Feynman and Frida

I've Moved!

2011-06-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

Jargonhead Studios has a new website! It is a combination of blog, online portfolio, and coming soon, a webcomic!

Let me know what you think, and please change your bookmarks accordingly!

Sketchbook Friday #30

2010-11-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

This week's sketchbook Friday sketch is one I created last week. It is for my latest painting, which is on a small 8 x 10 canvas and is about half done now.

Sorry my posts have been so infrequent. Trying to get ready for my parents coming to visit next week.

I am meeting with the writers for the graphic novel tomorrow, which hopefully means that I can start on full-pages soon. This will be the first time I have met them in person. Everything we have done thus far has been through email, instant messaging, and skype. Hooray for technology!

Sketchbook Friday #29

2010-11-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

I went through a period of drawing Drag Queens, for awhile, and I have several of these pen and ink sketches.

This one is my favorite.

Book of the Week #24

2010-11-09T08:30:00.001-08:00

My husband chose this week's book: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

In his words:

It is a fantastic book about a fascinating subject, but not for those looking for a quick read. It is written more like a scientific paper, but is well worth the effort.

I love it when my husband actually has time to read something!

Sketchbook Friday #28

2010-11-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a page of ink washes created in my 2nd life drawing class, I think this was junior year of college.

My professor was obsessed with the angles and proportions of the human body, and although the class drove me nuts, I learned a lot about accuracy.

Book of the Week #23

2010-11-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I've already picked one book on homesteading for the book of the week, but I've found one that is so much better. I just had to share it.

The Backyard Homestead covers everything in depth, with detailed illustrations, regional discrepancies, and practical plans. I actually bought this book after just paging through it, and have read it twice already. I can't wait to have a house and yard so I can get started on the projects detailed in this book.

Our fox masks were a huge hit at Halloween. People kept asking to get their picture taken with us, and asked me where I bought them! They couldn't believe that I had made the masks out of plastic bottles and duct tape. Here's a picture of my handsome hubby in his full costume. Enjoy!

Book of the Week and Sketchbook Friday...err Wednesday

2010-10-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Since we are going to be busy this weekend I'm combining sketchbook friday and the book of the week into one post...and it's on a Wednesday, so...yeah.

Anyway, my final Halloween edition book of the week is Extreme Halloween by Tom Nardone. This is the Extreme Pumpkins guy, and he has some pretty fun and creative ideas for costumes, lawns, and decorations. I like it because it's not filled with cutesy crafts.

This week's sketchbook image is a creepy one (I hope sufficiently creepy for Halloween). Just a couple sketches I did two years ago brainstorming for a painting that never materialized.

Happy Halloween everybody!

Fox Mask #2 is Complete!

2010-10-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

I finished my husband's fox mask on Sunday! I used the same technique and materials that I went over in last week's post. Here are some pictures.

Yesterday I made the tail for my costume as well.

Unfortunately, After a couple of failed attempts at making fox legs spats, I've decided to forgo the project. I don't have a sewing machine, and without it they won't get done in time. Ah well, should still be some pretty good costumes! I can't wait to see our friends in Madison while wearing these costumes.

Entry for the NASA and Etsy Space Craft Contest

2010-10-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

I finished my entry for the NASA and Etsy Space Craft Contest today! Since I was a child, I have always had a love of astronomy and space exploration. I had all of Isaac Asimov's books on the subject, and I had those glow in the dark stars in my room, but I based them off of real constellations (okay, so I was a major nerd).

It is called "We will reach out to the Stars", and it is an original acrylic painting on a 20in x 24in canvas. This painting was inspired by the beauty of our universe and the importance of exploration. I titled it after a Stephen Hawking quote; "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."

I found out from some research that nebulae are the birth place of stars, so I took the idea one step further and represented the stars as eggs on canvas.

When you find a nest of eggs, without further observation you would have no idea what they may become. When we look up at the stars, each speck of light represents a whole area of our universe that without further observation or exploration would be unknown to us. Human beings are meant to be explorers, and that is why I think the Space Program is so important.

I really hope that I can at least make the first cut in this contest. If I do, I will need help making it to the final round, because the 2nd round is voted on by Etsy users! So on November 12th, if I post that I've made it to the 2nd round, please vote for my piece!

Sketchbook Friday #26

2010-10-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry that this is the only post this week-I have had the flu. Next week I will make sure that there is one more Halloween book of the week and will post the second fox mask, along with a how-to on making fox leg spats. Hopefully will also post my entry for this contest, a painting that I have been working on for the past couple of weeks.

Anyways....Sketchbook Friday!

This week's sketchbook Friday is a particularly ridiculous sketch from college. A friend of mine gave me this fantastic brush pen, and this is one of the first sketches I did with it.

Of course, two weeks later I lost it. I almost cried. It was a gorgeous pen.

Sketchbook Friday #25

2010-10-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch I did for this project, a bride skeleton for my sister's Dia de los Muertos themed wedding last year.

Book of the week #22: Halloween Edition

2010-10-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

This week's Halloween book is The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

It's a great book for parents to read to their kids around this time of year. I remember loving this book when I was a child.

A fox mask made from recycled materials

2010-10-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

I love to make masks for Halloween costumes. This year my husband and I are going as Mr and Mrs Fox from The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Yesterday I made my mask using recycled materials and shag fur fabric. Here's how I did it.

Materials:
-1 milk jug
-1 orange juice jug
-1 egg carton
-1 cereal box
-1 roll duct tape
-scrap fabric
-batting
-1 recycled translucent white curtain
-markers
-hot glue
-needle
-thread
-shag fur

First, I made sketches:

Using some scrap fabric, I created a band to build the mask off of. I marked the area where it would rest on my forehead with a marker.

Sewing the bottom of the milk jug to the band, I created a kind of half-helmet. Then I added the ears, made from milk jug plastic and cardboard.

From this base I just continued to build the inner structure. I wear glasses, so I had to make sure that there would be enough space for me to wear them in the mask. The egg carton cups were especially helpful for building up areas. This was done using hot glue and a lot of duct tape. I drew irises on the white curtain fabric, and sewed them into the eye holes.

I added batting to the entire area with hot glue.

The shag fur was a real pain. It shed whenever I cut it, and my glue gun got covered. I burned my fingers up big time. For the next mask, I'm definitely going to wear gloves. I created a flap in back that covers the area where the mask is tied, and then used hairspray to calm the fuzzy fake fur and hold it in place.

Tah dah!

Sketchbook Friday #25

2010-10-08T09:09:00.001-07:00

This week's Sketchbook Friday is a quick pencil sketch I made freshman year of college.

I think it was supposed to be a self-portrait, because I had a haircut like that, but I honestly can't remember.

In which my cat discovers my costume materials and proceeds to act like a fool

2010-10-07T08:13:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are going back to Madison for Halloween this year, and we are super excited.

I love making masks and this year we are going as Mr and Mrs Fox from The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I will probably update on them throughout the month as they come together.

I got my fur samples in the mail yesterday and was deciding which to order when our younger cat found one of the scraps and proceeded to go nuts, resulting in the following:

Enjoy the ridiculousness.

Book of the Week #21: Halloween Edition

2010-10-07T07:59:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween, so this month I will be choosing books that are creepy, crafty, etc.

