art THROB Magazine

A while back I was featured in Salem's Art Throb Magazine again thanks to the awesome Lilly mcCrea, this time a part of my The Giant Fox painting being used to convey the comfiness of home. If you are a local artist near Salem, feel free to contribute to the publication! Another illustration can be seen in the recent ASK magazine again- that image will be posted soon when I get my copy. Big thanks to Pamela Bonesteel for that one.

In other news, things at CR Gibson are going swimmingly. Nashville is starting to slowly get into springish weather, and I'm starting to see my first creations come back from vendors (or as I like to call them, "my children"). My co-workers continue to be great, and the newest of us (one from Alabama, the other two from New York City) are having a good time discovering more of Music City every day.

I'm lame and haven't been posting in regular fashion, but I hope to pick up my blogging pace. Bare with me.

July 4th

Happy 4th of July!

I'm busy working with two new clients- the wonderful Paper Culture and ASK Magazine through Carus Publishing. Hotdogs and fireworks for all.

Spread the Word

Looks like we're getting close to summer. I finished a job for Williams Sonoma and will be working on a book cover soon. This year I will also be teaching Illustration at RISD Pre-College, which I'm very excited about. This will be my fifth year- and I've loved teaching Design Foundations- but to teach the subject that I actually...you know, make a living with will be exciting. Plus it's just nice to have a change.

Surtex was great this year, and I left with a lot of inspiration and new ideas. There should be several things to post in the next few months!

Brushing Beauty

I'm really digging this newer painting, which is another adventure into constructing my images through abstracted space, pattern and color rather than thinking of my environments traditionally. People must like it, because I had 28 promotions in one day after it was posted on society6 (I think the highest I've ever gotten so quickly is 12, to put it in context). What is NOT posted is the first version, which was just wrong, wrong, WRONG. The figure, the colors...even the size was just plain wrong. It's bizarre how one day you can try to create something and inspiration doesn't strike, only to have a completely different creative energy the next day. In the end...I win! Take that, painting.

See "Tea Party" at Hive Gallery!

People in the LA area can see my painting at Hive Gallery's Second Annual "Alice in Wonderland Show!" I was so happy to work with Nathan and Romina again and am looking forward to future collaborations. Check out the link above for more details and directions.

"Tea Party" was fun to make. After the past couple of years, I'm starting to realize that I handle my illustrations more from a design point of view. I am especially happy with how the graphic elements combine with the more spacial elements (such as the receding table) and start to create a harmonious marriage between flatness and dimensional space.

Yee Haw!

The Illustration Department at Montserrat College of Art is having a gallery show currently. The theme this year was "Wild Wild West", and I just had to do a saloon girl.

Catch Up...Ketchup...

Looking back at older posts, I realized there is a lot of art I've been meaning to show but wasn't able to at the time due to publishing dates, etc.

So let's do some catch up, shall we?

The first one is a piece I did for a client based on the premise of solar energy and going green. Hopefully you could tell those are solar panels on the plant mixed in with the leaves. When I was looking up reference I wondered what the average person thinks of when they hear "solar panel" and if it's anything like the real thing. On a side note, I have to put more beehive hair do's in my work.

And next is a piece that was in my solo show at Gulu-Gulu Cafe back in November. I'm happy to say that it sold and is now in a permanent home!

Character Game!!!

My boyfriend and I have a friend visiting, and we started doing this exercise where we give each other 10 characters to draw. It was a lot of fun after a long day of work, but also an interesting chance for me to apply my style to different faces. Anyway, here they are! Mine are at the beginning and our friend's doodles follow.

Happy New Year!

The holiday season has come and gone, and it was great to be down in Texas with family for a while. Even with all the craziness, I found it to be a good time to achieve some clarity on issues (and isn't that a great way to start the year- with clarity?).

I'm back in Providence and some gallery appearances await my artwork, including the department show at Montserrat College of Art where I'll be showing as faculty. The theme? Wild Wild West! Around the same time, the RISD Faculty Biennial will be up in the mueseum. I think the piece above is the one I will submit for that show.

Respect The Mullet!

Currently I am trying to get a new 5"x7" mailer made. One was just sent out with Sedna on the front (see post below), but I usually try to make two different mailers so that I can attract different clients. I had sketched out "Mullet" a long time ago and shelved it only to come across the sketch again a year or two later. It was something that I found silly and fun (and it also featured a guy- something that I could always use more of in my portfolio), so it's the "other" mailer this time around. I'm hoping the different flavor might attract some new art directors.

The Giant Fox

I'm so happy to announce that I have received my copy of Oh, Comely that includes my Lost & Found piece. The UK magazine is beautifully published, and I love the overall look and feel of it (online mags will never have that satisfying weight to them, ya know?). The current issue of Utne Reader also has an editorial piece from me (Nelson Mandela is on the cover!), so take a peek if you come across it. I produced a spot illustration for them, but I hope in the future to do a nice, meaty big one-page illustration or spread and give them a big dose of Minco.

For now, please enjoy a new piece I have done called The Giant Fox. It s based off of an inside joke/story between my boyfriend and I. At night, The Giant Fox come down from Boston and pokes his head in our apartment window. He has a giant basket which is full of treats (sometimes beer, pizza, or tea depending) and we enjoy the goodies until he returns. We're huge dorks.

Brains!

My favorite piece I painted for the RISD sale!

Fall is sneaking up on me...

