("The Devil Took My Records" Copyright 2009)

UrbanPopLife is starting to take on a life of its own. I am happy to see that so many of you appreciate the blog and arts in general as much as I thought you would. I am also happy to see that this is evolving into a conversation as more of you start to post comments and send me suggestions for artists to check out and events going on in your respective cities. The artist profile today is a result of a suggestion from a friend and reader film director Vaughn Verdi. Thanks for sharing this great artist with me Vaughn, now I can share her work with a wider audience.

Christine Benjamin is a painter and illustrator who creates her own universe that is populated with skeletons, aliens, robots, monsters, cool and funky people and animals.

Christine grew up in San Jose, California watching Underdog and Rocky and Bullwinkle on TV. She was influenced at an early age by cartoons, old monster movies and comic books. She received her college degree in graphics and illustration and started her own company CB Illustration.

Today her studio is filled with toy robots, bobbleheads, lunch boxes and other goodies from her childhood that inspire her paintings and 3 dimensional clay sculptures. Many of her colorful paintings and 3D pieces can be found in local homes and restaurants.

She has also illustrated for many companies such as Yahoo!, Hitatchi, Apple and Hasbro. Her characters have been used for various children’s products including books, posters and clothing.

Check out some of her work online at http://cbillustration.squarespace.com/welcome/