super-surpise

iheART NYC: BROOKLYN COMICS & GRAPHICS FESTIVAL , Saturday, December 5, 2009

Saturday December 5th 2009 11 AM - 7 PM
The first-annual Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival
presented by
Desert Island and PictureBox
at Our Lady of Consolation Church
184 Metropolitan Ave Williamsburg, Brooklyn
free

Featured SALE items and current going-ons

So, the SALE continues in our lil etsy shop.

Today's featured deals:


on SALE for the Holidays
original price:$20
now on SALE for: $10
One of a kind metallic purple Celestial Lotus silkscreen print on a gray woman's Medium(M)shirt 100% cotton
to view or to buy click here
Im a bit stunned this has not sold yet! Its perhaps one of the first ever Lucid Optic Lab screen prints we did. Its been floating around in our shop for sometime now, and has earned a barrage of hearts on etsy. but no bites yet! And I find this metallic purple very alluring. I do so hope this tee may find a good home soon!


Shiva the Destroyer-tie dye/screen print t-shirt
on SALE for the Holidays
Original price: $20
on SALE: $15
tie-dye stripe design in emerald green, ice blue, dash of lavender; w/ Shiva screen print in black on chest
men's medium
to view or to buy click here
This is another shirt that we have had for a long time. We have sold a few of its kin and it seems it its soon going to be the last of its kind. I wanted to highlight this piece as a wonderful example of handmade art with love. A LOT of love went into this folks...from the tie-dye process to the printing process, so if one were to wear this t-shirt they might catch a glimmer of love flowing through the craftsmanship of which it was made. Its a great unisex shirt boasting of spiritual forces and hippie reverie. Grab it before someone else does...while its on SALE too!


the infamous "Goddess in All of Us" screen print shirt
perhaps one of our best selling designs
and on SALE too!
Original price$20
Now on sale for $15
the Goddess in All of Us screen-print: in black on a blue green short sleeved shirt
women's size: Large
Bust: 42"
Original silkscreen art by Chelsea Rose
hand silk-screened/printed by the artist: made perfectly imperfect and one of a kind.
to view or to buy click here
This is one of the last original "Goddess in All of Us" screen print shirts. We have dismantled the original printing screen for this design, so this design is now numbered. Get your Goddess tee before there are none left! and grab it on Sale before the month is over and the deals turn into pumpkins.

---------------That concludes our featured SALE items for today.

Now id like to talk about my recent going ons.


Here is a picture of Sushi-cat and I doing a bit of early morning window gazing before anyone was up on Saturday. Its been getting more chilly with each week and I wonder when we will get the first snow fall. This weekend I managed to back up all my computer files which really sets my mind at ease. I have had two computers die on me and both times lost years worth of creation and photos. I have learned the hard way.
This weekend I didnt do any painting at all. Im frustrated with the paint I have. I normally use System 3, 3D paint( super thick and saturated) but I cant seem to find it in any of the local art stores. Thus I have been using some really crappy transparent winsor and newton student brand and its making it impossible to do any cover ups, which is currently needful.
So i drew instead:

Pen and Ink drawing.
I am sure this one will make my family a bit uncomfortable.
I was doodling on the couch while Danny and I watched a cartoon movie about Wonder Women's Amazon warrior princess origins. I think my mind was imagining some amazon warrior priestess, divinely endowed in an unusual way. Anyway...it was a fun doodle and I wanted to share it.
Trippy no?


I will be going on Tuesday to T.Ruth Art space to finally take down my paintings from my solo gallery show. My work was up for 2 months. Come Thursday Tiffany will have a new artist up there. I cant wait to go to the reception and see the new paintings all hung and meet the artist. Its going to be strange having my artwork back. I rather liked having some of my walls uncluttered by mass amounts of art...but it will be good to have them back. I ended up selling 6 smaller paintings during the time my art was up and I think im going to leave the rest of the smaller paintings with her so maybe she can sell them during the Holidays. It was an awesome opportunity and a wonderful/inspiring exercise and I feel blessed to have had it granted to me. Im not too sure if the whole gallery/art opening bizz is really my thing but I look forward to future opportunities and experiences to widen my artistic journey.

