swallowfield

maira kalman, i think i love you

if you haven't seen them yet, these illustrations about maira kalman's trip to washington dc last week are absolutely incredible. (via the nytimes) 

i am overwhelmed by how much i love them.

happy friday!

snow + more snow

i'm happy to be able to say i finally finished up the last of fourteen pieces i made for nahcotta gallery's enormous tiny art show 5, which opens next friday, 2/6. phew! this time around i made half collage and half pen and ink drawings.  i am not sure they all totally go together, but i like what i made, so i guess that's good. the pen and ink stuff is a bit of a new direction for me - a bit less pen-clenched-fussy than my normal drawing style. i am trying to be a little more free with my pen, and i had a lot of fun making these.  i believe all of my new work will be up on their website by next week sometime.

we had a school snow day today because there is yet another massive blizzard happening outside.  i worried about keeping the kids busy while i was finishing up all of my stuff, but they were great about entertaining themselves. i taught ellie how to make food processor bread dough all on her own (a second loaf after then one i made them this morning was polished off at an alarming rate.) also, they're both having a lot of fun using this site and emailing me their creations. (ellie's are sweet and chatty, like this. chase's are more like " dude, poop!" "okay, booger!"  i guess i shouldn't find this surprising.) 

i don't know about you, but i am definitely feeling a bit of a january funk. it might have something to do with the fact that there is so much snow + such high snowbanks that i basically take everyone's lives in my hands when i back out of our driveway on a wing and a prayer, or it might be because we are currently listening to harry potter #6 for the 7th or 8th time. i love jim dale's voice a lot, but i think i've had my fill of this particular book. (my favorite line, from dumbledore: "accidental rudeness occurs alarming often." ) anyway, wake me up in april.

these pictures from last week are spectacular.

my favorite new blog for 2009 so far is habit. i find myself looking forward to it every day. i might have already said this in another post, but it's worth repeating.

ps: i love amy poehler, so i loved these wonderful (and slightly wacky) little videos. they were fun to watch with ellie. i love anything about strong girls.

is it february yet?
cheers to all.

it's a new day

i'm feeling quiet, happy + extraordinarily grateful on this amazing day. 

i made chili and cornbread to celebrate. 

plus, someone very dear to me has a new sweet baby this week. welcome to the outside, greta eloise. 

all things are possible

oops! i really didn't mean to let nine days go between postings.

january has been nice and busy so far, but not too busy. i have a big crush on the new wood stove that finally got delivered this weekend (we ordered it in july) - i'm relearning how to build fires and keep them going all day, and i have to admit it's making me feel sort of badass in little house on the prairie sort of way. it has been particularly cold over the past few weeks, so it's pretty nice to curl up with a basket of pens and draw for hours right next to the fire.

one thing i've been doing by the fire has been finishing up two pieces i made for the obama show, a group exhibition i'm in at eyebuzz gallery in tarrytown, new york which will open on inauguration day next week.

i had a bit of a hard time getting off the ground with this work because i was feeling sort of unworthy of making art about someone i have such strong feelings about. i told meg it was sort of like writing a love letter to a junior high boyfriend. i scrapped a bunch of ideas and then ended up listening to his victory speech for the umpteenth time. i pulled a few phrases out of that speech and used them for the pieces, and i am pretty pleased with how they turned out. i'm feeling all kinds of feelings about obama's inauguration - it's possible i might even be on my way to becoming an optimist. i want to say a big thank you to tim and tara at eyebuzz for inviting me to be a part of this show. they have a really nice blog that you might like, too.

speaking of obama, i had a dream recently that designers all over the world were invited to create different versions the obama-mobile, sort of like the pope-mobile: a totally safe, bullet and danger proof vehicle that was powered with alternative energy while sporting keen and compelling design elements.  (sort of like a winged, armored prius or something. :) i was pretty disappointed in the actual car he'll be transported around in, from a design standpoint anyway. it could look better, no?

i want to make crackers.
and this will be another great, fresh and new thing next tuesday.

i hope you're staying warm!

back at it

the kids are back at school today, and i've been back at work. these are some pieces for the enormous tiny art show 5, which is coming right up in february at nahcotta. 

i also paid off everyone's library fines, allowing me to fulfill at least one new year's resolution. :)

happy monday!

inspired: this i believe

 
 i'll be at the opening tonight and i am really excited about it. i think this is a wonderful way to ring in the new year. here is a link to some of the artwork - many of my favorite artists and photographers are participating, and there will also be essays.

happy new year!