AMak Color

Unique commission - Anastasia Mak tattoo design!

Sometimes I get very interesting art commission projects that go outside of the standard acrylic and oil painting realm. Such as, my friend Brian, who now lives in California, hired me to design a saxophone tattoo for him sometime ago. I spent about a week drawing and then making several adjustments to my design based on Brian's requests. Finally, the picture was complete. I was so pleased to receive this photo recently with "my labor" on Brian's arm! I think the tattoo looks fantastic. Next in order - I am currently in a process of coming up with a tattoo design for Brian's wife, Kim.

A couple of photos from our wedding reception

Neither Kurt or I are fans of enormous weddings, and that is why we got married on a whim back in September. But, we still owed a wedding reception to our families who, of course, could not make it to our actual wedding after we gave them a 3-day notice. And that is why we spent the last 4 months planning a party. Given that my family lives in Atlanta, we couldn't possibly hold a reception during Chicago's winter - so we patiently waited until the air warmed up again, and picked the date of April 18th.

Truth be told, we did everything kind of backwards. We married, went on a honeymoon all over Arizona, then took a second short trip to Arizona, then spent 10 days in Brazil (2nd honeymoon? Who's counting!...), and then celebrated with a reception. And 2 days after the event, Kurt's guy friends threw him a bachelor party. Yeah. The bachelor party, though, consisted of a gourmet dinner and lots of wine.

Our wedding reception went fantastic. It is a once-in-a-lifetime event when you are in a room full of 100-something people where you are close to everyone - and all of them are fighting for your attention. Kind of weird to think about, that all these people are gathered for YOU. My family and 5 friends flew in from Atlanta, and other friends flew in from California, Boston, Asheville. We rented out a big lofty reception space from our photographer friends Steve and Cher, organized an international meal (which included Lebanese, Indian, and Isralei food), directed bartenders to make mojitos, and hired a wonderful local Latin Jazz sextet - Grupo Cha Cha. The party was superb! Of course, neither Kurt or I even sat down to eat, we ran around the room like maniacs, chatting with every guest, dancing, and trying not to spill red wine on ourselves. My father, who at 71 is an aspiring photographer, chased us around trying to get us to pose for 100+ pictures. And the following day, after a few shots of vodka, my Russian/Ukrainian parents were on the plane headed back to Atlanta. That night, we went out for Bosnian food with my Atlanta friends Dan and Azra (I had no idea that Chicago has quite a few Bosnian restaurants, but I'm not surprised - this city has every culinatry choice under the sun). Bosnian food, by the way, could give you a heart attack, but it is SO delicious! Overall, it was a great weekend.

Here are a few reception shots, courtesy of Steve.

The happy couple:
 

Kurt dancing with my dear friend Caryn:

Louisville: Midwestern City With a Southern Accent

I am very excited to start my show season again!!! Event though I was a little behind on updating my summer show schedule because of our recent wedding reception and our April travels, my May and June schedule can now be found on the EVENTS PAGE.
My first show of the season just came and went, and it was lovely to travel again to Louisville, KY. I was there for a cute little Cherokee Triangle Art Festival, organized by a neighborhood association in the prettiest neighborhood of the city. It is a busy season in Louisville - the festival is always held on the same weekend as the city's marathon and a week before the famous Kentucky Derby. My Louisville friend Matt and his girlfriend Tina gave me a warm welcome. The weather was excellent, and the show was a success!
Next up: The 1st Annual Artwalk at the Promenade Bolingbrook, Saturday May 2nd 10 AM to 6 PM, and Sunday May 3rd 11 AM to 5 PM. Click on the link above to get directions and all other info.