Thats it for now.
More later, I promise.

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
http://www.chelsearoseart.com/

"HOLIDAZE" a benefit concert for Toys for Tots & Fighting for Futures FRIDAY, December 4

I'm doing live art this FRIDAY for a great cause and supporting Fighting For Futures amazing project!! Come through!

Fighting for Futures, Natalie Crue, Sosa Management, and "Initiative Radio with Angela McKenzie" proudly present ::: "HOLIDAZE"
A benefit event for Toys for Toys and Fighting for Futures, Holidaze is slated to be one of the dopest shows of the year.

Hosted by: DA of Shinobi Ninja
On the ones & twos DJ IllyP, DJ Ready Cee, & DJ ErnieB

With guests performances by:
Jagermeister presents Ryan Vosler
Dres (Blacksheep)
Rugged N Raw /// The Illz /// Eric Sosa /// Dump Body /// Hasan Salaam /// YCtheCynic /// Warren Britt /// The Closers /// Terry Poison /// Bless Roxwell /// Miz Metro /// Spills vs. feleciacruz

You are guaranteed to get a healthy dose of dopeness, and all for a great cause.

*Live art displays by: Gigi Bio
*Cupcakes by: Jennykins
*Fashion show by: Dr Adventure (www.thenewfleshworkshop.com)
*Live Art by: Marthalicia Matarrita, Danielle Mastrion & Lichiban
*Photos by: Vr Photography, Boris, Ema Photography, NattyNight, musiclookslikethis.com & Kingtexas.

Celebrating the birthdays of feleciacruz, Stephany & VaryusWaise..

****Prizes, giveaways, & $4 shots all night long*****

Admission: $10 + a Toy for Brooklyn Tots
Guestlist $5 RSVP to crue1mediagroup@gmail.com w/ "Holidaze Guestlist" in the subject.
PLEASE BRING A NEW UNWRAPPED TOY WITH YOU TO THE EVENT, UNIFORMED MARINES WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE TO COLLECT THEM.

Media & press inquires may be emailed to amck83@hotmail.com
This event is 21+ with ID.

BUNNYLOVE ::: play it safe

Recently, I had a photo shoot project with my friend ARIAN CAMILLERI (also the man behind the camera who captured my image on the top right corner of this blog), and went on his site to revisit his work...to find this hilarious video!!Durex "Get It On", the ingenious project of the animation and video production company called SUPERFAD was inspired by three photographs that Arian had made a few years back featuring dogs, bears, and rabbits. Superfad has racked up a Gold CLIO 2009 award for Viral Marketing and a Silver CLIO award for Animation along with four AICP awards and a nomination for a D&AD Animation award. The original concept was developed by Fernando Lecca.

Durex "Get It On" from Arian Camilleri on Vimeo.

Read more about the project on Arian's blog.

NO HE DIDN'T! Star Wars x Marc Ecko

Whoever designed these was ingenious...I'm surprised designers haven't thought of this before.



Star Wars Clone Trooper Hoodie by Marc Ecko
$59.99

Star Wars Darth Vader Hoodie by Marc Ecko
$98.00

FREE DOWNLOAD ::: DAM-FUNK :: Toeachizown Vol. 5 :: SKY

For those who haven't gotten yet into LA's Ambassador of Boogie-Funk, here is a chance to get a taste of DAM FUNK's galactic soundscapes for FREE! This volume features some of my favorites from the album (yes to 'Sky Is Ours!'). Thanks to Fusicology for the exclusive feature.
For a limited time only
DOWNLOAD it HERE.

