It has been almost a year since I last posted on here, I had a lot to figure out in that time and while It has been a wild ride, things have started falling into place quite nicely. In the past year my family life took a wild turn into an unknown dark place where we quickly moved on from as soon as we figured out a few things. Dark places are never fun but sometimes a visit to them is necessary to realize what you are missing in those warm, well-lit places. I am happy to say my wife, daughter, and I are doing great, stronger than ever and making up ridiculously silly songs almost daily.

Not only was my personal life suffering but so was my work. I was in a stale, unmotivated place in life where I was making almost nothing new, that I was stoked on, for long stretches at a time. So I quit my day job a couple months ago and started working out of my studio. I call it The Kevin Munoz Studio. Here I am able to make stuff for clients and for personal pleasure. I also get to practice shadow puppets for as long as I want without anybody telling me not to!

In other news, a few months ago, I dusted off my old 35mm SLR cameras and have started taking pictures of things, people, and places around me. I am addicted to shooting those beautiful old minolta cameras just as I was nearly 10 years ago before they became bookends. This town is filled with so many amazing people and things to take pictures of. I sometimes feel like a curator of a grand art show or exhibit that everybody/everything is a part of. To view a little bit of that show click here.

I have started a new blog which you can find on my new website and I will not be updating this blog any longer. I hope to make ForwardCollective.org what it was initially supposed to be, a growing collaborative art project instead of my personal blog.

All in all, I don’t think I have ever been happier than I am right now. I learned a valuable lesson and that is that life can get really fucked up and the best thing to do is communicate with others, especially those close to you.

Thank you all for the support. Again, you can visit my new website here which the wonderful Renee Fernandez helped me set up. Also, feel free to email me, I’d love to hear from you.

Stay swell,
Kevin Muñoz

With the help of my other pal, and studiomate Renee AND the fine people at Fast Folks, I was able to turn this old beat up bike into a pretty sweet machine!!

I am now addicted to riding a bike!

Here is a drawing I made recently. I made it using sharpie and Prisma pencils on paper. I may or may not have been heavily influenced by my friend Jillian’s recent drawings that include a ton of prisma pencils.

Lastly my family is still in California and Sunday is father’s day =(  This means I’ll especially be missing my little peanut like crazy. Here is a recent picture that Giselle took of Chamila playing at a park.

Here is another drawing I made recently. Actually, I made it this morning at about 4am with my good ol’ lumber crayon.

Also, Giselle set up a small mini store within the new and improved Moxie on East 11th Street. The grand opening is tomorrow from 11am to 6pm. Make sure to check it out.

Also, tonight at Industry Print Shop the amazing Jared Connor of Mexican Chocolate will have a poster show/live printing event. You all should go to that.

Let’s see what else…. Oh yes, I miss this little creature so, SO bad.

Have a great weekend and stay swell my friends.

we soar through the sky and chami is digging the ride for the most part. a little into it she decides it is necessary to shut the widow shade and that it remained closed. she grew weary of looking down at the clouds instead of up. we munched on snacks, colored, placed stickers in a notebook, looked through flashcards and exchanged conversation with our new friend. 

we landed. loaded everything in our bags, chami helped with her little pack pack. said our thank you’s and our goodbyes. we set to find my family first, then gather our luggage. it’s hard to believe it has been over a year since we were here. the remarkable weather, didn’t really pay much attention the last 25 years, and being surrounded by my parents, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and nieces all at the same time. i was pretty eager to get the trip started. i had three weeks to bask in the sun, play in the ocean, see some old friends and eat at my favorite restaurants. 

i brought a journal that was given to me by my best friend, karol, several years ago and in it i attempt to right the events in which my life partakes. it never really last long. the recording of events. in that one journal i have attempeted to start an entry at many, many different times in my life. this time i taped a picture of kevin so i can show chami every night before bed. but i never wrote anything down of this trip. may bits and pieces of our california adventure has already been forgotten mostly when events took place and other small details due to my lack of ability to remember such things.

so week one, fragmented.

my parents. my nieces. visiting van buren elementary school and the soothing walk to and fro. my parent’s big house, seems even bigger. helen. bella and buster, the dogs. trader joe’s. henry’s. family get-together. drinks at kelly’s with the cousins and my brothers.

