This week I am bringing to you the second installment in what can now be considered Art of the Matter’s Monthly DIY Post!

This month I will make easy art with you. Can’t paint? Don’t’ worry. Can’t draw? It doesn’t matter! This project is super easy, but it makes you look like you’re a crazy good artist. You’re welcome.

Here’s how: see more

As the semester bludgeons us to death with final projects and exams, we wearily fight back, armed only with caffeine in one hand, rubbing our eyes with the other because we slept only three hours last night. The end is so close yet so far away.

When I first signed up to do this blog, I wanted to expose you, my readers, to things you wouldn’t have been exposed to normally.

This semester has been an interesting ride. I witnessed a guy being hung from his knees with giant metal hooks, set a pumpkin on fire, and interviewed a community of people who paint with their own blood. see more

We’ve all done it before. We’ve defaced our canvas shoes like an abandoned wall in the inner city. Friends’ names and random shapes may have been graffitied in Sharpie on the rubber soles of your Converse. Megadeth, a classic rock band, themed canvas shoes. Acrylic paint was used. Photo by Alec Damiano.

Now it’s popular to see artwork on shoes. A simple visit to any Vans store or their website lets you see the array of designs they offer.

Iron Maiden’s “Powerslave” artwork? Check. Plaid and other patterns in the color of your choice? Also. Shiny silver glitter? Yep. There’s even a custom shop where you can create your own. see more

“Public speaking is the number-one fear in the world, according to most polls.  Our slogan goes, ‘if you can break it down on the mic, you can break down in the board room, or at the job interview.’” – Myrlin Hepworth Phonetic Spit has accumulated much support. Some supporters include Mesa Arts Center, Arizona and ASU. Photo courtesy of Phonetic Spit.

Spit.

Not the goopy mucus you accidentally step on when you’re on your way to the light rail. see more

Last time, I reviewed five free iPad Drawing apps. The best turned out to be SketchBook Express by Autodesk.

Here are five more free iPad drawing apps reviewed:

1. Brushes 3 by Taptrix, Inc. see more

The iPad is a beautiful tool with seemingly endless potential and millions of apps to choose from.

We’re aware of the game Draw Something, but what if you want to kick the artistic capacities of your device up several notches?

Sifting through search results can be a timely process, so I saved you the work. Here are the verdicts of 10 free artistic apps for the iPad, some of which offer incredible features for their price. see more

During my middle school years, I had a typical public school music program experience. I recall squeezing into the gaudy, uncomfortable uniforms that cost more than our instruments.

Having 60-plus measures of rest during the slower, symphonic pieces was a bore (I was a drummer at the time). And when one unreliable person had a solo and messed it up, I felt the urge to launch my sticks at them like dynamite.

Arcadia High School in Phoenix offers a music program I only dream I could have been a part of. see more

“I was born with a pencil in my hand. Every time I drop it, I don’t feel I am a whole person.” – Elena Erös Scottsdale artist Elena Erös specializes in painting. Photo courtesy of Erös.

Erös, an artist from Scottsdale, Ariz., was born in Moscow, Russia. She has a Master of Arts in fashion design from the Hungarian University of Applied Art in Budapest, Hungary. She moved to Great Britain in 1996 and began painting Windsor and Ascot race courses.

Erös came to Arizona in 2006 and won a drawing competition for “American Artist” magazine. She currently runs Bezalel Art Gallery in Scottsdale, where she showcases her art every Thursday at the Scottsdale ArtWalk see more

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They’ve opened for Flogging Molly and are going to play with The Wailers. They’re on this month’s cover of  West Valley Magazine. You may have heard their songs on KWSS 106.7 FM.

Meet Black Bottom Lighters (BBL), a Valley-based reggae-rock group influenced by Bob Marley, Sublime and Slightly Stoopid.

The band comprises of Ryan “Stilly” Stillwell on lead vocals, Taide “T” Pineda on vocals and guitar, Jose Aquino on bass, Ryan “McPhatty” McPhatter on drums, Kelyn Weaver on keyboards, Phil Keyser on lead guitar and Rushdi “Rush” Shakeel as the DJ. see more