Good Things

I just spent my entire morning & afternoon color correcting & testing new prints of paintings that have sold within the last couple of months. It was exhausting (as it always is) but seeing all these new printed images, freshly sitting out to dry, makes me so happy. I currently have the key print in this photo up for grabs in the shop along with this new and larger print of a painting I did earlier in the year:It's digitally tweaked just a smidgen because the greenish gradient background on the original was just too bright, too saturated and all-around not quite right. While fidgeting with the greens in the computer, I accidentally turned them a wee bit tealish up towards the top and loved the look. So, this is one print that I actually love a good deal more than the original painting.

The other day I went to the bookstore and snagged a new book that is *so* me that it's silly. Really. I was going to get a Kurt Vonnegut book for the trip (next Wednesday!) but when I saw this one, it was obvious which book had to go back on the shelf.

As you can see, Winter (my cat, who's now flea free at last, at last!) seems to approve.

While at the bookstore, I also stumbled upon Inside Out Magazine and wowza! I normally don't blow $10 on a magazine, but this one was a sure-fire must-have. Every single page, even the advertisements, is complete interior design eye-candy. It's truly glorious. I spent last night poring over every image--there's so many in this issue that grabbed me, but here's a few that I especially liked:

I'm also doing this collaboration illustration project with a creative buddy from work. Both of us created a fun sentence and then divided up a piece of illustration board into evenly-measured panels. Then, we swapped boards to illustrate the first panel of each other's board, using whatever materials we'd like in whatever style desired so long as the image plays off of the sentence. We'll then swap boards again, playing off the previous image, until all panels are filled in. Both him and I have been in a bit of a creative rut lately, so I thought doing this might broaden our artsy minds a bit. Plus, it's hella fun. Here's what I did to the first panel on his board:
His sentence/title is "While she's out, Earth says hello to yet another turning point"--just in case it's hard to make out due to his crazy cool handlettering and my shaky picture-taking. I did a quickie walnut oil sketch in the background and laid down a piece of old newspaper. The black line drawing of the girl with the crow, along with the scribbly sides, was done in ink. It's a super quickie of a piece but I'm madly drawn towards it. I think I may actually offer up prints of the panel, just so I don't have to say goodbye to it...

My knee high boots finally gave way a couple weeks ago. I was devastated. I got them 4 years ago and LIVED in those boots. I adore knee highs. When it comes to boots, I'm insanely picky too. I decided for my next pair to go all-out leather. No man-made material (it just doesn't wear as well with knee-highs). I've been searching all over the place for new ones but nothing caught my eye that was mildly affordable. That is, until I saw these over at Anthro: The fact that they're knee highs was, naturally, the biggest plus. But also the fact that A) they're lace-ups, B) completely leather, C) have a stacked wooden heel, and D) contain antiqued grommets made me jump in my chair with how perfect they are. Alas, at nearly $200, they were really out of my price range since I have this expensive trip coming up that I can't really afford.

My mom found out that I was ogling over these and called me two days ago at 7:30 in the morning to tell me that she bought them for me. Ack! What an incredibly lovely thing to do! Moms are the best, are they not? My mom is truly my best friend and I love her dearly (and not just because she bought me the neatest boots from Anthro).

Time for some tea and chocolate chai cookies (my faves). Take it easy, friends!