Blog
November 29th, 2013
Even though it’s nearly as late as it could possibly be, here I am thinking, “Already?!?” But it’s true—even if you don’t do Black Friday (as you can probably guess, I’m partial to Small Business Saturday myself), today’s the “official” opener of the holiday season. And for perhaps the first time ever, I’m actually ready for it! (Well, mostly.) This year I’ve got new stuff in three different online shops—in honor of the three arms of my little business (though of course, if you ever want to combine items into one order, just drop me a line and I’ll make it happen).
First up is my Anagram Press shop, where you’ll find two new holiday cards, inspired by mid-century vintage kitsch.
(One has just a touch of Griswold-y goodness…)
Also in there are my new bird magnets by Seattle’s own iPop! I’m so proud and excited to have these that I’m tempted to plaster every metal surface in my studio with them. (You can read my post about them here.)
Next up, a little holiday travel: I’m pleased to announce the Souvenir Shop is now open on Drawn the Road Again, my new travel blog! You’ll find a big array of prints available there—
from the first installments of my new 50 States Series—
—to original illustrations inspired by travel destinations.
And because enough people have asked for it, there are even prints of some of my sketchbook drawings—including a Pick-a-Sketch custom order option.
Last but not least, the Dead Feminists shop has some new additions as well—starting with a small letterpress keepsake version of the Birth of Venus steamroller print Jessica and I did earlier this year.
And we’ve finally restocked our supply of mini letterpress journals (you folks cleaned us out last time we had them in the shop, and it took quite awhile to make and photograph more!). We call ’em “Lemonade Journals,” because we made them from the “lemons” that crop up during printing—misregistered prints and tiny flaws that otherwise would have ended up in the recycling bin. But with some cute stitching and fun colored paper on the inside, Jessica turned them into perfect little stocking stuffers.
Whew! That’s the whole kit n’ kaboodle. Keep in mind that some of the travel and sketchbook prints require a lead time to produce, so be sure to get any made-to-order requests in early! I’ll be shipping holiday orders daily until 4 pm PST on Tuesday, December 17 (when the shops will close for the holiday break).
In the meantime, I’m raising a virtual glass of eggnog to you: happy holidays!
November 28th, 2013
I love the hush that takes over the house, after the turkey goes in the oven and the table is set (and the sketches sketched!), but before the guests start arriving. It’s that little breath of time that reminds me to pause and remember that every raised glass, every hug, every laugh around the table makes the world just a tiny bit better. I’m thankful for that today—and for you, for joining me here as you do.
Whether today finds you snowbound or sweltering, at work or at home—happy Thanksgiving.
November 26th, 2013
Every year for Thanksgiving, I like to whip up place cards for our guests. Often this happens about 5 minutes before they show up at our door… or sometimes after, while I hide away in a back room and the Tailor distracts entertains them.
But let the record show that I’m early this year! For the first time ever, the place cards are done and dusted before the turkey has even finished thawing.
Victory? I think so.
November 5th, 2013
Every year I tell myself I’ll actually take photos during Studio Tour—and every year we get a bigger crowd, and I get all wrapped up in talking to people, and somehow the camera just sits forgotten in a corner. But at least I managed to take a couple of quick snaps of how it looked before we opened! We had our biggest group yet this year—over 150 people, many of them new faces! So an enormous thank you to everyone stopped by or sent me encouraging social media messages throughout the weekend—I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be a part of this amazing community.
October 28th, 2013
I always look forward to Studio Tour because it’s the time of year when I produce the biggest crop of new pieces—and get to “try out” new work with the folks who know me best. This year has turned out to hold some pretty major shifts in direction for my studio practice, and I’m both excited and extremely nervous to put this stuff out there in the world.
(My internal worry-wort lately: “What if they don’t know it’s me?” “What if people ignore this and just ask, ‘What happened to [X]?'” “What if I can’t make the finished product look like it does in my head?” “Who says you get to do [X]?” Ugh.)
Studio Tour takes a lot of that pressure off, because I get to show this new work, in person, to folks I already know, before I release it into the wild. People who already get me and understand what I do—who don’t need me to launch into any awkward elevator-speech explanations of why. They already know the because. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.
And I’m grateful for you, the reader, as well. Whether you live in my town, or you’re part of my online circle—thank you. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on. More soon.
October 21st, 2013
When you’re an illustrator, you have to start celebrating (or at least gearing up for) every holiday months in advance. So that means I’ve got Christmas music stuck in my head already. That’s okay, though, because it means I’m churning out new work for the holiday season! And I’m having an extra fun time this time year, because I’m trying some new things, in a little bit of a different style.
If you’re local, you can be the first to grab the new crop of goodies (including brand new illustrations from the Drawn the Road project, and the new Red Deck of the Tacoma Playing Cards) at this year’s city-wide Studio Tour circuit, held during the first weekend in November. I’ll be open both Saturday and Sunday, as usual—more info and maps/directions here.
If you’re not local, look for the big blog-reveal of all the new holiday goodies on Black Friday. Stay tuned!
October 14th, 2013
It’s funny how totally different projects can converge into a single theme. This summer and fall I’ve found myself to be doing a whole bunch of similar commissions for completely different clients. The theme this time? Book covers.
