i applied to art center and i was accepted. we’re moving to LA. and we have tons and tons and tons of shit to figure out.*

i am originally from california so this is kind of like going home and kind of like, not really at all.

my parents met in california, and i was made in california, but i was born in arizona because i was a hidden pregnancy/child.. my parents were crazy. my mom was super young, but my father should have known better. anyway, i spent a few months in phoenix as an infant then back LA (san pedro, palos verdes, long beach), until my mom couldn’t stand it and we came back to arizona. when i was little i called it ariBona. not joking.

i didn’t apply anywhere else. art center was my first, and i guess only choice.

i’m so fucking happy, nervous, and totally and completely stressed about everything, well.. yeah. we have a lot to figure out. i am going to be studying graphic design with an emphasis on motion. i wanna do title sequence… like. so. bad. that’s what i want so that’s what i’ll do. i’m so crazy grateful, because i have been able to do this on my own without any real training… now i can’t even imagine how it’ll be after intensive study. my best work is still ahead of me. that makes me happy, and a lot / little scared i guess.

we’re going to visit in march and find a place to live.

(*mike is able to transfer with the company he works for, so a little less stress, actually! ….. but still, tons of fucking shiiiiiiit to figure out.)

( 18×24 inches, on french paper, hand signed, numbered, and embossed with my antigirl mark. ) ** berrylicious, whip cream, and red hot are selling quick.
all these prices include shipping & handling: one print: $42 all six: $180 – i only have two of these packs.

use this form or comment below.. include the color combination you want and your location. i will send you an invoice with paypal to pay for the purchase. sound good?

lets do this. xoxo, ag.

hi guys,
these are my new screen prints! they’re 18×24 inches, on french paper (poptone), hand signed, numbered, and embossed with my antigirl mark. they are part of a limited edition series, and will never be screen printed again in these colors at this size.

i’ve partnered with fab.com for a little pre-sale. during this short time, they’re available for $32/each. also, we have packs with all six screen prints available for $161, but these packs are extremely limited.

enjoy the pre-sale!

xoxo
antigirl

ps, oh gosh. i almost forgot! if you don’t have a fab.com account, here is an invite. and, you want a fab.com account, they have all kinds of things that are amazing.

ok! bye now, for real. have a wonderful day. and again, enjoy the pre-sale!

i love print and the new product they wanted me to try out was for postcard sets. which is a genius idea, considering that most print on demand services have minimum orders – 100 of each design, where 4by6.com‘s new service started with a minimum order of 20 of each design. ie: my order was, 4 designs, 20 of each, total set was 80 pieces. when i make postcards in the future i am going to use them for sure.

and they were delivered on thursday! and they look nice. they were printed on the recycled stock.

ps, leave me your adddress if you want one or two or three or all four.

xoxo

pps, thank you, 4by6.com.

i’m probably getting a cold. and of course, this is the worst time for me to get sick, like ever. i have a product shoot tonight and have work all weekend. i am pretty fucking annoyed (if i am getting sick but i feel like shit!) and i probably should stop my bitching now and go pick up some cold medicine.

xoxo, ag

ps, i am SO not complaining. SERIOUSLY. this year, so far, fucking amazing.

amy silverman would write the main piece for the guide. she started the i heart phoenix project last year. although she only kept updating it until july, she did learn to love phoenix in those six months.

when i spoke with peter, he was interested in how i work (which is concept driven and i sometimes have a hard time stopping once i start), told me what the deadlines were, and the budget. he also sent me past covers to look at.

(2011, 2009, and 2010 covers are pictured – click on image to enlarge)

i wanted to do something totally different.. and peter gave me complete creative control. that always makes easier. and if things need to change, they will anyway.

after 2 days of work on the project, i had four covers i really liked.

we’ll call them, A B C and D, notice the sans serif in the lower left.

A, the bird’s beak is missing.. how annoying. it’s only a comp. i actually really liked that one at that point. and i was using a super dark background – which i never did (until this project).

B, i went back to my cream backgrounds, while working with a palette of colors that i normally don’t use.

C, i love you. i wanted a circle cut out and i felt like i got it. paper hearts, i love you too. so imperfect and perfect.

D, i love you so very much, but the i knew the logo placement would come into question. and i felt it could be considered too ‘abstract’ for a cover design.

a few days later i went on holiday with my macbookpro just incase…. but i never talked to peter and i assumed things were good or i would have talked to peter.

and january came and there were minor changes to be made (pictured below). option C completely eliminated. and, the one with the cream background would be used internally.

and i kept working because i get so obsessed. this will never be used. it is what i call ‘creative exercise.’

soon peter told me he’d like to see option A with a lighter background, (pictured below). i tweaked a few things here and there to make it look right in white/light background.

this is what they had to choose from. i really liked both. i had no clue what they’d choose.

and here is the cover! (yes, that’s my handwriting).

now it’s almost lunchtime on a friday, and i am here with an iced americano, a fresh gel manicure, in a dark steel grey, looking at my computer screen wondering what it is i need to do and why i rushed home from the train. well i just remembered…. work.

here is some bits and pieces of things i have been working on. kind of, no.. it’s exciting, because i can add a graphic design project to my site very soon that will show how it starts and how it ends, but, that’s next week.. wait for it.

AND a single color screen print on french pink lemonade paper (18×24) coming soon..

xoxo,
ag

we were running late. and i couldn’t find my hair brush, and all our clothes were all over our bedroom, falling out of our luggage. and a zillion other excuses/things. but we went out, and we looked great. and everything was pretty fucking perfect. but, we missed brooke & matt.

first, a pre party at our friend eric’s house. then the compound, and then after midnight, to another house (with mostly the same people) where we watched people sing, and saw beth tom play the violin. and mike kind of cried. it was a really beautiful moment.

we all drank champagne and sparkling wine, and had great conversations about art and everything else in the world. we didn’t get home until 4:30 in the morning and it was undoubtably one of the most beautiful nights of my life… i am not kidding.

my only regret (kinda), i took no pictures. the next day, i found corks from that night in my bag.

also, i finally met jenny odom ignaszewski. she quietly came up to me and said ‘soooo i heard you’re antigirl….’ i said ‘you’re right..’ and we started to talk about art. i wish she hung around longer.

this year is going to be one of the best. i just have a feeling.

xoxo,
ag

a ring mike gave me, by melanyBE.

a tree i found on the washington idaho border when mike was taking other pictures of trees.

and it finally snowed! it only lasted for a few hours.

so we’re here, on the border of washington and idaho. it is christmas and i’m making chicken soup. i didn’t pick up the chicken for the soup, until this morning (it’s christmas, remember). the kitchen is, almost a complete wreck. and stuff is kind of everywhere. so that’s the downside of it. the upside is pretty much everything else, and i mean everything. the barn we’re staying at is amazing, literally, a-fucking-mazing.

oh, and it hasn’t been snowing. i got those boots for no reason at all. so far. it’s raining now, so there is hope… and well, mike wants to take me to flagstaff soon. and really i hated the snow last year so i am kind totally fine if it doesn’t snow at all.

a prefab gingerbread house mike and his kid made on christmas eve.

pictures i took during our drive to pullman (WA) from pasco / tricities (WA).

in salt lake city on thursday at 9 in the morning, with yellow drinks waiting for a tiny plane headed for washington. the blue moon was mikes. the ‘holiday punch’ was mine. it was some sort of scotch apple cider.

i need to finish the chicken soup.

xoxo

my jam + drink links because,

i blacked out on saturday night. i woke up sunday feeling dumb as ever. i haven’t had any blackouts in along time.

saturday was weird. i was drinking sauvignon blanc at my moms for our holiday dinner. it was the first time i had a ‘holiday’ dinner with my family in, like, years. maybe, 6 or 7. it is a weird time in and for my family because of my dad dying. sad to say and i really resisted saying it until like, two months ago, i guess, it was always a weird time in my family. there were always fights, abuse, drugs, addiction, food, and mental illness.

before my dad died and during his illness, i thought ‘ohh, i make art because my dad’ got me into art. it is true and it is not. he got me into art. he showed me art. and he showed me design but i don’t even really think he knew what it actually was, he’d tell me to look at things/posters/billboards and ask me what i thought. he wanted me to be an architect.

the reality of the situation was, i made art, things, collages, and paper houses and everything else i made when i was little, to escape what was going on around me.

back to the recent black out, after we left my mom’s, i continued to drink, but i exchanged the wine for makers mark. mike and i planned to tour bars, that didn’t happen because i ended up passing out, quite literally.

anyway, i try not to beat myself up about such situations.

and sunday was pretty great, despite my embarrassment about the night before, i wasn’t very hung over. annnnnd, mike and i drove 15ish miles for pizza (barros pizza, i wanted barros pizza, for weeks and weeks) and we went shopping for his son.

my drink links, hangovers & age, angry drunks, booze blackouts …. and let me not forget, where the fuck should i go for drinks.com

ps. have fun, be safe, don’t black out… and if you do, or if there is a remote possibility of such, put that phone in a fucking lock box.

xoxo, ag

next year, i want to make more, but all different sizes. and everything different really, i guess… hm.

merry christmas!