living dastardly

Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks here, I've been outside a LOT and also working on the SWEETEST PROJECT EVER! Working with Abilene Bar and Lounge, we booked my favorite band to play here in Rochester, and the boys at the bar even let me do a poster! Yay! I'm starting a new lino poster this week as well, and I've started a Letterpress class, with nothing to show really from it yet. So here's the poster, NOT FULL SIZE.

I've read every book on the living room shelf.

I've been taking as much time as humanly possible to sit in the Lamberton Conservatory to draw! I was able to get in there twice this weekend, and so far I'm loving this membership! Below, a sketch from today, the Loquat Tree, located next to the citrus trees.

Yesterday it was warm enough to bike out to there! This is a Ladyslipper Orchid.

From last week, one of the giant hibiscus flowers. They get up to 6-7" in diameter!

A painting in progress: architecture. From a photo taken on a beautiful day in Boston.

Pieces of what I used to be.

WHOA HOLIDAYS! It's been a whole 19 days since I blogged last! Sorry, folks. I've been all around town, ya know? I went to visit my brother in Brooklyn for some pre-holiday holiday celebrations. It was really fun, and included fabulous food, lots of walking, staying in a lovely brownstone, seeing the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image, sketch night at the Society of Illustrators, bumping into more friends than I planned on seeing, and buying some new yarn at Stitch Therapy, which was a block from where I was staying. I haven't knit in about four years, so it was really exciting to get started again! Below, the matching cowl and ear warmer I made from what I bought (they're really warm!!):

I caught up with an old RIT Illustration friend at the Society of Illustrators for sketch night! A new years resolution of mine is MORE DRAWING FROM LIFE! The models, as always, were fabulous!

More life drawing! Earlier this month, I experienced the Highland Park Lamberton Conservatory for the first time, and fell in love! It's like having a lush, tropical oasis in the middle of my mundane Western NY home! Membership for an entire year is only $10, so I jumped at the chance! Today was my third time there, but my first time sitting and drawing. Below, an hour long drawing:

Yay! It's here! The poster I've been working on all week! Smaller than actual size!

And... My art hung up in Kara's house! NICE!

Rye whiskey

I've been wanting to do a good dog drawing since I first saw Iron and Wine's beautiful cover art for The Shepherd's Dog, done by none other than Sam Beam of Iron and Wine. Beautiful.

I was also inspired by a really sweet dog on the train to Boston last week. This is my sketch of a whippet, I'm loving this dog's face structure, and coat. Beautiful!

Some new window paintings that are available for you holiday art shoppers at Wine Sense!!! Very exciting!

I went on an adventure the other day in search of architecture to photograph for an art-trade project. My travels took me out to Highland Park, to the "castle". It was really fun to run around here and have the place all to myself :)

From there, I went down to Mt. Hope cemetery. Do you know the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery? A cemetery has a fence around it, a graveyard does not.

I used to hike around cemeteries and graveyards quite frequently, and I do miss it. It's utterly peaceful, and many times, quite beautiful.

Mount Hope is well-known for its topography, featuring many eskers, which make hiking around really fun.

I was struck by the beauty of the old graves, yet again, for the art and typography from those who came before me.

It's sad to see that not every grave can be taken care of, despite the many workers at the cemetery. This one is a reminder of returning to the earth. One day, we, too, will be forgotten.

show poster sketch

Sketch for Bug Jar show on January 7.

Let's get out of here, past the atmosphere.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I enjoyed mine, traveling to Massachusetts to see family and going into Boston for Black Friday! You can only imagine my EXTREME EXCITEMENT when I got off of the train to see a BIKE SHARE! Roni and I were able to bike around Boston all day for only $5! The system is incredibly well-organized, and the bikes were extremely user friendly. The gears could be easily used by anyone, they had a nice step through frame for ladies and gents alike, easily adjusted seatposts with numbers to remember, very low gears, a nice comfortable cruiser setup, and big old tires complete with fenders to take any pothole you might encounter without damage! If the bikes were in need of repair, there was a button that you pressed when you returned the bike. Having read of bike shares in other countries, I am so proud that now I have used one! Another part that was a favorite of mine is the front rack with bungee cord, so you could carry groceries, your purse, jacket, etc!

Below, some sketches from the Massachusetts trip, on the left, Elmo the bloodhound, on the right, train times.

A very fun beginning to a VERY exciting project!

An old sketch of Roni from Java's.