Artwork

St. Patrick's

2012-02-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

4 1/2 x 6" Graphite drawing of St. Patrick's Church, Wicklow, Ireland.

Pouch no 2

2012-02-13T04:45:00.001-08:00

Draw-string pouch made from red denim and yarn. Perfect for collecting sea-shells!

Graphite drawing, Wicklow

2012-02-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

4 1/2 x 6" Graphite

Black Castle

2012-02-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

This used to be a really big castle in Wicklow... now it's not. You can read about it here.

Pouches

2012-01-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

I've created a small pouch for my Euro coins, yay! My hand fits right inside, and it'll be easier to sort through my coins waiting for the bus now. How handy-dandy.

bracelets

2011-12-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

The latest edition of Anna "jewelry" hand crafted wooden button, and leather band cut from a discarded chair I harvested some time in high school I still have bits and pieces of.

presents this year

2011-12-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Finally Christmas is over and I get to show all you out there on the Internet what I made for my close friends and sisters this year.
Earrings! hand crafted from a branch that used to belong to the tree in our back yard. These are already gifted, but I'm experimenting on a few new designs, and if anyone is interested I'd be happy to sell you a pair (let's say five bucks plus the price of a stamp these days). You can find my contact information somewhere on this blog, email me peeps.

Edit: I forgot to tell you, I traded a pair of these to Stacy Kirages, of Modernizm, for the latest issue of her self-published zine. Check out her Tumblr, she's a pretty cool cat.

Pearls of Wisdom - SOLD!

2011-11-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have one guess as to who bought my art, but I won't say as I'm not certain yet. WOOHOO! My first art sold in a proper gallery setting.Photo by Lawndale Art Center, links to flickr page if you'd like to see other Retablos from this years entries.

the only employee with balls enough to dress up

2011-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Me and Big George, Little George and Carmencita at Agora

Me and big George at Agora. Everyone was very impressed with my outfit.

no bones about it

2011-10-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

I just finished my costume with a bit of help from my sister, Joy. Doesn't she look great!? Joy thankfully didn't mind helping me by wearing the full body spandex suit while I painted the skeleton on. We are still waiting for her to dry.

By the way, it was really fun.

Dia de los Muertos Gala at Lawndale Art Center

2011-10-26T18:52:00.001-07:00

I had a great time with my mom at the Dia de los Muertos gala this past Friday night. Here is a picture of me with my piece... no I didn't get any bids, but it might mean that I'll get to keep it after all! (which is what I secretly wanted anyway)

After words mom and I met dad at Agora for a glass of wine. Much fun was had by all.

South to Downtown

2011-10-11T20:10:00.001-07:00

Just a small painting for Tuesday... 9x5 from a photograph I took on the bike trail along the lake shore.

Monday seems to be my painting day

2011-10-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

This is from a photograph taken of Andy and me at the start of this summer. For some reason I like turning photographs into blue and white. Done with watercolor, pen & ink, color pencil.

The Brown Sack

2011-10-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

I arrived in the Windy City on September 21st, applied for a few jobs, got an interview on the 26th and started work on the 27th. I work at The Brown Sack in Logan Square, and my boss' birthday happens to be today. I painted a small (9"x7 3/4") watercolor of her shop, open now for just over five years, as a thank you / birthday card to Malaika just because I like her so much.

If any of you out there are looking for a small gift, these only take about 6-7 hours and prices are negotiable!

Done!

2011-09-20T13:43:00.002-07:00

After more than 24 accumulated hours of work, I'm done. At $15 an hour plus the cost of supplies, this piece is worth about $450 ... but it will probably sell for much much less. Starting bid will be $150.

On display from October 17-November 5, 2011; find out more about this exhibit here.

I'm SEW tired...

2011-09-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

So, I've finished the sewing portion of my project. Today I completed the cranium, put some faux pearls behind the gauze (pearls of wisdom) and completed the halo (thanks to Hannah for the gold material!) all in time for a quick photo before the sun went down. PHEW! That was hard work. Tomorrow I will figure out some crafty way to mount it. I still haven't come up with an appropriate title, so any suggestions would be helpful.

Underwater at Barton Springs captured this summer

2011-09-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Updated

2011-09-18T13:15:00.001-07:00

After working all day today, this is what I have to show for myself. I need to define the teeth and add some more to the jaw muscles, and then figure out how to mount this baby.

More sewing

2011-09-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

I am working on a piece for the Annual Day of the Dead Exhibit to be held at Lawndale Art Center. I have already worked at least 12 hours on this piece... and I have to have it done before Tuesday night. It's not actually due for a few more weeks but I will be leaving to spend a month in Chicago.

Unfortunately you can never get really good photographs at night using tungsten, so I'll post an update tomorrow with y progress and hopefully better lighting.

Pillow Project

2011-09-17T20:48:00.001-07:00

I made this as a present for my boyfriend, Andy. It is a small pillow completely sewn by hand. I got the idea from James Newman who made a pillow for my sister, Hilary as a gift. I've only ever done minor alterations and usually using a machine, and here's what I got!

Pistol for when we went to the shooting range (also with Hilary and James).
Guinness harp signifying our visit to the brewery in Dublin.
My version of the London Eye, visited on my birthday 2011.
An Aspen tree leaf with Aspen tree trunks within, we met in Colorado.
We like to feed squirrels, and in Hyde Park, London, one climbed up Andy's leg!
AND the great state of Texas surrounded by a Lone Star.

Stencils!!

2011-06-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm making stencils! You should commission one for your favorite T-shirt, wear it everywhere, and tell all your friends. Since I started last weekend, I've got some sweet shades, a camera, and a styalized wine-glass-in-hand. I also did one for my new work on the Tomato Crew at the Johnson's Backyard Garden, but it's not finished so you'll have to wait to see that one.

2011-05-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is from a photograph I took on a tripod in London, England on my birthday this year. Location: park by the London Eye

Christmas present for Jenny

2011-02-10T10:17:00.001-08:00

Watercolor of Jake the McNulty's dog. It just took me a while to get a scan of it...

Phoenix Park

2011-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a succession of my steps in my boredom staying home sometimes of a painting I have derived from a photograph taken earlier this winter in Phoenix Park, Dublin.

Mt Healy Outlook and Horseshoe Lake

2009-08-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

Okay so instead of staying home for the rest of the day, I finally made my way into the Park for a few hikes. I had to walk from Denali proper into the park which took a bit of time, but I had the rest of the day so it didn't matter too much. It was cloudy and threatening to rain so I started with a short hike to Horseshoe Lake. To the left is a photo I took on the way from up above. I got down to the lake and read for a while about beavers and with it still being cloudy and windy I headed back toward the Visitor Center. On the trail I stopped to tie my shoe, bent over and when I stood up I heard rustling on the path ahead of me. It was a BEAVER! Dragging a sappling down to the lake to dam it up some more. I freaked out because I thought it was possibly something dangerous, but I survuved my first beaver encounter.

When I got to the trail head and the sun started peaking through the clouds, I decided to tackle a trail up to the Mt. Healy Outlook, a hike that my booklet said would take two to three hours but took much longer. On my way up, I only saw people heading down for the first half of the hike and the second half of the way up, I didn't see a single soul except for squirrels, bees and a few marmots. One of the last people I saw told me there were rumors of black bears at the peak... I didn't see any. Here is a picture of about the half way point, and the a pic of me at the top.

A Big Adventure

2009-08-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's my day off today and I'm doing laundry instead of hiking through the park. Outside I can see my breath and it is drizzling.

I came up here for several reasons. One being restlessness from being in Austin for more than two years and still not having much to show for it other than bar tending at the Cactus, making sandwiches and a tight knit group of friends and being adopted into the "Friendly Fellers". Oh yeah, and bike culture galore. You know how you start to feel when you've been somewhere for the right amount of time? I plan on living in Austin again some day weather it be after my job here is done or years after. Oh yeah, two: a new friend, Calvin W invited me to join him here in the largest state of the Union (much larger than TX... I know). Earlier in the year I had tried desperately to find summer work at a ranch in Wyoming, found it and then it was given away. So the opportunity to get out of Texas once again arose and I snatched it. In two weeks of securing a job, I got here.

So, what is it that I do? I sell useless things to tourists. I bought one of our khaki button-up's and un-stitched the "Alaska" lettering on it. The best item we sell at the gift shop would definitely have to be the fat red suspenders (a pair of which I now own) with "Alaska" written in big black letters on each strap. If you listen to the radio stations up here, every other commercial praises the state. Every coffee shop, one on every corner in the bigger cities, is named after Alaska. Alaska Motor Works. Alaskan Native Art. Alaskan Brewing Company. The list goes on, and attaches to every industry thinkable.

Last week I went on A Big Adventure. I hitch hiked from Denali down to Anchorage to see Raina Rose play at Taproot. Within five minutes I was picked up by a nice fella named Jeff who is a contract delivery guy for UPS, and took me all the way down to an exit away form where I needed to be bless his heart. Next I got picked up by Rodger who tried to take me to Calvin's trailer off of Rabbit Creek but it was too dark and way too foggy up on the mountain side. Being a gentleman, Rodger took me to a bar/motel by the name of Al's, bought me a beer, and slapped a hundred dollar bill on the table. "Anna, this is for your nights stay. If you need anything tomorrow, you know where I work and here's my number". WOW! What? I tried to give it back but he insisted and then left.

I am constantly thankful for human kindness. He didn't have to do that but that doesn't mean that I am not thankful for him. I used the rest of the money the next morning to buy a rain coat at Walmart and it continued to rain for the majority of the day. Rodger helped me in more ways than one.

Wandering around the city for hours and hours, getting on the wrong bus route and seeing even more of the city than I bargained for, I got to talk to a lot of the homeless people in Anchorage, and learned a lot of random facts. Like the streets are lettered and numbered, but the letters skip from "i" to "k" and "j" is left out because the city planners secretary was Swedish... where the letter has no real sound. Why the oil prices are so high and last winter how it forced a huge amount of people in outlaying areas to move into town because they could not pay the gas bill... and then had nowhere to go from there. Or how that affected the "no tax" that has recently been instated in Anchorage. PS there is no sales tax here in Denali and I heard not in Fairbanks either.

Oh yeah, the show Thursday night ROCKED! I made friends with the bartender, John, who let me put my large bag in the back room, and when someone yoinked the rest of my pitcher, hooked me up with a glass of the Duchess De Bourgogne. YUM! I slept at Calvin's with his cousin Brad and two other friends that night but on the way home we stopped at the grocery store and bought pies. I'm going to miss those guys, perfect examples of everything there should be in a real man. The time I spent in Anchorage when I first arrived in Anchorage, they included me in everything and made sure I felt comfortable. Took me to granny's house for dinner, and helped her find a friends keys by taking apart the living room, vacuuming it, and putting it back together... let me tell you, that was adorable.

Okay, enough for now, pictures to follow when I get them uploaded.

For Sale!

2008-10-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Anyone interested in some original artwork at discount prices??? Check out my link here http://picasaweb.google.com/annahazel/Artwork?authkey=lCvAM1RTaos# and email me if you are interested in anything whatsoever (as long as it's not been sold yet) at annahazel@gmail.com

sad happy

2008-07-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

I've known for a while that my record player was going, but when the needle went... man it made me sad. I just bought a new record and can't even listen to it. $3.99 at End of an Ear on South 1st.

For 19.95 plush shipping and handling, I am happy again.

Also, I found some old school ZZ Top in someone's trash pile. woot

It's been a while

2008-07-07T10:47:00.001-07:00

So this is the progression of my Cactus Cafe project. It all began when I had to choose something "architectural" to paint for my watercolor class, followed by the desire to do a study of the subject in preparation as a print. Now I know one person in particular who has been waiting for me to photograph the final outcome of the watercolor for a long time... so here it is.
1. copper plate etched and aquatinted
2. first pull without aquatint
3. Final product
4. watercolor

Mulberry Banana Bread

2008-05-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

3/4 c butter

1 1/4 c sugar

4 eggs

2 c mashed bananas

3 1/2 c flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda
2 c mulberries

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with mashed bananas, blending well. Fold in berries. Dust two loaf pans with flour and turn half of batter into each. (or use Pam) Bake in moderate oven 350 degrees for 1 hour or until tested done.

Eat, it's delicious... or you can just do the banana bread part... because this recipe is the best I've ever had (compliments to Sarah Hazel.)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2008-05-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

One prerequisite for being Anna Hazel is change. Growing up I always hated change, but now that I am finding my own way into the world I've found that change is necessary. My good friend Magdalena told me a while ago that she noticed that I don't stick with anything for more than one year, and it's pretty much true. One year in Austin and I am ready for a change... which I think will come in the form of a new home and new roommates.

All of the sudden, I get anxious, and I know what time it is. What is going to be new? Will I like it? Will I hurt people by doing it? Will life ever be the same after one more year?

Taking a chance can hurt but more often than not the world will keep on turning and it might turn out alright. I recently cut my hair in the back yard, worked through problems with a teacher, started working at the Cactus, told someone something important to me, and drank half a bottle of whiskey. Monday I'll head out on the road to California with my good friend Emily, and there's two people I'm going to miss a lot this summer, and I just don't know what to do with myself.

POSTerART

2008-04-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

My friends, the Abby Birds, asked me to make a poster for their upcoming show hosted by 101X Homegrown this upcoming Wednesday at Club DeVille. This is what I came up with: ...

12x15" watercolor and acrylic on paper
completed April 27, 08

Meet the Parents

2008-04-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

During Christmas break this past year, I went home to "meet the parents" of my room mate and friend, Melissa. We did all of the regular things: stay at her house, show me around her home town, antique shopping, dinner with the family on the River Walk, visiting of high school teachers...

Okay so bla bla, other than it amusing me that I stayed with her family for a few days, here is a watercolor I think I am finished with. It's a house close to Melissa's old high school that used to be a drug house until the police in that area buckled down on it. Now, the house is just old and falling apart, with No Trespassing signs, barbed wire etc.

grooming

2008-04-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

Furniture can be found anywhere at any given time. Say for instance: the alley behind my house, random side streets and especially around the time people are moving out to go home for the summer. This past week I found several sweet items.

1) new dining room table
2) beautiful couch
3) end table with two matching dressers

Unfortunately these things are thrown away for a reason. The couch is a bit stale, so I rented a steam cleaner from HEB but it still smells a little. Good thing is now I know it is clean. The two matching dressers were great (Ethan Allen pieces) but I couldn't move them by myself and in the morning when I went to transfer them to my backyard, they were in the process of being loaded meticulously into some guys tiny hatchback. How they both fit, I will never understand. As for the table, it was fine. I just didn't like the color or the particle board showing on the top, so it's been painted.

Problem number two with picking up unwanted items: you have to either find a place to store them, or be willing to replace something already in your home... or have a garage sale and sell them for less money than you spent fixing it up.

... I think I am turning into my mom ...

Tom Costantino

2006-12-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Tom's wifes country cottage.
December, 2006

Dryden House

2006-12-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

For Heather Curran Kelley and her husband, Steve on their anaversary.
November 11, 2006 .

This is the house they lived in for 16 years before moving a few miles away.

Because she's in town

2006-07-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I wanted to put this one on here since I'm giving it to Emily Tepekian today, and was thinking about her. Anyhow, it is a small one, about 2 1/2 x 3 in. and I did it near the beginning of the year along with a whole bunch of other small artworks. ET moved to Guatamala two or so years ago with her family and I have not seen her since until this past monday. I met her in 8th grade and we lived in the neighborhood together so we always hung out, and now that she's leaving on Thursday, I wanted to give her something she can remember us by. Hopefully next summer I will have the chance to visit her.. woo!

For Joyce Goldmann

2006-07-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

pen and ink turned into note cards.

mailed just the other day.

I met Joyce on the Fourth of July at a gathering, and had just told her about my selling note cards to Morris Orr the night before when she became extremely enthused and asked me if I would do something with their house for her husbands birthday at the end of the month. Anyhow, I agreed and I owe my commissions since then to her for initially planting the idea.

Architecture

2006-07-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

before and after trees
all artowrk in this posting commissioned by Sarah Stone
5"x7"
pen and ink on watercolor paper

"574" commissioned by Sarah Stone. 5"x7"

Artworks

2006-07-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

These are some of my artworks. Eventually I will have them all posted along with list prices. For now, be happy with what I have up :)