a drawing of a jackalope

a sneek peek at some new illustrations.... some of you may know what for!

have you heard of a jackalope? i hear they are related to the easter bunny. :)

rejected drawings

i'm working on a project for a client to redesign her logo and brand, and part of it is creating an illustration that resembles her a bit and is quirky and fun, and i'm having a heck of a time coming up with something that she likes! thank goodness she's patient. :)

anyway, here are a few of the drawings that have been rejected so far-- thought you might like a peek!

disappearance

i really like this piece, but i have no idea who created it. it came to me via fffound, and i just can't seem to figure out who the artist is.

if you have any idea, please do tell and i'll add it in the post! i want to give proper credit if possible.

mlktst: drawings

i love these drawings by mlktst on flickr.
LOVE. THEM.

see more on deviant art, too. look at that apple hat below! so great.

black cab sessions

this is my favorite thing ever! if you get daily candy each morning, then you already saw this, but on the off chance that you didn't, i couldn't not post it.

the black cab sessions were created by just so films-- basically, musicians play & record a song in the back of a black cab, and it's so fun to watch!

plus, they seem to pick all my favorite bands/musicians to hop into the cab, so i'm even more thrilled to know about this now.

above is bon iver, whose music i just can't seem to get enough of lately. click here to check out the rest! and good luck getting any work done today. :)

elisabeth dunker + little paper planes

i just may have to have this poster by elisabeth dunker. i love it so.
you canf ind it in the little paper planes shop-- have you seen the new site? it's fantastic!
big congrats to kelly lynn jones on the new site launch, plus the accompanying show at tinlark gallery, which opened on saturday and runs through october 4. i'd check it out if i were in the area for sure!

hidden in plain view

i'm intrigued by this project called 'hidden in plain view.' it's a collection of postcards by 21 artists in northern europe, based on the concept of home and in the tradition of steganography, which according to their website is "the art and science of writing hidden messages, which has been traditionally popular on scandinavian postcards."

it's intriguing, yes? you can read more about the project right here.

[via it's nice that]

pedro lucena

these drawings by pedro lucena are wonderful, aren't they? i love how imaginative they are and how textured they feel. i really love artists that can make their drawings feel so textured by creating different patterns with a pen. amazing!

pedro is from brazil, and you can see many more of his drawings on his flickr page. go to it!

i'm back!

hi friends! i'm back from chicago and renegade, and boy am i exhausted! it was a whirlwind of a weekend-- and full of RAIN. and more rain and more rain....... i've never seen so much rain.

this is the only post i can muster today-- but you can see some photos of our booth (above is renee getting ready! below is my half of the booth), and then further below some photos of the rain and its effects on the fair.

thank goodness this didn't happen to our booth, but i felt so badly for people that had things destroyed. so many vendors went home early (we had to pack up early, too, unfortunately), and it was really sad. but the rain was unreal and really hard to deal with. sigh.

anyway, i'll be back to regular posting tomorrow once i recover a bit. hope you all had a fabulous weekend!!

going to chicago!

well, my dears, i am off to chicago! actually, i am off to greenville, sc, then to charlotte, nc, then to chicago. seems round-about, yes? but in fact, it's going to be an action-packed trip! i'm going to greenville to meet a wonderful gallery owner that would like to have me do a show at her gallery, and then i'm going to charlotte to gather up my booth mates, renee and charlie (well, to transfer my stuff for renegade from my car to theirs), and then we're going to trek (drive) through the dark night up to chicago so we can spend the day there tomorrow before the rest of our apartment crew arrives (christy, shannon, kurt-- can't wait!)

then tomorrow, renegade begins! (renee and i don't have to set up our both until 10:30 am, so we'll be hitting the wicker park farmer's market before that. yum! fresh farm goodies!)

if you are in the chicago area, please do stop by our booth!! we're #244, on the corner of division and hermitage. we'd love to meet you. :) it's so fun to meet people from blog-land in person!

i'll be back here blogging on tuesday-- hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!

