Bikes

It's summer and bikes are everywhere!

Happy riding :)

a step back in time

Lucky me made a getaway out of the city and up to Maine this past weekend.  Every turn was like visiting a different time in history.  Before heading to a cabin in the woods, we stayed in Portland for a night in an old old inn by the railroad tracks with a tiny sink right next to a twin bed, visited the studio of a friend who is a luthier, and found many treasures tucked away in the second hand shops....

including this lithograph of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands by Paul Berthon.  This was quite a little splurge, but I just couldn't leave this behind.  I've always adored the art nouveau style and so to find an original lithograph from 1901 was a real treat.  Just look at that bonnet and tulips!

Summer in the city

Feeling good about this recently finished piece of some little ones drawing a world around them.  This is part of a series I'm working on about summer in the city.

This, and the forthcoming illustrations in the series are inspired by real little scenes around my neighborhood.  

Keep cool, fools :)

Monoprinting bliss

Lately I've been craving a new way of creating imagery.  I feel like I need a big old gust of fresh air into my work.  So I've spent some time toiling away and staring into space at my desk and finally decided to try a technique that I haven't used since my art school days...Monoprinting.

Monoprinting is a method of printmaking where only one impression is made, rather than multiple.  There are many ways of doing this, but I used a piece of plexiglass, Dr. PH Martin's super saturated ink, and acrylic black ink with a paintbrush.

I found a piece of plexiglass lying around in my cabinet and I was ready to go!  Once I go started I wondered what had taken me so long to use this method!  Especially for texture and controlled, yet unpredictable, swaths of color.

I even tried printing on top of some existing etchings I had lying around.  I love the way these little blobby moths turned out.

Happy printing happy days

the lonely night

So thrilled to share this completed commission.  I've been waiting for an excuse to draw a whale, and then this opportunity presented itself.  Also got to use one of my favorite little printmaking techniques:  dusting magnesium carbonate powder over a freshly inked plate to prevent the ink from transferring in those spots.  Dusty stars!

"the mountain thinks it's left the earth"

A doodle inspired by a quote from poet, Mark Leidner.  This phrase has followed me ever since I first read it in Mark's book, "the angel in the dream of our hangover" published by Sator Press 2011.  I hope to develop this into something finished when I have the time.

<3

True Story