Checking In

Hi friends,

Just wanted to send a note out to all of you. We are limping along in this exchange, great work is being created, but we are not very well on schedule. Lets not fret about that, 0kay? We've almost lost a person or two along the way, but I am happy to say we are all still here and still working. It is almost time to mail again, but I have not even gotten a book yet this month. No worries! When I do I will get my work done and get it in the mail. We can do it! Let's pull together, get the work in whatever book we have done and head to the post office. We will get there.

~A

One more thing

Damn, that little idea for the pocket took so much longer then I thought it would...
It kept me awake till 5:00 AM trying to finish everything. But eventually, it was made and I send the book to Anders this morning (well, more like afternoon).

Since the topic I set myself for Milo's book was "Food" I decided to make a tiny recipe book, and include the most common stuff I make to eat at home. It has 7 recipes in it, with small illustrations.

I think I messed up a little bit...

I didn't count the pages right and so instead of 4 pages and 2 halves, I made 5 pages and 2 halves... I can't remember how the pages spreads out, I really hope I didn't steal someone else's space and there are a couple to spare. oops...

This is my Half page for Anders.


I had something ready for the pocket already, but then I had an amazing new idea which go really well with the theme I chose for this book, so I think I'm going to spend the next few hours working on that. It's just too good to skip...

Pages 5 & 6

This is a 3rd piece from Milo's book. I always really liked this phrase, which I encountered first on the powerpuff girls.

Pages 3 & 4

I've been learning so much from Moleskine Exchange, I don't know if it's because I interact with other people's work, or because doing only certain amount of pages in a book get me to be more adventurous and try new things, but from the second book I had, I realized that I work best with a theme.

So Ashe's book was dedicated to fairy tales, Andrea's were dedicated to poems about Birds, Steve's book (I think) was dedicated to my trip to LA, and I decided to dedicate Milo's book to food.

Drawing on the couch

3rd piece in Milo's book about half way done.

Blackbird parlour

This is my local coffee shop. I come here almost everyday, the owners are, by now, my friends, as well as some of the staff. It's a truly awesome place, with really nice coffee and really nice music.

I spend about 2 hours here everyday, drawing and listening to audio books.

I just finished another 2 pages in Milo's book while having icecoffee and talking to Imanuel, one of the owners, about cakes, manu and art.

Another for Willie's Pocket

Some people can't tell where it hurts. They can't calm down, they can't ever stop howling." Margaret Atwood, the Blind Assassin

I made a small print of this for Willie's pocket. I've been working on a series of homeless poems and paintings and this is how it makes me feel. Like howling and howling!

Cake in Milo's book

I had a whole different plan for Heidi's pear and banana once I saw it on the blog, but then life got in the way...
Ned had a birthday and we threw him a big party, being that all of our friends know Ned well, and what he likes, we somehow ended up with 3 huge chocolate cakes, about 15 awesome chocolate cupcakes and about 40 cup cakes I made. Even though we had about 30 people, there was still so much cake left!
One of the girls that came to the party was a model Ned shot 5 years ago, and have not seen since, she came to the party with her boyfriend's sister and it was really nice to meet both of them.

As it turned out, while I was talking to someone else, Ned made plans to shoot them the day after. So all of us met, slightly hungover, and took a million photos together. In some of them they were feeding each other leftover cake from the day before.

This is more Nude then I usually do on Moleskine exchange, I hope that's OK. It was just such a fun day, I couldn't wait to draw this...

Down on his Luck, for Willie's Pocket

Down on his Luck, Homeless Person. For Willie's pocket. I painted this today with a large wolf-hair Chinese bamboo brush in a small watercolor Moleskine (my current wc sketchbook). I was using a technique different than what I've been trying to do normally (Which is wet into techniques and washes and glazing/layers etc.) Normally, I use different size brushes for different amounts of detail, not one huge brush for everything. This brush is new to me, holds a lot of water, but seems to dry out fast, so water management is an issue--it's either too runny or too dry. (I guess you learn these things. like anything else.) And there is very little control, since the brush is so big and floppy and tends to feather out. The idea is, I guess, that it gives the painting looser, freer look.

This, by the way, never was supposed to be Keith, I was looking at a picture of a homeless man. NOT the one Keith is modeling. I'm saying that because it sort of slightly resembles all those pix of Keith, but it is not a failed portrait of Keith, LOL!

If you click on the image it will enlarge to about 4 times the original size of the painting.

Homeless Shelter, for Willie's Pocket

In 1965, I "ran away" from home. I had just turned 19, dropped out of college, and was living with my parents when something bad happened to me. I didn't know what to do, so I left home and went down to live with a girl friend in NYC. We shared an apartment, but we got robbed several times and lost our jobs. She went home, but I stayed in the city, living as a homeless person on the streets. Everything I had was stolen, including my shoes. I had no where to stay and one of things I did was sleep--not on top of, but UNDER the park benches--I was afraid--and with good reason. I was afraid to sleep, ready to run if I needed to. I chose benches away from the main paths, with protective bushes. My life as a homeless person lasted off and on for several years. They were probably the worst years of my life.

I pasted a photo of my own face in the painting.

I am making a 4 x 6 print of this digital collage/smudge painting for Willie's pocket. (I mailed Andrea's Mole to Mike yesterday).

