SubRosa Coffee Craft Faire!

I'm honored to be taking part in SubRosa Coffee's annual craft faire! I'll be selling my wares this saturday, December 8th from 10 am to 3 pm. alongside my dear friend Sophie Leininger, the mystical genie behind MAGIC CARPET YOGA MATS.

Please come down and spend some time with us in the Oakland sunshine (here's hopin'). And bring your dinero so you can put some lovely handmade things under the tree for your loved ones this year.
For more info on the event, please check out their f.book page  H E R E.

Art is a Gift

I have new works on display at Interface Gallery in the Temescal Alley of north Oakland for a show called Art is a Gift.

EmmyLou and Nina
 Ink and colored pencil on paper, 2012

The opening reception is Friday, December 7th from 6 - 9 pm.
In addition to the 2 original drawings I have contributed, I have a small edition of carbon copy prints of the tattooed gentlemen that are available at the gallery.

Little Big Draw

John Casey is gathering up the Oakland dream team for a night of good times and live art making. Little Big Draw will be  at Mua this Wednesday from 7-10 with over 15 artists making and selling gorgeous things live and direct.

Michael McConnell making our names look better than ever.

Come and join us for drinks and revelry. Bring your cash and leave with holiday gifts. Who wouldn't want a John Casey under the tree? Or a Nathaniel Parson's for Hannukah. Or an Obi Kaufman for solstice? A Jake Watling for New years? I could go on and on......I love these guys, I'm blessed to do so much with all of them.
I'll be doing a little something with The Monkees. Come on down to Mua and check it all out.

Gravel and Gold!

Gravel and Gold is my F A V O R I T E store in all of San Francisco. I pop in whenever i'm in the hood to rub some yummy fragrance on my neck, thumb through their amazing vintage books and dream about one day owning more of their amazing wool blankets. And now folks, I am so stoked to announce that the amazing gals over at G&G are carrying my 2013 MOON calendars! Opah! Please pop in and check them out. And then go to Rhea's and get a sandwich.
Click HERE to see more about their shop, their events and their makers, including your's truly.

stoked.

2013 MOON calendars

Another new year is coming around the bend and with it comes 12 more full moons and a brand new limited edition MOON calendar from my mountain studio.
I arrived at Willie as this year's patron saint of full moon-ness while across the sea in Hawaii nei. There's just something about being on a tropical beach that makes me crave that a.m. classic country radio sound. It must be all the paniolo vibes rolling down from the up country. I have decided that he is most likely an angel and i'm pretty sure that there is solid proof of that in Blue Eye's Cryin' In The Rain. And that's just the tip of the damn Willie berg.


Please check out my brand new ETSY page, MAMA HIBISCUS to find out more about acquiring your own 2013 MOON calendar. There are some other little gems on there too. Click HERE.

Here's hopin' that your year is filled with discovery and growth. Remember to get enough sleep and dance all the time. Tell your parents you love them and take all the risks you can. 2013 is sure to be magical. Willie vibes, lead the way.

speCt!

My friend Peter invited me to jump aboard speCt! as their illustrator for a series of chapbooks.
Bad Opposites by David Lau was the first cover we collaborated on.
There are more to come.
Until then, there's Acid Tongue Minnie.
They are available for purchase HERE.

Peter Noone and Gregory Isaacs walk into a bar......

The 12th annual Southern Exposure Monster Drawing Rally is here again! Come see me and a fine assortment of fellow mark makers at the Verdi Club in SF do what we do while we do wah diddy.

I'll be drawing  THIS  guy-

With a beard full of THIS guy-

YOU'VE GOT IT BAD GIRL

One solid season of commissions

The studio walls have been vibrating with the births of new projects this entire Spring. I've been one hell of a busy maker, spending most days knee deep in paintings and beards made for beloved friends. All three of these pieces now live on their new walls in San Francisco, Arcata and San Diego.

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The first in the trio is of the cetaceous variety

The recipe for this commission was one part daydream about the underwater ascension of whale spirits and one part St. James Infirmary as performed by Louis Armstrong. 

The Last Wish Of The Dying Whale or The Unfortunate Rake

acrylic on panel

. . .

The second in the trio is of the portrait variety

The recipe for this commission is one part dreamtime vision and one part mid 70's painting style as performed by Barkley Hendricks.

A Portrait Of The Man As A Young Supernova
acrylic on panel

. . .

The final piece in the trio is of the whiskered variety

The recipe for this commission is one part family tree and one part Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono.

The Brown's Beard
acrylic on paper and felt

Much love and gratitude is due to the three fine folks who now own these pieces. It was an honor to work with you and your beautiful visions.  

Take me to the Rivers

Sometimes I forget that i'm a painter. Whenever i'm confronted with the advent of beginning a painting, I start by getting a little nervous and then I consult a short list of pros for sagely advice.
The second man on the short list is Larry Rivers.

A deluxe split level for my dusty ole pile of records

I've always wanted to build something with my mom. She's a carpenter by trade and has a full wood shop at my folks house on the west side of Santa Cruz. She built the garage with her bare hands when I was a little girl and I watched her every step of the way. Because of that memory and others like it, I think of her as a woman who can build anything. So when I decided that my vinyl collection needed a little something next level to live in, naturally I turned to her.
In my dreams, we'll conquer a big project together some time, like a cabin built on a flatbed, or a bed made out of driftwood. But first thing's first, we needed to make something small and simple together.

