stuff about artstuff.

I Think I May Have Forgotten How to Draw...

...without help.

You see, this is how I have drawn pretty much every single thing to come out of this studio for the past 13 years.

 

We'll see if I'm actually able to remember how I did it before, after Surtex.  Until then, my schedule is completely filled with non-drawing last-minute-preparations - which I seem to be managing alright in this tiny and crowded yet cavernously empty Flossie-free room.

Oh, and - fun fact: in my sorry sentimental state, I have been physically unable unwilling to remove cat hairs from all the new art I have scanned in the past 2 weeks (a side effect of this type of assistance is ubelievable amounts of little hairs stuck in the paint or seemlingly woven into the tooth of the paper) so I guess you could say it's a new look I'm debuting at the show: mixed media designs with a rich, organic texture.  "Value added" artwork.  Yes, that's it.

And thanks again to everyone who said such nice things on Flossie's blog and on Facebook, it really has meant a lot to us and if you didn't see this when it was posted, this is for you.

xo

Thanks...

...for stopping by.

Nothing monumental today, I just wanted to share with you one of my own personal favorite things I drew last year. "I'll Be Your Umbrella", just a funny little drawing; sort of a love-note to Miss You-Know-Who.  Right now you can find this sweet little thank-you card at your local Trader Joe's store (thanks, Husband Guy, for snapping this today, not to mention the groceries).
Come to think of it, the Divine Miss Flossie has been pretty consistenly well-represented in the Trader Joe's greeting card racks for a couple years now - they just keep choosing card designs with her fluffy little white mug on them, and I just keep drawing more - I hope they don't tire of the designs, because I sure don't tire of drawing her.

Art Imitates Cat.

So this one might fall under the "better late than never" category, and I suppose I ought to apologize for that.  But you know how sometimes you set little goals and to-do lists for yourself in a certain order of how you believe they need to happen, but one tiny detail holds you up for some silly reason and then the whole process falls apart and the entire thing hangs dangerously on the edge of never getting accomplished, ever? 

Oh.  No, it's just me? 

Ok then, never mind.

Anyhoo, as many of you already know (no thanks to me!) The Cat's Meow has been in quilt shops for months now . . . you can still find it here and there on the web, and even some cute quilt patterns here, here, and here.  And finally (fanfare, drumroll, ta dat dat dat da!) I have yardage available in my Etsy shop.

Those of you paying close attention will also recognize some of the kitties in this group from greeting cards you might have seen in everybody's favorite gourmet discount grocer, or here on my blog (or Flossie's!).

Most of you are already familiar with my constant studio companion and muse - but did you realize that every single kitty in the collection is modeled by Miss Flossie herself?  This isn't the first time Flossie has inspired a fabric group, so I suppose it's not surprising that when Harriet from Henry Glass came to me last year to brainstorm about a cat-themed group, I went straight to my "used pictures from Flossie's blog" file folder and started sketching (these are just a few of the inspiration-photos straight from Flossie's blog).

  

  

 

 

 
And all 10 of these kitty pictures are still available as prints in my Etsy shop!

Fitting, but not at all unsual, HRH herself is cuddled up in a blankie on my lap right now, overseeing the writing of this post.

'Nuff Said.

 
 
 

Hope you're all having a lovely holiday weekend.

And I Think They're Cute, Too.

Looking back I notice a sort of unexpected recurring theme from the week at the beach.

From the handful of books I grabbed to take with us 
where I read lots of stories about how Coyote helped create the World, gave people fire, taught ancient tribes how to fish and other real practical, helpful things...

...to the visitor who joined Molly on a walk one morning. 
Not surprising then that he showed up a couple times in my little sketchbook and drawings during the week.

Really just a pleasant character overall, in my opinion.  The Coyote of legend just wanted people on earth to be happy.  He sometimes gets a bad rap for the means by which he accomplished stuff, but his intentions were usually pretty positive.  The coyote on the beach was unobtrusively and politely curious.   And if you're an animal lover and haven't ever followed the Daily Coyote link in my lurk-list in the sidebar here, I think you should.

Our Little Wrens

Alright - one more for the "better late than never" category; here's another post I found in "drafts" from early July.  I know, who does that?

Well.  Me, I guess.

Here you go:

I am a fan of these spunky little guys, what with their perky little tails and extra-pointy beaks and much-bigger-than-their-actual-size personalities. 
Our own "Porch-Wrens" fledged last week and are currently flitting around nearby trees.
 
I've been watching this guy leaping across the roof and into the trees on the other side to flee the Wrath of Wren after finding himself in the wrong tree (even though his nest is up there somewhere also).  It's hilarious to see him scrambling through branches at top speed with a teeny tiny bird right on his butt until he is an acceptable distance from the rest of the Wren Family.

A more attentive and thoughtful blogger might have shared adorable pictures of this same house with occupants peeking out (ohmygosh that was cute) but we hated to harass them any more than we already were by simply going in and out the door ... so we would pass quickly and quietly, even attempting to avoid eye contact as much as possible.

A couple times I actually ventured to the front yard with camera in hand, but was met with that beady little glare that filled me with guilt for even thinking of standing there another moment.  What is it about wrens - they always look mad at me.  I kind of dig that about them.

Why the house right inside the front porch?  I know, not exactly the most practical place to encourage birds to nest.  It started 5 winters ago during an 85-day rainstorm (yes, 85 days).  It rained so hard and for so long that apparently this guy's normally dry nighttime roost in the nearby Douglas fir had become soggy, so he relocated to the holiday garland over our front door, inside our covered porch.
 
The garland stayed up as long as we noticed him still using the roost (yes, sad dry holiday garland circled our front door well into spring) and in the mean time tried to encourage him to move a foot or two over to a nice dry house placed nearby.  Shortly thereafter he began filling the little house with sticks, moss, and clumps of dog hair; he managed to impress a mate with the new digs and that first year they had 2 nests of little babies.  And during particularly soggy periods in winters since, he has returned to his little garland-spot, although never for as long as he did that first year.

One summer the little house became inhabited by honeybees (not as tolerant of people opening and closing the front door as a wren) so the whole thing was carefully relocated to a remote area of a friend's (much larger than ours) yard for a season, and when the bees moved on the birdhouse returned home ... and without thinking better of it, we hung it back in the same spot inside the porch, and this year a new generation of our little family of wrens  returned ... and now have moved on.  Godspeed little wrens ... see you next year.

Time Well Spent

After Saturday's epic all-day battle with that prolific and omnivorous ivy, Sunday was decidedly slower-paced. 
There are several more big ugly dirty projects to accomplish in the yard, but I was a little stiff and achy, and was more about dillydallying as I pulled a few weeds and trimmed stuff here and there. 
The girls enjoyed the more laid-back vibe of the day. 
They both got brushed (no, it's not a new pet, that is just a pile of their fur). 
 
The vegetables seemed to enjoy our little 2-day summer, sandwiched between all that cold, grey dampness.


 
And I finally got a chance to play with my new (well, I guess not so new any more) camera (more about this another day). 
My old tripod is currently buried somewhere in the basement, but I played around with closeups just holding it by hand, snapping away, not sure what I was actually getting. 
I was hoping to capture the super-light spray from some of the exposed holes in the soaker-hose that runs through the beds

 
and the droplets that lie suspended on spiderwebs in the grass.  This one has a dog hair in it, but then everything at my house has a dog hair in it. 
Or a cat hair. 
Or thousands of both.

I didn't even notice this when shooting the strawberries - but ew. 
Who is that creepy little guy?  No, really.  What is this?

I am fascinated by the textures in old glass. 
I could stare into these insulators all day long. 
After some weeding and trimming, I sat at the table for a while and watched stuff go on overhead.


 
After some more weeding and trimming, I laid in the grass and watched more stuff go on overhead.
 
Stuff buzzed and fluttered, and the robin stopped right above me to sing for a bit. 
Then someone told me it was time for our walk, and time to think about dinner. 
The clouds swept back in, and once again, summer in the Pacific Northwest went back to mild, grey, cool, and wet (until the last couple days!).  I'm glad I was able to take the time off to enjoy these little bits of sun in my garden, it was time well spent.

Illustration Friday: Hatch

...as in cross-hatch.

Last month I was thinking about my hero Maurice Sendak, and the amazing worlds he has created in humble pen and ink - as a little kid I would (and still do) soak right into the pages of my picture books and just exist inside them. I played with my friend Little Bear in the woods, I frolicked with monsters in faraway places, I knew and deeply loved every single character. Even when it is used, color is never at center stage in his drawings, like it is in almost every single thing I've ever created.

