Compilations

Bryan Clifford and I have been working on some paintings to eventually have a showing. The process of working with another artist on the same canvas is really amazing. I can get worn out on a painting and hand it over to him to work on for a while. As he could do the same. This painting here was a finished piece by Bryan at one time. He gave it to me to work on, which I completed. I gave it back, he added some oil over the acrylic and handed it back over to me. This past weekend I finished the painting (maybe), and am ready to do another.

Compilation with Bryan 01

There is another one in the works right now... It is far from finished. It's a 42" x 42" canvas that I worked on for a while before getting fed up with it. Bryan filled in all of the negative space, and got it ready for myself to delve back into. Hopefully soon we can set up a show to promote ourselves and Bittersweet Dream!

Portrait work

So here is the deal. Orion Oaks Elementary school contacted me and they would like for me to come back this year as I did last. There is this event they do every year to promote the arts for the children. Its a huge event where the kids and their families show up at the school and go room to room where there is a different artist in each. Well, last year I had a ton of work I did at CCS and it was a huge success. Coming up in mid April, I dont want to have the same exact work as the previous year becuase it will show I am a huge failure and am no longer an artist, (which I try not to see as true). I need to kick out a bunch of work, and one of the quickest things to do is portrait work. My goal is to do at least one portrait a week, (preferably 2-3) to prepare for this event. If anybody would like to contact me and give me a photo to draw I would appreciate it very much.

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Ms. Lauren "Rat Girl" Long

I am also looking to have a few new paintings that bryan and I are doing together to be shown as well. All of the work that I did out in Colorado was given away, and prior to that I wasn't doing much of anything worth showing a bunch of elementary children. So if anybody has any ideas or great pictures I should draw, please contact me... Thanks!

The last few months...

So I'm back in the beautiful area of Rochester Hills! After an amaizing trip through California, Colorado, Tennessee and North Carolina, I have returned home to continue on with my work and education.
Around a month and a half ago, my great friend Alex and I drove out from the midwest and ended up in San Fransisco to catch a STS9 show at the warfield for halloween. I got to explore the city for the first time in my life, and visit my cousin who I hadn't seen in over 5 years. Alex and I were sleeping in the Golden Gate Park, getting fed up by bee's and cities designed for disaster, so we ended up driving down to L.A. to meet up with Alex's friend Tobin Seymour. Tobin is a very talented film maker if you happened to check out the link! The only night we were there, we helped tobin do a light test for a style in which he was going to shoot his next music video in. (Just recently Tobin updated the actual video: The Willowz, Jubilee.) Traveling then on to San Diego we ran into another one of Alex's friends named Alexis. Alexis was quite the amaizing individual and she gave us housing for around 5 days or so. We had many adventures there including Full Moon drum circles all night long, and a celebrations for the Zapatistas on a local organic farm.
Leaving California Alex and I drove to Manitou Springs Colorado to meet up with a dear friend of mine, Heather. This was the place where my art inspiration came back to life, and Alex and I exploded with creativity. I personally give thanks to the beautiful landscape of Colorado and Heather for this long awaited creative flow...

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Compilation with Alex. (manitou springs) Color pencil

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After running very low on money, Alex and I decided to cruise up to Summit County and find work for a ski resort to keep us alive and snowboarding for a while. We ended up in Keystone Colorado working for the resorts Mountain Guest Services. We worked hard, partied hard, and rode hard for two months then bailed due to our poor health and frustration towards the resort town. Alex and I jumped in the car and headed back east to Asheville, North Carolina, (stopping briefly to visit great friends Allison, Huck, and their new beautiful baby Liem, in Knoxville Tennesee). We roamed every street in Ashville looking for a place to live for about 5 days and got fed up with nothing coming our way. We met some great people and fell in love with the place but it was far too cold to be homeless, so we continued on.

Now here I am, back home and as broke as I could possibly be. Alex went back to Wisconsin for the time being, placing our travels on hold. (This is about as short as I can cut the story.) I am now helping the wondrous Diane Heath teach an after school college course, working for my dad, and tutoring kids in the arts. All to get myself prepared to go back to school to study Art Education. Now that I am home, I will also continue to work on the Bittersweet Dream website, and try to get some progressive things going in this area. Rochester Hills is falling apart...