And here is another for WIllie's pocket:



This is my husband, who is also my model--for both art and photography. He was modeling a homeless person during the holiday season.

You can click on both of these images to see them larger.

Last ones in Andrea's, and off to Mike

I'm going to be ultra busy so I needed to get this off, which I hope to do later today. I did two acrylics.

The first is a portrait of "Sissy," the main character in some of my children's novels. I worked hard on it, but I've never had a class in acrylics or in portraiture, and it didn't come out like I wished it would. I just ordered two books on the subject and will try again. It's in a realistic/children's art style, that is, art for kids. (Eventually, hopefully, for my books).

The second one, Farewell, First Lady of the Air," is a portrait of Amelia Earhart's departure on her last flight with a lot of artist prerogative done in a semi-Expressive mode. The idea for it came from a display at the Ford Museum. (A three-D display).

The third image, "New Leaves over Water," is the last pocket item for Andrea (unless I am foiled in my attempts to mail today.) It's a small print from a painting brand new today. It's a digital smudge painting--I was fascinated by the "fall-like" colors of the new cottonwood leaves.

The images will get a little bigger if you click on them.

Makin' Money - also in Aya's book

Ever since I saw an article about the prop money created for the long-since cancelled TV show Firefly, I've wanted to design my own currency. These were my first effort, printed on 16lb vellum, and I've started including them in the book pockets along with the stickers and trading cards.

New Day, New book!

I'm so glad this made it now! I'm really busy, but I'm going to be even busier toward the end of the month so this is not the worst timing... I'm so excited to see a book with so much art in it. Good work everyone!

Aya's book - going out at last!

MY BAD. I'm terribly late with Aya's book. The first two weeks I had it, I couldn't work on it at all because of all the work I had, so well, that's that.

Bubble Party, a recreation of an actual event (some names have been changed):



Archer: I just really wanted to draw this character. It goes with the Bubble party, but probably in a really esoteric way that only makes sense to me. I had several ideas, but in the end I went with a more enigmatic image because it's not my book:



I used markers on the left side, which I tested on lighter-weight watercolor paper than is actually used in the Moleskines. On the test, the markers didn't bleed, but in the Moleskine they did, which made me very cranky. That's why there's poppies painted with acrylics in the foreground of the Bubble Party - to cover up some of the bleed-through. So having learned that lesson, I went back to watercolors on the right side.

The beginning of a collaboration with Milo (with lyric by Buck 65):


The completion of the collaboration with Mike:

Mr Scroggins is Band-Aid Man!

A recycled Sunset Little League plaque becomes a going away recognition for a peer named Colin Scroggins.

Required:
Imagination, Sculpey Clay, Acrylic paints, Gorilla Glue...

Result: Lots of laughs and super fun!

Check out real size!

Still a Girl Without Style

How is it possible that I still seem to have no style, tho I paint & draw plenty? Isn't a distinct pattern supposed to eventually emerge? Besides bananas, I mean. Geez.

Top image: Cat drawn with a waterbase marker, then brushed with water. I still love the simplicity of this mixed-media thing. Reminds me of those books that allow kids to "paint" by brushing water over printed outlines. Same deal here, only I had to draw my own image first.

Middle image: Watercolor with black pen & clear nail polish (for shiny lips, which don't photo well). This is my token "surreal" contribution to Milo's book. Don't ask, because I can't explain it.

Bottom image: Collab for Aya, watercolor & Prisma pencil. I know, I know, another banana. At least I threw in a Bosc pear for some variety!

Nothing Says Zombie Like a Broody Hen

Top image: Ash gave me a page of zombie stuff as a collab. The blender is hers, so I added a giant brain. The maze was an afterthought, partway into the work. Earthworms are a recurrent theme with me, as are bananas. (Warning: banana art again, coming soon.)

Middle image: Barred rocks. Nothing says "zombie" like a broody hen, trust me on this.

Bottom image: Milo drew these birds on sticks, so I made one for her pocket. A hen, of course. Chick-on-a-stick. Like a corndog... only cuter & better for you!

Art Delay Ends After Vacation Jetlag

Being self-employed, my vacations go like this: ugly, weeklong work crunch before I depart... week of vacay, NO work! ...ugly, weeklong work crunch when I return. Sigh. Anyhoo, I did have a grand time in Oregon. I thought of Aya, as I painted on the plane. And I thought of Willie, because I bought sign-art from a homeless man. And my turquoise gemstones (above) accidentally came out like Anders drew them, HA! So you see, even when I'm artistically backed up, you guys are always on my mind :-)

Fractal for Andrea, ID and pocket item

Here's the fractal I made for Andrea's pocket and the ID I made from
that fractal for her ID page. This is one of three IDs I made. The
other two are a little more mundane.

This one is my guide license for Dream Shamanism--for guiding people in dreams. You can click the image to view it larger, though the print size is only about 2 x 3 inches. (license size), The name given is Marialita. That is my guide name in Meardth. (I am NOT little, it is a sort of joke, but also refers to my inner child who is more capable at dream navigation than my adult self.)

This is a small gestural sketch in crayola marker brushed with water in my small watercolor mole. I made a print for Andrea's pocket.

HAPPY MAYDAY!