And I almost forgot..!

Glass, Cinder and Thorns went great! Now that the opening is done and over, here are the pieces i submitted to the show :) The show got tons of coverage and i was mentioned in RealDetroit or Metrotimes... hmm... one of the two anyway. it was a great quote too...hold on i'm going to find it....

here is a link to an article on Artslant.com
http://www.artslant.com/ew/articles/show/15180

my part "Crystal Mielcarek’s “Inside the Belly of the Beast,” features the victim as powerless, trapped inside the bloody viscera of her oppressor."

Nice wording author person!




here is a link
http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/content/article_6263.shtml

it was Real Detroit
they used my image in the article :)

sweet times.

and i've recieved several invites to participate in other shows since Cinder & Thorns

We can only keep striving to improve and to keep creating.

a little something, something...

Hello internet world, it's been a while. Crystal has been working hard at her day job, sketching a lot, so many paintings on the back-burner for future pieces. Fortunately, on an unrelated note, i made chili for dinner.

Here is a little tracing paper color study for a little something, something:


Nothing beats spending an afternoon drawing some fantastic boobs, lol. We shall see if this one moves forward :) if folks like it maybe i'll paint this up.

I'm really trying to get rid of everything i own too... so if you think i would have something you would like, hit me up... i have all kinds of crap. Art, Dvds, television sets, old video game systems, books, cds, knick knacks, some vintage lunchboxes, comic books... all must go. :) <3 to you world. Reach out and really try to reach your full potential- and sit back and really realize how much you can do if you put your mind to it.

Ready, Steady, Go Now...

Well, after a delay I am attempting a comeback. Life is starting to fall back into a routine and everyday things get easier and easier. Tonight i decided as a special treat I would show you my almost indecipherable sketch stage that most of my art goes through in comparison with the more refined version. This is my usual routine before I attempt an actual painting or fully refined piece of art.

And so on...
Thus you see two stages for my little geisha doodle.
I hoped you enjoyed this little peak into my brain.

Aside from my usual sketching I have been working on tarot card designs and things are coming along. Starting a day job slowed down my productivity a bit, but as i mentioned earlier, things are starting to become routine, so i expect some good things to come, expecially now that the sun is out and spring is well on it's way.

And one last reminder, Glass, Cinder and Thorns at 323 east royal oak is this month! If you are local come on down, Tuesday March 20th and see the work, lots of great artists are involved :)

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope…

2010 is the year of the doodle. Not really, but i've been a little pressured lately, lots more to do every day and not enough time to do it all :)

I'll get used to my new schedule soon enough, and i'll be popping out the full paintings soon. The show at 323 is coming up quicker and quicker.

I had a little fun today drawing A little star wars doodle and cute fruit and olives.

so here is my saturday gift to you.... cuteness.

smushbox.net gets another overhaul

Good evening fellow humans.

I hope everyone is doing well this fine evening. I am really diggin' this mild weather we've been having round here the last few days. Getting some fresh air and seeing other humans again has been quite motivational and inspirational.

Been compiling lists of jobs and goals and things, i'm filling up every scrap of paper in this apartment with notes and doodles and information and research and numbers and graphs... hahaha ok, maybe not graphs, but i swear, its going to come to that. Todays doodle -->

Yesterday and early this morning i spent a great deal of time revamping my website once more. I got rid of all of the older artwork and sketchbook stuff, though i am working on designing a page to display some of my tarot sketches and things of that nature. It was just time to retire some of the older artwork and keep it classy ;) click the image to check it out


the contact page is still under construction (somehow it still links to the old contact page, which i suppose is better than linking to nothing at all (p.s. i almost typed "semen" instead of somehow back there))

munny on a partly sunny day

Good afternoon world, it is i, Crystal, ruler of ... my tiny apartment. Been doing great on motivation lately, i feel like my brain might finally be functioning. After graduation i took a long needed mental holiday, i've still been drawing and doing art, i just wasn't as productive as i could be.

