The Seahorse

Prints and Stuff that You have demanded!

2011-03-08T12:33:00.009-06:00

I've been asked to make prints of some of my painted art because not everyone can afford one of my original painted pages. Those run between 500 and 1000 dollars. For those interested, all 11 X 17 pages are priced at 1000. I do not change the price of my pages based on which character is on the page. It's the price I charge for any painting of that size. SO, that being said. I understand that not everyone can whip out a credit card for such a purchase. I totally understand. I am a freelance illustrator and I depend on the sales of my art to make it possible to make MORE art. We have a unique symbiotic relationship.
So, how can you get the art you've expressed interest in?

PRINTS!

If anything you see below strikes your fancy- email me at jillthompsonstuff@gmail.com !!
This Wonder Woman that I posted on Twitter has become extremely popular and everyone has been asking me if it's a print or a painting. Well, first, it was a painting, or course, because that's how I do! And yes, the painting sold fairly quickly, but I have prints available.

This print is 8 1/2 X 11 inches in size. They are $20.00 US plus shipping and handling.

Here's an image from Scary Godmother that is a great addition to a child's bedroom, or your seasonal Halloween decorating! If you are like me, you might switch out the art you have up based on the season. I mean, really, there is only so much wall space and too much cool art, right? So, when the seasons change, so does the art! ;-)

This print is 11 X 14 in size and are $60.00 US

One of the most frequently asked questions I get asked at conventions other than "What was it like to work with Neil Gaiman?" is---"Do you have any Sandman pages for sale?" And, the answer used to to be "No, not for a very long time."
SO, I decided to make this very emotional scene from Sandman ( that is the pivotal moment that leads to the end of the entire series) into a print.

This print is 11 X 17 ( the same size as the original comic page) and is $100.00 US.

I also have these - A Little Book of Art- a full color ashcan that features all of the painted commissions I've done over the past year and more! 29 color illustrations! So, you can benefit from the purchases of others!

$20.00 US plus s & h
limited to 1000

More Jillery!!!

2010-12-01T02:29:00.004-06:00

This necklace is called The Continent and is brass base metal chain,always nickel free, with a large greenish gold turquoise stone. Handmade by me, unique in all the world as that stone is killer, ain't it? Looks good with a white blouse or a summer sundress. I'm sure it would look just as smart on a black sweater...if you happen to be in the frozen norther climes...it's 20 freaking degrees here in Chicago! Brrr! Oh, yeah...It is $100.00
Thanks for shopping ;-)

Buyer pays shipping for their preferred mailing method. I accept Paypal with the jillthompsonstuff@gmail.com email address.
This email address is also my contact for commission and appearance inquiries.

Oooh! Jill-ery!

2010-11-23T01:38:00.005-06:00

So, I'm selling some of the jewelry creations for the holiday season. I'm using my long abandoned and barely relevant blog as a gallery of sorts until I can get a website going. Why I haven't been able to accomplish that is rather beyond me, but please bear with me. I think I can make this 'make do' for the time being. And maybe I'll blog more often. Ooooh! Hopefully I'm not violating some Blogger rule by selling my wares... I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, right?
I go though these bursts of creativity where I have lots of ideas for jewelry in my head and I just have to make them until they are all out and existing instead of just in my head. So things will show up here from time to time.

All necklaces are handmade by me, designed by me, one of a kind and always nickel free!I know that all sorts of allergies exist, but it nickel seems to be the big problem. And I get the chain from a shop that only sells nickel free materials. Good for all!

First up some leafy and seashell creations. Nature is my inspiration. I'd love to keep them all, but I think I'll keep some and share some. That's a good way to do it. Hopefully you'll love them as much as I do.
Sterling silver, gold or base metal chain and freshwater pearls are a favorite of mine. As are seashells.

So the first offering is called "For a Mermaid" and is made with gold chain, found seashells and various freshwater pearls. priced at $125.00 US
The second offering is called "On the Half Shell"and is also on gold chain, with a single oyster shell and one golden hued freshwater pearl.priced at $125.00 US

I will keep these posts up until the items have been sold.
I accept PayPal via jillthompsonstuff@gmail.com.
Buyers will also pay for their preferred shipping method.
The above email address is also my contact email for commissioned art and appearance inquiries.

Commission FAQ-Kinda boring but necessary info

2010-01-06T12:16:00.006-06:00

Okee Dokee!

All the 2010 CURRENT pricing info on my convention and commission sketches and paintings.

At the con I can do two types of sketches because it is busy, I am signing and chatting and doing all sorts of other stuff, too- These are their prices
Pencil (one color toned colored pencil drawing) one character $150.00
Pen and Inkonce character $250.00
additional characters can be added for $150.00

Pre Convention Commissions
These usually are painted requests, but I could probably accept a few of the other type mentioned above.

Painted commission prices. A one of a kind illustration created per your request.
One character, full color watercolor simple wash background on 8 x10 watercolor board $350.00
One character, full color watercolor, simple wash background on 11x17 watercolor board $ 500.00

One character, full color watercolor with detailed background on 8 x 10 watercolor board $500.00
One character, full color watercolor with detailed background on 11 x 17 watercolor board $1000.00
additional characters added for $350.00

I accept money orders and cash and paypal....

commission requests?
contact jillthompsonstuff@gmail.com

Jill Thompson SDCC schedule and other important info

2009-07-19T10:34:00.011-05:00

If you're looking for me at the big ComicCon this week in San Diego- or- if you have generously volunteered some of your time to Booth sit for me while I'm on a panel or doing a signing at a Publishers booth... Here is my current run down. Or, if you have access to one of those palanquins and some strong fellows and want to whisk me thru the con like a fancy princess...
You can find me at my booth #1322. I'll be sitting with Cliff Chiang, Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba! Yes, we have a super awesome table and I'm proud to be sharing with such a talented bunch of creators.
Here's my current schedule-

WEDNESDAY- Preview Nite Booth #1322 sketching, signing, chatting etc.

THURSDAY Booth #1322 til 11:30. Then I rush off to
CBLDF MASTER SESSION room 30CDE where I shall paint and explain how I use watercolor to create my comics. Also painting, the amazing Charles Vess. Two watercolorists, two approaches, two different styles, but- same format-Comics!

FRIDAY 10 am booth #1322, but- I have a meeting there, so I won't be signing and sketching straight away. Thanks for waiting
12 noon-1 Dark Horse Booth #2615 signing and talking about Beasts of Burden. Come see a preview of the art for the series!
&
EISNER AWARD CEREMONYI'll be there for most of it, as I am nominated for an award (I hope I hope I hope I win!)
But- I'll be dashing across town to the AMANDA PALMER/CBLDF benefit where I shall be drawing quick sketches of Amanda as she performs. It will feel all kind of Toulouse Latrec-ish, I think. The "drawing a beautiful performer and wild, bohemian, entertainmenty" part. Not the "artist drinks heavily to deal with the crowd's ridicule and falls into alcoholism and has to be committed to a sanitorium" part...Also all the art goes to the cause. I'll take pix and tweet the art for all to see.
Hopefully I won't be too late. and I also hope I'll have an award under my arm and a bottle of champagne in my hand to celebrate a win. I'll be the one in the gold silky gown (at least that's my plan) rushing in the door during the middle of things.

SATURDAYall day at booth #1322 until
DC Booth signing from 4-5 pm
dinner with the Fables Crew
SATURDAY NITE much laughing, shop talking, revelry. Please come join me if you see me! Who knows what we'll all be up to.

SUNDAY also DC Booth SIgning from 10:30-11:30 am

When I'm at other booths, I won't be able to take commissioned drawing because I'm only there an hour. All I can accommodate are signatures. So please save all sketch requests for booth 1322.

What will I have available for sale at booth #1322?
Embroidered Patches- Bug-A-Boo, the Boozle, Scary Godmother are $10 each, Scratches and the bats are $5 each. $45.00 US for the whole set.
Magic Trixie Books-cover price
Sandman Painted art-prices vary
black and white line art sketches $100.00 with tone $200.00
Signatures are free. But, please, take all comics and books and prints and whatnot out of their protective packaging before you get up to the head of the line. Then I can sign them quickly and efficiently for you and no tape gets stuck to your comic.

Each day I will take a new list for sketches so new con attendees will have a chance to get on the list. Check with me in the morning to get on the list, and later in the afternoon to see if a spot opened up. Or if someone never came back for their sketch. You'd be suprised how many times I go home with an unclaimed drawing of Death or something.

If I am drawing and my head is down PLEASE do not think I am ignoring you! I'm just drawing! It's the only way I know how to do it- with the looking at the paper and all that... Just start to talk to me- introduce yourself. My witchy face has a tendency to look all serious and stern when I'm looking down and concentrating on my paper. That's just what my perspective does to us oval faces. I am quite approachable. But you have to approach me! Ok? Cool!

Rules and Regs- just for the sake of everyone's books and sketches, PLEASE do not lean on or bump into the table! And, if there is art on the table for viewing- please do not put your books or boxes on them, or your iced coffees.

If I am away from my table, my wonderful Booth Elves will be fielding questions, taking commission requests and selling books. Please feel free to interact with them.

You can follow me on Twitter as I'll be digitally thinking for all to see (perhaps not IN THE EXHIBIT HALL where there is no WI FI-? WTF? that's where we want to tweet from! let's see if AT&T's 3G works in that convention center-don't let me down again AT&T...)Love the li'l Jesus phone so far...

Yeesh- not sure if I've forgotten anything, but I suppose, we'll find out in three days! THREE DAYS!!!It should be crazy, too crowded but quite a blast!

THESE LOOK GREAT she shouted!

2009-07-07T14:49:00.004-05:00

Now I have all of the batches of patches that I will be taking with me to San DIego. YES-there will be some available for those of you that cannot make the trek out to the ginourmous convention.
Here are the prices as so you can save your pennies.
Scary Godmother , the Boozle and BugaBoo are each priced at 10 US dollars.
Scratches and the bats are priced at five US dollars each.
So, if you wanted the whole shebang for your jean jacket,pants pockets, tote bags, back pack or cell phone cases, etc...it would be 45 dollars US total (before shipping and handling of course) I am anxious to test some on my ol' jeans! When I sew some on, I'll post a pic! When you sew some on send the pix to jillthompsonstuff@gmail.com and I'll post yours, too!

Hurray for Patches

2009-06-29T10:13:00.002-05:00

The first batch of patches is here! They look so amazing! Scary Godmother and the Boozle are on their way as well. I went for the fancier deal of course- all embroidery on these fellas.
Bug A Boo and Scary Godmother will be 10 US dollars each while the other patches will be 5? U Like? I like!

robot love

2009-06-23T17:08:00.002-05:00

This airduct looks like a robot to me. I will use it as inspiration for some robot in future Magic Trixie books. My iPhoto is filled with these odd little things. Some pattern or light source will catch my eye and I'll snap a photo of it to use in a comic or paint a painting of....I never know where or when I might see them so I try to keep my camera with me at all times.

just added-more schwag

2009-06-16T15:47:00.010-05:00

So, I'm going to try some new stuff for ComicCon this year.
Every time I bring original art with me, no one wants it, they ask for Prints or Cards or something they can carry around without squashing...if I bring Prints, then everyone asks for Original art....But, if I don't bring it- everyone wants it, until I bring it.
I've decided to have some embroidered patches made. These are some of the designs I'm working with.

This way they can be sewn onto any tshirt, hat,jacket, totebag, jeans butt pocket, backpack or whatever.
I thought these were good, highlighting some of my characters, but also generally appealing to kids, les gothiques, monster and halloween lovers and those who love all things kawaii. And, most importantly, they are something that I'd decorate my ghoul scout sash with, to be sure.
Plus, technically- they are limited edition patches. So- kinda collectors items
If there are any characters you'd like to see in the future-I am open to requests.

Magic Trixie Trilogy

2009-06-07T14:04:00.003-05:00

Magic Trixie and the Dragon is available this month. Please search them out. I'm have a next to impossible time finding them in the bookstores (SNIFSADSOB) despite the fact that they are published by Harper Collins. I have a feeling that grass roots publicity is in order with me doing the grass rootsing. SO- ALL of the books are available on Amazon.com...and I've been nicely supported by some great comics shops.
But just in case you've never heard of Magic Trixie, and think I was not writing,drawing and painting anything over the past three years- this is your heads up! They make a great gift for the younger readers you might know who you'd like to introduce the comics medium to! And, as with Scary Godmother, I made sure that the tale was enjoyable for us big kids as well.
Hopefully I'll be able to do more Magic Trixie stories at some point in other shapes and sizes!

A small break

2009-06-06T00:08:00.006-05:00

Painting comics is taking me such a long time, but I'm finally finished with Beasts of Burden #2 (here's a page to hopefully whet your appetites for supernatural dog capers) and driving straight into #3. I had to go out and buy all new brushes today (because as you can see , I don't have nearly enough...) as I've painted all the pointedy tips off of the ones I had. They all go into the 'fill in washes' cup now. I have a good handful now, but I'll have to remember to switch them out while I paint or I'll start out with a fine outline and end up with a medium one. I 'spose it takes me a long time because if I break you down into traditional comics jobs, I'm pencilling, coloring and inking, but without the efficiency of the assembly line process of a 'creative team'. I never hand it off to another guy to add to it, because that other guy is also me! So instead of everything overlapping, it's me finishing and starting and finishing and starting...but the end result is worth the effort. I just want it to be a hit.
Thank goodness I have a bit of time to squeeze in an Italian lesson, and grow salad greens for us to eat, and time to sing little songs to Archie the cat. And, the weather is finally suitable for the Flower Bike to bloom again. Now if only I could find me a Can Can skirt and ruffly undapants to ride around in. And I have to get the script in to Ms. Shelly Bond for the Second Little Endless Story book! So- that means, I have to get the jumble in my head out in proper order on a page! Or a screen as it were. I'm feeling very creative, but my human limitations are holding me back! Fingers that cramp and shoulders that betray me. I'd better get my pencil now while the good old right arm is still fluid!

Commissions For San Diego!

