#abolishICE protest graphic

i literally whipped this up last night after a very long day of work and finished it this morning before i went to work. i wanted to have SOMETHING that i had created for this big immigration-themed protest tomorrow, though i’m now realizing i won’t have time to cut it as a stencil and make any posters. but i will try to print at least one out on my fancy new large format color printer and see what they look like, just so i can have one to carry.

this one above is the rectangular version, the original version. but then when i went to put it up on facebook as my profile pic, i realized it needed to be square so i stretched it out and made a low-res square version as well (below). i think it actually looks better as a square but for printing purposes i think the rectangle will probably work better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

if i can figure out how to upload a high res file to my website, i will offer it as a free download. stay tuned. feel free to snatch and/or share one of these versions for online use. i’d appreciate credit or a link back to this site or my fb or insta profiles, but it’s not absolutely necessary.

RESIST shirts + stickers!

my latest design is simple but bold. i actually started working on it BEFORE the election, fully thinking hillary clinton would be our president. but, well, now it has even more meaning. my friend julie recently (post-election) snapped a picture of a sign on a house on st. bernard ave that said: resistance must now become like breathing. i don’t know if this is a famous quote by someone that i should know (i googled it but found nothing), or just the wise words of a local person who felt the need to scrawl it out on a handwritten sign and tack it up on their house, but it’s the truth and it really resonates with me.

i made the above resist sticker for my patreon subscribers, but of course ran extra knowing folks would probably want these. well i’ve already sold out of that initial run of 200 and am half way through the second 200; i now have a run of 500 on the way. pretty sure this will be an ongoing effort. i mean, we’ve got four years of this fascist crap to resist, right?

you can buy them from me directly for $1 each. (they are up in my etsy shop but cost $2 each there due to paypal and etsy fees.) email me if you want stickers.

i also hand painted a screen and have printed t-shirts. for now, what i’m selling are black, 100% cotton, Next Level brand, soft lightweight t-shirts with white water-based ink. i have mens and women’s crew cuts in sizes small through 2XL. $20 per shirt. they are also up in my etsy shop but you can get them from me directly by emailing me.

now is not a time for complacency. or for silence. or for normalizing this incoming administration and president. now is the time for coming together, conspiring, organizing and mobilizing. we must actively #resist.

more stickers!

so the latest stickers i’ve made for my patreon $5+ supporters are in! they get some for free for their support of my art life, but you can get some too for just a few $$ by using the button below. (or if you are local to new orleans, contact me to arrange for an in-person sale.)

LESS INTERNET, MORE ART! is a slogan i’ve been using for years. i just randomly said it to myself one day when i was noticing how i get sucked into social media on my computer, so i made a stencil and used it to make signs on wood that i used to sell when i did the art markets around town. (one hangs in my bedroom still to this day.) i revisited the design recently when i was doing a brief facebook fast and decided it had to be my next sticker.

these are professionally printed by stickermule.com and are excellent for outdoor or indoor use. they measure 5″ x 2″ so they are a good display size, and the colors absolutely pop on these! mine is already on my car bumper!

use this handy paypal “buy now” button below to order yours now!

and don’t forget, the last night a brass band saved my life stickers are still available too!

Quantity



or if that doesn’t work for you, you can paypal me $ at: paypal.me/artbymags.

or you can squarecash me $ at: cash.me/$mags – (but if you use squarecash, make sure to send me your shipping address!)

new stickers for sale!

lastnightabrassbandsticker

one of the rewards i am offering my $5 and up patreon subscribers is stickers. so the first new sticker i have made is that of my “last night a brass band saved my life” design. it’s slightly different than the t-shirt design i ran on teespring last year but basically the same – the background is black with the lime green trumpet, and the trumpet is a bit more ornate than the one i used on the t-shirt design. but i am pleased with it and think it translates well to a sticker. (and yes, you can still order the t-shirts via my teespring storefront and i will run the campaign and promote it actively a little closer to french quarter fest and jazzfest.)

