Sketches

Talked to Murray Tinkelman today about our Pasadena assignment. I am thinking of
Kenton Nelson as that visit to his studio pretty much summed up Pasadena for me. It came at the end of the week, Kenton was so cordial and his studio was so amazing. There was an energy about him that just made you want to know more. So we'll see what brews up for this assignment but I am anxious to work on this.

IF: Renewal

Chinese New Year (Feb 14, 2010) is all about renewal, prosperity and scaring away evil spirits. This is the year of the Tiger...wishing you a brave new year.

New Year News!

This first morning of the New Year, I opened an email from SILA West telling me that my illustration (Rich Boy) was accepted into Illustration West 48!! ...a really nice way for me to start the New Year..The work will be exhibited online for two years and exhibited at a gallery in Los Angeles in March 2010. The judging panel juried over 1200 entries and included Glen Sagan- Sagan Phior, Ronnie Herman- The Herman Artist Agency, Keith Batcheller-Illustrator, Christy Ottoviano-Christy Ottoviano Books, Victor Juhasz-Illustrator, Vincent DiFate-Illustrator and Bill Perkins-Disney and High St Studios. I feel truly honored...

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.