This week's book is World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks.

With the past couple years being focused on vampire novels, it is good to see an excellent zombie novel out there. Entertaining, original, and fun, this book is a quick read and will get you in the mood for the holiday.

Sketchbook Friday #24

2010-10-01T08:03:00.001-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch I did for a terrifically unsuccessful painting in my freshman year of college.
The sketch turned out okay though.

Sketchbook Friday #23

2010-09-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

This week's sketch is one of the preliminary sketches I did for the painting, "By Your Side".

I had a dream about an old boyfriend falling out of a laundry machine. Then his head blew up.

I think I ate pizza the night before or something.

Book of the Week #20

2010-09-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

This week's book is one of my husband's favorites: The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Man.

In this book the Nobel prize winning physicist discusses adaptive systems in a way that is engaging and informative. Very interesting, especially if you like science!

Sketchbook Friday #22

2010-09-17T07:59:00.001-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is another drawing of my sister and I from college.

She asked me if I would ever be able to tell if she were replaced by a robot.

I think I probably could.

Book of the Week #19

2010-09-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

This week's book is Homesteading by Abigail Gehring

I picked this book up from the library on a whim and am now planning on buying it. While the format and shape of the book is a little awkward (it's shaped more like a coffee table book than a reference book), it covers a wide range of topics in excellent detail, without getting too hippy-dippy (although there are whole chapters on planned communities and herbal medicine).

Here are a few topics it covers:

Gardening- both raised beds and regular, with in depth details about plant pairing and climate
Canning- covers both pressure and boiling methods
Brewing and wine making
Chickens and ducks
Barn, smoke house, and tree house building
Alternative energy sources- including geothermal
Wild edibles
Candle making
Lots of other fun tidbits

All these topics are covered in an approachable way so that any one with a quarter of an acre or more can achieve.

Camping in Big Trees

2010-09-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my husband and I decided to go on a last minute camping trip. I had wanted to go to Calaveras Big Trees State Park since we first moved here, and even though it's about three hours away, we decided to make the trip.

It was totally worth the drive. We camped in Oak Hollow campground, which is very nice, and there were several available campsites. Our tent was pitched in a young grove of sequoias and douglas fir and the fire pit was large and high enough that we could have a fire despite the dry conditions. We took a short hike along the river trail and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and talking outside. The next morning we made pancakes and laughed at the ground squirrels eating the enormous pinecones that dropped from the douglas fir near our tent.

The next day we decided to hike around in the South Grove, which has over one thousand giant sequoias and is a really nicely maintained trail and area. We heard a bear on several different occasions, twice splashing around a stream and once tearing at a tree trunk.

Because we live in such a highly developed and polluted area, it is so nice to get out and spend the night in the mountains.

Sketchbook Friday #21

2010-09-10T08:56:00.001-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is just a little demon I drew a couple of years ago. I like the idea of a demon in footy pajamas.

Book of the week #18

2010-09-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

This week's book is Food Rules by Michael Pollan.

Much has been said about Pollan's previous books about food, and having read them both I can easily say that the praise is well-deserved. The reason I chose this book, however, is that anyone can read it. And in one sitting. It's simple, entertaining, and gives logical and concrete advice about eating. For these reasons, I think it has the potential to change this country's eating habits.

Sketchbook Friday #20

2010-09-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

This week's Sketchbook Friday features two drawings I did for an life drawing lesson. I taught art lessons at the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center in Madison, Wisconsin for several years. It was a wonderful little community art center in one of my favorite Madison neighborhoods.

This was a lesson on legs and feet. I used my husband as a model.

Book of the Week #17

2010-08-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

This week's book is Art Spiegelman's Maus.

If you haven't already read this Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel, you really should. It is a heart felt and honest allegory that grips the reader and won't let go. Totally changed comics. Check it out.

A Science-filled weekend in the city

2010-08-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my husband and I drove up to San Francisco to meet up with the Bay Area Badgers Group in the Presidio. I also decided to use this as a fact-finding trip for me to do some serious research on animals for my children's custom work. We spent Saturday at the California Academy of Sciences, which, while pricey (about $25 each for adults) is a gorgeous spot. We took our bikes through Golden Gate State Park to get there, which on a weekend is a little hairy, but we got there safe.

The California Academy of Sciences is basically a really state of the art field museum, with a fabulous aquarium and tons of animal and plant related exhibits. It is also always crowded. We didn't even make it up to the Extreme Mammals exhibit due to the lines, and the planetarium tickets were gone in an instant. Having said that, it was well worth the time and expense to go. The exhibits are really interesting, and we got a lot of photos and information on the animals that I will be using in the future.We also spent a decent amount of time just walking around, including along the Bay Beach in the Presidio area, where we both love to watch the dogs and their owners, the wind surfers, and the boats passing through. After a breakfast near the old Sutro bathhouses and a walk on the beach, we went to the Exploratorium with the Badger Alumni. This is without a doubt the coolest and most engaging science museum I have ever been to. Totally worth going to. My husband and I were like kids in a toy store running around and playing with all the exhibits.
They have an Artist in Residence program that I'm looking into. Once they open up the application process, I'm definitely applying. My husband and I already have plans from what we saw to create some sculptures and experiments! Once he is back to only working 60 hours a week, we may even have time to start working on them. :)

Sketchbook Friday #19

2010-08-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Today's sketchbook Friday sketch is another Alice in Wonderland sketch from my early college years:
The Mad Hatter

Book of the Week #16

2010-08-23T08:21:00.001-07:00

This week's book is Making Comics by Scott McCloud.
This book has, in many ways, changed the way that comics are made today. Scott McCloud made it possible for comic illustration and writing to be approachable and wrote in an easily understood manner for visual learners. Written in comic book format, this instructional book is funny, entertaining, and informative. A beginner's must for those looking to break into comics.

Sketchbook Friday #18

2010-08-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch I did for a series of illustrations for J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan while I was in college. It's the Neverbird.

Chalkfest!

2010-08-19T09:22:00.001-07:00

My family and I participated at Chalkfest in Eau Claire, Wisconsin last weekend while I was visiting. While it was intense (6 hours of drawing), we had so much fun!

About 90 artists participated, and it was a fantastic event.

Our panel was a spoof on the video game Katamari Damacy, and we got Runner up for Adult Group.

Sketchbook Friday #17

2010-08-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch from my early college years. Back when I went to punk shows, cut up a perfectly good sweater to have arm cuffs, and wore very large boots.

Apparently, my cat was a pirate at the time also. Who knew?

Book of the Week #15

2010-08-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

This week's book is one of Richard Feynman's memoirs: What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Confessions of a Curious Character

Feynman is one of our (my and my husband's) favorite physicists. His writing is smart, funny, and enjoyable.

A Study in Silence is Finished!

2010-08-08T16:35:00.001-07:00

Hurray! It's finished.

Painting in Progress Update 4

2010-08-06T08:54:00.001-07:00

It's getting so close to finished! As you can see, I've gotten the detail work done on the snowy owl. I'm really, really happy with the way he turned out. I wish, for composition's sake, that I had placed him about 1/2 an inch to the right, but I think it will be okay as is.

Now I have to add detailing to the trees and paint the snowflakes. This is my first time painting snow, and definitely the first semi-realistic landscape I have done.