2009-04-08T07:56:00.003-05:00

Well, I know that it has been a long time since I updated this blog...and what do I really have to blather about? Well, an Eisner nomination for Magic Trixie, which is awesome. I won't be modest---I hope I win! Not for me as a person, but for Magic Trixie as a book. My brain is full of stories for the whole cast and crew. Mostly about Grampy and Gramberry, which is kind of interesting. You should be in my brain in the morning while I'm in the shower. That's where I seem to roll the films about their past and the dirigibles and the war and the dragons and all of their adventures...I've got some cool sketches and li'l paintings and stuff and I'm going to try and put together an ashcan for the Big Comic Book...I mean multimedia extravaganza that used to be about comic books...called The San Diego Comic Con International.
And speaking about the Comic Con international. I will, once again be sitting with Brian Wood and Cliff Chiang in last years bustling spot on the aisle. Magic Trixie #3 will be out and I will have xeroxed copies of the upcoming Beasts of Burden book (written by the talented Evan Dorkin) that I'm illustrating for Dark Horse.

So- let's get down to it. I know it is still a few months away, BUT! THE COLOR COMMISSION LIST is now OPEN for requests!
If you would like to be the proud purchaser of a Jill Thompson Color Commission here are the exciting rules.
All Color commissions will be in Watercolor on fine art paper or watercolor board.
And- I will only be able to do a limited number of each because of me regular deadlines and show prep. I'll post here when the 'line' is capped.

11 x 17 illustration- one character with a detailed background start at 1000.00. Additional characters can be added for an additional 250.00.
8 x 10 -one character with a detailed background starts at 500.00 with additional characters added at 250.00 each.

watercolor illustration of a character, no background at all 350.00
Black and white watercolor painting of a character, also with no background 250.00

I will only be able to draw black and white pen and ink sketches for folks at the show itself as I have learned that it is too crazy and busy to try to paint, sign things and man a table at the same time. And, I have an unfortunate knack for washing out my paintbrush in my iced coffee...while it makes your painting sepia toned and olde tyme looking- it makes my coffe taste not so nice...

All of these commissions will be available at the time of San Diego ( none before hand-sorry) at my table.
Cash is great...PayPal is also an option. But- let's arrange payment once you are on the list. Leave a comment with your request and e-mail and I will get back to you. Or- find me on Facebook and send me a message with a friend request that mentions San Diego Commissions and I will friend you!

As far as I know, Cliff and Brian and I will be at the same table we were at last year. But I don't want to post a number in case we get assigned a new one. I'll post things here and on Facebook as I get info.

things that is new!

2009-02-24T13:41:00.006-06:00

While In NYC for the NYC ComiCon, I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with friends and collaborators, Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. I got to see their coolio daughter, Emily who is pretty amazing to see. Not only is she adorable, but, you can see her analyzing things, absorbing the world and think, think, thinking about things. She likes Magic Trixie which makes me very happy and brought them along so I could make a drawing in them for her. Then she sat with her friend and they read them. Not pretended to read them- really read them. I know this because her parents tell me she does that herself at home! And, she's under five! So, that's a stellar review as far as I'm concerned. Check her out!
Evan and I signed at the Dark Horse Booth and pushed our newest collaboration, Beasts of Burden, featuring those dogs that fight the supernatural that we've all come to love. If you're not familiar with their first four adventures you can find them in the anthology series from Dark Horse called "The Dark Horse Book of..." Hauntings, Witches, The Dead and Monsters. I'm sure you can find them here on the internet or go to your local comic book shop or bookstore and get yourself some copies.
The Beasts of Burden Hill are at it again, barking at cars, chasing their tales and investigating strange supernatural occurrences. Here's a couple of pages so you can see what things look like...We've got four issues of BEASTS OF BURDEN coming out, all painted by me, written by Evan and lettered by Jason Arthur. Look for it late summer, so I am told....

Long Time No Post

2009-02-16T21:56:00.003-06:00

Well, I certainly have been seduced by Facebook...yeesh! I've been neglecting you dear blog, I'm so sorry about that...so i will give you something good.

Everyone thinks I designed Grampy from Magic Trixie to look like Brian now that he has a cowboy mustasche and long whiskers...but I really was thinking about my own Papa. His general attitude, for what I remember of it. or maybe it's the attitude I've now assigned to him, since he passed away when I was five. He always had time for me, and a story and stuff.

NYC Comic Con

2009-01-21T13:50:00.004-06:00

Well, it's convention season again. It's starting earlier and earlier. In fact, it's almost year 'round now! I will be attending the NY Comic Con and I am now taking commissions for delivery at that con. I DO NOT HAVE A SPACE AT ARTIST ALLEY. I will be signing at various booths around the show.
So, if you're going and would like to get a piece of art. I can take 10 commissions before the show.
It's first come, first served and once the list is full I cannot take me no mores!
Art Menu is as follows all on 8 x 10 paper
BLACK AND WHITE LINE ART $100 PER FIGURE
WATERCOLOR 1 FIGURE $250
WATERCOLOR FIGURE WITH BACKGROUND $500
WATERCOLOR MULTIPLE FIGURES (price varies) Ha! I wanted to write Market Price like in a restaurant.
I can only do a couple of full color ones before the show, so, if you want one of those- jump on it before the list is full. Once I get to 10. The line is closed.
I won't be able to take any more until a week before Wonder Con!

And it's snowing again!

2009-01-11T14:38:00.008-06:00

This is the reason stew was invented...and soup! And it's one of the reasons I want to make bread. And a huge reason that I have a crush on every fireplace I see. Archie was meowing at the backdoor as he is wont to do in the early afternoon (he likes to go for a stroll and stretch his olde legs, even in the snow sometimes...) but this time, the blast of wind and howl of the wind made him turn around and skedaddle for the seat on the radiator! if only it was wide enough for two.

this was during the lull in snow yesterday. I see there are some flakes floating around out there right now! I decided to go for a walk and take some photos this morning before I hunkered down at the drawing table.

Painting Not for Work

2009-01-04T12:36:00.003-06:00

One of the THINGS on MY LIST for 2009 is to paint at least one thing a week for something other than work. Like, for fun! Or for future ideas. To actually have a sketchbook for fun. The trouble is finding the time amidst real work and household everthings...Thank goodness I had an occasion. I was already afraid I'd push this aside for more pressing things, like doing the dishes or something. This one is for our friend Mike's birthday. Shh. Don't tell him. It's a suprise! Gotta get back to Lucca, Italy.

Cuz He Loves Me

2008-12-29T15:32:00.003-06:00

One of the best gifts I get each year is a brand new ornament from Brian. This year I got the Krumpus or a Devil. It could be both. It's pretty gorgeous (go take a picture of it, why doncha?)Hey! There he is-- made of glass and glitter. I need a bigger tree next year to hold all of these beautiful items.
It will be sad to take them all down and put them away. But, as we learned on Elmo's Christmas, it would not be as special if it was decorated like Christmas every day...

Dear House

2008-12-14T12:56:00.013-06:00

Dearest House,
I love you so much. I'm happy to have you. As I lay in bed being sick,it is comforting to know that you have your plaster wall arms around me. And Brian is busily cooking and pickling in your kitcheny heart. And music flows through your rooms. I am happy that you are ours.
It's always been my dream to have a cool place to inhabit like a spirit in which I can make art and hold gatherings and generally be creative. We were lucky to find you. You are in a great location and you are just big enough for two. You are surrounded by friendly neighbors and very close to the cemetery which is nice when you need lots of raccoons in the area. I want to trick you out and make it possible so you are being used to the best of your potential.
I've been an avid fan of decorating mags and artsy design since high school and I've always wanted an old house. Or a building. Something where there would be designated spaces for things. But palces you could personalize and change and rearrange.
I'm in love with home design I suppose. I'm always chopping up mags for ideas and trolling design websites and looking for ways to make the most out of small spaces. I use the same types of ideas when I'm getting inspiration for homes in my stories. But most of the stuff I cut out are inspirations for things we could do for the house. Which is why when we bought this house it was easy to look past it's former owner's decorating choices and see the potential the space had. The previous occupants were not utilizing the space to it's maximum potential. But thankfully they did not do anything too drastic (I'd seen some awful 'improvements' when I was searching with our realtor...) to the space. They yucked up the kitchen and bathroom but that was mostly cosmetic.. Mostly. They did remove some built in hutches which I wish we still had, but it's notpossible to reclaim those in the space they once were.
I wasn't allowed to put stuff on the walls or move furniture or adjust what was already there in my house growing up, so I've had a hankering to do it for forever.
We did a fantastic job on the kitchen and the bathroom and here are my ideas for some things for the rest of our place.Right now our mantle does not have adequate shelving or storage around it. The previous owners put up these odd, tiny glass shelves that come out about a foot and really can't accomodate anything. They must have been for old lady knick knacks. So, I want to tear them out and create two cabinets that can fill the space all the way to the wall and then put a new mantle on top of each piece. We're lucky to have two carpenters on the block and they've told me it would not be so expensive to make them. Especially if the cabinets themselves will be painted. then you don't use high end wood. You save that for the top. We have so many cool art books and they deserve a good display place.
I also need to find an outlet for picture rail molding to put up around the ceiling, so It will be possible to hang artwork without damaging the walls. W have a ton of awesome art that needs to be hung and rotated as the whim hits us.
I'd continue the storage design element from the living room to the dining room. A custom white, adjustable shelf bookcase for under the windows. Very simple. The books and objects that would go on them would be the decoration. I'd paint the window woodwork the same color white to simulate the feel of a whole wall piece. I'd move the buffet we have there now to the wall facing our kitchen and lean some art there. Overlap a few pieces. And then move the bookshelves we have there over to the wall that faces our bedroom. Clean those out and display some of our cool toys and other pieces. The basement is completely unfinished and I'd go to town down there. We could get so much extra purposeful storage down there.This design takes into account the current plumbing and the support layout of the building. All our neighbors have half finished or finished basements (Jenna's is awesome) and I've been studying since we moved in. I've stacked the second bathroom under the upstairs one to sut down on the amount of plumbing having to be moved around. I'd use some of the old hutch doors I found,refinish the and use them somewhere. Perhaps in a cabinet over Aunt Lou's Bar. I'd line the walls with shelves and try to do some built in seating in the big living space. But I'm not sure if i'd want one big room or a big room that could be closed off with french doors to create two separate spaces. Probably one big room. I want a bar area.I want to display all of the Tikis! I'd love a corner fireplace. I'd go up to the cabin and collect the big lakestones to create the fireplace facade. I found an example of a hinged bookcase door, so the passage to the laundry area from the rec space wouldn't loose any storage at all.I've also kept a nice big storage pantry at the bottom of the steps. We keep our bulk items, all my canning and stuff down there. There would be space for oversize pots and things we don't use on a daily basis which would free up extra space in the kitchen. And I've incorporated wine storage (we drink a good amount of wine) as a design element in the hallway to the laundry room. This takes advantage if the cool constant temp of the outside wall. There would be space for a proper linen closet in a proper laundry room and there is great under the stairs storage and under my art room, too. We'd have to get rid of the olde stove that's down there. And I'd love a chest freezer for all of the delicious things we make in grande proportions. All the tools and stuff would have their dedicated shelving area which would mean the closet in the kitchen could just hold cleaning supplies. That would be great. And my gardening supplies and pots and stuff could finally be organized instead of all over willy nilly. And, there would be a really good off season closet to hang clothes and coats and shelves to store boots and shoes.I'd use pocket sliding doors built into the walls for the bathroom and pantry so there wouldn't be the problem of losing valuable space for the inswing. Now that I know what the cost of radiant floor heating is (thanks Jenna) I think it would be wise to use in all the living areas. Not only is it cost efficient, but the heat rises up and helps heat the upstairs as well. The floors up here would not be cold in the winter the way they are now because of the cold basement. Now, my friend Ron installed them himself for his basement bathroom and he says it's easy to do, but he's a very good DIY person and I think we'd hire professionals for the whole shebang if this was to happen. Good storage, extra space. Totally max out the house. And finally get all those comic books off of the cold porch!

Christmas cards 2

2008-12-08T13:04:00.004-06:00

Here's a card I painted for my in-laws this year.
I used to paint all my cards by hand, on an assembly line type of process... sometimes 50 or so. I have no idea how I used to find the time. If anyone has any of these and wouldn't mind sending me a good scan, I'd love to post them. I know PCR has a few and I know the Reinholds have some, too. It was really cool to do all of those, but I'm pretty glad that I found a good place to get things printed.

Happy Winter

2008-12-01T17:10:00.003-06:00

We woke up to winter after having gone to bed when it was Autumn. Okay winter- I got some paper snowflakes and warm socks and knit mufflers and cups of cocoa...i'm ready for ya! So there! I'm going to make the best of you no matter what! I'm going to take walks when there are big snowflakes and admire the Christmas lights and feel extra good under blankets! And i'm going to be thankful that there is snow to melt in the spring and replenish the aquifier!

Merry Christmas Every One...less

2008-11-29T07:38:00.003-06:00

Hey, How about this, WALMART? Every day during the holiday season, each store will reward the most courteous shopper with a cart full of free stuff. You sign up before Thanksgiving, everyone gets a Walmart Card that keeps track of your purchases. Security keeps an eye on everyone and the most polite shopper who is kind and patient and NOT TRAMPLING SOMEONE TO DEATH AND THEN CONTINUING TO SHOP gets all their holiday purchases that day for free!
"Merry Christmas, Bobby," "Mother! Father! It's the best Christmas EVAH! My Nintendo DS does not have blood on it this year!""Well, son, that's what Christmas is all about!"
Wow, do I actually think that the only way we can get anyone to be nice to each other and not kill anyone is to bribe them with a flat screen television?...whoa... I'm going back to bed.

Thankful for old photos

2008-11-27T09:30:00.002-06:00

I found this one stuck in a book! Maybe to flatten the curly edges.We were all decked out for the Tumbling and gymnastics pagent at the Park District. I was very proud that I could do a somersault!

Christmas Cards

2008-11-25T09:07:00.003-06:00

I made this card last year for my brother and sister in law. They have such a great house and it's all in the woods with a pond and tall trees for casting shadows and other good stuff like that.. But, you can't wear fancy high heel boots and try and climb up that driveway...unless you want to look like an out take from I Love Lucy. Which, I have to say, is always good for a laugh...

Santa Baby!

