IF Camo Bug

This week's Illustration Friday challenge is "camouflage". Naturally, I thought of all the animals that use camouflage to their advantage. This illustration depicts a fictitious leaf bug hiding out. Can you spot him?

I Love it When Again

I just finished a new version of the "I Love it When" cover. I wanted to add both girls (Kara and Kelsie) to give the cover a bit more punch. The old cover was a placeholder. I simply ran out of time last quarter and had to slap something together. I think this version is a much more pleasing solution.

Funny Pic

Did you ever wonder what kind of clothing your mother wore when she was your age? Check it out. From Left to Right: Aunt Michelle, Grandma, Aunt Val, and Mom! I'm guessing this photo was taken in the late 70's. A great shot of some of my aunts and yes, Grandpa is behind the camera. I absolutely LOVE the grin on my Aunt Val's face. Doesn't she look devious?

IF Rejection

This week’s IF assignment is "rejection". As I thought about how I have felt in the past when I was rejected, for whatever reason, my mind wandered to music, specifically melancholy music I like to listen to when I'm having a bad day, so I chose to illustrate The Beatles' "Blackbird". Specifically, I'm thinking about the verse that states, "take these broken wings and learn to fly".

Website Updates

NEW WEBSITE UPDATES!!!

There's a hidden illustration, too. I'll give you a hint (look for the sunflowers). I have so much to do this next week. I have to finish my thesis, find a job and do a huge pile of laundry left over from my trip to Savannah. An illustrator's job is never done.

Paradise: The Garden

Tropical Depression

Every one in a while in Savannah, they have something known as a Tropical Depression. This is not a time when everyone feels miserable to be living in a tropical paradise, but rather, a time when a whopper of a storm blows in from the Atlantic Ocean and makes everyone's lives very wet for a couple of days. It rained cats and dogs the entire day yesterday. Wet, horrible and did I mention wet! As Forest Gump would say, it was "raining up".

Today, though the sun is shining and everything is right as no rain! Of course, there were quite a few farmers that were praying for rain, and boy did they get it. So I feel happy for the farmers but still a bit miffed that a whole Saturday (A SATURDAY), was wasted. Amanda and I did meet up with Megan and her friend Ericka at the Bean (a coffee shop) during the evening, and Chris, a friend from Vineyard Church who also works at the Bean gave us all free chocolate raspberry cake (thanks Chris!!!!).

MMmmmmmm, chocolate caaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeeee (drool).

The Savannah Shuffle

Tonight is Mellow Mushroom (my absolute favorite pizza).

Tomorrow is gallery hopping, barbequeing, free concert attending craziness.

a pic for url

Well, here I am, thinking thoughtfully about life, love and the pursuit of gelato.

Where is that gelato?

From Savannah with Love

Hey all,

I'm in sunny, hot, humid Savannah (hangin' with Amanda). It's so great to be back here with my friends and have a chance to see everyone. My Thesis Show is tonight. I am going to be grateful when it's over. My whole graduate career has been leading up to this moment (well, and getting jobs too, that's important). After the show we're all going to the Crystal Beer Parlor (the after party) and then who know's what else (the after-after party). I love the Crystal Beer Parlor, especially on Friday nights. They have a real New Orleans style band that plays there, and they are wonderful. They always wind down the evening with a rousing version of "When the Saint's go Marching In". Great song.

Well, I have alot to do this coming week and I'm not particualry looking forward to all the paperwork and office hopping it will involve. My least favorite think about SCAD is the insane amount of paperwork. Sometimes I feel like Radar on MASH. "Is everything signed, Radar?" "Yes, Sir, in triplicate!"

I wanna' check you fer ticks!

Okay, so that Brad Pasely song is incredibly disgusting. However, I found a tick on Scout (my border collie) today that was the size of two jelly beans. You should check your dog for ticks. Soooooooooo disgusting. Poor Scout, I get grossed out when I find one on my shoe, let alone attached to my body and sucking blood. But perhaps dogs don't think about those sorts of things.

Anyways, I'm heading to Savannah, GA on Thursday. I feel so tired and run down right now. I have zero motivation, and I still have to finish my artist statement and my thesis paper, among other things. I am so ready to be done with school. Six years of higher education is enough. My future is unclear, and I will have huge college debts to pay back. My whole situation kind of drains any excitement I would be having because of graduation. I am very excited to see my friends though, especially Amanda, Shannon, Betsy and Karin and to walk down Bull Street and sip some coffee at Gallery.

I will miss Savannah. I hope I have a chance to visit every once in a while.

