Monochcrome Rebel began as the answer to the question “Why is everything out there pink, flowers, butterflies, perky, and religious? What about the rest of us?” (not that there’s anything wrong with those – Kasey likes pink, and I like butterflies just fine…)
While those “Mama Bear” or “Wine-o-clock” shirts out there are cute – we’re over them. We want something new. And edgier. Something that better reflects more than just a segment of the population. Something REAL. So we began to create what WE wanted to see.
Some of it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s just fine. If everyone liked it, it wouldn’t be very interesting, would it? We also wanted to make art, and help other people create their own art that better reflects real life. Life is many things – it is wonderful, it is beautiful, it is loving, it is joyful…but it’s also hard, and frustrating, and disappointing, and heartbreaking. I believe life is meant to be lived the same way I like my art – with ALL the colors, and ALL the emotions. Not just the good ones. I happen to believe that one of the best ways of dealing with the hardest parts of life is to examine them, to identify the emotions, and to NAME them. And then give the ones I don’t want to keep a solid boot in the ass. Because I have living to do!
In my art journals, there’s really not a lot of “find the good in every day” type quotes – I use my journals to get my emotions out. And there’s a lot of less-than-pretty stuff in there! (And yes – some of it is because my drawing skills are mediocre, and some of it is content! The good news is my digital art skills are better!! LOL) But I found that there wasn’t much available that suited what I wanted (and needed) to say. Even more important – my drawing and lettering skills seemed to be limiting what I felt I COULD put on a page. I’d show you a picture of one of my early early pages, but it’s the internet, and it’s around forever – and it’s MORTIFYINGLY bad. But here’s a perfectly mediocre page I did. But the most important part? I enjoyed the process.
And this one? This page just FELT good. It felt good to create, it felt good to get color on the page, and it felt good to let it out!
And the nail decals? Well…once I found out I could make all the nail decals I ever wanted…I had to make them!