I have been BUSY this past month, but only have one thing to show right now. At least he's peppy (and already has his puffy vest and long sleeves for Fall!).

Just finished an illustration for Utne Reader. I got to work with their awesome Art Director Stephanie Glaros. I will be able to post the image when it comes out (Novemberish).

Today I am finishing up an image for a new magazine in the UK called Oh Comely. I have a lot of freedom with this one, so it should be interesting. The theme is "found things" and is about discovery. Oooooo...

“Did you know that you wanted to go to art school?”

Me with my Basic Design students, RISD PC Illustration Majors

Even though it’s been a while since I last posted, it’s not due to a lack of things to talk about. Five RISD pre-college classes and 71 students brought a lot of great projects, silly moments, and a few heart to heart talks with unsure young artists who are trying to answer that all important question that is dominating their existence at the moment: what do I study in college?? Many assumed the six week program would answer that question crystal clear… and for some that did happen. For others, however, the whirlwind and intensity of the semester just confused them even more. It’s amazing how often I heard the same question thrown my way:

“Did you know that you wanted to go to art school?”

Yes, I did. I didn’t know what major I wanted to choose (odd fact: I thought I was going to go into Apparel), but I knew I wanted to go to art school and later chose RISD. Now, let me stress that I knew I wanted to go to art school. Meaning I wanted to learn…meaning I knew I had potential but still sucked to high heavens when it came to specific areas in art. Whenever you decide to pursue something in higher education, it’s because you usually have a deep interest and passion for it. ‘Nuff said. People who love learning French in high school know more than the average bear (or me), but that doesn't mean they are experts. Twelve-year-olds interested in Medical school aren’t taking small reptiles and performing kidney transplants in the family garage (we hope). However, when it comes to art school I find my students and many others think you have to be already amazing to get in. It’s true that you have to draw more than a stick figure, but obviously if you already knew everything about art than you wouldn’t have to go to an art college in the first place, so don’t stress it if you’re a little rough around the edges.

There was also another important factor with my decision to go to art school. First of all, let me say that I did not think I was amazing at the age of 17. Yes, I thought I had a knack for art and enjoyed making it. Going to art school just “made sense”, but more importantly, I had no doubts about pursuing a higher education in art because I truly felt like I had faith in myself no matter what I pursued. I could have been a chef, a meteorologist, or a DJ and I think I would have approached it with the same positive attitude- that with hard work, time, and patience I could be successful. With something like art, It’s easy to romanticize it into some sort of magical ability…either you have “it” or you don’t, but in the end it’s about those values that Mom and Dad tried to drill into us when we were in elementary school: study, do your homework (well), and apply yourself 100%. No pixie dust needed.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you are now…it’s how hard you push to be where you want to be in the future.

Summer, Oh Summer...

July is almost here and a lot has happened. I visited my family in Texas for three weeks, started teaching RISD pre-college, and found out I will be teaching "Image Design" in the RISD illustration Department this Fall. The summer is starting off with a joyous bang.

I hang with suspicious company

Above are a couple of examples of the small paintings I sold at the RISD Alumni Sale. I especially like the colors in the second one, which I lovingly call "Fang".

Currently I am working on a painting for the Summer Illustration Show at Silver Circle Studio in Putnam, CT. They have a great gallery there and the local community is very supportive of New England artists. I'll post the final product soon, which is based on the theme "Midnight Vices" (Oooooo).

Folk Skull Print

Sharing some surface design work today. The smiling skulls were done in Illustrator by hand-tracing sketches, and the floral print is a scanned ink drawing that was colored in photoshop. The second one is my favorite.

Surtex dancing in my head...

A hotel in New Jersey is not where I'd thought I would be a week ago, but having a change of environment can be good for the artist that is constantly tied to their home studio. My boyfriend had to travel for RISD, so I happily came along to get a break from my messy drafting table.

Surtex had some really good stuff this year- not as many cheesy snowmen or beach scenes. No, there were many artists that I liked and I can definitely see my style of illustration entering the surface design market. However, I realized that the trick is going to be fitting in while not fitting in too much. Basically, I still need to stand out in some way (in a good way, of course) and not loose the flavor of my illustrations.

I also have been practicing and struggling and practicing...and struggling some more with how to make my surface design. My illustrations are paintings and that works great, but for the SD market vector art is popular and also much easier to manipulate color-wise, etc. Obviously you can scan in traditionally-painted artwork and manipulate it in photoshop, but indexing the color and clean up is much more frustrating for me, and in the end my work can have this stale look to it after the process. I'm working on a print in Adobe Illustrator today in the lobby and hope to post that soon. Here I come, pen tool!

Happy Birfday To Me...

May 2nd was my birthday, but it was celebrated this past Saturday with friends. Because of this, my clock is kinda thrown off and it's weird to think we're pretty well into May. Currently I am wrapping up classes (congrats to my Montserrat students who did awesome!) and putting things together for the 2010 Surtex and National Stationary Show this Sunday in NYC. Last year it was smaller due to the economy, so I'm hoping that it has grown back to its former glory. There are a few key companies/people I plan to say a quick hello to, and I always enjoy discovering new trends and ideas while I'm browsing. Perhaps I will actually pay for one of the seminars this time around? Might have to play that by ear...

Take a Hike!

Welcome to Friday! It's snowy and grey, but I'm hoping to get started on a new piece I'm very excited about. In other news, I will be be one of two guest faculty members presenting at the RISD Pre-College Open House. It's March 6th and I'll get to show off all the great work my past students have done.