Craig Moser is making his mark in the abstract art world. By day, he’s a mild mannered leader for software interface design. By night he’s busting out with works exploding with color. Find out more about Craig by visiting craigmoser.com.

Video production by DeVille Images, devilleimages.com

Val Gameiro is a writer turned director with a passion for stories with a message, and president of Ideal Scene Productions, a film production company in Austin, Texas. After 10 years writing for film, Val turned to directing, and has worked on several shorts (When She Smiles, Aftermath, Perseverance, Suffer the Children, etc.), a web series (7 Shades Of Lenity) and a Script-to-Screen event held by the Austin Actors Conservatory (SAG). Presently, Val is always in pre-production on something, be it a short film, or another episode of 7 Shades of Lenity, and in post on other projects and event videos (concerts, weddings, etc.), but he’s always planning more work for the future. One of his favorite quotes is “I don’t do film because I like it, I do it because that’s the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning, then in the shower and before I go to bed… it’s as natural as breathing.”

Val is currently working on “Amnesia”,  an independent psychological horror thriller being shot around Austin, Texas. This is a film with a message on human rights violations in mental institutions and human trafficking. The film is based on actual documented events.  You can check out the website at: http://www.AmnesiaTheMovie.com

And the Kickstarter campaign here (contribute, folks):

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/idealsceneprod/amnesia-an-independent-psychological-horror-thrill?ref=users

The film focuses on human rights violations in mental institutions and at the hands of human traffickers. This is an important message, and Val hopes to use this feature film to convey the horrors and move people to action.

Lookie, lookie!  Maria and Roy from Austin-Artists.com were interviewed by Mickey Peavler on his ATXA podcast.  You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link below, and be sure to check out more of Mickey’s podcasts and leave a review

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/atx-architects-podcast/id469760575

Dan Henk is not only a fantastic artist, he is now a published author! Dan just had his novel “The Black Seas of Infinity” released and it’s available for sale HERE on amazon.com. Watch the video to learn more about the book and what went into writing it…then go buy the book!

The internal place i create from is the product of my little life story… of course it is.

To my family i am the introspective middle child. i have no memory of myself without the love of art and design. defined early in a family of seven as the artist/peculiar one, and through consistent and documented evidence i have remained that way. three men and four extremely creative women make up our bunch. i adore them all and i am thankful for their encouragement and help in constructing an artistic identity i still have fun with today. they are all dispersed around southern California where we grew up. i am now two years in and happily settled into my life here in Austin, dipping my toes in more than a few creative outlets.

i am a full time student, part time consignment store employee and late night artisan. i have always been an artist but i am just getting started as an artist professionally.    Professional–noun: a person engaged or qualified in a profession. i am intrinsically engaged in the matter and being qualified is coming with each new project i am challenged by.

my creative process currently goes something like this: absent minded classroom doodles and drawings + copying via standard home fax machine +  cut work up a bit carelessly + paste back together with full aesthetic awareness (design mode) + scan into my computer and then picnik.com them with the free edit functions available to newbies. my computer graphic skills  are miniscule and ill glory in that fact for now. one day that statement will be a fallacy but today i have decided it is no thorn in my side. everything is new, fun and experimental.

i am personally inspired by what i find innately beautiful and odd in this world. and once tweaked, anything overlooked can be brilliant and amusing. in these psychological springs in myself my identity as a child has come to fruition in my artistic voice.

the chance to be featured here at Austin-Artists.com was a domino effect i can trace back to doodling last semester at Austin Community College. the doodles became apart of an album i posted to my Facebook page. earlier this summer that album was browsed through by a musician and friend of mine chris castaneda. chris was then encouraged by what he saw to ask if i would be interested in creating the cover art he had in mind for his band, The Castaneda Project’s, debut album that was released recently. and so goes the story of my first commissioned creative challenge.

being an artist in Austin has been immeasurably valuable. in reflecting on the two years of opportunities and challenges that this city has been host to me, I have nothing but gratitude toward the arts community here. i attribute so much of my recent creative growth to simply living in Austin and being encouraged by other artists.

current projects.

-album art work for the chris castaneda project
-discussions of possible design work for another band
-request for tattoo designs
- paintings on display and for sale at The Exchange at Annarella Consignment Store in Georgetown, Tx in the near future
- meshing my aesthetic clothing style preferences and unique vintage garments into a funky Etsy shop at thiskingjane.etsy.com .
- follow me as i copy, paste and paint my way through college at haileylowder.posterous.com my personal art blog.

i am looking forward to any new projects that come my way!

How it all began...
My love for food developed gradually starting with my days in college when I would watch the Food Network during my free time.  To me, the shows were fascinating, probably because I knew very little about cooking and was slowly realizing that it could actually be quite simple.  At the same time, I was learning more about nutrition (since I was now “on my own” when it came to meals) and I had to come to terms with the fact that frozen food, corn dogs and Easy Mac wasn’t the best diet.  I started experimenting slowly, but was still a little intimidated by the concept of me cooking.  Not to mention, I was still living on a college student’s budget. 