I think that once the snowflakes are added, the feeling of silence in this painting will be portrayed. I really want this painting to be successful (as in successfully executed, not like CEO successful).

Sketchbook Friday #16

2010-08-06T08:00:00.001-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a piece I did as a sample for a comic job. I was asked to take a character and place it in an apocalyptic environment, so I made zombies. Lots of zombies.

Painting in Progress Update 3

2010-08-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

This painting is definitely coming along nicely! I added a layer of Dioxazine Purple with raw sienna swirls to the sky, and worked more on the snow drifts. I did an under painting of the darker areas to the owl, and I'm really excited to get down to details on his feathers.

I'm hoping that the raw sienna swirls will add motion to the sky when I start painting the snowflakes on top, we'll see if that experiment works or not. You can barely see the abstract under painting I originally created now.

Not long now!

Book of the Week #14

2010-08-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

This week's book is: The Book of Genesis illustrated by R. Crumb

Yes, you read that correctly. If you haven't heard about this book already, it's a fully illustrated version of the book of Genesis by the underground comic book illustrator that created characters like Mr. Natural and Fritz the Cat.

This book is great, but not recommended for households with children. It follows the Book of Genesis literally and unabridged, so it can get pretty graphic with all "he beget" and so on. But is a visually stunning work and well worth a look.

Painting in Progress Update 2

2010-08-01T08:29:00.001-07:00

I've been working like crazy on this painting, and it is coming together fairly easily. The snow and trees are still fairly simplistic, I will be adding detail later on. Can't wait to start painting the detail in the owl.

I've been looking a lot at Goya, since he is, in my opinion, the master when it comes to white. I guess this could be called a study in white as much as a study in silence.

New Painting in Progress

2010-07-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning of my latest painting, "A Study in Silence". When I begin a painting, I always start with an abstract underpainting that people can generally only see if they are looking very closely.

I use the colors that I think best apply for the subject matter, though I may not use them again in the layers that follow. It's a way for me to quickly get in the mindset of the work, and quickly move past the intimidating blank canvas.

Sketchbook Friday #15

2010-07-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is another sketch from my travel book. My husband and I were watching the sunset at our campsite in Zion National Park and I started sketching the cliffs. The light kept changing, so it was definitely tricky, but I really enjoyed rendering the light and shadow on the gorgeous sandstone.

Sunny Seattle and a Family Recipe

2010-07-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to Seattle for my husband's work and to visit my aunts. He had never been to the city before, and it had been 12 years since I was last there. We had a fabulous time eating, drinking, talking, and exploring.

My grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side ran a pizza business out of their basement when they were younger, and the pizzas were in such demand that they could barely make them fast enough. The recipe for their crust, sausage, and sauce are closely kept secrets in the family, but this weekend, my aunt taught me how to make them!

My husband and I have often daydreamed about owning a brewery and pizza parlor when we decide to settle down a little more, and now we are one step closer. My grandfather's pizza is the best thin crust I've ever tasted (and I've tasted A LOT of pies all over the country), but the recipe is closely guarded in our family. It was a fantastic experience to hang with my aunt and make a huge batch of shells in her kitchen.

Book of the Week #13

2010-07-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

This week's book is: Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak

Most people think of Where the Wild Things Are and In The Night Kitchen when they think of Sendak, but this book was my absolute favorite of his when I was a child. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the theme of the book appropriately dark.

Sketchbook Friday #14

2010-07-23T08:05:00.001-07:00

I always carry a smaller sketchbook with me. Today's sketchbook Friday is from that smaller book. I used this design later for some hand made cards. I just thought that the robot was very cute!

Book of the week #12

2010-07-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

This week's book is: The Grapes of Ralph by Ralph Steadman

I love wines, and I love the illustrations of Ralph Steadman. This book is a creative and unpretentious approach to studying the process and history of wine. It is also beautiful and hilarious. This is probably my favorite book out of all the ones we own at home.

Sketchbook Friday #13

2010-07-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a series of sketches that I have created for my newest painting, "A Study in Silence".

Living in a city has made me think a lot about the nature of silence, and for me at least, it isn't the absence of sound, but being able to hear things that you normally would not be able to. My favorite example of this is being able to hear the snow falling. When I lived in Northern Wisconsin, it was a fairly common occurrence, but in Madison and especially here in Silicon Valley, it just doesn't happen.

The snowy owl is actually from a memory in high school. I was visiting a friend in the early Spring, and had parked my car at the bottom of her driveway (she had one of those crazy long driveways you see in the country). I got out of the car, and went to shut my door, but stopped, because not more than 6 feet away was a snowy owl, wide awake and looking straight at me. It was fantastic! I stood there for a long time, then finally shut my door, which caused the owl to take off. It was a beautiful moment.

Painting in Progress Status Update #5

2010-07-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

It's finished! After 6 months and approximately 2oo hours of painting, my Painting in Progress is finished!

It is a part of my Myths series and is entitled "Creation of the Earth"

My husband really likes this one, and I hope you do too!

Market SF

2010-07-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I attended a great Art Fair called Market-SF in San Francisco. It was located at the Blue Macaw Bar in the Mission District, and was a great event.

The organizers of Market-SF are excellent people and very interested in promoting local art. We had a lot of traffic in from the street. This is the first art fair I have ever been involved in where all the work was fantastic. Every vendor had excellent work, and excellent prices.

Although the economy is bad right now, it is so important to support local artists. Market-SF is a perfect example of how to do that.

If you an artist in the Bay Area looking to get some exposure in a casual and fun setting, or someone interested in viewing and buying local art, I would highly recommend it! Plus the bar has drinks and food specials going on during the show!

If you want some more information, you can check out their website.

Book of the week #11

2010-07-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

This week's book is Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Written in 2007 by the author of The English Patient (another one of my favorites) this lovely novel takes place primarily in California. This book is very different from many of Ondaatje's other work, but the characters are lovely and complicated as always and the writing is breath-taking.

Sketchbook Friday #12

2010-07-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch of a Tufted Titmouse I did for my Technical Illustration class in college.

My professor for that class used to sit in on surgeries as they were being performed, drawing and painting what was happening so it could be published in medical journals and textbooks. It was a very interesting course.

Book of the week #10

2010-07-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

This week's book is Yosemite: The Embattled Wilderness by Alfred Runte.
In honor of 4th of July week and our recent jaunt cross country, this week's book is about the formation of the National Parks, specifically Yosemite (a uniquely American idea). If you watched the PBS show about National Parks, this book will cover some familiar ground, but do it a lot more in depth. My husband and I love the National Parks, so we thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Speaking of parks, we went to Pinnacles National Monument yesterday, which is a little south of Gilroy, CA. It was a very cool spot. The geology there is beautiful but bizarre. Lots of conglomerates, but in very strange formations. Tons of wildlife too. We are planning on going back in the near future to do some spelunking!

My husband just opened an Etsy Shop!

2010-07-04T09:56:00.001-07:00

I am so proud of my husband! He just opened an Etsy Store for his beautiful photographs.

He has posted two photos for sale this weekend, including this gorgeous mushroom photo on the left, and has already gotten more views than I have on many of my paintings! It is so awesome :)

Painting in Progress Status Update #4

2010-07-03T10:49:00.001-07:00

It is so wonderful to have time to paint regularly! I am finally starting to get used to being a full time artist, and I have already completed a new painting for my Studies series this week!

