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  • Published on

    ​A really slow week – have some old drawings

    Happy Tuesday evening and hello to a short, boring, and belated blog post.
    ​Last week was a long one and I have very little to show for it. I did end up taking a long walk to my mom’s and retrieved just a few new bits of childhood art I might add to my canvas project. 
    Next week: I’ll probably paint some more. I don’t know
    I’m going to take another long walk and probably plan the rest of this week better than I did the last. Maybe I should draw every day again. Maybe I need a new project. Maybe I need to paint outside.
    I don’t know
    ​
    Thanks for stopping by
    xo
    benz
  • Published on

    slow week / still painting

    ​Happy Monday evening <3
    Okay so I got a bit less done than usual these last few days x-x it was a busy week for me outside of art. I grabbed a few projects that need revisiting and outlined some new pieces. 
    First and fourth are untitled for now. 
    The second is "Eugene" - Acrylic paint on a stretched canvas. 
    The third is "Jo Marie Payton as Harriet Winslow" - Acrylic paint on a stretched canvas. I want to add more dimension to her face, but I based this one off a picture, and can't find the original D: I'll look through pictures and hopefully I run across it. 
    Will probably work on these and a more if I can this week.
    I also named and varnished the paintings from last week, updated my online gallery & have started preparing the site refresh for the new month which is always fun :-) Keep an eye out for new stuff on the stay a while page too :-)
    next week: final week of traditional projects (?) and jewelry? ​
    ​I’ll probably work on a few different things at once this upcoming week. I want to keep working on my current projects and if I have some time probably work on wearables, etc. again. I have some personal jewelry projects that need altering, and a few charms I’ve been meaning to repurpose. I also kind of felt like stamping a few things in my closet again... . . . . . ... . . . maybe i work on more apparel? I don't know <3

    I think that's all I have for now :)

    thanks for stopping by <3
    i appreciate you !!!

    XOXOXOXOXOXO
    benzi
  • Published on

    I found my old glitter graphics account!

    Okay, so I have to share this with you guys.

    My blog posts & stay a while page are a testament to my appreciation for glitter graphics. I joined early in the 2000s and loved sourcing new stuff for my then current myspace page <3

    For my most recent blog post i was thinking of adding a graphic of my name under my signature, and decided to look for one there. My name didn't give me a lot of results, but I did recognize just a few..... I follow the creator's user and it was me!!!! I made them!! I not only found my account, but all of the graphics made under it. 

    Below are some archival screenshots I just took of my glitter graphics account at age 11, as well as some of the graphics I made (featuring names of a few friends I'm still close with <3)
    Feeling honored, humbled, and also like I am quintessentially the same me I've always been :,0 I mean my likes literally include twilight zone and Godzilla. I was also a self-described Atheist and Bi-sexual. It's like some things never change <3

    anyways, I hope you appreciate this little look into my past 
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  • Published on

    painting season pt.2

    Happy Monday !!
    I’ve been painting all last week. A lot of progress to go still, but I think I’m going to consider two more pieces from the pile finished.

    The first is “it’s such a perfect day” – acrylic paint, pen, pencil, chalk pastel, and fabric on 16x20 stretched canvas.

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    The second is untitled for now, but is acrylic paint, pencil, pen, crayon, chalk pastel, and Swarovski crystals on 12x16 stretched canvas.
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    ​I’m not really good at wrapping up projects. Maybe it’s just a lot of overthinking, I don’t know. I do like how these look currently, though. I don’t paint food a lot, but I’d love to get better with realism/textures. I’ve had this idea about a series of individual cake/dessert paintings I’ve wanted to do since I went to a Makino sushi and visited their dessert bar.  (Their Orange county location is closed, but if you’re in vegas you’re in luck :,0) 
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    Anyway, the other pieces I put time into this week are still works in progress. I’m hitting a wall with a few of them, but think I have a better idea about the direction I’ll be taking them in. 
    Next week: painting/ drawing week #2
    ​I have plans to have a few more projects finished by the end of this upcoming week. I don’t have much to share about them just yet. For that untitled piece with all of my childhood art, I hope to gather more early artwork from my mom’s place to add to the canvas.
    I’ll be back with more progress and more completed pieces.
    keeping it short & sweet !!

