Slowly but surely...

I'm getting there. I'm still fussing with my little press to get it printing the way I want it. Remember this:



...the type that was set by the previous owner in the 50's? Well I got it to print evenly, although not quite as perfectly as I would have liked:



It's a labor of love. I will update with my beautiful results when I have them.

I can't believe how quickly Christmas always goes by! I hope everyone had a wonderful day. This is a little snippit of a commissioned portrait I did before Christmas. In the rush of trying to get it done in time, I actually forgot to scan the finished product, so all I have is the sketch. Oh well. I hope the recipient was pleased.

Jess and I also did a gift swap. A bun for a bun. I gave her my Jack Rabbit for her to give to her mother, and I got one of her little fat bunny paintings to give to my little fat nephew.

Seraphim...

...is a good word. This is one of my most recent prints that was inspired by a poem by Charles Simic.

Painters of Angels and Seraphim

After a long lunch of roast lamb
And many heavy glasses of heavy red wine,
I fell asleep in a rowboat
That I never got around to untie
From its mooring under the willows
That went on fussing over my head
As if to make my shade even deeper.

I woke once to pull my shirt off,
And once when I heard my name
Called by a woman, distant and worried,
Since it was past sundown,
The water reflecting the dark hills,
And the sky of that chill blue
That used to signify a state of grace.

-Charles Simic

Where did the time go?

Hello and thank you to everyone who went to the Massart sale. I had a good turnover of artwork that will definitely help me through the holiday season, so thanks!

I have a few different projects going on right now and some new artwork piling up on my desk, but for now I will just share another sketch from my ongoing little series:



...and also the newest little addition in my family as of December 6th, my new nephew George:

and...........GO!!!

Today is the first day of the MassArt Holiday Sale. To your right you will see some samples of work I have there. The sale is up through the end of the week and is open everyday from 10-7 in the Tower Building Lobby.

It's always a great place to get unique gifts and see some great artwork at reasonable prices. You can read a little more about it in the Weekly Dig


K. Thanks.

Meet Kelsey

Last weekend I made a trip up to Madison, NH to visit a woman who was selling her Kelsey Excelsior 5x8 press after over 50 years. She had an enormous beautiful barn filled with lots of ancient treasures. I've been toying with the idea of purchasing my own letterpress for a while now (one much smaller than the ones I operate at work) and needless to say, when I saw what beautiful condition this little press was in, I couldn't turn it away.




This particular model is from 1893, so the fact that it still has all it's accessories is pretty amazing. It also came with 6 full drawers of type and one of the chases was still set up from the last thing that was printed in the 50's.



I'm just waiting on new rollers to be able to put her to full use.....Lastly, here is a photo of my little shop with it's newest addition:

Cats go to Market

I recently picked up an old picture book called The Cats go to Market, by Joan Cass and illustrated by William Stobbs. I've pretty much been obsessed by the illustrations in this book since I first saw it in the store 6 months ago. I believe it is circa 1969, which falls right into my favorite era of picture books.


The color separation is to die for!!!


My favorite part of the whole book is this black cat, which bears a striking resemblance to Julia's cat, Serif.





fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads...

Bless their patient little hearts...

I couldn't stop laughing the whole time I was drawing this. I'm thinking of a series based on these little guys. Who knows what will come of it.

I have never seen a fox...

...but if someday I do, I hope he looks like this little guy. It's not that I haven't tried. I guess I've just never been at the right place in the right time.

Birds of prey in the livingroom

So unlike my friend Jess, who's been creating the most unbearably adorable images lately, I've been unable to stop myself from doing these slightly creepy, ugly animal paintings. Below are my demented little chunklet owls who are scared of the night.



And here is my ode to the hawk, who scare the crap out of me. I have been seeing them everywhere lately eating their tiny brethren, which just seems cold.



I promised more autumnal artwork, and I will have it soon, predators and all.

Morning Goose

A new little edition called "Morning Goose." This guy was inspired by the white geese on the Charles river that I pass by in the mornings. It's a tiny edition of 3, each being slightly variable. Above is my favorite. Below is all three in a line.



boop bop beepooboo bop.

