Do Great Work

Mike Van Egren put three words in my head. If you just do great work the rest will follow.

Don't know why, but I have a good feeling about 2010. I've cleaned mental and physical house. I've wrapped some long-term projects. All of my fine-art studios have been consolidated.

Last nightI watched a PBS "American Masters" about Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The work was indeed masterful, but the pieces had power and touched me. I want to put some power back into my work, if even in small pieces...remember what I'm creating the piece ABOUT.

I think the year will start with clay. I have a couple of new books coming and am working toward 3-d wall pieces...reliefs and deep reliefs. The show came at a perfect time.

For the last two years I've been aiming my energy outward. It's time to return home and aim it inward...get back to a place of calm and focus, from where I can observe and process...be the moon and reflect.

I hope to do some great work.

Wine Labels

Last year I got to do art for wine labels for a Michigan vintner. When we were done I was invited to taste the wines and was very pleased to find out that my art was going to be on some REALLY tasty wines!

You can go for tastings, too, now that the gazebo has been built.

To learn more and stay in the loop check it out - Chateau Aeronautique

Pumped for 2010

This has been a great week. I'm cleaning files and e-mail lists and setting up a studio space which will have all my various media in one general space, so I can mix and match at will. Whatever mood strikes at whatever hour can be accommodated.

Though I'm sad to see All Dogged Up go (we really had some fun products and some fun) I'm looking forward to seeing what will fill that void, even if it means I'll just have time to read more.

In a way it feels like I'm nesting - preparing my mind and space for something new. I have a vague and delightful sense of anticipation.

In preparing a newsletter of sorts to send out after the first of the year I was shocked to see how much has happened. Exhausting, but fulfilling year on many counts.

I'm grateful for so much, have met some wonderful new friends, made some mistakes, taken some chances and learned a lot. I want to thank so many people for their sheer existence, for the color and nuance they bring to mine.

Zhu Zhu Pets

Last fall was a madhouse. Part of that was getting parts and pieces ready for a brand new toy called Go Go Pets, which has since been name Zhu Zhu Pets and is a hit - having been put in the top 1o toys for the year by Toys-R-Us. I was lucky enough to be the one to create the illustrations of the "rooms". This little studio apartments is part of the first iteration of the toy, but more will be coming soon.

It was a blast to come up with little hamster-esque elements throughout these pieces.
It's also and interesting feeling to see the toy in bookstores and my artwork in it.

Thanks, Cepia, for the adventure.

It's time to do this - Blog about art

I have to admit I'm curious about why it never occurred to me to blog about my art - or art in my life. In speaking with Dave Tabler from the i-spot it snapped to clarity that this simply makes sense. So, here we go. Process, media, experiments and all...the ongoing adventure of being (and making a living as) an artist.

This image of the goose girl, a fairy tale and signature character for Göttingen, Germany, is part of a fairy tale series I'm working on in encaustic. When I first started working in this ancient medium I knew immediately that it would give me the feel I wanted - one that harkened back to how I felt when I first fell in love with illustrations in books as a kid. It did. I'm really looking forward to continuing this series.