Conference awards

Every year I make some drawings to give as awards at Hudson Bay's national canvassers conference. Here are a couple i'm working on:

Dog days of July

For some reason dogs have emerged in my imagery. This is a group drawing by myself and sixteen others intended as a gift of thanks.

This a semi-final rendering for a benefit poster. I hope they like it!

Family and friends

My nephew Ryan is visiting from Florida - he humored his aunt by staying over Saturday night. we watched grickle animations and laughed and ate popcorn.

Had brunch at the Beachland with Tom and Eileen. A great combination of excellent company, food and music. All of the servers and DJ were wearing pajamas. It was neat to see the tavern transformed with lovely tablecloths and kids running around. Don't Eileen & Sylvie's dresses look smashing?

Had the family over for bbq - Tom cooked and it was delicious. Here are some of the cousins - Amanda & Eric were missed...

Friday night on Waterloo

Arrived a bit late to the opening - it was around 9 before i got Sylvie to bed. There was still a crowd hanging around - excellent music by a classical guitarist and free food was on hand. Here are some cute art kids:
There are some really neat shops on Waterloo. I bought a couple old comics and some kids records for Sylvie at Blue Arrow Records.
Browsed around in Shoparooni and found a new store, Star Pop. They sell vintage toys and other cool junk. There was a girl there dressed as a hot dog. i bought a fish rattle for my collection.

I'm a COSE member

I haven't posted in a day or two - need to catch up. Last few days filled with birthday celebrations for three family members and my job. We are very busy at work, which is wonderful. It's a bit scary as I prepare to cut my hours so that I can have a studio day at home - a dream come true! Went to a COSE meeting this morning and saw some of my fellow fellows. Here are Jubal and Valerie!

COSE has a lot to offer, and I'm glad to belong. The COSE offices were quite lovely, although I must say I was a bit wistful with memories of the Higbee Department store - i worked there for a stint in my youth selling hosiery. Here is an amazing glass installation in the lobby.

Environmental art pioneer Betsy Damon

Damon is the founder of Keepers of the Water, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combining art, science and community involvement to restore, preserve and remediate water resources.

Her first project, “The Living Water Garden” (1998) in Chengdu, China, won several international design awards and was undertaken to clean the water in the Fu and Nan rivers.

Using sculptural flow forms that move oscillating waters through a series of pools, the installation cleans water and provides a place for children to play before the purified water is returned to the rivers. link to full article

Comic Convention Day 3

Whew. I made it through the Screaming Tiki convention. Financially, I would not count this as my greatest endeavor. I drew non-stop for three days and basically gave them away. On a personal level, this was a good exercise in non-attachment. The people I met were the best part. Here is a nice lady with her zombie:
The fellow below in the center, Gene, bought 5 of my drawings. He is a comics writer and very pleasant chap. He also makes custom-fitted vampire fangs for people. Who knew you could do such a thing?

Here I am with my cousin Brad and Captain Jack Sparrow. This guy had it down - the walk, the talk - he showed up later with a cavs uniform on. Cap'n Jack is a LeBron fan, I guess.

Special thanks to my dear, patient husband for all of his help this weekend.

Comic Convention Day 2

There were many more people today. I drew the entire time I was there - sold quite a few. Tabling at an event like that is a lot of work if you want to be successful. I was giving away the free flying baby postcard and free jawbreakers. If I got someone's interest, I would offer to draw their favorite super hero as a fetus. I got many requests - HellBoy, Nightcrawler, a zombie, Death, Rorsach, Delerium, Night Owl, and a few others. I made some new friends. Here is an extremely shy child - i loved her expression as she looked at my work:
Here she is in costume with her dad. So cute!
I left the table in the hands of some trusted friends (thanks Jane, Andy and Mark!) when I skedaddled a bit early - had to see some old chums who were having a cookout.

Comic Convention Day 1

After many trips to my car and back, i'm finally set up at my table. Everyone has been very nice - - maybe a hundred or so attendees plus another 100 vendors/artists. More than I think would be at a gallery opening. I have been selling drawings drawings of super heroes as fetuses. I sold 13 so far (plus an additional 6 purchased by my biggest fan, my brother Tom.)

Here are my first two customers - Cory and Matthew. thanks fellas.Maybe i will recoup the cost of the table. I'll consider the event a success if i break even.

Site visit

Seth Beattie and Valerie Schumacher from CPAC stopped by this evening. We discussed a little business, but mostly had a pleasant chat. I feel very fortunate to have access to such supportive individuals. Unfortunately, our visit was cut short by my squalling, naked child - turns out she was hungry and ready for bed. natch!

Sketch for fundraiser

Here is a sketch for a poster for a fundraiser that Secondhand Mutts and the Berea Animal Rescue Shelter are doing in Ohio City. The theme is "hump day" because it's being held on a Wednesday. Specifically, August 26th at the Garage Bar. It will raise money and awareness for two no-kill shelters in the Cleveland area. These dogs are hugging more than anything else, but it should be a fun project.

Can artists save the world?

The environment is this year's big theme across the arts. Here's how Britain's greenest cultural avengers plan to save the world.

There's a lot going on. The question is: can any of this art do any good? When an actor or a musician lectures us about global warming, our first instinct is cynicism: after all, is it possible to maintain both a private jet and a green conscience? The satirical website The Onion neatly nailed this contradiction, with the headline: "Alec Baldwin signs two-year deal to care about the environment."

Paul Arendt, The Guardian.

More Cleveland touring

Today began with a walk on the beach at Terry & Eileen's friend Amy's house in Bratenahl, then it was off to Lakeside cemetery to look at Wade Chapel and Garfield's monument. After that, it was lunch at Sokolowski's then a quick stop at the West Side Market where i saw this shrine to Michael Jackson at one of the fruit stands.



We had to walk off the pierogis, so we took a stroll in the metroparks. Terry, Eileen and Tom spotted a heron on the Rocky River.



Eileen and I made a quick trip to the fabric store (I'm still working on my comic convention table). The D Stevick Cousins were passing through town, so we all sat down for a quick meal and topped the day off with dessert at the Honey Hut at Huntington Beach. Back to work tomorrow!

Family visit

Brother & sister-in-law in town from Atlanta for the weekend. They are veteran visitors, so we're trying some new sites. Ate delicious sausages at Mark & Cindy's; went to independent fireworks display in Westpark (ate more sausages - this time Romanian); brunch at Lucky's Cafe - finally no sausage; stopped in Visible Voice bookstore, went for bike ride to the Lake with Sylvie in tow; invited to neighbors for cook-out - back to sausage - do hot dogs qualify as sausage? once Sylvie was asleep, worked on a couple paintings...

Lake Erie was such a gorgeous color today


not sure if i'm finished, but decided to leave it alone for a while...

New homes for fetal helmets

The glass domes arrived this week and Tom engineered the brass posts. They look so much better than the rickety plaques i had attached them to previously. Thanks Tom!

Something to smile about

Fellowship funds disbursement today. I had to manufacture, i mean capture, the moment. I got the big thumbs up from Tom Schorgl of CPAC as Seth Beattie offers his support. They made 20 people very happy today.




also picked up the flying baby postcard at Jakprints:

We're in business

Here is the first official product of my fellowship... Behold my business cards.