New Year

Happy New Year to all and good luck with your resolutions:) One of my resolutions is more painting in a new studio....I am also excited about launching a new website and blog and an Etsy shop to come near the end of the month. Stay tuned for more...

Some summer inspiration (it's been snowing here all morning)...Collecting shells from the beach in a Nathalie Lete bucket from Rose and Radish. You can also get her Robot design here

Recycling Illustration: Chris Buzilli

So when Christmas comes, one of my children uses newspaper to wrap her gifts. This week she lucked out. Chris Buzelli's illustrations graced the pages of the New York Times Sunday Style section and I was the lucky recipient of 2 presents wrapped in Buzelli!

Merry Christmas: Natural Ornaments

I love ornaments made from all natural materials.
Most of the ornaments on our tree are made of natural (paper, wood, wool) materials that have been hand-made by me. The top ornament is called a porcupine ball made from twirling tissue paper around the point of a sharp pencil. This is a very delicate, but beautiful ornament and worth the time it takes to make...around 15-20 minutes each. This technique was demonstrated to me by a woman from the local Polish community and it is a traditional Polish ornament. The folded paper white star is Pennsylvania dutch origin and of course there are plenty of origami ornaments. The wooden stars were made with coffee stirrers tied with waxed linen thread and/or yarn for variation. The wool sheep is my favorite. I will have to do some research to give you the source for this as I cannot remember...but i'll try. What a beautiful face!

Beekman 1802

Today I received the heirloom tomato seed packets from Landreth Seed Co. via Beekman 1802 Mercantile that I ordered. Their commemorative catalogue is wonderful and the cover is a repro from the original 1884 catalog cover. Inside there are lots of enticements "to all who have occasion to purchase seeds" from the company which was started in 1784 in Philadelphia. There is an African American Heritage Collection with recommendations from Michael Twitty, Culinary Historian of traditional African American Food Culture, a Patio Gardener collection, and a Children's Garden collection. Sprinkled throughout the catalogue are repros of Landreth's advertising posters which are little bit of graphic heaven and testimonials from folks who know, for example, that their bloomsdale parsnips are unsurpassed. While I am preparing for Spring, (to ameliorate the already too cold winter ) I did think that heirloom seeds would make great holiday gifts for gardener friends.

I also received an 1802 hand-forged Britannia fruit spoon made from "an authentic 18th century spoon mold and the alloy Brittania which was popular at the time that the Beekman Mansion was built" which is, aside from being a little sculptural beauty, a utilitarian burnishing tool for my printmaking. But it is so pretty it almost deserves to be mounted on linen in a shadow box frame. I think not yet...but someday.

O Christmas Tree

Our tree from the Owen's farm...I would love to visit Beekman 1802 in nearby Sharon Springs, NY for goat milk soap, goat cheese and more. Making lots of lists...a little progress on holiday linocut. More to come...

Poster Design

The poster design is fini. The Lab of O has a crackerjack design staff that handed me some edits that were right on. I am sure the exhibit will be beautiful. The GNSI members are serious about their art. I just love this group! So if you are in the Ithaca neighborhood, stop by the Lab of O and see the show. In January, Steve Kress who works for Audubon, will give a talk at Lab of O about the 20 species of birds whose numbers are seriously declining.

Snow is flying, cookies are flying out of the ovens, and wrapping paper and ribbon is flying through the air at lightning speeds. The days fly by...time flies away.

Tomorrow is dedicated to the annual holiday card. Sketches in the works....

In the spirit...

The snow was wonderful this morning. Just the right kind for snowmen, but too heavy for shoveling. This is the time of year I start knitting and sewing. Made these two gifts with socks, gloves and this great book.

Pulling Christmas out of the basement. Last year after the holidays, when prices were being slashed, I ordered this gingerbread house. It has been in a box in the basement all year. Today, I opened it! It was like having an early Christmas! Of course this is the no bake variety, but if you like gingerbread, here is the ultimate gingerbread website

I really love Scandinavian design. Here is some nice fabric. Here are some examples of the Stig Lindberg collection of fabrics from Ljungbergs textiltryck. He created these playful patterns in the 1950's. Nice.

Some more links.
legendary blankets from Hudson Bay....
LOVE Loop

Jon Han

Finished paper on rising star and Pasadena presenter Jon Han for Murray. Jon has been gracious enough to consent to an interview by me which I will post here in the future. Love his work. As soon as I saw Jon Han’s silkscreened work on the table in Pasadena, I felt a connection. The simple shapes and fresh forms, the lines and colors appealed to me. Jon Han was born in 1981 and raised in California. He has a BA of illustration, from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and currently lives and works out of Los Angeles, California. His client list reflects an impressive array of news and science publications including: The New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Business Week, Plan Sponsor-Runner's World, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, NYU Physician, and New Scientist and more. He has been recognized in Illustration NOW 3, Print Magazine Regional Design Annual 2008, American Illustration 27, Communication Arts Illustration Annual 47, Society of Illustrators New York Illustrators 50, and Society of Illustrators West 47. To say that his star is rising would be an understatement. Work assignments for him began in his senior year at Art Center.

Camilla's book by Uppercase Journal is here!

Very excited today to receive Camilla Engman: The Suitcase Series, designed and published by Uppercase Journal - 190 pages of Camilla! There is delight on every page. Can't wait to dive in.

Tea Time

Traditional or Digital?

I know, it's December and there's snow on the ground and it is way too early to be wishing for Spring... But I was just experimenting with traditional and digital approaches....back to Christmas planning.

IF: Crunchy

Bella prefers dry crunchy catfood.

Portrait of Bella

Saturday Snow

Inspiration from France...

Poster In Progress

Still playing around with the type and colors...like this lighter palette better.
Getting a lot of InDesign aha moments.....:) Finishing up other freelance projects so I can concentrate on all things holiday.

Poster Design

Working on a poster design for an art exhibit featuring the illustrations of members of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (Finger Lakes, NY Chapter) who collaborated with The National Audubon Society and the Lab of Ornithology. 20 artists painted illustrations of 20 identified common birds whose numbers have been declining at alarming rates. The show 's title comes from part of a poem written by May Riley Smith in 1882 ..." Strange we never prize the music till the sweet-voiced bird has flown." I'll post more details later.

IF: Entangled (Organized Entanglement)

On a recent trip to Northern California, we saw many vines entangled in an organized
way. This vineyard where the vines were planted on steep rugged terrain was at the base of the Russian River where it empties into the Pacific Ocean. Breathtaking....
And this from Arenas Flowers...

For Bacchic-pleasure seekers, the sight of a grape vine is tantamount to finding Elysium on earth! Yes, grapevine undoubtedly symbolizes intoxication. Scientifically, the vine, from which the intoxicating drink of wine originates, belongs to the Vitis family.

In fact, all literature-especially originates from the celebration of Bacchus, the wine god and this ritual of song and dance was inevitably incomplete without wine and tender entanglement of grapevines.

Read more: Grapevines Flowers Meaning | Meaning of Grapevine Flowers | Grapevines Flowers Information