Orangewillow

So I finished some new ink drawings that are up in my shop.  Its a new squirrel, gorilla, and owl.  The squirrel is the only loane squirrel I have, all others are a part of a set.  I have a close up of a gorilla but I wanted something that would show them in all their glory.  The owl is a new perspective as well considering its in flight.

In addition to the new prints my shop is featuring a sale for a limited time only that offers buy two prints and get the third print free.  Get them while you can!

While Josh was in Portland to give a talk on his ninja skills as a rails coder I had a busy week.  The highlight of which was some good times with friends and a show at Krafthaus downtown.  The show did well and it was a lot of fun to dress up and go out.  Before the show I had dinner with an old friend, Kevin, and his wife Lisa.  Much to my delight Lisa is a doll and a kindred spirit.  Though they had fun I think Kevin was a little concerned with Lisa’s excitement to buy lots of local artists work.  Hey, its only money and a good cause, although since I was in the show I might be biased.

I was delighted to see a friend from the blogger world make an appearance that night as well.  It was so nice to meet Chris in person and then I was doubly surprised when she attended hobby night the next evening.  I think I may have pushed her into a wii fit but I love mine so much I know she won’t be disappointed.

So Josh and I talked on ichat the entire time he was gone and then Sunday he suggested I drive to Chicago where his lay over was and rather than heading home to Cincinnati we could spend a couple fun filled days in Chicago, a city I LOVE!  We had the best time and a dinner at the Stetson located in the Hyatt was INCREDIBLE.  I had lobster bisque that was to die for and the best bottle of Riesling I have ever had.  We walked Michigan avenue where we ducked into a book store to avoid the rain and ended up leaving with about a dozen new books.  We also had some Ghirardelli chocolate, a new peanut butter bar, which was super yummy as well.  A quick stop in the Disney store resulted in new toys for the kids which they whole heartedly approved up when they received them.

I spent so much time finishing my book that I have been neglecting my art but now that the book is all done I started a new painting today.  It involves a lot of detail so it might be a while before I have pictures but it feels good to get the brushes out.  The weather was beautiful today so Zoe got some fun time in the sprinkler while I painted outside.

So I am trying to learn more in photoshop so I ordered an all inclusive photoshop for dummies book.  Considering I feel like a dummy when it comes to photoshop this book seemed appropriate.  I was wondering if any others out there have any suggestion on photoshop tutorials?

My brother-in-law gave me the pictures today of the CAC gala. I was so glad my parents attended. My feet were killing me by the after party so I was ready to leave by 11. Next year I will have to dress more comfortably so I can make it for the long haul.

My parents are the cutest

My sister worked very hard putting the event together.

I am just a three illustrations away from the book being completed and the goal is to be done in one week. When its done I will post some photos.

So the last couple weeks have been very busy.  First was my trip to San Francisco and meeting with the publisher.  I flew home for a few days, scooped up my daughter and headed back out to San Mateo for Maker Faire.  Tomorrow I fly home and I am looking forward to curling up in my bed and not going anywhere for some time.

Maker Faire was interesting and fun but was not the big money maker I was hoping for.  The vendors I was with were all put in a tight cramped area in the back of the fair grounds.  If I lived in the area I would have considered it a success but the fact that my overhead included plane tickets it was not worth the trip.  On the positive side it helped me really focus my ideas on a different direction to take my career.  I have been working on some new art anyways but now I really want to back off craft fairs for a while.  They take a lot of time away from creating new work and time away from Zoe; not just while at the event but how busy I am leading up to it.  I have some family coming in town the weekend of Renegade NY so I canceled my booth space there but did confirm I am interested in Chicago Renegade.  In the future I plan to only do a couple street shows a year.  While this may initially hurt my income I am hoping it will give me the time to grow my portfolio of limited edition prints.

Another thought is that I want to not only finish the current book I am working on but start another one.  I even have some ideas for a novel jumping around.  I love creating and I am blessed that my art gives me the freedom to explore all kinds of creative avenues.  I am looking forward to new challenges.  This is without a doubt a positive for all of my fans, when you follow your heart it shows in your work and I look forward to showing you all the growth.  I am finishing some new pieces at the moment and will post pictures the moment I get a chance.

