Entry #10 Hello, darkness my old friend

         "Sirens" By Tiffany Holman, painted when I was 16 in, 2007. Acrylic 

                 
 Sometimes putting on an old record is like visiting a friend that you haven't seen in a long time. It's almost as if no time has past and your memories of everything floods back like it was just yesterday. Although you hadn't spoken a word between each other for quite some time, at the moment of meeting you can still remember every word that was said. There are always tracks on the album that take me to a different setting of memories that seem so clear you'd swear they were projected through a tv screen. All the laughs you shared and tears you cried, like a good ol' friend who was there to witness it all at some point in you life. Something about those sentimental songs never get old no matter how many times you listen to them, or in the case of that old friend, how many times you have to look at their goofy mug. 

           If you can't tell from reading any of these blog posts, music has been the catalyst of my life for some time now. Most of my friends are some sort of musician, or artists that adores music. I've spent some time traveling around, and of course met some people who I wish I'd get to see more of.  From New York to Washington state there are people sprinkled throughout the states that I love. 
           One of my all time go to artists in Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes. I learned about him around the time I was 13 (that's 14 years ago for me...) from a friend of mine, who is also a musician, named Gary Becker, in a band called PineBreaker.  He burnt me a copy of a Bright Eyes album called Fevers and Mirrors, and I was hooked. I went through many phases, from metal, to dabbling in techno, then rock, 90s rock, some folk, of course...ska, reggae,  you name it, I listen to it all. But Bright Eyes has always made its way on to my playlist no matter what my current music fix was. I eventually had the opportunity to meet Conor. He couldn't be a sweeter person, always trying to help his friends. I also did some work for him about two years ago, and designed a shirt for one of his many side projects called Dolores Diaz and The Stand By Club. In this band he and his wife are the lead singers and the rest of the group is made up of whoever is in town and wants to make music with friends. They have music on Soundcloud if you are interested. The first song on this post is from the Bright Eyes album At The Bottom of Everything. The second song is from the album Fevers and Mirrors. 
           The first art piece at the top was painted when I was 16. When I couldn't fall asleep at night I would imagine images leading into each other. A hand dragging back into the sea, that opens up, and soon you are swallowed up by it, the darkness turns into the night sky, the stars that sparkle begin to gently drift to the ground like snow. As the snow becomes a blanket on the ground, a pair of feet would walk across it, then you follow the feet, and so on... Until I would fall asleep! At some point the sirens and octopus tentacles appeared in my wakeful sleep and soon after became a painting. 
          The second work of art from the bottom Started with a Modest Mouse quote, from a song called The Devils Workday "I could buy myself a reason, I could sell myself a job, I can hang myself for treason, OH I AM MY OWN DAMN GOD" .After many nocturnal nights that would often end around 3 or 4 in the morning when I couldn't sleep, this little treasure was born. I was 18 when I drew this elaborate work on a brown paper wine bag with ball point pen. In between the main quote and all of the symbolic imagery is more tiny little lyrics covering every inch of this work. At the bottom of this post I shared a video of the Modest Mouse song it was designed from. 

"The Devils Workday" By Tiffany Holman, ball point pen on paper bag