From Dam-Funk:
'Sky' is the final chapter of my 5-part presentation of Toeachizown. I chose to round out the set on a totally positive vibe & level of sound with these songs. Joints like “The Sky Is Ours” (MP3) I feel captures positive & uplifting vibes while still remaining based in the 'Funk' yet, with new types of chords & arrangements being experimented with + vocals throughout this particular song. I consider “The Sky Is Ours” to be one of my signature compositions in regards to sound, style, arrangement, drums, vocals, & keyboard playing. I'm very proud of this one. I'm glad that it was able to be released 'officially' on this project. I also hope U dig the rest of the joints contained on 'Sky'. With “Nu-Frontiers” I got to pull out my silver-sparkled Slingerland drum set and funk out for a bit, real tough for U. It, as with 99% of all my material, was 'recorded live' from beginning to end. “Spacecapades” is for the ultra critical headz whom hold the opinion that a lot of my stuff 'sounds the same'. Pleeaaaze! Just give “Spacecapades” a whirl, will ya'? 'New-Wave-Funk' vibes on that one, as well as on the joint “Fantasy”. Both made from the heart & without any irony attached, whatsoever. "Come On Outside" is a vocal joint that I hope U dig, which invites U to do just what it says: “Come On Outside & Won't U Funk Wit' Me”. It's long overdue y'all. And, I chose to close 'Sky' out with “Keep Lookin' 2 The Sky”, which I hope we ALL remember to do whenever we get low on this rock.
Always fam...remember to: “Keep Lookin' 2 The Sky”!
Peace & thank U for glidin' wit' me thru Toeachizown.
Sincerely yours;
- DâM-FunK / 2009
Sky is the last volume of Dam's Toeachizown Vol. 5. All five volumes of Toeachizown are now available in digital form, and a double CD. The 5LP box set's release date is to be announced.

SALE begins!

I just got done switching over our entire Lucid Optic Lab etsy SHOP into SALE mode.
A great majority of tie-dye and Screen Print clothes have been marked down 50%!
I am also selling all of my 5"x7" art prints for $5 each.
So, get inspired to buy HAND MADE this year for all your Holiday needs...you'll be effecting some major positivity in the world by doing so, instead of buying mass produced cheaply made stuff from mega corps.
Lucid Optic Lab will be running in Sale mode through December 31st. We will be releasing new SALE items every day so keep checking back to our shop for new listings.

Today's SALE highlights:


Last night I put this lovely tie-dye piece on SALE for only $8!
Purple Ice
long sleeve gypsy shirt
100% cotton
elastic and drawstring adjustable
size small
Bust: 38"
Hand tie-dyed with lots of love.
to view or to Buy click HERE

SALE! only $10
one of a kind
metallic blue and gold silkscreen print
lotus pattern
on a woman's extra small stretch fit (36/XS) white t-shirt
94% viscose, 6% spandex 100% comfy
to view or buy click HERE



SALE price $12
Behold screen-print: in raspberry and purple metallic speed ball fabric paint on green striped tube top stretch fit
Bust, waist and hips: 32"
Original silkscreen art by Chelsea Rose
hand silk-screened/printed by the artist: made perfectly imperfect and one of a kind.
to view or to buy click HERE

Take us up on these offers to buy our Hand made and One of a kind creations at astonishing prices!

Best wishes and Happy Holidays!
-Chelsea Rose
Lucid Optic Lab.etsy.com

The incredible world of SHUSEI NAGAOKA

"Conceive"

This man's artistic vision shaped so much of the visual imagination of the 70s and 80s. Born in 1936 in a mountain village in the vicinity of Nagasaki, SHUSEI NAGAOKA's family had to evacuate their home when the atomic bomb hit the city in 1945. He entered Tokyo Musashino Art University at the age of 19, but decided to quit three years later, as he was already operating a successful business as an illustrator. Nagaoka illustrated several iconic record covers ranging from Earth Wind & Fire to Deep Purple, Munich Machine, Calderon and several others as well as graced the covers of sci-fi books, movie & car ads. Huge inspiration! Check out his website