Mom and I in the hot tub in our Santa Cruz backyard.
The back of this photograph reads:
Late in the month 8/83, 10 months old
She loved the hot tub today- but sometimes she doesn't

This hot tub once belonged to my aunt and uncle. it lived in the backyard of their home in the San Jose foothills. When they decided to replace the old Finnish style redwood tub with a new one, my mom swooped in and gathered the demoed lumber. She brought it back to our Santa Cruz home and rebuilt the tub for our family. That tub was a permanent fixture on our back deck for over 20 years. 

When my folks decided to tear the tub down, my mom wisely kept all the wood. Like most mid century things made out of redwood in northern California, that wood is clear heart, old growth, straight grain, ancient, rare, gorgeous treasure. It was from the larger planks of this cache (the tub seats and floor boards) that we made a split level shelving unit for my record pile.

                            

                            

Hot tub turned shelf magic in my Oakland home. 

I am so grateful for my mom who was very patient with me learning how to use new tools. I had such a great time working with you momma. Let's definitely do it again. xoxoxox

*if you replaced the stacks and stacks of Tom Petty records that Todd references in this song with stacks and stacks of Joni Mitchell records, then we'd have identical collections. Just sayin', vinyl soul mate.

Tony Tony Tony

My beautiful best friend (see lovely ringed hands below) commissioned me to paint her partner, Tony a little something magical for his birthday. Tony is a north coast native with a heart connected to the sea (Pisces, duh). Loving him is easy and compiling the things he loves for this painting in celebration of him  came just as easily.

Jah bless

Amir H. Fallah + Zoe Muth & the Lost High Rollers

The only feeling that rivals finding a new fave painter is finding a new fave band. For the lucky, these discoveries can come knocking during the same week, under a crescent moon while Mercury retrogrades away and away and away.......

Amir H. Fallah

I came across Fallah's work on In The Make which is a fantastic art blog based out of the Bay Area.

Zoe Muth and the Lost City High Rollers came to me via KPIG, live and direct from Freedom, California.

M E G A B E T H

   

Beth with rings on her fingers and time on her hands.

Treasures from Hawaii

Beach combing in Hawaii might be the closest thing to heaven on earth that I can imagine. Well maybe after being waste deep in the Trinity river in mid August. Those 2 are a close tie for heaven.
I have this beautiful memory of my mom and I laying in the shore break on one of Kauai's windward beaches, sifting through grains of sand on the hunt for kaheleilani shells while my dad serenaded us with his Kamaka. It was a perfect moment for the Tuzzi three. The Threezzi's. Heaven on earth really.

"This is ugly, let's leave."

My dear friend Reese turned me onto this Kauai gal's blog, Lady Slider. She's got some fun stuff goin' on over in her world, especially when it comes to hawaiian jewelry, which is one of my fave things ever.
Hinu jewelry from Oahu makes beautifully simple pieces of wearable heaven on earth. I just love it. Gotta get me some.

Hinu 

Hinu

THE PIZZA SHOW

Tonight at the Pony Club Gallery in PDX!!!! THE PIZZA SHOW!!!! 6-9 pm!!!!! DJ MANTEASE ON THE TABLES ROTATING SWEATY JAMZ FROM AROUND THE WORLD!!!!!!
Pepperoni with Mushrooms!!!!
Pesto with Olives!!!!
Classic Cheese!!!
My dear friend and fellow Jet boy, Luke Forsyth presents his premiere curatorial project for Portland's own, Pony Club Gallery. The show is pizza themed and will be showing work from a dynamic bevy of artists from all over the land, including myself, my dearest bro love, Steuart Pittman and my soul brother love, Brian Woida.

¡¡¡PEPPERONI BABIES UNITE!!!

Brian Woida

Gina Tuzzi

So go to the show if you're in the hood. Be wild and howl on little coyotes!

I can't believe that its real.

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I wrote the following words on the back of my hand on Tuesday afternoon:

Al Green's 

HORN SECTION 

Here I am Baby 

I was listening to music at work while framing up some Dan Miller's that will be hanging at the Carrousel du Louvre any day now when Al Green's aforementioned classic came stampeding through my head phones. I have heard that song my whole life (both via Al and i'm not going to lie, UB40) and have never FULLY appreciated just how damn rocksteady, sharp like a knife, silver and gold, pura vida, holly fucking holy perfect those horns are in that damn song. Needless to say, I was blown away and knew that I needed to look those boys up and honor their names a little in the studio. I had a 15 minute break in my busy, busy day and made the following scratch. Amen, amen.

Lovely Rita

O Santa Rita di Cascia, mystical rose.

Honesty is the best policy

do the jerk, baby.

Boys I love shooting firearms in the Eel riverbed, Winter, 2012

STRANGER DANGER

I thought love is a stranger......




Or like, a battlefield.

Where the Beuys are...

The ghost of Joseph Beuys was definitely driving a vintage BMW behind me yesterday. Just cruising down Shattuck, like its nobody's business. With a babe riding shotgun. Hopefully listening to something fantastic on the radio, like Warren Zevon, or Gabby Pahinui.

I love his ghost and his ghost likes me.

Joseph Beuys
The Pack, 1969

CHEST BUMPS

Mikko Kuorinki
'David Foster Wallace: Infinite Jest (1996)'
~ from MISS MOSS