The Sunshine Express :)
Good Design for Good Causes: The Revival
December 10, 2025
Within two weeks, I fortunately got confirmations from all 3 organizations I wanted to partner with – Pivotal in San Jose, an organization that helps foster youth with schooling + higher education by providing mentors and coaches. Relationship TBD, but I helped them with their holiday party this past weekend (theme: PJ party)!
Then, Ecumenical House across the street from San Francisco State was looking to do their first batch of events outreach and had a basic idea of what they wanted to do – “lowkey, low expectations” – and I created a few drafts for them to post around the area. They don’t have a brand voice yet or aesthetic, I told them it takes a bit to find what works. So let’s make a lot of stuff :)! Considerations: Ink & toner costs, they’ll be printing in-house. We’re using Canva for ease and collaboration for their young org. Relationship also TBD.
Lastly, I have been meaning to head over to Recovery Cafe in San Jose - I met the founder Bob (or lovingly known as Rambo-b) walking ✨randomly✨ at a new park I had never been to. He had said something absolutely hilarious coming up the way and I laughed as I passed him, and then we talked sloped on a hill for about 45 minutes. He told me he helped found Recovery Cafe through his faith, I told him I was 8 years sober and (non-religiously) worked at a church. When my schedule cleared this past week, I namedropped him per his instruction, and I’ll be meeting with their crew on this coming Monday to see what all I’d like to do. Maybe I’ll just serve food and no design… I love doing food service (I was in hospitality for 10 years). Wins all around :)
Updates to come..
Uber but for Public Arts
Friday, November 21, 2025
What if we made being a community arts teacher a viable side gig? Everyone could make a little bit more money on the side while creating community and helping reduce stress, mental illness, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
Check out my deck below for a potential new way to leverage the large amount of empty rooms in unused buildings in creating new public art classes. We could then send creative teachers to senior adult homes, hospitals, rehab centers, pre-schools, and more :)
The times are evolving, so let’s evolve with them.
*I used AI to help create some of this pitch deck
Think of the possibilities…
Jess Jitsu Theory Model :)
September 08, 2025
Dedication:
To those who fight for girls’ education.
Every artform has a root code. I set out to find (nogi) brazilian jiu jitsu’s.
It was fun, took me about 2.5 years. I had to dig, rarely do I meet an instructor who speaks about jiu jitsu in points, vectors, and math. There is more to this, but I haven’t designed the pages out… and the rest is much more conceptual based out of my other theory model.
From my “Divine Artistic Theory Model”
Art = emotions + physics
Art = chemistry(internal + external) + physics
Enjoy!
*I used AI to help create the main person graphic
Sunshine Schools :)
for Foster & Unhoused Youth
Saturday, August 24, 2025
There are about 400,000 youth (ages 0-17) in the foster care system. Once they age out at 18 or 21, depending on the state, they no longer receive government support and can easily end up as unhoused adults. The National Runaway Safeline estimates that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year.
There are many reasons why this happens: domestic violence, religious parents disowning LGBT children, unfit living conditions, and more. I’m not a wholly punitive person, and I don’t believe that punishing children and teenagers is the answer here.
Instead, let’s create a place where they can land and learn about themselves, their interests, opportunities, and honing their potential energy for artistry, creativity, and innovation.
Note: We will either pay for this now in terms of investing into these teens, or we will pay for this later as medical bills for unhoused adult medical, psychiatric, substance, and related crime issues (think: hiring public defenders, legal costs, jail expenditures). The fault is not theirs, and the choice of what to do is ours :)
*I used AI to help create some of this pitch deck
Saturday, August 23, 2025
In the dreamiest of dreams, I think we could do some baller-ass things in America. Yes, baller-ass.
We all have to admit that the “old” American Dream is dead – we are walking into a new global community and we can revive that thought with coming up with a new American Dream instead. What is it?
A stimulated economy, a really cool destination where we get to learn about all types of culture, the freedom of movement, the glory of our National Parks, having a type of travel experience that transforms us with every passing second.
The new American Dream? Transformation into our most badass selves.
Plus, this railroad project would employ thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people from iron workers, to engineers, to designers, to actors, to hospitality workers, to interior decorators, to artists, to musicians, to safety officers, to medical staff, to builders, to educators, to federal workers, to small farmers, and beyond.
Let’s unite like never before :)
*I used AI to help create some of this pitch deck
ALL ABOARD!
Raising Hell
Sunday, August 10, 2025
I co-founded a now nationwide nonprofit serving foster and unhoused youth in 2016 and learned during the 7 years I served that 30-45% of youth in the US foster care/unhoused systems identify as LGBTQIA+.*
That stayed with me heavily. I dug into the reasons why – mostly, Evangelical Christianity. Religious parents disowning their children or them running away. One of the reasons I chose to work at a (progressive & queer-affirming) Christian Church in 2022 was to ensure that I could help solve these issues. (Yes I’m childfree, no I do not hate children. Quite the opposite, I don’t think I could put my time and attention toward these issues if I had to spend the energy raising a family – also, a discussion for another time but Jesus himself (as we know of ) did not have a wife nor kids).
I have had this idea for a music festival to spread awareness in my head since 2020 and since The Sunshine Express :) is finally getting its steam, I am putting this out into the Universe to see what happens… I’ll be working on this silently in the background. Hoping it will be all volunteer/donation-based. Or some Bay Area billionaire gives me a fat paycheck to do this thing properly.
Either way, it’s happening :)
Chakra Rough Draft #1
Friday, August 8, 2025
Something has never sat quite right with me having the root chakra be at the perineum – that’s the taint for yall who are like dafuq is that. It’s not like you sit at the park and wiggle your crotch through the blades of grass to ground yourself. I mean, you could if you were a dog… or the VP… but for the majority of us I don’t think that’s exactly grounding. Life is reflective of a tree, and the roots exist at the bottom, not the center :)
Honestly it sounds like some dude designed the ‘mainstream’ 7-chakra system and looked at his pp and was like, yeah, that’s where I’m rooted for sure, and never once thought about his legs again. (I’m joking)
How do you think the Chakra System would better function in your life? Design yours in your sketchbook!
Colonize Yourself :)
Sunday, August 3, 2025
I mean, look at this janky place. Ew. That’s what’s been here this whole time?
THIS is the world that we inherited!? Borf.
Nah, we can do better.
Go ahead, take them over.
Dismantle each island (dimension) and build something new.
Take each island over on this map and rebuild it in your sketchbook :D
Get creative!
