I’m in Costa Ricaaaa!

So, here I am, sitting in a co-work space at my dope little hostel, Selina Jaco, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The days leading up to my departure were filled with friends and family and friends that are family. I had a going away art show which produced pretty much the exact amount of money that I thought it would, and it’s all thanks to all of my people who support and have always supported, and THAT is so fucking amazing to me! I also got to meet some new faces which I’m always down with. Thank you to all of you who came and gave me your time and your dollars to help me on my journey. I am so in love with all of you, and it still blows me away that I have that kind of support.

Here are a few pics from the show…

Just kidding, I’ve deleted them all. Don’t ask me why. So here are a few pics of art from the show…

The next day was spent with Adam, bee-bopping around town, getting a few last minute things done before my exit.

And thennnnn… had a friends-that-are-family pot luck dinner. This event had me even more amazed and I’m so grateful for every person that was present; an inter-web of Hubbard’s, Van Dora’s and Bosser’s (and a few others) who’ve all adopted me into their large circle of family. These are some of my favorite people on the planet, and are a HUGE part of my success as an artist and a person. I love you guys…

The next morning I flew away at 6:49 am. I have nothing to report about the day of travel except that everything went smoother than I could have ever imagined.

Upon arrival in San Jose, Costa Rica, I exited the airport to a LARGE group of people. 1/3rd of them were singing and playing instruments, 1/3rd were picking up friends or family and the other 1/3rd were asking if I needed a cab. To which I had to reply “No, thank you” about 30 times.

I then took a bus to Jaco, approximately 2 hours West of San Jose. For about the first 30 minutes I felt like I was still in St. Petersburg, Florida. The traffic was different, but not much else. I could see the mountains from a distance but I definitely wasn’t close enough to enjoy them. As we’re driving along, around the half hour mark, all of a sudden the road opens up to these massively beautiful mountain ranges and we are ON THEM, IN THEM, BREATHING THEM! I was so fucking floored, I almost cried. Halfway through the trip I realized my neck was starting to hurt from all of my gawking back and forth.

So we arrive in Jaco, I hop out of the van and onto the steps of my hostel, Selina Jaco, and I’m in looooooooooove! This place is exactly as described on the Hostel World app and beyond what my imagination conjured up. It’s right on the beach, coconut palms everywhere, coconut piles everywhere, a beautiful pool, super friendly staff, and adorned with the most minimal, yet inspiring murals.

I went out and explored the city of Jaco yesterday. It’s a pretty cool place. It’s kind of exactly what I expected, very toursity, except that it has a lot of healthy restaurant options, juice bars and coffee bars. It puts St. Pete to shame as far as its options for clean eating. It’s a little run down compared to our American standards, but I think it gives it charm. I love old shit.

The best part about Jaco is that no one is in a rush here. They’re just living. And they’re happy.

Today’s activities include the start of a mural for Epicentro Civico Por La Paz De Garabito. It’s a community center for children, teen mothers, and immigrants that have fled from other nearby countries due to poverty or crime. It’s pretty refreshing that such a thing exists in a city/country that’s not just focused on helping its own people, but humanity as a whole.

All in all, Costa Rica is beautiful, but I am nowhere near close enough to these mountains. Jaco is a cool place, but I need less party time and more nature time. Once the mural and other various fun art projects are finished in Jaco, I will be moving on to somewhere that I can run a muck through the mountains.

And no, I haven’t seen any exotic birds or monkeys. Maybe today will be the day though, wish me luck.

Follow me on Instagram for more photos and daily Insta-stories @paintthatuglything. If you’d like to help support my art journey around the world, please visit http://www.Patreon.com/PaintThatUglyThing

Here’s a picture of me Skyping with my grandparents. They’re so cuuuuuuuute!

 

This ever-changing mind.

So, right now, I just re-did my website to focus on more of the art and photography aspect of my skills, and last month it was to focus more on photography, and the month before it was to focus more on web design. And now I’m wondering if I’m constantly updating my website or just constantly changing it. I’m also wondering, will it ever balance out? To me being happy just how it is, making various upgrades over time? Or am I just going to continue being a chameleon of the web?

I guess all that matters is that I’m happy with it right now. I’ve also decided to take more advantage of this WordPress blog. That part I’m really excited about. The blog that was provided with my website doesn’t allow for followers, and I enjoy the feedback and camaraderie of followers. Soooo, yay for blogging! I’m gonna blog the fuck outta this blog!

Stay tuned!
Follow me on Instagram @paintthatuglything
AND check out my art here!

And I’ll leave you with this: This was one of 20 pieces of art I did at my “Black Cat Cabaret” solo show at Iberian Rooster in Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Phat Cat Records, acrylic on canvas.

My Florida Love.

