people were in the mood to shop for crafts, but I did get a good amount of sales and all is going towards my Moving to the West Coast Fund.

I am majorly excited about the move. I have to say, I have the best feelings about moving to Portland. I really feel that things are going to work out just fine, I'm not even that nervous about it (though anxiety comes in waves). I'm jumping into it, I don't have any job or apartment set up, but I'll try to work on those things as the time approaches nearer. Everytime I look on the internet at a cool artist or organization, it just happens to be situated in Portland, Oregon. And there's a ton of amazing comic book artists living there. That's the next step for me, working on comics again. I've been making a bunch of illustrated poem-books which I really enjoy doing, but I would like to create a more narrative work and some actual speech bubbles and things, you know the usual comic book stuff. I hope to be inspired by my travels and get settled in as soon as I can so I can sit down and work on my art.

Wish me luck,

Aijung

South Wedge Farmer's Market

Hi Everyone!

I'll be at the South Wedge Farmer's Market this Thursday, June 19th, from 4-8 pm. I'll be selling my crafts and wares: bookplates, poem-books, pins, mini letterpressed art, t-shirts for women, infants, and toddlers (including a few new designs) and a brand new poem-book/zine. The crafting gals who call themselves Second Storie (www.secondstorie.net) have organized a different artist to show at their booth every week, and this week it's me - so don't miss it! Visit my etsy shop if you want a preview: www.sprouthead.etsy.com

The South Wedge Farmer's Market is located at the corner of South Clinton and Alexander Street in Rochester’s South Wedge Neighborhood, right behind Boulder Coffee. See their website for more details: http://www.swfarmersmarket.org/ They sell organic and locally grown produce, as well as bread, pasta, ice cream, coffee, vegan desserts, and there's live music... plus, right now it's strawberry season. Support your local farms and bakeries!

Hope to see you there!

Aijung

P.S. Catch me now before I'm gone. I'm moving to Portland, Oregon in July!

100 Drawings

*I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but was having trouble with posting at the time.*

I just issued a challenge to my artist friends to make 100 drawings within one month. I sent it out to a lot of people (50 or so) and only heard back from a handful of them, so good luck to those who are taking it on. I'm excited about the challenge, and look forward to the things I will create. I'm tired of procrastinating and "saving up" all the good drawings for the future because I'm too afraid to do them! My friend Andy told me about the artist Kara Walker, and how when she feels stuck she does 100 drawings. The first bunch are really bad, but then comes the good stuff.

Since starting the challenge, I noticed that it's psychologically a lot easier to draw when I feel less pressured to make something good. If I do it in the spirit of fun and discovery, it is definitely a lot more fun and I find myself doing things I don't normally do for fear of it not turning out "good enough." I also realized that I need to do a lot more observational drawing. Here's the flickr group if you want to join the challenge and upload photos: http://flickr.com/groups/100drawings/. Here's the e-mail I sent out to everyone (and feel free to invite anyone you know to join the challenge):

Hello, I’m issuing a Challenge to all you artists out there: Make 100 drawings (or paintings, sculptures, collages, etc.). You have one month to do it. Pick a starting day and mark it on your calendar, and then go at it! Why? I issued the challenge to myself because I am a perfectionist and procrastinator, and I get so attached to the ideas in my head that I end up not creating anything. Or I feel the need to make a “masterpiece” and become so paralyzed that I avoid making anything at all for fear that it won’t be good.

This is a way to break free of that, to ignore the part inside of you that judges everything you do, to experiment with materials or techniques that you don’t ordinarily use, to work more quickly than usual, and to have fun making things again. There aren’t really any set rules, but I ask that if you pledge to take this challenge, please commit yourself to it so that it doesn’t become another one of those
ideas that ends up in the dustbin in your head. Do it in a way that is achieveable. I suggest starting out working small and using fairly inexpensive materials, onlybecause the expense and size factors could easily become an excuse not to do it. Also, don’t be afraid of ugly and/or “shitty” drawings. In fact, I encourage you to deliberately create a few ugly drawings just to get it out of the way and know that there still is life after ugly drawings. Rid your soul of all that scares you. Try doing things that you don’t ordinarily allow yourself to do – because they seemed too silly, stupid, or just not in your usual style. Liberate yourself!

Whether or not you finish exactly 100 drawings within a one-month span is unimportant if it leads to discovering something new about yourself and becoming inspired. And if you’re not a visual artist, do 100 other things. This is not a new idea, but it can only help you if you actually do it, and not just think about it!