Some time has passed, I graduated, got engaged and then married and decided to focus on my love for food to start my new “family” off on the right track.  I began reading recipes online but before trying any of them, I would read through the pages of comments from people who had already been there, done that and had something to say about it.  I realized that these little tips and tricks (and sometimes words of encouragement!) made a huge difference when it came to trying something for the first time. The more and more I used the tips I was getting from others, the more I realized that I’d love to write or read a blog which gives you the recipe and shoots it to you straight.  Did it really take 10 more minutes? Would adding a little this or that make it even better?  The recipe represents the simple facts, but the commentary is the experience, it’s where you learn how to make it perfect.

Why I love food.
Complexity.  There aren’t enough words to describe the complexity of food.  The fact that we can take all of these naturally existing ingredients and combine them in a meticulous (or not) way to make something so flavorful and undeniably delicious is so interesting to me.  The possibilities are truly endless, and you will never run out of recipes to try.  As you become more familiar with different flavors you’ll be able to “just know” what goes great together and what doesn’t.  That knowledge and experience is something I strive for and think about every time I step into the kitchen.

A form of expression.

Cooking for someone is truly a labor of love. For someone to take the time to think of all the parts that make up a meal, round up the ingredients and then spend sometimes hours preparing it all – to me, that speaks volumes.  Preparing a meal can be anything from an expression of love, celebration, condolence or thanks. We use cooking in so many ways, but no mater what, it comes from the heart.
Memories.  I’ll never forget helping my mom bake cakes when I was little, or that time we made peanut butter cookies when it was raining.  I don’t know how much “help” I was but I remember sitting on the counter watching, licking spatulas of leftover frosting and just enjoying time with my mom and the experience of seeing something made. I don’t have any kids of my own, but when I do, cooking with them is the number one thing I’m looking forward to.

I’ll also never forget my Mamá, who was literally in the kitchen nearly every time I saw her. I have so many memories of her cooking that in my mind, her passion for food made her the person she was and I loved her for that.  She is my biggest inspiration in the kitchen and was a true Mexican cook.

Claud in the Kitchen


For now, my blog is a hobby, but I would eventually love to make a living off of my passion for food and encouraging others to cook.  I’m just trying to figure out how to get there.  But in the mean time, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and as my knowledge of food and cooking grows, you’ll see me branch out, try more of my own ideas, and then share with you what worked and what I’d do differently next time. One thing that I know will never change is the purpose. I want to encourage people to be aware of what they’re eating, enjoy food and the experiences it brings, and simply share my tips, tricks and hints – from one food lover to another.

Cheers!
Claud
http://claudinthekitchen.com   Read more about what inspires me here!

I can’t remember how or when I got into art. As far back as I can recall I’ve always drawn on things. Whether it’s scraps of paper, canvas, trains, walls, what ever. I guess I’m a bit of a compulsive scribbler. I got serious about making pictures while I was attending Pratt Institute. Up until that point I think I was just playing around. I was at Pratt from ’99-’02. It was like getting thrown into the deep end, but I had
a lot of fun and I was influenced by some amazingly talented people.

After school I stayed in Brooklyn and was doing technical drawing and graphic design for various fashion brands, painting on the side and showing sporadically. In November 2008 my wife and I moved to Austin to set up the studio which houses my work space as well as my wife’s clothing line 81 Poppies.

This month 81 Poppies is included in Austin Fashion Week Award show at the ACL LIVE on 8-27.  I have a few drawings at Gallery Gray Duck off of S.First, and I have a big show lined up for next fall at the Julia Butridge gallery inside the Dougherty Art Center. I’m  excited about that show because it gives me a chance to show some of the larger pieces I’ve been working on.

” home sweet home ” 2011, 16″x20″ acrylic on linen.

” strike anywhere” 2011 16″x 20″ acrylic on linen.

These 2 paintings are kind of a pair. I worked on them at the same time. They are a combination of painting from life and
tear sheet reference.

“old and new” 2011 12″ x 48″ acrylic on birch panel.
3 judges thought this would have made an AWFUL billboard.

My wife grew up in TX and the first time I visited Austin I thought it was a cool town. We were both kind of burned out
on NYC, and after a little research we figured Austin would be a good place to start a business.   Here we are!

You can find more work from KC at his website http://studio189.com/

Jason Ice, a.k.a. SKEPTIC, currently lives and works in Austin, Texas. He graduated from the Art Institute of Dallas in 1999 with a degree in graphic design. Working for a decade as a product designer as the lead for Diesel Timeframes allowed him to mature as a designer which influenced his work as an artist.

Jason began to show his work in group shows as a creative outlet from the life as a corporate artist and began to flourish in the Dallas art scene. It has been one year since Jason moved from Dallas to Austin. The goal for him was to refocus as a person and artist. He was looking for the opportunity to evolve and evaluate his work in a new mindset.