This painting is definitely coming along nicely now. I just have to add my birds and fix the hands and it should be finished. I think the vines on the right could use a little more definition, so I'll probably work a bit on those as well.

As you can see, I've messed with the mountains some more. But I think I might finally have them rendered to my satisfaction.

I am going to be very happy once this beast is finished.

Sketchbook Friday #11

2010-07-02T07:48:00.001-07:00

Today's sketchbook Friday is an illustration of my sister and I when we were in college.

I took her to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the First Ave in Minneapolis for her birthday when "Fever to Tell" first came out. I gave her this picture with a card to let her know.

The concert was incredibly excellent, by the way. It was Karen O's birthday and she was spot on.

My new Business cards

2010-07-01T08:32:00.001-07:00

Here is my new business card!
I received my order in the mail last night, and am absolutely thrilled.

I had an online printer create them, and they did a fabulous job. I was a little wary at first, because all the reviews of it I had read were endorsements from people who had gotten free printing orders, but it worked out really well.

So I'm going to shout out to the webernets- use UPrinting for your promotional materials. I have not received anything in return for this endorsement, but I was so happy with the results that I have to recommend them.

Here's why:

The process for uploading an original design is easy, and there is a tutorial if you need help
They do free proofing before they print
It's really inexpensive- I got 500 cards for around $30, including shipping
They got the order to me in 5 business days
The final results were beautiful...I almost cried a little.

Sorry to gush, but I hope this helps other small business owners like myself, who are wary of paid endorsements.

New Portfolio!

2010-06-30T10:11:00.001-07:00

I created an online portfolio!

After doing quite a bit of research, I found that carbonmade was the best free portfolio service for my work. I'm hoping that once business starts picking up I can upgrade to the $12 a month portfolio, but for now, my budget says to stick with the free one.

There are lots of sites to choose from. Here's an article I found very helpful about creating your own portfolio.

Getting Ready for Market SF

2010-06-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

On July 10th I am going to be at Market SF, an Artist Market in the Mission District of San Francisco. This is the first event like this that I have done in quite some time, so I've had to do some scrambling to get supplies and promotional materials together. I thought it would be nice to share my preparations for anyone who hasn't done this before.

Here is what I have purchased and prepared so far:
Promotional:

500 business cards, created in Photoshop and printed by an online retailer
Tweeted the event and posted in my Facebook fan page
Posted the event on my Etsy Shop Announcement
Created a sign up sheets for newsletter

Materials:

5-10 copies of each print
1 printing calculator
1 book of carbonless sales orders
1 package of round price tag stickers
1 pack of 100 clear envelope sleeves
2 magazine racks (for browsing prints)
2 holders for business cards (I'm using some ceramic vessels my mom made)
1 money holder
1 apron
pack of pens
Change in small bill denominations
I still need to buy shopping bags (don't want to, it's seems like a waste of resources, but I also know that I need to)

I was able to prepare for this show, and restock some much needed supplies for under $200 by shopping around and purchasing the majority of items online.

The tax rate here in Sunny California is 9.25%, but I don't want to be messing with change, so my prices will be rounded figures. Because I have to deal with similar overhead costs selling online (Etsy, PayPal, Shipping, etc.) I will probably sell the prints at the same price they are in my Etsy shop, minus shipping. That should cover tax and table costs.

If you are interested in starting your own show, Etsy had a recent article that was quite helpful.

Phew! I am starting to get nervous already! The last time I had a gallery show, I threw up twice before the opening. This should be easier since it is less formal.....hopefully.

Book of the week #9

2010-06-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

This week's book is American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

In honor of our recent road trip, I have chosen one of my favorite novels to take traveling or camping as this week's book. Neil Gaiman is a fantastic storyteller, and if you enjoy mythology this book is a treat.

Also, large swaths of it are set in the area I grew up in Wisconsin, so it always helps me with my homesickness :)

The Glorious Road, Day 8 & 9: Dinosaurs and Heading Home

2010-06-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Petroglyphs in Dinosaur National Monument

After a beautiful wedding the night before and a great breakfast in Estes Park, my husband and I packed up for our final days on the road. We made our way back through the Rockies to Dinosaur National Monument, which covers both parts of Colorado and Utah. We past the Colorado entrance and made our way to the Fossil Quarry entrance in Utah.

We camped at Green River Campground, which was only 12 dollars a night and probably the nicest place we have camped so far. There was running water and even electrical outlets in the bathrooms (we thought about charging our phones, but thought that it might be weird), and our site was well shaded by ground cover and cottonwood trees. They don't take reservations, but on a Saturday night it wasn't full, and there are a few other spots to camp in the park.

There was a sandy path straight to the river, where we looked at river rocks while watching the swallows swoop and dive for insects. There were a lot of mosquitoes, however, so we had to put bug spray on for the first time in our trip. Although we had slept well in our cottage in Estes Park, I fell asleep as the sun was setting, tired from the excitement of the wedding and thankful to finally be at a reasonable altitude.

The next morning we rose early and packed up the car, eager to check out some petroglyphs and fossils. It is a good idea to bring a map with you as you explore the park (you can get one at the visitors center, which is open from 8:30 to 4:30) because it is fairly spread out. The petroglyphs we saw were some of the most creative and intact ones I've ever seen, but you do have to drive down a dirt road to get to the nice ones.

The fossil discovery trail has been created to make up for the closed visitor center in the park. You take a shuttle from the temporary visitor center to the trailhead, where you hike to one of the sites and a ranger takes you through all the bones that are being excavated. The ranger was incredibly helpful, and it was really fun looking for bones in the rock face. There is also another trail leading to the Stump site, where tons of fossil impressions of stump clams cover chunks of sandstone. If you look at the rocks that mark out the trail, you will see tons of petrified wood.

The shuttle to fossil discovery trail only runs from 8:30-12:30, so make sure and plan your trip accordingly.

After looking at dino bones, we got in the car and made our way across Utah, past the Great Salt Lake and into Nevada. The salt flats and lake are really desolate, and both my husband and I got a little nutty while traveling over them.

We camped that night at Rye Patch State Recreation Area, which was kind of a strange spot. We camped at the tent sites, which were in one big fenced off area. There was some nice tree cover, however, and we set up our tent against a hillside as an extra shelter against the wind. Camping was 14 dollars a night, but there was no running water and only a single pit toilet (very clean, however) in the tent area. The RV/pop-up area looked much nicer, but it was very crowded. We had the tent area to ourselves, which was nice. We woke up the next morning with our tent covered in honeysuckle flowers, blown in from the top of the hill.

We made it home safe and sound, driving through the Sierras in construction and heavy traffic. We were so glad to be home, and our kitties were very happy to see us. Our younger cat, Inka, gained a ton of weight while we were gone, and is now positively fat (she has been put on a diet, and is slowly losing the tubbage). Overall, an excellent and beautiful trip!

Sketchbook Friday #10

2010-06-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

This week's Sketchbook Friday is actually two sketches that I did for a deer study that I did for the painting, "A Study in Distress".

Obviously, I chose the bottom sketch for the painting. The top one looks an awful lot like the elk we saw in Rocky Mountain National Park. First time attempting horned beasties, and I end up with the wrong species at first. Ah well. The painting turned out all right.

