Arcadia

Last Thursday night was the opening of 27 year old painter Lina Viktor's first solo exhibit at Gallery 151 and it was an experience that has one feeling more enlightened about life even if it is just superficially. For the ones that are paying attention to the acute details in the work there is a heavy use of mathematical and astrophysical equations and inspiration prevalent in the symbols that Lina chooses for her paintings. Interested in the golden age "Arcadia" explores the origins of gold and more grandeur ideas with “infused with divine geometry, ancient Greek symbols, and Baroque tracery.” The one self portrait that is featured in the exhibit is of such nobility and opulence that it makes it impossible to separate Lina the artist from Lina the idea and as a result made it rather intimidating to approach the artist who is in fact one of the sweetest and most humble people you will ever meet. 

Arcadia will be on display at Gallery 151 ( 132 West 18th Street ) until July 10th. 

Elegant Idiosyncrasy

For those of you that have been following my blog for more than a few months at this point may know it better under the title Elegant Idiosyncrasy. Its been a few months now since I have officially moved the blog under this site and I never properly explained myself for my reasons of this sudden shift in domains (doesn't it sound so silly to say things like that sometimes). 

It all started in Miami where I greatly struggled in trying to understand who I was, what I did and how to explain that to other people in a way that didn't sound overwhelming and/or disorganized. In all honesty I found a lot of difficulty in my self-branding and many reasons were because of silly stigmas that I had about how I wanted to be perceived despite how these stigmas were actually inhibiting me from being perceived as anything seriously. 

I have been lucky enough to have met people who's advice on matter's like branding and marketing I highly respect. They have been kind enough to guide me in a ways that were strongly needed. For example I was reminded about the importance of how style is perceived in different context's.

It all started after a bit of a rebellious gesture on my end in the form of a hot pink sequin dress and green poker visor. Definitely on the eccentric side of things but not exactly elegant since I had paired them with my brown ankle worker boots. It was then mentioned that though eccentricity is fun and quirky and important in creating personal style you should also always remember to find an elegant thread in the quirkiness. 

It's funny because Elegant Idiosyncrasy has been so much a part of my life for so long that I had forgotten why I was originally drawn to it. In the recent months I have certainly been more on the eccentric side of things, especially with my nihilism to all black everything still in full swing. That said to have had that said to me felt like an epiphany; an evolution I'm ready to make in my style and the same goes for my website and blog.

As I move forward Elegant idiosyncrasy will be put on the back burner for now until the time is right again. The blog IS still up and running as you can see, just under my new self-titled site, Ashley G. Garner. 

So now you know. The air has been cleared and we can all move forward with life again. I think this is for the best and that we will be happier this way. A cleaner site, a more cohesive idea about who I am, what I do and how that is being expressed in a variety of mediums. Don't you love how I talk to you like we're in a relationship? Ok, now go make me a sandwich, just kidding! I use my kitchen to hold my clothes ;)

Business

Cards that is and the importance of having a good one. Now I'm not going to ramble on about how I'm the best marketing/public relations/designer whatever the hell as it's taken me a long ass time to get to where I am now and lets just say it was a not so appealingly designed road. But I am in the business of visuals so when I get handed a business card it's like a first impression. Poorly designed and cluttered and I probably won't bother going to your website but interesting, clean, quirky, nice typography and good paper quality and even if I don't like your work you have gotten my attention. 

I sort of have this hobby of collecting good business cards and recently have been getting some absolutely amazing cards that have me thinking all sorts of things about re-branding. Above are 4 in particular that have especially peaked my interests in the importance of a good business card. All edited for the sake of privacy but my focus on these cards today is not who owns them but their designs. All so different yet all strongly representing the personality of their owners in a 3.5 x 2 inch rectangle. Though it seems easy enough I can't tell you how many times I have been handed an absolutely horrible business card and wondered why the printer ever allowed paper to even be wasted on such bad designs. None the less I digress....the card below has got to be one of the most inventive approaches I've seen to the typical business card and had me immediately wanting to know more. 

So if you don't have a business card I HIGHLY recommend you get a move on it. It can make or break an opportunity for you, that scene in American Psycho was not as much of an over exaggeration as one might like to think.