3.28.2008

I finally created something for Illustration Friday!

If you do not know what Illustration Friday is, go to their link here: . I've decided to try to keep up, as I've been slacking on personal illustration work lately.

The piece that I did, sketch really, was for the topic "Pet Peeves." It's not really my style or level of professionalism, but the topic came at a perfect time for me, and this pet peeve was really buggin! So, my sketch is very fauvist and crude looking. Enjoy.

N

3.25.2008

I quit Ross!

That's right. I've let go one of my many jobs. My body and mind and my family just can't take it any longer. I threw my back out, have suffered nosebleeds from anemia, am starting to get hives again, etc. etc. I am usually very healthy and strong, but am overworked and am exhausted. My body is finally giving me signs that it's time to let things go.

So there, one night to concentrate on my own personal time with my family and my art again.

Naomi

3.11.2008

I found my artist's bio.

Yes, one that I actually like. I will be working on Carlos' next.

N

Naomi Valdivia - www.beenznrice.com | www.myspace.com/beenznriceart
Naomi Valdivia is truly a Southern California artist, raised in Carson, CA, went to highschool in Hollywood at Fairfax Visual Arts Magnet, and college finishing with a BFA in Illustration from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. She currently is a Graphic Designer and freelance Illustrator in Camarillo, CA.

Her style is influenced by meshing cultures, as she is a living, breathing mesh of cultures herself-specifically half Filipino, a quarter Japanese, and a quarter Caucasian, and within those ethnicities, are countless mixtures. Her work is
mostly digital, mixing the clean vector quality of Illustrator with the many painterly possibilities of Photoshop.

She is the "Rice" factor of Beenznrice, of which her husband Carlos, who is Mexican American, is the "Beenz". She also mixes religious and Mexican themes in her work, most strongly Dia De Los Muertos themes and aesthetics. She likes the idea of mixing something that is beautiful with something that is seen as morbid-therefore creating its own haunting and thought provoking beauty.

doodles at work

Sometimes I don't do the most creative work in the world at the office, but that's when my imagination takes over. Some doodles I did the other day...

3.05.2008

Melatonin

I made the most amazing discovery (for myself). I am the kind of person who cannot sleep well at night because my mind does not shut off. I've learn to kind of hypnotize myself to ease it, but even then, I just start getting crazy visuals and way out of the box thoughts that way. I have not had a good nights sleep since...well I can't even remember when, though it was probably when I had a cold or flu and took Nyquil, but even then, I woke up feeling horrible.

Last night we went grocery shopping-REAL grocery shopping, which we haven't done in a while either. Anyway, we went to Trader Joe's and stopped in the Herbal Supplements section, which we hardly ever do because we haven't had the extra money to spend on supplements-besides Vitamins for the kids and myself. I had been extremely off my game the past week (which is why I was so anemic as well) and possibly overworked. My husband handed me a jar and said, "You could probably use this." I looked at it and it was Peppermint flavored Chewable Melatonin. If you are unfamiliar with what Melatonin is, you can read about it at wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural sleep aid, and is somewhat responsible for dreams and also keeping depression in check-which is a plus because I am biologically prone to depression. The body produces this naturally, but many factors can cause a body to lose melatonin. In studies it has been shown that a lack of melatonin is a higher risk of getting cancer-as it is a body's natural antioxidant. So, yeah, I was pretty excited to try it out-and I generally don't take a lot of pills or supplements because I don't like adding unnatural things to my body.

Well I took it around 9:30 last night, and I had set my alarm to go to the gym at 6:00 in the morning, which I generally do on Wednesday mornings. As I was laying down, I felt my body totally relax, I felt so comfortable, which I never do, and I had blamed my mattress for that. I could feel my eyes getting heavy and my eyelids shutting, and for once, my brain was not all over the place! I was thinking of nothing! It was amazing. That's the only thing I thought before I drifted off, was wow, so this is what this feels like. I had the BEST sleep I ever had. When my alarm clock went off at 6:00, I shut it off. I needed to finish sleeping like that even more than I needed to work out. No worries, I can work out tonight, and chances are, I won't feel too tired after work to do it either.

It really seemed to work for me, but be careful, especially if you don't have trouble sleeping, you probably won't need it in that case. Some people have really bad nightmares when they take this, and other people get really drowsy. I would suggest trying it on a Friday night, so if it affects you negatively, you will have Saturday to sleep in-unless you work Saturdays.