For the folks back home

Sabbatical update photo essay!  Huzzah!  I'm one week in on the big trip, and all is going super well.  I'm traveling this leg of the journey with my friend Liz, and we are getting along like peas in a pod.  Really, I even sing in the car in front of her.  We've been experiencing the blessings of the road, serendipity and hospitality and happenstance.  I'm writing right now from Durango, Colorado, and it's time for a quick tour of the trip to this point.

We had two great visits with friends in Pittsburg and Goshen, IN, but the photos only get interesting  once we cross the mighty Mississippi.

Then we had a great night in Iowa.  Really, all my preconceived notions of Iowa as a flat corn-riddled wasteland were shattered, it's a beautiful state full of rolling hills and big skies.  And llamas.  We stayed with Becky and Brian in their cool geodesic house and got up at the crack of dawn to walk the llamas in the Iowa sunrise.  I now love llamas.  Becky and Brian are fantastic hosts.

Even though I named my cat after Nebraska, the less said about this next leg the better.  We drove through a whole of stuff that looked like this.

But then we got to Colorado!  Spent a few days in Denver catching up with friends, work, dinosaur tracks, altitude and sleep.  And exploring Red Rocks!  You can see the famous amphitheater in the middle distance, and we also took a hike around through the rocks.  Bonus to the beauty was that a three-day Grateful Dead "Further" concert was about the start, and the place was hopping with a dose of Dead culture and it was pretty entertaining.

And then off through the mountains, where the aspens are peaking RIGHT NOW and the mountainsides are bursting with incandescent golden craziness.

Bonus serendipity was a random stop at a place called the Pony Espresso in Jefferson, CO, where the lovely women who own the shop decided on the spot to carry my notecards!  I can't fill the order until I get home, but am excited to have a presence in CO in such a sweet place.

Tomorrow, on to Mesa Verde (a life-long dream) and points west.

The year in preview

The calendar is done!  As you know because I kept harping on it, I've been pushing for the last few weeks to get this new series of paintings done.  Here they are...and they are at the printer even as I type.  Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I expect to have them on my website and at the market this weekend.  Which is your favorite?

Autumn creeping in around the edges

Well hello there September.  Where did August go?  I was just having a nice conversation with summer, but he seems to have left the room.  It's suddenly September, with little leaves on my running trails, and I needed socks yesterday.

Happily though, I haven't been blogging because I've been creating.  August was a busy month.  Remember those 360 wine glasses that needed to be painted?  The LAST load of them is cooling in the oven even as I type.  I'm concentrating on getting my 2013 calendar paintings done, and have the lofty goal of getting the calendars to the printer on Monday.  I'm in Handwork now.  And I'm leaving in just over a week for my mini-sabbatical and need to get cracking on the packing.

Sabbatical!  YES!  I wanted to do this a few years ago, and it didn't come together...but now the stars are aligned and I'm taking off across the country in my shiny red car to see the world outside of Ithaca.  I won't be back until early November, so many stray ducks also need to be aligned along with the stars.

 Here are two watercolor paintings for the calendar, Miss February and Mr November.

PS- I've had some inquiries about the baby chicken...sadly, she disappeared one night a few months ago.  I went out in the morning to let everyone out, and the front door of the coop was wide open.  It's a mystery.  The flocks is doing very well though, the new hens are laying now and they are friendly and hysterical.

Artists' Market!

Last Friday was the annual Ithaca Artists' Market, and my booth was absolutely gorgeous if I do say so myself.  I took all the shoes, loads of paintings and prints, and a smallish selection of cards and other goodies.  Borrowed a rug, and my booth was palatial and included some lights.  Makes me want to re-do my regular booth.  The event was a success I would say, definitely a different crowd from the usual weekend market shoppers, and they were focused on buying ART which is always nice to be around.

Today you also get a bonus photo of my new flocks of hens, almost all grown up and being very cute as they run around outside.  Their names are Potato, Olive, Snow Flower (her toes are crooked, and they remind me of bound feet, poor dear), Carmella, and the interchangeable Ginger, Mary Ann and Mrs. Howell.

Out like a lion

July is going out like a proverbial lion!  Two big things are going on during this next week which YOU should know about.  First, I will be at the Ithaca Artists' Market this Friday, July 27th.  This event runs from 2-8 PM at the farmers' market pavilion (which means I get to spend three days in a row there this weekend), and includes over 70 artists from around the region in a variety of media.  Plus food and libations and music, you can make an evening of it.  I will be in booth #43.  Please come, support the local arts, try on my painted shoes, bring me snacks!

I am also joining Handwork, a cooperative art and fine craft store in downtown Ithaca, starting next Monday the 30th.  I'm excited to have a place to present my Wingtip shoes in a gallery setting, as well as a whole lot of my cards and calendars.  They are open every day except major holidays, so if you are local then you need never run out of my cards.

In general, this week is a little nutty.  All of the above, plus a major home improvement project involving carpets which I won't go into here.  I do have some nice new art to show you though!  I've started my new watercolor paintings for the 2013 calendars, and here is Miss February, working from a photo I took of a Thai temple dragon.

He's a handsome devil

Here's my beautiful cat Nebraska in the sunshine spotlight on my counter this morning.  He knows he's handsome, and is secure in how much I wuv him.  And yes, this is most likely the same cat who left the semi-eviscerated-but-not-completely-dead mouse outside the bathroom a few nights ago, which dragged itself in to surprise me while I was brushing my teeth.

