I still have been so VERY busy with life, things did NOT slow down at all after graduating! But I owe you guys a much over-due blog post, and there just so happens to be a nice giveaway going on from one of my favorite dread-makers that involves just that. So here is my full review of the glorious Imp and Petal dreads <3 

Please go follow her work here: www.facebook.com/ImpandPetal
Purchase some of her goods here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/impandpetal
and Her tumblr here: http://impandpetal.tumblr.com/
AND she is having a giveaway right now that ends on February 1st, enter it here:  https://www.facebook.com/ImpAndPetal/app_228910107186452

Now.. on to the review part!

I have a few sets of my own Imp and Petal dreads but my most absolute favorite are the Super Wonk naturals she made for me. I told her "make them look like they could be my REAL dreads". She did all that AND MORE. They are so incredibly fabulous and make me feel like a beautiful goddess of awesome! She blended a number of shades of black, off-black, and dark browns to match my natural hair color, and accented them with pink colors (pink being my favorite hair color). The texture is beyond amazing! They are bumpy and lumpy and wonky just like I wanted. I once had someone come up and say "WOW! How long have you been growing your dreads out for?!" and when I told them they were braided in synthetic extensions, they got quite upset/dissappointed and said "oh.. well they look real" (Our local hippies are just something special). This was exactly what I had wanted out of this set of dreads, to make people think I had real, gorgeous, long, and thick dreads. These dreads have only gotten better with time, and have toughened up each time I wear them. I wish I didn't have to take them out, but I have many other sets of dreads to wear so out they must go. 

I love my other Imp and Petal sets just as much, and have also had the pleasure of getting to see her working first-hand. She is a mad-genius scientist with her color blends and the way she can create color combinations I would never have dreamt up. Some of her best work comes from a simple photo inspiration and she makes it into hair magic. She can also work a bit of mad magic on my hair and we have done some crazy and wonderful things with my hair over the last couple years. Back to her dread work: her textures are so unique and I have yet to see textured/wrapped dreads like hers! They hold up so well to the wear and tear of use, and don't come unraveled at all. They are flexible and soft while remaining very tightly wrapped. She has a somewhat long wait list most of time, but she is quick to get the orders flying out the door (even while being a mom and wife)! And her work is well worth the wait to get some of her magic on your head!  Start saving up and get ahold of her today to purchase your very own Imp and Petal dreads, you won't regret it!! 

So much has changed in my life since my last post. The house we had been renting for awhile got sold, and we had to move. We found a new place rather quickly and didn't have much time to prepare for moving, but we made it. The new house is so much nicer than where we were living before and I have an official garage art studio now! I share this space with my wonderful lover who is also an artist. With the new house came a LOT of work, and I am finally getting caught up and all the way unpacked. I also have an entire room just for my dread work! This is so nice because I don't have to worry as much about my work hurting my kitties, or them hurting my work. On top of all the home chaos, I also got a new part-time job working at a frame shop and took on a few art event projects. I was chosen to coordinate an Open Studio Tour for my small valley that will bring the public into many of the local art studios and give those artists more exposure and interaction with the public. Open studios are fun but a lot of work, and especially when all those studios are spread out over a 20 mile radius. I am so happy to be so busy and active in the local art community and taking bigger steps towards becoming a successful local artist as well! I will try to post here more often about what I am working on both for my art and my dreads. Sorry I waited so long since the last one guys <3

Once again First Friday is upon me, and it is also my final art critique day. I have graduation in about a week, even though I have to come back for summer classes. I am excited and a little nervous about it all. This critique should be interesting as I have switched from my whimsical colorful paintings, back into the dark unsaturated world of charcoal. It is quite a messy world too. I had to make some changes to my studio space to accommodate my new processes. It feels so good to get back into creating work directly with my hands, though last night I nearly split open a finger because I have been shading with it too much. I have also put one of my charcoal drawings up in a group exhibition in the library (which my friend Rachel and I put together). We also hung a print show this week in the semi-private studios for our First Friday event, we even got our print professor to submit some artwork. I hope tonight has a bigger turn out than our last one (which was still quite the event). However things turn out, I am very much looking forward to getting all these things done, and being able to catch my breath again...

Did some recent spring cleaning and got my dread area cleaned up and looking quite nice! It feels much more open and organized this way. And my little plants in the window started growing! I love the springtime and all the light that pours in through my window. Getting a bookcase to organize all my hair onto was one of the best ideas, it is so nice to be able to see all my colors at a glance (makes restocking much easier). I used to just have all the packs slipped into tall skinny sorting baskets. So many pretty colors I forgot I had and I wish that I had more time to work on pre-made dreads, but I am thankful for the overload of custom orders I have right now! Making things and working from home is not always the easiest path to paying bills, and I am lucky that so far it is working out for me. Now I just gotta work on selling some more of my art too! (That's where the big bucks are at anyway ^.~)

Last night we had our first Open Studio event! We have semi-private studio spaces in the basement, that most people don't know exist.. So we decided to throw a First Friday event/show. All the students put up some of their art on our freshly painted wall in the newly cleaned up studio entry way. We had a good turn-out for not having planned or advertised too much. There was a small string band that played for awhile to keep everyone spirits high and their feet tapping. So much good food showed up to be snacked upon, and almost all of it got eaten! Can't wait to see how many people show up next month. It was really a great time to pull together an event and see all the people that come through to talk to us about our art and check out what we do in our windowless basement...

This is where I will start posting my progress photos for both dreads and art I am working on :) and hopefully expand that to include featured dread makers and sites I enjoy... maybe some articles too! What would you like to see?

What do you guys think of my new methods of exploring colors? I made myself a giant paint scraper from a bit of plexi-glass I had leftover from other artwork. I was inspired by the Gehrard Richter Painting documentary (it's on Netflix, go watch it!). I've got several others in process of this style. I will post when I can take pictures better than this ;)