"Helios"
Earth Wind & Fire "All 'n All" (album cover)

Sun: “Destination Sun” (album cover), 1977

Munich Machine (album cover), 1977

INSPIRATION :: Earth Wind & Fire ::: dreams are real

Earth Wind & Fire has been such an inspiration for me on many levels. Their visual representation from their magic theater-style performances to their record cover illustrations by Shusei Nagaoka (peep my post on his work above) and videos reflected a bigger spiritual vision that they were manifesting through their music. What Maurice White says about creativity and spirituality is the way I see the two intertwined in my life as well, and I'm definitely feeling Larry Dunn (part 3) in preferring doing creative work to yachting. Their music and message are timeless.

check out part 2 & 3 as well

i'm feeling...DAM-FUNK ::: Could I Be Losing Another Lover?

oh boy, this is my new favorite

From the forthcoming 5XLP Box Set Edition of "TOEACHIZOWN": "Could I Be Losing Another Lover?" (NOT AVAILABLE ON THE CD)

i'm feeling...James Hick's for video 'Recursion'

James Hick’s etherial video for the Genghis Tron track ‘Recursion’. Simplicity works

More painting and Tie-Dye!

So, its been some time since I made my last post. I have been keepin busy working on my Harpy painting and doing more batches of tie-dye.

We posted 4 new tie-dye shirts in our shop

Check em out:



This one we call "Blueberry Bubble gum"

Hand tie-dyed with lots of love.

V neck, athletic fit Small

100% cotton

38" bust

To view more or to buy click Here





Leaf Light tie dye Long sleeve shirt!

women small(S)

100% cotton

dyed with procion mx turquoise and yellow

34" chest

( I really love the pattern on this one! and it should be cozy for the colder months ahead)

Click Here to see the shop listing.



I really like this one too:





Turquoise Vortex Tie Dye

women small (S)

100% cotton

3/4 sleeve V-neck shirt

dyed with procion mx turquoise and purple

40" chest

For more photos or to buy click Here



And lastly for our recent tie-dye news:





This one is called the Minty Zebra

extra large(XL) 100% cotton V-neck

T-shirt dyed with procion mx green and black

42" chest

Click Here to view or purchase.

...And a note for those of you who usually wear larger sized shirts....I know that when you glance at our tie-dye section in our shop it may seem that we only sell to twig people but its not true, I swear. In truth, most of the tiedye that fills an entire closet in our home is taken over by shirts like the one above. We even sell XX shirts but i have no way of modeling such sizes. Danny and I are trying to come up with a better way to display these shirts so bare with us on that score!

But have no fear...we have so much more tie-dye that needs to be listed in our shop so keep an eye out!



On a different score:

I have been working more on my Harpy Painting by doing a lot of reworking of environment and color.



This was the first layer of color I put down for the background. No color on the harpy yet.



Here I did the first layer of color on the harpy. Wasn't sure if I was pleased yet and intended on playing around with her color palette a bit.



Sorry about this one- its a bit washed out because i used flash when taking a picture of the canvas.

As you can see I changed a lot around here. I smogged out the buildings- they are now hardly recognizable especially after I made the branch more produced and curve around the piece.

Im really not sure if I like the new developments here. Im going to have to play around more before I know what I want to do.

In this one you can see I changed the Harpy's coloring to mainly green. I still am not pleased with this color choice...it doesn't pop enough from the background.

Over the weekend I ended up changing her wings into more of a bright blue which seemed to help her pop to the eye a lil easier. The branches seem to thick as they get higher on the left side so I have painted over most of those and I am reworking them. I will take a new picture when I get home before it turns into a completely different painting altogether.



Anyhow, all the leaves on the trees are almost gone but what does remain is still vivid agaisnt the dreary weather.



This is the window view from my kitchen. Thats a pear tree visible. This photo was taken last weekend in the morning as I was heatin up some tea before getting to work on my harpy painting. I find my best time to work is around 7:00am on the weekends.

