Karenism » art

MMMMmmm cupcakes

Karen — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:21:07 +0000

Tom and I have been working together for the past few weeks and we’re finally ready to show off our creation. Behold the adorableness of Sugar Fiends!

This American Apparel cranberry vneck tshirt features an adorable zombie cupcake, complete with brain frosting and a drooling desire for braaaaainnns. The little zombie hungrily stares at your sweet, juicy cranium from his comfortable spot over your heart.

Instantly fall in love with this innocent cat-octopus-cupcake. He lives on the bottom left corner of a light blue American Apparel sheer jersey cap sleeve raglan. The bold orange color really makes him pop. His name is Catapus and he’s looking for a happy home.

They are designed by Robot Octopus aka Tom. He is a great artist who I’ve known for a long time. I’m very excited to be collaborating with Tom on this project, not only because he is wonderfully gifted but he’s also as sweet as these cupcakes.

More pics of the shirts here. You can order either (or both!) of these shirts below. We made a tiny run of these shirts so get one while they’re still available. I have some other colors that I will release in the coming weeks. Thanks for your support!

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Blue Raglan measurements from shoulder to shoulder (including cap sleeves)
S – 15.75”
M – 16”
L – 16.25”
XL – 16.5”

Cranberry vneck measurements from shoulder to shoulder
XS – 15″
S – 16.5”
M – 18”
L – 20.5”
XL – 21.25”

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<~~~~ feed me, om nom nom

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Cupcake baking

Karen — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:25:39 +0000

I can bake really quickly:

Cupcake baking and frosting on youtube

Normally I don’t use a box mix, but I thought that it would be quicker. The caramel frosting came out a bit runnier than I expected. I halved the recipe, and I don’t think my kitchenaid could properly whip the frosting when there was less of it in the bowl. Next time I will use a hand mixer.

I basically followed the recipe on the box. In general I use local or organic ingredients for all my cooking. In case the recipe in the video is too hard to follow, here are detailed instructions.

The Cake
1 box whole foods organic chocolate cake mix
10 tb Straus salted butter
2 Oliver egg ranch eggs
2 tb Dragoba cacao powder
1 cup whole foods dark chocolate mini chunks
2 tb (approx) Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour – cake flour would be better in this situation

preheat oven to 350
mix eggs and butter
add cake mix and cacao powder
stir in chocolate mini chunks
if the batter is very runny, add extra flour as needed
line cupcake tins and fill each tin 3/4 full of batter
bake for 12 minutes, or when toothpick inserted comes out crumbly or clean

Caramel Frosting
2 c. light brown sugar
1 c. + 2 tbs Horizon heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp baking soda

In saucepan, heat cream and sugar on medium to a rolling boil (if you mix it up, it still is boiling)
boil 1 minute
add 1/2 tsp baking soda
mix and boil for 1 more minute
turn off heat and add butter. Do not stir in the butter
let mixture cool (1 hr in the fridge, or 2 hrs on the counter)
transfer caramel to bowl and beat until frosting-like. Add reserved whipping cream to stiffen it.

Cream cheese frosting
8 oz Nancy’s cream cheese
1 c. Horizon heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla

whip cream until hard peaks form
while the cream is whipping, mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla
fold in cream cheese with whipped cream

don’t forget to dance around a bit. Cupcake baking is seriously unserious business

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Suprise naked baby

Karen — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:03:22 +0000

After many years of living in San Francisco, I finally had the chance to explore Japantown. One of the bookstores had a display of mystery toys. Each box contained 1 of a series of toys. The naked baby series was just too creepy to pass up.

Naked baby on youtube

I love Japanese tchotchke. Lately I’ve been collecting Re-ment food, but now I’m into the naked babies. I currently have 3. I guess that makes me creepy too.

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<~~~~ feed me, om nom nom

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The Disposable Film Festival

Karen — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:37:34 +0000

I’m looking forward to checking out the The Disposable Film Festival at the end of this month. It’s a celebration of crappy video; the kind that’s produced by cell phones, point & shoots, webcams etc. Submissions are, unfortunately, closed. (Oops! I really should have written this sooner). I can’t wait to see what people have submitted.

