Above is one of the three paintings I've done. I'll upload high-quality photos once the others are fully finished.
I've also been drumming for Diomedes; and last night we recorded at Jack Straw Productions in Seattle. I'll put up some of the audio sometime next week.
In most Argentine cities there are many healthy, stray dogs. They know how to navigate streets and avoid traffic, and since they are socially accepted, they typically get scraps from homes and restaurants. They were the sweetest strays I've ever encountered, and were definitely healthier than many shelter-dogs in the US.
Bariloche is in the province of Patagonia, which is known for its abundance of paleontological sites. I visited a Paleontology Museum run by the incredible yet humble Rodolfo Corsolini (above right). I cannot do justice to his collection, skills, achievements, and personality in a simple blog post. I strongly recommend visiting his museum if you ever have the chance.
Barbara Fabregas is a woman I met in a market in Bariloche. She makes incredible jewelry by hand. Most of it from silver and beautiful local stones. She hand-braids silver strands for some details, and also makes the chains for each piece link-by-link.
Everything about being back home (for the first time in 10 years) was incredible. In a few months I might even go back.
Expect a return to electronics-related posts soon (I just finished vastly improving a crybaby wah). Side-Note: If you are into metal (sludge or doom, specifically) you NEED to check out Thou. They have over 4 hours of their music free on their site.
This is an amplified microphone-mask with volume and gain controls. I use it while drumming in a noise trio called Dos Honchos.
It contains 7 identical headphone speakers, two pots, a switch, an output jack, an IC and a battery clip; surprisingly without being cumbersome.
Screaming my face off while drumming has never been easier.
Be it for nostalgia or just for fun, I wear a patch vest pretty often. All of my patches are hand-made using one of my two methods. For the first method I take black canvas fabric, draw a general idea with whiteout pens, add detail with clear acrylic, and use black sharpie paint-pens to clean up any mistakes. Finally, I add a few coats of matte, clear acrylic spray paint. Method two is a little more detailed and better for the more complex patches (Nylithia, Dethklok, etc).
Method two involves Canvas Paper, Clear Matte Acrylic Spray, Ultra-Fine Micron Pens, Sharpie Paint Pens, Acrylic Paint, an inkjet printer, and other various tools. First, cut some canvas paper as long as you want, but only 8.5 inches wide (unless your printer can print wider). Then start a PSD, with a width of 8" and a length .5" less than the sheet. Add the logos you want to the PSD with proper spacing. Tell it to print at the bottom of the sheet; feeding thick canvas paper can cause issues, it's best to have more room for error at the start of the sheet. Also, be sure to print on the softer, absorbent side of the paper; the back is typically glossy. Let the printed sheet absorb/dry for 15min, then take it outside and apply a coat of clear acrylic spray. After this dries, you can start filling in the black details with your pens, and larger areas with paint. I use different balances of pen and paint for different patches. Let the paint dry, and then coat with a few more layers of clear acrylic spray.
Above is my favorite patch. The amazing artist Lara Hilgemann drew this for me (freehand in about 2 minutes).
Lately I've been playing around with a pirated copy of VirtualDJ and it is awesome! It's incredibly fun and surprisingly easy to use.
By the way, I will hold myself to posting at least once a month!
[click for larger]
[click for larger]
These are two monsters I sculpted as gifts for a couple friends. More info in the set.
Here are some incomplete projects:
