Beaches and Bathtubs

I was recently commissioned to paint a serene beach scene. Since the Inner Harbor is the closest body of water to me and does not always inspire serenity, I naturally turned to my bathtub for inspiration.

I blasted The Beach Boys, filled my tub with sand, made some ocean waves in my bath water, and prayed to Brian Wilson for some good ideas. Brian Wilson told me to try Pinterest, so I did. 

After two hours of looking at this:

And stuff like this:

...I had to go to work, the land of grocery and fluorescent lighting. Whilst putting milk on the shelf from a refrigerator in the back and mooing at young children passing by, I thought about the beautiful pictures I had been exposed to earlier in the day.

I then decided it was my life's dream to live on a beach. I am not sure how I will get there, but I will. Until then I will be mooing at young children and making waves in my bathtub.

Also, I will also be painting. Stay tuned...

New Shit

So I have a new site! It's http://society6.com/MakennaHardy . I originally did this to promote this Superbowl illustration. Please excuse the obnoxious watermark (I am told putting this in a public forum without a watermark is not a good idea):

National Be A Self Righteous Asshole To Smokers Week

Greetings! Sorry i've been away. I have been spending my recent days job hunting, which is kind of like fishing in the desert only you don't catch as many fish. I am trying to find a job that will not trample on my soul, but will support my addiction to things like food and water. My current job only supports my water addiction because water is free.

I write today in honor of national "Be A Self-righteous Asshole To Smokers" week. The purpose of this week is not to get smokers to quit, but to feel superior for being a non-smoker.  I have even designed some cards to hand out to smokers:

Feeling the Burn

The tragic events of this weekend tell me that I was never meant to be a ravens fan.

This past week I devoted myself to finishing this ridiculous piece of art in time for the game on Sunday.

I even skipped work on Wednesday. They were cutting hours so I agreed to forgo my shift that day in hopes that I would sell enough prints to make up for the lost hours. I spend a majority of the day painting and tweaking it in photoshop to get it perfect.

On Friday I drove a half an hour just to get them printed in time and threw down $60. I truly became a ravens fan and could not wait to beat the Steelers. Game Day rolled around. I brought the prints to a tailgate outside the stadium in two sealed envelopes in a large paper bag along with my beloved Orioles prints and awaited the results.

We lost.

I still had every intention of selling the prints. I stood by a fire as I listened to fans in mourning. There were still 70,000 (?) people in that stadium and most of them hated the Steelers. I had 6 prints to sell so I didn't think it would be that difficult.

Then a tragedy occurred that upset me more than our loss.

I saw a bag I recognized in the fire.

Isn't that Makenna's bag someone yelled...

I saw my name go up in flames.

I watched as my hard work slowly burned to ash.

I watched $99 dollars and a potential profit of $195 disappear.

It was like watching your own child burn before your eyes.

And what do you do when you see a child burning?

You cry like a child.

I think I cried for two days.

It was so much more than the money, although this could have been what I need to be able to afford to buy soap and other basic hygiene necessities.

The only thing I can do is write about it. It is a good story at best. The tears have subsided. They are merely prints. They can be reproduced. Just not now because I have important things to buy like toilet paper. We are almost out. Until then, I will be punching holes in my wall with my fists.

Actually that is a lie. I want to get my security deposit back when I move out.

I've Missed You

Dear blog readers,

I know it's been over a month since we last saw each other, but I just needed some space. I took some time to think about 'us' and I realized I was incomplete without you. I hope you will forgive me. I hope you will keep reading.

Deepest apologies,
Makenna

So while I was away, I tried to keep busy:

Halloween came and went. I know it's healthy to eat salad, but I think it is healthier to be a salad. Here I am with my friend, bacon. I designed both of the dresses and people just ate them up including my boyfriend who was dressed as a fork (not what it sounds like):

I painted a picture of a giraffe licking a lollipop:

I watched my roommate created a sculpture of dirty dishes in the sink:

I made and sold paintings of a bird pooping:

I published an article in whatweekly (click to see it!)

I painted a tree for my cousin. Each panel is a season:

I almost accepted a job as a 'sign artist' at a hardware store, but quickly realized they were just looking for a fast scribbler. I submitted a few pieces to TROVH on the avenue. They politely rejected my artwork by saying that they were not the right fit for me. I don't think they appreciated my bird poop art too much. I rang up thousands of groceries and put lots of soup varieties on the shelf, I  ate many a spaghetti squash, I sat on some babies, I saw an obese ghost in my room, I had a dream I was in a car crash and the car was a pumpkin.... 

I did a lot of things, but I have not forgotten about you. 

So You're Telling Me There's a Chance....

Yes, I am the artus of the above picture. Seven years young. 

 In 1995 I wanted to be a gymnast. In 1995 I was unaware that I would grow up to have the coordination of a blind cow on a slip n slide. However,  I have already fulfilled my alempike champin dreams based on my proximity to the pool Michael Phelps used to train.  I once dangled my foot in the water in this pool, so I pretty much think of Michael's success as my own success.

The famess artus part is a work in progress. No one told me this in 1995, but most artusts aren't famess until they are dead.  My semi-annual visits to Patient First tell me that I am not invincible and I have a pretty good chance of dying. 

Therefore, there is a small chance I will fulfill this dream as well. 

Happy Yom Kippur!

Today I worked on a banner for the band "Missing Stacy"on a 5' by 3' piece of fabric. The fabric was completely white at this time yesterday. I would like to thank Yom Kippur for getting this completed so quickly. Due to this lovely holiday, I didn't have to babysit and I don't  go into work until 6 pm which is when normal people are leaving work and doing fun things. Not that I don't love working until midnight four nights a week. I am excited to spend another happy hour with frozen bags of broccoli and cans of tuna. really. 

I am currently waiting for it to dry and praying to god my roommates dog hasn't peed on it. Yeah, I should probably check on that, but here it is....or was...i will find out in a second...