What it's like.

So this blog is sometimes picture-heavy, sometimes has art lesson plans for kids, but sometimes is just a place where I tell you about my life and what it feels like.

I was talking to my mom tonight, and she asked me about my day - my first day of painting at a new mural job. She asked if I was scared. You know what? I was scared. I guess I always kind of am. Before and during the very first brushstrokes can be a terrifying time. 

My inner voice says:  "WAIT! DON'T!! YOU'RE MESSING UP SOMEONE'S WALL AND WHAT IF IT'S WEIRD OR YOU CAN'T PAINT GOOD TODAY AND THEY DON'T LIKE IT AND YOU HAVE TO RE-PAINT THEIR WALLLLLL!!"

I had just scribbled with brown paint all across their wall - sketching in everything and where it will go. And the voice starts in... "SCRIBBLES!!! PEOPLE ARE PAYING YOU MONEY FOR THIS...."

But I put in my headphones, pick up the brush, and soon I am lost in the "flow". Things start happening on the wall without my thinking about them consciously. My brain stops and my hands and eyes take over. I'm seeing things, but I hear no voice - no self-talk - no doubt. I think everyone experiences this "flow" for different things in their lives. My "thing" is painting, but other people might experience this when they run, or dance, or play tennis, or anything else that makes you just tune out everything else and focus on your "thing". Even if what you're tuning out, is yourself.

Bravery isn't about not being scared. It's about being scared and doing it anyway. Making that first brown scribble on a perfect, beige wall - knowing that now there's no going back. The self-doubt and the fear are not things I've gotten over. I think I'll always have that initial terrifying moment. But I always eventually find the "flow" and along with it, the trust in myself that "flow" will carry the project through. These scribbles will inevitably turn into something much cooler. It's ok to be scared, but try to be brave also, and do your best to trust yourself. 

Today the wall is brown. Tomorrow, I add greens! Stay tuned for a picture-heavy post. ;)

Mural Concept Sketches

Hi All, 

As promised, here are the sketches for my current mural project! This will be in a nursery for a baby boy. Hopefully the kid will still want it around once he gets older :) I'm suuuuper excited for this one. The subject matter is right up my alley - organic, colorful, atmospheric perspective, and overall....whimsical :) That's my favorite part - my clients wanted this forest to look like it was magical and special - someplace their son will be able to form stories about and help him to exercise his imagination. AND they want it more stylized and less hyper-realistic. This is SO ME. Can't wait to show you guys the progress... painting starts this week!

They chose the last sketch option shown here - the one with the stream added to the sunny forest. The only thing my clients wanted to add, was another animal in the bottom left. So it will have a cute fox peeking out of the grass. :) Excited!

My First Portland Mural!

Hi All, 

Well, I'm excited to say that I met with my first mural clients in Portland!! I'm sooo excited for this job. It marks a new chapter in my life :)

Should be a fun one. This is the inspiration photo. The mural will be for a lovely couple expecting a baby boy pretty soon, in their nursery :) They want a forest that's sort of in this style - not realistic, but also not overly childlike. Something their kid will (hopefully) not grow out of. Can't wait! Stay tuned for updates on this one. Yay!

Overall, I feel like I'm adjusting to Portland and my life here pretty well. I'm excited to be here!!! 

Thumbtack Profile!

Hey, Portland, I'm officially official! Looking for mural services? Hopefully I'll come up as one of the local service providers that you can get a quote from!

Talking Walls Murals

Thumbtack seems to be the new Yellow Pages. Love it. My family found catering for my cousin's Bat Mitzvah on Thumbtack.

Anyway, looks like I've got my first mural job here in Portland! Looking forward to meeting with the client this week :) I'll keep you updated.

Collaboration with my Cousin and Livin' the Dream

Hi All,

I've been working on a small 6" x 8" piece that will be a collaboration between me and my cousin Terry who lives in Chicago. He makes ceramic and glass art and asked me to paint a couple things that he could imprint on his glass. So, the background will be on the bottom layer of glass, and the lion will be on a layer above that. Should give it some depth and be cool looking. I'm excited to see the final piece! And I will definitely put that up here once I see it.

In other news, I'm feeling really happy. I finally have a "real job" where people pay me to do something I love to do everyday. And the job is reliably there, for the same amount of hours, and pay per hour, every week. (That part is HUGE). And everyone's really nice and I feel like I "click" well with my co-workers. I feel respected. And I get to exercise at a fancy athletic club because it shares a building with our school. I feel like.... I made it to somewhere that I really wanted to be. It took me a long time and a lot of soul-searching to come around to the place I'm in now. It has not been an easy, or obvious conclusion. But I have worked really, really hard for this, and I think I'm exactly where I need to be at this exact moment. 

Grateful. :)

Paintings for my Boyfriend

Hi All, 

I just thought I'd post a few paintings I did as gifts for my boyfriend over the last couple years, just for fun. He has all these very specific things he's into.... campy horror movies, old punk music, old black and white sci-fi movies, etc. I love him, but he's a weirdo. For various birthdays and christmases, I've made him a lot of stuff. Here's 3 paintings in his collection of Corie Hinton originals ha ha. Enjoy!

That Guy from "Evil Dead"

That robot from "Metropolis"

That couple from "The Cramps" band.

My Last School Mural.... (For Awhile)

Hello Readers! I am now writing you from Portland, Oregon! It's my 3rd day living in the city and so far, I am happy and excited about what's going on up here. I moved only 2 hours away (I was living in Eugene), so everything still feels like home...ish. It's still rainy Oregon, and I have been taking trips up to Portland since I was little, so there's a lot that's very familiar. I also have many friends in town, so once I start seeing everyone, I think this will start to feel even more like home. It's by far, the easiest move I've ever made. But it's also different in another way: it's permanent for the foreseeable future. I've moved to Laguna Beach and Oakland, CA., Philadelphia, PA., and 2 different rural villages in Madagascar. All of which, I moved to without knowing anyone, or much about the place at all. Those moves were some big adjustments, but they always had an end-date... they were temporary. 

Anyway, here I am in the city now, starting this new part of my life. I'm working half-time as a Graphic Designer for Portland Jewish Academy. So far, it's been great. I like the Marketing team that I'm working with - everyone else has been really nice, too. I'm getting to design fliers and things already, it's fun! In the rest of the time, I'm going to be working on getting my mural business going. I'm looking forward to that part a lot. But I did leave a pretty cool job back home. I will really miss being an Artist in Residence in the schools. I do hope to get on a Teaching Artist's roster here though, so that I can continue teaching kids. It's so much fun. Here was my last project with an after school program in Springfield. The school is called Two Rivers Dos Rios, and their mascot is the otter. Hence, the two rivers and otter imagery. Only snapped a couple of pics of this in progress, but I'll be posting more once I get shots of the final installed piece. The kids did great on this! It was a nice wrap-up to my time teaching in Eugene.