Category Archive for Arizona
Sedona, Arizona road trip: Vortex energy, New Age Center, Chapel of the Holy Cross.
Heavy metal adventure team… activate!
I’m in Sedona, Arizona with Leon and Geist of the band Colosseum Thesis. Can you mix Jrock and Aliens? Read on to have your eyes opened.
Sedona is a 2-3 hour scenic drive from Phoenix. The red rock’s known as a haven of spirituality… and alien encounters.
Skull hair clips: gifted by Kreepsville 666
Art Nouveau sunglasses: gifted by Lumete
We blasted metal and Visual Kei on the drive north, which took us through cacti landscapes and rock corridors. Bassist Geist and I strike an alien pose.
It was right before Christmas, so the aliens were wearing Santa hats.
Our first pit stop: the fascinating Center for the New Age.
The store offers vortex tours, aura photography, psychics, palm readers, healing stones and crystals, and more.
A rich selection of books and Buddhas.
No matter what your spiritual leanings are, Sedona is special place. There’s a feeling of re-charging here.
Sedona has a number of “vortexes”, or sites charged healing and awareness.
Not everyone “feels the power.” Nonetheless, Sedona’s an unbeatable place to hike, relax, and take in nature.
We had outstanding French food at Rene in Tlaquepaque, across from the New Age Center.
I could have stayed in the Southwestern courtyard all day. My white dress is Japanese brand Liz Lisa, bought in Hong Kong. Here are photos of the Liz Lisa boutique.
Closeup on the boys’ rings and gloves.
The spinach tofu salad and fresh crepes were out of this world.
Ravioli for my Arizona guide, Leon Lindon (singer, composer, musician, producer, and leader of Colosseum Thesis).
With stomachs satiated, we went on to another spiritual place.
The landscape makes an epic backdrop for photos.
My Liz Lisa ankle boots aren’t really made for climbing.
We ascended the spiral walkway…
… to the Chapel Of The Holy Cross, an architectural marvel completed in 1956.
The Catholic chapel’s windows reflect red rock, and the shape of a cross.
A powerful place for prayer.
Inside, we listened to soft chanting and basked in the light.
I’ve been to ornamented churches around the world, including Prague and Mexico — but none had the energy of this simple Chapel.
As Leon puts it, “Sedona is a place that encourages people to look upward.”
Photos can’t convey the feeling of this place; I hope you’ll come and experience it for yourself.
Thanks to Leon and Geist for the epic road trip. Their band, Colosseum Thesis, is a surprising new visual music act that uses a progressive blend of genres such as rock, neoclassical, and jazz, complete with grandiose theatrical performances. Can’t wait for their debut performances and demo later this year.
Were you surprised by Sedona’s spirituality? Where do you go to regain calm and re-charge?
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Art tutorial video! Anime pop printmaking with David Manje, Mesa Arts Center Arizona.
Why am I splattered in paint? Because I’m now contributing to Huffington Post Arts (in addition to Travel and Weird News). My debut piece is about my J-pop printmaking adventure.
During my Arizona trip, I took a colorful class at Mesa Arts Center. Watch my video (below and on HuffPost) to see the art-making in action.
Do you dig my new art focus? Please support by sharing the article and Liking it (below) so that I can keep the coverage coming.
Printmaking has come a long way since Hokusai’s “Great Wave.” At Mesa Arts Center (MAC), I rolled acid paint onto stencils and cranked out anime-pop prints.
David Manje is the kindest, most encouraging instructor imaginable. He’s a well-regarded printmaker, with multiple arts and education degrees from Arizona State University. Now retired, he teaches part-time at MAC.
My jaw dropped when I saw the stencils David made for me. He had cut out over 70 shapes representing my spooky-cute world, including my Scottish Fold cat, eyelashes, lips, hearts — and even a bagelhead!
Traditionally, pochoir involves inking or painting stencils for hard-edged prints. David’s unique, freestyle method creates neon layers that flow from pop art to abstract.
1. David set up three stations. Each had an inked Plexiglas plate, several paints, and a selection of stencils. Using a roller, he showed me how to color the stencils until they reached an orange-peel-like texture.
Rollin’ with my homies.
Basil Farrow looks angry because hasn’t been painted yet.
When you lift the stencils, they leave behind a bright outline.
2. We randomly layered the colored stencils onto the plates, with plenty of overlap.
The kawaii iPhone case is a present from Luxy Loli (see more photos here). Just got a new one from her; can’t wait to show you.
3. David covered each plate with dry paper, and I cranked it through the etching press. “A manual press lets the printer feel the variations in pressure exerted on the paper and plate,” he explains.
The first run, called a “generation-one print,” was starkly graphic, with bright colors and hard edges.
Drying the prints on the racks.
4. We removed the stencils, and switched them between the plates. Thanks to the overlap, they’re now marked with intriguing patterns.
For subsequent runs, we used wet paper and greater pressure.
“The color and shape magic begins to happen as the stencils continue to be interchanged,” says David.
“Random patterns begin to occur on the tops and bottoms of each stencil that breakup recognizable imagery.”
I had a lively afternoon with David — one of the warmest teachers I’ve ever met — and got an arm workout to boot!
In total, we made four generations of prints, or twelve works. With each run, the clean cut-outs devolved further into soft-hued amalgams.
Here are more of David’s pochoir prints. You can take his class, as well as other visual and performance arts workshops, at the Mesa Arts Center.
Have you tried your hand at printmaking? Did you find my art video helpful? Please take a second to watch and share.
More Huffington Post articles and videos coming up; follow my author page to stay in the loop.
LA CARMINA