    Thanks for stopping by <3
    X O  X O  XO  XO
    ​
    - kenzie 
    ​
  • Published on

    painting season

    ​Happpppy tuesday everyone
    ​
    ​Belated entry today because it’s been a long week. Basically, I scrapped the plan to work on any remaining apparel. Instead, I spent every day painting. It started with the initial big canvas project I’ve been working on, then just became a full week of working on any WIP from the pile. I finished just one completely: “Everything is going great and in the end one realizes that it's not going at all” – acrylic and pencil on 16x20 stretched canvas. 
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    ​Most of the other projects are still in progress, but I’m glad I spent the week working on them. I like to pour my time into every medium, but painting and drawing feels different - I think I feel most connected to the work. Maybe it’s because it was one of my earliest ways to express myself artistically. The act of painting is also just kind of super satisfying to me, even when a piece doesn’t work out exactly how I like it to. I like the impermanence of the process, and I like to work in layers. I spent these last few days trying to build these pre-existing paintings into something I appreciate better. trying to keep in mind my ability to just paint over and re-work the original plan. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with choice and just end up avoiding the canvas for a while. I’m hoping to stop overthinking it. My work is pretty unserious as it is. 
    ​​Also, the chuck e cheese project is on the back burner! It’s not first priority right now, and since my initial excitement, then re-direction of the plans, I now want to work on probably 3 projects all relating to fictional, animatronic bands. It’s in my mind’s eye and it will happen eventually. I wish i could do everything all the time.
    ​Next week: I’m just gonna keep painting
    ​I have the canvases out, and lined up in my living room, so why not? I also am realizing I haven’t really made any effort to practice anatomy drawing the way I’ve wanted. I’ll pick up my figure studies book and maybe practice a bit. It probably won’t change my characters from having obscene proportions, but at least I’ll know how to draw someone who doesn’t : )
    More progress/paintings next week too. 

    thank you thank you for stopping by  <3
    x o x o x o x o

    - the little kenzie that could 
  • Published on

    2000s design & chuck e cheese project

    happy monday evening! 
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    I made progress on the big canvas this week!
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    I had to do a lot of shifting elements around, and only put a little color on the canvas, but It kind of feels like it’s rounding out. I’m really enjoying the project, but I’m having some mixed feelings. I can’t put my finger on why it is, but I’m not feeling a sense of fulfillment with the piece right now. Maybe I’ll enjoy the process and its outcome more when I start adding more detail. I guess time will tell.

    ​All in the name of design appreciation x__X

    ​
    ​I also disassembled that pile of jewelry! I hadn’t fully gone through all the pieces I’ve made these last few years and it felt so worthwhile. Re-visiting some of my favorites and even some of my least favorites was inspiring. There are definitely a handful of charms I hope to repurpose for projects in the near future, the rest will be stored with supplies until I find use for them too <3     ​
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    ​Next week: a little of everything??
    I have a few loose ends that need tying, as well as the canvas WIP I want to spend more time on. So here’s the plan: 
    1.  work on big untitled project (as much progress as possible)

    2. Finish bleach projects! I finally got a bleach spray bottle and plan to use it to transfer stencils onto some black shirts. I’ve never applied bleach this way, so I’m hoping it comes out how I hope it does. Either way- new thing, so worthwhile to try (:

    3. work out the details of the Chuck e Cheese side project? I think I got a little overzealous about the possibilities of the project, and am now trying to think a little more reasonably about its the feasible outcomes. I initially wanted to make a full portrait-style animatronic bust (non-functional) but then remembered the reality of that model comes with FUR!!! I’d have to get my hands on some ratty grey fur for a ratty old rat in a bowler hat holding a cigar. Now, I don’t have a problem with that- I just think I have to work my way up to that, and for now, start more simply. There will always be more time for chuck e cheese side projects. So now, I’m considering making an homage to “The wink”: a small Chuck E emblem that sits just over some show stages. Once the performance is over and the curtain drops, the emblematic mouse winks! I love him. I’m considering that, or maybe just something else to honor the rat. There’s a lot of CEC art that exists to inspire- or maybe I do something completely my own style, with just the influence of Chuck in mind. I guess time will tell with this project too.
    I’ll be sure to share next week
     
    Thank you for stopping by!! So much
    XXXOOOXXXOOO
    ​
    -Mackenzie mozzarella ​