so my patreon subscribers will get a handful of these free this month. the rest of you however will have to chip in a little for one, so i can start raising the money for the next sticker i will make next month – my “less internet, more art!” design that i stenciled on a few signs years ago and then never did anything else with. what with my 2016 push to get back to my art and creativity, seems like that slogan is a logical one to put out there in the world and put in front of myself to remind me to focus and not get distracted.

this batch of stickers cost me $113 for 200 of them (via stickermule), roughly 57 cents each. so i am asking $1 a sticker if you get them from me in person, cash. if i have to mail them to you or you have to pay me via electronic means, they will be $2/each or 3 for $5 or 6 for $10, to cover the stamp, envelope, electronic payment fees, and/or tax.

these stickers are 3″ x 4″ so big enough to put on a car bumper but also small enough for scooters, bikes, computers, and other applications.

you can order them from me via this paypal button:


quantity of stickers



or if that doesn’t work for you, you can paypal me $ at: paypal.me/artbymags

or you can squarecash me $ at: cash.me/$mags

JUST MAKE SURE I HAVE YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS TO MAIL THEM TO YOU. sometimes folks don’t update their address via paypal and then i end up sending stuff to the wrong place. and squarecash doesn’t have your address on file so you have to send it to me. best to jot me a quick email at: mags@artbymags.com and tell me what you’ve ordered. thanks!

hello 2016.