hobby city. knott’s berry farm with the fam. snoopy. ice capades. a little too nutty for cham.

in awe of television and it’s programs (we don’t have one). yo gabba gabba. the flinstones. the jetsons. huckleberry hound. popeye. oswald.

swimming in chino hills. my godson. nana the dog. wheel o gouda. fruit fest. bumble bees.

fullerton train station. alex. goodwill bin digging. lee’s sandwhiches. camera hunting. mother’s market. newport beach on a chilly day. pre-gaming. the crosby in santa ana. in and out.  ”i can’t spend money…. wait there’s in and out…we have to!!” gorging on food. again and again. 

family. playing in the kiddie pool.  chami’s meltdown. my meltdown. firework show unattended by chami, again. 

fullerton station again. good-bye alex, for now. yorba linda ‘s main street.  the farmer’s market. testing my new camera. giant dahlias. garage sale. treasure hunting in orange. bbq with karol and a portion of her family. a nice long walk to the park. the park. “good-bye playground. see you tomorrow.” another nice walk back to the house. root beer floats. life lessons given by my mom. drinks in fullerton. del taco. 

magnificent breakfast at the in-laws. nacho and rayito, the dogs. picking fruit in the backyard. lots of grapes hanging from the vines.

glendale. forest lawn. helen. my parents. rolling hills. fountains. statues. a painting over a hundred feet long. a museum. la smog settled over the san fernando valley. asian cuisine. elephant oysters. city of orange. margaritas with andrew. krispy kreme donuts. banana fritter.

cineamopolis. wall e. andrew and the girls. karlea and the kids.

week two.

old town temecula. treasure hunting. anza. more treasure hunting. rodrigo and elena. revamped ranch. the country. stars. goats. chickens. elena’s herb garden. the pond. tia ana’s house and her amazing shrimp salad.

don jose’s with alvaro. banana margarita. phone call to miami. ivan and avery. karol. brynn. the orange circle. 

huntington beach with andrew and the girls. sushi with jeniene. cold saki. pink berry. the rubik’s cube master. hollywood. the roosevelt. tropicana.  summer. karol and her sad tummy. 

six am at hermosa beach. the perfect way to start the day. late night party at karlea’s place with the kids. treats and movies. screaming little girls.

santa ana. harvey’s. the little party. the outfit. snacks. paint. up and down the stairs. shea won a bad ass gift bag. go zilla. back to hermosa beach with andrew and the girls. karol. rock band. quick dip in the ocean. more rock band.

breakfast with joceyln and simon. daisy the cat. tulip the kitten. hours in the swimming pool. tk burger. the anti mall. nick and sarah’s for dinner. playtime with the neighbor’s kids.

my mom and her friend, christina. basically forcing them to eat some very serious vegetarian cuisine. massage. superb asian market. swimming and food with the gomez family. gourmet dinner with alana, randy and dakota. one of the best little familes i know. chami on the keyboard. and chami’s attempt to run away.

week three.

hours treasure hunting with chami. first ride on supermarket horse and merry-go-round.dinner with mom and her bad ass friends. jessica and terri. awful margaritas. the nutcracker.

pan dulce con cafe with zinnia, zora and gabe. ferndales to visit ruthie, emily, mama linnert and the gang. swimming with danielle and the twins. endless jumping in the pool. chami chasing sophie. jumping on the bed. back to hotel roosevelt. summer and karol. and the guys that wished they could tag-a-long with them. anita and alex and the parked car. contemplating jumping in the pool. in and out and del taco.

photoshoot with the girls. chami on the piano. shea on the trumpet. taylor in her ice skates. goldfish. vitamins. jumping on the bed. pum the plumeria.

and we are finally off to pick up papa from the best little airport. reunited and it feels so good. in and out. marshalls. the muñoz house. the railroad inn with friends to welcome kevin back. 

lee’s sandwiches. the tux shop. the streets of santa ana. late night walk on the beach in hermosa. walk on the pier. i am convinced this is what it will be like when entering heaven. long walk back to karol’s place. amazing set up for kevin, chami and i to have the place for ourselves and a couple extra surprises like wine and money for dinner and breakfast. thank you, delightful friend of ours.

