Cool Eyeballs

One of the greatest benefits of biking when the temperature is below freezing is the way your eye balls feel when you close your eyes or blink, Cool and ice-y in their sockets. Yes it was a very chilly day - in the 20's. I needed some exercise and I had a donation to deliver, and who am I kidding - my morbid curiosity was killing me, I had to ride by our old house and see if it was still standing (it was! how am I supposed to get closure?). So I biked down to Green Dog Inca wonderful new GREEN Eco friendly dog day care facility. It smelled like a spa (a little canine aromatherapy at work) and had such a great feel, and it's always such a joy to see a huge gaggle of pups frolicking and having fun. I met Brenda Lang who is co-owner and also a boardmember and volunteer with Friends of Chicago Animal Care & Control. They are having a Wine & Howl event fundraiser on February 1st at the Artisan Wine Cellar at the Merchandise Mart...call 312-224-1116 for tickets. I donated one of my spiffy new mounted prints and some stationary. I alsohad the pleasure of meeting Shadow - a very sweet black pup who isavailable for adoption.I wish I could have brought him home with me...

Gallery Opening

I was very pleasantly surprised to see my work featured in the front window at the Amdur Gallery for the opening of the group show "Animal Parade" which was held Friday evening. We had a great turn out of kids and people of all ages and some very well behaved dogs. Among several really talented artists at the show were Keith Grace, a painter who incorporates collages into his works and Betsy Youngquist who makes incredible beaded sculptures.

80's

Illustration Friday Topic = 80's

Now my age is showing...before we moved last fall I found this oil pastel drawing I did from Rocky III back in high school (probably in 84). Ironically the Rocky Balboa sequel just came out in December. It was the largest drawing I had ever attempted, I used the grid method to blow it up from a small magazine image...tedious work, I doubt I would have the patience for that method today.

Buzz

Illustration Friday Theme = BUZZ

I was paging through old sketchbooks and found this drawing from the day after Christmas 2002 - I had received a Sonicare toothbrush as a gift ...it was very BUZZeee on my teeth.

Stripes . . .

I celebrated the New Year by trying something I've never done before. I painted the laundry room walls with STRIPES, it looks great! I was going to try and actually paint individual stripes...I'm glad I had the sense to research it - the key is to paint the entire wall first, then tape it and paint the second color. What a bright cheery space ... now what to do with the adjoining bedroom walls...?!

Peace

Peace

Illustration Friday Theme = PEACE

This is a Holiday card that I designed for Cardways.com (formerly 4YourSoul.com) You can buy and personalize it and they mail from their factory to your recipient...pretty neat.

Christmas Cookies!

Yesterday I baked homemade Christmas cookies and decorated them. My favorite Holiday childhood memories are baking with my Mom spending hours decorating all the cookies with my brother and mixing really great shades of icing...I think this is probably where my palette developed. ...just wrapped them all up for gifts...warm and tasty holiday wishes to you all!

Holiday Open Studio

Well the first Open Studio was wonderful...thanks to all who came! It was a lovely afternoon with great company and treats. I couldn't have done it without Rich...we really hustled to get things put away and organized and he was the best host...not only keeping Alice and Izzy in line but keeping all the kids who came happy and occupied, and greeting our guests.  I'll be set up through the holidays if you still need to shop. Remember studios visits are always welcome by appointment.