One of the things that makes this kind of jerky, fuzzy, low quality video interesting is the editing and filtering. A few neat tricks, and a cool song can drastically change something from mundane to worthwhile. I often don’t know what to do with this kind of video since it’s only interesting to me or the few involved. I have a lot of footage of museum excursions and concerts. I also take lots of photos of random things I find on the ground. If I share it, it is off my hard drive, and we’re gathered around my computer. I believe there is a space for livejournal-like group filtering for video. Not everyone wants random strangers to view their videos; most just want to show their buddies the clip of when they lit their farts on fire (not that I’ve ever seen or shared such a clip…).

Here’s a video by the organizers of the festival that I particularly liked.

SCENE: San Francisco from Disposable Film Festival on Vimeo.

The brisk pace keeps it engaging, and they mitigated a lot of camera shake by slowing pieces down or speeding them up. Watching this was a bit of a game – How many places can you identify in the video?

Write yours down. No cheating! All the ones I saw after the cut.

Elbo Room
Arinell Pizza
500 Club
Zeigeist
Pancho Villa
16th & Mission
The Old Fashioned Way (not a place, a band. I work with one of the guitarists, Jake)

If I were to guess, the producers live in the Mission. Although, it just might be that the only things I could identify were in the Mission, ‘cuz that’s where I live.

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Nimby art space needs your help

Karen — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:39:59 +0000

Many of my friends are closely involved with projects nurtured at Nimby. It is the home of Dance Dance Immolation and
the Steam Punk Tree House and many many many other art projects.

They’re moving and they need a little help with all the initial expenses. Please help out. They are super close to getting the money they need and every bit counts.

What is Nimby?

A place to create the impossible, the new, the ridiculous, the exiting and most importantly, the never seen before. It is the largest do-it-yourself industrial art space in the Bay Area with over 40 different art groups and craftsmen in the shop.

NIMBY not only offers space to create, but supports its artists with resources, assistance in sourcing re-purposed material, as well as logistical and technical guidance. This supportive culture shared by all members of the NIMBY community is at the root of the amazing art that emerges from its doors. NIMBY is the hub for creativity that boggles the mind and fosters community values that encourage collaboration and innovation.

DDI in action, photo by edrabbit

Please donate if you:
have ever enjoyed any of the fire arts housed at Nimby
attended an event
want to get into some badass industrial art
want to support a collaborative, inspiring art house
like fire

NIMBY needs your help!

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Bettie Page

Karen — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:01:43 +0000

Icon, legend, muse.

RIP

April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008

AP News article

nsfw

Happy holidays everyone. Safe travels and such.

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A lovely photo

Karen — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:30:30 +0000

It keeps drawing me back.

By Icka

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Muddy’s art

Karen — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:38:52 +0000

I’ll be spending more time at Muddy’s in the next few weeks. Some of Miss Icka’s lovely photos are on display in the cozy cafe. It may be a bit distracting to see this photo every time I look up from my computer but it will also be inspiration.

Congrats to Miss Icka!

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Muddy’s art

Karen — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:38:52 +0000

Congrats to Miss Icka!

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Bugs watch out, those flowers want you

Karen — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 18:22:23 +0000

pitfall pitcher (more photos)

For the past few weeks I’ve been feeling blue. There’s just something about an approaching birthday that is terrifying for me. All those life questions keep me awake at night, like “What am I doing with my life? Am I happy? Should I do something else?” and I seriously consider switching careers and moving. My temper gets short and I bitch and moan constantly. It’s truly a miracle that anyone puts up with me. It’s especially annoying since I’m usually around people who are older than me. I’m feeling much better now that the birthday has past but I was a huge ball of pout when my friend not only decided to play video games instead of going to the Conservatory of Flowers with me, but he also failed to reschedule.

Anyway, I re-realized (as I do pretty much every month) that I like going out alone and I don’t need anyone to take me anywhere. I decided to go to the Chomp exhibit because waiting for someone else was a guarantee to missing it.

The conservatory was very humid and I was glad that I dressed in true SF style– I ended up taking off 3 layers. The carnivorous plant section smelled like minerals; it was faintly metallic. I’m fascinated by carnivorous plants, so it was fun to see them up close. The plants were well-fed, as I saw many dead insects in their clutches. The ceiling mounted fans slowly rotated which made the natural light flicker. After a short time in the hot, moist, flickering environment I felt a little nauseated so I moved on to the other exhibits.

The conservatory is worth visiting if you’re already at the park. I hope that the next time I go I won’t encounter any heavily perfumed persons. Lots of perfume + humidity + heat == omg I need to leave this place.

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