French Crêpes

Vive la French crêpe! Yes, a warm, Nutella crêpe sprinked with powdered sugar is God's gift to the taste buds. French Crêpe is also a piece that was inspired by my last post. After working on "Open House" for Illustration Friday, I wanted to do more experimenting mixing my drawing, painting and stitching, so I created this piece to get warmed up. Doesn't make much sense but it does make me hungry.

OPEN Preparation

My house is in disarray right now since my husband and I are finishing our basement to make room for a bigger, more open studio space. My matte cutter is also disassembled and there is hardly a surface free of dog hair that I could cut a clean matte on. So in the spirit of cool untidiness and that fashionable unkempt look, I decided to frame my "Open" entry in a shadowbox, preserving the raw edges of the piece with no matte and no tape, but a few silk pins in each corner of the original piece. I hope any potential buyer will see the same playfulness in its presentation that I do, otherwise, I will definitely enjoy the piece for myself should it not get sold.

Thanks for Voting!!!

To all those who voted for my entry for Illustration Friday's first ever "Open" show, whether you liked or enjoyed it, sensed an obligation to vote as a family member or friend, THANK YOU! Your votes paid off. My piece was one of 25 selected for the show. Yay! I'm happy to be among such talented individuals.

P.S. Thank you for all the kind comments about my piece! I'm very honored.

IF: Open

In the spirit of Halloween, and my previously obsessive attempts at house hunting all summer, I decided to create this piece: an open house to a somewhat creepy castle. The woman looks a little reticent about selling, but even in a soft real estate market, her castle stands apart. I'm sure she would get top dollar!

IF: The Blues

I decided to do this really experimental, free form "blues" piece last minute. When I think of the blues I think red, energetic, and soulful.

Yee-Haw!

Highlights Editorial Offices

Let me clarify. That was the theme this weekend, not a mating call. Highlights for Children hosted a wonderful "Western" themed weekend event at their Boyds Mills farm and their Happy "H" Ranch, the editorial headquarters of Highlights, for illustrators such as myself that have contributed to their publications. It was a weekend of dee-licious country fresh food, dancing and socializing with other illustrators and meeting the nice folks that make up the editorial staff of Highlights and Boyds Mills.

Creative Table Centerpiece

It was nice to put faces behind the emails and business cards. They hosted a conference with guest lecturer and designer, Pash, who defined Inspirability, or thoughts on the ability to inspire in order to re-charge our creative batteries. He also penned a book entitled "Inspiribility" and raffled 20 copies. I was one of the lucky winners! We shared our portfolios, traded contact information and discussed illustration and our work processes like excited children talking about how we spent our summer vacations.

Inspirability by Pash

The other highlight of the weekend, so to speak, was the lamb roast and the dancing. Everyone came dressed in western garb, walked and talked like the Old West and had a grand time. We burned off all the food we ate, square dancing, line dancing and square dancing some more 'til well past midnight. The Highlights staff ran the event with every detail in check and spared no expense making the weekend fun and memorable, all to show their appreciation for us illustrators and possibly hire us for more work. I met so many talented artists that I hope to continue to correspond with, long after the conference. It was extraordinary really. My hat's off to Highlights.