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Trees
The majority of my windows face east towards the dawn. Outside these second story windows were two trees. These trees were old trees; at least 100 years old. They towered high above the houses on my block; they were the view from my windows. Were. For the past 15 years I watched these trees and their inhabitants and visitors. They marked the season changes. They were full of birds and squirrels. The pair nuthatches that took turns emptying all of the sunflower seeds from the feeder lived there. The creepers who circled the trunk in search of bugs. The northern flickers and downy woodpeckers that came to the suet feeder,…
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D.B. Cooper
Just a little crosspost here about my other project: Fancy Mammal. You probably already know this, but I work with Brent Wear to make these pieces where he paints and I draw in ink to make some of our unique ideas come to life. I love how this piece came out and wanted to share it with you. Now you know I have a secret other art life in addition to sewing all the things and illustrating all the things. Who knew that we’d be releasing a piece about D.B. Cooper right around the anniversary of the hijacking. The crows know what’s up. Brent and I wrote about this piece…
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Inktober 2021: Second Half
I didn’t end up doing as many prompts as I would have liked to. As time went on, I had ideas that I wasn’t quite able to figure out in my head yet. For example Day 21: OMEN. I sketched out the general image in pencil, but couldn’t quite figure out how to make it work. I didn’t have the image in my head at all; just the idea (more on that later). I set it aside. It was a piece i was going to draw, but it had to wait until I was ready to ink it in or I’m just wasting paper. There were several prompts I still…
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Inktober 2021: First Half
I think this is my fourth? fifth? year of participating in inktober, and my third year or #mabsdrawlloweenclub. This year I finally dropped the bad idea of doing the drawing on the day of instead of starting ahead. So while I’m posting in order, I worked on several pieces ahead of their post date. Life being life, I haven’t been doing every single day. You will be able to see in this set of new pieces that I am working in a very specific style. Day 15 I actually completed in September. It took over a week and I had help from a couple of friends, as I had never…
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About Face Masks
Since I started making masks for friends and family, others have asked if I have them available for sale. I have gone through a few iterations of this design with the help of family members, friends who have to work in the service industry in 8 hour shifts (some in kitchens), and myself of course. I used the same techniques I have always used as a designer of clothes, lingerie and corsets: fit, sturdiness, testing and tweaking based on feedback. I am pretty pleased with the design I have come up with. Most of these masks are one of a kind. I am using my own quilting cotton stash that…
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My First Album
This is a bit overdue, but that is for another post I may or may not write. Last September, I was approached by Barry Privett of Carbon Leaf to license a piece of artwork of mine for their latest EP that is coinciding with their 25th Anniversary tour. I meant to post this just before they came to Portland in September, but I am posting it now, because better late than never. It is super exciting to see my artwork in so many different forms, and I am super thankful for the opportunity. Find all the merch here.
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goodbye piper cat
How do you eulogize a small cat who has accompanied you for over 2 decades? For anyone who knows me, she was my company’s namesake, and supervised my life and all the things I made, took great care of me and was an integral part of my life since before I officially started my company 20 years ago. This year has been difficult; I won’t go into the particulars, but a lot of things have been happening behind the scenes that have taken time away from my professional life. Self care and cat care have been the focus of the last couple of years. I don’t regret any of…
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Inktober 2017 Days 13 – 31
So I fell behind, and caught up, and fell behind.. So here are the rest! Note, many of the pieces are still available, and links to purchase are underneath if they are still in need of homes. In spite of everything I finished on time! That was a LOT. Thank you to everyone who called suggestions to me and I know I didn’t manage to get to everyone’s suggestions, but there is always next year! So enjoy these, and pick one up for yourself if you missed out. On to Crowvember! Day 13 “Antifa birb at a protest wearing half a walnut shell as a riot helmet.” – David Purchase…
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Inktober 2017 Days 11 and 12
I get a little behind on my busiest days, so here is day 19 Death Metal Snail. It was well over a week ago my friend Shana suggested I draw a “fancy snail.” I was waiting on this ink to arrive. And this is what happens when I think about something for too long. 6 x 6 black and iridescent acrylic ink (just got the bottle last night, and now everything is going to have this on it) on paper. [SOLD] Day 12 at around 11:30p my partner in art crime suggested “a pacific northwest tree frog riding in a teacup.” This is the image that came to mind. Not…
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Inktober 2017 Day 10
Fox wearing a crown of peonies. 8 x 8 ink on paper. Purchase her here.
