Southwest Trip 2008

PART 1 - Santa Fe
After an arduous flight from Philly to Denver and then onto Albuquerque, New Mexico, our trip began in the beautiful Southwestern gem known as Santa Fe. 7000 feet above sea level, it is known as the high desert. The land and architecture was so different than what I'm used to here in the northeast. Scrubby, brown desert as far as the eye can see accented with rugged peaks and wonderful adobe home compounds and their desert oasis gardens. My Santa Fe highlights were: The contrast between the blue of the sky against the brown of the earth. The shape of the horizon, whether it was sky meeting a vast desert flat or the organic curve of an adobe building. The Southwest/Mexican food. A day trip to the Taos pueblo. The Native American history and people. The abundance of art (300+galleries in Santa Fe alone!). The friendliness of the atmosphere. The quiet at night.
Organic skyline
Old town street
Rental house courtyard
Inside the rental house


PART2 - SEDONA
We left Santa Fe and drove through the painted desert/petrified forest. We saw pronghorn antelope! Gradually, the trees got taller and so did the mountains as we drove into the red rocks of Sedona. I've never seen mountains like that before. Firey red rocks against the purple sky at sunset. The view from our hotel room deck was breathtaking as it faced the mountains. My Sedona highlights were: The mountain views. A day trip to an old copper mining town named Jerome on top of a mountain. The sunsets. A Humvee sightseeing tour up and down the the mountainside. The Cowboy Club, formerly the Oak Creek Tavern.
View from our deck
View of "the elders" (right) on Humvee tour.
The Humvee. There's a faaaar drop down over the ledge that you can't see!
Ghost town in Jerome

Part 3 - THE GRAND CANYON & HOOVER DAM

After leaving Sedona, we made our through Arizona to the Grand Canyon. I've always known that I'd visit there someday yet never really pictured myself there. The view was immense. It's just like it is in the pictures folks, only bigger! The day that we arrived there it was a little bit rainy and overcast, so it was not as colorful as it would have been on a sunny day, but it was still great to see. Or should I say it was a "Grand" thing to see? Moving on, we stayed overnight in a middle of nowhere town named Kingman. Not much going on there except some old route 66 signage and kitschy hotels and bad food. Apparently, in the 40's and 50's the town was a hotspot of activity, but after the local mine closed it pretty much died. Brian and I drove around and took some pictures of the old hotels (some defunct, some still open) and their wacky neon signs, went to bed and got out of there as soon as we could. I have to say, no offense to anyone who might live there, but Kingman was kind of depressing and spooky. My most unfavorite part of the trip.

After leaving Kingman the next morning we headed to the Hoover Dam and took a tour of the facility. What a sight to see. We ventured down into the original tunnels that diverted the Colorado River while the dam was being built back in the 30's. It was creepy being down there knowing that there were millions of gallons of water flowing over but it was super interesting. We also went in to the generator room, which was 2 football field lengths long. It housed 8 of the 16 generators that power the dam and it's facilities. The other 8 were on the other side of the river. What a feat of modern engineering!
The Grand Canyon.
Another canyon view.
The Hoover Dam.
The Wild Colorado
Generator Room.

PART 4 - LAS VEGAS
Vegas was only about an hour drive from the Hoover Dam. We turned in the rental car at the airport and took a cab to our hotel, the Venetian. Everything in Vegas is over done but our hotel was over the top! It was gorgeous, but super gigantic and confusing! Not only is it a casino and a huge hotel, but it also housed a whole friggin' shopping mall and an indoor outdoor gondola ride (remember, it's Venice). The hotel ceilings were guilded gold and and painted reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel. Our room was more of a suite than a room and larger than the whole bottom floor of our house. Pretty swank! My highlights of Vegas were: All of the crazy neon signs. Anyone who knows me is aware of my love old neon. There is no shortage of it in Vegas. Walking the strip from casino to casino and taking in all of the tackiness. Every hotel tried to one up the next. The Cirque de Soleil production of "LOVE" that we saw at the Mirage - total genius. Apparently, seasoned CDS followers say that this was not the "best" Cirque shows, but I'd recommend it to anyone. It was fantastic! I do have to say that personally, Vegas is not for me. I'm not a gambler, I get tired of being around that many people for an extended period of time, it's expensive and it's super commercially over done. I guess the old cliche' "it's a nice place to visit" sums it up for me. On that note, I would not be against going back for a weekend with friends to see more crazy over done stuff...but only a weekend!
Yeehaw!
Winking cowboy.
All that glitters is at Glitter Gulch!
Interior view of the Venetian. Can you say, over the top?
The front desk at the Venetian!