There’s this place over the Skyway that is one of the most beautiful and inspiring places I’ve ever seen. I was taken there for the first time about 7 or so years ago, by a man who is 3rd generation born and raised in Florida, and whom I admire and trust more than anyone on the planet. Although his stand-up skills need some work, he’s the funniest fucker I’ve ever met. The man I’m referring to is named Adam.

The place I’m referring to is named Cortez, Florida.

All photos by Amanda Turner

Countless stories of Cortez from Adam and his family make me yearn to visit every chance I get. Although Adam’s family made most of their history here in Pinellas County, Cortez played a role in a lot of their memories. His family is also on their 3rd generation of old school, gritty ass fishermen, and are one of the most predominant fishing families in Florida.

I don’t know why this fact and places like old Cortez are so appealing to me. Maybe it’s the mystery of history, or maybe it’s the idea of really manly men doing really manly things for many generations.

I also think it might have something to do with the stories I’ve been told about old Florida by his abundant amount of family members. It’s intriguing and interesting to know the part they played and still are playing in Florida history.

Depending on which family member I’m sitting down with, I’ll get completely different perspectives on what life was and is like around the area.

If it’s his father, it’s usually tales of his smuggling days or of old plans that could’ve been, and I become so amazed by his genius mind and his appetite for adventure, even today, every time he speaks. If it’s his brother, who, fittingly, captains boats at the family’s marina; I’m updated on business and how the fish are biting. If it’s an uncle, one in particular, it’s almost always a story of some girl that he used to chase on the beach, “the one that got away”, who usually happens to still be amongst the family friends.

Either way, they all seem to impress me somehow.

But if it’s his mother, I know I’m about to hear one of the most romantic and captivating stories of their younger years that will make me wish I was a part of that time. Every time she tells me about how she met Adam’s dad, or about their old house in coastal Tierra Verde, Florida or about how Adam was such a pain in the ass when he was little (totally believable), I get a sense of nostalgia although I was never there.

So when Adam and I venture down over the Skyway to Cortez every now and then, she will insist that we go to this place or that place, and without a doubt they are always one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been.

One of her favorite places to go, that is now one of mine, is The Sea Hagg. From the front yard to the back, the outside of the entire structure to the inside, from floor to ceiling, it is covered in old Florida history. From 25 cent brass rings to thousand dollar ship wheels, I’m taken aback by the amount of antiques, glass buoys, fishing nets and mermaids of all shapes and sizes that inundate this place. I feel an insatiable desire to sit down and break out every art supply I own and get busy every time I walk into The Sea Hagg.

So when I think of old Florida, or Cortez, or the many lifelong friendships that this family has kept and passed on to me, I feel privileged that they would accept me as if I were one of theirs. I feel privileged to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth with some of the most awe-inspiring people I’ve ever met. And every time Adam walks into a room, I’m reminded of all of it.

A. T.

 

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Art.

Art. It’s a funny thing. It makes you feel some type of way. And I’m not talking about the consumer, I’m talking about the artist. Sometimes, it makes me want to pull my hair out! I’ll elaborate on this at a later date.

But most times, it makes me feel like I’m laying in a hammock on a tropical island sipping on a coconut.

HERE’S THE LATEST DEAL AT THE PAINT THAT UGLY THING SHOP:

Buy 2 prints, get one 5×7 free! 🙂

Follow me! @paintthatuglything

 

 

Dysania Collection

Hi guys!

The Dysania Collection is here! Check out my Etsy page with all of my art prints! Any purchase from today until midnight will receive a free 5×7, so go get em!

These prints will only be available until the new collection arrives in August 2016.

Thank you all!!!

P.S. Follow me on Instagram @paintthatuglything for monthly giveaways!

If it’s free, it’s for me.

Bloggety, bloggety, blog! I haven’t posted one of these in a coon’s age. Feels good though, getting your thoughts out.

I’m on this new venture. It’s called ETSY! I’m so excited about it! Here’s the deal:

On Friday May 13th at 6 pm, I’ll be debuting my Etsy page with my new style of prints and stationery, the Dysania Collection. AND I’ll be giving away a free 5×7 print with every purchase made on May 13th, 14th and 15th!

Preview of the Dysania Collection

I’ll also be debuting a new collection every 3 months, so when the new one comes out, the previous ones will no longer be available. So you’ll have to scoop them up while you have the chance.

I’ll be keeping this baby updated with new info and sneak peeks. If you want even more info, follow me on Instagram @paintthatuglything, or “like” my facebook page at www.facebook.com/atpaintthatuglything.

P.S. You should look up the definition of Dysania. I love it. Kind of.

Paint some shit on my front door.

So normally I get called to do sign painting gigs on the outside of buildings or a funky design along with the business’ logo. I LOVE doing them, every single one is a challenge. But for the first time ever, someone asked me to do something that I wanted to do. They gave me the basic color scheme and said, “paint some shit on my front door”.