2008-11-24T08:14:00.006-06:00

Okay, I am NOT into Christmas before Dec 1. But I know there are some shoppy early shoppers who might be interested in this RIGHT NOW! So I am breaking my own rule and decorating my blog for Christmas ...cringe....before Thanksgiving.
Perhaps someone you know and love might like to drink their hot cocoa or their Bailey's and coffee out of these jobbies. I designed a sleigh full of Santa Clauses for Mick Foley one year (as he is a Christmas guy) and now I've decided to put some of my favorites to good use! I was suprised at how many different versions I created. I actually quite like Christmas/Solstice/WinterWonderland...and I love these Santas. LumberJack Santa has a story that goes with him that I'm going to illustrate-so, I'm holding him back. Sorry to tease you. If there is an overwhelming demand for him without a li'l book, I might cave in... (That one on the shelf is my own personal mug- I gotta test drive them before I put them out there!) But there are several more Clauses and Kringles to choose from.
Visit my CafePress Shop (link is on the left) to get some of these and or other goodies. Like Santa Christmas cards for all your holiday greeting needs...

Happy All the Way Though

2008-11-22T08:21:00.008-06:00

I have had such a great birthdays. And by birthdays I am not making a typo twice, I am expressing great joy at the good times I have had over the past two days. My love, who gives me great gifties alla the time, gave me a happy smile from my list. It was of the octopus variety. We went to the best Italian joint in the city, Anteprima. And last night we gathered with my great friends Daryl, Tony, Kris, Ron and Erika at Cafe Marbella. An amazing Tapas Place( that serves lunch, people! Get yourselves up there, Peterson, west of Kimball- and it's BYOB.) The food is outstanding and the owners are wonderful.
After about 10 bottles of wine, we got the birthday treatment and they brought out this wine dojiggie...like a teapot with a phallic handle and a wee li'l spout, or like a bong, but for wine and no smoking. And of course the point is to drink straight out of this jobber but holding it way back so the wine arcs out like a fountain into your mouth. And, YES, the second time around, I laughed and gasnorted wine all over myself. But it was white wine, so it was kind of okay. Mostly it was because you are so intent on trying to hit your mouth with the wine that you forget to swallow the wine that's already in there and suddenly as it wells up you start to panic because you start thinking about a bathtub that overflows and you don't want wine to start spilling out of your mouth and probably into your ears and you start frantically gulping which causes your friends to giggle and shout excitedly and point out the obvious and then you are done for. Erika and Ron had their Jesus phones, so there might be some 'really attractive' photos to share. But, it is very early and I am only up because the cat was hungry. Instead I shall post some photos of autumnal things. Like these beautiful leaves.And this delicious dinner that Brian and I made-he made the Hunter's Ragu and I made the noodles. A sauce like that needed a homemade noodle. And the cold winter air has dropped down from Canada to make dinners like this absolutely necessary. Hearty things that are served in thick bowls. Not ready for winter, Mum Nature. Can I get at least a 45 degree day to finish raking leaves and stringing up Christmas lights and all that jazz? And still be able to use my fingers. That would be nice...

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-11-20T08:08:00.009-06:00

I love this photo of me. It's the only one I have (and it's a photocopy) of when I was born. I spent a few months in the hospital before my parents got me. Not any other photos of me as a bundle of baby. It goes from this to, like one years old. See the resemblance, tho? Pointy chin hung in there! This photo makes me smile. I was only 2lbs and some change-pretty remarkable for that time...I must have been pretty small and creepy, now that I think on it! But anyway-moving on...
Here are a bunch of other things...guaranteed to put a smile on my face! (brown paper packages and whiskers on kittens of course are included...but I doubt I could fit my listy into that song and-I heard it and saw Andrea's HulaSeventy list on the same day, and it made me think. And Brian and Halloween are automatically at the top of any such list, so I did not add them...so here's my list, in no particular order.
1. holding hands
2. Archie the cat, snoring!
3. cake donut with chocolate frosting
4. school desk with the lifty top
5. vintage/antique store
6. road trip
7. lazy Sunday mornings where you cuddle in bed and read the paper to each other
8. dim sum
9. crafts
10. Christmas lights-(on Christmas, sure,) but also just used strung up round the ceiling like fireflies
11. coffee, black with sugar
12. hiccupy toddler laff
13. pointy toed shoes
14. pickles
15. crayons
16. old book smell
17. plaid
18. musician in the subway
19. paper snowflakes
20. waxed paper and crayon melty hearts
21. apricot
22. ‘fired up’ lipstick
23. typewriters and the sound they make (whatever happened to my Royal?!!!)
24. real letters delivered in the mail
25. yarn store
26. foreign money especially heavy coins
27. picnics
28. graph paper
29. bic medium point pen
30. leftover spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast (but not cold for the meatball part- you can get away with cold for the basghetti)
31. autumn leaves
32. kid drawings
33. buttons (to sew)
34. stockings
35. a chest freezer filled with homemade stuff
36. mushrooms
37. full moon
38. quesadillas
39. movie marathon- monster or some other theme
40. lemon cloud cake
41. chocolate sprinkles
42. superball
43. grasshopper
44. flowers
45. tomato plant
46. windchime made out of olde keys or old spoons
47. beach glass
48. smooth twig
49. hand carved wooden spoon that looks like a ladle to spoon things out of a cauldrony pot
50. Mexican coca-cola
51. roasting marshmallows
52. skinny dipping
53. things served family style
54. candlelight
55. going with it…the joke- or the bit…improv, baby)
56. smartcar
57. looking in the Christmas windows
58. Thanksgiving side dishes
59. biccicletta
60. paper bats
61. weekend trips
62. baskets
63. lemon anything
64. big tree with an old tyme swing, like with a board and some ropes
65. a big tree
66. bonfire
67. ghost story
68. filled pastry, sweet or savory
69. tomatoes in a jar
70. the giardinera!
71. Chicago style hot dog
72. local eateries and their specialties
73. hand me down recipes
74. aperitivo
75. flowy dresses
76. train ride
77. Chinese lanterns, paper lanterns, thingies that make a mood
78. farmhouse table
79. crochet flowers
80. rollerskates with four wheels all spread out
81. champagne ‘cup’
82. caramels wrapped in waxed paper
83. all affection, no brainer
84. salt ‘flowers’ on the watercolor
85. old glass jars
86. open air market/roadside market stands
87. potluck suppers
88. walks in the woods or bike rides if there is a paved trail
89. sheets that smell like the sun after drying on the clothesline
90. garden party
91. twinkle in the eye
92. hats with a brim
93. old photos
94. storytelling
95. magic picture phone
96. eclectic home décor
97. sunday bloody mary/jazz sunday
98. octopus
99. an assortment of Christmas cookies wrapped up real purty
100. painting on location
I could do this all day…

Sigh...

2008-11-19T15:23:00.002-06:00

C'mon people! Really?

things in my brain

2008-11-14T12:51:00.016-06:00

My good friend Daryl came over for Sunday Supper the other night. It was a blustery day (thank you ,Winnie the Pooh) , brisk but still with enough leaves blowing around to keep thoughts of full blown Chicago winter way in the back of your head. On days like that, Daryl and I agreed, one always feels like baking or cooking big pots of soup or stew or roasting something in the oven. He brought beautiful fleurs that were still growing in his garden.When the lovely Ms. Conway and Daryl and I all used to live within blocks of each other we would often dine together during the week. One of us would make up a pot of soup or some noodle dish or a big stir fry and call the others and say “Hey! I just made this! Come on over and eat some of it!” and we’d talk about work, art, films, whatever came to mind and drink some wine. Cheryl’s was the best Sunday Supper phone call, because she knew how to roast a chicken! That might seem very basic to the uninitiated, but there are flocks of over cooked, dry, or rubbr’y skinned birds that came out of my oven until I learned the Art of Roasting. It’s actually pretty easy.
But, Cheryl always had a knack for throwin’ a chicky in the oven with some herbs and lemon and then sitting with us in her living room yakkin’ while the bird became moist and flavorful and memorable. I do not ever remember there being a sub par bird.
So, on Sunday I felt like making a meatloaf (don’t say ew-you would like it, I promise) mac-n-cheese and some roasted veg. Everything went into the oven mostly at the same time (‘cept the mac-n- cheese because I prefer to make my cheese sauce while the noodles are boiling and I don’t really bake it because that makes all the sauce go away. Sometimes I make a crumb and cheese topping and zhizh it under the broiler, but not this time.) so there was no muss or fuss.
And, as we were chatting and drinking red wine Daryl asked me something I hadn’t really thought about.
“Where do you get your interest in cooking?”
Having been friends for…let me do the math…Holy Mackerel! Twenty Three Years! Daryl knows that my mom was not a big cook. She was of the era of heating things up. And, I don’t think she liked cooking at all. Not her thing. So, we, like most other families in the ‘70’s, had convenience foods, pot pies, tv dinners, cans of hash and green beans. And when she cooked from scratch she made the stuff my dad liked. Very meat and potatoes but all good....um except for the infamous...hot dog casserole! But that is a post all unto itself. So, casseroles, spaghetti, sloppy joes, roasts…those things were on the weekly rotation, unless it was Lent, then we had fish sticks or pancakes on Fridays…or noodles with butter as I sometimes demanded…
And because we lived with my grandmother and my mom worked, my grandmother would cook dinner most nights. (Dinner was on the table at 5:30 when my dad got home from work, so it was started at 3!) And while she cooked dinner, she would spout bonmots such as these…
“I guess this is all I’m good for, I’m just the maid!”
“Must be nice not to have to DO anything while old Nana does all the work!”
“Hey, you gonna SIT there all day, or are you gonna HELP me? Don’t you want to learn anything? You’re gonna need to do this one day. Woodenhead! I’m talking to you!”
“Hey, tin ears! Get over here!”
“If I knew you were going to do it THAT way, I wouldn’t have asked you to do it in the first place!”
“C’mon! C’mon! I don’t have all day! I thought you were gonna HELP me!”
“Just GET OUT of the way if you don’t know how to do it right! It’s not hard. Why don’t ya use the sense God gave you!”
“Look what you made me do! It boiled over! Dammit! If I didn’t have to watch you like a hawk! Why didn’t you tell me it was boiling!”
“You asked me to mix…”
“Oh- so it’s MY fault now? The nerve!… You kids….Do I have to do everything around here? What good are ya? GO on! Go watch TV, it’s all you’re good for! Oh, what? Ya gonna cry now? Go ahead, cry! CRY, you baby! Well, it won’t work. It wont work on ME! You try and make ME feel like the bad guy and here I am trying to make YOU dinner! Well, maybe you know how to do it better than me!” (throws pan in the sink.) “Go ahead! I’m through! You can make dinner Or your mother! She’ll have to start it when she gets home and you won’t eat until late! Or go hungry! Eat some shit out of a can ! See if I care. You think you’re so smart! Yeah, you know better than everyone! Where ya gonna get the money to make dinner for everyone? You know how much things cost? No you just sit around with your nose in a book or whatever while everyone else does all the work!”
And then you frantically apologized and slinked off back to whatever you were doing before she asked you for help. Or demanded...as it has been pointed out...
SO, while one might have been eager to learn, you mostly felt inadequate or intimidated or downright scared. Perhaps cooking was best left to someone more competent. But, hmm… Catch 22…there always was an appeal for assistance but, if you helped, you failed. If you didn’t help, you also failed. No matter how hard you tried, you always were on the receiving end of her anger.

WOW, JILL--THAT’S DEPRESSING- WE THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE INSPIRATIONAL !
Wait! Don’t Go! Here’s the happy part!

Enter my neighbor Kathy. She first hired me to babysit for her infant son, Corey. She needed me to watch him while she was out with her husband or when she had errands to run or to keep him occupied while she prepared for a party.
Kathy was always having gatherings at her house. Open houses on Christmas day, communions for friends’ children, backyard barbeques, holiday celebrations there was not a month that went by without Kath having something going on at her house.
So when Corey was down for a nap, or watching tv, I’d go in the kitchen and see what she was doing. I stood back because I knew from my home experience that ‘If I didn’t know how to do it right, I should stay out of the way’-- but I was curious. I really liked the home arts.
“Jill, grab that cabbage and hollow it out for me. I’m making this dip for vegetables and it will look pretty in there.”
“!!!” I was nervous. I didn’t want to ruin anything.
”I’ve never done that before.”
“Oh, well, cut the top off and then take enough out of the center until it looks like a bowl. Don’t cut through the bottom, though. Whatever looks good to you.”
I didn’t know what to say. This woman trusted me with her cabbage! I cut the top off of the vegetable and started chipping away until I had a fair receptical. It wasn’t Martha Stewart perfect, but it looked pretty good.
“Great!” said Kathy. “Fill this to the top, then put the ‘lid’ back on it- and could you cut up those carrots and peppers and celery into sticks? Put them all around the dip and then I need you to make some artichoke dip. You never made artichoke dip? Here’s what you do…””
I kept waiting to hear how the veg was cut wrong, or I was too slow, or I was making a mess, or how I was not using the sense God gave me…but Kathy never said any of those things. She was grateful for my help. She complimented me on my hors d’oeuvres execution and she educated me about cooking in a way that made me want to do it again and again. She asked my opinion about what I thought her menu was lacking and never lashed out at me when I gave her my answer. “There are no potatoes…”
“You’re right! Potatoes it is, then! How about tiny baked potatoes?”
She laughed with me, talked with me as an equal even though I was over 10 years her junior. She entrusted me with the care of her son!
More often than not in the years that followed, Kathy would call on me to help her with her parties even when she did not need me to babysit. I learned how to peel and devein shrimp the same afternoon that a fisherman had caught them and then how to sauté them quickly in a pan with garlic and olive oil and toss them with pasta. I was astounded to learn that this was 3 year old Corey’s favorite dish!
I learned how to make a mimosa and a bloody mary for the brunch buffet tables that were a wonderful Christmas day tradition.
Savory bread puddings, fruit salad baskets made out of watermelons, cheese biscuits,in the summer, burgers and hot dogs and barbequed chicken on the grill. And I was always asked (as well as my family and all of the neighbors) to come and join the fun. Kathy was nothing if not gracious. Her philosophy was all are welcome. And she was always happy to see you. She had a smile on her face and a hug for you and she wanted to hear all of your news.
I never felt so loved and accepted and competent as when I helped Kathy. She instilled a love for cooking and entertaining in me that I still hold to this day. It makes me feel incredible inside to be able to create delicious things for my family and friends. To open my home and heart up to them. To create shared memories to look back on fondly. Good times to make us smile and laugh. Kathy was gracious and strong and funny and kind and generous. She was my first real role model and someone who I think of as an older sister.
I took the excitement for entertaining with me when I went to art school and helped my pal Dave throw a 21st birthday surprise party for his girlfriend/now wife in his super tiny studio apartment. I made many of the ‘party foods’ that Kathy had served at her parties. Man, we crammed so many people in that tiny apartment!
I threw myself something similar for my own 21st birthday. Nice outfits 1980’s! And any other occasion I could get a chance to cater- I’d go for it. It took some thought, but it wasn’t hard! You make time for the things that are important to you. And the payoff is so worth it. I mean, if you spend time cooking for yourself on a daily basis, there really ain't much difference if there 's one person at the table, two people or four! (Unless I'm just grabbing a sandwich, or eating something in front of the fridge! Which is sometimes a meal when Brian is not around.)
Craig Russell throws the best dinner parties and I was lucky enough to learn so much more from him when I lived in Kent, Ohio. There were Halloween parties and New Year’s parties and traveling dinner clubs…
One of the things that clinched it for me with my husband, Brian, was his enthusiasm for life and his amazing entertainment skills. He and Lux threw some legendary parties in their giant loft, there were football Sundays with homemade pizza and big submarine sandwiches for his friends, rooftop barbeques so you could see the fireworks downtown on the fourth of July… we held our Wedding Reception/my birthday party in my tiny Chicago apartment- we made all of the food ourselves and filled the bathtub with ice and beers and champagne, we hosted a small dinner gathering at least every two weeks for a wild mix of friends, and we had cocktail parties where everyone had to dress foxy like you should at a cocktail part…and wonderful Christmas open houses!
If you ask me what I want to do for my birthday, the answer has always been (for the most part)- I want to have people over! (however, if you want to throw me a surprise party- I’d love that! But you can’t throw yourself a surprise can you? But the party part is there, see?!)
I like to make food for a bunch of people. I’m inspired by the thought of a theme. We got a bunch of brats in the freezer from the Northwoods? Leaf raking party! Or a Pumpkin carving party- or Big Football Sunday! Let’s do a cowboy Christmas! Or celebrate Chinese New Years! Get a lacquered duck from the Chinese market and make a stir fry- you don’t always have to make everything yourself. It’s about the community you create.

My grandmother served deliciously prepared food on a plate of contempt and anger. With a side of oppression and obligation! It was not a delight to sit at her table. It was a requirement. Whether that was her intention, I have no clue. For a woman who always said “you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar…” she seemed to have forgotten to buy the honey! And she wondered why everyone walked on eggshells around her. You never knew what was going to set her off! And something always did. Discussing other cuisines you might be interested in trying meant you did not like her cooking! Mentioning your good time at Kathy’s led to “You like it so much over there why don’t you go live there!” Having seconds meant you were a hog and selfish. But not eating enough could result in her threatening to never cooking again because you obviously did not like her food!
Kathy served you love that tasted like food. With a side of self-esteem and quality time sprinkled with fun and memories. It encouraged my creative side, made me interested in the process of cooking and made Martha Stewart a bit richer with my subscription habit to her magazine.
And it is not a party for me without Kathy’s artichoke dip on the table.

Virtual Trick Or Treat

2008-11-12T10:32:00.007-06:00

I just got these great photos from Heather Sheptock of her son Max, number one Scary Godmother fan, and an awesome Bug-A-Boo.
I sent her a sketch of my mad plans for a homemade Bug-A-Boo costume, since a store bought one does not exist. In fact, the sketch came from a 'Scary Godmother Merchendise Catalogue" I created a buncha years ago. I made Scary G stuff, Ruby stuff, bedding, housewares, a Harry mask that fit like a baseball hat, so kids could still see... Being a lifelong Chicagoan, I thought it might be wise to make the coat the costume because there's always the chance it will be 36 degrees on Halloween. Or sleeting. Check these out. Make them for yourself you crafty crafters!

Thankful for

2008-11-09T09:01:00.002-06:00

Totally swiping from Sarah's blog I think it's a great idea to take stock of all of the things you are thankful for. I'm thankful Sarah is such an inspiring friend with her awesome mothering skills, her many talents like sewing and writing and cooking...and her being all smarty smart with computers. She seems to do it all. Check out the Emily Dyer collection and see what that lucky girl gets to wear! Talk about a designer wardrobe!
But 'nuff said...on to what I'm thankful for today. It's a dark and cold one out there. But I'm thankful to see some of my favorite painting scenes in the sky. The blue grey blustery snow looking sky (and that great crisp smell in the air) countered by bright yellow leaves still on the trees and warm earth underfoot. The ground ain't cold yet nor is it frozen. That makes it so much more wonderful for bundling up in a coat and big scarf and going for a walk. And I'm thankful to have a nice warm house to come back into after I go for a walk. I'm all inspired to paint nature and stuff.

I got U

2008-11-08T21:30:00.006-06:00

Although I didn't have a photo of this year's Halloween costume, I've been tidying up my studio and came across this most spectacular one from the Academy days. I am Cher and Daryl is Sonny and Yes, we did so sing "I got U Babe!"I can rock the long dark wig I think...
Daryl is better know in the Scary Godmother world as the inspiration for Daryl! Why? Because of this brilliant costume he made for a Halloween Party in festive and enthusiastic spooktakular Kent, Ohio many years ago. You eagle eyed fans will note that I edited out the black comic touch of the pin/nail in the books...
My good pal Mary Catlett is the..pseudo egyptian queenie lady. Thanks for identifying the costume description Mary. I did not know how to classify your get up.
My mom is the bee.
And yes, that's Sandman lurking in the background...

Look what I found!

2008-11-06T17:58:00.009-06:00

I was doing some speaking engagements on Election Day at some of our suburban high schools...and when I do such things I like to bring a good cross section of my past work to illustrate various points. SO, of course Monday night at about 12:30 am I was pulling all sorts of things out of the archive boxes. The Badger-Shattered Mirror splash page, pen and ink work, painted pages, thumbnails and scripts. These are always a big hit- sample pages for a proposed Nightmare Before Christmas Graphic Novel. I was hired by Dark Horse, I believe, (it's been 5 years) because someone was trying to get the rights to do a Nightmare adaptation...I'm not sure of the details really, but I think it was a matter of trying to convince Tim Burton to give the green light to a graphic novel. I have no idea if he ever saw it. Or if that was even the issue.There might have been an issue there of him not being interested in such things...or something like that. I'm not really sure. All I know is that as far as I know...this went nowhere. At least my involvement. I've seen a manga version of TNBC...and yes, I like mine better!I wish I could remember the reasons this didn't move forward...but I can't. Sigh. Stupid brain cells! Get to work! At least I can share them here with you. I hope ya likes 'em!

D'Oh!

2008-11-02T12:02:00.002-06:00

Guess who forgot to charge her camera battery before Halloween? I did get about 4 shots of the coming swarm of trick or treaters...before the camera died. Sigh. So I'll have to piece together some after the fact shots of things to post...soon to come.

First Halloween Costume

2008-10-30T14:38:00.004-05:00

So I was crochetting a present for Julie's baby. (knit a blanket? Why yes, I started in April...finish it? Sigh, there's only 2 inches of progress.) I seem to finish things I start crochetting. It's more like sculpture, and you can build on things easier...at least that's how it feels to me. Anyway, I decided to make a skullcap that looked like a skull...but I forgot to bring the black yarn with me to finish the eyes and nose parts while I was flying over to London. SO- Isla has her first Lucha Mask! And, yes, her dad did pull it downto see if it fit. I somehow made the eyes and nose the proper size to fit over her eyes and nose. But, she was not so pleased when we did that. See, she's sizing me up to prepare herself just in case we want to do it again.

Abby Cadabra

2008-10-19T07:24:00.005-05:00

I finished Magic Trixie and the Dragon a bit over a week ago ( I am so happy with it! I think I might like it the best! but I always like the one I just finished the best. Until the next one!) and I got all distracted with going to Bouchercon with Brian and preparing for my upcoming trip to London to visit the new baby that I forgot to post more art! So, In honor of the new baby, and all the babies I know, I decided to post a page with Abby Cadabra on it. I love drawing her! Just like Magic Trixie is an amalgam of all of my nieces when they were about 6, Abby Cadabra is a reflection of all that 'tripod baby' stage. Where you put them on the floor and their legs kinda naturaly bow out, and they are a perfect tripod. And they have those two rat teeth on the bottom for scraping apple slices and zwieback. They are a good armful of baby...and they say "BUH" and "KEE!" and "DA!". And they are just starting to be able to giggle and it's the most wonderful true sound you've ever heard. It kinda hiccups out of them! I wish I had that recorded somewhere so when I am sad, I could play it back and it would make me smile!

Eight is Great

2008-10-14T13:38:00.003-05:00

Introducing our newest niece,( this makes eight!) Isla Sophia! She's not even a week old! I forgot how little they can be, now that the other seven nieces are all nearly 10 or older! What a charmer!

SCARY GODMOTHER double feature

2008-10-13T20:10:00.007-05:00

Hey! Scary Godmother and The Revenge of Jimmy are on back to back on Cartoon Network! The commercials always cut off the dialogue! That's flustering!
And here's some of the art I did while working on the show. This is the spooky punkin patchAnd here are some punkins, before and after Jimmy got through with them. And, of course, his 'decoy' so he could trick monsters...These are Jimmy's plan's for 'outwitting the monsters' because they have such tiny brains! It's from the scene in his room where Daryl, Katie and Bert come in and find all his traps and diversions.Now, I'm not sure if these made it on the screen in any way that you could see them, but they are just some of the many drawings and paintings I did while working on the show. The punkin patch, was of course, a painting for the animators to refer to when they built the 3D models, and perhaps to use when rendering. They were great and used the actual watercolor (somehow) to wrap around the forms.
I've got a few more hidden away somewhere. I guess i should save them for future Autumn posts.
It's a beautiful night for spooky halloween shows--warm, big bright moon, warm wind. I wish I was dressed as a spirit and running down the street with leaves in my hair!

Look at the Show

2008-10-12T19:08:00.003-05:00

Here are some great photos of opening night at the Endless Reflections Sandman Art Show! Doesn't it look great?
If I was there, I would have worn my long champagne colored silk gown...or my red velvet dress...or my leather vest with the flames on it and fishnet stockings. Something Endless-y.

Today's Inspiration

2008-10-06T09:05:00.001-05:00

Wow.

Endless Reflections Opening

2008-10-05T21:38:00.006-05:00

The entire show can be seen here. I wish I was there to see all of this fabulous art in person. I want that Vince Locke Delirium! I'm such a fan of his painting!!!

Caketastic Sugar Delights

2008-10-05T14:57:00.004-05:00

Thanks to sketchhound, John Swanson, for sending me these images from a vintage bakery recipe book! John's Pop was an expert at the art of baking -but for bakeries, so all the recipes in his book are for 100 lbs of flour and 300 eggs and stuff like that. But it seems they also included instructions on how you should decorate your holiday delights.

An Unsolicited Review!

2008-10-03T10:42:00.003-05:00

Magic Trixie has received kind words here. Thanks so much. Makes me feel like I wasn't just drawing for me, myself and I...even tho I'm at the top of my 'entertain and impress' list. I hope Magic Trixie Sleeps Over satisfies. I aims to please.

It can't be October yet!

2008-10-02T12:06:00.003-05:00

October, step back! I love you and your leafy ways, but I am not yet done with September! I mean, look! I'm still dealing with tomatoes! I'm still harvesting and preparing for winter!

NO- it is not the only thing I am doing...I'm not a squirrell or a pioneer woman. I have to paint comics and a zillion other things! SO -can you just hang back a bit til I'm done? Because I want to ENJOY every minute of you!

Commission Prices

2008-09-24T19:21:00.002-05:00

Probably a good idea to let those of you interested in commissions what my price list is. When I do a signing or a convention, I charge 100.00 for a black and white pen and ink sketch of a character. It's on nice Strathmore paper and usually will have some black colored pencil shading on it.
Sometimes, I take advance commissions for a couple of painted sketches if I have time to do them. Those prices are as follows for a black and white watercolor wash ,8 1/2 x 11 size, the price is 250.00. A full color one of the same size is 500.00. Those are on watercolor paper or a thick ply Strathmore ( I do Magic Trixie on that). I won't be able to do any painted commissions before this signing, but I have the space on my schedule for 2 more black and white ones. I usually scratch out some quick sketches in sharpie marker at the signings or 'make some magic for the people'-as sketch hound John Swanson calls it...but the commissioned pieces obviously get more time spent on them. I never hack anything out, but the advance ones get the good art supplies.

hard to find?

2008-09-23T10:10:00.005-05:00

Well, I finally found a copy of Magic Trixie in a bookstore.

Was it on the 'Halloween table display?' Was it in the 'Children's Humor' or 'Children's non-fiction" as it was labled in the computer? Were there sections in the Children's Books area that even corresponded to those headings? Why no! When I finally coralled an employee he took me over to the graphic novel corner, by the emergency exit. And lo and behold there she was! Nestled in amongst the Marvel Graphic novels. Do ya think a mom with a toddler might accidentally make her way over there and then find it..? Me neither! It made me all grumpy and want to do a shot of bourbon. And it was all drizzly and feh outside that day. Which gave me frizzy hair. I was in a mood. Then I looked up and saw that I was in fine company...This should also be out on a seasonal display table! Or, how about a graphic novel table? Everything else gets a new release table...or a featured books table. That would be a good way to show a selection of the material available in this medium!

My Halloween Costume

2008-09-22T18:47:00.003-05:00

I woke up to this lovely dealie this morning
Can't begin to explain how creepy that makes me feel. And sooooo pretty!
.

Spooky Signing

2008-09-22T12:55:00.006-05:00

I'm down in Kansas City this weekend to go to the most awesome Haunted Houses (like the Beast) and, I'll be doing a signing on Saturday from 1-3 at Elite Comics 11842 Quivira Rd in Overland Park, KS - the north west corner of 119th and Quivira.
So please stop by and get things signed. I'll be doing sketches and I've already had requests for a couple of commissions. Like this. I could probably squeeze a couple more in before Saturday. So, contact me if you'd like to get on the list! That's by Wednesday,tomorrow... please. Otherwise, it's whatever I can do while I'm at the shop. I'll bring a few of the San Diego prints just in case anyone wants to buy one of those as well.
I first went to those Haunted houses the year my niece Emma was born...my brother and his family had lived in Lawrence, Kansas and he took me there because he knew they were so awesome. I love the design and the open format of them. It's scary and fun and something I look forward to in the Fall...going to a haunted house, or 'attraction' I mean. I've never been to a real Haunted House. Nothing supernatural has ever happened to me that I can think of. I've stayed at the Horton Grand in San Diego, which, supposedly has a haunted room. I've even stayed in the room right under the haunted room where people have heard strange things. But not me.
I've been watching this spooky show, A Haunting, while I work which makes me want to re-think my desire to stay in a famous Haunted Hotel. That's on my 'list' of things I want to do. Does everyone have one of those? I keep adding to it, but I've marked off quite a few things since I started it. Which was when I was but a teen!
Anyway, the days are just the right temperature and the colors are rich with golds and purples. So I'm really ready to spend every day doing something really fall-ie-y. I love walking in the woods, or going to pumpkin patches or having a bonfire and soaking up the Autumnal atmosphere. That's one of the reasons I wanted to tie the knot on Halloween! My favorite stuff happens this time of year!
My friends and I have tried to get down there nearly every year since for a Spooky Weekend. But we always thought about it at the very last minute when it became impossible to schedule, but this year we pulled it together and I'm excited to be able to go! If you've never been and you like htat kind of thing. You should plan a trip.

Endless Reflections

2008-09-20T19:25:00.004-05:00

If you're in the area, get to the opening of the Endless Reflections show! I'm proud to have over thirty watercolor illustrations for sale in this exhibition. What are they, well, they are kind of like...a condensed version of the entire Sandman series. They were used as part of a pitch for a Sandman trilogy of films. It was very strange and wonderful to revisit my own work on the Brief Lives storyline. And stranger still to interpret other people's work. But, it felt very comfortable to draw and paint the Endless again.
I wish I could be at the opening. I love that kind of thing.
The list of artists displaying their work has really grown since I first got involved. I'm very proud to be a part of it. Ryan Graff has done a wonderful job of curating the show. If you happen to attend, let me know how it was!

It's Ten PM eastern time, do you know where your ....

2008-09-15T20:59:00.002-05:00

Wiener's are? Peruse. Enjoy. Try not to laugh until no sound comes out of your mouth. Cuz usually that's when you forget to breathe!
Thanks, Andrea!

Gosh! Comics!

2008-09-09T09:40:00.002-05:00

Get your comics ready London Town! I will be visiting you and signing things and drawing pictures for all comics fans who show up from 2pm to 4 pm on Saturday, October 25th at

Gosh!
39 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3NZ

This autumnal piece of Magic Trixie art will be raffled off to a loyal customer just in time for All Hallow's Eve! If anyone is interested in a color commission, you can e-mail me for prices. I'll probably bring a few prints, but not original art...I will be carrying too many 'new baby' gifts on the plane. I'm very excited! I have not been to London since 1993! Witches bring your broomsticks! Tell me of all the cool magicky places that I should visit!

Summer...

2008-09-01T08:32:00.009-05:00

Summers flying out the screen door. But warm autumn days and cooler nights are welcome. I just wish the sun was up longer to enjoy those cool nights...good for roasting marshmallows.
We got to see some of our girls. But as usual it was all too brief. Emma and Abby were visiting their Aunt Jenny and they took me down on the awesome beach.Nice view Aunt Jenny's got. No wonder she is a great yoga teacher...the pulse of the world is outside her window. I think We should have a sleepover at her place!

And, Jim and Sue came in to visit with Lucy and Lynne. So of course we went to eat noodles at the famous Club Lago.
and then I think I found an assistant!
And,the mighty hunter waited 18 years to do this.
I feel bad for the bird, but we were all amazed the little wiglet had it in him. And, I checked with the vet and the bird doesn't have any diseases. How nonchalant he is.
And we made some great foodstuffs. But, it's super harvest time and canning and pickling will commence! Those pix after we do some preserving!

The tomatoes, raspberries and thyme came from our garden. I had no luck with radiccio in the spring, so we had to shop for it. And, I'd grow an olive tree if I had the proper climate...which, I think for me might be the South of France. They can grow it all! And they have stone cottages.

DAT CAT

2008-08-13T08:27:00.004-05:00

So, our old gentleman, Archie, has made a recovery from the mystery illness that laid him out for 3 weeks. Those of you who had the patience to hear about it at Comicon...(bless you) know that we were caring for him, spoonfeeding him and all sorts of stuff. We thought he was checking out at one point. But, he must have cashed in one of his nine lives because, he's better! He's eating on his own and happy to do so. He's himself again! Now he only controls my actions every 4 hours instead of every 45 minutes...
He's 18 years old! Ha- the little butterfly hunter! He's got some zip left in him.

Scary Godmadala

2008-08-12T09:08:00.004-05:00

John sent me a lovely hi res scan of the commission he got from me at Comicon. it's a theme he has going now. Scary Godmother as a Star Wars character. he brought a great book of costume designs to choose from. I thought this Princess Amadala emsemble was fitting for Scary Godmother. I only altered the headpiece. When Worlds Collide!

Lovely Morning

2008-08-09T18:29:00.010-05:00

It was a perfect day yesterday, for everything, but especially a morning ride by the lake on bicci millefiore! And I still got home in time for lunch and painting. ( I painted a really fun page, too!-problee cuz I was so jazzed from the improvisational nature of my morning!) That's why comics is the best job. You can shift your workday around to take advantage of the wonderfulness that life has to offer. Like the mosaic mural at the Bryn Mawr exit of Lake Shore Drive.
and then I pedaled around the path. Why am I inside the house ever- with this so close?Did you know that there is a wildlife habitat on Montrose Harbor?

I wish I had brought a pickanick basket, BooBoo! And a sunhat. And some raspberry lemonade. It was a good place to laze around and listen to the lake. It was the only thing you could hear. No cars, no sirens, no people...just waves and wind.
I soaked it all in and then I pedaled on. As I made my way toward the actual harbor, a nice lady asked me if she could take my photo.She thought bicci millefiore was adorable and that I should have a picture of me for me. Pretty good.
Then I said hi to the boats. There were a few guys stocking their boats with Corona and fishing poles. There were some fish jumping in the harbor, maybe they had some luck. Or maybe they just put their feet up, let the boat lull them into a half sleep and sipped beer. Either way, it seemed like a good way to spend the day.As I headed north, I zoomed past the Edgewater Apartments (formerly a hotel, back in the day). I wish I could see inside there. I wonder what the apartments look like?
Off the bike path, back into traffic and soon, I was back to the old drawing board. Literally!

con sketches

2008-08-08T17:09:00.002-05:00

Joseph was nice enough to send me a scan of the commissioned drawing he ordered at Comicon. Ah, Death... I always like drawing her in various jet black outfits...

comicon 2008-the aftermath

2008-07-29T09:43:00.010-05:00

A few quick pix from the San Diego Comicon. First off, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all the fans who stopped by to get Magic Trixie #1! (I sold out!) And to those who wanted autographs and to those who purchased commissioned sketches and paintings. It was quite a success and hopefully we will be able to snag booth 1322 again. It was a great address! It was close to booksellers, other artists and the restroom! We're hoping to expand next year and have more cool things to look at and buy.( I'm thinking sketchbook and Scratches the cat stuff! I have to get crafting,right? Of course, I will keep you posted. (It sure will be nice to have time to plan!) And, we even had fresh air all the time. (When you walked into the 'media' area, it smelled all like egg salad at the end of a picnic....ew.)
My first great day at the show, I had a visit from Shelby and Sarah who review comics and stuff at allagesreads on Newsarama. They got sketches in their books and they made me a present. Aren't they awesome?
As I was at booth 1322 nearly all day long, so,my only photos are of the parties and stuff. And, because I was behind the camera, I'm really not in many of them! If you were there and have any good pix of me, send them to jillazz@gmailcom and I'll post them. (Because I love me so much!)Brian Azzarello and Jason Aaron
Cliff Chiang
me, Marc Andreyko and Jan Jones
Shelly Bond was desperate to do karaoke this night
standard attrition secret stair party Brian and Samuel L. Jackson at the Warner Bros. Party...

Eisner award winner Gabriel Ba
Franz studies the crowd
everyone loved Heidi
Nicola, Cecil and Chris
Sierra and WillTrish MulvhillShelly Bond hosted a dinner for her Fables crew. Bill Willingham, Mark Buckinham, Steve Leiloha, James Jean, Matt Sturges and Todd Klein were delighted that she had put together such a lovely event with a special Fables inspired menu!

Sunday dinner with Jack Mahan of DC Comics. Brian sits with Brett and Ronnie.

And no, I did not polish off this Moet by myself. It somehow ended up at my end of the table. I do, have a fondness for a flute full of little stars...

Bat Flash

2008-07-17T09:05:00.002-05:00

So, these are the bats. They are nice flash. I test drove a mug with their image on cafepress. It looks very nice to me. I think I'll be setting up a store there with some other bat products...All I need nw is a die cutting company contact, a ceramics mold maker and ceramics maker and I'd be set....The book of products grows...but where do I get prototypes made? that is the question.

ART AND COMMERCE

2008-07-12T08:08:00.014-05:00

Yikes! BusyBusyBusy! So much to do in so little time! Now that Cliff Chiang, Brian Wood and I have procured a booth for the convention, we must scramble to make sure our wares are available. (a Sketchbook is a definite for me next year... did not have time to design one this year...)
So, I just wanted to let you know what I will be bringing with me to the big San Diego Comicon International.
Everyone wants to know about commissioned sketches. Will I be doing them and what will they cost? Since I finally have a booth space, I can not only spend time signing and chatting, but drawing and painting as well. I want to make sure that your convention purchase is special and unique. If you are interested in original commissioned sketches,you have three choices.
. All are on 8 x 11 paper which I will provide, based on the kind of sketch you would like. (like a watercolor or something.) Unless you have a sketchbook and would prefer it in there. But, I will do my best to dissuade you from a painting in a regular sketchbook, because it will be all wiggly...)
YOUR OPTIONS INCLUDE-
A black and white pen and ink sketch (Like one of these Deliriums.)or a finished pencil sketch is $100.00.
I have to dig up a finished pencil sketch to post, but, it is all shaded and soft with the tone and stuff...(it's been a long time since anyone asked me to do a pencil one. But, I did some nice ones in Europe! Does anyone have a scan of some of those?)
A black and white painted sketch is 250.00. Like the one you see in that photo from the FX show in Orlando.
I will be doing a limited number of full color painted commissions. Maybe I'll be able to get through one a day with all the other signing and stuff. The price for full color is $500.00
If you contact me before hand about this, you're definitely on the color list. I already have one full color commission. See the prints below for an example of the color commission.
I will also have copies of Magic Trixie #1 for sale.
And, two limited edition prints from Magic Trixie. These are 9 x 12 and fit well in any lovely frame you might see at Target.
There will be some random Tattoo flash created for those of you who wish to adorn your body. I've created these with arms and legs and such in mind. Perhaps you might find something to incorporate into your sleeve or something.

I will have the entire Fables OGN King Cole Art at the con, either at my table or at AlexRossArt and the 5 page House of Mystery story that just appeared in House of Mystery.
I have no Sandman Art left. But, over 30 black and white painted Sandman illustrations will be on sale in October at a Gallery Show in Los Angeles. These pieces were used by Neil Gaiman to pitch a series of Sandman films to Warner Brothers a few years ago. It was really cool because I got to revisit characters I love so much and draw the whole Sandman series! These are some examples.

You can browse through xeroxes of the available art at the booth to see if there's anything that you might like. Hollywood types are free to snap up the entire lot.

Brief Holiday

2008-07-10T17:05:00.012-05:00

We zoomed to Cleveland for the fourth of July where mother nature smiled upon us and made beautiful, sunny yet, non-humid weather. In fact, on the fifth, you might have needed a jacket for the evening. I always wanted a fourth of July like this when I was a girl.
There were family and neighborhood parties, barbeques and potluck feasts,waterballoon fights, bike parades, fireworks, suprise hikes along the Chagrin River and a little creek and some crafts. And, my phone takes pretty fair photos in a pinch (when we went along the river). It makea me smile.
These are cookies from BetterBitofButter.com. Order some. They taste great and are very beautiful to look at before you devour them.

I was clicking around Squaw Rock wearing my high heeled sandals (not fancy, more like the big wooden bottom kind...) because my sister in law took me over to the Chagrin River which is moments away from her house. I love the Cleveland Metroparks. I like tromping around in the woods and climbing on stuff. So, I doffed the heels as to not hurt myself while walking out on the rocks. And what happens when I trust myself to my bare feet? Well, they betray me, of course! They become wet and moisten the clay covered stone and cause me to wipe out. One wedges itself slyly in between two stones and the other one gives me the slip. Do I fall on the countless rocks you see scattered about? No, I manage to plant my @$$ directly into the river. Which drenched my pants when I stood up. Kinda like I had filled my pockets with waterballons and then busted them. Nice phone pic tho. If you see me at the con, I'll still have the big ol' bruise on my right leg. Maybe it will be yellow by then.
So, an hour later, I'm tromping down a creekbed with my niece,Hannah. She takes me to the coolest spot where there is real clay just jutting out of the riverbed. We gathered stones, chunks of clay and I made a walking stick to be sensible and check for deep bits in the river, and soft bits on land. We saw a wee little frog swim in the river, a bunch of iridescent dragonfly looking things and lots of crawfish exoskeletons. There were raccoon and possum tracks in the sandbar and I didn't run across any snakes! (YAY!) We picked wild black raspberries and I ate them. We used the clay to make leaf pressings. I took some home and now I want to take a pottery class. How cool would it be to make something from the clay you hauled out of the river yourself! Like a little cup or something.
We all watched fireworks which were pretty beautiful. I was able to photograph them using the nifty fireworks setting on my camera. Some of them look like undersea creatures.

And, there was fire. So, there were marshmallows. I toasted one so it was perfectly golden on all sides and crunchy. There was also some swimming. The water was warm and there was a diving board. Been a long time since I dived off a diving board. It felt amazing.

And, there's never enough cupcakes.

Summer

2008-07-03T13:18:00.003-05:00

My friend Rebecca lives in Southern France with her husband Nic. She sent me these amazing photos of a field near their house.
I want to run through there in a flimsy white sundress with a chain of daisies like a 1970's Breck shampoo commercial!

WOW!

2008-07-02T08:49:00.002-05:00

Buy this calendar, from ladies I do not know! I fit into way too many of these categories! Grammar especially! http://www.calendargeeks.com/samples.html And if a real computer geek can tell me how to actually make the link icon work in this Blogger, I would smooch on you.

San Diego Update/Like yourself much?

2008-07-02T08:32:00.005-05:00

Cliff, Brian and I have a booth update for San Diego. It seems we patted the Buddah enough...hey, that sounds filthy when you think about it...Anyway, we got bumped over to a corner booth. More space, more expensive and more-in a different place!
Our new address is 1322.
Where is that? I'm not exactly sure. Even looking at the map of the Exhibitor's area. But, I think it's 'toward the Marriot' vs. 'toward the Gaslamp District'. But is it near the entrance, or near the food court? I dunno. In any case look for my fancy Mucha style sign.I decided to focus on the creator rather than the characters. I will do my best to wear butterflies and bats and flowers and junk in my hair. All I need is the bats. I made butterflies earlier this summer. They grace my 'flower bike'. I wish my hair was bigger like Mucha hair!

I covet

2008-07-01T15:40:00.012-05:00

So I've been coveting lately...and I know ya ain't supposed to covet. But, I do. F'r instance, I've been doing my volunteer work at the Museum of Science and Industry's exhibit- SMART HOME: Green and Wired ( I linked it over to the left) and the place is full of good things I need in my home. Like a dining room table that's a big slice harvested from a storm fallen tree. Or the countertop compost tumbler...you can keep adding and adding and it drops the finished business into the flowerbox so you can add it to your garden.My compost bins are full and the worms can only eat so much.
What else? well, the photovoltaic panels on the roof that are sensitive to other uv spectrum rays so that it can absorb energy here in the midwest and on overcast or lower sunlight days. And they are all thin film. Very cool. Those should be on everyone's roof. But, our government will not throw their all into solar farming because they cannot figure out a way to charge us for it. You can pump corn and sugar fuel by the gallon, so that's what they'll focus on. But i'm throwing my hat in the solar ring. Copy this into your browser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYJe12X6T50Now where do I get that stuff?
I'm also dreaming of vehicles. I want to tool around town on a scooter. I'd need a helmet to match my hair!

The yellow vespa costs a fortune. But it is so lemony good. I'm particularly fond of the GENUINE Italia style at Scooterworks. She's green and brown and I look very comfortable sitting on one. I suppose it's the closest to being on a Magic Trixie Broomstick. You go really fast and don't have to pedal and you feel the wind zzhizhj by you and your feet kind of float off the ground. It must feel really cool. But, that doesn't mean I don't like to pedal. I love my bike.
Of course, it's Chicago, and it will get yucky with the weather. So maybe I need one of these.Big enough for me and Brian. Or me and my purse. Scooter gets better gas mileage. BUT, scooters don't work in the cold. If only it was electric. And, I almost forgot. This is what I started coveting in the first place! I have my regular bike (which is well decorated for summer) but I want a foldy one that I can travel with. I'd love to hop on a train with my bag and my bike and take it wherever! then i could get off the train, visit a new place, do some paintings, take some photos...
If anyone out there has a line on one of these babies or bought one that they don't like? I'll be happy to barter paintings for it.

Miss Betty

2008-06-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

Betty the dog has left our earth. You will remember her as Hannah's dog, in the Scary Godmother books. She was a stout and velvety girl with dainty pins and clicky toenails. She could bite a rock in half with her terrifyingly powerful jaws and she ate Lux's shoe on the day Jimmy and Sue got married. She liked to lay upon my legs (pin me down) when we visited for Christmas and she always let Sarah floop on her. Hannah called her the "foof" when she was a toddler and I still think of her as a foof. (that was Hannah speak for 'woof'). I hope she's chasing rabbits and sleeping in front of the fireplace and getting all of the treats...

ME on IFC

2008-06-10T20:38:00.004-05:00

http://www.vidcan.com/ink/
Here's a link to the trailer for the IFC Canada Series called Ink:Alter Egos Exposed.
http://www.eyeweekly.com/film/tv/article/29695
and that's the link to a tv guide article...
I did some interviews in my home for this last summer and I hope I'm not on the cutting room floor. Especially because I cleaned up my cluttery drawing table! I'd say google the name and you'll find all sorts of articles and things. I haven't been able to figure out how to attach a video... but i'm slow and I want to do things fast. Which really means I'm impatient.
Anyways, if I've made it into the show, I'm really proud to be included amongst such creative luminaries.
I wish we had the IFC Canada on our satellite tv...we've got every other channel. Pehaps my dear Canadian pals might burn a dvd or some thing for me. Pete? Zeke? This hint is dropped for you...

San Diego ComicCon International

2008-06-06T07:47:00.003-05:00

Oh! We just got word that we WILL (YAY!) have a booth space at San Diego ComicCon International! That was tough to get!
Look for ME, CLIFF CHIANG and BRIAN WOOD in the 700 aisle! I'll have original prints, some arts and craft...and I'll be doing sketches. I think I'll have MAgic Trixie #1 as well. I hope. It comes out the same day I leave for the convention!

Hot enough for ya?

2008-06-06T07:31:00.004-05:00

I hate hot weather. I love it in principal...but my body has no tolerance for it. Yesterday it was 88 and humid. Do you know how difficult it is to paint or draw on paper that has been effected by that? Your only remedy is to try and dry it as you are working...with a hand held hair dryer...A hair dryer! Today's forecast is for 88 and thunderstorms. Now, don't get me wrong...I love a thunderstorm and have been known to go running around out in a deluge (that feels great)...but I cain't get me no woik done when it's so heavy of air!
I hate using the air conditioning because I like fresh air. But if this lasts as long as it's supposed to, I s'pose we'll have to drag the window units outta the basement. Two days ago it was 45. Ah, Chicago. Why do I love thee again?
I s'pose I also could grab the dehumidifier from the basement. But, how many big honkin' electric, loud machines do I want to try and jam into my 10 x 15 foot art studio? That already has a giant drawing table,craft table and shelves for scanner etc?
I do believe this room is not insulated. And I have a southern exposure. So, some recyled bluejeans insulation laid across the ceiling in the attic might help. As well as a window fan to get the hot air out. These are things I can do.
I must go take a cold shower, then start the day...

I gotta make stuff

2008-06-04T23:58:00.007-05:00

So I went to the Green Market in Lincoln Park last Saturday morning. I was out of the house and down there at about 7 am. My alarm clock, affectionately known as Archie wakes me every day at about 5:45 am. He needs his medicine, so I don't just shut the door to keep him out.
So, after feeding him, medicating him and making coffee and emptying the dishwasher (wow.can.u. stand. the x-itement?) I threw on some clothes and decided to see if Spring had really arrived. We've been having really chilly weather which has kept our own crop o' spring greens from flourishing. And they are supposed to like cold weather... go figger!
The Farmers market was a success and I got lovely red and white chard, asparagus, rhubarb and green garlic. So I got inspired as I do every once in a while...to make some food stuffs.
I made a strawberry rhubarb compote, which is good over yogurt. And a gorgeous red.And then it got warm for a couple of days so our greens took off.
And it got chilly again this week, so I've been inspired to make some more things, all early in the am after Arch rouses me ever so gently from my slumber.
I made some ricotta cheese ( it's not hard at all! It takes like- 5 minutes. I did it while the coffee was brewing, honest to god!) and then used the whey in some loaves of bread. (That takes a day and a half because of rising dough...and still, I'm doing all of that before I get in the shower not instead of work...and it is really good.) Very recycle-y.
And finally for dinner one night I made Brian and me a quick pasta with asparagus, green garlic, peas and panna...and the fresh ricotta on top.
And that used up all of my Market goodies. I'll have to make it again. But, now I'm wiped out from cooking and only want sandwiches and leftovers and soup for dinner. Or carryout eggrolls. There always room for those.

Sandman Anniversary Poster

2008-06-03T14:48:00.003-05:00

Here's my contribution to the Sandman Anniversary Poster Jam. I got to do Delirium. Yay!
I can't wait to see the finished product!

If I don't say so myself...

2008-05-28T10:11:00.005-05:00

WHO WILL? Patting myself on the back time. I've been scanning pages for the third Magic Trixie book- Magic trixie and the Dragon...and--I have to say, I think it's the best one yet. Don't mean to toot me own horn here, but, it is making me smile big time.
Making my arm scream 24/7...but the rest of me is really proud.
You like?How about this one?Scanning and saving in several sizes and formats is a pain in the butt...and I suppose that is why interns have been invented, but, how can they know where I want to adjust the levels and stuff!
Wait til you see all the dragons and the wizards and Wyatt! And Mc Gumm's Weirdtastic Wagons... And the best part is everything has a back story! My brain is bursting with stuff that will not even be in this volume. But I know the what and where and why of it. I wish my skull had a USB port so I could upload the images directly. ( Which I am sure someone somewhere in a secret government lab is actually working on...or in a comicbook secret government lab...along with the contact lens camera or video recording glasses)
And- Magic Trixie has a blog, too...she's working on it in her spare time.

Very Goodly

2008-05-07T08:46:00.003-05:00

I'm always inspired by the HULASEVENTY blog and I'm officially signing on for Andrea's color week challenge. She's so ding dangety good at projects and photographing..her world seems especially vibrant and filled with groovy fun found objects or murals and everything cool. It seems like a nice extra thing to add to my daily life.
So, the premise is- each day (mon-fri) is assigned a color and the objective you set out for yourself is to actively photograph that color. Preferably in interesting ways.
green-Monday
yellow-Tuesday
orange-Wednesday
red/pink-Thursday
blue-Friday
It's a great reason to observe the world around you more closely and celebrate the little things you come across each day. And a good reason to move about a bit. We all could use that.
But, the question is, should I jump in with both feet mid week? Or wait til Monday? eh- maybe both. I'm more of an 'and' type than an 'or'...

The Porkchop

2008-04-26T14:54:00.003-05:00

My friend Wendy calls Archie, our cat, Porkchop. "Hiya Porkchop!" she says when she stops by. I have my own pet names for him, but it really suits him because of his meaty drumsticks. Being a bob tail, they are a bit more substantial than most cats. He's a good old gentleman.He's been struggling with a series of really horrid 'colds' lately. Three since Lukey died. The vet has had him on three courses of antibiotics but a little over a week passes once he is well and he gets the same thing again. I'm really stressed out. He gets good vitamins and stuff. I'm all for holistic treatments and boosting the immune system and I know antibiotics aren't a good idea for an extended period of time. But it's really difficult when his nose is blocked and he can't really breathe or smell. Anyone out there in webland have any similar stories? The vets tests have all come back 'negative' for any of the feline illnesses. I've used naturm muraticum 6c and goldensea. But even that has brought us no real improvement. Dedicated cat parents...have you any advice?

Fleurotica

2008-04-01T19:24:00.000-05:00

I volunteered last Friday Night with Kristina at Fleurotica, the 100th Birthday Party Event for the Garfield Park Conservatory. It was a fashion show where all of the models wore clothing created out of flowers and plant material. It was pretty interesting to see the behind the scenes of a fashion show with models being made up, poked, prodded, designed upon, draped and decorated. I'm sure it's not much different at a show where the clothing is made out of...well, clothes. Haute Couture doesn't really look like the most comfortable of things to wear.
We were photographed a bunch of times, due to my Swamp Think shawl and Kris' forsythia boa. I crocheted a fuzzy green netlike scarf thingie and draped a fern garland from JoAnn fabrics in it. I'll have to get a better photo of it here at home, but go here to see us and others snapped by this Image website for nightlifey people.
www.imageworldwide.com ( I tried to make a link...I swear. But no luck.) Here are the photos I grabbed. I think credit goes to Dave Sheppard as the photog.

Didn't get many other shots. All of the good seats near the Runway were taken by ticket holders who shelled out the big bucks. We volunteers did get to see the show fro the general seating area. We chatted with some of the millinery models. This was one of my fave hats.
A close up of my scarf turned out to be a closeup of my necklace...

The Conservatory is beautiful in the evening. I wish I could have a sleep over in there and sleep with the crickets. They were really chirping.

Lookathis!

2008-03-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Trixie-Jill-Thompson/dp/0061170453
Magic Trixie is available in July. Look! She's all up on Amazon.com! That's satisfying. Now all I need is a book tour.

Granada means Pomegranate

2008-03-23T15:12:00.000-05:00

So everywhere we went in Granada, we say all of these architectural details that looked like pomegranates. On fountains, on signs,as guide posts. Brian whacked his shinbone really hard while walking through a plaza one afternoon. As it turns out the city is named for the Pomegranate. So, ya learn something new every day. But what I want to know is, where were all the pomegrantate trees? We saw lots of oranges growing everywhere...I only saw one pomegrante branch with a fruit still attached hanging over a garden wall. I thought for something to be named after something it was supposed to be ubiquitous.
On Sunday we all made our way to the Alhambra. I can understand how this castle inspired many a writer to pen fables and fairy tales. Spring was well underway and those of us from midwestern climes were thankful to carry our sweaters and jackets and feel the sun for a day.Each room sported intricate carvings that covered nearly all available surfaces. Arches had arches and those arches had arches. It was difficult for the camera to find what I was trying to focus on. And then, there was the view past the intricate interiors. It was wild. I can't begin to fathom how one designs that or plans for it's construction. I wanted to touch everything as well, because it is all so old but created by artisans...can't do that though. It's against the rules. The oils in our hands and the lotions and creams and sweat and stuff must be destructive (or attract destructive organisms) to the stone and wood.

I could have stayed up there all day with a picnic lunch and a book. Or my sketchbook and paints. I would love to sleep in one of the rooms and see what it looked like in the morning sun! Or lit up by candles or oil lamps. Or a fireplace. I'll have to add some of these elements of the architecture or courtyards to some part of Magic Trixie. I think the Luna Theatre has many Moorish influences in the lobby as well as in the theater. I don't think we actually make our way inside in the bok I'm working on...or number 4. Oh well. I'll still design it for some future story.
The gate to the court of Lions was guarded by that amazing fellow. He was black in the shade and chestnut in the sun. He gave the squinty eye to the loud tourists. But as you can tell, he's seen it all, and he probably takes no guff.

best poker face

2008-03-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

So, I'm pencilling a page of Magic Trixie and the Dragon (#3-only 90 pages to go) and watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer on the Travel Channel and it occurs to me that you never want to play poker against this guy. Sure, maybe if you are on a team and he's your partner...but if you have to determine whether or not this guy is bluffing and you are going all in or not?
I mean he has eaten the testicles of every male animal known to man and never made a yucky face. His eyebrow does not even twitch. Sometimes he does not even wash it down with a swig of beer! He must have a trophy or a plaque on his wall proclaiming his superiority at this. Who wants to topple him from his Number One Perch?
He's eaten giant creepy larvae that did not have the benefit of being tossed in the deep fryer (I'm sure most things are easier to eat once they are deep fried...) bats, frogs, snakes, eels, rotting what have you... he's like the Tasmaninan Devil in the Bugs Bunny Cartoons...when that growly tornado starts zigzagging through the forest and all the other animals go stampeding off in the opposite direction to avoid being eaten- that must be what it's like when this guy goes to the zoo- or the park or what have you. The local fauna must send their version of Paul Revere out to warn critters to head for the hills.
He'll try anything that grows, too. A human plague of locusts grazing his way through the landscape. Glasses of green spirulina? Glug. Natto? Down the hatch. Durian, the custardlike, disturbing smelling Asian fruit is the only thing I think I've ever seen cause him to ... back down.
Here he is staring down a frog. Then downing said frog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvmOsGkXRH4&feature=related
All in? I fold.

granada part one

2008-03-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

We did get to Granada without a hitch in our plans. And was it a wonderfulconvention- famous guests, great fans, fantastic art vibe, hot cosplay, a beautiful venue and all of it sponsored by the city... some selected scenes ( the in focus ones..I am ditching my broken camera this weekend. drat that thang)
Brian and Kiki Dennis happily figuring out where we were and where we want to go.We were treated to an amazing feast of Octopus and wine. All of the convention coordinators and guests and volunteers attended. At first we were suspicious of the gymnasium like setting--harkening back to grade school potluck PTA meetings and all the rewarmed casserole offerings. But on the plywood and sawhorse tables we feasted like kings on cheeses, olives, jamon and sausage...boiled octopus with potatoes and olive oil and crusty bread. Add bottles of local white wine and cans and cans of Alhambra beer then top it all off with whatever that local homemade liquer is called and sweet almond cake dusted in powdered sugar and voila-"Night of the Kraken!"

Zing Diddly Crumpets

2008-02-26T08:11:00.000-06:00

See Magic trixie's mom? See her expression? tha's how I feel right now as I prepare to take an overseas flight and we just got hit (an perhaps it still is snowing) with 7 inches of snow! O' Hare is the king of cancelling flights. I do not relish the thought of getting to the airport super early to go thru security and then spending the hours on pins and needles to find out if you are actually going to be flying or not. International flight have lots of lead time for the security...Good Mojo Good Mojo...
And there's 300 cancelled flights worth of people there already...

186 pages down...186 pages left to go...

2008-02-23T08:57:00.000-06:00

I finally finished Magic Trixie #2. Break out the champage and chocolate! After months of life throwing horrible obstacles in my path...I packed up the final spot illos yesterday and sent them off to Harper Collins! Yay! So. One hundred and eighty six pages of painted art in the can ( minus covers and title page art and spot illos) and only one hundred and eighty six left to go. And, while I am very pleased with Miss Magic Trixie and her monstery pals. I can honestly say, I wouldn't mind a plain old pen and ink vacation! It will be lovely to go to a convention in Spain next week and do some pencil drawings. I do not know why I didn't think that drawing and painting 372 pages would not be a bit daunting...it seemed like a breeze at the time. But, I will be very proud of myself once I've finished all my books. Really, I think it's at about the 53 page mark that your brain goes..."Isn't this enough? Whaddaya mean I have another 40 pages to go? You must be insane!"
So I will be happy to recharge my batteries with some travel and photographing and walking and meeting new people...( do I have my watercolor travel book ready to go? Yes...I always do...but those will be different. It will be non deadline related art...and maybe monochromatic even) or doodles! Probably done while sitting in a cafe over a glass of wine or something... So, here are some of the fruits of my labor shrunk down to uploading size...I'd love to share all of them with you, but you'll have to wait til July when Magic Trixie #1 comes out.
And, thanks to my neighbor Teresa's birthday, I did get to celebrate with champagne and cupcakes. Sure it was for her birthday, but my "take one home with you", breakfast cupcake was all for Magic Trixie!

love is lovie love love

2008-02-15T18:04:00.001-06:00

So this is an old photo of me and Brian but it is one of my favorites. Why? Well, as you can tell it was hard to contain my happiness and it was all but streaming out of my pores. I should have had one of those religious painting halos around my head or golden rays of sunshine or some other estatic special effect. I have to say it makes me giddy to feel my lover's arm around me or to have his hand in mine as we walk along. It makes you feel safe and also special because it's like everyone knows that you have someone who is crazy about you and that they are proud that you are their gal. Makes me feel shiny. And doesn't he have the best smile?

Didn't see much of that growing up so I'm sure that's why it is so important to me now.
In fact, it made me think of this girl I knew when I was younger. I remember meeting her parents at a party once and being amazed at how much in love they were. They were much older than my parents, but they were always smiling and winking and joking with each other. And I don't think I'd ever seen adults hold hands so much. At one point in the evening the dad was offering advice to all of us girls about the type of men we should accept into our lives.
In his thick italian accent he said, "If a man's wife is no happy, then he is no happy. Because if she is always smiling, already his life is better! If he no listen to you, if he do this ( and he made knob turning motions at his ears to indicate tuning out like a radio) you no want him. A woman always talks from her heart, and the man gotta protect her heart! It's my job to help my girls whatever they want. She say, "honey, can you.." and I say "Of course!"
At the time we all were giggling about his demonstative way of speaking and his kissy face ways...we thought "whoa! I guess old people still do it and junk... ewwww!
I hadn't thought about that couple in a decade. But, I was over at my friend Kristina's house the other night for dinner and we were talking about being anxious to start some seeds germinating indoors (and how it's better to have a lightsource that you can raise and lower like the platform in Frankenstein). And so her husband Ron says "Just tell me where you want it and how much space you need and I'll build it." He was doing exactly what my friend's dad had been talking about. And Kris, who had a great smile, smiled really big and Ron got a bunch of kisses and the love was palpable.

So, be a valentine everyday. Pay attention to your friends and lovers and parents and creatures around you. Take note of what makes them feel loved or what they need and help them do that thing.

More Lukey

2008-02-02T17:54:00.000-06:00

When Archie was sick in December (and I suppose Lukey was, too, we just did not know it and he did not show it) Lucien cuddled that guy so much more than he usually did, and they were good cuddlers. One afternoon, Brian found them both in the box nice and warm, but both heads next to each other. (usually they had a lot of yingyang action going on) and saw Lucien put his arm around Archie. I worry about Arch now, because while we love him more than anything, he has no feline friend to cuddle with or clean. And, it's cold dark winter and we are all cooped up in the house.

He was so pleasant and good natured. You could always count on him to follow you wherever you went, to sit on your lap, to watch tv with. He's walk on two legs for a treat. If he was ever mad at me, I never knew. Sometimes he'd be prickly if we were out of town for too long and he did not get his tv time...but, that quickly passed. Mostly you could count on him to chirp at you when you talked to him, to purr when you pet him, to come when you called him, or whistled or clicked your tounge. When he was outside in the sun, I'd ask him"Hey Monkey, (cuz he used his hands lots to pick stuff up or grab things from you), are you hungry? You want some lunch? C'mon!" and he'd get up and trot up the stairs to get fed. I wish I had taken video of him...chasing a grasshopper, or that squirrell that would chatter at him that he'd chase around the yard, or when he was up on two legs grabbing a treat, or when he stole the corn on the cob and ran into Brian's office and was holding it down with both feet and eating it. There was corn flying everywhere. And was he growling. Ha, his kill. If only we had a security camera or some such back then. I'll bet there were some amazing moments that no human got to see.
But he was a sweetie. I miss his unconditional love, his smiley face and his kind eyes. It's a wonderful feeling to know that a being trusts you completely. You felt that from him. Everyone should be able to trust like that. In a perfect world.
Best of all was when we'd all be on the couch, covered in blankets, cuddled up watching a movie or something. And both the fellows liked to curl up on me when I was knitting. I am comfy, I guess...no one is interested in the yarn.

I suppose I should drag out the "What's Michael" or "Cat Getting Out of a Bag" by Jeffrey Brown and revel in cat behavior. If you don't have "Cat Getting Out of a Bag" run out right now and do so. It's hi- larious. Well, it was to me.

Lukey 1991-2008

2008-01-14T21:42:00.000-06:00

He was the greatest. King of Lukey's garden, chaser of squirrels, corn on the cob eater, chirpy chirper, best cat brother, connesieur of grasshopper drumsticks, kitchen kitty, two legged dancer, master of the monkey paw, couch cuddler...

best of 2007- food

2008-01-07T00:29:00.000-06:00

We ate so many great things last year. Some while we travelled in Italy and lots that we made ourselves. This tasty plate was one of the many delicious antipastos we had with our aperitivo. Might have been in Reggio Emilia or maybe Lucca.Or it might have been in the airport in Rome! Even in the airport you can get great food. I always take pictures of what I eat when I travel. (so I remember and cuz it looks so pretty)>This artichoke was grilled under a red hot brick at the restaurant Evangelista in Rome. I could eat one of these every day.I finally made a perfect loaf of bread. Super crispy on the outside and moist and crumb-y on the inside. The crust made crackly noises like Rice Krispies in milk as it was cooling on the counter. It's fun to hear your bread snap and fizzle.And I have a li'l fig tree in a pot which allowed me to gather about a pint of figs. They are one of my favorite fruits. And, I made some pizzas. One time I made three that were perfectly circular in shape...now they always turn out more...organic looking. But they are tasty. This one is a four cheese and mushroom. Can't go wrong with that.We also had this amazing dish of spaghetti with bottarga (salted roe) while on our way to Giuseppe and Jessica Camuncoli's wedding in Tuscany. I think it had three ingredients in it and it was one of the most intense, complex, yet direct dishes I've ever eaten. Soon after we returned home from the lovely italian wedding, my tomato plants bore fruit. Before long we were up to our ears in heirlooms. We ate them nearly every day. In September, we hosted our dinner club and plied our friends with ubertomato harvest. Sliced up with roasted garlic basil and parmesan and arranged in tarts, I had our first course. These were on their way to be baked in the oven. They tasted like pizza, but with a pie crust. The colors are unbelievable. (I'm also a fan of purple, red and white carrots.) And sliced on fresh bread with smashed avocado and salt and basil.I saved lots of seeds and I can't wait to plant them again.
Yeesh it's late. I have to get up in 6 hours. More food another day. And I totally forgot to post the photo of my lovely Christmas gift. And my painting of tomatoes...But, I yam so tired. And muh shoulda jernts hoit!

Great moments of 2007 -The Cold

2007-12-31T18:28:00.000-06:00

So, there's only a few hours left in 2007. Be careful out there, if you are inclined to celebrate. I'm going to make sure I spend the end of 2007 and all of 2008 laughing and smiling as much as possible. It is only a coincidence that I shall be drinking little stars.
I thought I'd share some of the photos I took throughout the year. I tried to be as chronological as possible. I'll start with the cold. This one, though, was not so cold. Last New Year's day found Chicago basking in an unnatural 50 degrees or so. It was warm enough for me to jump on my bike and head to the lakefront where I stuck my hands in the frigid water to collect beach glass. It's like Peter Pan's self portrait before Wendy sewed it back on.It got really cold in February and March and the river was frozen til St. Patrick's day.
And the bandshell in Millenium Park looked like a big frozen spiderweb...

It's kind of beautiful, in a lace like way...
Wild temperature fluctuations made this...

I want to make a graphic novel out of this...

2007-12-29T22:06:00.000-06:00

Brian and I just got back from seeing House Theater's brilliant performance of the Nutcracker. Now this was not a ballet, but a play and I wish I had seen it earlier so I could have recommended it to everyone. This weekend is the end of it's run at the Steppenwolf. I can only hope it will be around for a command performance next year because I would make sure it was a Christmas tradition amongst my friends and relatives. Here is a review of it. http://centerstage.net/theatre/shows/4969.html#review
I completely disagree with their slight poo-pooing of the song and dance. The dance is organic and part of children's play and wholly apropriate for the scene. I enjoyed the songs as well. Ain't no reason not to break out into song if you are a toy, or if you are honoring a memory at Christmas.
Great use of puppets and props. I loves puppets. The costumes were lovely. The acting poignant and fun across the board- Clara, bravo. Drosselmeyer, huzzah!, Monkey, monknificent.
Snow falling in faux, yet real flakes. It worked for me on all levels. ( I got a crazy thing for set design. I looove a fake environment. It's more real to me sometimes than reality. Maybe it's because everything has been placed there for a reason.)
Anyway, I could easily turn this into a 100 page graphic novel/big ol' comic. Or paint a storybook of it. Someone call me.
This version should be made into an animated feature or something. Live action.
I find it to be a spectacular modernization of the Nutcracker, but yet something that could be dressed in any period clothing. Timeless and Timely all at the same time. I know I am an easy mark about things like this, but, yes- I had my heart strings tugged several times...I welled up with tears on a few occasions. And I laughed at all the laughy parts. Here's the House Theater's website. If you're lucky, perhaps they will post extended dates and times.
http://www.thehousetheatre.com/shows?show-id=the-nutcracker
I wish I had a dvd of it so I could watch it again, right now.
Hmm. Did I say I loved it?

Let me just rest my head here on the desk for a minute...

