Current Events

Went to the U.S. Open the Tuesday after Labor Day to see the mens' 4th round and women's quarters in a night session. Federer and Wozniacki both won in straight sets, so we got out at a reasonable hour which is nice in my old age, but slightly disappointing compared to 2005 when I saw Agassi beat Blake in a barn burner. Still glad I went and my date declared we should make it a yearly tradition, which is exactly what I've been wanting someone to say to me since I was 14. Victory tastes sweet.

Now I can work on getting to Wimbledon.

Did a sketch for a friend's birthday card yesterday. I need to revive my hobbies or I'm in danger of dissolving into a hybrid couch potato/barfly in my free time. Right now it feels like I'm dabbling in everything and it's not sticking. I've got a Le Carre book languishing on the bed stand, a stalled needlepoint project (I told you, I'm old), and a twice a week running schedule. Ugh.

While waiting for the train home from the Open, my friend and I were talking about current events. I admitted I don't really follow the news anymore. I read the New Yorker and follow NPR via my Facebook feed (it hurts me to come clean about that, I usually refer to it as a "news feed."). It took a long time for me to inquire more about ISIS. Because really, do I want to know more about these people? It's disgusting.

I spent most of my twenties engaged and enraged about the death and suffering caused by the ignorance and righteousness of this country -- that's your takeaway when you study American History at NYU. But at about seve months pregnant with my daughter my fascination and anger turned to sadness, and I realized in order for me to live powerfully I couldn't do it anymore. I've transferred that over to Mr. SevPrez and now he fights the good fight on that front.

I confessed to my friend that I went through old journals and correspondence when we moved and found evidence of a smarter, wittier, more relevant, firecracker version of myself. I was so sure of myself and my opinions! I used to write better. I was unabashed.

Am I a complete milquetoast? Does that come with the territory of marriage, motherhood, and mid-thirtydom? It's disorienting to feel you've lost your shine, but with that comes humility, and with humility comes the opportunity for grace. I do slightly less embarrassing things and make much better sartorial decisions. I can finally cook. Everyday my daughter eats, sleeps, and dances. So if I'm a bit of a dud, at least there's that.

Still. Gotta finish that book, sign up for a race, learn needlepoint, and get to Wimbledon. These are great projects and I should keep them alive. Never give up.

Scribbles From An Earlier Self

New mantra.

I was flipping through my little scribble pad and was so pleased to find these little drawings and remember how I was feeling when I made them. Further proof that even when you feel like what you are doing is ugly/dumb/pointless/worthless, one day you will look back and be glad your previous self made a record marking where you were.

In order to get full, you have to be empty.



Riding a commuter bus without headphones can be like staring into the void.

Fashion Illustration

Proof that I am not Garance Dore:

Yes, I spelled topknot wrong.

Drawing people is hard. I wish it was easier. I love Garance, Rene Gruau, Samantha Hahn, et al. I suppose what makes their work so special is that they make it look easy.


Anyway I was thinking of wearing this ensemble for something that is going to be filmed and may appear on national television. Chose a look that will hopefully make me look thin and put together. Nothing too special or outlandish. Felt like I wanted to get my vision down on paper. This is the 2nd attempt and this is where I rest. 


Happy weekend.

Happy Birthday Mom

Put a birthday card together with my new watercolor markers before my mom's birthday brunch. Started with no ideas so I was happy with how it came out.




























In other news we actually managed to get the office organized and the bathroom painted yesterday! Both projects still have a way to go, but I don't think I've felt so productive since I pushed a human being out of my body six months ago. 

Progress

Since my last post I've been doing the January thing... Eating more green vegetables in my dinners (then, against my better judgement, following it  up with Twizzlers AKA poison, and waking up feeling terrible). Cleaning out my closet (triumphant without caveat). Going back to the Power Center where I have found that my fears of working out with 18 year old Division I scholarship athletes has been replaced with the even grimmer reality of working out with 13 year old boys. A horrifying situation for sure, but when I get past my urge to run out the door, I find it's actually an opportunity to put my middle school gym class feelings of inadequacy and isolation to rest once and for all -- which is not to say that I don't always finish last in all the exercises, or that I don't feel like screaming out "You know I had a baby 5 months ago!!!" but I'm getting there. Actually I find that my mom tendencies are more predominant -- I want to yell at the kids for being obnoxious, half-assing everything, and not doing all 3 sets of reps. Then I just tell myself, they are kids, and not your kids. Let them learn life's lessons at their own pace, which, after all, is the only pace at which anyone learns anything anyway. 


Yesterday morning I was mentally patting myself on the back for not buying anything in the month of January (sure it was only 12 days but it felt like SO much longer) when I got an email from my boss alerting me to a flash sale of brightly colored pillows on One King's Lane that she felt I just couldn't miss. Damnit! I ended up buying two pillows for our new couch (which still hasn't arrived yet). At checkout, next to the total you're spending, it says "You're saving $X amount!" which triggered all my rage and shame about our American consumer culture and made me feel like a stooge for making the purchase. But I did love the pillows, and we will give them a good home, and I can use them in any of the rooms of my house for a long time so I got over it. (Also in this category: I am looking to get a rug for P's room and have decided only to get a rug she won't grow out of and that we can use in other rooms. I had visions of a baby pink rug on the curb in 8 years.)

