several doctors and physical therapists at ohsu were instrumental in my physical recovery a few years back when i arrived in portland completely broken from over-work, so i’m thrilled to take part in this event and donate 10% of my sales to their heart research center!

portlanders can take the tram or the streetcar to ohsu’s beautiful south waterfront building and peruse handmade goods for the holidays in the lobby at the base of the tram from 10 am – 6 pm each day!

i’m getting ready to leave my studio and set up for this event today! by special request from lisa s. who is visiting portland for a few days, i spent last night scouring my flat files for original drawings to sell today. if you’re also interested in seeing them, come on down and let me know! i’ll have them “behind the counter” at this show!

not to fret, seattle-ites and san francisco-ers, i’ll also have the box of originals at urban craft uprising and renegade later in the season!

i received a special thanksgiving package in the mail yesterday from julia rothman: my own copy of the exquisite book that 100 of us took part in and that’s already been all over the place for the past while. better late than never, eh?

you can see my tree landscape there in the photo, in the last fold-out section called “jungle.” i think the theme was actually something different when i was initially given the project last year, but i can’t exactly remember now! i do remember that we were supposed to comment/continue the image done before.

with that in mind and based on the image done before mine, i wanted to convey the idea that nature, given enough time and left undisturbed, will repair itself and create beauty from the garbage dump depicted.

my 8 year old friend penelope recently helped me brainstorm which animals i should depict next in my ongoing anima series. and which colors i should use. do you have a favorite pacific northwest animal you’d like to nominate for anima-izing?

this time of year it’s hard to get any serious reading done, but this book is quick – and insightful! this is a great read for anyone thinking of a creative career, or at a loss to explain their creative career to others. some of hugh’s insights/chapter titles that i related to as a professional creative and teacher:

1. ignore everybody. [good ideas alter the power balance in relationships, which is why they're always initially resisted.]
3. put the hours in. [doing anything worthwhile takes forever]
7. everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
11. the more talented somebody is, the less they need props.
21. the choice of media is irrelevant.
23. nobody cares. do it for yourself.
28. the best way to get approval is not to need it.
31. the hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
32. remain frugal.
33. allow your work to age with you.
35. beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

these babies are winging their way down to giant robot in los angeles to participate in their annual post-it art show.

i was able to draw them during lulls in the action this past weekend at a sales event in hood river. i didn’t get a chance to give you a head’s up about that sale beforehand, sorry! i’m still recovering from last week’s cold that made everything slow going!

i’ll be out in hood river again this upcoming saturday, provided the roads are passable. snow! it’s supposed to snow this week!

ooooh, uncommon has their new i-phone 4 capsule cases available now, and two of my designs [#1 and #4 above] are staff picks! as always, you can also choose from my other designs, or even upload your own image.

pretty! i just upgraded from the very first i-phone after accidentally smashing the screen twice in one day because i never got a chance to buy a case for it. now i have a 3g i-phone to go with the mossy case i made earlier in the year!

not to be outdone by the succulents journal below, i also received preview copies of the latest sea flowers item: the eco postcard set! together, the 15 cards create a 60″ x 6″ accordion-style continuous tidepools scene, or you can separate them into 15 individual cards.

yeah, i was a total nerd about the design on this one! it’s impossible to capture it all in my overcast studio.

i imagine they’ll look fantastic displayed on a beach house mantel!

again, the official release date is march but hopefully i can get some copies available sooner than that!

i’m super excited about this new line of stationery goods for chronicle books: succulents! those of you here in portland may remember my succulents and cacti show at the beloved life and limb. well, those art pieces will now be gracing paper goods!

previews of this journal were the first to arrive from the print house, and they conveniently arrived the day i visited the chronicle offices last week! isn’t it gorgeous?! i love the colors! the official release date is march, but as always i’ll try to get my hands on copies before then for you!

last week i took a quick trip to see my editors at chronicle [more on that in a minute] and visit with old friends and haunts. the weather was eerily warm, sunny, clear and windless. there was a bomb threat, a magazine launch party, some great eats, and i forget what else now! flickr has more for you!

above is a native flora/fauna mural on market street, and the view from a park bench in pacific heights i would sit on just about every morning for a few months in 2001 when i moved back to the west coast from the east coast just in time for the dotcom crash and no employment.

sitting on the same bench again 9 years later, i remember enjoying the view but fretting about my future and the rent. then i’d go back to my studio apartment and create fabric necklaces from scraps on hand, and work out the kinks on my first e-commerce website [anyone remember ccnow?]. no worries 9-years-ago-self: we worked it all out! i’ll have to visit that bench again in another 9 years and see what happened between now and then…