Be good and be safe,
Happy New Year

xo

I thank each and every one of you for putting up my nonsense and absence and disappearing for months on end this year. I thank you for finding even the slightest amusement in my work.
I wish you all the best at this time of year and that the upcoming year is full of good things and adventures for us all.

Cheers!

1)
I put a new layout up on the website. I also re-did the art images because the old look bugged me. Visit me now.
Serpenthes.com

2) I put up new artwork from earlier this year. I can’t believe 2008 is almost over. It’s been good to me.

3) I do believe it’s raining out. That probably means this ridiculous city is on tactical alert. Coats & umbrellas tomorrow!

current sounds: guests in the living room, D&G commerical on tv, rain outside
current beverage: bottled water. i lead the exciting life.

Every year I intend on putting together a bit of a holiday gift guide but then I forget until it’s too late. Perhaps I will do one for after the holiday? People still get money for Christmas, don’t they? That’s what I’ll tell myself anyway. So perhaps look for that in January.

I am still in the middle of a revamping of the website but it’s taking longer than expected. As usual, once I get started on a new look, I want to improve things like the art gallery and consolidate other pages and blah blah blah. The perfectionist & completest in me will not let things be.
Soon.

current sounds I’ve got Dean Martin in my head.
current beverage nothing yet but comtemplating either gingerbread coffee or hot cocoa.

In late October I made my way to New Orleans. The city and I fell in love and I hope to go back soon. Not soon enough, says I.
There are a few photos in the Flickr account if you are so inclined. I update that thing rather frequently now, as I just purchased a pro account for the next two years. So add me on there and stop being a stranger.

I hope everyone’s Halloween was as marvelous as mine. My very best comrades and I donned red contacts and fangs and corsets and capes and traipsed through the French Quarter fueled by bourbon and Dixie. It was divine.

It’s just about 1am and therefore my creative brain is just waking up. Back to work. More updates soon.

current sounds: nothing
current beverage: cafe au lait

As I probably mentioned before, I’ve had a secret project in the works for several months now. I finally got around to it and the result? A new Etsy shop with a totally different feel to it.
Angel City

Consider it a side project.
This is definitely not a new look or feel for Serpenthes, it’s just an addition to.
It’s unlikely it’ll ever be more than an Etsy shop. Everything is one of a kind and absolutely original, so once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Tell your friends and relatives.

current music: The Pogues - Hell’s Ditch
current beverage: Trader Joe’s Salvadorian peaberry coffee

I put a couple of new things up in the shoppe: a set of very limited edition note-cards and a couple of greeting cards featuring the dapper Monsieur Roach, who hasn’t been available in any print form until now.

Working on even more new stuff to put up at a later time.
Til then.

*please note that our home on etsy is serpentes with no h.

current music: none
current beverage: Adina iced Ethiopian coffee

I’ve been busy! Very soon I will have a mountain of new things for you to gawk at and give me your money for. New projects and whatnot.

Lately I’ve been a recluse and a bastard, staying in and watching films with my partners in crime instead of venturing out for too much alcohol and ignoring the smiles of strangers. I’m a little detached from things at the moment.

I just booked a flight for New Orleans in October. Of course now they are threatened by that fucker, Gustav. Hopefully they will avoid another major disaster. And not just for the sake of my vacation either. That city has always held a place in my black little heart.

I think since the last time we spoke, I’ve moved. My current dwelling is much more suitable for someone of my aesthetics. Still putting the place in order and making it my own, however. It’s been 2 months and the very last box was unpacked today. It’s been exhausting.

Back to things you care about (slightly) - A new project and etsy shop are on the horizon. I’ll keep you posted. I hope this finds you all well and sane.

current beverage: water
current music: nothing. the news on the tv

Normal, boring, real life things have interrupted my progress on things. I have a new project in mind… which I’m not sure I mentioned or not. But that will have to wait until late July… maybe even August depending on how bloody hot it gets this summer. I suspect we Angelenos are in for a scorcher.

For the time being I’ve kept myself busy doing tiny portraits for the upcoming Gilmore Family Tree which I’ve yet to put together. But it’s been great fun for me, regardless of whether I actually put it together or not. I do so love portraits.
I suppose I should scan some and share with you. Perhaps soon.

Lately I’ve been in awe of the internet. I mean, I try not to take it for granted. I went all through high school without being online. I didn’t do any of it until 1999 - when I was 19. I don’t know if that’s just when it became more pedestrian or what but that’s when I joined the crazy interwebs and life has been easier ever since.
My point is, there are tons of crazy and wonderful things on here.
For example. I recently became obsessed with watching live feed of lions in a Norwegian zoo. I watch it for a bit before going to bed, actually. There’s just something strangely peaceful about being halfway across the word and 10 hours behind and being able to watch something like that. It’s a surreal mix of nature and technology, I suppose.
watch for yourself

Tonight I’ve been looking up travel info. I plan to visit New Orleans for the first time this October. It’s both exciting and depressing to look up hotel prices. I believe I’ll be going by train. It feels pure. And cheaper, heh.

Til next time, darlings.

current sounds: Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
current beverage: H20

Hello dolls!
I come to you with yet another update. I’ve been gone from home for a few days and in those days my mind has been observing, storing, and plotting.

I have a very exciting new project in store for myself. It may take a while for me to gather materials for execution but it’ll happen. It’s something I’ve been mulling over in my head for several years now. I’m going back to my roots for a small side project that I’ll debut at some point this summer.

Now, on to other matters.
I’ve just put two new Moleskine notebooks up for sale that I penned this very afternoon. The muses have been working overtime. I’m in the process of another of a different variety so hopefully that’ll be up in a day or so.

samples:

And finally, for today’s Writer’s Block:
What type of music inspires you?

What a question.
These days I tend to stick to music that makes me dream in sepia. At the moment I’m pretty fond of dark country (16 Horsepower, The Ravonettes) and of the British flashback to 60s pop (Amy Winehouse, Duffy)… for the most part, that’s what’s on constant at the moment. Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, Rasputina, and the Rat Pack are a pretty surefire way to get my brain going too.
I’m also a huge fan of ridiculous, epic classical music. Though I will admit that sometimes it goes beyond inspiration and back down to the defeat in knowing I will never ever create something that beautiful.

And THAT is enough of my issues for today.

Have a good weekend, loves.

current beverage: water
current sounds: upstairs neighbor vacuuming.