strange girls

Some sketchees...

shrinky dink day

Modeled after blue jay feathers. I'm actually surprised the large feathers actually worked, because they were pretty big before going into the oven.  Though, I'll admit, I panicked a little when they curled up on themselves...

what?

I don't know...

holiday cards!

New Holiday Cards!  I still have to print them and get them up in the Etsy shop... before Thanksgiving... So now I NEED to speed on up to MKE and visit digicopy.

MusicExpress Cover, Take 2

So, last year, the lovely people over at the Hal Leonard corporation commissioned me to do a cover for their "MusicExpress" magazine.  This October, they wanted me to do another - HURRAY!  Though I must say, I haven't worked in this style since the last illustration I did for them... Though, I do think it turned out a lot better than the first cover I did - and I only had less than a week in which to do it (go me).  So, there you go...

a taste

Just a little taste of the work I'm doing for Paradigm this October.  They are only sketches though...  The second image is just a very rough idea, the first image is more the direction I'm headed in, though like the second image, there will be more ornate details.  I'm working in watercolor, acrylic, fabric and wood...

clever girl

I'm getting sucked back into the world of threads and fabrics!  Sadly I keep shrugging off Sedna... which I NEED to work on...  somebody just kick me.  On the other hand, hurray for Jurassic Park quotes coupled with strange embroidery!  I know, it's weird, right?  Topher, I thought of you while making this :)

hart to heart

Hurray for embroidery!  Hand embroidered with green and fuchsia thread onto a damask print cotton fabric.  The awesome frame came from Goodwill.  I <3 thrift stores...

much ado about something

I am up and running!  A whole week full of inspiration has got me back on track for all my projects, new and old!  I spent an absolutely lovely afternoon with Florence Parry Heide, a well-known children's book author, who also happens to be related to my grandma!  Florence is such an amazing person!  She's so vibrant and full of life despite her 91 years, and just so helpful and encouraging.  I left her fantastic art-laden Kenosha home utterly saturated with inspiration, and she gave me so much hope for my future in illustration.

I also got moving on my Sedna comic after going to hang out with friends at StudioSunday!  Hopefully I can tighten up my thumbnails and starting inking the first 5 pages this month!  So excited to really get going on this project :)

I also got a tentative ok to do a mural for Willow Creek Ranch.  I suggested brightening up the indoor riding arena by painting a large mural that would include all the horses they use in the program.  They were really excited about the idea, as am I, so I'm in the process of drawing up a sketch.

I also have a show set up for October at Paradigm Coffee & Music in Sheboygan!

And, for the finale, I finally got a job!!  It's only a part-time job, so I'll still be looking for a second job, but hopefully it will be a rewarding one...

inspiration for Sedna

The wonderful Jackie at LovesickRobot is doing awesome work on the script for my Sedna book, which has inspired me to start working on it again!  So, I was trying to work on a cover and I came up with the idea of using the dog - which more than likely will not be my cover, but I liked it so much I thought I would post it.  I think I want the cover to be more simple, minimal, with lots of white space...  we shall see.   Also there's just some quick sketches of what her body could look like...