Im getting ready to do a project for a friend who has taken the plunge and purged his city life to live in the wild woods of Oregon. He gave me a big canvas trench coat to paint up plus a bunch of lovely fabric paint. I figure im going start out by laying down a layer of white screenrpint paint which will hopefully give me a good prepped surface to work on. So I will be documenting the creative process on that too since it will be my first experiment with fabric painting.



So thats the skinny.

Wish me luck on my projects and keep watching for more tie-dye and a possible SALE come the 1st of November!



Best wishes,

-Chelsea Rose

AURAL VISIONS :: lichiban presents #3:: CHESCA :: taste the difference mixtape

I'm pleased to present # 3 of my AURAL VISIONS art & music collabo with my girl, CHESCA, one of the dopest women I know. Hailing from Italy, Chesca is keeping the female wing of the future boogie-funk scene alive in Londontown. If you love Dam-Funk, and the kind of vibrations his mixes and his productions carry, then you'll probably love Chesca's Taste The Difference mix featuring some rare boogie, electro funk & deep house gems. It's hard not to dance to this.

This is one sexy ass mix and I'm proud to get my design skills involved with it. (there is more where it came from...)

Check out some of the boogie-funk-Detroit tech inspired tracks she produced that I recently posted on my earlier post.
DOWNLOAD IT HERE FOR FREE!
[photo is detail of Ryan Michael Kerry's amazing photo]

GODDESS

# 2 of Stephane Sednaoui's videos

THE MAGIC ROOM ::: lichiban presents ::: EDOHEART

Eseohe Arhebamen aka EDOHEART
I love EDO. Urban priestess of heart & fire, though so-far has mostly been known through her dance performances, Edoheart is a visionary & a singer with one of the most powerfully heart-piercing voices. I am currently working with her and my friend Joel Mejia on a video for her new song "Sometimes (Lord Take Me Away)" as an art director. She is a definite artist to watch.
Check out one her beautiful and unsettlingly powerful BUTOH performances.
Eseohe Arhebamen performs Fire Butoh 2 at Grace Exhibition Space, NYC 2008.
Eseohe is calling this type of butoh performance, BUTOH-VOCAL THEATRE. The sound/music she has created and termed her "BUTOH-SINGING". This sound collaboration and production is with Toshio Kajiwara. Stage design by Eseohe Arhebamen. Lighting design by photographer Jene Youtt. Visuals: Mariette Papic+room 404 media + dinosaur fight of the zuvuya collective. Costume by Maggie Smith.
For more, visit http://edoheart.org.

FLASHBACK TO THE FUTURE::: Massive Attack ::: SLY

we will be nomads

Dungeon Dragons: LITTLE DRAGON Performs at Le Poisson Rouge, Saturday November 21, 2009

Little Dragon is back in NYC!! I got my good friend and ex-writer colleague at TRACE Magazine write up a guest feature this time.

By Devin “PAN” Barrett

Since releasing their self-titled debut album, Sweden’s soul-pop quartet LITTLE DRAGON has coursed through the veins of the indie music scene, keeping listeners’ collective blood pressure dangerously high. Hitting stride once again with their follow-up LP, Machine Dreams, Little Dragon returns stateside to the venue where they made their NYC debut a year ago. This Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village, find out what all of the buzz is about as Little Dragon takes the stage with their signature synth-infused electro fuzz. If lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s sweet serenade doesn’t give you goosebumps, you may need your pulse checked. Sharing the bill for the evening are Re:Redux (Didi and Aaron from Brazilian Girls), dance collective Crystal Fighters, and DJ Scribe of I Love Vinyl acclaim. Show starts at 11 pm.

For additional show and ticket info visit: http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/view/633

i'm showing at COUP D'ETAT Art Collective's :: "Live to Change Something Through Art" group art show

Come through this Saturday! Below are my BROOKLYN SUPERHEROES & some of my friends works shown at the exhibit.

