The Birds

Here is a quick watercolor study I did from a still of The Birds. This is the scene where Tippi Hedren is attacked by birds in the upstairs bedroom. Hitchcock told her that mechanical birds would be used. Instead, ravens, crows, and gulls were flung at her for five days. Rubber bands were used to clamp their beaks shut. When Cary Grant visited the set, he told her, "I think you're the bravest lady I've ever met." After the shoot, she had nightmares of flapping wings.

Man:What are you doing for work today honey?

Tippi: I'm going to go to a studio set and have live birds flung at me while a fat man watches.

Man: Awesome.

purple balloon

Yesterday I saw a purple balloon floating in the bay. It looked like a sailboat, indecisively making its way in the water. It was the highlight of my day.

Full Spread

whales, dwarf antelopes,and new york city

I'm back. Where have I been? Mystery . . . mystery (said in the voice of a ghost in a haunted house). I'm a scorpio, so I was born mysterious, or maybe not. Here is what I have been up to:

new job, same company, very busy

frisbee, club nationals

holidays, wonderful holidays

wearing onesie pajamas

trip to NYC, visiting old friends, seeing rehearsals of my dad's play

For Christmas I got a new journal. My old one was falling apart, and I stopped working in it. My new one is purple, and ready for action. Here is the first entry from my trip to NYC.

they were once children

Isn't it entertaining looking through old family photos? Each decade has it's on distinctive style. Your mother goes from a toddler to a teenager. Your grandparents go from dead to alive. The photos become little windows into the past.
Have you ever wanted to enter an old family photo? If so, do tell.

girl

Claire's thought for the day:I am so glad I am a girl.

August 6th 2009

birds and procrastination

Smarty Pants: Run, run for it! Why aren't you running?
Procrastination: Oh, you wanted me to run now? I was going to do that later.
Smarty pants: Too late. Your dead.
Procrastination: What happened?!
Smarty pants: The zombie dinosaur ate you. I'm sorry, but you should have listened to me.
Procrastination: but...but... it is so hard to do stuff. I try, but then I get overwhelmed and don't know where to start, and then I don't do anything.
Smarty pants: Baby steps.
Procrastination: What about Bob right?
Smarty pants: totally
Procrastination: Yah, I watched that instead of doing my work the other day. It was awesome.
Smarty pants: Want to go watch it right now?
Procrastination: if it means all I have to do is sit on my ass, then YES!

cats and emotional attachments to cars

My old car named big mama, a 1992 Toyota previa, is no longer. She reliably took me on many a trip, acquiring over 200,000 miles traveled along the way. She drove strong to the very end. (I gave her up to acquire a newer, more fuel efficient car.) The other day I found myself petting the steering wheel, holding back tears as I told her how much I loved her. True story. My family had this car since I was a kid, and I inherited it in High School. The memories I had in that car were many and wonderful.
Cool Camp travels
dance parties
'tempted by the fruit of another' sing-along
Frisbee Tournaments
Family trips to school
So long my dear big mama. I love you.

old friends

This weekend will be filled with friends. I am going to have lunch with one of my oldest friends and go to a party for my friend the Goblin who is moving to DC. Come to think of it, they are both old friends.
The image above is a portrait of me and my friend. Just kidding. It is the creepy shining girls. 'Come play with us Danny, forever, and ever.'
They are not my friends. They may not come to my birthday party, and I will not play with them forever and ever...okay, maybe just one game.

Gnome Wedding

I attended a gnome wedding last weekend. They would not allow me to take any pictures since they are not supposed to exist. Lame. I had to content myself with drawing pictures of the ceremony. I accidentally stepped on, and killed, this snail shortly after drawing this picture. My bad.

a black eye and cute houses

A wise person once said, 'Women with black eyes are awesome.' I couldn't agree more wise person, couldn't agree more. So it just so happens I have a black eye...interesting, did not see that coming.
I wish I could take a stroll in the above drawing. Anyone have a magic spell that will turn me into a drawing so that I can enter into illustrations? If you do, let me know on the down low. C-Bear out.

Larry or...?

This is Larry...or is it? I have named him Larry, but I am not quite sure I like the name. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Perhaps Wilbert or George? Anyway, I am a little in love with him; although, I am conflicted. Can I really love someone named Larry? I just don't know.

stealing candy from a baby and loving every minute of it

My camping trip was filled with: a jesus-loving motorcycle gang, dear friends, a hungry mob of mosquitoes, a mud pit, kittens, lord voldemort, watermelons, and so much more. It was wonderful, WONDERFUL I tell you. Now I am back at work, looking outside, wishing I could move my desk across the street and into the sun. Anyone want to help?

Easter Sunday

Here is a drawing of my mother, grandmother, and some of my aunts and uncles, all dressed up for Easter. I love their outfits. It makes me want a completely vintage wardrobe. What's holding me back? Comfort. Glorious comfort. I like to be able to run and frolic at a moments notice, which means jeans and sneakers please.