eight am in hermosa beach. great, but not as effective as the six am hour. quick dip in the ocean. playdate in long beach with the rebbenack and douglas ladies and kids. the outfit. one day we will be back. kimmy and mike’ss wedding. tigers and zebras. lots of alcohol. apples and oranges, too. and glass in my feet.

san pedro with the family. chami’s godmother and kids. fresh fish for the picking, cooking and eating. giant ships. hermosa beach with the in-laws, one last time. taking hours to pack and filling two extra giant suitcases to with prizes. chami’s fever.

our plane leaves an hour late. chami has a fever. kevin doesn’t feel well either. we munch on blue terra chips. i watch be kind rewind. i continualy track the plane on its 512mph journey flying above thirty thousand feet in the atmosphere and announce each time we fly over a different state. i realize kevin is passed out so i celebrate with glee on my own. chami actually passes out before we depart. thank goodness. i was getting the evil eye from passengers when chami was crying pretty loudly when we first get in our seats. she wakes up right before we land. we experience a very bumpy descent and landing. to the point where i was holding on the armrest for dear life. we forget chami’s stroller at the gate but all the luggage and the stroller are retrieved before our great friend, peter, picks us up.

i really missed our little home. nothing like being welcomed by the hot breath that is austin weather, 100 degrees at 7:30pm. 

We quickly made our way over to the nearest In-N-Out where I inhaled a double-double with animal style fries, it was a beautiful moment. After dinner we found ourselves across the parking lot at Marshall’s. Man, the Marshall’s in long beach has some great clothes at discounted prices. Chamila found a football, her new favorite type of ball, and started tossing it around with my dad.

Giselle orchestrated a little get together at the Railroad Inn that same night. It was a good little turnout. Here’s a picture with our friends Nick and Sarah. These two are some of the coolest people I know.

On Friday we drove around running some errands. We ended up by the Main Place Mall in Santa Ana at this great toy boutique/art gallery called Go,Rilla!Go,Zilla!. This place was loaded with fun stuff.

Upstairs from the shop is the art gallery. They were showning some really neat work.

The owners of GoRilla!GoZilla! are also the masterminds behind the Harveys seatbelt bag. So, right next door is a Harveys store.

Gary Baseman bag

Santa Ana has really turned into a pretty cool city. We decided to have dinner at a little restaurant/bookstore/lounge called The Crosby located in the heart of Santa Ana’s artist disctrict. This place opened up in the last year since we moved to Austin. The guys who run it are super nice people. We actually ran into them during the SXSW festival back in March here in Austin. Check them out here and here.

Logo

Menu

Wallpaper

More wallpaper

Beauty

After dinner we headed to Hermosa Beach where our friend Karol lives. She was nice enough to abandon her house for the night and let us stay there. Awaiting us was a bottle of wine, a sweet card, spending money, and amazing guacamole dip. She is way too kind. Thanks again Karol!

The next day we hung out in Long Beach with a few friends. We checked out The Outfit which is curated by our friend Angie. We have some kids’ tees and onsies there. You can find The Outfit inside of The Kids are Alright in Long Beach.

After that we headed home to get ready for a wedding. Our friends Mike and Kimmy were getting married. I was a groomsman and I had so much fun! It was such a great time. Giselle had a lot of alcoh….eh… fun too. Here are a few of the wedding photos.

We spent most of Sunday at the ocean. First we had a big family gathering at the Port’s O’ Call Village in San Pedro where we ate freshly caught shrimp and fish. It was oh-so-good. After that we went back to the beach where we hung out for a few hours, got to splash around a bit, and we watched the sun set.

Goodbye Pacific Ocean! We’ll miss you.

I did get to eat some really good Texas BBQ this past weekend, with my brother Bryan and his family, at Black’s in Lockhart which is about 30 minutes from Austin. Afterwards we went to a nearby park to skate and let my nieces run around.

Here are a few photos of the girls the morning they left.

Multi-tasker this one.

Amazing, isn’t she folks?

To try to keep my mind off me ladies I have been keeping busy by working on fun stuff. Here is some of that fun stuff.

I was commissioned to redo the JUAN Lennon piece. I’m much happier with these results. Here’s a detail of the lettering. My favorite part about working with paint so much lately is how steady my hand is becoming. It’s tons better than it used to be.