for the past two months i’ve vocally hoped it wouldn’t snow here in portland until i got back from san francisco. i arrived home late last night, and got my wish in the past hour while walking the dog: it began snowing!!!

word is it will turn to rain in a few hours, but i hope the word is wrong. i want to go sledding in the park like last year!

so this is what people do when they have free time! i’m finding more lovely things online.

mark giglio [above] combines the geoff mcfetridge/mike perry school of art/design, the kokeshi doll craze and scrap wood to create a new take on alexander girard dolls [below].

his wood scrap forest is also lovely.

today being christmas and my first official day off in who knows how long, i decided it was high time to organize my online bookmarks and check in with all the sites and blogs i visit on an irregular basis!

a few places mentioned the polder ceramics project from atelier nl. each piece was made from a specific plot of soil taken from each farm across the noordoostpolder region of central netherlands, the idea being ‘to make tableware so that the vegetables prepared for dinner could be served from vessels made from the same soil the vegetables came out of” in the words of one of the designers.

love. it.

hope everyone else had a great day today!

now that the holiday madness has subsided to a manageable level, i realize i never mentioned here that you can see the whole anima show online now at buyolympia.com and on my flickr.

two more anima art posters [the octopus, above, and the wapiti/elk] and four more cards will be available in the next few weeks!

i’ve been drawing my “plant portraits” all these years with the understanding that they function – individually and collectively – the same as people and other living things do, just on a different and more subtle scale.

this is probably a natural conclusion drawn from a childhood on a farm surrounded by orchards and other plant communities. well, now scientists are backing me up!

thanks to everyone who came to see my at the renegade craft fair! it was good to see everyone again after being gone so long! my spot was right next to the windows and a fort mason life preserver.

how perfect is the life preserver and my new starfish tidepools art poster?! it made me realize how much i miss the sea on a daily basis. the salty smell in the cool air, the sound of the waves lapping against the shore or buildings, the gulls, the fog horns… it’s the only thing portland doesn’t have that i miss. well, and my friends of course.

there were two new standouts at the fair who’s work i hadn’t seen before. tanya aguiniga does some amazing things with rope and felt.

while molly m. does some amazing things with laser cut wood. yum!

so one of the things i didn’t mention about our recent trip to fort funston was the weird burning-your-throat smell we encountered for a brief time along the trail. we thought it was someone burning eucalyptus leaves and just hurried along, but it turns out we were tear gassed! what’s up with that san francisco?!

my dog and i made the long car journey down to sf from portland all day yesterday. after that, we both needed a day off. like a nice morning walk in the sunshine near the sea. fort funston was the perfect place!

next, i worked a few hours at hunt littlefield, my friend’s floral and event design studio. whereas trash in my studio is mainly paper, in theirs it’s leaves and flowers. this morning they made wreaths, it smelled amazing!

then we went to floral grubb to see all the beauty there i’d only seen online so far. a good first day back in sf! see those of you here in sf at renegade tomorrow!

after i hung the anima show yesterday, i headed over to pinball to pick up the first of the anima goods: 2 poster prints and 4 notecards!

here’s my anima bear, hot off the presses! you can also catch a glimpse of the new notecards off to the side there.

yum, that green is my favorite color!

the starfish tidepools are super sweet, too!

i’ve spent this morning in my studio packaging and preparing these babies for the opening tonight.

again, for those of you far away, the new poster prints and cards will be available online tomorrow [just in time for christmas!]. so if you’re on my email list, you’ll receive notice in the morning as soon as i’ve posted them!

yesterday morning i bundled up and headed over to land to hang the anima show for tonight! pat took some photos. no, i haven’t taken up smoking. that’s a tape measure and mini pencil in my hands above!

i know it’s super cold and everyone’s very busy this time of year, so we’ll see how many people show up tonight!

maybe this will entice you if you’re in portland and on the fence about venturing out in almost zero-degrees: new artwork + poster prints + new notecards + koi fusion taco truck = tonight 6 – 9 pm, 3925 north mississippi avenue. hope to see some of you there!

for those of you far away, the new poster prints and cards will be available online tomorrow [just in time for christmas!], and i’ll have pictures of the opening too.