sunday...

Sunday began with brunch at Feed. Last time I was there, they had sold out of the fried green tomato benedict, but this time I got one! I don't think I am doing this meal justice with my photograph, but I am doing my best to share the moment. As is becoming ritual, I tried to win a golden egg when the meal was over, but instead won a fortune telling fish - according to which, I was 'jealous' (ouch). If your curious about the science behind those little red "miracle" fish, you can check it out here.

Next on the agenda was Renegade, which was packed, but I managed to find a couple of Christmas presents. Some of my favorite vendors were Cursive Design, oneCANOEtwo, appetite, Sonnenzimmer, and Paper Stories. Spudnik Press was also there with their super enticing art candy machine. For a dollar you could get a small limited edition print from the dispenser. I first discovered this machine at the Spudnik anniversary party two nights before and found myself obsessively feeding it quarters trying to collect all six of the featured prints.

I ended my day with our annual holiday craft night at work. It's when we come together to eat, drink, and make holiday gifts. I mulled some cider and everyone brought great treats... like chocolate chai chex mix which is so delicious and tricky to say five times fast.

awe shucks...

I have to confess, every once in a while, I check my "hearts me" status on etsy... which makes me feel a little bit like a high schooler. Maybe I feel this way because I'm checking in to see how popular I am or maybe it's the term "hearts me" that does it... or maybe a little bit of both. In any case, today I received my 1,000th heart and actually took a picture of it. Yup, that's right.

Now I'm going to go hang it in my locker...

...market recap

A couple of weekends ago I had a booth at Lill's Holiday Market. Since then, I've been working on photographing and posting all of my work to my shop. I am almost done!! Here are a few photos of the market a few new items you can find in my shop.

weekend getaway...

This week I am getting ready for the fast approaching Lill Holiday Market. It's just about a week away and I have plenty left to do! Thankfully, a few of my other projects have just recently wrapped up, including the 30 day sketch and the set design for Museum. In the midst of all this, I decided to come up for a big gulp of air and headed to Denver for the weekend. A dear friend of mine recently moved there, so it was great to see her and explore a new city. We walked around town, visited some great shops (Fancy Tiger, Kozo, Heidelberg Antiques, and Gallagher Books), had a delicious brunch at Gaia, and hiked through Rocky Mountain National Park. Here are a few pictures!

to market...

If you are in Chicago on Saturday, November 14th, come see me at Lill's holiday market! I will be selling jewelry, art and vintage goods. Below is a little snippet from their blog on the story behind the market, and if you follow this link, you can get the rest of the details on where and when. Hope to see you there!

weekend blurbs...

...sitting at a library desk with a stack of good books, working on my current set design project

checked out: "Sketch Book, Conceptual drawings from the World's Most Influential Designers", by Timothy O'Donnell, "Leon Ferrai and Mira Schendel, Tangled Alphabets" and a couple others.

...a couple of finds from the Kane County flea market.  I also picked up a few prints and some really delicious apple cider donuts.

... sidewalk art that I stumbled upon on a walk

...the lesser known public park, where I worked on drawings for the 30 day sketch.

... see the finished version on MAKE.

so close...

If you are even remotely considering doing this, that means you definitely need to do it.  Sign up on facebook.  no pressure.

sunday...

Lounging on the grass in the park... 

after which,  I went to an antique market and got some great paper for collaging.  The thirty day sketch starts in just three days and I plan to use some of it in my book.  On top of that, I've just started a new set design and I'm in for a busy week at work.  I'll probably be visiting this moment in my mind a few times and wishing I could do a little time travel.

M A K E ...

Earlier this month I created a new facebook page called M A K E.  The goal of M A K E is to create an online creative exchange, where artists of all mediums can show what they are working on, share great links and ideas, get inspired, and join in group projects.  The first project starts October 1st, and is a 30 day sketch.  I got a lot of interest when I did my own 30 day sketch, so now I'm trying to get all those people to do it with me!  Help it catch on: I currently have 28 participants, but would love to see that number grow.  Visit M A K E, become a fan, and sign up for the 30 day sketch.

playing catch up...

The last two weeks have been FULL.  A wedding, a birthday, work, and now finally I've started posting some of my new jewelry to the shop.  Here are some shots of petals at the wedding, my henna (which has sadly washed away), and one of my new bracelets.

open studio...

I have two studios side by side, one that is my work space and the other that serves as a small gallery space.  Both spaces are great for a party!  So, this past Sunday, I hosted my second open studio.  A few friends, Laura Granlund of Intimidnation, Mamata Reddy of Pomegranate Cafe, and Chris Ocken of Ocken Photography shared the space with me.  We displayed our work and asked a bunch of people to come over.  About 50 - 60 people showed up.   There was artwork and a raffle in the gallery side, while jewelry, food, and wine was on the work side.  It was a good way to kick off my stay-cation.  Thanks to everyone who came!

Light was low, so these photos are a bit blurry!

5 days left...

I'm 25 days in to my 30 day sketch challenge and it hasn't exactly been the creative outburst I was envisioning.  I think I was picturing a mix of detailed, patient drawings alongside explosive brief sketches (from which I would be inspired to do larger work), notes scrawled along page edges, saturated splashes of ink bringing more life to each image, and perhaps a prevailing theme emerging from the book as more and more pages were filled.  Nope.  How about: go to work, come home and head straight to the studio, work on jewelry and collage until I can only keep one eye open - at which point I realize I have not done my drawing for the day, pick up the book and take somewhere between 10 seconds to 3 minutes to get something on the page.  These are the lovely results.

I suppose there is some value in having to complete each drawing in such a short period of time.  It definitely takes the pondering out.  No time to ponder what to draw and no time to ponder what line to form next... which is a good thing to force yourself to do sometimes.  Well, I have a few more days to finish the book,  we'll see what emerges!

I do have to say, I did miss one day, Monday, the first day in a month I had nothing else to do - and I just plain forgot.  go figure.

8 days in...

I'm eight days into my thirty day sketch project.  I've been cramming many of my sketches in right before I go to bed, which I've discovered is not a good idea (as you will probably notice!)  Even though I am not proud of those, I'm still posting everything here.  This morning I changed my ways and did this sketch of a shop window right after I got out of yoga.  The rest are listed newest to oldest.