Another grey day and another digital drawing. Maybe it's because I live in the Pacific Northwest, but I really enjoy drawing clouds and raindrops. It's chilly and un-summery outside, but I've got my trusty cafe au lait beside me and I'm admiring the many tattooed hipsters flowing in and out of the coffee shop. I've never had any desire to get inked myself but I actually love tattoos. If I were to get one, what would it be? There might have to be some stripes (I do love me some stripes!), and ... Read more
Lovely client
I used to create little promotional fliers for a small boutique called Mapel until I went back to work full-time. Because they had a very small budget, they offered trade for my illustrations. This meant that I got fancy designer jeans and cute trendy tops -- totally worth it, in my opinion! It was a sweet and stylish shop and the women who ran the business were fantastic. I found one of my favorite illustrations for a Fall promo they had, and was reminded of how much I enjoyed drawing ... Read more
Running through Rice Fields
Every so often, I would get on an exercise kick while living in Japan. I would don my roomiest t-shirt, snap on my headphones, lug my enormous Sony Walkman and head out the door. The year was 1996. I would run along rice paddies, spotting a heron or two as the sun started to descend. With Natalie Merchant blaring from my headphones, I would start vigorously enough, only to peter out about half a mile into the run. It was peaceful among those rice fields. Crickets and frogs would snicker ... Read more
A birthday, chalkboard wall & conversations with K
Happy Birthday M! It's a big one (forty!), but he wants an understated celebration with minimal hullabaloo so we'll keep it simple: a little sushi dinner, some cake, a date night. A few weeks ago, I made one of our kitchen walls into a chalkboard and we have been loving it. I use it to write to-do lists, M scrawled his life goals, and K doodles away. At first, M called it the "wall of death" and it's true - the shiny blackness seemed to darken the already tiny kitchen and was rather ... Read more
It’s not serious…
M and I got married almost seven years ago, but for the last six years, date nights have been few and far between due to a little bundle of joy who is now a first-grader. So when we were on vacation in Michigan, we jumped at the chance to have coffee alone while the grandparents, cousins and auntie kept our daughter fully entertained. We went to a quaint little gift shop/candy store/cafe in Leland. I browsed through the merchandise and took in the faux vintage metal airplane decoration, ... Read more