Twas a Lovely Dinner

Recently my boyfriend, David, and I had my sister, Kathleen, over for dinner. We were inspired to make artichokes from a cooking show that David loves. I was inspired to paint the artichokes, based on their interesting shape and color variation. Thinking myself to be terribly clever I looked at Etsy and found a HUGE number of people who like to paint (and sell) pictures of pears, apples, and artichokes. (Perhaps the Holy Trinity of fruit for still life paintings...)

At some point soon I shall put these three artichokes up on Etsy and perhaps in cyberspace they will meet up with other artichokes and discuss what it was like sitting for a portrait. (Exciting? Dull?)

Tomorrow I am back at work at my sales job but in less than two weeks, I will be taking a week off and flying to Paris (with the aforementioned boyfriend and sister). These next few days will be a flurry of tying loose ends up at work, Parisian research, packing, and stress! Please wish us "Bon Chance"!

Stinky!

This is Jen's baby Wyatt! (As this is his modeling debut, we decided not to do the runway shoot with wind machine as planned. Next time, kiddo.)

I am thrilled that Wyatt is wearing the very fashionable skunk onesie, lovingly drawn by his Wanna-Be-Uncle Dan, and painstakingly silk screened by his Momma. We had a lot of fun, although it was quite a chore to get the registration correct for the two colors that make up this pesky little skunk. With luck these will be available for sale on Jen's Etsy site soon.

As a co-creator of these onesies I cannot over emphasize how important this garment is to your baby's peace of mind. When Parent Number One says, "Ohhh! Somebody stinks!" baby just thinks, "Probably just the skunk... Silly Mommy." No embarassing situations. No hurt feelings!

This Little Piggy...

As the summer is getting under way I have found myself drawing fewer city scenes and working with one of my best friends on a small business she has started. My friend, Jennifer, has started Grow Baby, a line of organic baby items. As a recent Mom she has an in-house fashion model and a need for lots of fun and fashionable children's clothes.

(Her son, Wyatt, was born on January 10th! I'm trying very hard to be impartial when I say that he is very possibly one of the cutest babies EVER!)

Jen and I spend long nights playing Scrabble or making dinner saying things like, "What about an owl on a baby onesie?"
"An owl? Isn't everyone doing owls?"
"What about a elephant?"
"Won't that make your baby look like a little Republican?"
"Polar Bear? Too trendy?"

Last week I spent one of my very precious days off in front of my computer, listening to a book on tape, and drawing animal after animal. Most of them were either oddly shaped or looked sad (or angry or manic). ...Not baby appropriate! This little piggy seems to have successfully made it off of the drawing board, leaving behind him thirty-five or forty other animal sketches. I will see if I can get a photo of Wyatt wearing one of the Grow Baby Onesies. If you have a moment check out Grow Baby on Etsy.com!

Stationary Show at the Javits

Today I took a trip to visit a friend of mine at the Jacob Javits Center on the West Side in New York City. She was in town representing her company for the Annual Stationary Show. This show is always a great way to see what is new in the stationary, paper, greeting card, and gift wrap business. She suggested that I should bring my portfolio to show to other business owners. I put something together quickly. Once I arrived I realized that I had essentially brought a "knife to a gun fight". (...A very New York Metaphor!)

The Javits Center seemed like several football fields end to end with miles and miles of booths showing beautiful cards, artwork, and gifts. I was over stimulated to a point on par with a walk through Times Square or the Strip in Vegas. (When I told my friend I was overwhelmed she asked "But can you ever be just 'Whelmed'?")

After several hours walking through this environment (which felt larger than some American cities I have visited) I had a collection of promotional material from companies I admire, business cards from companies I would like to submit my work to, and a small mountain of promotional crap that was forced upon me by over eager vendors. Some very nice vendors agreed to look over my portfolio and I left my email address for a few company owners. I do not seriously expect to hear anything from them but my field trip today gave me a MUCH clearer sense of what is being created and bought in this market.

Along with this post I have uploaded an illustration I created of the south east corner of Central Park. This bridge is one of my favorite spots in Manhattan. It appears in the movie "Sweet Charity" and is even mentioned at the end of Orson Well's broadcast of the "War of the Worlds". The building to the right is the Plaza Hotel. I might go back and add a few layers of color to this illustration in the near future.

I'm on Vacation

Later today I will be leaving New York to spend a week with my parents in Chicago and to see the opening of the Chicago production of Billy Elliot. I am sad that I will be missing a very important week of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's Cherry Blossom Festival. (As I promised in my first blog posting several weeks ago I am now proud supporting member of this fine institution and I encourage everyone to support their local botanical garden, community garden, or arboretum!)

Currently I am working on an illustration from one of my favorite spots in Central Park. When I return to Brooklyn I will have more time to sit down and finish it. For now I am posting an illustration I worked on a few years back of the Cherry Esplanade in Brooklyn in full bloom. (Imagine that this black and white illustration is in color! ...and not just any color, imagine that it such a crazy bright pink that it recalls cotton candy, 80's fashions, and Mary Kay Cadillacs simultaneously!)

I wish everyone an exciting Spring with beautiful weather!

Finished Product

This is a brief posting. I just wanted to upload an image of the completed Madison Ave window design. My painted birch trees are hanging out with the real birch tree trunks. All together I think they make a great looking window. (By the way, email me if you are thinking, "Hey that bedding would look great in my house!")

Spending Time in an Acrylic Forest

Like many fashion retail companies, the company I work for is already a season or two ahead of us. The people in the office are finishing up the Winter buy and looking at the colors for next Spring and Summer. (It reminds me of the publishing industry. Magazines are probably writing the copy now for their Halloween issues and selecting their must-haves for Christmas.) My company is holding a press event to showcase our Winter Collection and the visual team now has to think of stylish ways to feature rich gem tones in a classy winter-ie way.

I have been asked to contribute a few evenings of my time to painting birch trees onto large mirrored panels we have. The idea is to create an illusion of a real forest when we arrange real birch tree trunks in front of this mirror. So far I am pleased with what we have accomplished and I cannot wait to see what it will look like once it is properly installed. Today I will be adding some small details on the trees. Hopefully that will make them stand out a bit... I will post additional photos when this forest is in place.