Berman "Coup D'Etat BK " ::: Livingroom Johnston "Rooftop series"

Stephanie Land "Woman In Red"

Ibrahim Yaqut & Yang Chi (Artist Republic) ::: Amanda Diva " The Brighter Side"

Ana Bravo "Cruda"

Alice Mizrahi "Forgive" :: Jen One

(BROOKLYN, NY) November 12, 2009 – Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s Center for Arts and Culture, PUMA, and The Coup d’etat Arts Collective are honored to announce the opening of “Live to Change Something Through Art,” a mixed media exhibition of works created by 23 local artists. Please join the artists for the opening reception on Saturday, November 21, 2009, from 4 p.m.– 7 p.m. at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s Skylight Gallery, 1368 Fulton Street, 3^rd Floor, Brooklyn, New York.

“Live to Change Something Through Art” features work that is reflective of the current Brooklyn arts movement and underscores Coup d’etat’s thought-provoking brand principle, “Live to Change Something.” Highlighting a multicultural collective of artists across several disciplines, the exhibition encompasses painting, photography, sculpture, video and installation.

“The voices of Urban image makers have too often been dismissed as inarticulate and underexposed,” says Rasu Jilani, co-founder of Coup d’etat Brooklyn, and “Live to Change Something Through Art” Creative Director. “This exhibition was developed to help my fellow creators build positive awareness of their work while exposing our youth to the many vehicles of self-expression.”

Artists that were hand-selected to participate in “Live to Change Something Through Art” include: Molaundo Jones, Suhail Smith, Sam Wilson, Lichiban, Rob Fokused, Alice Mizrachi, Stephanie Land, Deka, SeeOne, One9, Alzo Slade, Ana Bravo, Berman Fenelus, Jen One, Reuben King, Amanda Diva, Nelson Rivas, Kwesi Abbensetts, Paul Deo, Robert Trujillo, Suncadm Bey, Ibrahim, and Yang-Chi.

About Coup d’etat Arts Collective: Coup d’etat Arts Collective is a Brooklyn-based collaboration of highly respected artists who produce various art-related events throughout New York City. The Collective's annual exhibition features a never-before-seen assembly of New York City’s most sought after visual artists. With music as the backdrop, the Coup d’etat Arts Collective provides a unique platform for creative synergy while filling an undeniable void in the arts community. For additional information on Coup d’etat Brooklyn please visit www.cdtbk.com

For nearly four decades, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation has served as a fertile ground for emerging and established artists throughout Central Brooklyn. Through its Center for Arts and Culture, Restoration continues to present, promote, and preserve the artistic legacy of artists from the African Diaspora.

FREE MUSIC :: JESSE BOYKINS III "AmorUS" -MELO-X remix

mmmm...here is a new piece from Jesse Boykins III The Beauty Created remixed series. This week, we have "AmorUS" remixed by the homie Melo-X.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE!

ANIMATION OF THE DAY : Principles of geometry + AntiVJ: a stereoscopic show

beautiful

Principles of geometry + AntiVJ: a stereoscopic show from AntiVJ on Vimeo.

AntiVJ has been working on a new format for French retro-futurist electronic producers Principles of Geometry. Using stereoscopy (technology used in IMAX cinemas to watch visuals with 3D glasses) they produced a 50min long real-time journey through space. An exciting experience and a real visual counterpart to the band's space/epic soundtrack.
Visual production: Simon Geilfus, Joanie Lemercier, Desaxismundi.

this vibration ::: BILAL ::: Level

::: a lesson in being free on stage :::
a new track from BILAL's new album, which is one of the three albums scheduled to drop soon that I'm really excited about...I heard it a few months ago, and it was great to hear recently that it got signed to Plug Research. With this new album , BILAL had a chance to show his extraordinary skills as a producer and singer with a vast range of talent in jazz, funk, psychedelic rock, R&B, rock, soul and probably 3 more fields of music. Genre-bending, free music. Expect the unexpected---

PHOTO OF THE DAY :: the lady who fell to earth

Tim Walker The Lady Who Fell To Earth for VOGUE Oct 09

i'm feeling....HARMONIC 313 : Battlestar

This album makes me feel like machines have soul...I imagine it could aid astral travel visualizations. There is a definite alarming, dark-vision-of-the future type of tone that dominates the album---it reflects an aspect of the spiritual atmosphere that is present these days and which many artists are tapping into.

Battlestar from sixty40 on Vimeo.

WARNING: A LOT OF FLASHING IMAGES
Check out the Warp Release page: warp.net/records/harmonic-313/battlestar-watch-the-video-release-out-15th-june

From the press release: "Harmonic 313 (aka Mark Pritchard aka Troubleman aka Reload aka 1/2 of Global Communications aka 1/2 of the The Jedi knights...) came to Sixty40 for his first ever film clip. Despite releasing seminal records since the 90's and being on Warp Records since 1994 and being the poster child for super-technical, superbly-crafted, bass heavy, crazy-ass electronica there'd never been anything to translate his floor-filling tracks on TV. Crazy. Sixty40 had to pioneer a variety of new techniques to take an entirely open brief into a eye-popping warning of extra-terrestrial doom."

Without trying to limit it, Warp artist,Harmonic 313's album When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence is where futuristic Detroit techno meets electro-funk, UK bass, dubstep & Dilla's hip-hop legacy (313 is a reference to Detroit area code). If you are into the kind of electronic music that Dilla, Cybotron, Kraftwerk, Waajeed, or Flying Lotus have put out, you'll probably get into this album. Find out more on Harmonic 313 When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence & on his myspace, and there is a great review of the album here.

Humble Beginnings + new tie dye and screen prints for sale!

I'm starting to believe that December is just around the corner. This morning the bus ride to work was frigid and its been raining almost every day since Halloween. I do finally feel like I live in Oregon, unlike last year where we got hardly any rain but then thrashed with a crazed snowstorm that Portland was seriously not prepared for. I'm interested to see what this winter will be like.
So, in homage to the chillyness of these days and the days to come Danny and I listed a new tie-dye that is perfect for keepin you or a loved one cozy with some psychedelic flair:

Psychedelic Thermal
Hand tie-dyed with lots of love in my favorite color harmony: Purple and Green!
extra large(XL)
100% cotton thermal dyed w/ procion mx dye
51" chest
To see more of this tie-dye or to buy go HERE

Also, we listed a new screen print that is a collaboration of screen print work of both mine and Dannys. check it out:

behold opticle (eye)llusions
8.5" x 11"
a mash-up of Chelsea Rose's Behold design, and Danny's optical (eye)llusion, and splatter design screen printed on watercolor paper.
very rare, one of a kind
to see more of it or to buy click HERE

And I wanted to show you what i started working on Wednesday night:

This is a snapshot of my work table in my lil home studio space.
You can see the humble beginnings of two new paintings.
I'm going to be trying to begin incorporating more detail into my pieces, namely adding some backgrounds to my subject. I felt the Harpy would be a perfect way to start since my original drawing featured her perched on a tree limb.
Here was the original pen and ink drawing:

I projected this pen and ink image onto a prepped 14x14 stretched canvas.
Once I had the harpy transferred where I wanted her I began to sketch with pencil to figure out where and how I wanted the branch to be rendered which she would perch upon. I then drew a few different background ideas involving a looming city scape in the background. Once I finally settled on a background sketch I took my India ink pen and went over the lines to produce what you see in the above photo. That was all done Wednesday night.
Last night I began to go into the Harpy's background with color. I will take a picture of my color additions tonight once I get home from work. I will then begin to lay the first layers of color into the Harpy herself.