[old chicago train photos: top 2-- cklx's flickr photostream, bottom-- library of congress flickr photostream]

cats

i adore this print called 'cats' by etsy seller be happy now. it's totally fantastic. look at those noses! goodness gracious, i'm in love again today.

check out more work by be happy now in her etsy shop and on her amazing flickr page!!

new painting: this is what i have to say to you

another new small painting. 6x8", acrylic, gouache, india ink, and linoleum block printing on wood.

lizzy dish fabric

i was so pleased to get an email from lizzy house showing me images of her brand new line of fabric, called lizzy dish, that is available from andover fabrics and will soon be seen at a fabric store near you!

remember when i posted about lizzy a few weeks ago? i was thrilled when i discovered her blog, where she enlightened us all about the process of getting her designs picked up by andover to be turned into fabric. check it out here.

and be sure to check out lizzy's etsy shop, too-- there is much goodness to be had.

thanks, lizzy!

sarajo frieden at rare device!

oh my, if there was ever i show that i wish i could see, this is the one. sarajo frieden + rare device = heaven for me. hopefully there will be lots of good images from the show on sarajo's blog and the rare device blog/lisa congdon's flickr page.

the show opens october 2nd (7-9 pm)-- if you are in, or anywhere near, san francisco, go to this show! i saw sarajo's work in person in march at little bird gallery in los angeles, and it was fabulous. FAB.U.LOUS.

yee haw!!

oh me oh my! these are by far my favorite thing i've seen yet today. wouldn't these yee haw tags by farouche be the perfect touch to pretty much every gift you ever give? i love them. i'm buying some. click here if you want to buy some, too!

jellyfish monster magnets

oh my godness, i'm totally in love with these jellyfish monster magnets by ~numb-synapse on deviantart. i particularly love them holding up that drawing. so cute!

and, speaking of jellyfish, you really must click here to see the most amazingly beautiful hand-drawn jellyfish by my uber-talented pal renee. they are gorgeous. really. click it. you won't be sorry you did.

new pattern: pandas, as promised

here it is! the repeating panda pattern.
i'm thinking of starting a free monthly desktop wallpaper download with my patterns... what do you think? good idea?

i have the panda drawing from earlier on my desktop right now and it looks oh so cute. :)

good morning with pandas!

yesterday was one of those days where i everything i touched turned to mud. all day long i kept trying to make things and then ruined them, or they were just hideous to begin with. and when i went to the post office, the self-serve machine was broken, so i had to wait in a long line and then got the mean clerk lady that thinks she's better than everyone. so, need less to say, i was feeling crabby.

somehow i was able to turn my bad attitude around, though, by after-dinner-time, and i had a ball drawing some pandas! aren't they cute? i think i'm going to make a repeating pattern out of them next. stay tuned!

new painting: 'thinking'

i'm feeling really pleased with the color combination in this new mini painting. it's called 'thinking' and is 6x8", acrylic, oil, india ink, and linoleum block printing on wood.

i believe this one might become a print in the shop.

speaking of the shop, have you pre-ordered your calendar yet? don't forget if you order one by october 1st you'll be entered in the giveaway for a free calendar! click here to get your very own.

fall showcase in atlanta

this is a post especially for you atlanta readers (i know you're out there!)

on saturday october 4th i will be participating in a really fun event with 7 other awesome artists who all have etsy shops-- it's going to be like an art festival in a backyard!

there will be food, wine, and lots of goodies that we'll be giving away for free!

the other participants:

-inkspot workshop
-luxe design workshop
-istanbul designs
-repaper
-vessels & wares
-easy edges studio
-the funky shack

let me know if you'd like me to send you a personal invitation, too-- i'd be happy to pop one in the mail for you! and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. the event will be from 12-5pm and is going to be terrific. hope to see you there!

andy miller

i received an email yesterday from andy miller introducing me to his work, and i'm so glad he did! i think i clicked on every link on his website, and i love the variety of work he creates!

you can download the pattern above to use as free desktop wallpaper! great idea.click on the poison apple link at the top of his website to get it.

and i totally want this t-shirt, and the piece below is his own wedding invitation! as someone who is trying to decide what i want my own wedding invitations to look like, i'm totally inspired by these.

hilary lorenz

oh boy. these drawings by hilary lorenz are too good to be true. aren't they simply amazing? i found them over on gawker, and i'm jumping for joy at the sight of them.

please do go visit hilary's website-- these babies are perfect for whiling away a friday afternoon.

new painting: we're right here under the surface

i'm feeling the friday itch today-- i want to get out of the house and do something fun!
painting fish has made me want to go out on a boat or something-- do you all have any fun weekend plans?

this little painting is called "we're right here under the surface," and it's acrylic, india ink, linoleum block printing, and paper on wood. this one is rhode island bound (yes gallery and studio)!

alyson aga

i'm pretty obsessed with this monotype/mixed media print by alyson aga. it is just as perfect as can be. and i was so pleased when i read that she lives in boulder, co (my hometown, yay!)

you can get this print in the shiny squirrel shop, which, incidentally, seems to be full of lots of new goodies. definitely worth a browse (and a purchase if you are so inclined!)

***
in other news:
next weekend is the much talked about renegade craft fair. i'm going to be there- are you?
renee and i are busily preparing and can't wait to make new friends and hang out in chicago for the weekend! come check it out and say hello!