"Moon Crystal Power Make-up!" Moon Animate Make-Up 2

Here's the animation I did for the Sailor Moon Tribute "Moon Animate Make-up 2"!

The Girl at the Window

The Smile Within

Keep safe the smile within.

The CTN Roadtrip and a Spring Pop-up Shop at BOLD LA

Hey everyone!

I'm happy to report that lately, I've been showing my work on the town. Here are some highlights from my recent adventures.

The CTN Roadtrip in downtown Burbank

We arrived a couple hours before it opened to set up. It's cool seeing the street empty, knowing that it will soon be decorated with artwork and bustling with people.

It all begins with a tablecloth.

We have TWO tablecloths! We're fancy like that. We even have a sign with our names on it! Fancy fancy!

All set up! Day one was pretty windy, so occasionally I weighed down my prints with little mirrors I brought for decoration. Still, my business cards really liked to visit Jordan's side of the table.

On day 2, I set up differently. Shuffle, shufflle, shuffle. Keepin' it fresh.

Time for a super pose! (And there on the right are Jordan's needle felted creations!)

What's this? Victor bought sushi for us!!! (It was a long day and we were so hungry. Protein bars only fill you so much.)

This caterpillar roll looked amazing! Inside was sea eel. <3 My favorite.

Sushi party. So good!

The CTN Roadtrip was a fun time and a gave me a boost in confidence. <3 I wrote lots of ideas in my journal- ideas for table setups, artwork, marketing, etc. Talking with attendees was really nice, and of course, doing these things with friends makes a world of difference. So many positive vibes.

A Spring Pop-up Shop at BOLD LA

For this show, we needed to provide our own table and chairs, so the car was really packed! Our suitcases of art were in the trunk.

Maybe I'm weird, but I like to document (and marvel at) how I pack my suitcases and boxes. I try to be efficient. This time, I packed a lunch and TWO bottles of water, which were much needed!

At this show, I had a little side table for my jewelry. :)

Here we are at BOLD LA in downtown LA. (We put our white tablecloth on the window because the sun was INTENSE!) Feeling fine, feelin' fierce. 

 The Spring Pop-up Shop was a much smaller event than the CTN Roadtrip and the marketing was entirely up to the artists and vendors involved. (*cough cough* Next time, I'll advertise for it a little more.) I actually didn't sell a single thing, but that's ok. It was fun hanging out. I get the feeling that this sort of thing can be hit or miss. It all depends on who's there and what you're selling. :) We can only hope to unite people with art they'll love!

Here's an advertisement I made for the Spring Pop-up Shop. Magic crystals and mermaids!

Next up, I'd like to open an online shop. I'm currently researching and trying to decide what e commerce platform to use. There are so many! Etsy, Shopify, Society6, RedBubble, storenvy, Squarespace... Wish me luck! ^_^

By the way, if you're interested, you can check out Jordan's work over at MtMarten on Etsy and http://www.jordananimation.com/.

Fairy Painting

Umbrella

A little portrait of me and my love, Justin.

We share laughs, we share tears. We share thoughts, even fears. We're always discovering, learning, and growing. Let's grow together always, like two flowers side by side in a garden. We can share sunlight, rain, and bees. We can cuddle up against each other in the breeze.

"Birds" in a Nest

My mom requested a picture of me and my siblings in a bird's nest, because she says that when we call out to her -- "Ma! Ma! Ma!" -- we sound like little birdies.

Mermaid

I made a mermaid. She made a crab friend. :)

Beneath the Surface

Like the ocean, human hearts are deep and mysterious. This comic is a reflection on my first time at the ocean and overcoming shyness.

I made this comic for an exhibition at The Light Grey Art Lab called STACKS. It's based on an impactful moment in my life, from the year 2010, when I took part in a residency for comic artists at The Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida.

This project kept me busy during the Spring of 2014. So at long last, I present to you:

Merry Christmas

This is the Christmas card I made for my fellow middle school teachers.

Happy new year, everyone! By the way, I moved to Japan!

As of July 2014, I've been working with the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program (JET) as an assistant English language teacher in Sapporo, Japan. That is why I haven't updated this blog in quite a long time... Now that I'm getting my footing here, I hope to return to more regular art-making and blog-posting. Thank you for staying with me through my bout of inactivity. c: I'm really sorry about that!

Living in Japan has been a lifelong dream of mine. I've recently started a new blog to document some of my experiences during my one-year stay. So, if you're ready to explore the world of anime, manga, and all things cute in Salin-a-vision, then drop by sometime and see what I'm up to! ~Salina's Life in Japan~  EDIT: Oops! I wound up only posting to that blog once, so I deleted it. Here's the post though: It's about shodo, Japanese calligraphy.

As always, thank you for your support! I wish you happiness in 2015! Cheers! (Or as they say in Japan, "kanpai"!)

Shodo Class: Calendar

Today, I went to Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) class for the first time. It was a lucky day to go, because Sagara sensei had us make calendars!

Apparently there are a ton of different ways to write the months of the year and the four seasons. I was given these handouts, from which I could choose the kanji I liked best.

There are nine different ways to write each month. These sheets are read from right to left, so January begins on the right and spans three columns. Then, February begins in the fourth box from the right and so on.

January, February, and March

April, May, and June

July, August, and September

October, November, and December

I asked, "What do they mean? Do they evoke different images?" I didn't get a translation for each and every variation, but as you can see in the photos, I noted a few of them. Some of the kanji for the winter months meant "Spring," so I didn't choose those ones for my calendar. Sagara sensei said that those ones are better for people living on Honshu, the mainland, further south than us.

Here are the translations (as I understood them) for the kanji I chose:

January : first month
February : second month
March : chilly
April : field of mustard (canola flowers)なのはな
May : orange blossoms たちばな
June : wait wind (waiting for the wind)
July : star festival おれひめ?
August : south wind
September : a long night
October : a cold autumn lane
November : cold wind
December : the last month
On my calendar, I placed kanji for the seasons above the months. There are also many different ways to write the seasons. The kanji on the left sides of the photos below are very ancient. The kanji on the right sides are newer. I chose to use the most common kanji for the seasons, so that I can learn to recognize them. The most common kanji for each season is the one in each upper right corner.

Winter kanji

Spring kanji

Summer kanji

Fall kanji

After I chose my kanji and drew them, I picked out which papers I wanted to frame them in and set out my pattern.

Paper-pickin'

Glue stick time

All done!

This would be an easy project to do at home, for anyone interested. I used a simple brush pen for the calligraphy. The patterned paper is from Daiso, I believe (a Japanese dollar store). Daiso has a bunch of locations on the west coast in the US, too. So, that's all... Thanks for reading! c: