Illustration Friday: MULTIPLE

Anybody out there read Three Lives to Live? It was my favorite book for maaaany years, and its author Anne Lindbergh (daughter of the one you're thinking of ) was my favorite author for those same years. This is a sketch for an Atkins family portrait, circa 1993.

Three Lives to Live is a book about multiples (definitely) and about twins (sort of).

It's a brilliant book, and not well known. It's one of those books that's so special and semi-undiscovered that I feel an automatic kinship with others who've read it. Kind of like Quest for a Maid and The Search for Delicious.

Illustration Friday: THEORY

Happy Pitchers-and-Catchers-Report-Day! Today is the unofficial start of spring and the official start of spring training (and therefore baseball season). Get excited!

Baseball lends itself to superstitions and theories. In 1999, the last time the Reds contended, I was 16 and completely convinced that the things I did affected my team immensely (as do all fans at one time or another, right?) That summer, I spent a disproportionate amount of time away from Cincinnati, and somehow, whenever I left town the team started doing really well. The clearest example of this was when my family went on a 3 week vacation out west. The day we left town, the Reds overtook the Astros for first place. They remained in first place, tied or alone, until the day we drove home. Coincidence? Probably, but I considered asking the team to send me to Europe... for the good of the team.

Here's hoping for a great season, one that belongs to the Reds. :)

Illustration Friday: CHOOSE

This week, I CHOOSE to finish an Illustration Friday entry. I swore to myself that this one wouldn't go the way of my half-finished "Tales and Legends" entry or my discarded "Soar" drawing or the abandoned "Blanket" idea that never made it from my brain to the page. Ah, the power of choice (and, um... snow days.)

Choose to be a treehugger! How?
1. Use both sides of your paper, then make things out of it, then recycle it, then buy recycled paper.
2. Plant a tree. Do it yourself or pay someone else to.
3. Get yourself outside--whether it's your backyard, the park around the corner, or a state park. Spend some time in nature, looking at trees, walking among trees, and if you feel so moved... hugging them.

Why? Because we need trees as much as trees need us.

A current project

This is a half of a two-part commission I'm currently working on. Just thought I'd share!

Today was a wonderful, relaxing day despite the foundation-rocking, power-disrupting winds howling outside. I did some drawing, read some of The Secret Life of Bees, signed up for Kiva, drank some chai, and made falafel. If only every day were Sunday. Back to work tomorrow.
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"Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here." -The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

HeART of ART

If you're in the Cincinnati area, stop by the Kennedy Heights Art Center between now and March 22 to check out the HeART of ART exhibit, including four drawings by yours truly. Here are three of them, all dolled up in mats and frames and ready for delivery.

The Kennedy Heights Art Center is a fairly new gallery- and classroom-space in a beautiful old house on the east side of town. The building was set for demolition when the community rallied to reclaim it for this awesome purpose. Definitely worth a visit!

Catching up...

This Christmas gift to my Mom was given on time, but it's being shared quite belatedly (camera problems) It's acrylic paint on a white canvas apron.

And here's Mom showing it off, runway style: