Today is Thursday

With a moo-moo here!

Oh. Sorry. We just got back from the pick-yr-own-orchard and that Old Macdonald is awfully popular around our house (what with a nearly 2 year old running about).

The above image is part of the illustration with the aforementioned accordion book. I thought I was going to be able to sit down and stitch it all together yesterday, but I had thank you cards to write (aah, etiquette) instead.

Today the plan is to stitch together as much as I can, prime up some new work surfaces, and root around in some Shakespeare for another piece that I'm doing.

Also!
A while back I applied to have my work put in the new Women's Hospital that is being built downtown, and I have made the first cut! At this point there is still the very real possibility that nothing more will come of it, but I am fairly proud of myself at the moment. (hip hip hooray!)

more pictures!

This is the illustration for the end of the story, when the boy flies through his window and lands in his own bed.

It was taken on my studio desk, so ignore anything happening outside of the yellow plane.

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while--I was in Virginia, visiting with family and friends and all of my photos were here (in Illinois). I am currently working on stitching together a small accordion book to go with another illustration, and I have two more works percolating in the sketchbook. One is inspired by a friend who should chuck his day job and do what he loves, and the other is inpired by my bird-like nesting instincts. It is that time of year, after all.
I have found myself frequenting the fabric store of late. I am not much for sewing--I have all the requisite pieces for a skirt waiting to meet the machine sitting in my studio. They've been waiting since February, so clearly it's a top priority. I'm not really sure what-all I'm going to be doing with all of the bits of fabric that I have amassed. I have hazy plans for a quilt based on trains for Adrian, and a quilt for a friend who's expecting a baby in the spring, as well as some hand made baby booties. I am planning more projects than there are hours to finish them, but I'm sure that I'll find the time. I learned how to crochet last winter and I have a half-finished hat for Aaron...I've been stiching and tearing out the same six inches for months now, and I stubbornly refuse to give us this losing battle.
I am a very tactile person, as well as someone who is in love with color. I think that is what draws me to fabric. I haven't the patience to be a fabric artist, but I think that I could probably incorporate scraps here and there into my 2-D work.
Presently, it's all part of fufilling the need to amass, catagorize, and store away.

With pictures!

(this is the illustration that started the whole crazy look-it-moves! nonsense that sucked me into a world of non-stop innovation)

And really, I'm quite pleased with my own cleverness. I've never attempted illustrations that are interactive and dynamic, like this one is.
I may never go back.

Today I finished all of the little 2-inch squares that I'm going to sew into an accordion-style book to affix to one of the illustrations. I've never made a book before, let alone one that is 2 inches high and 16 inches long. I'm pretty excited about it and I think I should be able to pull it off. (only time will tell)

This whole project has done for me exactly what I hoped: it got me into the studio, combined my love of art with my love of the written word, has provided ample opportunities to try new techniques, as well as inspiring future projects. Not to mention kept me in the proper work-is-art, art-as-work schedule, which I will need in the coming months. (Chaos is planning on paying us a visit--more on that as deatils become available)

Fooled you!

Hahaha. You thought I was dead. No, not dead, just um...overwhelmed? Yeah, that's the thingy--overwhelmed. Have to prep for going-out-of-townness that will occur soon, as well as warm up the house sitter to cats. Probably should have asked first if there was a cat aversion issue, but whatever.

Also, drowning in a sea of my own cleverness. That whole elephant story illustration doodah has turned into the project that would not end. It slides, it wobbles, it pops up and it accordions. Or, it will once I get everything re-attached. Tomorrow, if you're nice and tell me how pretty I am, I might show you pictures.

And lastly: so. damned. tired. I know that I made a promise (to myself, but still, a promise) that this site wouldn't be a place where I talk about baby/family but the two overlap the art and it's hard to avoid. The baby-related comment: a new facet of the PMS post-childbirth is exhaustion. The kind of crazy first trimester exhaustion where all you want to do is lie really really still and ooze into the couch. It's hard to work when you're this exhausted and know that naps are only a two hour reprieve in the ongoing pinball-like insanity of toddlerdom. AND NO I AM NOT PREGNANT, THANK YOU FOR ASKING.
And the mess! Oh the mess in the studio created by tiny curious hands.
Thank gods he's not a monkey.
That's all I'm saying.