....Now, the other painting you can hardly make out in the background of the picture above is another story. I started the background months ago with the idea that I would place this certain drawing I did of a warrior mermaid into it.
here is what the background painting turned out like:

My inspiration/idea for this piece was a sunken glowing city under the ocean being guarded/protected by her:

I hesitated for so long to try and put her into the piece because I liked the background as is. But Recently I decided that id give it a try.
I was a little befuddled as to how to transfer my mermaid onto into the sunken city piece. At first i tried it the way I normally do it- which is to project the pen and ink drawing on top the background and then trace it with my India ink pens...but that did not work because the background was too dark for my pen to make much of a guide. So I then decided to use the projector to guide me in blocking out the basic shape of my mermaid in white. That's pretty much as far as I have gotten so far. I did draw the beginnings of her face but that's it.
This is really more of an experiment, if anything. so wish me luck with this and if you have any advice or ideas I would love to hear them.

What i didn't realize till yesterday was that both of these have city scapes in the background. Ugh. Oh well...I do love city scapes...I see them as portraits of Babylon. I wonder at the chances of being born in the midst of such an intense time in the epicenter/mecca/vortex of so much. Its foreboding, frightening, strange, bizarre, horribly ugly and so oddly beautiful and i see all of that in these city scapes i draw- they are stark symbols of man's bloody triumphs, our unquenchable thirst for power, knowledge, our need to shape the world we inhabit. So yes....i do love my city scapes but perhaps for my next painting i will use something else as a background.

...So now you all know what I'm up to currently.
I'm going to try and be diligent and recording the creative process with both of these pieces so stay tuned if you are interested in seeing these paintings unfold with all the progress, struggle and learning of the creative journey.

I am truly looking forward to this weekend. I mean to work a bunch on the above paintings and get a bunch of laundry done too.

Danny's birthday is this coming Monday so I hope we can find some time/funds to do something special together.

Peace be with you all!

Enjoy your weekend journeying,
-Chelsea Rose
Lucid Optic Lab
www.chelsearoseart.com

Finished paintings and 50th sale on etsy!

First off, I would like to show some better photographs of my most recent finished paintings.

Posy Nymph
18" x 14"
original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose


Wind Spirit
14" x 14"
original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose

A big thanks to Danny for photographing my paintings and making them just right with his mad photo retoucher skills! I feel we make a great team.

Also, im excited to announce that we made our 50th sale on etsy last night!

Our 50th sale was one of Danny's newly released 5 color screen print posters:

Laughing Buddha
11" x 14"
hand printed silkscreen poster
by Danny Rodriguez
He only printed 11 and now that the first one sold we only have 10 left.
view the listing or buy it Here

That same person also bought a print of one of my Pen and Ink drawings:

Love they Self
5x7 print
of an original pen and ink drawing
by Chelsea Rose
view the listing or buy it Here

And now for a bit of a rant that comes right from the heart with many many thanks and blessings:

I have been ferociously battling with the truth that sitting in an office building everyday from 8-3 really does my creative spirit a grave injustice. But alas, its currently my means to pay bills and buy food. But still... when I get home I tend to wallow all too much. And now that its getting dark early I find my body trying to hibernate.
So the battle rages on: the temptation to lay my weary bones down and be a drone VS the need to be fruitful and true to self.
I think I am winning over the vile sloth tendencies and I am producing my art work. Its wonderful being partnered with another artist. Danny and I help each other with inspiration. But there are some really truly amazing outside influence that easily jump start our weary artist hands into frantic action. This outside influence is you! You, who ever you are who is reading this blog. You, who enjoy our work enough to support it by buying prints, tie-dye, paintings, screen prints from our little etsy shop. I cant communicate how much the support means to us and perhaps to the world for that matter. In this day and age where so much is mass produced by mega corps. and sold cut throat cheap I feel people who are willing to support hand made art and craft with their hard earned dollars are in truth heroes and freedom fighters. I know this world right now is not set up for small business and hand crafted, local artisan goods but I think there are a great many people out there who are seeking to turn the tides back and set us once again on the right track.

So, thanks again for the support!

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
Lucid Optic Lab