not sure if anyone’s noticed that i haven’t drawn my garden’s progress in several weeks. sigh. i was too busy with a handful of big projects that wrapped up last week. so, this was the week i was going to get out into the garden with my sketchbook. instead, we had the crazy heatwave that kept me hiding in the basement and left a swath of dead dehydrated plants in it’s wake.

we lost the entire lettuce patch, the second round of chard and spinach, and most of the tomatoes ripe so far are black on the bottoms. sigh again. there are a few new crops this week though: a handful of purple greenbeans, oregon peas, carrots, and one lone tomato sans black bottom.

here’s a sneak peek at the cover of my and saelee’s upcoming calendar for 2010!

this week it’s over 100 degrees daily here in portland, which is just plain wrong in my book! yesterday some friends and i, and our dogs, escaped the city and spent the day hiking to a secret swimming hole, complete with waterfall. ahhhh… still dreaming of it today!

ta da! finally i can reveal to you one of the projects i’ve been working on for the past month or so… a new limited edition sewn collection featuring custom designed and printed fabrics of my own design, coordinated with found materials! i’m really happy with how these turned out! they’re available in my online shop, at reform school in l.a., o’suzannah in virginia, and cog and pearl in brooklyn.

saelee and i have wrapped up our work on the 2010 calendar [the reason this blog has been so silent lately]. it’s available now for wholesale pre-order, so if you have a shop and would like more info. let me know!

it’s been ridiculously hot here in portland, and promises to be that way for the next week or so. i’m camping out in a basement, but will venture out today to accompany friends to a swimming hole. hopefully there’s shade! it’s hard for me to function in weather hotter than 85!

it seems i read more the busier i am. which makes sense i suppose, i have to rest my hands frequently when i’m drawing a lot and reading is the perfect thing to do when i can’t do anything while icing my hands and shoulders!

in the last two weeks i’ve read:
world made by hand – interesting theory on what the world would/will be like past peak oil and catastrophe.
the time traveler’s wife – ideal summer reading, soon starring rachel mcadams.
dress your family in corduroy and denim- i’m not a huge sedaris fan, but the stories involving his southern-raised brother in contrast to the rest of the family are fun to read on a summer day.
being peace – courtesy of a friend, and perfect reading for my getaway. his point that an alternative society living apart from a general society is only as well-adjusted as it’s members rang true at breitenbush, which was impressively well-run for an intentional community.
outliers – i love malcolm’s books. my favorite theory in this one is the idea that most “gifted” people are that way because they’ve spent 10,000 hours perfecting their gift rather than it being something they were just born with.

…and a new magnet set!

by popular request, i’ve switched from ups to usps which means lower shipping rates if you order just one or two things! check it out!

i’ve been a few places the past week, and working on my and saelee’s calendar through it all! first stop was a few days with the hippies at breitenbush hot springs in central oregon.

no mobile phone reception, no internet, vegetarian buffet 3 times daily, hiking, a new sleeping pad for my tent and frequent naps… heaven!

oh yeah, there were also hot springs to soak in as well. which is the main attraction for most, but i was happiest with food and sleep. and drawing, lots of drawing for the upcoming calendar. it’s going to to the printer in a week!

got back in time for the weekend and a few hours on sauvie island, picking blueberries with friends and having a picnic afterwards.

yum. this is my favorite time of the year here in oregon – berries are one of my favorite foods!

aren’t these the most amazing leaves you’ve ever seen? this is the newest plant in my studio, given to me last week by a friend moving across the country. i walk up to it and stare at it several times a day and tell it what pretty leaves it has, and that i want to draw it as soon as i’m not so crazy busy. it bloomed a few days ago [see the small purple bloom in the upper right?], which my moving friend jealously told me it has never done for her. obviously it likes being talked to and admired!

this is just a stall tactic to keep myself from telling you about all the amazing things i’m working on in my studio at the moment. just wait, just wait… august and september will be good! but right now there aren’t enough hours in the day!