It’s my birthday!!!!!!!!!!! Jeez the older you get, the faster the years seem to go!

Click here to shop for my new cards! $5.00 gets you a lovely print of the Spring Girl, first hand-drawn and then digitally colored, and printed on heavyweight matte cardstock with matching envelope, wrapped up safe in a cello bag! Order yours today!

I got a new macbook and it is so great! My old laptop was ailing, and becoming a bit unreliable. The new macs come with some interesting software; like this comic book making software:

And also photobooth, with a camera installed so it’s easy to take silly shots like this:


And I’ve started a new drawing, something a less literal and more nonsense, fun! Ray bans!

Done with this! I had a different color palette picked out but had a dream the other night of a greeny yellow and some lilac, so I used that idea for this here spring girl, trying to peak out from behind the pea pods & chains (which are hot hardware details for spring footwear doncha know) and a blooming tree, inspired by the dogwood tree so popular in my native Portland, Oregon. I have to say, I am really proud of this one, because it was a struggle to finish but I made it through till the end!
** Forgot to mention, buy the archival glossy 8.5″ x 11″ print here!! And thanks to Jake for helping me put on my shop button to the right, which links right to my etsy shop!!

You might remember this drawing I did back in April. I never quite resolved it- I couldn’t stop looking at her chin, which was just wrong… so I finally redrew it and added a bit of things, and now I will proceed to color it in Photoshop. Sometimes when I work on a drawing, I can get it all out in one sitting which is fun and offers immediate gratification. Sometimes I can’t resolve it easily, and the tendancy is to just abandon it, but I’m really trying to push ahead and complete every drawing I start, because I think it will really benefit my work. I just have a million ideas so I want to move on to them, but I also think it’s a good exercise to perservere and make things work! I sortof flip-flip; I want these drawings to be really enjoyable endeavours, that I have the authority to say what is what and when it’s done. But I also want my work to get better and I think that happens through practice, which is a result of discipline. Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to show less than great work, but it’s important to just get it done and out there and move on to the next. Stay tuned for the colored version of this!

And now, on to our domestic update! Jellyfish are popping up everywhere after the high tide. Cowboy is enjoying the water! He did great at his first puppy class. And has slowly, through normal wear and tear, beheaded his favorite duck toy. We went into Cambridge Saturday night and had a fun time with John. Happy Tuesday to you!

I thought about what to draw for a Father’s Day card, and I kept coming back to bbq’ing! A big hit in my multiple families, all the Dad’s in my life love it and so do I. So my Dad’s are getting a card with a hand-drawn bbq with a few T-bone steaks thrown on (I drew the bbq by hand and colored it in photoshop.)

I did sketch a few other options. I also thought of sailing, fishing, grilling, and Dad’s coming home sweaty and worn out from work, wearing worn-out work boots, and carrying an old metal-style lunchbox. Something very sweet in celebrating how hard our Dad’s work for the family. I am so lucky to have several Dad’s in my life, I love them all very much.

By popular request (John!) see the Cowboy growing so fast every day! He still doesn’t understand that he is the size he is, he’s a bit clumsy but funny and cute of course. Along with working on my portfolio to show a couple of companies here in New England, it’s been a very nice intro to summer these past few weeks! We planted a garden with hot peppers, bell peppers, acorn & butternut squash, pumpkins, eggplant, oregano, basil, rosemary & lavendar. We’ve also started skating around the island! Vrrom! The ducks still come up to the house daily for a bread snack. And we have been grilling on the porch almost daily, with a variety of; fish, chicken, pork, burgers, sausages, and all the veggies you could ask for (asparagus, corn, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, onions, peppers, etc.) Now if I could remember to put on the mosquito repellent! I’ll have more drawing/work to share later this week.

I think my drawings were made to turn into something like this eventually… Absolutely amazing and inspiring room (in the Netherlands) by Jon Burgerman found via www.notcot.org.

And somebody else that loves to draw to the edge and layer the lines on. Sketchbook by Faris Badwan (from the UK) featured on VICE. Thanks for showing me that link Don!

Monday we had tons of rain, after some hot days, and this huge, amazing swan came up to the backyard (our backyard is an inlet to the Boston Harbor) and it was absolutely stunning! It was so large, so graceful, in a cliche sort of way, but it was really funny because as I sat looking at it, I realized it was really out of proportion, with a super-long neck, tiny head, and huge body. It’s feet were enormous webbed paddles. Just a marvelous creature. Even the way it ate the bread we gave to it, was so different than the way the duck does it. I was mesmerized by it, I am loving all this animal and nature excitement going on around me here in my new environment.

I spent a few days sprucing up my portfolio for an interview I had yesterday. All you can ask for is a positive experience, and that I had, so we’ll see what happens! And in between this and this and that, Cowboy is definitely quickly becoming the apple of my eye! We start puppy classes next week, I think I need them more than he does, he is really a great dog, such a love and so much fun.

We finally named the kid… Cowboy! He likes the name, it makes him feel macho and charming. He likes to dig holes on the beach and stick his paws in the hole, which looks hilarious!