Just...really...tired :(

New Thesis Stuff

Wildwood Flower

Oh I'll twine with my mingles and waving black hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And the mirtles so bright with the emerald dew
The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue

I will dance I will sing and my laugh shall be gay
I will charm every heart in each crown I will sway
When I woke from my dreaming my idols were clay
All portions of love had all blown away

Oh he taught me to love him and promised to love
And to cherish me over all others above
How my heart is now wondering no misery can tell
He's left me no warning no words of farewell

Oh he taught me to love him and call me his flower
That was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour
Oh I long to see him and regret the dark hour
He's gone and neglected his pale wildwood flower

Camping

Almost every year my family goes camping in Hocking County, a region just south of Colombus, OH. Hocking Hills State Park has some beautiful scenery including ravines, waterfalls, steep cliffs, caves and bubbling streams full of tiny fish. It really is one of my favorite places. It's a recharge place. When I go, I feel as if the world isn't so crazy and I'll be okay. No cell phones, no TV, no email, just me dangling my legs over the edge of a cliff while I watch a beautiful waterfall.

Some interesting things that happened this weekend:

Found a tiny salamander (about an inch long) in a stream at Cedar Falls.
Sang opera in a tunnel carved out of rock at Old Man's Cave (Beth would not sing along with me because she is a party pooper).
Skinned my elbow (oddly enough, it kind of felt cool to have a skinned elbow, made me feel as if I was a tough mountian climber).
Saw numerous wildflowers (all of which my mother could identify).
Ate waaaayyyyy too many potatoe chips (but hey, I was on vacation).
Saw a huge groundhog sitting on a fence post (what's up with that?).

All in all, it was a good weekend. I needed it more than I knew.

First Thesis Image

See what you think! I've gotten some great feedback from various people and I'm happy with the finished product :)

Some Old Stuff

I was going through my images today in an attempt to get my portfolio together and I found a couple oldies but goodies.

First up, an oil pastel copy of a Da Vinci sketch.

Next, Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

Okie Noodling (not for the faint of heart)

Per Brad's advice, I watched "Okie Noodling" last night on PBS. Hand fishing, a time honored tradition in several states south of the Mason-Dixon line, is by no means a popular sport. But there are those few brave souls who will stick their hand down into a slimy catfish hole, wait for the sucker to nibble, and then grab it and yank it out of its murky lare.

You have to be incredibly brave or incredibly stupid to noodle. I haven't decided which one yet. Perhaps a little of both is best.

If you have an inkling to noodle, you'll have to go to Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana. It's illegal everywhere else.

My mommy picked me some Lilly of the Valley

Shout Out!

Shout out to my dear friend Shannon, who reads my blog ;)

NEW STUFF!!!

Hey there all the 3 people who read my blog!!!

I updated some stuff. I now have a super awesome header with dandylions. I love dandylions and I'm not sure why they are considered a weed. When my sister and I were kids, we used to pick dandylions and smear the pollen on our noses to turn them yellow! Okay, so we may occasionally still smear pollen on our noses. I suppose being a yellow-noser is better than being a brown-noser. Of course, my sister will still argue that I am indeed and have always been a brown-noser. I prefer the term "people pleaser".

There's a quote from the movie "Kate and Leopold" in which Kate's rather foppish boss announces that he is, "a people pleaser, people." Gakkk.

Also, I recently ordered:

A brand new MacBook with JBL Creature Speakers and a printer. I am very, very, excited. I can't wait until the UPS guy brings me my shiny new Mac! What rejoicing there will be on that day (anywhere from May 1st to May 5th).

My Mac will be Mac-a-licious, Mac-tastic, Mac-fabulous, and Mac-dreamy.

Okay, Okay, so I'm going off the deep end. However, finally getting a Mac is a momentous occasion for me. I will be one of them, the fortunate Mac owners. The few, the proud, the artsy. On cold, windy days I would look through the windows of coffee shops, my breath clouding the glass, as I longingly gazed at the PowerBooks and the MacBooks. How sleek they were, how elegant and refined...

Ooookkkaaayyyy, so I really went crazy with that last paragraph.

The End.

New Illustrations!

I've been working on some new illustrations for my pattern class. I illustrated several flowers native to Indiana, including the trout lilly (above). I have to say that I am most pleased with the trout lilly, but the stems are kind of chunky. Ah, well. I suppose it is an artist's fate to be overly critical of her own work (that is how we get better).

I also just realized that I have a month to get all this stuff done. Oh dear.