Shows, shows and more shows

Currently Showing, through December: 

The Bryan Gallery is hosting both their annual member's "Small Picture Show," in which I have two pieces (though just one on the wall currently,) and their anniversary show "Hello Dolly, Hello Teddy," to which I was invited by one of the curators.   
The Doll show is appropriate for just about any age,  and just about every taste too:  i.e. when bringing my dolls in for the show, I received both a horrified "oh, that's really weird" and a sweet "these are great" response, just in one hour. 

I contributed eight of the dolls I'd made several years ago, such as The Jolly Queen, Mama had a baby, The Debutante, Soft Frog Robot, and others.   Also on display is my painting of the little bear with the cookie jar.  Remember him?

At the opening I met Beth Robinson, creator of the lovely Gothic Lolitas on display.  Her "Daisy" is one of the dolls on their image gallery for the exhibit.  I've also linked her site "Strange Dolls" here on the blog. These shows are up until the end of December.  I highly recommend checking them out! 


Next up:  Three more exhibits!  How did I ever get so busy?

Small show at S.P.A.C.E.  starts this Friday, December 4th during the First Friday Artwalk.  I've submitted 5 pieces, two of which are "specimen" type drawings for my Mode de Monstre series.  There are also two dark moody water-themed acrylic pieces and one teeny tiny drawing.  The rules for this show were anything 12x12 inches or smaller.  This is a great new venue in the area, and I'm very excited to take part!

Pine Street Studio Holiday Sale is December 11th & 12th!
Many of the galleries and studios along Pine Street will be participating.  You'll find me at the studios of Marie Davis & Carol Norton, on the corner of Pine & Howard.  The last time this show happened, in 2007, it was for only one day.  This year you'll have more chances to get around and see everyone.  I plan on having a studio "clean-out sale," so no matter what your budget, I hope you'll find something you love to take home or to share as a gift.  
The Studio sale starts at 3 p.m. on Friday (running till about 7 p.m. I believe)  and starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, running till about 5 or 6 p.m. 

At the Deborah Rawson Library in Jericho, I'll be exhibiting work in their small display case for the month of December.  Also on view will be work by Joan MacKenzie, so the library will be brimming with weird and wonderful animals all month long.

More news to come, but I think that's enough for now.  Hope to see you at one of these fine events!

Bug Parade part two

More Bugs! Again, these are about 5.5"x 5" actual size.
And may I just say how much I love advance posting? Because if you're reading this at on Sunday morning, I'm not at my computer, I'm on my way to the 20th Annual Children's Illustration show with my friend KW! I need to brush up on who's going to be there, just in case, you know, I get to actually meet any of them... (I'm just a bit giddy.)

Now, back to bugs:
#3.) Garden Bug Parade


#4.) Favorite Book Bug

Please note: I'm always open to suggestions for more bugs. Or bug situations.
Somewhere in my studio there's a slow-moving bug that keeps showing up this time of year, I'll have to do a portrait of him sometime. Most recently this bug was crawling all over Purple Easter Man while I was working on his portrait. But perhaps I should first find out if he's a good bug or bad.

Bug Parade part one

Here are a few small (5.5" x 5") drawings I plan to either put in the local library show, or post to Etsy. Once I've matted them I'll know where they're headed...

#1.) Gentleman's Stroll

#2) Walking the Beetle

Inking away

My poor, neglected acrylic paints.
They think I don't care for them anymore.
This past week it's been all about ink. And more ink.

Arkonbey & I have been following Jake Parker's blog, especially his wonderful execution of an ink drawing a day for the whole month of "Inktober"
(Not only does he post his own fantastic artwork, he also provides extra inspiration via ink illustrations by other artists, some well-known, others new to me)

A few months ago I dug up my old bamboo pen and did a few big ink portraits, as yet un-photographed. But for your viewing pleasure, and also because I wanted to write an entry for the AM Blog, I present to you some new work: portraits of Buzzy (top) and Purple Easter Man (with chair.)
Higgins non-waterproof ink on 11x14 paper, with nibs by Speedball & a new favorite, though vintage: Esterbrook.
More to be seen on the Artists' Mediums Blog!

Offler, my new art trip companion

We adopted Offler* this September during the local Harvest Market, a great traveling companion, and a bargain at 15 cents!

*he's named after Offler the Crocodile God, resident of Discworld. Need I say more?

When you crash into a studio window, a leaf in the beak is a comforting thing.

After hearing a tremendous Ka-BANG! in our house this morning, I finally found the source outside and saw a big bird on the ground. From up on the deck, it looked like a big pile of feathers. In a lump. Uh-oh.
When I got down there, I discovered it was this lovely owl. On its side, eyes closed, but still breathing. I've never seen one so close before, and yes, I did have to touch it--I couldn't resist. With gloves, and only very gently, but the poor thing didn't even notice. It was completely knocked out at this point.

Still unsure as to whether it would live or not, I ran back inside & called the Vermont Wildlife Rescue Association. Which is run on a shoestring by Carol, her family and a few volunteers. When they can afford to be open. I found her number just two days ago when I found the article I'd clipped from last year's paper. That was lucky.
Keep in mind that this was barely 8 a.m. (for me, that's an ungodly hour.) Nevertheless, Carol kindly gave me the number of someone more local who handles raptors, but I had to leave a message.

Back outside, I found the owl sitting up, holding this giant leaf in it's beak. I'm really not sure how or why, since it's beak was empty when I first saw it. But there you go. Leaf = security blanket, perhaps. This owl & I sat about 8 feet apart for maybe ten or more minutes, and it seemed to take no offense at my quiet talk.

A blinking owl is a fantastic, marvelous thing. Every now and then it would sort of hang it's head down a bit, so I would too, and we copied each other for a little bit. Or I flatter myself to think that we did, anyways. Later, when it had flown up into a tree, I was on the phone with Craig (the local raptor guy) and he said it probably had one heck of a headache.

Arkonbey asked if this is going to make it's way into my drawings somehow, and yes, that will happen one way or another.
I wrote a thank-you to Carol, and if her association is still up and running, I'd love to try and lend a hand now and then. To work up close with a variety of creatures?! Yes please! Even if it means prepping raw meat. I can probably handle that. It would be great to get some close-up understanding of wildlife.
VINS down in southern VT allows for photo sessions with some of their birds, for a fee. Perhaps this could work for Carol's organization too. I'm a bit excited, can you tell?

Raptors!


Well, too late to be getting into the studio tonight. But it was worth it. I harvested the last of our basil, and I posted about "our" owl. Tomorrow, back to the drawing.

some stuff from the desktop, part 3

Here's a little (blurry) view of a piece that has been sitting on my drawing board, untouched for a month or more until just two days ago, when I finally picked up the pencil again.


I have stared at this section for more hours than I want to recall, while slowly filling in, erasing, filling in, erasing, filling in, erasing, filling in,
you get the idea.

Among the audio books that helped pass the time were "The Thin Man" (Dashiel Hammet) "Every Living Thing" (James Herriot) "The Lord of the Rings" (Tolkien, BBC version.)

So, like I said, hours.
But once you've used a 2B pencil on Stonehenge paper, it's all worth it. MMmmmm, velvety.