illustrated shorts

Alphapets Too: M, N, O and P

June 22, 2020

Here’s the latest work on Alphapets Too my sequel to Alphapets by Clancy at the request of my fans and Storyberries – the publisher/distribution house I’ve been working with! (See my last post for details) The Alphapets Too pet portrait project this week is brought to you by the letters M, N, O and P.…

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Alphapets Too: A,B,C and D

June 1, 2020

Here begins Alphapets Too my sequel to Alphapets by Clancy as per the request of my fans and Storyberries – the publisher/distribution house I’ve been working with! (See my last post for details) The Alphapets Too pet portrait project this week is brought to you by the letters A, B, C and D. Here’s my…

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writing techniques my kitchen sketchbook and fine art

January 13, 2020

I’m working towards 3 one-person fine art exhibits this year and I’m using writing techniques to design them. Gathering sources, aka a bibliography, is a starting spot for nonfiction works. So I’m borrowing that concept only I’m creating the books I’ll use as, ahem, source citations. For example, in my last post I depicted a…

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Pocket Full on new paper

December 29, 2019

I was given some art paper during the holiday. So I wrote a poem, illustrated it and folded it into an artist book. It’s titled “Pocket Full” and is a limited edition of 2 unique books. Btw: Edition 1 already has been sent to a collector. Contact me privately if you’re interested in Edition 2.

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playing cards and pleasures

November 26, 2019

For my evening-just-before-bed holiday reading I’m re-reading “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. Last night I read this: “Mr. Hurst looked at her with astonishment. “Do you prefer reading to cards?” said he; “that is rather singular.” “Miss Eliza Bennet,” said Miss Bingley, “despises cards. She is a great reader and has no pleasure in…

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a familiar unfamilar language

October 23, 2019

My friend and neighbor, who has two grandchildren under the age of 2, was showing me a vintage toy that was purchased for the kids; a red and blue ball with shaped holes in it, with the yellow-block shapes inside the ball. You pull open the ball, the yellow-shape blocks spill out and you can…

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ode to fountain pens

October 4, 2019

On a recent trip to the library I saw a book titled “How To Draw And Write In Fountain Pen: A Modern Guide” by Ayano Usamura. (book link) The book reminded me that I’ve not talked about this essential studio tool in a while. I’ve used a fountain pen almost daily since I was in…

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the feeling of milkshakes

July 8, 2019

One of my favorite desserts uses fresh fruit from our garden and or the local farmers market. Naturally I meditated on what I feel like when I’m eating one of these milkshakes and described it with my recipe illustration. (clue: a parade…) I used ink and gouache on handmade paper to create the original art-plus-recipe.…

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pie places and mapping the mundanely magical

June 24, 2019

In my early 20’s I worked as a graphic designer for the Center For Economic Management Research where I took business statistics and turned them into maps and all sorts of illustrations. It was fun to learn that there are magical people behind those dry lists of mundane numbers! Well fast forward to today –…

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on sustaining creativity

May 9, 2019

Especially when I’m super busy working on a one-person art exhibit I rely even more on my sustainable creativity technique of “running around loose”. I define “running around loose” as going about my nearby surroundings like a child or a dog in a park; poking about and exploring as if there are no time constraints…

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