Boulevard St. Germain

momentum

2007-09-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

I deliberated for a while on this...coming up with tennis, biking and creative momentum, such as writing, painting, etc. But I decided on a subway scene, since I've been spending more and more time on them in the city. I wanted to show the contrast of the dreary post workday passengers with the momentum of the passing stations. It's a bit crudely done, but I thought the sketchiness fit it somehow.

alphabets

2007-08-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do an entire series of these vintage style flashcards, but settled on just the owl. It is, after all, a holiday weekend. Have a HOOT of a Labor Day weekend everyone. Cheers.

visitors

2007-08-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

I heard visitors and i immediately thought of alien creatures descending upon the dark night. Oddball creatures cavorting on the lawn. Maybe I've had too much red wine. hahaha

captain

2007-08-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Captain? I immediately thought of a gruff sea captain who shows his softer side by sailing at sea with his entourage of animal friends. Their fur and fluff contrast with the roiling harsh waves of the ocean. They keep him company in his lonely, nomadic life. And if they're good, they get lobster!

emergency

2007-08-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when I am at a loss as to what to do for IF, I play around with existing elements from old assignments. I have a lot of tid bits and odds and ends lying around and it is fun trying to incorporate these scribbles into a new assignment. I decided on the emergency vet theme as the animals started adding up and added an old moving van that I adapted to make a vet wagon. Then Memphis evolved out of some hand lettering I had. Then BB king and a plastic vet figurine were added as collage elements. The background was painted and everything else was sort of assembled digitally. It took as long as any other assignment, even though I was originally trying to save myself some work. (I had surgery this week). Well, have a good week everyone!

missing

2007-08-03T07:04:00.001-07:00

When I first read the assignment subject, I thought of doing something light, like a missing tooth. But then, as I began playing with different layouts, I started to veer toward the grim subject of a missing person. Kind of disturbing when you hear someone vanishes, so I played upon that theme with this piece. Different layers, hints and elements to make one wonder what exactly occurred. Now that I am spooked, I think I'll go watch an old episode of the Brady Bunch. :)

moon

2007-07-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

Moonlight in Paris...

poem

2007-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in some time. Seems when I do, something goes awry in the linking process and no one sees it anyway. But, alas, here is an illo of a poem by ee Cummings.
I carry it in my heart...

signs

2007-05-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

This was fun. I imagined a vintage roadside carnival with all those signs screaming at you...everything from wacky side shows to rides and food. The ticket taker looks surly, but maybe he's done this one too many times.

Red

2007-01-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

I did this a while back, but I thought it fit the Red category.

buzz

2007-01-11T06:23:00.000-08:00

phoenix

2007-01-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

Stumped at first, but had some fun with this one in the end! hahaha

peace

2006-12-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

A cozy little village where animals roam free and everyone is friendly.

mask

2006-12-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

I went to a masked ball a few years ago and have to say, it was fun being in disguise outside of Halloween! So here is a girl in a handheld mask. Have a great week. :)

might

2006-12-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

What is mightier than the mighty lion? Or in this case, a sweet, unassuming lion that looks maybe a little more light than might...

Thanksgiving

2006-11-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are already here. Hard to believe. I am still in Halloween mode and can't give up my light up pumpkin just yet. So, each night, when it grows dark, it sits glowing in the window in an orange haze. I decided to do a turkey for this assignment, even though I don't eat turkey. Still a fun icon. Have a good holiday everyone!

clear

2006-11-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

I did this one rather quickly and intuitively. Not sure what it means, but maybe it doesn't need to mean anything, really. Maybe it is just an image for the pure sake of imagery. (I'm quite the introspective one tonight, hmm?)

smoke

2006-11-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

wind

2006-10-30T05:22:00.000-08:00

Suitable topic for this week. The winds are picking up here in the Northeast and knocking what's left of the fall leaves right off the trees. I watch the birds in the sky as they flutter and coast and wish I could see the world from their vantage point. But instead, I am down here. Sketching, writing and trying not to spill my coffee. Avoir!

ghost

2006-10-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

My version is a ghost on the streets of Paris. Of course! And her little dog too! :)

smitten

2006-10-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

Kind of whipped this one up. Working on sketches currently for a wedding line and incorporated one into a painted background and added some ephemera layering. Ah, Amore.

trouble

2006-10-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

Territory wars between cat and dog equals t-r-o-u-b-l-e!

quiet

2006-09-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my post for quiet. I am not sure why I painted this in response, but to me, it represents silence. quiet autumn. everything dying toward winter.

change

2006-09-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

ahh, the ever going struggle with a maniacal sugar tooth. just had surgery on my shoulder, so this piece was sewn together digitally using old illustrations. it was interesting trying to do art without my dominant hand.

Farm

2006-09-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

match

2006-08-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Even pooches need soul mates...

play

2006-08-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

capture

2006-08-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

Capture. I immediate thought of animals. I hate to see little creatures in cages, deprived of flight, freedom or quality of life. Today in Chinatown, I saw tiny turtles spending the bright afternoon hours in plastic crates stuck between the Louis Vuitton knockoffs and cheap baubles. I wanted to set them free, but couldn't. I had a turtle when I was a kid, but I guess seeing them in the sun, teetering on the edge of the table like some dispensible little inanimate object, made it seem all the more inhumane.

clean

2006-07-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

opposites

2006-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Didn't know what to do for this one. Figured I would show two different places side by side. I used to think I was a city person, but now I think I perfer the scene on the left. I guess the heat has me dreaming of fall!

Aging

2006-07-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

This was a random assignment for me. I had this melancholy face and decided at the last moment to rant on about aging with the typography. I have a lot of childlike curiosity and I see people who act a certain way JUST because they are a certain numerical age. There are times we must be mature, but part of life is letting go, too.

skyline

2006-07-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Oh to be in Venice again! I still prefer Paris, but there is something so intrinsically romantic about this city too! Did the linework by hand and then played with it in PhotoShop, incorporating a few painted layers and some light collage.

Sticky

2006-06-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

I used to hate it when I was forced to eat my peas as a kid. I tried to hide them in my napkin, spitting them out when my mother looked the other way. Then I got caught. And from then on, she hovered...

rain

2006-06-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

I think of rain and I think of a day in Paris in the Spring of 2004, when the sky turned green and this odd, ominous light came over everything. After the storm, the birds fly with abandon...

dance!

2006-06-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

I had fun with this. I actually put together bits of some of my old illustrations and played with them in Photoshop to create something new. I am really fond of collage lately, so I broke out the old Victrola for her to dance by. Probably some Bossa Nova or old jazz records. Too bad she'll have to stop soon to crank it up again...

Jungle

2006-06-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

My immediate impulse was to create a botanical illustration-lush and thick with wild animals, but then I thought about the word jungle and the tightness and heat of the city came to mind. Think NYC in August...

Portrait

2006-06-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

Cake

2006-05-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

This is always a fun illustration assignment for me. I did some drawings and played with them in Photoshop a bit. I am a big lover of Paris and its patisseries, so I used some of this ephemera as a backdrop. Auvoir! :)