Speaking of which, "A Study in Distress" has been featured on another blog, Illustration Lovers. Woohoo!

The Glorious Road, Day 6 & 7: A lovely cottage and a Mountain Wedding

2010-06-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

After the disastrous evening at Rocky Mountain, we packed up our tent in the continuously blowing wind and packed up our car. Dirty, exhausted, and sore we went in search of breakfast and some decent coffee. The coffee shop we found was a great little local joint, with fantastic coffee and inexpensive sandwiches and breakfast burritos. It was right on a lovely little lake, and right next to the best rock shop in Estes Park (in my opinion). I used to work at a rock shop in Madison, so I was so excited to be in another funky, non-touristy rock shop.

We were able to check into our cottage on the Big Thompson River a little early, which was really nice. We stayed at Loveland Height Cottages, which was quirky but inexpensive and incredibly awesome. Our cabin had a full kitchen and a huge porch right on the river, which was fantastic.

Happy to finally take a real shower after 5 days, we felt refreshed and relaxed. After showering, we had some lunch on the porch, and watched the river while sitting in the hot sun. About two hours later, my husband looked at me and said, "Wait, is it our anniversary today?"
Pause pause pause. We both took a few seconds with confused puppy dog looks on our faces.... "Yeah, I think it is!" "Happy 4 years, honey!" So we picked up a bottle of wine at the grocery store to celebrate.

Estes Park is a pretty nice mountain town. Kind of touristy, but that kind of thing is to be expected. It was a beautiful place to get married. My Mother-in-law had an amazing dress, and it was a gorgeous, intimate ceremony and reception.

Tomorrow: The Final Days: Dinosaurs and getting home.

The Glorious Road, Day 4 & 5: Rocky Mountain National Park

2010-06-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Lake Hawa-something or other (hour 4 of mountain hiking)

The next morning, after our full day of hiking Zion, we actually slept in until around 8 o'clock. After a quick breakfast, we packed up our gear and got on the road. Day 3 would be our longest day of driving yet, but we had no idea what we were getting into when we left that morning.

Saying goodbye to Zion, we made our way through Utah, admiring the hoodoo formations and deep canyons. At around hour 5, we took a stop at Devil's
Canyon, and if you can't tell by the picture, I was already road-ified and grungy by then.

After 5 more hours we entered Grand Lake, which is a gorgeous town with a crystal clear lake near the entrance of the park. Relieved to be so close, we pulled into the park entrance. We were about 3 miles or so in, and I made my husband pull over, "Honey, look, Elk!!! We have to take a picture". We pulled over to the side and snapped a few photos of these elk just grazing, not even remotely bothered by us annoying human tourists. We got back in the car, rounded a bend in the road, and lo and behold, the fields were covered with grazing elk. I have never seen so many wild animals in one place in my life. It was really neat.

Now, if you have ever been to Rocky Mountain, you'll probably appreciate what happened next. As the sun began to set we followed my directions taken straight from Google Maps, following US 34, otherwise known as Trail Ridge Road. What Google had failed to mention when it chose this route for us was that Trail Ridge Road is the highest two-way road in the United States (the summit is at over 12,200 feet), and that it was under construction. I started to get very nervous when the road became no more that dirt, and we had to switch off at the top. It was freaking cold.

That said, it was a beautiful drive at sunset. The ecosystem is a fragile Alpine Tundra at the top, and the landscape was just glowing. It was amazing to be able to see the sun set over the Rocky Mountains from the top peaks, and while a harrowing drive, we both agreed that it was worth it.
We finally made to Glacier Basin campground around dusk, after 12 total hours of driving. There has been a huge beetle infestation in the forests of Rocky Mountain, so unfortunately they have had to cut down a ton of trees. Our campground was one of the more private ones, but it was still pretty open due to lack of trees. Our view was great, though, and brand new bathrooms have been put in (although they put hand dryers in them for some reason, which were pretty noisy and kind of superfluous, in my opinion).

We set up our tent, tired and stiff from the drive, and went to sleep. At 8500 feet, the altitude made it hard to sleep, but my husband can sleep through anything. I, however, was delighted to hear the clip-clop of elk hooves. I fell asleep listening to them sniffing our tent and grazing, and showed my husband the tracks the next morning.

On Day 4 we were expecting one of my best friends to join us. She lives in Fort Collins, and I hadn't seen her since we had moved out to San Jose. Before she arrived, we went on a nice, short 2 mile hike from our site out to Lake Sprague. It was a really nice spot and we laughed at the baby ducks in the water.

My friend showed up around noon, and we spent some time catching up and having lunch. She is also an avid hiker, so we decided to catch the shuttle bus to the Glacier Basin trailhead and take a nice relaxed 5 mile hike.

That nice, relaxed, 5 mile hike ended up being a long, unmarked, snowy, 5 hour, 1600 ft grade hike. It was beautiful however, and the vistas we saw were fantastic. Because of the snow melt, Alberta Falls was raging and there were lots of crystal clear streams crossing our path. Hiking with two photographers (my husband is also an amateur photographer as well as a physicist, he has a fantastic eye) is always hilarious. The two of them were stopping at every interesting rock, beaver dam, and dead log. As an artist, I can appreciate this, but I couldn't help giggling at them bending over and snapping away, both as excited as school children.

After our hike we were very hungry, and as we roasted our sausages over the excellent fire my husband had made the Ranger stopped by to warn us of a weather front that would be bringing 80 mile an hour winds down the mountain.

We should have packed up and headed into town right then and there.

Instead, we took turns holding the tent up from the inside while the others slept. At one point, there was a lull, and I heard those same elk from the night before come sniffing around our site. Then, a sound like a freight train came down the mountain, "Mweeerrrh!!" (that's the best onomatopoeia I could come up with for a distressed elk) clop, clop, clop!! Off they ran as I braced myself for the next gale. We gave up at around 8 the next morning, when the wind started kicking up dust and sand blasting us through the screens of our tent. We packed up, tired and defeated, and got out of the park as fast as we could. It was like something out of Tolkein; Cranky ass mountain tries to kick annoying tourists off with horizontal tornado. I think J.R.R. would have probably added more flowery language, though, and we certainly weren't singing any stupid hippie songs about bubbling streams and ancient swords.

Grumble grumble grumble.
Tomorrow: Day 6 & 7, A Cottage by the River and a beautiful wedding.

The Glorious Road Day 2 & 3: Zion National Park

2010-06-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Trail to Whitney Portal

The morning of Day 2 we hiked the trail that leads to Mt. Whitney Portal, where hikers enter to climb Mt Whitney. We didn't go very far, because we had to get on the road again. The hike is beautiful, though; you get a great view of the Sierras, and we found bobcat tracks on the trail. A raven stopped by our site while we were packing up and croaked at us while a lizard scurried by. After packing up our site, we said goodbye to Mt Whitney and made our way to Zion National Park.

We decided to take a route that went through Death Valley, which I would recommend doing if you have a car that can handle it. Even this early in the year, the temperatures were in the 90s, and it's not a good idea to run the AC while you are driving up and down the mountains. Death Valley is incredibly desolate, but also has a highly varied landscape. There were dormant cinder cones surrounded by volcanic rock, tall peaks, and low valleys with beautiful sand dunes.