When Jason first came onto the scene he was known for his street art style and heavy use of spray paint. He is proud that the new collection of work has extremely limited use of spray paint and how it is evolving. He has most recently had a solo exhibition at La Reyna, Austin (2011) for the first annual South First Art Walk and is a featured guest artist at the Austin Raw events where he performs live painting demos at the monthly showcases.

Two amazing parents, two artistic brothers & an obsession with films (mostly horror from the 80’s) were the main motivators/influences behind Cody Schibi’s clumsy swan dive into art. “Without those perfect ingredients I’m not sure what kind of person I’d be.  Possibly some politician with crazy eyes spewing lies out of every orifice…& THAT’S the biggest, real-life horror of all!” says Codi.

Cody honed his skills at an early age by recreating pictures from comic books, trading cards & his library of Fangoria magazines all in fun in his south Texas home of Harlingen.  Eventually moving to Austin in 1999 he later dabbled in the film industry where he continues to create story boards & conceptual art for different productions.

Today, Schibi is trying to focus on his personal art through conventions & exhibitions.    He’s already shown & sold original pieces in many cities this year including Boston, Detroit, Chicago & Naples with more exhibits lined up later in the year.  With still a never-ending room for growth, Cody has taken all he’s learned so far to continue to create bizarre creatures & strange images which he hopes makes people’s eyeballs & brains happy.

A few upcoming events & shows include:

• ArtSlam! at The White Rabbit in San Antonio September 24th, 2011.
• Day of the Dead exhibition at Starkweather Arts Center in Detroit the month of October.
• Austin Comic Con at The Austin Convention Center November 11-13, 2011.
• Mix N’ Mash exhibition at Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin the month of December.

Follow Cody Schibi on Twitter for regular updates on his current projects and visit his web site for more information & online store: www.codyschibi.com

Growing up I had a variety of artistic and cultural influences. My older brothers studied creative writing and poetry, sculpture, and architecture. My own interests were in computers and mathematics. But even then computer arts were growing in the popular consciousness. Conway published his Game of Life, a program that generates endless complex patterns of swarming pixels following very simple rules of pixel “birth” and “death”. Mandelbrot’s famous fractal art also showed the limitless complexity and beauty of a simple recursive expression, and bridged these artificially produced patterns to very similar ones found in nature.

I also developed a world cultural awareness. During school I traveled to Europe twice, each time for a month, once to Spain and once to Scotland. Later during my professional life, I traveled around the US, and to Scotland, Germany, France, Hungary, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Taiwan. While riding trains across Germany, I would imagine myself stepping through a Le Carré Cold War novel, or while in Japan, I would picture scenes from a William Gibson or Neal Stephenson cyberpunk story. My engineer’s technical eye would see the functional artistry in a kilometer-long Autobahn bridge across a Schwabian river valley, or the beautiful cantilevered suspension walkway on Odaiba island in Tokyo Bay. And I would try to learn some pieces of each peoples’ music or food or history or philosophy.

I had read an article in the mid-70′s on some of the latest techniques in computer generated art, especially in creating clouds and landscapes. Again, these techniques started with very simple rules, but applied them repeatedly and recursively to create a complex or chaotic image. When I eventually got a computer of my own, I wrote a rough version of this technique, in black and white on a very low-resolution field. The result looked like a tangled fish net, or a piece of paper that had been crumpled and then uncrumpled – academically interesting, but not very eye-catching. I would revisit this program every so often, eventually extending the algorithm to include shifting and blending of colors as well as shapes.

In 2008, I came back to my program after having neglected it for a while, and thought I would try creating the largest and most complex and colorful images that I could, using current computer software and hardware resources. The results were very encouraging, so I began to create some sample images on canvas, with the help of a local printer here in Austin. Unlike many computer-generated pieces, which are hard and geometric, these images often come out soft and wispy. They convey patterns similar to the contours of land, or the smoke and fume from a burning fire, or the mists and vapors over a morning pond. The detail and chaotic coloring create subelements and subpatterns that offer new discoveries to the viewer, making a piece new again even after having seen it many times.

In my second juried show, I placed in the top 5 artists, and shortly afterward sold several pieces at a coffee shop downtown. Since then I have continued to show my work at venues around Austin and Dallas. Most recently, I received an Honorable Mention in the Austin Art Boards competition. I am also starting to experiment with presenting these images on other media, such as tile, metal, and fabric, and as tile murals.

Coming up:
- Art Across Americas, a juried show at the Latin American Collection Library of the University of Texas, from mid-September through October, with a public reception on October 1
- I regularly participate in I Art Congress, at the Real Gallery exhibit at 912 Congress
- rotating exhibit September-November at Starbucks Coffee at 2222 & MoPac

You can see more of Paul’s work at his website http://www.fractallography.com