2007-12-28T22:40:00.000-06:00

Boy this month has flown by. I have been pulling really late nights trying to get Magic Trixie #2 done each day. They all look good, but I wish I had my pile of 20 done. Tonight's an early night for me...it's only 10:50. I've had a pretty stressful month on top of work. I hadn't posted about it before now because it was all happening rapid fire...I had two trips to the vet (one emergency) for our kit kats...they are okay now, but it was terrible scary there for a while. We still don't know why Archie's back leg decided to stop moving or drag behind him. And his front legs got all tremory twice. It was horrible. The trip to the vet ruled out all sorts of things but never conclusively diagnosed the cause of the episode. He was on antibiotics to make sure he didn't have toxoplasmosis (he didn't). About a week into his convalescense, his brother Lukey stopped eating. So it was off to the vet with him. He had a bacterial infection which was efficiently destroyed with antibiotics...But my heart was really stressed there for about two weeks. We love those furry fellows and would be lost without them.
I could tell when Archie was feeling better, because he was mad to go outside in the snow. He loves to walk in the yard around the perimeter of the fence when we have nice weather and he continues to meow about it during the more inclement months. It's like he's doing yard time in the pen or something. Lukey on the other hand, enjoys lounging in the sun. Archie does laps and then goes back in the house for a nap. But now that the winter is upon us, he is dismayed each day that he finds snow on the ground, or rain coming down, or ice cold stone. He gets a disgruntled look on his face and looks at me after he sticks his head out the back door. "We still have a few more months of this, Arch, before we get butterfly and grasshopper and catmint weather back..."It doesn't stop him from sauntering down the steps, though.
He hasn't much patience once he finds that there is snow all over the yard and he high tails it back in.

Hmm, let's see, what else have I been doing?
Well, I jammed some Chistmas stuff in during late nights after I finished my pages. I made like Santa's elves and created some gifties for the childrens. I painted seven portrait thingies for our nieces' bedrooms. What? When did you have the time, Miz Broken Arm? Well, usually in between the hours of 2 and 3 in the am. I'd spend an hour each night painting the canvases, then another night drawing their faces, then other nights painting...eventually I got them all done. Here are the Azz girls on Christmas Eve.And here's detail of the Thompson girls. That's a dark violet line, not black....
I also made this for a little pirate guy I know.
It was a good way to use up some old tshirts.
Last week I managed to get rear ended by a taxicab while sitting at a red light. On my way to a doctor's appointment.That was a fun way to spend an evening. I'm still trying to reschedule the missed appointment.
Believe it or not, four days later I got into another accident. This time I backed into a..refrigerated thingie on a truck while parallel parking. It was in my blind spot! I never saw it in my rear or side view mirrors. it was exactly as high as where the rear spoiler used to be on the Scion. Oh, the poor, poor Scion.
It wasn't all woe and hard knocks however, I did manage to get out on WInter Solstice to celebrate Yule at my friends Ron and Kristina's house. We burned the yule logs in the yard and all the guests were suprised by the wonderful band.They played kinda, New Orleans-y, jazzy music. It was great.
Then, lessee. More comics and drawing, andpacking up presents to mail them off and drawing...and finally Christmas.
I think I should save the story of Santa's gifts of the Seven Seas until next post.
Nighty Night!

Merry Christmas 2007

2007-12-24T19:09:00.000-06:00

And to all a good night...

olde photos are the best

2007-12-23T18:44:00.000-06:00

We don't have many holiday photos from my childhood ( I remember the big camera that you had to pull the accordion front out, and then count before you could take the backing ooff the photo...I think once we ran out of film for it, that was the end of that. Til we upgraded to the flash cube and still, the camera would have film in it for a year), but I ran across this one. I love it.
My brother Steve and I are in the middle and we're flanked by Dave and Jill Johnson-our neighbors from across the alley.( In Chicago, you always know who's across the alley. You have front neighbors and behind you neighbors...and on the sides neighbors...) We kids were best friends til the Johnsons moved away. I still feel bad for the scowly gal in the back. As I remember, we were having neighbor Christmas and one of the Johnsons' friends dropped by with their little girl. As it was an unexpected drop in, there was no gift for her under the tree...

I forgot!

2007-12-22T11:04:00.000-06:00

I forgot this photo! This is the Logan Square Christmas house. Don't you love it? Brian and I drove to see it when we were first dating. And I forgot all about it until I was driving back from the Garfield Park Conservatory a couple of weeks ago. (I'm going to be taking a class there to become a Master gardener!) I was pleasantly suprised. I hope their roof is covered in solar panels, tho.
I love walking around looking at the Christmas decorations holding hands. Then you go somewhere warm and have a drink or something. Maybe if you're lucky, it's snowing big fluffy flakes...
I think my favorite decorations are when trees are kinda all webbed up with lights. I like the branches wrapped individually, too, of course, but when it's all kind of webby and wrapped around--it makes me think some great big, golden, electric spider has decorated the branches with jewelly droplets.

Happy Solstice! Good Yule!

2007-12-22T10:26:00.000-06:00

Before I get to the drawing board today, I thought I'd share some pretty decent photos of our tree. I can't ever get a truly accurate photo of how the tree looks all lit up at night. It's really good and sparkly with my zillions of ornaments all in amongst the branches. You actually can see them quite well. But, when you try to take a picture it turns all orangey. And if you try to use the flash, it washes out all the depth and the twinkly lights. So, this is the best I could do.Brian knows I love strange and interesting ornaments and being excellent, he gets me a cool one every year. It's my favorite present. I love traditions and memories and adding to the tree is one that makes my heart feel good. I'm not good at remembering the year that I got them, but you should see how excited I get when I'm unwrapping them and decorating the tree. I forget some of them from year to year , so it's like a huge suprise when I find them again. "Hey! it's the golden Earwig! There's the spider! And the Pirates! There's the Jughead my friend Rick gave me. Or the Angels the girls made! There's the leaf Brian gave me! The fishies and...clownie! Hello ornaments! "

Lukey hasn't done this in years. He used to really like lying under the tree. Not so much the past couple, so it was nice to see him lounging. It's cold on the floor there, so I'm sure that's why no one wants to hang out with the presents. Especially not with the radiator so close by. Better to lounge on the warm thing.And I always have to hide this guy way in the tree...I mean I usually do put ornaments inside the branches and not just outside, so there are layers of things to look at...but him-he needs to go way in there, lurking and looking out you.
Okee dokee. Back to the drawing board!

nature! The way I likes it.

2007-12-16T17:49:00.000-06:00

Well, it snowed and it snowed last night. Getting to the Christmas party was not so fun. The streets needed plowing in some spots. The wind was blowing the snow every which way. Sometimes up, sometimes sideways, sometimes it just fell to the earth in the proper gravitational manner...And, while it was all a pain in the backside to travel, it was kinda nice. Especially when We woke up and the sun was shining and the snow was super beautiful white. It smelled clean and good outside, and even the streets stayed a bit white before the traffic got going. Nicest of all was the A and R snow removal that came and cleared all the sidewalks (or footpaths as my neighbor Martin calls them). No, that's not a company , but two of our neighbors with snowblowers. Annie and Rich fire up their machines and together they clear all the neighbors front walks! How's that for an excellent neighborhood? We are really fortunate to have a great block with helpful people on it. We all do nice things for each other when we can.
What's best of all is that, despite the messed up ecosystem, we got some snow in the proper snow month! For so many years now we have suffered snowless December and Januarys. We need the snow now, so we can have a proper Spring! You can't look forward to the growing season without knowing there is a good amount of melting. The earth needs the moisture. Like I said before, I hate the inconvenience, but I love all the seasons.
It feels good to be inside snuggling up with a good book, or some knitting, looking over at the Xmas tree when it's all shnowee outside. Maybe having a bit of coffee or hot chocolate...maybe add a bit of Baileys in there...hmm. I think I know how I will spend the rest of my evening...once my works are finished!

Baby it's cold outside

2007-12-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

Whew! Done working for today. 9 pm on a Saturday night... pretty good seeing as how I was up til 3 am last night.I'm working like mad with my Magic Trixie deadline and my stupid shoulder (tired...painful...grr) to get this all done.I don't think I'm going to get it all done for next Friday. I'm pulling a couple hours to unwind tonight before I get back up and do it again tomorrow.
So, now to doll myself up for a Christmas party! It's snowing like crazy and has been all day. While the snow is quite beautiful, my fancy dress clothes are not sensible for the weather. Sigh. Time to drag out the big boots...at least until I get to the party.
So in the snowy theme, here are some old xmas cards I've made from years past.
I used to paint each one individually in an assembly line like process and would make about 25 to 30 of them. I think one year I made 50. And then I wised up and got myself to the copy center. The only downside is they used to be mounted on a nice colored background. I should see if I can borrow some from Craig Russel or Linda Reinhold and scan them so everyone else can see them. I think they have most of the original ones I did back then. Why don't I have a copy of each painting? Cuz they go to family and friends! And I wasn't forward thinking enough to go get a color copy or anything before I mailed them all off.

I actually made these two snowmen in our patio last year after our first big snow.

See?

And, here's another.

my illustrating process

2007-12-07T22:50:00.000-06:00

In response to the comment posted on the previous post...
after I pencil the comic page, I go in with my watercolors and paint in all of the area that need painting. This is very much like the old fasioned blue line hand coloring process...without the blueline or the acetate overlay.

Then I go in with brush and more paint and outline the figures and objects. Yes, it is like inking...but no ink is being used. All of the holding lines are pure color. Say I'm drawing around a red object. I will fill my brush with a really dark mixture of alizarin crimson and a bit of windsor violet. or perhaps a green.

it's really turned out to be an odd process. it takes much more time than painting in a painterly way...but my watercolor paintings are usually large...unless they are li'l travel drawings. I find that I'm really drawing with paint here more than painting.
I suppose I'm cartooning.

Magic Trixie pencils and layouts

2007-12-03T12:14:00.000-06:00

I've had many requests to show what a page of pencil drawings for my painted comics looks like before I start putting paint to board. I usually forget to record those steps because I'm jamming toward a deadline. Also, I don't feel the need to record each step like I used to when I was simply pencilling comics that someone else was going to ink. I'm controlling the final outcome of the page and that's what I want the reader to see. But it is nice to keep a record of the process.
So, I stopped myself and scanned this one before moving ahead. Because most of the art comes from the color, you'll seee that just the bare bones are visible. This is what I work from...

Layouts look like this. not much different. Mostly I just tighten the line up and clean up the stray pencil markings.

A good day

2007-12-01T16:35:00.000-06:00

So, it's the first day of December and Brian and I did some good wintry things. We got up and braved the cold to support the local farmers at the Greenmarket at the Nature Center in Lincoln Park. We got some cider and some great greens from an extremely local urban farmer. There are always some farmers from outside the city in Illinois and some Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana farmers. But these guys were growing greens in vacant lots. So we picked up some nice mixed lettuces and stuff. I got one more pumpkin for making raviolis and cornbread. Some apples for tarts. Some amazing goat's milk cheese. I also got some nice yarn for knitting Xmas presents from a farmer who not only raises livestock, but keeps sheep for making cheese. His wife spins the roving into yarn from when they shear the sheep and she knits a bunch of cool stuff like mittens and hats! So far all my textile projects are variations on the square. Like a scarf, or a pocket... I did complete an afghan thanks to the drive to and from the Cleveland area over Thanksgiving. I started out crocheting a granny square a couple of months ago (working an hour or so every few days) and it kept on growing. It is satisfying to actually finish one of my bright ideas.
We warmed up with big bowls of noodle soup at Tampopo and then because it had begun to snow as we left- we got our Christmas tree. He's a good looking tree, with long branches and big gaps to hide monster ornaments. I'm a sucker for the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. You know the type-those slightly crooked fellows on the tree lot that others seem to pass up because they are looking for a perfectly shaped tree. I love them all. This time, they all had straight trunks.
It's nice to know that someone is growing trees on purpose. And, for every tree that is harvested three are planted. One day I'm going to get one with a root ball and plant it. Though I have heard that the survival rate for replanted Christmas trees in the Chicago area is only 20 percent. I will have to look into it.
It smells really nice in the house from the tree and from the sage. I chopped all of my sage bush before the freezing rain started. I'm drying it in the oven. It smells like stuffing in here. I'll have to roast a chicken and make some stuffing in it.
And right before the weather completely digressed into sleet and rain, I made this little fellow.

Now to paint a page of comics.

Like a swarm

2007-11-29T17:24:00.000-06:00

So after dinner, as a way to thank Uncle Brian for all of the time he stood out in the cold cooking turkeys and making fries...the children decided it would be great to CRUSH UNCLE BRIAN!
Knock him down! Crawl on him! Jump on his stomach until he hurls! But do it while giggling so the adults in the living room will be fooled into thinking that it is harmless fun.

more to be thankful for

2007-11-29T17:08:00.001-06:00

So, all my food pix are out of focus...these are the best ones I have from Thanksgiving Day. Brian was incredible with the braving of the elements (it started snowing on Thanksgiving morning) to man the deep fry station. He not only deep fried two turkeys, he stayed out in the cold to make french fries! We had regular and sweet potato fries. We thought all the kids would go gaga for them. It turns out that we adults were pleased with our frites and the kids mourned the lack of mashed potatoes! Go figure. The turkeys were brined with extra flavors of apples, garlic,and apple cider. That will be a recipe to repeat. I made some mac-n-cheese and some pumpkin sage cornbread. it was potluck for the side dishes ...you really didn't need any Turkey. Anne Marie made some killer applesauce...there was Christine's greenbean casserole, acorn squash, broccoli rabe, stuffing, cranberries, relish tray with some of Brian's garlic pickles...and more. I haven't even mentioned dessert.
We tried to keep it simple, but we had way too much food. Everyone went home with enough for plenty of "Thanksgiving sandwiches", though. Here's a few pix. I wish the others came out.

miss sarah francis

2007-11-27T19:19:00.000-06:00

Look what I got over Thanksgiving! My niece, Sarah made Brian and I some portraits. Other than giving us nose jobs and moving us into the Simpson's racial group, I think they are spot on!

More on Thanksgiving as I scan and download. We deep fried some turkey and made copious amounts of side dishes...

happy birthday to me Nov 20 at 12:30 am

2007-11-20T00:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, I haven't found my pen sketches yet, but I found these. It's some of the trees I painted for the animators to work from when we were doing the Sacy Godmother show. They built trees in 3D using these as a reference. Then they could place them in whatever quantity around a landscape. I can see the holes in the paper from where I soaked and stretched it. I think that was the last time I used 300lb Arches watercolor paper. And for some background paintings for the show as well. I love that paper, but it is a pain to have to soak and stretch paper if you are working on a 93 page project. So maybe for my next landscape...

I love when there are some trees with autumn leaves and some are completely skeletal. They're usually bare by the time my birthday rolls around. But we still have lots of leaves on our neighbor's tree. I'll be raking and shovelling at the same time.