Book feature!!

Photo via SONJALANDIS.COM

I am SO excited. Correction: I am BEYOND excited!!!! Awhile back, I was approached by a lovely lady from California who wanted to feature my art in her new book. My answer was OF COURSE! And we jumped right into piecing together the segment. And now the book has been released! I just ordered my copy and will give a full dish on the feature once I've read through it. I can't wait! 


Sonja Landis, the author and also artist behind The Painted Laugh (see previous blog post here), has such a witty sense of humor and the writing style reflects that perfectly! I mean, just look at the cover (to the left). Awesomeness. This is the description listed on the Amazon.com page: "A book about Real Life, Real Business, and Real Money. A book about Entrepreneurship in the New Economy. A book to inspire you to greatness, and make you laugh. A LOT! A book about Personal Development with a side of Creativity, Awesome-sauce... ("I put that sh*t on everything!"), delivered Stand-Up-Comedy-Style.... Caution: I cuss. In my book. Often. I also encourage drinking and provide several amazing Sangria recipes. How's THAT for a Business Book YOU want to read!?!?" Yup, I love it. 


The book is also available as an e-book for the tech-savvy and/or environmentally conscious types, and you can get all the dish on what the book is about and how to purchase it by checking out the book site here! Woohoo!!

LA, Hugo Boss, & Beaches

Oh what a week! The past eight days have been spent in the lovely state of California. Along with the states of exhaustion, excitement, anxiety, and enlightenment... among others.

My boyfriend and I went out to Los Angeles to attend the TAXI Music Road Rally, and I cannot even begin to express how fantastic it was! The people we met were wonderful, the teachers were incredibly personable and informative, and the experience was unforgettable! If you are a singer/songwriter/producer or anyone else interested in the music industry, look into TAXI and the Road Rally, I can't rave about them enough.

While out in LA, Justin and I were fortunate enough to spend time relaxing with my brother and his girlfriend, and they let us crash at their place which was only 15 minutes from the rally. A BIG money saver. They live near the ocean, and our first full day in Cali was met with sunshine and 80° weather - my definition of a perfect November day. We walked along the pier, watched dolphins, surfers, and seals. Then ate at a local diner, and watched the sun sink into the ocean.

We had such an incredible time out there, and can't wait to apply the things we've learned! I'm so excited to see how much changes before next year's rally, it's going to be great!

And onto some more exciting news! HUGO Create, the creative platform for HUGO Boss has published their interview of me! They had contacted me several weeks ago and I was beside myself with excitement. I mean, HUGO Boss. That's pretty awesome. You can check out the full interview here! Be sure to check out ALL the amazing artists they feature! I'm still kind of shocked to have been grouped among so much talent, but more so just excited!

HUGO Create is a global, creative challenge that allows people from multiple creative backgrounds to "compete." Actually, I would describe it as more of an outlet. It was originally started as a way to promote the HUGO man fragrance, but from what I've seen, it's become so much more! There are several competitions that are free to enter, and take place around the world. Check out their site for more information and for their current challenge!

Hope you all are enjoying November thus far! And if you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at my new website for JK Create!

Pimp My Ride

Photo by Piel de Metal

Have you ever looked at something and been blown away by how much time it must have taken? I'm a person who thinks of a project and knocks it out as quickly as possible. Too much time spent equals a bored Jessie and an unfinished project. Therefore, I admire anyone who devotes weeks, let alone months, of time on one project. Now, in this case, I'm not talking about a painting, or a dress, or a sculpture. Let's talk about something so complex that just thinking about doing this project makes my back hurt! Applying tiny beads to the surface of a VW Bug. Yup. What?! I know, I was baffled as well. 

The Wixaritari of Mexico are known for this kid of artwork (well, maybe not so much including the car). Traditionally, they create intricate patterns by placing individual beads into beeswax to cover the surface of bowls, plates, etc. This lovely little number, El Vochol, uses a more resilient resin and a whopping  2,277,000 beads. That's A LOT of beads! Two Wixaritari families spent seven months creating the peyote-trip inspired artwork, and it was worth every single bead.

El Vochol was commissioned by the Association of Friends of Museo of Arte Popular in Mexico City (whew! That's a mouthful!) as part of an effort to show off Mexico's traditional arts and artisans to the global community. "The project took on a greater message to the world: indigenous work is not to be forgotten, and in fact, celebrated." (Maria Gracia-Vasquez) Well, I'm going to jump out and say that this is definitely a success! 

The decked out VW Bug is starting on it's global tour this Fall, and will be swinging around to the Smithsonian next year! I'm inspired to grab some beeswax and seed beads to try out this art! But just so my impatient crafter doesn't get too restless, I think I'll start with a coaster. 

To read more about this fantastic artwork, check out the full article here, or check out the embedded YouTube video.