Architectural Illustrations

I did some architectural elevations a while back for Dreamscape Builders. The illustrations were to be used for both print and web. I just got word that construction is beginning and there will be a 7'X15' site sign featuring one of the illustrations. I'm pretty sure that's the largest any of my work has been reproduced as of yet! If your around Houston, keep an eye out for it.

Warm Weather Weekend

The first Jacket-less weekend came fairly early this year and I enjoyed every minute of it. Friday night, my sister and I caught a screening of the Hennegan Brothers' film, "The First Saturday in May". Although I'm not a huge fan of horse racing it was interesting to see 6 contenders for the 2006 Kentucky Derby and their management/handlers on the Derby trail. And 25% of the box office profit is donated to equine research, so that's a plus.
The First Saturday in May

Anyway, it was a gorgeous 70 degree evening and killing time before the film, we stumbled upon an Obama for President rally. There were throngs, and I mean THRONGS of people for as far as the eye could see. From Independence Hall, all the way up to the Constitution Center, or so I heard. It was dark, and from standing up on a wall we could see thousands of people filling the park all the way up the streets and on the horizon. We only caught the last 10 or so minutes of Barak's speech, and because of the echoing throughout the city, I could not make out all of what he was saying, but the crowd was excited. It was just interesting to casually stumble upon a moment of history like that. Public Service Announcement: Remember to vote in tomorrow's primaries!

Saturday morning was perfect for flea marketing with some good friends. One man's trash is another's treasure. Saturday afternoon I took a trip to Lowes garden section and bought some more filler flowers for the garden. We still have more planting and mulching to do do, but at least our yard does not look as much like a barren wasteland as it usually does this time of year.
Trunk full of goodness.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo. I love looking at all of the animals. It was gorgeous there with all of the flowering trees. Most of the animals seemed to be enjoying the warm weather as they were all out and about. The Philadelphia Zoo is the first Zoo in America which is cool because it's historical but bad because some of the exhibits are out-dated. But they are in the process of making better more animal-friendly exhibits for their inhabitants so that is good news. They have made a nice new habitat for the big cats called Big Cat Falls which is a total improvement from how the cat house used to be. I remember before how the poor lions and tigers would pace back and forth in their indoor cages. It was sad. But now they seemed content lazying about in the sun. The zoo is also working on sending the elephants away to new homes because their quarters are too cramped. The Asian elephant, Dulary, has already gone to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.. There are three African Elephants left there that are still awaiting new homes. We also noticed that the old aviary building is under construction, so I am sure that they are making improvements there as well. You can read all about America's first zoo here.
One really big arm and one really skinny arm. Hee!
Eyeing up a plump child.
Look at the face!
What a beauty.

Check out my online sale!

YAY!!!
I'm having a "Hooray it's Spring!" shipping and shopping sale from now until May 31st at my shop! So go check it out and get stuff for discount prices!

Amy Winehouse & Illustration Friday - Fail

Amy Winehouse - Rehab

In an era of bleached, botoxed and plasticized Barbie doll clones, you've gotta love Amy Winehouse. Well, even if you don't love her you might enjoy looking at her. The makeup, the hive, the bad tattoos...this beleaguered singer is one interesting looking chick. And she's super talented to boot. I hope that the drugs and alcohol do not become her downfall. I think that's the only thing that would make her fail? That or maybe an unfortunate accident involving cigarettes and hairspray.

Anyway, this illustration of Miss Winehouse is my usual watercolor & ink on Arches cold press. I'm totally digging my new scanner which now picks up the texture of the paper and does not blow everything out like my old hunk of junk (RIP)! I'm tenatively thinking of titling this piece "Rehab" after her hit.

Philly Roller Girls Poster

Roller Derby Double Header

Here's one of the newest pieces that I've worked on. It is another poster (and flyer) for the Philly Roller Girls for an upcoming Roller Derby Double Header. This was a Michele Melcher Illustration / Primer collaboration. I did the illustration, they did the design and set the type. I thought it would be nice to create something a little different than the last two posters that I have done for PRG. We conjured up images and elements of the past. It's kind of an homage to the 1950's ad, what with the cheeky housewife in her ruffly apron whose just too happy to open up and cook her handy dandy can of whoop ass. The type faces are also similar to the kind of fonts that you might see in old advertisements. The Philly Roller Girl's logo is incorporated into the illustration. I know that there's a ton of type on it but that's because they have a ton of ticket and sponsor information that needed to be included. Overall, I think Primer sorted it out and made it work well and it looks awesome. Keep an eye out for it if you are in downtown Philly!

UsedWigs Podcast #46 - Michele Melcher Illustration

Hey kids,
The Podcast where I special guested is now up and live. A full hour of distraction for your listening pleasure. Give it a listen at UsedWigs. Enjoy!