*peep*

secret project for september...

crash

hello friends,
what a weekend! the show went well and is a total blur - I didn't even take any pictures! I was pleased with the turnout and was focused on maneuvering and making sure I got a chance to talk to everyone that stopped in. If you didn't get a chance to stop by, the work is still at Blush (Buffalo and Water in the Third Ward) and will be there until it either sells or until they get tired of looking at it. Hopefully they don't get tired of looking at it though!
I leave you with snippets of the rest of my weekend:

Bradford Beach Bash.

Downer Avenue bike race.

Beach tote in action.

tall pbr vs. regular.

Pike Lake.

tonight is the night, when i'm feelin' alright

so i have built up this evening quite a bit, but i am pretty darn excited. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the ladies of Blush for being so fantastic and helping me pull it together. Blush is a great beauty boutique owned by Sarah Brucker that carries Laura Mercier and B. Kamins, among other lines that are really far too nice for my routine of going straight to bed without washing my face. They also house the best waxers in Milwaukee, Laurel and Kelly, and I just can't say enough about them. I could go on and on, but instead I will just say THANK YOU, Blush girls, for hosting what will surely be a very fun evening.
Have you seen this great feature on JSOnline? It's part of the "Art City" series, and is an interactive directive from readers about where they are going for Gallery night. Blush is mentioned at least twice!

Have a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday...

happy little trees

just wanted to share a rejected design from something I did this week. I like it! but it has no where to go now...
Today i will be running errands and cutting matte board. Hope to see you tomorrow!

hustle

backyard influences.


will this be finished by Friday?


sneak preview - this is less than half of what will be ready for Gallery Night!

overwhelmed, in a good way

do you ever have days that are just so loaded you don't even know which way is up? today is that day for me. It is 4:30 and i have gotten a lot done, but there is still so much to do! On top of the show for Friday, I have a rush design job to do by tonight!
The other end of the overwhelmedness (yes, i do make words up for my own convenience) is that I am completely saturated with inspiration. Finishing up all of the drawings that have been sitting quietly for the last few years has been not only cathartic, but energizing. It's as if I have been sort of stopped at a certain place because I was faced with things that were begun and set aside so many times, and now I can start fresh. They are in frames, completed and ready to be taken home by someone else. I hope someone takes them home because I do not want them back!

tweet

i hope you all had a good weekend! I did.
I have a lot of work to do to get ready for Gallery Night. The image above is an idea working itself out in my sketchbook, we'll see what becomes of it...

by the way, I went to see the new Batman movie - it was AMAZING. I might have to see it again just to fully absorb its awesomeness. wow.

holy cow

I have a very hard time titling my work. This one ends up with a name of purple pom, but what it should be called is drawing that was sitting unfinished for 4 years when suddenly I finished it and this is the result or something like that. I don't start with a plan, I just start to draw, and the thing sort of grows and shapes itself into this cluster of busy little parts. Maybe that should be the title: Busy Little Parts.
In any case, this drawing is one of many that will be a part of my show at Blush on July 25. My work will remain there for a while, so stop in anytime to check it out. What I will be showing there is pretty much everything that I have been working on in the last few years, and especially the last few months. The drawings are all very involved and are not available on etsy because I feel like you have to see them in person to really understand what they are like.
Do you know of a gallery or other space in your town that might be interested in my work? Drop me a line - I would love to explore more possibilities!
I'm off to Ikea today and then i will be looking for adventure for the rest of the weekend. I hope you have a great weekend filled with fun and belly laughs.

working it out

man, it is muggy today! i need to dip into a pool before my body dissolves out of heated frustration.
so, I made a beach tote, as seen in the second image. I have never attempted anything like this before, but I felt the need to try it and i think it turned out pretty well for a first-timer with no pattern. I just figured it out as I went along, and I am pleased enough with the result. Next time i would make it slightly smaller and perhaps more stiff, so that it stands up rather than being so floppy. I would also sew the handles on to the panels first, since saving them for the end makes for some awkward maneuvering at the sewing machine.
i also have been experimenting with embroidery. Again, i went at this all willy-nilly and freehand, so it looks a bit sloppy, but I hope that it comes across as purposeful and endearing. I could see myself doing an entire pillow front like this, filling it with floral patterns. However, I would then not allow anyone to actually use the pillow, and i am not really for having pillows around that are not for sleeping on. While this looks nothing like and is not even comparable to the embroidery work that comes out of South America, I did fantasize about heading there to learn from true masters as an apprentice....dreaming.....

checking in

hello friends! i am still here - I am just super busy this week wrapping up some projects and getting all my ducks in a row. or in order? what is that saying. anyway, the ducks are not lining up and i have to work on that.
In the meantime, here is something:


If you are in Milwaukee next Friday, come on down the the Third Ward and say hi!

Heart Handmade

Double Feature Day! My mugshot is up at Heart Handmade as a part of Marichelle's Shop & Tell feature. I am feeling shy to have my picture up, but I will be signing autographs later. Thanks, Marichelle!

Daisy Janie / Scoutie Girl

Hooray! My pillows are featured this morning on Scoutie Girl. Scoutie Girl is run by Jan DiCinto, who also makes wonderful handbags from her own original fabrics. Thanks for the great compliment, Jan!

Scoutie Girl

latest

new at my etsy shop!

saturday

summery breakfast.

golden beet

drawing millions of tiny lines and filling in each tiny space with color is making my eyes twitch.

working

photographing new things for my shop today. They will be added in the next few days!

mmmm...

i just made this recipe for Caramelized Tofu and it was so good. It was also very simple to make and substituting other vegetables in would be easy. I think it will be making an appearance pretty often this summer!

101 Cookbooks is my favorite resource for all kinds of recipes, and the food photography alone motivates me to try something new. Yum.

milwaukee

Summer is, of course, my favorite time to live in Milwaukee. I have lived here for 11 years now, and I grew up about 20 miles from here, so I should be fully acclimated to winter. The thing is, each winter I forget how incredibly long the season can be. It's like a bad relationship: towards the end of winter I plot the many ways that I will leave Milwaukee. Will I leave a note? Will I just break it off cold turkey? Will we get back together several times, while all my friends remind me of why we broke up in the first place? But then summer comes, and I am in love again, and we hold hands, and go for bike rides, and the sun warms my heart and I can not figure out why I would ever leave. I love you, Milwaukee. For a few more months, you and i are meant to be.

what the

i am working on making a pillow from a client's grandmothers linens, and taking time to arrange the pieces in a pleasing way. I just came to a solution and actually thought to myself: "command + s", while staring at the pieces.

...

If you are not a mac user, I was essentially "saving" my work thus far, except not, since it is fabric on a table and not shapes on a screen. time for a tea break.

good monday to you

after a lovely, long, lazy weekend, monday has had enough and the day is sleepy and grey. I thought it a great time to bring you the work of Michael Kenna.


Specifically, I was lured in by his "Silent World" project. The quiet comtemplative nature of these images instantly makes me feel peaceful and still. i love the space around the subjects, and the linear structures.

Thank you to Michael for permission to post the images!

happy

have a great holiday weekend, friends!

also, I am listening to this beautiful album by Adele. I highly recommend it. I think the tone is very soft and lovely. sip some lemonade or maybe bourbon, take a bath or lounge in the sun. whatever floats your boat - just take it easy, okay?

playing

some flowers for you...

gold series

new work is available in my etsy shop!

Also, a big thank you to the team at etsy and Beth of Eliwill for featuring me in today's etsy finds email!


have a good day!