SO I know I do this on a way too regular basis. I fall of the radar and stop updating only to come back 6 months or a year later to post that I'm going to make a grand effort to display my current work (which admirably is more refined than some of my posted older work) but I get too busy and when I do have spare moments, I'm too tired (lazy) to post and it goes so long that when I do get freed up a bit, it just seems less important.

SO I'm trying to do it again. I'm on this organization kick—probably because I'm so busy lately and I need a way to juggle everything. I also realize exactly how important this blog as well as my other blog on Tumblr, and keeping my work and voice of there. I have started trying Things for the Mac as a suggestion from a friend and since I'm making to do lists so frequently, I'm trying to include my writing and my blogs as much a priority as everything else I do.

I state it again. Expect to see new work in the coming weeks. I'm committing a little more than last time with my lists. If I don't follow through, please hold me to it by emailing me an angry email or @mentioning me an angry tweet. Let's see if I can get back into the habit of updating this thing.

Also, I'm going to be doing some slight redesigning, so expect to see that soon as well.

Hi everyone who reads my blog. I realized that I'm pretty bad at updating this thing, especially when I'm working 13 hour days lately. So I'm going to try and put some of my new work (stuff from the last year or so) that I have failed to show off that probably should be show off pretty soon. Also, I need to figure learn CSS better so I can control the look of this blog a little better. I have some good ideas of how it should look but as of right now, the coding is a little foreign. If anyone knows a good resource let me know view facebook, twitter, or email. Thanks, and stay tuned!

This Thursday at The Art Institute of Houston is our Winter 2009 Portfolio Show, showing off graduates in our Graphic Design, Web Design & Interactive Media, Media Arts & Animation and Interior Design programs. It's should prove to be interesting. If you are in the area, you guys should drop by and see what the students have to offer. The only exposure I have to the students are my interns and neither of them are graduating, but they're good so therefore all our students should be good too (theoretically that works, right?). So come check it out. (Click image to see the info bigger).

Unrelated. I took a tour of our soon to be North campus yesterday and was quite amazed. The space is amazing. I was jealous. I want our main campus to look like that!! It wasn't completed but I'm good at imagining how things are going to turn out and it's going to look good. Now my boss and I have the daunting task of creating displays and artwork for this huge new space. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done!! O_o

So today was my birthday. I just want to say thank you for everyone who wished me a happy birthday this weekend and a special thanks to those friends who came out last night to give me a really great time. Also thanks to some people I don't really know that well that definitely made the evening interesting.

It's been a pretty good weekend, the main downside is a string of bad car luck that seemed to follow me around. Friday my sister and I were leaving her place on our way into the city for some lunch and museum action and she accidentally backed into me leaving a small dent, but nothing major, nothing insurance can't take care of. Also, yesterday on the way to IKEA with my mother to get my b-day present (an amazing bookcase that was just the perfect size), my mother hit a chuckhole and bent her rim and got a flat tire. No me gusta.

That aside, this weekend was great and I had a blast. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have more energy to blog about something real.

With the looming economic crisis at hand, it seems the music industry has been pushing through. It seems like everyone has put out a record in the first 3 months of 2009. The ones who haven't will probably soon put one out. I wanted to take some time to give you my picks for the top four albums so far of 2009.

1. It's a Blitz—Yeah Yeah Yeahs
This is an album I just hear for the first time a few days ago and I have to say I was mesmerized. I've been waiting for this album for the past 2 years and it did not disappoint. This was a bit of a softer side of the YYYs in comparison to Fever to Tell, but with it's mix of electronic beats, haunting melodic tones, and the siren song that this Karen O, this album will not disappoint.

2. Face Control—Handsome Furs
THis was originally going to be my number one and I went back and forth for a while on which would take the no. 1 position because I felt this album was another hauntingly beautiful mix of amazing vocals, awesome lyrics, and amazing electro beats just like YYYs. I've been listening to this album on repeat!!

3. Hospice—The Antlers
So I'm new to The Antlers, and I'm really glad I stumbled upon this album. It's got the right mix of hard and soft with haunting instrumental songs leading into harder lyrical masterpieces. Very nice.

4. The Hazards of Love—The Decemberists
I was so SHOCK to hear this album. I felt this album was a complete 180 from The Crane Wife and all other albums The Decemberists' albums before. It's hard rock tones and theatrical lyrics shocked me out of thinking The Decemberists were a folksy historic band. Still with they're amazing lyrics and historically references, it's obviously more of what you would expect but with a darker harsher side.

Obviously there have been many more amazing bands releasing great work this year. Some other notable albums: Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective, Tight Knit by Vetiver, Grr... by Bishop Allen, Hold Time by M. Ward, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone will soon release Vs. Children which I'm looking forward to greatly. I would have it already if I had gone to their show Monday but I was too tired. :(

Kid's Village is a new program that the City of Houston has started up to promote proper eating habits, exercise and general well-balanced living. The picture above is the logo I created for them. I'm not in love with it but I think it turned out pretty good and it's nice the do something for the City of Houston especially for a great program like this one. I hope this program proves to be a success.