Just wait

I don't know why I felt the need to create this image, that basically ignores fall and goes straight to winter.

Anyway, this is one of my newest prints. These two are actually a pretty good representation of the way I feel about winter. Miserable.



Hopefully I will have some autumnal artwork to show shortly...

Slow days of October

Most of the time, Christopher is the only other living creature in my apartment. I have been taking advantage of this recently by sketching him when I have nothing better to do. Here is one of my favorites.

I adopted a black animal

So remember the days of longing for an animal? Well they are over (for now) for me. Yesterday I adopted a black fluffy cat from the MSPCA.

His name is Christopher.



Lots of artwork in production, but nothing to share yet. Soon...

Baby horses, Baskin and Birthday cake...

It's been a busy and chaotic past few weeks. I had a wonderful birthday thanks to Brian and all my friends. I walked home from one of the worst days I've ever had into a surprise party filled with friends, presents and a friendly birthday cake.

I got many thoughtful presents including a ton of tiny my melodies, a Pony-the-Hat necklace, records, and a crap load of Leonard Baskin books. Thanks to a gift certificate to the Artists & Craftsmen Supply, I bought my self some little expensive things like a diamond tip etching needle! and a little tube of cadmium yellow goauche!


My latest little prints look like this:



baby horses make the world go round...

Bull in the Heather

This is one of my newest paintings and is now the opening image on my website. I made some other much-needed updates also, so maybe it's time to take a visit.

Ghost boy

Just a small detail from one of my latest prints entitled, "Waiting in the Green Room". It's not quite finished yet. I'll post the finish asap. I have a lot of catching up to do...

giant bird, little head

I know, I know. More about Leonard Baskin. I'm newly obsessed with this image I found of his. It's a lithograph from 1978. One more of his giant deformed birds. Just imagine gazing into the sky and seeing this thing come down on you.





My birthday is coming up soon. Just think about it. It's only $4000. No biggie.

postcards from summer

These long summer days have been packed lately. I have finally (with the help of Julia) solidified my picture book dummy and it is almost ready for me to put it into the hands of (hopefully) eager art directors. Please everyone cross their fingers for me!!

Because this has been taking up my life recently, I have been lagging on producing any new work so I have nothing to share yet. Check out Julia's blog to see a little highlight on Jess and myself all hanging out on a recent hot summer night.

A relic was sent to me from my aunt in Maine: an old copper plated block for printing a postcard or a photo in a newspaper. It seems to be a picture of a fairly desolate roadside motel or lakeside cottages. Maybe someday I'll try to print it and see what it really is.



In the meantime, I'm going to try to spend as much time as possible floating in water until the weather turns cold...

From the depths of a bookstore...

...i found two old books by illustrators that I love. The World of Horses by Dahlov Ipcar.



and Fierce the Lion by Evaline Ness.



Also, when in NH, I found a little (literally) trove of tiny Golden Books. All written by Dorothy Kundhart and illustrated by Garth Williams. More tiny books for the tiny shelves! They are all only about 2 inches. Naturally, I almost had a heart attack when I found them.



Other than that, I've been plugging away at my picture book sketches and working at my new job at the letterpress. I'm still trying to learn how to operate this thing:




yeah. I know.

Bears, Blimps and Books

I spent the last week in New Hampshire where I had every intention of doing a lot of drawing, but instead ended up doing a lot of reading, swimming and nothing. The hood blimp made a mysterious and disorienting appearance over my nap one afternoon. I opened my eyes to this:



Also, lots of thunderstorms:



***

Recently (just last night), another one of my illustrations sold with it's matching bear figure made by Marylou Foley. This is my most favorite one she has done yet.



Just look at that butt!!!



***
Lastly, Brian's book, The Tornado is Not a Surrealist was released this week on a small press called Greying Ghost. It looks fantastic. The cover is very old fashioned and classy looking. It almost looks like hand-set type with ornaments:



Go read a sample poem here.

