I've been wanting to make a zine for awhile but didn't know how to go about it until I read online about a mini zine, basically a cleverly folded piece of paper. This video shows you how to fold the paper:

But what to put in it? I remembered back in high school how I'd photocopy images of paintings and pin the photocopies on my walls at home. Weird I know but I thought I'd do something similar for this zine, so I made some mini paintings and photocopied them. 

I'm also very proud of the image on the cover, it's from an old photo I found that belonged to my grandmother. :) I made 50 copies so if you'd like one please send me your name and address to my email staunch@staunchstudio.com.  This first volume is free because my folding skills were not up to par and also I learned some things along the way that will make my second volume better. 

Have you made any zines and what were your experiences?

So yeah, it's been several months since I've posted on this blog.  Blogging intimidates me, I mean what do I say? And why would I think anything I have to say is interesting to you all? But I need to get past that I suppose so here begins my 1000th attempt at regularly blogging. I'm setting a reasonable goal of one post a week to get back in the groove.  I've tried it before and it hasn't worked but I'm stubborn as hell so maybe it will work this time. :)

This post will be super easy on me and you-my submission to the Twitter Art Exhibit, which is being run by the amazing David Sandum. You can read more about the exhibit and the charity it's supporting in this blog post.  Lots of wonderful artists are participating and it was cool to have such awesome vibes surrounding this painting as I worked on it. 

I decided to call the painting "Instantly New".  I've become obsessed with sanding away everything on a painting right now. 

I had one of those life altering moments a few weeks ago.  Three words-The Red Shoes. 

This movie has been on my too-watch list for awhile, but I never got around to seeing it.  Well, I finally watched it and I was blown away.  In a nutshell the story revolves around the “love” triangle of the 3 main characters-Vicky the ballerina, Boris the ballet impresario, and Julian the music composer and eventually Vicky’s betrothed.  The story is also about the choice between the love for another person and the love for one’s art, in this case Vicky’s love for her dancing.   Eventually Vicky must choose.  I put love in quotation marks because this triangle isn’t about the obvious love you’re thinking of. Or is it?  And that’s part of the genius of this film-it’s like a dream world and you’re never quite sure where the characters stand in relation to each other.  And by the way, at least watch this film just for the Technicolor which is amazing and also adds to the otherworldly feeling.

My favorite scenes are the backstage/rehearsal scenes where the dancers practice, stagehands work on sets, and musicians tune their instruments.  I want to live in that backstage.  Of course I don’t believe for a second every backstage is as emotional as the one is this movie but still, I want to be in that nurturing, artistic environment.

Honestly, I can’t completely explain the effect The Red Shoes has on me, I just want to keep typing the words “it’s effing amazing” over and over, but I will say that this film makes me want to be the best artist I can be.  And probably all of the paintings I do in the future will be inspired in some way by The Red Shoes. Like the painting below, Torment, which is directly inspired by Vicky’s inner turmoil. 

Seriously, I recommend everyone whether you’re an artist or not to watch this film.  It’s that effing amazing.

Lapo Elkann, grandson of Gianni Agnelli, is quite the dandy.  I love Lapo because he's so unique and does his own thing.  But his outfits-I mean look at what he's wearing. Love him!

Seriously, who else could pull this off?  The second outfit really inspired the painting below, I love the fuchsia/raspberry pinks paired with dark blue and a touch of mint green.  Of course I had to name this painting after it's namesake, I'd love Lapo to see this. Hmmm.......

And the painting is available here :)