Anyone who knows me isn't surprised at all that I'm blogging about Prada. What? A gay guy who likes fashion? Imagine that. Pretty much everything Prada makes clothing-wise is absolutely beautiful with their simple silhouettes and emphasis on details. Beyond that fact, they also have been very smart to align themselves with some very talented Graphic Designers that makes amazingly beautiful designs. I thought last year's lookbook was absolutely amazing, but I feel that this year's (combined with what I consider a more beautiful collection) blew last year's out of the water. I feel like this one really feels like Prada—classic and simple with small touches that make it SUPER unique. I was stunned...to this very moment I still keep going back into the file. Check it out here.

So one looooong night later, the painting is done. I'm calling it Conception, and while I still wish I had more time to clean it up, I still think it came out pretty well. It's very pop-art-ish. Hard painting to finish up. I realized in painting this that my skillz are getting rusty and that I need to paint more. I remember when half my design work had an element of painting in it but now I got too clean and Suisse grid and stuff. Oh well. I'll get back to my roots someday.

I just downloaded an app foe my phone that should allow me to blog if this works. If this works properly then I could blog anytime and would make accessing my blog much much easier.

The photo is a painting I'm working on right now. I'm waiting for this layer to dry.


UPDATE: The app works pretty good. The only thing I don't like is the photos default to medium or small size and I want them the be bigger...

So, I'm not sure how I exactly stumbled upon Chris Garneau, but I'm glad I did. I have practically fallen in love with him. His voice is amazing and so is his writings. I've been listening to his cover of Elliot Smith's Between the Bar for weeks now over and over again. I've been so mesmerized by him.

Below is a link to some live performances that prove to be quite amazing...I was very happy when I found this. Check it out fo' sho.

Chris Garneau:They Shoot Music—Don't They

P.S. This sounds a lot like the Australian indie gay magazine They Shoot Homos, Don't They?

Well, looking at my archive, I haven't posted in over a year. I've been through a lot this past year, and I don't really want to get into detail, but now I'm trying to refocus and start fresh free of the distractions that I had. I've been doing some pretty awesome things this year so far and I'm excited about the stuff coming up as well. I'm going to try and post at least several times a week and also open this blog up to be much more than just a place to display my work. I want to show off a variety of amazing design and culture related posts with maybe a sprinkling of my work here and there.

At this very moment I'm painting a painting for a charity event and watching the Royal Tenenbaums, which is one of my favorite movies. I love everything Wes Anderson does. I have to watch Indie/Foreign films when I'm painting to keep me in the right state of mind. I'm not sure what's next after this. Maybe something foreign? I was also thinking about The Virgin Suicides today. We'll see. I have a lot of things to do today.

oh btw, the picture is of me putting up a gallery installation made out of paper.

So…yea. I haven't posted in a really long time, but with good reason. As I noted in other entries, this year is the 30th Anniversary for my company, The Art Institute of Houston and as a result, I have been so busy it's not even funny. I can't post everything right now, but what I don't post in this entry, will be in the next.

Display concepted by me for the new Digital Filmmaking & Video Production program. The idea was to literally get into the program and watch yourself on the television screens via live feed from camera sitting right there. Kinda stolen from bad Sears and Best Buy displays, you know the ones I'm talking about. Background was painted back and lit poorly so that the soft glow of the tv screens would contrast the background the the background fades away. Sorta playing on people's vanity, because everyone loves/hates looking at themselves. Below: Eric and I really get into the display and test out the camera.

Hey guys,

Below is a proposed solution to the upcoming foto fest show that we're having at The Art Institute of Houston. Our theme is alteration, and tends to be a bit on the eerie or creepy side. I altered the type with a color palette similar to that of the picture, which by the way is by the Chair of Photography, Gary Miller. The event is in march, so mark your calendars. Even if the design doesn't stay the same, the event will. Hope to see you there!




John

I'm so excited about some of the stuff I'm involved in. Expect to see some of the following soon, yo: Digital Filmmaking & Video Production Display, invites to the 30th Anniversary for AiH, several new displays that will go up in the next week or so, volume 9 of the artlog, a graphic design mobile, new stuff all around for AiH.

Oh also, I'm helping but together an AIGA Houston get-together where John Bielenberg is going to speak, so expect to see the collateral for that, I'm not designing it—my friend Nuzi is, so expect to see what amazing stuff she comes up with, the concepts we talked about are great. The event is March 6, 2008, so this is a little advanced to even talk about it, but keep it in the back of your heads for when it draws closer.

I hope everyone has a good holiday over the next few weeks. Just because school is out for the students, doesn't mean it's out for me. Expect to see more posts soon.

Vive la 1970's.

John