First up is Erik Hanberg, who is not only the tech genius behind my new travel blog, but also Tacoma’s own Parks Commissioner and a fabulously talented writer. Erik has just finished his latest novel, The Lead Cloak—one of the best parts of being asked to illustrate the cover was that I got to be one of the very first to read the book. (It’s a page-turner!) This design was a departure for me again, because I got to mix a very graphic, slightly abstract sci-fi style with a more painterly background. It ended up being an uneasy combination, which we both loved—because it matches the tension and unease of the book. (If you want more details than that, you’ll have to pick up your copy at the book launch tomorrow!)
Next is a how-to travel book by my friend Mary-Alice, author of the wildly popular blog, Dog Jaunt. M-A is the hands-down expert on how to bring your pup along on your adventures, and she’s written what I think is the Bible of pet-travel advice. This was a fun project for me because (for once!) I got to design something clean, spare, and simple—and indulge in some serious punnage. And as an added bonus, M-A let me redesign the look of the Dog Jaunt blog to match—woot! (I mean…woof!)
Last, but never least, is the magazine cover I was asked to illustrate for Eastern Washington University. From beginning to end, this project was an absolute joy—because I was able to do exactly what I would do if I were standing at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge with a sketchbook in hand. My art director was inspired by the sketches I was posting on Drawn the Road Again, and asked me to replicate the style for the magazine.
Now all that’s left for me to do is to visit the place in person—and start filling the ol’ sketchbook.
September 30th, 2013
They’re here! At long last, the Red Deck of the Tacoma Playing Cards is finished, printed and delivered.
(You’ll have to excuse my cheesy phone photos—I was just too excited to dig out the fancy camera.)
It’s so great to see the finished product, and how well everyone’s artwork reproduced at playing-card size. But you can also see the originals—if you’re local, stop by the big launch party this Friday, October 4 in downtown Tacoma. If not, you can find all the originals for sale on the Tacoma Makes website.
I illustrated the Queens again—and in the process, saw some secret pockets of Tacoma I’d never visited before.
I also got to revisit some old favorites,
get to know some beloved institutions,
and even discover hidden corners of old haunts.
But best of all is the feeling of seeing both decks together. Maybe now I’ll finally learn how to play Bridge…
September 21st, 2013
Now that the rainy season is starting again, I keep thinking about my amazing trip to the Chihuahuan Desert last year. Here in Washington, the rains make everything lush and green for most of the year. In the Texas desert, a single thunderstorm was enough to make every cactus for miles burst into bloom. The Tailor and I were so lucky to be able to witness something so rare and fleeting—especially since at the time of our visit, they were in the middle of a record drought.
Those cactus blooms have stuck with me ever since, and I just can’t seem to get them out of my head. So I decided to do something about it—I’ve started a new series of illustrations called Succulent! Instead of letterpress prints, these are purely paintings. I’m just getting started, so here are the first two for now—look for prints to appear in the shop soon!
September 10th, 2013
As the school year begins again and the pace of life quickens, the easy pace of summer has made way for a season of bustling, planning, and dreaming of times ahead. Yet worldwide, over and over again, the plans and dreams of so many women and girls are cut short by violence. In light of recent high-profile crimes halfway around the world, Jessica and I though it was high time we spoke up. This time we drew inspiration from the Nightingale of India:
What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow? — Sarojini Naidu
“Nightsong” honors the hopes and dreams of women and girls in every culture—in defiance of the world’s dangers. The illustration depicts a lush dream menagerie printed in bright, exotic hues. Tigers, peacocks, elephants and nightingales stand sentinel around our heroine, surrounded by detailed paisleys and florals drawn in the style of Indian mehndi designs.
To make this print more dreamlike, we decided to throw a tricky technique called split-fountain printing into the mix—or “rainbow roll,” for short.
A split fountain is extremely difficult to control (advanced Eagle Scout printing here, folks), but the results are so lovely that it’s absolutely worth the effort. As an added bonus, we were careful to keep our inks translucent—so when we registered the second color, that mixed the colors even further, giving us an entire rainbow spectrum with just two passes on press.
I should add, though, that while we love printing with a rainbow roll, the process is completely unpredictable, and the finished prints are far from uniform. So rather than an edition of absolutely identical broadsides, we ended up with a beautiful range of yellows, oranges, pinks and even reds, that vary from print to print. So my scans here are representative of the edition in general, but no two prints are exactly alike (so if you order a print, please allow for some slight variations from what you see here).
To help restore hope to victims and in honor of our dreams for the future, a portion of our proceeds will be donated to Take Back the Night. In order to create safe communities, Take Back the Night seeks to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence.
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Nightsong: No. 18 in the Dead Feminists series
Edition size: 147
Poster size: 10 x 18 inches
Printed on an antique Vandercook Universal One press, on archival, 100% rag (cotton) paper. Each piece is numbered and signed by both artists.
Colophon reads:
Sarojini Chattopadhyay Naidu (1879 – 1949) — also known as “The Nightingale of India” — was born in Hyderabad, the eldest of eight children. She was a gifted student, proficient in five languages, and by age 16 left the country to attend King’s College to pursue her interest in poetry. Inspired by the suffragist movement in England, she joined the struggle for Indian independence, traveling the country to lecture on social welfare, women’s rights and nationalism. Naidu played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhi. Naidu wrote beautiful lyrical poetry, focused on Indian themes, to inspire the nation. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Indian National Congress, and the first woman to become the Governor of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Though Naidu humbly claimed, “I am only a woman, only a poet,” her birthday is celebrated as Women’s Day throughout India.
Illustrated by Chandler O’Leary and printed by Jessica Spring, calling for an end to violence against women all over the world.
UPDATE: poster is sold out. Reproduction postcards available in the Dead Feminists shop!
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