Veg Head

whoa, this summer has been busy. i've been teaching 5 days a week for ArtVenture, an art summer camp for kids at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. I taught 4 weeks of screenprinting, and now i'm teaching a Paper Toys class. kids are fun, energetic, and keep you on your toes. they are also overwhelming. i've had to take many naps this past month.

still working on those veg paintings for Harrison St. Coffee Shop. it's been really hard to do almost anything outside of teaching, so i've really had to push myself to get the paintings done. 5 more to go by the end of august (that's less than a week, eep!)

And More Illos in Print

Some of my drawings are included in the fabulous "An Artful Agenda" planners and agenda books. Check out the shop. These are really wonderful planners, full of illustrations on each page from 8 different artists. Stephanie McDonald, the proprietress and designer, is contributing 5% of all proceeds from sales towards art education in public schools. And the interior pages are printed on 100% recycled paper! Pictured above is the cover art by Kelly Bertram, and a couple of interior pages with my illustrations. The new August to August Planners just came out, but there are a whole range of products - a Lesson Planner, Universal Agenda (undated), and blank Diary. Get one for yourself and start organizing your life!

Zine Philosophy for Broken Pencil Magazine!

click on the image to get a larger view

i've been published! i just received my copy of Broken Pencil: The Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts in my mail yesterday. it has a happy pink cover with a robot on it.

Broken Pencil is a magazine based in Toronto, Canada. I met the editor, Lindsay Gibb, at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair in march, and i gave her a couple of my zines to review. In June she asked if i would like to write something for the "Zine Philosophy" section of the magazine - where zinesters write about why they make zines, their inspiration, and zine philosophy. i decided to make mine like how i would make a page in a zine - handwritten and illustrated. this was fun, and it is so exciting to have an illustration in print and circulating around Canada and the U.S. Doing this illo also re-inspired me to get back into zine-making. it's been a year since i made a zine! life just catches up with you, you know how it goes.

Okra Process

Here is the original drawing of the okra, done in pen and ink with a rapidograph pen (my favorite kind of pen!) I love how sculptural the okra looked, and the repetition and slight variation of its shapes. It was also such a fresh shade of green.

Veg!

I was commissioned to do some paintings for the walls of my favorite vegetarian cafe in Richmond, Harrison Street Coffee Shop. They have remodeled and are re-opening tomorrow! I only had 4 paintings to give them so far, but by the end of August I will have all 15 done. It is so fun to draw fruits and vegetables! it's rather relaxing. all the paintings were made using a gel transfer technique, where I drew the veg and then made photocopies of the drawings. Using gel medium, I transferred the photocopied image and then painted the back of the gels with acrylic paints. I mounted them onto wooden boards and painted additional decorations directly on the boards, and sealed them off with varnish. I like working in this technique because I can work on the drawing first and then color it in. I can also make multiples of the same drawing, but each is a little different because i paint them all by hand.

From top to bottom: Okra, Plums, Lemon. I got the okra and plums at my local farmer's market because they looked so attractive. i had never liked okra before because the first time i ate it, it was so slimy! but i battered it in flour, salt, nutritional yeast, and "chicken-style" seasoning and fried it up. it was delicious!

Opening Reception

Last week was busy. I finished a drawing commission for someone on Monday and sent it off to California. Started teaching a new bookbinding class on Tuesday, finished making prints for my art show on Wednesday, taught another class on Thursday, bought some shoes from the thrift store and hung the artwork. On Friday I finished up some little details for my show, then prepared some food and brought everything over for the opening reception. I had been so excited to wear a black and gold silk dress that I've had for a couple years but never worn in public. Like a scene from a bad dream, I changed into my dress at Chop Suey and realized that it was see-through. Not wanting to expose people to my underwear, I biked home and grabbed another dress to change into. So I was a little late to my reception. Friends and aquaintances came in and it was a very laid-back, pleasant night spent talking to friendly people. All in all, a great night - whew!

 

I made a vegan chocolate gingerbread cake with orange-chocolate frosting, guacamole and cashew dip. Two students from my bookbinding class (a mother and daughter) brought me a fruit and yogurt platter, forks, napkins, and a card! I was amazed at their generosity. In fact, the whole night reminded me how at home I feel in Richmond now. When I had an art show at Gallery 5 in December, I didn't have many friends to invite to the show. This time felt very different.

 

It's always interesting to hear which are people's favorites. The top three pieces were among my favorites and others pointed them out as well.

Wind Bridge - Art Show!

hey, i'm having an art show! it's this Friday at the gallery space in Chop Suey Books in Carytown. I have been hard at work in the printshop making monotype prints, and i've been having so much fun experimenting and seeing what happens. It's a bit last minute as usual, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. The show runs from June 11th - July 5th. For those of you near Richmond, I'm having an opening reception and I'm planning on making a chocolate cake and bringing some crafts to sell as well. But if you can't make it to the reception then it'll a good excuse to stop by the bookstore one lazy afternoon to browse books and see some art. For those of you who haven't visited Chop Suey Books before, it has a great selection of new and used books, and the cute little gallery space is located on the 2nd floor.

Wind Bridge: New Prints by Aijung Kim
Opening Reception: Friday, June 11th 6 - 8 pm
Chop Suey Books
2913 W. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23221
804-422-8066

Bookstore Hours: Mon - Thurs 10-6, Fri and Sat 10-8, Sun 12-6

ALSO: I still have space in my summer art classes for more students. As I mentioned in my last e-mail, I opened up another section of bookbinding which runs from June 24th - July 29th. You may view more detailed class descriptions and register online here or call the Visual Arts Center at (804) 353-0094. Remember, you must register one week before the class starts, and classes will run with at least 50% enrollment. I suggest you sign up with a friend!