Go buy it here.

Congratulations Brian <3

Everyone should adopt a black animal

Today was my first day off in what seems like an excruciatingly long time. I have started a new job as an assistant printer at a letterpress which is replacing my former part time job at a children's bookstore. In the overlap, I have been working both jobs and been trying to squeeze in my freelance work in the night time. Basically, today was the end of the overlap and back my normal part-time life.

I told myself I would do nothing but read today. Instead I suddenly was struck with the urge to do a small triptych I'm now referring to my "Domestic Trio". I was thinking about black animals in shelters. They are less likely to get adopted because they are more likely to blend in and people have a hard time seeing them. So I created some homely little black animals that I now love.



Can you tell that I am painfully lacking both a cat and a dog...

soon, soon I tell myself.

The Parting

This is my newest illustration for a short story by Evelyn Hampton. It will be in the new issue of Smokelong Quarterly.



On a different note, this is my favorite new (old) book by Bob Gill. The drawings and the design of this book are extremely thoughtful and, I think, brilliant. I've recently found some other favorite books but I will save them for later because they are all by Marc Simont. Maybe I will do a highlight on him next...

Poets, Literary Journals and Me

The newest issue of Oranges and Sardines is out and there is an interview with me along with some of my artwork. Oranges and Sardines is a new literary magazine put out by Didi Menendez and is available for purchase here.

Here is the full list of all the contributers:

Featuring Artists: Ethan Diehl, Marcia Molnar, Holly Picano, Cheryl Kelley, Jennifer Wildermuth, L.D. Grant, Niel Hollingsworth, Steph Chard, Jeremy Baum, Jeff Filipski and E.B. Goodale. Poems by Blake Butler, Dana King, J.P. Dancing Bear, Josh Olsen, Steffi Drewes, Matthew Hittinger, Patrick Leonard, Diana Adams and Greame Mullen. Short story by Kirk Curnutt. Reviews by Miguel Murphy, Michael Parker, Cheryl Townsend, Courtney Campbell and Jim Knowles. Columns by Talia Reed and Caridad McCormick. Grace Cavalieri interviews Mark Doty.


Also, this weekend is a reading at Brookline Booksmith with Zachary Schomburg, Rauan Klassnik, Chad Reynolds and Carl Annarummo where I will go and meet Rauan Klassnik who has so kindly purchased the print "Don't Be Afraid" which was based on one of his poems. Above is the framed print in all it's glory.

Also, I was just asked to illustrate a short story for the lit magazine Smokelong Quarterly by a lovely woman named Evelyn Hampton. I will update on that when it's out!!!

God bless bunnies

Those of us that live in the neighborhood adjacent to Harvard tend to have a love-hate relationship with Harvard. The one undeniable goodness that Harvard hosts is the abundance of bunnies that live on the grounds. Almost every time I'm out walking at night, I see their mysterious little silhouettes in the shadows. This was the inspiration for my little painting "night rabbit" (see right.)

Tonight (just now) I was out walking and saw a little bunny running across the street. I involuntarily shouted "No, bunny, no!!" but then watched as it safely reached the other side. Then I walked in the door, sat down at my desk and did this:



the end.

I have been busy with the birth of Summer

Smelling flowers, rowing boats, and designing wedding invitations have all been part of what has been keeping me busy lately. Appropriately enough, I am also reading The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, a recent reissue of one of her adult novels. (of course she is most famous for her invention of the Moomins...)
So far I have enjoyed reading this book, with it's bizarre relationship between a disgruntled grandmother and her even more disgruntled granddaughter living on a mostly uninhabited island in the gulf of Finland. I can't help but feel though, that there is something a little awry with the translation. oh well. The nature descriptions alone are worth it.




I guess I've also been taking a lot of photos. Once upon a time, that was all I did.

I've also been hanging out with friends:



And looking at babies with potato-sack-legs:



And drawing little potato-sack girls:



ps. I've also been mourning the death of Polaroid. To see some more beautiful Polaroids, go here and here.