AKast

2011-01-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

While in NYC this weekend I went into a gallery in SOHO and discovered the work of Simon Birch (first 3 images) and fell in LOVE. Then a day later I was poking around the Internet and found Francoise Nielly (last 2 images) and felt like I was cheating on Simon. These amazing artists seem to have a similar styles due to their brush strokes/blocky technique and the portrait aspect but evoke such different emotions from me. Simon's paintings are mostly of women that seem to be in motion, frustrated, hiding and baring all. While Francoise's paintings focus directly on the facial expressions of both male and female and have such a bold, overwhelming presences....Damn I think I'm dating art.

I'd like to consider myself a "Geometric Minimalist"

2011-01-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

This poster was designed for a recent art show I hosted. All my work at the event had a geometric/minimal theme. There is truly something calming about art that is simple but let's your mind repetitively explore the negative/positive space and each time come up with a different outcome and reaction.

WHAT WE HIDE

2011-01-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

What is it that you hide? You know, those feelings or secrets that are camouflaged so well that no one would know they existed unless you told them. We normally hide the emotions that are the strongest or evoke the most pain out of us. And fear is usually the reason we mask our feelings. Fear of rejection, fear of commitment, fear of not being accepted...and the list goes on. This concept was my main inspiration for the poster series above. While hiding the words LOVE and HATE I wanted the design to be clean, straight forward, but actually have depth...just like the emotions we suppress.

MIXt | Not Your Average Art Show

2010-11-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

Come check out MIXt at the Somerville Armory November 20th and support the local arts. My art will be on display there along with many talented artists. I designed this flyer to have the same geometrical style as my posters and paintings that will be on display at the show. If you are looking to add to your collection of art, you will also be able to purchase all the artwork you see on display.

MIXt

2010-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

MIXt is an upcoming event at the Somerville Armory I'm hosting. Details are coming soon but I just wanted to share the logo.

2010-07-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was watching tv as I rode the bike at the gym and was instantly engaged in the program playing on ESPN - E60. It was about disturbing crimes happening in South Africa that I had never heard of called Corrective Rape. This is the flawed belief that if a straight man violently rapes a gay woman he can change her sexual orientation. I started to wonder, how is it that I have never heard of these horrific crimes before. Then I thought it must be a very rare type of crime. Sadly I was mistaken and learned that 10 new cases of "corrective rape" occur every week in Cape Town alone! While lesbians have become the target of these awful hate crimes, not one woman in general is safe from sexual assaults. The most shocking statistic is 1 in 2 women in South Africa will be raped in their lifetime. How can this be!? How!? It got me thinking of my younger sister and how if we lived in South Africa one of us would be raped at some point in our lives. I feel guilty and sad to know that we live in a world that these things happen every day and many people are not aware of them or to the extreme of their occurrences.

Now that I'd aware of these awful hate crimes I feel like it is my duty to spread the word. Please watch the following video (link below) and pass it on to as many people as you can. While one woman in Cape Town wears a jacket that reads "I'm Lesbian and Proud", many other women live in fear and have no voice.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH E60: Corrective Rape

Logo Design for The Haven

2010-05-26T08:52:00.001-07:00

Check out The Haven, Boston's newest bar/restaurant with a Scottish flavor, coming this June. The Haven is special to me because not only is my friend Jason the owner but I also designed the logo. Stop in soon and grab a pint, listen to live music and enjoy some Scottish food.

Irish Museum of Modern Art; Past, Present & Future

2010-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

This fall, while visiting Ireland, I made it a point to check out the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It wasn't an easy place to find and I had no expectations of the museum itself, but once we stumbled upon it I was pleasantly surprised. While in the US we are used to most modern art museums being fairly new in construction and sleek in appearance, this museum was built sometime in the 17th century and was home to retired soldiers. When you approach the museum it doesn't seem to be that impressive but once the front gates are opened you begin to realize how fantastic the building and grounds around it really are. The building is shaped in a large square with a gorgeous courtyard in the center. If you walk straight through the courtyard it will bring you to the grounds and gardens around the building, which are breathtaking and mysterious.

To be honest, I can't say that I am a huge fan of really obscure modern art, so it wasn't until I visited the garden that I was really moved. The contrast between the 17th century classical architecture/sculptures and the modern sculptures somehow made me feel a powerful connection to humanity. It may sound strange but I thought of all the soldiers that lived there before and all the people that will visit the museum in the future. What will the "modern" artwork to come look like? How will the forthcoming visitors perceive the art that I was viewing? All I knew was at that moment I was a part of history.

Imagine. Create. Release.

2010-01-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Last night I got the idea to create a triptych for the homepage of my portfolio website. I'm not sure if they are final yet but I wanted to share them. Now I just have to keep my nose to the grindstone and get this site launched.

Free magazine subscription to GD USA

2010-01-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

If you are a graphic designer I'm sure you have either heard of GD USA or have a subscription to it. I have been receiving this magazine free for almost 6 years now and wanted to share it with anyone who isn't familiar.

The current issue, 2009 American Graphic Design Award Winners, is my personal favorite and one I look forward to annually. It showcases the winners in about 16 categories such as Advertising, Packaging, Identity Design, etc. It's a large issue and a great coffee table book.

Link to current issue which displays the winners of the 2009 American Graphic Design Awards:

http://www.gdusa.com/issue_2009/12_dec/index.php

Link to form for a free subscription:

http://online.icnfull.com/kpi/?action=SUBSCRIPTION

When life gives you lemons....you start a blog?

2010-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

I took these photos this summer in Pasadena, CA and they are my inspiration to write my first post. It seems that when life gives me lemons I always turn to doing something creative to relieve some of the stress. I'm almost positive no one will read this blog but if nothing else I hope it will help me purge some negative engergy, get my creative juices flowing and share the emotions I feel when I create/design or find something interesting. My grandparents are a huge part of my life and my pap told me when I was very young to find something beautiful in the world everyday. So here is my attempt....