June 5th-June 10th

I am going on a week-long camping trip tomorrow, so there will be no new entries until I get back.
What I am looking forward to:
trees
creek (if it is running)
birds
kittens
card games
sunsets
the night sky
shooting stars
storytelling
reading
frozen grapes
swimming

girl with a pail

i'm a girl with a pail
why are you sad?
i'm not sad
you look sad
no, i was just holding in a fart
oh...that smelled
...sorry

Daily Picture Diary May 28th-June 4th

Here is a day to day picture diary from my life from May 28th-June 4th. I am going to try to post my daily picture diary either in a compilation like this at the end of each week or post one a day.
Last night was magnificent. As I walked the almost deserted streets of San Francisco at 8pm I marveled at how exceptionally beautiful it was out and how sad it was that most people were indoors and missing it. Then my feet started to hurt from all the walking I was doing, and I just wanted to join everyone indoors and sit down.

Jump

Who is happy the weekend is here? oh me, I am, I am. I swung on some swings today which made me feel like a kid and reminded me that it is summer (both good things). Big shout out to my old college ultimate team, the Burning Skirts, who are the number one woman's college team in the nation. WOOOOOOOO AHHHHHHHH!

This post was a long time in coming. These were the other two paintings in my Rosemary's Baby series. You can see the other painting below.
This weekend I am going down to Santa Barbara to play in a tournament. I am super excited to see all my SB pals. My old college team is playing in Nationals this weekend. Go Skirties! Burning F***ing Skirts! Elie is a goblin (okay that has nothing to do with the skirts winning, but everything to do with Elie being a goblin)!

search for a dog

Mike and I have been thinking about getting a dog. Last Sunday we met a dog named Ivan who took hold of our hearts in his little paws and wouldn't let go. On Sunday night we were already coming up with possible names: Wally, Buster, Pip. Unfortunately, when we went back to the shelter a day later, he had been adopted half an hour before we got there. NOOOOOOO! Part of me thinks I should be relieved, and the selfish part of me that likes my responsible-free life is a little bit relieved, but another part of me wants Ivan to let go of my heart already. So long dear Ivan. May your new home be full of fire hydrants and dog treats.

balloons

I saw a clip from The Red Balloon today. That movie depressed me as a kid, but I watched it a lot because my brother always put it on. What a beautiful film.

I'm on a boat

A trip to the Cemetery

delicate creatures doing indelicate things... 2

I am quite happy it is Friday. I had a dream the other night that a lion was attacking me. I was not scared. For some reason I knew I would be alright, maybe I was aware it was a dream, and I was happy to see a lion up close. Last night I had a dream that every dog I came across charged at me and nipped at my hands. Now that scared me. I wonder what it means to dream of animals attacking you.

Boat, me in diapers, and text

Here is a recent spread from my journal. I wish I could see the sea made out of paper.

delicate creatures

did I just sleep with the devil?

My work is having an employee art show tonight and I deiced to make some new pieces. The past week I have been totally stressed out for various boring reasons and I wished that I could submit some older work. Instead, I forced myself to complete three new pieces. Here is the first in the series of finished paintings based on film stills from the film Rosemary's Baby. I am not a hundred percent happy with how my images turned out, but I am happy that I created some new work rather than depending on old standbys. I need a new work strategy. I think from now on I am going to tackle everything with the Rocky theme song playing in my head. If nothing else, it will make me laugh.

Story Illustrations

I have been working on a story on and off for a couple of years. It is finally almost done. I had started some illustrations for it, but I wasn't totally satisfied so I decided to make some new illustrations. The old drawings were all done in watercolor, but I am thinking of using more pen and ink and maybe markers (which I have not really used before). Let me know if you have any good marker recommendations. Here are some recent sketches.

More on Rosemary's Baby

This is another sketch from the Rosemary's Baby painting series.
Mia Farrow: I'm preggers.

Wedding 3/20/09

I am going to a wedding tomorrow. It is the first wedding I will attend where people who are around my age are getting married. It is events like these that remind me that I am now an adult.Don't worry, by Sunday I will think I am a kid again.

This is an old school journal page. The alligator drawing was on an envelope sent to me by my friend Teja. She dreams of alligators; I dream of whales.

March 11th 2009

Rosemary's Baby sketch

This is a quick sketch for a painting I am going to make based on a still from Rosemary's Baby.
Mia Farrow's inner monolouge: I'm confused...did I just sleep with the devil?
Me: Yes you did Mia. Devil child is on his way.

February 6th 2009

Years ago I came across James Kochalka's American Elf. He makes a small comic strip about his life every day. At the time I was having a uninspired relationship with my journal so I decided I would follow his example and create a small comic of my life to document at least one occurrence from each day of my life (another inspiration was John Porcellino). The comics are simple, and usually don't mean anything to an outside observer, but for me they are great. I can go back and remember a small slice of my life that would have otherwise been forgotten. I always draw them in pen, so even when my drawings are awful I have to live with them, which seems appropriate. My commitment goes in waves and sometimes I make one daily, other times I don't make a comic for months.
So my current goal is to start publishing at least one post a week. My future, more ambitious goal is to start posting my little comics every day of the work week. Wish me luck.

