Somewhere, Someone...

Still searching for a publisher.

Our poor little friend, look how tragic he is. He still doesn't have that special someone. Soupir...

Illustration Friday: Fierce

A spread from Hush Little Dragon (Abrams Books for Young Reader), written by Boni Ashburn illustrated by Kelly Murphy. I just found out that it's in its fourth print run! Holy fireballs!!

Hope and Tucker

This is a recent commission for a good friend's husband. I've done a picture of their other Dane, but the "little one" needed his own spotlight.

On a sidenote, I just found out two of my titles (Good Babies and Loony Little hardcover edition) will be deemed out of print in a few month. Sad times, but such is the life of a book.

Spicy!

Something about the color in the latest painting made me title this post absurdly. While drawing and painting this little ditty, I started to think of the meaning of body decoration. Nose rings? Really? That's comfortable? I'm a total no nonsense, no extra fuss person, so the aggravation of putting more things on my body that required pain or disfigurement just never appealed to me. So I researched a bit.
Nostril piercing is a body piercing practice often associated with India. In Northern India the outside of the left and in Southern India the outside of the right nostril is the preferred position of the piercing as this is supposed to make childbirth easier. Who, what... huh?? Slightly apropos that my woman is kneeling in a pool of blood. This is because Ayurvedic medicine associates this location with the female reproductive organs. The word "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "knowledge of life," "knowledge of a long life" or even "science of life." In India piercings were regarded as a mark of beauty and social standing as well as a Hindu's honor to the god Parvathi the goddess of marriage in the 16th century.

So next time I see one of the teen aged Food Court Wizards at the neighborhood mall all bedecked in their nose rings, I'll give them a wink. "Anything to make childbirth easy, kids!" They might whip their Auntie Annie's pretzel at my head though.

Hedgehog in the Fog

Just a quick post of awesomeness.

Yozhik v tumane (1975)
Director: Yuriy Norshteyn
Writer: Sergei Kozlov (writer)

Studio Animals

And I mean the live ones, not the dust clumps that turn into animated beasts dashing under furniture. Recently chatting with different people who work outside of their house, I sometimes get melancholy working long days completely by myself. In fact, there are strings of days where I never even open the front door.

But, thank goodness, I have some friends to keep me company: Lily, Mama, and the three fish (which lets face it, aren't the best companions). Occaisionally when feeling frustrated, I take a look at this critters and start drawing. You know it's gotten bad when you start to have full conversations with them, AND you imitate their voice. It's gotten so bad with Lily, that people imitate me, imitating her! "Hiii!! I'm ovahh hee-yah!" She has a very thick New England accent, being from Maine and all. The cat on the other hand, has a very prissy voice, constantly saying, "Nnnnnnaaaaaoooooooow!" when she wants me to pet her, NOW.


Sheesh, maybe it would be better to work in cube land! I kind of miss it there... well maybe not.

Prints Available on Etsy!

Hello everyone! I thought I would announce that my shop is now open on Etsy. What or who is Etsy you ask?

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade. Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

Since our launch in June, 2005, over 100,000 sellers from around the world have opened up Etsy shops.

As of now, I have a few prints, but in a couple days I hope to have a boatload more, including originals! Thanks so much for taking a read and supporting handmade artists.

Click here to see the shop!

I Wish I Had A Voice (and a morning doughnut)

Oh gosh. Well, you have to start somewhere. It's just the beginning, so bear with me.

Going 3D

On the train ride back and forth to NYC, I was working with some monster sketches. It was quite fun, to make ridiculous creatures, and then think of them with my cut out, movable limbs. I would have started to animate them tonight, but I couldn't find my 4-6 prong firewire. Went to Best Buy to get a new one, and guess what idiot forgot her wallet. THIS ONE! So, perhaps in the next few days, I'll be able to upload something here.

On a sidenote, things have fallen behind here! I have some imported Belgian beers to review, courtesy of Tracey and Sal. We spent a bit of time artichoking and boozling with these two beers, and it was love at first sip. Stay tuned friends!