Saturday, February 25, 2012

Farfaria.com and broccoli



Okay, so maybe the title is a little disjointed, but I am very excited about a couple of recent occurrences. First, I illustrated an ebook for a great little company called Intuary. If you're a mom friend of mine and have a little one who is versed in the iPad (aren't all kids?) you should check out their launch of a new website called Farfaria.com. For a small fee you get new ebooks weekly which are viewable on your iPad. I illustrated an updated fable called The Wizard's Test. It was a little complicated in that I painted it traditionally in watercolor and colored pencil, and then cut it all apart in Photoshop and put it on different levels which may be animated in the future. A good fun project for sure, and they were lovely to work with. They even came and visited the Surfside Girls booth at APE when I was there (they're San Francisco based, and very young-and-hip.)

Only slightly less exciting is the fact that for the first time ever, thanks to my amazing Urban Gardener Supermom friend Cassie a few doors down, I put in my first winter garden, and we're eating fresh broccoli! So awesome! I realize that I am enough of a suburban girl that I am thunderstruck-amazed at growing my own food. People from the midwest must be rolling their eyes at my giddiness. However, it is so much more fulfilling to eat fresh out of the garden than make the daily trek to the market. I hope I never lose this wonder for the little plants! Speaking of friend Cassie, please do check out her blog, where she teaches even the lamest of suburbanites not only how to grow the food, but how to cook it as well. All with stellar writing skills and an artist's eye for photography. I'm just a teeny bit jealous... her blog is www.pocketsquarefarm.bloglovin.com

Not wanting to steal the thunder of both of these events, I will post again soon as tomorrow I have an illo out in the LA Times that I'm really fond of, AND I ran a 5K this morning and actually took third in my age group. It's been a good week!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Stand Up Paddle, asphalt style




Last summer I was driving back from Laguna along PCH. This drive always puts me in a creative mood. Driving, first of all, puts my brain in the proper level of distraction, kind of like gardening. Then of course is the fact that moving through Laguna, Newport Coast, Corona del Mar, Mariner's Mile, Huntington Beach, Bolsa Chica, Sunset, and then Seal Beach is just about the best coastline/ people watching you can hope for. I count on this drive to remind me why I pay ridiculous prices to live here.

Anyhow, I was in the inevitable traffic where PCH meets Huntington Beach Main Street, right at the pier. Surf City USA. Duke Kahanamoku statue with live leis around his neck on the corner. I live for this crosswalk; ALL TYPES move across it and it gives me endless character reference. Out of the corner of my eye I see a cute boy in the bike lane, probably 17 or 18 years old. Wearing striped beanie, tank top, backpack, low riding jeans and Rainbow sandals and PADDLING his way up the bike lane. Yes paddling. I fell hopelessly in love with this character (don't tell my husband) and needed to document the awesomeness of the embodiment of the surfer. Commuting down PCH on a longboard skateboard, with Stand Up Paddle (SUP) paddle fitted with a rubber tip on it. Total surfer ingenuity.

This painting is a nod to this unknown surfer boy- Sam and Jade cruise the bikelane on their own longboards.