City Girl

The big open studios event, "Art-a-Whirl" starts tonight. Grab your purse, and c'mon down!

Girly Girl

Now that Spring is here, I want to be a girly girl, but none of my spring clothes fit! This happens every year. Somewhere during the course of our long dark Midwestern winter the girl who used to fit into her wardrobe disappears and pudgy winterworn version of her appears in the spring. Sigh. Ok, out come the exercise resolutions along with "I must eat better" mantras. Or maybe I'll just go buy new clothes in bigger sizes. (forget I said that last part).

Paint your Nails

Paint your nails, get a new hairdo, a new tattoo, whatever it takes to get yourself moving, and come visit the 2008 Art-a-Whirl Open Studios event! (if you live outside of Minneapolis, you will have to buy a plane ticket in addition to the above). My studio is in the Northrup King Building, a historical site (former headquarters for the seed company of the same name) and home to 175 artists of varying talents: fine arts, crafts, furniture, apparel, etc. There will be demonstrations, music, free parking - an entire day of artistic diversions!

Dates and time are on the side bar. For more information and directions, see northrupkingbuilding.com.

See ya there!

Choices

Sometimes I have a hard time making decisions, probably because I'm such an annoying perfectionist. I ask, Is it right? Is it wrong? Is it good or is it bad? But I've found that the best way to settle my confusion is to ask, Does it work?

Reading

Read any good books lately? I just finished Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, and like it is with all good books, I really didn't want it to come to an end. I just wanted to stay in the book, to open it up every night and continue to be involved in the plot. The writing was so good that I often reread sentences just to savor them one more time. But dang, I finally came to the last page, and now my life is empty without these characters. The novel is based on the history of the Golden Age of comic books and features two artists, cousins, who rose to fame in the 40's. It's loaded with adventures - it begins with one of the cousins being smuggled out of Nazi-infested Europe in a casket, and includes the appearances of Houdini, Salvidor Dali, a cousin who gets marooned in Antarctica, someone who attempts to leap from the Empire State Building - and these are not even the comic book heroes who show up now and then in their own adventures. If you want to discover more about the author and the real life events and characters that inspired his novel, you can visit this website.

Spring Cometh, Trash and All

It's been so long since posted! Partly because of an illustration assignment (more to come on that), and partly because of the flu!

Today I photographed a sight that captures the schizophrenic nature of spring in Minnesota. The gray clouds that smothered us for months disappeared and a blazing turquoise sky shone through, complete with Canadian geese returning, to reveal a non-postcard sight: the absolute last heap of snow. Black, icky dirty snow, and all of winter's hidden treasures of pop cans, candy bar wrappers, condoms, combs and fast food wrappers. I loved seeing that dirty heap of snow - because it is the last remnants of winter...yayyyyy!

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

I woke up this morning to seven inches of snow! Some parts of Minnesota, my lovely state, received ten inches! Mother Nature, this is SO NOT FUNNY!!!!! I was really looking forward to seeing the lawns green up, the robins hopping, the daffodils popping... and now I have to shovel again. I'm going to ignore this little setback, and think about the tropical days ahead, with sun and lakes and greenery blooming all around!

ILLLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Homage

Hi Yoooo Silver, Away! The Lone Ranger thrilled many a viewer in the 1950's. He was the original Super Hero, fighting crime. Now all us Lone Ranger Wannabees have grown up, and we're out in our suburban monster yards, fighting weeds AND crime.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Pet Peeves

Commuting with drivers who don't understand that
driving is a team sport (meaning, we are all
in this together, let's cooperate, let's
watch out for one another) - commuting with
these kind of drivers drives me (pun
intended) CRAZY!

Plumbing Disaster

We just had a bathroom plumbing fiasco. Think toilet.
Think worst imaginable scenario. Ok, that's enough thinking.
Most women wait for their Knight in Shining Armor.
Not me! I prefer a man who's good in the bathroom,
My Prince of Plumbing, priceless!!!!!

(Or quite pricey, depending whether or not
he's family.)

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Heavy

Whiskey

Today is the anniversary of Whiskey's passing, so I thought I would
post a sketchbook page in his honor. He ran my life here on earth,
so I'm sure he has lined up his staff in the Afterlife. I miss you,
Whiskey dearest!

Soul Food

Music, singing and some-mores, all nourish the soul!

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Fail

"He who fears he will suffer, already suffers what he fears."
Montaigne, that wise old 15th century philosopher, enlightened
my life with this thought. In other words, if you keep worrying
you're gonna drop your ice cream cone, you will.

If we think we will fail, we unconsciously do things to make our
thoughts come true. Even knowing that, it's so hard to get rid
of those pesky damning thoughts...kind of like trying not to think
of the color blue when someone tells you not to think
of the color blue.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Leap

Those sleepless nights when the sheep
not only leap over your bed, they
leap over your house.

12 Little Monkeys

More illustrations from 12 Little Monkeys

Another illustration for a cute monkey print by Frankie & Johnny. Check out their fun website right here:sleepyheads.com

Memory Lane - Jump Rope with Audience

There's nothing like an audience to get your best performance! This illustration is part of a commissioned series for Sleepyheads.com, an online sleepwear boutique. Was this ever a fun assignment! Their own fabulous line of sleepwear, Frankie & Johnny, is a popular staple with the Hollywood crowd. I can say that my illustrations have gone to bed with Paris Hilton and many other notables! Check out their fun website right here: Sleepyheads.com.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Multiple

Multiple monkeys, one dream!

GARDEN GIRL - Mulch Mama

Sheep

Sometimes it's fun to just let the pen scribble, without too much input from the brain. Not that there is an overload up there to start with, but this sketch was done with nothing in particular in mind. It works well in black and white, but I could see where color laid in behind would be an interesting direction to go. I think my direction to go right now is into the kitchen for some lunch.