At the end of the day I will never be a minimalist.  
Hopefully just a manageablist.

Next. I was cleaning out my desk at work (for maintenance, I'm not going anywhere) and couldn't bring myself to toss this very old doodle. Ridiculous. This morning I decided to scan it and get over myself. I feel better, even if it is only a slip of paper. Does this count as posting a drawing? I have been meaning to draw something for a while now. Sigh.

Admit it: this would be the illest print on a pillow.
Totally worth keeping for 4 years.

Full disclosure, I also bought a bunch of watercolor markers yesterday. I think I must buy art supplies every winter, since all I aspire to do is stay in all weekend and make stuff (which actually happens once a year). Which is probably why I am so creative in all my fantasies about what our lives will be like if we move to Maine. Promise to post something I make with them soon, since that will further justify their purchase. Also I swear I am going to get my office organized, which means all my art supplies will have a beautiful nook to dwell in. More fantasies!!

And coming up: Stolen Goods Bake Shop will be popping up at The Market at Porta for Valentine's Day, on February 11th, noon to 4. We'll be bringing some excellent alternatives to Whitman Samplers that you can impress your valentines with. Thank me later.

Oh! And little P is rolling over, sitting up, and eating solids. Time flies!!!

Happy January.

Making A Pilgrimage To Maira

Crappy photos illicitly taken with my iPhone while trying to look like I was checking my email.

I was pleased as punch to discover that Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) was coming to The Jewish Museum in New York, having missed it by just hours when it was in Philadelphia last fall. My mom and I went for our annual Summer Day of Fun on Friday afternoon. For me, it was like snuggling up on the couch with the cats and a good book -- totally comfortable and reassuring. I have most of her books, and even purchased the companion book to the exhibition last year to console myself for missing it, so there wasn't much newness to be discovered. Nonetheless I really enjoyed seeing her originals, and being in a space carefully curated by the hands of Maira. And I really enjoyed hearing the sound of my mother's giggles from across the gallery as she watch Maira's TED talk with headphones on. 


I could go on and on and on about Maira's wit, wisdom, and talent, or my feeling of spiritual connection to her, or my profound admiration for the fact that she has made such an accomplished career for herself by plumbing the depths of herself and her life, but I won't, I don't have it in me today. It's too much to put into words. I would say just check out her work for yourself and you'll understand. 

A horizon of Maira. 

There were a several other great exhibits going on at the museum but we were unable to see them before the museum closed (at 4:45 on Friday, for the Sabbath). I suppose we had spent too long luxuriating over lunch and lemonade at Sarabeth's.  For the record, Sarabeth's is exactly the kind of restaurant I would have if I ever had a restaurant: brunch food and baked goods all day. I would eat breakfast for every meal if it was nutritiously acceptable, and I have always been this way. A few years ago I ran into my high school sweetheart after many years of radio silence, and as we were catching up he asked "Do you still love pancakes?" I suppose I do, I just hadn't realized quite how much it made an impression on others. 


After picking up some things at the gift shop, I made the executive decision that under no circumstances should we take the 6 train downtown and make the horrible transfer to the E at 51st Street. It was a nice day (after several days of sweltering weather and thunderstorms), so we dared cross Central Park in hopes that we would come out on the other side and take the A/C/E directly to Penn Station. I use dramatic language to describe this decision because, well, have you ever tried to cross Central Park in a straight line? It's not really designed to be transversed on foot in this way, so it took some extreme diligence on our part. We consulted a lot of maps, and finally, when leaving Belvedere Castle and having to decide which way to take through The Ramble, I busted out the GPS on my iPhone. After all, my mother was wearing wedges and I am extremely pregnant. I could not stand the idea of us walking far out of our way. But what do you know -- we made it from the Jewish Museum to the Museum of Natural History in record time (not counting our respite at the Turtle Pond, where mom read Maira's newest children's book, Thirteen Words, and I took pictures of all the turtles in the pond). Once we popped out on the West side of the park, I made another executive decision that I was done with the smelly, crowded subway for the week, so I raised my right arm, stuck my belly out, and hailed us a cab to Penn Station. 

Mom reads to the turtles.

All in all it was another wonderful Summer Day of Fun for the books. Mom got off the train with me and Mr. SevPrez picked us up at the station so Mom could come back and get a tour of our new house -- well, our newly beautiful house with new hardwood floors. Photos to come!

Dude.

Sweet.

Odosketch is my new favorite thing on the internet.

Will You Be My Valentine?

This year I rallied and made valentines. 
Somehow I think the impulse indicates a good year ahead. 