The View from our tent

Arriving in Zion National Park around 4 in the afternoon, we pulled into Watchman Campground. I had reserved site 34 in one of the tent loops, and it is hard to imagine a better spot. Our tent was shaded by a tree, and we had a fabulous view from our site. The Watchman campground is so named because it is in the shadow of Watchman Peak. It is a fantastic campground, and anything from 17 on up on the outer rim of the loop, as well as our site, would be perfect for anyone coming to Zion. We set up camp, made some dinner, and watched the sunset on the cliffs on the nearby Archaeology trail, where a family of deer came to graze.The next morning we woke up early, excited to start hiking. Another nice thing about the Watchman campground is that it is very close to the visitor center, where the shuttle bus stops. Zion National Park no longer allows visitors to drive their cars through the park, because during the high season they were getting as many as 5000 cars per day on the only road that goes through the canyon (yuck!). The shuttles run every 6-10 minutes, and stop at all the major sites and trailheads. It was a great way to get around the park, and the Rangers talk about the park while you are riding.

We started that morning on the Emerald Pools trail, which hooks up with several others and eventually takes you to the Grotto. It's a beautiful trail that was relatively uncrowded (although it was pretty early in the morning) and allows for some great vistas of the the canyon and the Virgin River that cuts through it. The Pools were fairly dry, but still lovely. I think Spring and Autumn would probably be ideal for pool viewing.

After reaching the grotto and refilling our water bottles we decided to tackle the Angel's Landing Trail. This trail is crowded, even in the morning, and is a constant uphill climb of over 1500 feet, but it is worth the effort. We saw a bird's nest filled with babies on the way up, and in the canyon after the first switchbacks there were two families of spotted owls.

After you head out through the canyon, there are a series of switchbacks known as "The Wiggles". They are actually pretty tame, but because they are at the end of the climb, it feels brutal.We did not take the full hike out to Angel's Landing, which is a cliff that you inch along while holding onto a chain. I'm sure it's worth it, but neither of us like heights, so we opted out.

After climbing back down, we took the shuttle up to Weeping Rock, took a short hike, and then made our way back to camp. 5 hours of hiking was our limit, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing. Just outside the visitor's center there is a nice little town with a grocery store. The store's prices were very reasonable considering the location, so we picked up supplies for dinner. I called my father that evening (amazingly, you can get cell phone reception in the park), and told him about our day. He asked us what we were doing for dinner, and I told him we had picked up some brats that I was boiling in beer and onions. "You can get brats in Utah?!" he exclaimed, "That's amazing!". We're in this beautiful National Park, and I'm talking to my father in Wisconsin, and he's impressed by the ubiquity of bratwurst. I love Wisconsin.

Tomorrow: Day 4 & 5: Rocky Mountain National Park

The Glorious Road Day 1: A triathlon and the Sierras

2010-06-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

A view of the Sierras on Tioga Road in Yosemite

My husband and I just came back from our cross-country road trip yesterday! We saw and did so much that there is no way that I can put it in one post, so I'm going to be writing about it all week.

On Saturday, June 12th, we left for a road trip to Colorado, where my Mother-in-law was getting married. That morning, I did my first triathlon. The Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon is 500 yards swimming, 10 miles biking, and a 5k run on Lake Almaden in Southern San Jose. It's considered a fairly mild sprint triathlon. I had been training for the past 4 months, and as someone who couldn't even run a mile before we moved here, it was a lot of work.

The open swim was pretty scary. It was me and about 30 other women in my age group treading water until the horn sounded. The water was pretty cold, and impossible to see in because of algae and churned up sand. My vision is pretty bad, and without my glasses, I couldn't see the buoys. Once the horn went off, I did my best to keep up with the other swimmers, getting kicked in the stomach a few times. At one point, the water was shallow, so we had to get up and run along the sand bar. After I reached the finish, I had done 500 yards in 10 minutes, 5 minutes less than my best time in practice. The adrenaline, fear, and cold water really kept me moving!
The 10 mile bike route was pretty basic, although we had a monster trek up the mountain where most of us got off our bikes and walked them up. The trip downhill was just as intense, and the brakes on my vintage Peugeot squealed the whole way down.The run was absolutely the most frustrating part. I have allergies big time, and the pollen, dust and winds caused my lungs to spasm. So unfortunately, I had to walk a lot of the 5k. I ran whenever I could, but in order to avoid an asthma attack, I had to go pretty slow. I almost cried at first, I was so disappointed. But after the initial shock, I became very stubborn, and told myself, "I don't care if I have to walk this whole thing, I'm finishing dammit!" Overall, it was a great experience and I would totally recommend it to others.
We got back in the car after I was finished and went home to pack up. For a ten day rode trip in various climates, we had to pack carefully, and be able to pack wedding clothes and toiletries. I spent all week packing everything we needed. We also had to worry about bears, which meant putting anything remotely smelly in airtight containers.

Our route on Day 1 was through Yosemite on Tioga Road, which had just been opened the previous week. It is a beautiful route to take in the summer, as it avoids the touristy areas. We stopped in Tuolumne Grove for a short hike to look at the sequoias, and came up to find a doe grazing right in the parking lot. Driving through upper Yosemite is beautiful, and the area past Tuolumne Meadows is virtually deserted this time of year, so we had a wonderful time.

The Tuolumne GroveA Waterfall on Tioga Road

We continued down the Eastern side of the Sierras to Inyo National Forest, where we camped at Lone Pine Campground. It was amazing! We reserved a walk-in site that was right at the base of the Whitney Portal, where hikers enter to climb Mt Whitney.The View from our tentThe creek by our campsite
They had running water and vault toilets, and on a Saturday night we had the entire walk-in area to ourselves (the RV/pop up area was packed). There was a creek running right next to us, and they had two bear boxes conveniently placed in our site. We set up in the waning light, and woke up the next morning to the gorgeous vista of the Sierras with Mt Whitney at the center.

A view of Mount Whitney

Tomorrow: Day 2 and 3: Zion National Park!

Halfway Through & Triathlon Success

2010-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, my husband and I are now officially halfway on our cross-country road trip, and so far we have seen:
-Tioga Road at Yosemite
-Mt Whitney
-Death Valley
-Zion National Park
-Rocky Mountain National Park
I will be posting pictures and a detailed synopsis of our adventures when we get back.

My triathlon was a success! On Saturday, I swam 500 yards, biked 10 miles, and ran/walked 3.2 miles in an hour and 41 minutes. 4 months of training was worth it! Will post pics of that too when I get back!

Featured in the Etsy Blog!!!

2010-06-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

My print of "A Study in Distress" has been featured in Storque, Etsy's Blog. WOOHOO!!

Sketchbook Friday #9

2010-06-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

Today's sketchbook Friday is a sketch from early college that is a twist on the joke:
A pan of muffins is baking in the oven. One muffin turns to the other and says, "Boy is it hot". The other muffin screams "Holy Shit a talking muffin!"

Hee hee.

I quit my day job at the library yesterday! Going to be doing the art thing full time from here on in. Slightly terrified, but also excited. It will be very nice to focus on all the projects I am working on.

The Etsy shop is going to be up still, but I will not be able to ship anything ordered after today until the 22nd. I will be putting a courtesy message up and such.