I'm great now despite the fact i've got a slight head cold, and nothing tastes good except coffee. It doesn't help that i've been spending some time outdoors, but it's been warmer these last few days and i've needed to clear my head. It's almost impossible to organize all of the plans and projects that are in my brain meat lately. I'm working on a little mini-zine which i started writing last night. I've also got paintings in the works for my March 20th show at 323 East. I still have tarot cards to finish and i just started my 2nd Munny doll: my Money Munny. Sneak peak preview shot of his back.

On another Munny note, i finally got pictures of my completed Mini-Munny. Take a gander :

And some random doodles from yesterday:
and that folks, is all she wrote.

Federal Express is my enemy or tell your brain i say goodbye

Been spending my days waiting. and waiting. FedEx decided the roads were bad today and they didn't have the time to deliver my package which was on their truck all day. Now i am super exhausted.

I had a sketch date with a good friend and spent my day painting. Here are a couple secretive progress shots for a couple new paintings i'm working on. ;)
they will be available for viewing soon.

Interesting Tidbit: in the original version of "the little mermaid" the mermaid falls in love with the prince but when she gets her legs, every step she took was as painful as walking on knives and she bled from her feet constantly. After she failed time and time again to get the prince to fall for her, she dies in the ocean - turning to foam and doomed to be forever spiritless in the afterlife.

Now back to more reading and sleep. I'm trying to get through an audiobook on public schools which is totally enthralling and informative. It makes me want to force any of my friends with children to home school.

I'm also re-reading cat's cradle by vonnegut and want to get through some of the other novels on my shelf that i may or may not have finished. plus... as you grow older... life perspectives start to change.. and a book that may have had one certain meaning to you when you were a child or youth... may be interpreted in a completely different way upon a re-read or as time passes... I've found this to be true in many cases. Two in particular were "the bell jar" by sylvia plath and "catcher in the rye" by salinger.

Well peace be with you
Time for me to depart this weird internet land for the evening.
i've been far too social lately as it is.

digital fun and winter blues

I'm attempting to make a more frequent effort to update my blogger. There is no way i can maintain an every day post as some do, I'm just not that interesting, haha! More like, i would forget but more than once a month will be a nice change.

Today I decided to remain indoors due to adverse weather so i played around with photoshop for a while. This is my doodle of the day done digitally. I'm also starting one of my paintings for the 323 east show i've got coming up very soon! I shall keep updates on that coming frequently and I hope some of you will be able to come down and check it out!

I work digitally very infrequently, despite the fact that one of the last classes i took was predominately digital. I was kicking out tarot cards at about 7 or 8 a week, but as far as digital work, it was more like a single piece every month. I feel less confident and less interested in doing things on the computer, however, I am trying to get over it and up my digital skills.

Holding a physical thing that I've created means so much more to me than to see an image on a screen that I'd have to run out and get printed. But because i'm in the process of coming up with a small zine or comic, I figure coloring digitally would be the way to go. I have no time for full page rendered paintings, though i think i'd love to try the idea out :) If ya'll have any ideas or things you'd like to see my take on, leave me a comment. I'm always up for suggestions :)

Photo Shoot of DOOM!

This evening was not a disappointment in the least - i had a fantastic time. My dear friend Sara dropped by for i desperately needed to set up an impromptu photo-shoot at my house. I need to get a good headshot over to the wonderful and patient folks at 323 east royal oak in preperation for a show that i'm participating a couple months from now.
Super excited about it too~!


So, for the first time ever, i actually enjoyed getting photographed which is very atypical for me.
We managed to pull of some great shots of a fake tarot reading with my deck. I'm still debating on the head shot - it is between something really professional and something more my style.


Yeah, i know i never go with the totally professional choice, haha, but there is always a first time for everything. My top choice is the tarot card pose below. and another is the new profile picture with the lunchboxes. I guess if i show you all of the contestants, maybe we could have a little "vote" on it.

On another note, the deck is coming along nicely. No problems and it most certainly will be finished in time for the spring show at the College for Creative Studies. Now off to sleep for tomorrow the job search continues. Wish me luck, my fellow man. Saturday already... geeze.





















ok at the bottom here is the final contestant, all the way at the bottom here... if you have an opinion on this please let me know :0