i wrote this – spoke this, into my phone – while walking dogs this morning, across the timespan of 3 walks:
sometimes, when my mind is clear and wandering, i catch these glimpses. glimpses of another life. maybe it’s a parallel universe? maybe it’s the future?  it’s not a dream because i’m awake when it happens, though parts of it have been in dreams i’ve had over my lifetime. it’s like some window or door opens to another reality and i can see it so clearly. it’s this other life that i’m living where i’m firing on all cylinders, where my creativity is flowing, where i am vibrating on a higher level, where i’m making things and pursuing if not every, at least more, of the myriad ideas that bounce around in my head.
i am painting things. printing things. assembling things. i am making new stencils. i am doing murals. i am leaving my creations all around town for people to discover and take home if they want to. i am having pop up sales in random locations. i am having “shows” in nontraditional places, not in galleries. in bars, in coffee shops, at restaurants, at friends’ houses. i am hosting once a month parties/shows/salons at my own house, in the backyard.
i am writing all the time. writing blog posts, writing in journals, writing on paintings and furniture and walls. putting words together in ways that make sense and don’t make sense but regardless are out there and making other people think and feel and react.
i am playing music, other people’s music, djing… in my living room, for friends at my house and other places, bars, art openings, poetry readings. i am discovering new music that sets my spirit soaring and sharing mixes of this music with others. i am making podcasts about music and art and life and sharing those with the world.
i am taking pictures. with my phone, or with a nice camera. i am sharing photos on my instagram and my blog and in all the places i am sharing art. i am incorporating photos into my other art. i am publishing books of my photos to put on coffee tables and in libraries and to give to friends.
i am building an art empire. i am collaborating with other artists and writers and thinkers and djs and people who make music and art in all of its various forms. i am bringing them into my world and i am hanging out in and contributing to theirs.
i am outdoors breathing fresh air and soaking up sunshine, enjoying the beautiful place that i live in. i am exercising my body and feeling good. i am eating better but still enjoying the bounty of the city that i live in with all it’s amazing culinary delights. i don’t deny myself but i also am taking care of myself.
i am traveling to other places, some i’ve been to before but many i have not. i am endlessly inspired by my travels and do it as often as i can, to see art, to see people, to hear music, to be inspired. to learn. to grow.
i am vibrant and alive and enjoying the hell out of life and tapping into the energy of the universe and reflecting it back and spreading love and positivity and feeling good about it. feeling fulfilled and like i’m contributing to the betterment of the world. the world is a beautiful place full of love and light and i am so happy and grateful every day to be in it.
and through all of this, i am supported and loved and rewarded financially and taken care of. and sharing it all. because there is enough. there’s more than enough to go around for all of us. and i don’t worry about money because money is energy and i’ve learned how to tap into the energy of the universe.
yeah. for reals.
sometimes i catch glimpses of this life, this vision, and really feel it, taste it, hear it, see it.. like I am actually living it, like I could be living it. like i should be living it. like i can be living it. i’ve had some version of this vision my whole life. and many elements of this vision, this life, i have made happen.. on their own, one at a time. i’ve been a writer. i’ve been a dj. i’ve been an artist. i’ve been a crafter. i’ve produced events. but i’ve not managed to merge them all, or sustain them for long periods of time where i can really build upon what i’ve accomplished. these accomplishments have existed on their own and in their own space and time and then i’ve dropped them to pursue other things. i’ve been a serial unitasker.
maybe i have just been assembling all the pieces, all the skills, and waiting for the time to be right to pull them all together. maybe that time is now. these last few months, the vision, the glimpses, of this integrated creative life have been strong and recurring and have been pulling me in a direction of action and change. i’m tired of living a small little life where i don’t feel like i’m living up to my potential. i’m tired of feeling like everyone around me is a badass and somehow is clued into something i’m not, somehow has some kinda magic that i don’t in terms of making shit happen, realizing their dreams, helping other people, affecting change, making the world a better place and feeling fulfilled while doing it.
and the time is running out in my life to build all of this that i know i am capable of… while i am still young enough and physically and mentally sharp enough to do so. i’m not yet “old” but i’m no longer “young.”
is this my midlife crisis? maybe. i do feel at a crossroads. i’ve been feeling it for a while and have been wallowing in despair about what to do and how to do it. but i think the universe has been communicating with me in very clear ways over the past year, and the clouds have been lifting, the glimpses of this other life have been coming more into focus, little by little.
i don’t want to reach the end of my life, i don’t want to be on my deathbed, thinking about this other life, this parallel universe, this vision of the life i wanted to live, could have lived, should have lived, dreamed about in some way since i was a little girl and that was so close and within my grasp because i actually had all the skills i needed to make it happen… i don’t want to have that regret that i didn’t go for it, that i just didn’t take the chance, the risk, make the move, defy the inertia, and make it happen.
so the time is now. to take action. to start doing instead of just talking. to take risks. maybe even to fail. but at least to try. i have to at least try. and perhaps in trying, if not this particular vision of another life, but some other version that is not what i am living now, will make itself clear.
so here we go.
stay tuned.

and she’s back!

look what i did last weekend!!

10246479_10152063178192826_2825933892529879159_n

1499616_10152063179872826_6062239853093736043_n

1908001_10152064525117826_2130438851418899328_n

and the best part? i sold all three within a few hours of posting them up on facebook, twitter and/or instagram!

mind you, these were all half-finished projects staring me down in the shed for over a year. it didn’t take all that much to get them finished and ready for sale. but it is movement… out of the rut i’ve been in for the past little while. and so i am celebrating that hopefully i am getting my groove back.

all it took was 3 hours out at jazzfest last friday (thank you alice and jen for making that free ticket happen!), wandering around all the artists’ booths in congo, louisiana folk life, and contemporary areas, seeing all the amazing and beautiful artwork out there. and hearing some awesome music. and eating some yummy food. and hanging out with wonderful friends. and just celebrating and honoring my anniversary with new orleans – since it was jazzfest that basically convinced me that new orleans was the home i had always yearned for but never had before i stepped foot on its shifting, swampy soil. yep, my 24th anniversary with new orleans was this jazzfest (i really don’t count the years i was away due to katrina – my heart was still here) and well, it delivered quite a lovely anniversary present to me: i got a little creative spark back.

so stay tuned. hopefully lots more to come!