Ah, the joys of cat ownership

2010-06-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a downright terrible day. Our cat, Cosmic Creepers (named after the cat from Bednobs and Broomsticks, I was 10 when we got her), had been puking exorcist levels of vomit for the past two days. So I did an internet search.
When you have a cat that is 18 years old, you always assume the worst, and when you get results ranging from diabetes to renal failure, you panic. I made a vet appointment and was crying all morning, even at the vet's office, which was more than a little embarrassing.

Fortunately she is fine, although after 500 dollars in tests they still can't tell me what is wrong with her. They gave her an IV, which filled her body with fluid, giving her the long sought after MC Hammer look. My husband and I called her party pants for the rest of the evening, trying to laugh away the stress of the day.

Today I get to wrangle with the complexities of human health care. Our insurance company seems to think that a) we are not married; b) office visits are no longer paid for; and c) sending us bills from several venues will break our will. OH JOY.

Book of the week #8

2010-06-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

This week's book is...The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine

Part myth, part fictitious memoir, this stunning novel is humorous and beautiful. The writing style is like Kipling, Neil Gaiman, and Khaled Hosseini combined. Entertaining, escapist, and epic!

Sketchbook Friday #8

2010-06-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

This week's sketch is a concept drawing I did for my
Birth of the Universe painting, which is kind of a creation myth of my own design.

The painting took me 2 and a half years to complete, partially because I had never done anything like it before, and partially because it was huge (3 feet by 5 feet).

I've been working on concepts for a whole creation myth series, including the painting I've been posting progress on!

Total Meltdown

2010-06-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

Got the alumni magazine from UW-Madison in the mail today (it was where my husband got his Masters and I used to work) and had a total homesick meltdown.

We are now heading into month #6 of living in Silicon Valley and the honeymoon is over. After spending a weekend back in Wisconsin for a wedding, hanging out with our friends and family, driving on roads with little to no traffic, and regaining our midwestern accents surprisingly quickly, California seems even more crowded, materialistic, and lonely than it did when we first moved here.

Granted, the loneliness isn't entirely our fault. My husband and I are fairly shy, bookish types that take awhile to get to know people. Even in Madison, it took us a year and a half before we had a regular social life, and we already knew people who were living there. And there are some great things about living in California....it's just not home.

The regrets outweigh the greater good, however, because my husband has a great opportunity at The Start Up. He's gaining so much experience, and this could be something that would set us up well for the rest of our lives. We are both incredibly stubborn and focused people, and I think those qualities will get us through this.

Painting in Progress Status Update #3

2010-06-03T07:56:00.001-07:00

Because we've been so busy traveling, volunteering, and such, I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on this painting, so I apologize for the long hiatus in between status updates.

As you can see the mountains are finally completed, which you may recall that I had some trouble with before. There is a pretty interesting pattern going on underneath them that I may or may not keep. The vines on the right are finished as well, as are the thorns on the upper torso.

I just need a good 8 hour stretch of doing nothing but painting, and I think it may be finished.

Still needs to be completed: birds, bird skeletons, vines, legs, hands, and feet. I've never painted bird skeletons before, so will probably be doing a lot of sketching for those.

So maybe more than one 8 hour marathon session...

Book of the week #7

2010-06-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

This week's book is: The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

One of the more approachable and interesting comprehensive physics books for the layman, The Elegant Universe covers a lot of ground. It is right up there with Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time or Universe in a Nutshell as far as readability is concerned, although Brian Greene does have a tendency to make String Theory sound a lot more plausible than it is.

If any of you read our recent blog post about Soco, the Rhodesian Ridgeback mix that we fell in love with at the Humane Society, we are happy to announce that she has been adopted!!!!

Sketchbook Friday #7

2010-05-28T11:04:00.001-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch I drew when my now husband and I first started dating in college when we were young, impetuous, and stupid in love but not willing to admit it yet!

The cutie pie at the far left is one of my sister's adorable best friends.

Book of the week #6

2010-05-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

This week's book is: Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky

I like to think of Kandinsky as the thinking man's (or woman's) artist. He studied law, did anthropological research, and wrote this fantastic book on the Spiritual side of art.

Maker Faire!!

2010-05-24T11:13:00.001-07:00

We had a blast volunteering at the Bay Area Maker Faire!
My husband and I both volunteered on Saturday and Sunday Evening, which I would highly recommend doing! Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Sketchbook Friday #6

2010-05-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday is a sketch I did of the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland for a painting in 2002.

I think I threw away said painting in frustration after it was finished. It took me a long time to learn how to paint even adequately. I don't think I learned to paint well until I was finished with art school and some of the pressure was off.

Our Etsy Shop reached over 1000 page views yesterday!!!!

A really special dog

2010-05-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have started looking for a canine companion, and at the Silicon Valley Humane Society we found a really amazing dog, but unfortunately the timing just isn't right for us to adopt right now. So I'm sharing her with you:

Soco is a 10 month old adorable Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, and we both fell in love with her! She will need to be with a patient family that can handle a super smart, active dog, but I know she will be a great companion!

Here's some info from the Humane Society:
Preferred adoption recommendations:
Kids 16+ or adults-only due to mouthiness, need for in-home rules and structure
Recent dog experience and into rewards-based or positive reinforcement training
Active adopters or interested in using dogwalker or doggie daycare (she'll need multiple times/day exercise opportunities - running, jogging, hiking, playing fetch in backyard.)
Would likely do best in a home with another dog but not mandatory

Her animal number is 73931. She is a 10 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix surrendered by her previous owner who had no time to care for her.

You can go to the website to fill out an application!

Book of the week #5

2010-05-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

This week's book of the week is: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book by the author of The Virgin Suicides speaks on racial inequalities, gender roles, and family dynamics. With a charming wit, Eugenides tells a story that, especially if you enjoy classical literature and greek mythology, has many levels. While a lot of the subject matter could be called controversial, the writing makes these matters seem approachable and totally natural. One of my favorite works of fiction from the past decade!

Sketchbook Friday #5

2010-05-14T08:48:00.001-07:00

This week's sketchbook Friday, a sketch from college~ Enjoy!

Custom stuff for wee kidlets

2010-05-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

I love having friends with kids, because I can make ridiculously cute artwork for them! Like a tiger with reading glasses!

Book of the week #4

2010-05-09T09:22:00.001-07:00

This week's book is: The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar

This gorgeous french graphic novel has universal appeal; my mom even enjoyed reading it while she is visiting, and she doesn't enjoy graphic novels!

The writing is just and beautiful and subtle as the illustration, and the characters are charming, clever, and very, very human!

A few simple requests..

2010-05-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

I love working at the library. However, I am frequently appalled by the behavior of some of our patrons. So today I am posting a short list of just a few simple requests:

1. Please do not put your food in our cd drawers! This is California, you do not need to hide food for the coming harsh winter!

2. Keep in mind that your tax dollars bought our furniture. We know that our chairs didn't come with penises drawn on them, that costs extra.

3. Why are you stealing our dvds? You can borrow them for free

4. Please stop dropping the f-bomb near the young adults section

5. This is to the person who keeps flipping all the non-fiction books about teen sex in so that the titles don't show: You are not helping prevent these kids from having sex, just making me do a little more work when I have to flip them back!