I heart mice, but only if they're still moving

My cats are generall picturesque, and I photograph them all the time, but these little iphone photos are perhaps the coolest I've taken.

glasses, glasses everywhere, and not a drop to drink

Every now and then I end up with an unusual freelance project and my house gets taken over with unusual art supplies.  A few months ago, a friend of mine asked me if I would be interested in taking on a job for a local charity, painting some wine glasses for a fundraiser.  It's a good cause.  "How hard could THAT be?" I asked myself...always a dangerous question that ranks right up there with "What could go wrong?"and "Think I should have another?"

So, the local Family and Childrens' Services have a long-standing annual fundraiser, where the well-heeled can buy a ticket for a tour of even more well-heeled houses, and sample some local wines and eat delicious food at those houses.  There are musicians and artists involved as well, and it's a lovely evening.  At the end, the guests take home a hand-painted wine glass as a memento. 

I talked to my awesome arty friend Ben, and asked if he would be interested in splitting the work, since there are  (ahem)  THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY glasses to be painted by the end of August.  With unusual paints and squeeze bottles, and they all have to fired in the oven.  He agreed (good man), and we made a plan.  Then I got sick with Lyme and didn't do anything beyond survive for a few weeks which set back the process considerably.  And now it's time to get crackin' because it will be the end of August before we know it, and there are FIFTEEN CASES of glasses in my basement that need to be painted! 

But now we've found a production method.  Ben does the design, and I fill in and add details and the sponsor's name.  It's actually pretty fun, each one is turning out differently and the clients are happy and I'm eager to see how they are received at the event.  We do need to keep painting two cases per week to get them done in time...

For those who like frogs (and you know who you are)

This one is for you.  Taken at Forked Lake last week.

La Isla Cocina

Cooking up a few new things in the kitchen these days!  I often work on the big open island in my kitchen, even though I have a perfectly serviceable studio upstairs.  Perhaps I just like being close to the tea and snacks.

I recently got hold of some awesome little journals, locally made and recycled, the perfect size for putting in a pocket or glove compartment or purse or man-bag.  Had some fun printing them with my collection of linoleum blocks, and they are selling nicely at the Farmers' Market.  Not sure yet how to put them online though because they are all different.

I also spent some time recently doing some matting and framing.  It takes a certain kind of energy to spend a day cutting mats, and I generally require some music to sing along to.  My cats like to get involved.

Speaking of days full of energy, or lack thereof...I recently found a deer tick on my leg, then came down with flu-like symptoms a week or so later, and then panicked about Lyme Disease, and am now taking antibiotics in case that's what happened.  Feeling pretty good now, but I keep losing days to extreme fatigue.  It's kind of that feeling you used to get in that 8 AM organic chemistry lecture in college, where you think you can still listen if you close your eyes....it's a painful kind of tired.  I'm a very active person with a business and a garden and bikes and a waitressing job and a million things to attend to, and slowing down when I need to has been a challenge.  But I suppose spending a few weeks napping isn't such a bad thing in the larger scheme of the universe.  So check yourselves for ticks, unless you're looking for an excuse to take naps too.

Otters and Hedgehogs

...are two of the cutest animals in the universe, yes?  Well, one of my projects this past winter was a book cover that involved both, but with a twist.  A local author, Karen Eccker, wrote a young adult version of a classic Sherlock Holmes story called Henry and the Adventures of the Speckled Band, set in the Netherlands and starring a cast of animal characters.  A young hare fears for her life after the mysterious demise of her sister, and calls in the expertise of a hedgehog detective and his otter sidekick.  Raccoons, a badger and an owl are involved, and the story is interesting, amusing, educational and comes to a satisfying conclusion.  A great read for curious young minds.

This was a very challenging project for me.  I've drawn any number of animals, but giving them personality and character and appealing large eyes was a good stretch for my limits.  People are always saying, "Oh, you should illustrate children's books!" but really, it's not all that easy.  The final version is in watercolor and pen, with a bit of Photoshop enhancement, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Here's the cover after the design work was done.

The book also just went up for sale online, and you can read more here and even order a copy!

Watching too much Mad Men

I'm working my way through the Mad Men TV series for the second time.  For those who aren't aware of the premise (hi MOM!), it's set in the late '50's in an advertising company in NYC on Madison Avenue, with a debonair and complex and beautifully-costumed cast.  I'm also working my way through a 1953 Woman's Day magazine I found in my parents' basement.  Keeping those two things in mind, let's deconstruct the following two ads.  Your thoughts are welcome.

A good week

It's a good week for me.  Here are two photos of two exciting things.

First, I put up my Wingtip show at the Finger Lakes Wine Center yesterday afternoon, and here's a quick look.  The reception/party is on Friday evening, please come as the Wine Center folks promise lots of snacks and interesting Cinco de Mayo inspired cocktails.  AND I'm running a sale on the shoes for just that evening!

 

And second, I tried to get a photo of the wee new baby chick, but Pauline keeps fluffing her feathers and blocking the view.  The baby is so tiny and cute I can't stand it.  Florence, who shares the coop, seems to be indifferent.

It always feels good to get a show up.  Today, Wednesday, seems to be my Saturday for the week, so I have big plans to clean up around here, take a long run, and attend to all the stuff that falls by the wayside when I'm working.