Love flows from my head down to my toes.

Hello, dear readers. The month of May has been pretty swell! I finished up this tee-shirt for the fab Julia Nunes's living room tour. The way that house shows are set up on the West Coast is much swankier than I was used to in my hometown, with the location disclosed upon ticket purchase, and legitimate tickets being purchased. It's pretty sweet, plus I had a lot of fun working on this tee shirt! Below, the original image:

Aaaaand the shirt! Yay!

At the beginning of May, I had the pleasure of visiting California for the first time EVER! It was nice to have a mini-family reunion at my cousin's wedding, go wine tasting in the Napa Valley, and see the sights in San Francisco. I'm so excited that I live so close to Cali now... more trips are definitely in the future.

I've been working on my first A-Board sign! It was really fun laying out the type by hand.. and now I'm learning by trial and error how to weatherproof it for our rainy Pacific Northwest climate.

Do you remember that book cover that I did? The book is out in paperback on Amazon now!!!! Check it out!!! This was such an exciting project to work on.

I'm working on a poster for the Destiny City Film Festival right now... here's the progress so far.

I'm also finishing up an album cover for Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons! I'm very excited that I finally got to immortalize my old roommate's dog, Meatball. I promised to put him in one of my illustrations a few years ago! Below, the front cover:

The back cover image without type:

Aaaand the interior image:

June is kicking off to a busy start, finishing up some aforementioned projects... submitting my first class proposal as a teacher... dreaming up some new fine art processes... a group art show thrown by a hipster beer label... and most importantly, spending as much time in my porch swing as possible. Cheers!

In the spring, tender grasses won't burn easily.

Spring is truly here in Portland! This month marks my six-month mark here... and it sounds cheesy and trite to say, but things just keep getting better. Perhaps it's the excitement of spring. Perhaps it's the fact that everything is in bloom. Either way, here's how my finished spring mailer came out. It's hot off of the presses!

For years, I've been a cycling advocate. It's a big part of why I moved to Portland... getting rid of my car and wanting to bike year round. In the fall of 2010, with a group of friends, I founded and started organizing the Rochester Tweed Ride (and Seersucker Social). It became a huge part of my life, and I went on for three years heading up the organization committee, growing this event with a great group of people helping me out. When I left Rochester, I gave up my baby. This past weekend, I attended my first Portland Tweed Ride.

Exceedingly well-run, I had a ball getting to know a new group of vintage fashion cycling enthusiasts. It was a mix of new and fun experiences with something very familiar to me.

This month my art is up at Zuzu Salon! I'm so excited to have my work *officially shown on Alberta, and so far it has been awesome.

Since those photos were taken, the elephant painting was sold and went home with the buyer. In its stead, a painting of Mt. St. Helens was created.

The Mt. St. Helens painting was inspired by this piece. I've been inspired by vintage travel posters for a very long time. An old friend of the family recently commissioned a vintage travel poster of her hometown to give as a gift to her family. I was incredibly touched, and had a lot of fun creating this for her. Thanks, Margo!

First it wanes, and then it waxes.

Happy Spring everyone! Spring came early here in the Pacific Northwest, it's been amazing and beautiful to witness this change. I still think a lot about my friends and family back East, and this month I drew the house that I grew up in:

In late February I was able to see Ani DiFranco live for the first time in about ten years. It was also my first time seeing her since I began illustrating for Righteous Babe Records. The show was amazing, she still delivers a stellar performance. It was such an honor to walk in and see my work on the merch table, and seeing people leave wearing shirts that I drew the design for. It was a really proud moment for me.

I had a commissioned portrait this past month of a fellow who passed away at a very young age. This was more emotional for me than I had expected it to be, and I really hope that I did him justice.

I celebrated my first "Pi Day" (3-14... get it?) in Portland by throwing a pie party at my house. It was a lot of fun, and there were more than 7 kinds of pie.

I am super excited about my first book cover! I had a lot of fun working with Bruce Greif on the cover for his coming-of-age book about surfers in the 1970's. For some reason, the colors came together perfectly on this one. Below, the original drawing:

The printed block:

...the final!

Next in line, I'm finishing up a self-promotional mailer this weekend, celebrating the beginning of spring.

Next to the trash, under the sink.

It has been over a month since my last post, so, apologies! I left my last blog post reflecting on the change of moving to a non-snowy climate. This "winter" has been temperate, and I've really enjoyed being able to be outside. It has also been unseasonably dry, so I suppose I got lucky on that end too. Last weekend I got snowed in! I cursed myself for leaving my XC Skis back East, and learned all about what happens when it snows in cities that don't have fleets of plows and road salt. In other words, 4" shuts down a city.

I do love skiing, and I'm trying to get out downhill skiing in March or April this year in Bend, OR. This was a commissioned piece for a client that I wrapped up right after the holidays.

I saw Inside Llewyn Davis right after the holidays. I really liked the cat in the movie.

I went on some great hikes in the past few months. I can't believe it has already been four months that I've lived in Portland. I'm still in love with Mt. Hood.

I even painted Mt. Hood! This painting sold in one of my January art shows.

I've been sketching some architectural studies to challenge myself...

I started a new job at a fabulous, locally owned art supply store! It fits so perfectly into my life, I'm super lucky. This is one of the fun things I do at work.

I'm not a big Super Bowl gal... I can't really sit still and watch football. I made a silly drawing about it anyways.

Instead of watching the Super Bowl, I took a bookbinding class. The art store that I work for has at least 6 classes weekly, and one of my perks is that I get to take classes for free! I'm so excited to learn new skills expand my creative world.

I had my first art opening! It was a lot of fun.

I'm working on some really cool freelance work this month. Here are some singing sparrows that didn't quite make the cut.

I went to my first dog show! It was crazy fun. My favorites were probably the Newfoundlands.

We lost Pete Seeger, the first concert I remember my parents going to when I was a kid. What a wonderful life he had, and a great legacy to have left behind.

I'll close with this recent drawing of Charles Lindbergh.. kind of a sketchbook color study for one of my upcoming freelance projects.

She's a never-ending story.

2013 has passed us by, and here we are looking at a new change, a new beginning. It has been a busy month for me! Moving to Portland changed my winters, as I've seen maybe an inch of snow since I've gotten here. To cope with the change, I'm drawing snow quite a bit! I drew this up for the winter solstice, and just printed some for my etsy. I'm not very well-versed (get it?) on poetry, but I really love this one.

This is a shot of just the first layer, which I was really pleased with.

It was such a pleasure to work with Take Berlin on this tour poster.

I had some fun with this "tea rex". I gave one to my mom and she didn't get it, and asked why a lizard was pouring tea. You can't win them all!

I love cooking, and Julia Child, so I made some limited edition printed aprons. I'd love to do more of these in the future.

I did my first show poster for a Portland show that my friend organized! It was really fun to work on, and the show was for a great cause.

I have had this elephant image shifting around in my mind for awhile now, so I finally made a final project with it, that relates to my yoga practice.

I made a print of it too! Prints for everything :)

I finished up this Neverland illustration for a tattoo design that my friend is getting. I really can't wait to see it inked on flesh.

It was a real pleasure to finally work with the guys from 28 North on this tee shirt design! It makes me want to draw more space themed illustrations.

These dog paintings were a commission for a Christmas present. I love drawing animals, and I know both of these dogs, so that was an added bonus.

Finally, a fun little painting on wood. I'm getting ready to hang two shows in January, and this will go in one of them!