olympknits and stuff

Oh my... time flew... I accidentally got sucked into the olympic-viewing-vortex. Unplanned. I'm not even into any of these sports normally (except hockey) but after discovering that everything was streaming online I got into the daily habit of tuning in whilst working. It's become my constant companion. I'll miss it when it's gone... buuuuut I'll also be relieved because caring about ice-dance really gets in the way of things like sketch-blogging and having an actual social life. (Truly though, Virtue and Moir were dreamy. I hope they get married and have little ice-dancing babies.)

(OMG! Some ski-crosser just lost both her poles!)

I've returned to knitting as a something to do with my hands while watching the big O in the evening. Below is my first attempt at "fair isle". It's going quite well so far. Hopefully I'll make it through this project without ripping it all out like I normally do. Hopefully this will turn into the "owl cowl" you can see in the pattern there.

(She made it down the hill by the way - but didn't qualify.)

Another thing that has been eating up my drawing-time is this "Business" I'm starting with some "Partners". I think I'll keep it top-secret for now... not because it is actually top-secret... just to add some mystery to this here blog. Anyway, I'm feeling all entrepreneurial (which is very rare for me)! This other biz-nit is not art related; once it's up and running I'll be mainly doing art-stuff still.

On my travels to the bank (while being a top-secret-entrepreneur) this morning, I crossed paths with a consignment store that is going out of business. I scored the dress below for $2! It is a homemade job but could have been tailored specifically for me (I took a $2 chance and bought it without trying it on). I love the small detail of the red, polka-dotted fabric on the inside. I take this good fortune as the universe's blessing on my "business endeavor".

It's a little plain. I think it might look cool with something silk-screened on it in an interesting way.

spirograph offer

After living apart for five years, I've been reunited with my super-spirograph set! What a throw-back to childhood. Hours spent spiro-doodling. It's so satisfying even now. Actually, sometimes it's frustrating because your pen doesn't work well or your hand slips and you ruin the creation - but when it's good, it's so good. You remember right?

Here's the deal:

If you send me a real, snail-mail postcard*, I'll send you some kind of spiro-creation back in the mail. Let's do it. Let's be "mail friends" (in the old days I think they called them "pen pals"). Com'on, give me an excuse to use this thing!

(*If you're interested, contact me through the comments and we'll do the address thing... unless you already have my address, then just surprise me with a postcard!)

By the way, this set isn't my childhood set. I got it some years ago at a thrift store. Below is a sheet of spiros that was left in the set from the original owner. "Judy" appears to have been a master of the craft, a a real pro...

Here are some things I made while mindlessly watching/listening to the olympics. Clearly I'm an amateur compared to Judy. Her lines are so fine, her pen never bleeds, she had a gentle touch. I'm a "digger" (it's true, in everything I do I'm hard on the equipment...)

yesterday's news - part 1

It was Valentine's Day yesterday. I made a heart painting for my love.

It's a day I enjoy. I like "love" and think it should be spread about - not just between couples - all over the place. Smear it on thick I say!

Here's a picture that proves I'm all heart:

And here's a close-up:

I don't paint much but this project was very enjoyable...perhaps because I thought of it more as making a "decoration" than a "Painting". Also, I was making it as a gift for the Husband and knew it would most likely end up in my own bedroom... so all the performance pressure was off. (AND, since I didn't feel the need to be uber-original, I could go ahead and use the over-used facet-motif!!)

V-Day, or "V.D." as I call it, happens to be the anniversary of the first time I hooked up with said husband. This year marks A DECADE! So something special, like "art", had to be done...

Lastly, here are some in situ shots that show how matchy-matchy it is with the other things in our bedroom. I find it nearly impossible not to coordinate - this is why I will never be confused for a "hipster" no matter how hard I try.... that and my age, my clean hair and, ironically, my ample hips...

Hourly Comic Day (3 days late)

I made a vow with myself that I would attempt Hourly Comic Day on Feb. 1st (whereby you record an event from the last hour for every hour you are awake) and post the unaltered results - however mediocre they might be.

I forgot all about this vow until the day after Hourly Comic Day when I saw some posted on a few blogs I read. So I tried to do it on Feb. 2nd instead.

IT'S HARD! Especially for someone who has never made comics and is still shaking off the holiday rust. I only made it until 3:30pm and not because I went to bed at that time! I'll have to build up my stamina for next year!!

It started out good but I gradually became overwhelmed and stopped trying to ink them... and eventually kind of gave up on finishing the drawings... and eventually just gave up... I came close to not posting them at all but a vow's a vow and not too many people know about this blog anyway so here they are, my first comics ever:

belatedly i sing your praises... and "happy birthday"

Yesterday was Norman Rockwell's birthday - or would have been if he were still alive. Good thing he isn't because that would make him 116 and really, who wants to live that long?

As an illustrator-type, I feel that need to do a shout out. I don't know a ton about his life but I know he went through some trials (3 marriages, you can look it up). He managed to be a prolific artist despite it and I think his images were really important and comforting to people.

I used to shrug him off as a youngster-artist but over the years I've gained a lot of respect for him. It just took me a long time to get around the massive pile of cultural debate and start to really look at his art. I'm glad I did. It's touching in all those ways that you not supposed to admit to being touched if you want to be cool. He had a lot of cool concepts (can we call it "a gentle wit" instead of "idealized view of small town, American life"?) and the patience to be a technical master.

There are a few kitschy Rockwellian things around my house. My toothbrush-cup is a strong favourite... those kids just crack me up every time I participate in oral hygiene.

Being one who is fond of the tattoos, I really love this Saturday Evening Post cover from 1944. I've often wondered whether Wes Anderson got the Deep Search/Jacqueline gag in The Life Aquatic from this image. (Jacqueline is crudely crossed out with Deep Search written below... come to think of it, the main character also has a tattoo of that!)

I'm pointing to a small star on the sailor's elbow because someday I intend to get a matching one (it's gonna be like earning my "Illustrator Badge").

So. I don't really know why I just dedicated half an hour to babbling about a dead illustrator. It's not like I had any scholarly research or new insights. Maybe I just wanted to jump on the dead-artist-celebration-band-wagon but since Catcher In the Rye never did much for me, Rockwell is a more appropriate outlet...

Anyway... To Norman Rockwell. He died the same year I was born and yesterday he would have been really old.

And. He rocked... Well!

Raymond's Street

My new street in my new town is named after a Victorian Biznit-Man. I say "biznit" because it seems more rockstar-ish than "business". He, Charles "Chas" Raymond, manufactured sewing machines - so I already had a soft spot for him before I noticed his dignified nose-profile. He may or may not have copied the design for his machine from Singer... but we'll let that shady piece of information slide for now because I just can't resist the Clooneyesque swoop of his bangs. One of his models briefly carried the name "Improved Common Sense Machine" which is deliciously... um... delicious. His trademark was a beaver, a "WILD beaver"... so, y'know, jump to your own conclusions with that tidbit. (That beaver trademark by the way, is suspiciously like another modern, Canadian trademark I can think of... I've got my eye on you Roots!)