Tops of homes

In my freshman year of college I painted a picture of the top of my parent's house, which made me want to paint more pictures of the tops of houses. I never did. I started one other painting, and never finished it, even though I wanted to.
What is it about the tops of home that intrigues me? It is the mystery. That lone light in the window of a house at night. Who lives there and what do they do in that room, behind those walls?
I have finally decided to take baby steps. Here are two small drawings of Victorian homes in San Francisco. I have always had a fairy tale pining when gazing at Victorian homes. Awww...so Victoriany(yes i just made up a word).

Anne and Julia

This is my grandmother and my aunt Julia back in the day. My grandma is rocking a mumu. I miss her. When I was a child she liked to wear purple and Betty boop pins. She introduced me to my first cup of tea and we shared a love of watching mystery shows. She had spunk and vinegar and would only cook spaghetti.

Father and Brother

My aunt recently gave my family some old photos. I have been drawing pictures and painting watercolors based on these photos. Here is a picture of my dad holding my brother(who looks like one of those babies in Outside over There by Maurice Sendak). They are both so young.

More on Vertigo

Jimmy Stewart being a creeper

Pillow Talk Extras

The two images above are more from the film still series. These are both small watercolor paintings mounted on wood. Both show extras from the film Pillow Talk. I became fascinated with watching the brief moments where the extras were the main focus of a shot. Even though they are people, they really just act as background scenery for the larger story, yet they are people with their own lives and stories that may have been elated by their one moment on screen.

Underwater Seascapes

I have a desk job and with that comes looking at a computer screen all day and a nondescript gray desk. It also leaves me with itchy fingers and legs, which keep asking me in a frustrated tone 'why are you sitting inside all day? Move me please.'
To which I respond : Legs you have a valid point, but fingers, i move you all the time.
Fingers: Typing does not count!
Me:...Touché
To make my work space more inviting I have been adding drawings along the desks back splash. Drawings make my fingers happy, and give me a pleasant landscape to escape into. These drawings include underwater seascapes, which remind me of my boyfriend's hypnotic aquariums. Caution:Aquariums can be more addicting than television. My boyfriend's tank does not have a hammer head shark, but a girl can dream.

Christmas!

I love, love, love Christmas. I love Christmas songs (except for the awful Christmas shoes song). I love the lights, the decorations, the tree. This year my sister and I collaborated on some stockings featuring reindeer boy. Pictured are also some door knob decorations. Yes, I even decorate my door knob.

Vertigo

While I was working with film stills I created a small book entitled Beautiful Carlotta, Sad Carlotta. I took stills from the film Vertigo and created a short narrative with those images. I love Hitchcock films, but Vertigo doesn't really do it for me. Still, Kim Novak's introduction shot is a stunner.

The Shining

A friend of mine and I did a series of collaborative paintings based on movie stills a couple of years ago. After we were done, I could not get enough and started a series of work based on The Shining. This is a small watercolor from that series.

Japan

This drawing is based on a photo my brother took while traveling in Japan. The vibrant red umbrella caught my eye.

New Year

Faint Claire Faint

This entry is from 2006. It has some portraits of old friends. It also has a drawing of me fainting. When I awoke from fainting I had never felt so lost, thankfully that only lasted for a couple seconds.

Early College Years

These three journal entries are from a journal I made in my late teens, early twenties. This is one of the last entries in the journal.

Started this entry while lost in the Met. I was so hungry I could no longer enjoy the art.

This entry was my first after moving to NYC for the summer for an internship. Postcard image is by Mary Cassatt. I love her prints.
I was a little homesick, but was also enjoying getting to know NY.

more on childhood

I made this page over a year ago. More on childhood and family. As you can see there are some Peter rabbit drawings. Beatrix Potter was a pretty cool chick.

May

A couple months ago I got really into drawing these little villages as seen on the bottom of this page. Villages, hot air balloons and underwater seascapes.

speedy

Portrait of my first stuffed animal.
His name is speedy.
He looks like curious George in a track suit.

April 2008

Some friends of mine made a city out of cardboard. It was pretty awesome. The photocopied image is a picture of part of their city.

January 13th 2008

Click on this image to see it enlarged.
Most days I draw a little comic of something that occurred in my day. This took place on January 13th.

mom and brother

Each journal I make seems to follow certain themes. My most recent journal has focused a lot on family. i think this interest has been awakened by my moving back to my childhood city, and living in the home I grew up in again.
On the left is a picture of my mother as a young girl. On the right is a pencil drawing of my brother. In the corner is a baby picture of me.

This is me at 25. I swear I have not aged a day since I was 2. Same belly, diapers and sweet sweater.

boats and cherry blossums

I worked on this page in August 2007. I remember I was watching 'Rear Window' as I was drawing. Yay Hitchcock. Me want to watch some Hitchcock movies right now. I was inspired by some photos I found in an old National Geographic.

journal love

This is from my current journal, which is about to fall apart. This page was made in July 2007. The little bunny head was made by my talented, singing, friend, Livia.
The red drawing of a barn was based on an old watercolor made by my grandfather.