So that's why tonight is weird. I am writing this blog from my hotel room in Portland, Oregon, where I just had to discipline myself to leave my group of friends, run back to the hotel, punch out some blog shit while Andrew Zimmer eats poison blowfish-dick on TV, and then meander my way back to the party and butt into a mid-conversation by saying something like "I know, Brenda is a bitch! I can't believe she dyed her hair, she looks like a fucking french hyena!" So that's what I am doing now, except, in usual absent-minded fashion, I came all the way back to the hotel but forgot to grab the camera cord so this update will have NO PICTURES AND THAT FRUSTRATES ME. But i will make it up to you tomorrow.
Came straight up to Portland right after my UPPER PLAYGROUND TOY RELEASE on Saturday, and Portland has been amazing in the few days that we have been here (i'm here with Adam and Sean from Zerofriends). The weather is super san diego-ish, and having adam and sean helping me set up the art show, we are finding some time to actually enjoy the city. And by enjoy i mainly mean point at (and try to videotape) the many odd shapes of humans up here (myself included) while we try to find good food and drank, which we have successfully done I guess since i just noticed that all of my pictures ive taken so far are either of food or the decorations at the restaurants we are going to. no, my soul has not been taken over by old people, I just seriously havent been out of the studio in SO long I forgot how cool food and outside is.
My solo art show, "SELF PORTRAITS OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT I DREW ALL BY MYSELF PRETTY MUCH", which will be open thursday night (June 4) @ Upper Playground PDX, is coming together nicely. We have been making a minimal mess, gluing a massive transvestite and giant rainbow-spewing dick to the wall, painting tree-shadows, concocting a dvd/projector mount out of a dishwashing tray, tape and some fishing wire, and inhaling fumes left and right.
Aside from that, we have managed to crowbar in some culture. Saw "Drag Me To Hell" and pretty much instantly decided that it was the most fun i've had at a movie theater since i saw Star Wars when I was ONE. And last night we went and hung out with the homie EATCHO, a really dope illustrator from Fresno who lives in PDX now. We joined (annoyed) him while he was working on his BACK on a mural (with another dope artist, JASON GRAHAM ) on the CEILING of an old schoolbus that was CONVERTED INTO A GRILLED-CHEESE RESTAURANT. I'm not joking. The place is fresh. I'll try to get some pics of the spot before I leave.
Then today, went up to my friend Blaine Fontana's studio in North Portland and checked out some of his various inspirational projects he's working on. I keep thinking I am working hard, and then I go visit artists like Blaine, who is simultaneously designing furniture, bikes, cars, painting full time, horiticulturing the shit out of bonsai trees, and riding his dogs like panthers. It was really rad because I have looked up to Blaine and his work for a long time but because he is so far from my beautiful grasp I have never seen his studio. It was some well-needed inspiration before I finish setting up my show.
Then we all (Me, Sean, Adam, and Jason from Upper Playground) ate dinner 30 stories above all of portland and played real life "where's waldo" with binoculars, which is fun in portland because one out of 6 people has a horrible, easy to spot outfit like waldo's.
Tomorrow is Kamp Grizzly, Powell's books, hanging more art, hopefully destroying LESS, fixing my pants (the one pair I brought the fucking zipper broke and I feel like the weirdest pervert as I look down at my crotch about 30 times a minute to see if it failed again and i get caught every time),, maybe try to infiltrate the Nike Campus in Beaverton, and eat more food.
Oh yah, and I will upload a bunch of photos tomorrow, including some preview pics of the show to try to entice your soul to come down and support on Thursday, June 4th @7pm at Upper Playground PDX.
Seriously, please come say hi. I worked really hard on getting some new cool paintings done amongst my madness.
And before I go, just thought I'd share that Andrew Zimmer just inhaled live-maggot-filled cheese. And also, you know that obscure "Just One Of The Guys" reference i hinted at earlier? well, regarding this attempt to write a blog on the fly, looks like I "...just finished."