It got me thinking about cross-hatch work. Something I hadn't even tried for decades. So I pulled out the little Moleskine and started sketching Molly wandering in a quiet woods, a very Sendakian place I suppose. Not the greatest cross-hatching ever, as I was reminded that cross-hatch is not for the faint of heart. Or those of us in the slightest hurry. Seems to be more of a Zen thing than I was really prepared for when I started sketching.

My hand started to get a little tired. So as the sketch extended into the other page (I've always drawn from right to left to minimize left-hand-drag) I went for a simpler more instant-gratification style...

In retrospect, each style suits each animal appropriately. Molly sort of is a serious assemblage of straight little lines. Thoughtful and slightly mysterious. Flossie, on the other hand - fluffy, friendly, not very practical or realistic.

You know ... I don't do yoga, I haven't really meditated for-real in years - I'm thinking maybe I ought to take up cross-hatch drawing as a regular spiritual exercise. And then, once I've reached that illustrative astral plane, I'll go totally hard-core and revisit pointillism. Ooh!

Yeah, no. I probably won't. But it's a nice thought.

More Cats.

A couple weeks ago in a fit of creative angst (or maybe just anti-admin/accounting angst) I shut down the computer and walked away from my office/studio...in the middle of the day on a weekday and everything.  I know.  I grabbed the first things that I could find to just make something with, which happened to be  2 loose tubes of acrylic paint (raw umber and white) and a set of paper mache nesting boxes...and I sat down in the back yard and started painting.  No plan, just me and the paint.  And the boxes. 

Not too surprising, I guess, that these same weird little cats that have been in my head were what happened that day.

I just put the set of boxes in my Etsy shop.   The largest one is 8 X 10"...they're nice useful sizes for storing all sorts of papers and stuff.  I enjoyed just painting so much that I've painted on some more boxes since then...will be adding those to the store soon.

I hope they find a good home!

Everyone Loves Samples.

I've told you before how everyone in the house gets excited when packages arrive on the porch.  I suppose we all enjoy them in our own, extreme sorts of ways...but this.  This has to win some sort of prize.

I wonder who this could have been?  It doesn't seem to fit any of these mouths that just happened to be here on my desk; if only we could find a mouth that fits perfectly...

Busted. 

Nice work protecting us from that mean little box sitting by itself on the porch.  Fortunately the samples inside were well-packaged with a good barrier of packing paper...and we all know who loves that part the best.

Me, well...I'm happy when the packages hold beautifully-made products featuring my art, like this pretty little Confirmation card for Lawson Falle which was in this particular box.

And then there was this box which arrived the following day.  I was pretty excited because I knew what would be inside...

My new recipe binders by New Seasons.

Some of you may recognize the cover art from my set of kitchen prints produced by Image Conscious a couple years ago. 

I am so pleased by how these turned out.  I have been gushing about this to the amazing design team at New Seasons ever since I got my first proofs.

And the binders themselves...well, see for yourself.

I am loving this product! 

Along with cute recipe cards and full pages ready for printing straight from recipe websites or food blogs (and protective pages for the finished cards to fit into)

there are also several pages of really useful stuff ... ingredient substitutions, cooking and baking tips, ideas for grilling or using herbs, all neatly organized into one place.  Pretty neato.   This would make a great gift for that foodie you know who is constantly collecting new recipes, or someone just starting out on their own in their very first kitchen!

Hey what's that?

Um, excuse me. 

Anyway, as I was saying, there are neato tips and info ... all in one place right at your fingertips, and every inch embellished with fun little designs by yours truly. 

Um, what is it Flossie?

Really, right this second?

You can't just wait a minute for me to finish...

No, please don't...no, not here...oh come on...

Oh now that's just cold.  Really?  Your bottom?  Oh man. 

I give up.

Ok, well ... you get the idea.  I love this product, and I'm so excited to share it with you.  They'll be coming soon to a retailer near you (I'll let you know as soon as I have more specific info on that!) they're available now at all Sam's Club and select Costco stores across the country, and I promise that if you purchase one, yours will not have been touched by cat's bottom.

PS:  Recipe Binder Refill Page Update!

It's true, the manufacturer of this product doesn't sell refill-pages at this time, but until they do I think I have found a solution for you!

Visit my Etsy Store to purchase and download refill-pages you can print on your desktop printer as you need them!  These are not the exact designs available in the actual binders, but were created to coordinate nicely with them - they match, they're cute, and I do hope you enjoy using them!