So I did. Check it out on my website!

Oh em geeee, it was awesome! I mean, the product that came to fruition was pretty cool, but what was so awesome about it was doing something that I wanted to do. It was just non-stop feeding my soul the whole time I was schlepping paint on their door. We had a set price before I got started, but I went waaaaay above and beyond because I was loving just doing what I wanted to do!

My suggestion is, if you’re going to commission an artist to do something for you, let them do what they want if possible! So much more heart and soul will be put into it.

Instagram: @paintthatuglything

WAKE UPPPP!

Someone is letting me manipulate their front door. Almost finished. 🙂

You know what’s amazing? The power of positive thinking.

Every day I see the fruits of my labor. My labor is my thought. I was having a conversation with someone last night about how I have not always been a positive person. I used to be an angry, spiteful, jealous, manipulative, crazy person. And with all of my powerful pessimism, I trained my brain to believe that my whole life was crumbling at my feet at all times.

Holy shit, after typing that last sentence I just realized how unhappy I really was for so long. So discouragingly sad and filled with hate all of the time. I hated myself! But what’s even more fucked up is I never knew any different. I had no idea there was a solution to the madness.

Your brain; your magical, mysterious and ever-evolving brain has the power to re-wire it’s neurotransmitters into an automatic steady flow of positive thinking. That’s amazing.

BUT, to get to that point, it takes the strongest desire inside of you to get the fuck up and decide that you don’t want to be a miserable mess of a human being anymore. You need to make the decision to want to be free from constant negative thought. You need to know that that is not the norm although it feels like it. Once you’ve decided, it takes work. Man, it takes work. But you’ll start to see progress, and progress persists the desire to keep working.

Eventually, it won’t seem like work anymore. You’ll have good days and bad, but your good days will start to outweigh the bad.

Eventually, you won’t have bad days.

I know it seems too good to be true, but I’ve seen it happen in myself. I can’t believe that I was ever that person I used to be.

CURAZY!

A couple things that helped me were trying to only surround myself with positive people and listening to a shit ton of Tony Robbins! If you don’t know who he is, you should!

Instagram: @paintthatuglything

Twitter: @paintthatthing

Welcome to The Fuckin’ Burg

So when I meet new people, I usually refrain from the use of vulgar words, and this is hard because I tend to spew them out as if they were conjunctions. My reasoning for containment is not that I don’t want to offend anyone, I usually love to do that, but because I want them to hear what I’m saying instead of getting sidetracked by the fact that I just dropped a giant F-bomb in their face.

But when someone does it to me first… I am so pleasantly fucking surprised. I just want to let out a huge sigh of relief because I can finally carry on a conversation freely and with ease. It’s awesome.

You know what else pleasantly fucking surprises me?

St. Petersburg Florida… all the time.

Why?

Someone just text me about multiple $1000 grants the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance is giving out to individuals doing visual, musical and dance arts. The fact that we even have an arts alliance is so cool. So many people, businesses and companies don’t take these talents seriously, even when they need something from us; but the city of St. Petersburg does. So much so that they give money away to the arts! Not just the big arts but the little arts like me.

And the arts and local community in St. Petersburg is growing… RAPIDLY. I love this place.

Come get yourself a piece of the action. Visit (or move to) The Burg!

Instagram: @paintthatuglything
Twitter: @paintthatthing

Mixtape of Emotions

I’m a featured artist in this exhibit. Come check it out!

 

OMGGGG Life is so gooood! For no other particular reason than I’m just happy to be here.

Anywhere.

I do believe that happiness can be attained by any individual ever in the history of Earth. If you’re unhappy, it takes making the decision that you’ve just had enough, and getting off your lazy ass to be happy.

I don’t give a fuck if you say, “I work 15 jobs, I pay my mom’s, uncle’s grammy’s mortgage and have 72 kids I have to support while battling hives all day.” If you’re not happy, you’re lazy! Because there is a solution, many solutions! If you want it bad enough, you will do the research in getting started.

Getting started and saying enough is enough is the hardest part. Most people don’t know that the unhappiness mindset is not permanent and that they have the ability to change it. It takes time and effort, but if you put in the work, even just a little everyday, maybe you’ll kick those daily hives. You’ll definitely be the best version of yourself that everyone will want to be around.

Start with an app called 10% Happier. It’s daily meditation for skeptics. There’s a free 7 day trial and it’s $9.99 after that. I am not affiliated, just passing the good word. Even without the app, YouTube offers a ton of guided meditation videos.

If you think meditation is bullshit, I strongly urge you to check this app out. It’s made for people like you.

 

 

Instagram: @paintthatuglything
Twitter: @paintthatthing