The theme this year was sprinkles. Sprinkles of love? 

No, just sprinkles.

Don't they make everyone happy?

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all!

A Little Pick Me Up

Age of Aquarius

I loved Oh Happy Day's party in a box so much that I thought, short of making it happen, I should draw it on a card for my friend's 30th birthday. 

I was limited in my supplies... Sharpies aren't my favorite for work on paper, way too much bleed, but hey, homemade beats store bought any day, right? 

Two Thousand Eleven

I'm sad this week is over, I've really been enjoying saying "happy new year!" to people, it's such a hopeful greeting to friends and strangers alike. One of my intentions for the new year was to be friendlier to strangers, so it's been nice to have a greeting in my pocket.

Charlie Brown tree #2

The Christmas tree came down on Friday. All the holiday decorations are packed away and the house is spotless. It'd been a while since every room in the house got a thorough scrub down, and I forgot how good it feels. I am loving my house right now, and only wish it would stay this way forever. Our cat Sonny, however, prefers a mess.

I got an email from the Sketchbook Project people. They were just reminding me that my sketchbook has to be postdated in less than two weeks. Meanwhile it hasn't seen the light of day since November. Whoops. I am going to try and fill some more pages this weekend.


I did manage to make this drawing for my niece's bedroom. Framed it in a big white Ikea frame and I'm told it's going above her bed, the ultimate honor. In case you're wondering, her name is Georgia. (We all live in NJ.)

My brother informed me this week that Georgia brought it to school with her on Wednesday, for show and tell, because the letter of the day was G! I nearly cried. 


And my friend and I are in talks to open a pop-up shop in Asbury Park... That's all you get for right now. Stay tuned for more details!


Promise to post more frequently! The holidays really got the best of me this year.

Keeping The Doctor Away

Sometimes I wonder how I'm going to fill my sketchbook with things I want for my future when I'm not the most technically proficient illustrator. I have a lot of big ideas that I can't figure out how to represent on the page. In instances when I solve the riddle of how to work with my skill level, it makes me very happy.

Click for full size.

Yesterday I woke up sick, after running an awesome half marathon on Sandy Hook. I think one of the ROTC kids working the aid stations must have had a cold and passed it along with the gatorade. As unpleasant as I feel, I'm really excited that my new favorite drawing came out of it. I'm also grateful that I had some beautiful apples left from apple picking with my favorite West Coaster. Sometimes everything comes together.


Oh, and the Pats won! All in all it was a good Monday, despite the head cold.

A Page Out Of My Book

My sketchbook, that is, which I am filling with things I'm looking forward to in my future.

So far all my drawings are in blue ballpoint pen, which appeals to me because it screams "amateur," a label I embrace. I have spent the last two nights adding color with my vast collection of colored pencils, which I have accrued over a life time from who knows where. I think a lot of the sets were presents, so thanks, friends and countrymen. I decided as much as I enjoy the blue and white aesthetic, it's probably much more interesting for the reader if it's colorful.


Speaking of interesting, I am in complete awe of Sophie Blackall's Missed Connections art. I added her blog to my sidebar, so hopefully she updates on a regular basis. You can purchase her prints on Etsy for $40. A cheap price to pay for magic. I would really love to ask for one for my birthday but I can't decide if it's really creepy. Check it out and get back to me on that one.


After I was done coloring I spent a good bit of time sharpening my pencils, which I probably do once a year. (When they get really dull they just go out of rotation.) Looking forward to a sharp start next time I get colorful!

Press Play

Dos Mas

Hmm... the scanner is getting dirty.

It's the Empire State Building, get it?

Album Cover Covers

Making CDs for my brother's birthday present and using square envelopes to package them up. He didn't like my last mix for him, featuring LCD Soundsystem, Discovery, Passion Pit, Grizzly Bear, and the Gorillaz. He called it "techno music." But he is enjoying the Black Keys mix I hooked him up with, so we are going pure rock with this round, and the birthday mix will be a variety of rock and some thumping hip hop anthems. It's either/or with that guy. 

I know it's played out to most, but I'm into it right now.

Definitely in my top 10 albums of all time.

Hope he likes it.

Curious Mints

Sketched Out

Just signed up for the Sketchbook Project. Had been meaning to do this a while ago but I think I chickened out, came up with reasons why I shouldn't. Apparently all I needed was the reinforcement of some friends. My theme is "facing forward," though I was tempted to pick "you'd be home by now"and do all my sketching on the train. My mind is already abuzz at how I should attack this project — I want to enforce rules, pick concepts, because the idea of filling an entire book and then having other people look at it (hopefully!) really makes me think it needs to be worthy of someone else's time — but let's hope I don't let it jam me up. I think in the end, I'll be better off if I can manage to just go with the flow.


The sketchbooks will be visiting Brooklyn in March, among other cities, if you want to join me at the show!

Lunch Hour Shopping, Commute Hour Drawing

Root Down

Aunt Rose's Philodendron.
click for full size.