Anyone up to the challenge? Please join me!!!

Buffalo Small Press Book Fair

I'm going to be selling my lil' books at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair! I'm excited about the event, as it's going to be full of poets, publishers, artists, zinesters, and all sorts of bookish people. I hope to have a chapbook of my poems ready for the event, though if I don't get it done in time I will have a poem "teaser" available and it will be for sale on my etsy shop eventually. I'm excited about the process of choosing a group of poems and illustrating them to create a harmonious work. I've made one-of-a-kind chapbooks for myself and my family, but this is the first time I'm making something for the public. Yay!

If you are near the Buffalo area, stop by the fair. It will be held on Saturday, March 22, from 12-6pm at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Porter Hall, 453 Porter Avenue in Buffalo, NY. Go here for directions to the Museum.

I {Heart} Handmade

I was happy to be a vendor at I {Heart} Handmade, a craft show run by the gals at Second Storie. That's me in the picture on the left, and my friends Pete and Marlene on the right (they are also members of Comix Club). Marlene designed the beautiful poster. They sold some plushies made of silk-screened recycled t-shirts - my favorite was the Recycling Bin - and Pete made awesome silkscreened posters.

The event took place on February 1st at Spot Coffee in Rochester, NY. There were 26 vendors selling handmade wares of jewelry, t-shirts, plushies, pottery, prints, letterpressed cards, and more. It definitely perked up a snowy, slushy February night. I made some special valentine "Love Tokens" for the occasion. Thanks to all who attended, and thanks to Second Storie for putting it all together. Thanks also to Karen, who made vegan gingerbread-chocolate cupcakes with orange-chocolate frosting for all of us. They were the best cupcakes I've ever tasted, and I'm not even a vegan. She was kind enough to share the recipe with me :)

Little Red

It's a bit out of season, but here's me as Little Red Riding Hood on Halloween of 2007. I got the dress at a thrift shop in Corning, NY and I made the cape myself!

New Website, Shop Items, and ArtMart

hello!

lots of exciting things going on. first off, say hello to my new website! thanks a million to shane keaney who redesigned it. i'm am very greatful to have such a talented friend. i've added a few new categories: Artists Books, Botany, and Illustration and Comics are now separate pages. There are a bunch of new DRAWINGS here. have fun looking around! and shoot me an e-mail if you feel like it: good_old_fashioned_smell@hotmail.com.

i've just listed a bunch of new goodies for purchase on my etsy shop: http://www.sprouthead.etsy.com/. pictured here clockwise from the top left are: "First Song" (an illustrated book), "Punk Love" linocut print, Paper Ornaments, and Shy Snowman notecard. i'm especially excited about my book "First Song." i plan to make many books in the near future, and i should have another one ready before christmas. i recently took a memoir class and one of my friends in Comix Club lent me "Invincible Summer" - it's the collected personal zines of Nicole Georges, a punky, vegan girl who writes about her life in Portland, Oregon. it got me really into the idea of zines, so expect to see some of those in the months to come.

all of the items mentioned above will also be on sale at the ArtMart event at Pink Elephant Projects Gallery at 64 Washington Ave in Brooklyn, NY. Click here for the PEP website.

Opening Sat Dec. 1 and Closing on Dec. 22nd.

There will be a holiday party/shopping event on December 15th from 4-6 pm.

i can't make it to the opening (i'll be in rochester), but i hope some of you brooklynites stop by to support the artists and get some holiday shopping done early!

well, i think that's it for now.

love,aijung

COMIX CLUB

We had the first meeting of the Comix Club on Monday! It was so cool to be around other people who are passionate about comics. We shared comic books we brought and passed around our portfolios and sketchbooks. I have a new favorite comic artist: Taiyo Matsumoto. I'm reading "No. 5" right now, and his drawing style and storytelling is really amazing. I love the slightly sketchy style and the way he lays out his panels, and how there are these birds and strange animals in the scenes. I've only read about 10 pages so far, but I'm already blown away. Our first "assignment" is to draw a one-page comic about "trees." i have my ideas and some thumbnail sketches, but I must get to work on actually drawing it!

As of last month, I've begun work on some poem-comics. I've written a bunch of poems in the last couple years that I have a lot of visual ideas for. This will be an ongoing project for me, but I hope to have a few mini books ready by Christmas.

Okay, must get to work already!