6. Please don't hide inappropriate books in the children's section.

And my personal favorite...
7. Please do NOT PEE IN THE BOOK DROP!

2010-05-07T13:36:00.001-07:00

I just started a ThisNext account. Social shopping is something I had never heard of until this week....

Anyway, found some pretty cool stuff and created some recommendations. Check it out if you are interested.

Sketchbook Friday! #4

2010-05-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today's Sketchbook Friday features a sketch for my friend Aen, who wanted me to make a cd cover for his band the Ronald Raygun. Created in 2003, while I was in college.

The photo that allowed me to paint mountains without pulling my hair out

2010-05-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

You may know from a previous post that I was having a heck of a time evolving from painting a symbol of a mountain, to painting actual mountains. A recent trip to Yosemite really helped! This is a photo from Tunnel View.

When I painted it, I actually used an image that I had warped in Photoshop to use as a reference, and got rid of a lot of the background so I could concentrate on the landscape. Hence, I was able to render the mountains as such:It still needs work, but having a point of reference helped a lot!

Book of the week #3

2010-05-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

This week's book is a cookbook: Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin

My mom has been visiting this week, and so having fast delicious and healthy recipes was a must. I love this cookbook made up of recipes from Pepin's PBS show. The recipes are so simple and delicious, and don't take any time at all!

Sketchbook Friday #3

2010-04-30T08:17:00.001-07:00

This was part of a name piece I did for a friend's little boy. A for Antelope!

The Dolly Project

2010-04-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine gave me this freaky hard page dolly book a couple of months ago.

As a side project, I've been painting in the book as the whims take me.

Paintings can be like laws and sausages...Status #2

2010-04-26T09:05:00.001-07:00

After a week's progress, I've finally figured out how to paint mountains rather than the symbol of a mountain. I'm not naturally a landscape painter, so this was not the easiest thing to do. A recent trip to Yosemite helped a lot! Whenever I paint something I've never attempted before, the effort is akin to taking a 3 hour long math test.

The difficulty of painting is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much, however. I enjoy the challenge.

No sales yet at my Etsy store. It's a lot more work than I was expecting, but I think that maintaining a presence online requires more social interaction than most people think. I love having my work viewed via Etsy, I get a lot more traffic that way. In some ways, just having my work seen makes it worth it.

Book of the week #2

2010-04-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

This week's book is: Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop and the American Avant Garde by Lewis MacAdams

If you are interested in Jazz music specifically, and music in general, this is a great, if simple, overview of the 20th Century. MacAdams is a writer for Rolling Stone, and this book doesn't go into much depth (it also doesn't cover women much, other than Billy Holiday), but it is a great introduction to Jazz history, and an entertaining read, especially if you like Gillespie and Parker.

Sketchbook Friday #2

2010-04-23T08:39:00.001-07:00

This was created last year. Just a doodle while I was waiting for a meal to finish in the oven. I know that the wings are totally off, but I kind of like the torso!

Earth Day Craft: Muppet Masks made from Recycled Materials

2010-04-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

Last year for Halloween my husband and I decided to dress up as members of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the band from the Muppet Show. I made these masks by constructing the framework out of recycled materials, and then covered the framework with fabric, yarn, and feathers (I tried to recycle as much fabric as possible, also). The mouths even move when we talk!

For the framework I used:
Milk Jugs
Yogurt Containers
Old Baseball caps
Cereal Boxes
Duct tape
Hot glue

For the exterior elements I used:
Hot glue
Fabric Glue
Old clothing
Old Sunglasses (the eyelids on Dr Teeth)
Yogurt Container scraps (Dr Teeth's teeth)
An old sheer curtain (for the eyes)
yarn
feathers
a feather boa
I did purchase some fabric, also (muppet colors aren't exactly found in clothing)

I just joined the SF Bay Area Esty Team this week. They are going to have a Meet up soon in San Francisco, and I'm thinking of going. Will post how it goes!

Adding the Etsy mini to your site

2010-04-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

I just added an Etsy Mini to the blog. This wasn't the easiest thing to find a how-to on, so here's the how to site if you want to try it.

Joined a great group called Indie Junction this week. It's a great way to meet other artists, and most of them have Etsy Shops, too!

Day of the Dead Figures

2010-04-19T09:39:00.001-07:00

My sister got married last October with a Day of the Dead theme for her wedding. As a Christmas gift, I created these skeleton figures! They ended up going on the cake table at the wedding, and looked fantastic!

To make these figures I used the following tools:
hot glue gun
hand saw
wire clippers
needle nose pliers
scissors
paint brush
conventional oven

The supplies used were:
wire (for the inner framework)
Baking Polymer clay
Acrylic Paint
Fabric
buttons
mini ribbon roses
wooden dowels
hot glue
Wood for bases and coffin cases (coffin cases not pictured)

These figures were created in two weeks. I began by building a frame off of the wooden dowels by wrapping and shaping some thin, malleable wire. The arms and legs were created with thicker wire that looped into holes sculpted at the wrists/ankles of the hands/feet.

The heads, hands and feet were created using a bakeable polymer clay, which can be baked in a conventional oven. To prevent the heads from being too heavy, I formed them around balls of aluminum foil.

The clothes were created entirely with fabric and a hot glue gun. No sewing! Hence why these figures were finished so quickly!

Book of the week #1

2010-04-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

My day job is at a library, and after every shift I come home with a backpack full of books. Some are good, some are great, and others don't make it past page 10. The great books are pretty infrequent, and therefore I think they deserve to be recognized.

This week's book is: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and published in 2000, this fantastic work of fiction is written in an approachable voice while still retaining a depth of plot and character that is fascinating. It's pretty lengthy, but the clever dialogue and unique plot make it well worth a read!

My first Treasury List!

2010-04-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've only had my Etsy Shop up for a week and I've already been included in a Treasury List! Hurray!
The treasury list is a curated shopping gallery of works hand-picked by an Etsy user.
Thanks to MissMuffetsTuffet for including my Perfume Demons Print!

Sketchbook Friday!

2010-04-16T08:25:00.001-07:00

This was probably the first ever sketch I created that I was truly proud of. I was a junior in high school when I did this graphite drawing of Ezra Pound.

I look at it now and and see all the proportional issues and inconsistency of line, but back then I thought I had created a masterpiece!

Cats vs. Me

2010-04-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Since we've moved out here, our cats have become obsessed with our porch. With the new Spring acquisition of birds coming onto it to get supplies (hair, leaves, etc.) for their nests, I now have a battle of wills on my hands.

Because we live on the third floor and neither of them understand that running out over the railing would be a bad thing resulting in possible....death, I have to play screen door goalie every time I go out to water plants.....

I think it is obvious who runs the house here.

Paintings can be like laws and sausages...

2010-04-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

You don't always want to see how they are made. It can be ugly. But I thought it would be a good exercise to document how my current project is coming along. So I'll be posting the progress on this little gem every two weeks or so.

Last week it looked like something someone would have spray painted on the side of a van during the 70s, so let's just say this is a marked improvement.

I started my etsy shop two days ago and am getting some decent traffic. This is so much easier than exhibiting in a gallery or a juried show! Every time I've had my work up in a gallery space I've thrown up opening night. Selling my art online is nerve-wracking as well, but a lot less terrifying.