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Stalling a wee bit

Knitting photo by Chandler O'Leary

You know what? It’s pretty dark here in the winter.

No, I mean really dark. Not just a sunrise-at-eight-pitch-black-by-five dark, but a kind of silver pall that sets up a permanent residence, even at midday, and makes you forget about the sun. It’s absolutely beautiful when you’re taking a walk in the fog, or curling up with your trusty Rosie mug and a hank of yarn. Not so great when you really need a lot of natural light, though—like, say, for shooting photographs…

Process photo of "Local Conditions" artist book by Chandler O'Leary

…or mixing paint to fill in a huge stack of glorified coloring book pages.

So between the short daylight hours and a desperate need to reserve a little personal time, work on the book has slowed from a breakneck pace to a stately, clip-clopping trot. I still have so much to show you—so much to explain—but my head needs to catch up with my hands first (or is it the other way around?). I’m going, then, to break it up into a series of posts, and take a little extra time to gather my thoughts before I start. I don’t mean to string you along; because the process required working with a kind of tunnel vision for so long, I’m only just now seeing the “finished” product myself. So thanks for your patience—and for being interested enough to stick with me.

Thank you also for the huge outpouring of support you’ve shown since I posted this thing a couple of weeks ago. The comments, links, blog features, Tweets, emails, and amazing reviews are just overwhelming. I simply can’t find the words, except—thank you.

Mt. Rainier and Seattle Post-Intelligencer Globe letterpress illustration by Chandler O'Leary

Part of what’s taking me so long is that at the same time, I’m working on a small series (like a baker’s dozen or so) of individual prints of images from the book (exhibit A above). There’s not a whole heap of rhyme or reason as to which illustrations I’ve chosen, except that these are some of my favorites. I’ll be posting them in the shop (believe me, they’ll be a lot more affordable than the book) as I finish them.

In the meantime, it’s time to light a few more lights, and keep the dark at bay so I can see what I’m doing.

Candles photo by Chandler O'Leary

Which reminds me—Happy Hanukkah!


2 thoughts on “Stalling a wee bit

  1. Adrian O'Leary

    Your Rosie mug looks suspiciously like the “Slice of Life” set Aunt Wendy bought me at Kitchen Etc, (R.I.P.) many years ago for my first apartment. Still have them, too.

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