I just got back from San Francisco and I am soooo tired but I had a great time. I had some health issues towards the end of the trip but nothing that was life shattering and it passed soon enough. However tomorrow a call to the Doctor is in my future as well as a visit. I need to get 100% healthy so I can head back out to San Francisco Friday for Maker Faire. I am really excited about this as well since it will be my first craft fair with Zoe. Shes so young its hard to bring her but since I have been traveling so much it seemed a great opportunity for her and I to have some quality time.

San Francisco was AWESOME! The very first real meal I had there was all by myself at a sushi bar next to the hotel but that was ok. The owners were there and talked to me the entire time and made a special yummy roll just for me to honor my trip to San Francisco. They were so cute. The woman looked through my portfolio before my meeting with the publisher and kept ooohing awing over my illustrations. Her husband was the chef and just kept smiling and nodding his head to everything his wife said while he prepared his dishes. I was a little shy and overwhelmed at first but in hind site it actual gave me the confidence I needed to go to my meeting with my head up high.

So after the yummy sushi I headed to Union Square area for my meeting at The Cheesecake Factory. Yes, I know, a lot of food in my stories but I didn’t want to go to the meeting on an empty stomach and food distract me. Caroline was super nice and everything was so casual. I was very concerned I was out of my element but Caroline made me feel like a pro. She had wonderful things to say about my illustrations and was thrilled to see them done in watercolor. I was a bit nervous on the medium choice but now am glad I made it. She expressed the illustrations are very unique which is a plus. She also read several of my writing samples and gave me the blow by blow on how this book publishing bit works.

Since I am a new writer and illustrator she suggested I complete the book before seeking publishing and followed that up with asking if I felt I could finish it in a month. I do have a show coming up in San Mateo next weekend but after that I plan to dedicate myself to this project entirely so I expressed it wouldn’t be an issue and shes going to follow-up with me in a month’s time. Well after all the excitement of the meeting instead of seeing San Francisco I headed straight back to the hotel, gathered up my supplies, and found the nearest Star Bucks to work on my book.

On my second day there Adam’s girlfriend, Jenn, flew in and I got to meet her. She is a kindred spirit and we were instantly bosom friends. We had a wonderful time seeing all the city had to offer although towards the end with my health she became quite motherly but it was clear she only did things because she cared. I will say I have never been made to drink so much water and I have never had anyone check my fever the way she did, a little unsettling, lol. Just kidding, in all seriousness I felt at ease with her instantly which in my experiences is rare.

Out of all the things I did on the trip the most fun and beautiful was the Japanese Tea Garden. I liked SFMOMA and the Mission District was all right (not as many galleries as I expected) but the natural beauty of the garden was breathtaking. San Francisco is one of those places that when I was there it felt like home. I look forward to returning next week with Zoe.

The green tea hit the spot since it was a breezy day and the crackers satisfied my growling tummy. What a blissful trip and you can’t beat a possible book deal and making a new friend all in one week. Oh San Francisco, I will now consider you my home away from home.

Well, something like that. Lark and Loon has released the children’s t-shirt designs and they are just fabulous. Not only to I want to buy all three of mine but I also want to buy all the other designers works as well. They are currently carrying three of my designs, King, Ruff, and Fluff. Being a mother it was really fun to design work for children’s clothing. I would love to do more work like this in the future. My work is often used for nurseries so it wasn’t exactly a stretch but still very fun.

King

Ruff

Fluff

So today is the 28th birthday of one of the coolest people I know, Josh Owens.  His favorite cake is German Chocolate cake so I set out to find the perfect recipe.  I found one but it was considered best for experts.  I took the challenge head on!  I pre-pared all of the ingredients ahead of time and followed the directions closely.  It turned out perfect!  I am not a fan of coconut or pecans and I even thought it was yummy.  If you want to make it I listed the recipe on tastyplanner.com.  Happy Birthday Josh!  Thanks for doing so much for me over these past couple years.  Without your help I am not sure where I would be.

So the button maker arrived and it was the wrong size!  I am waiting for the replacement but in the meantime I figured being pro-active would be the best idea.  I plan on printing all the images for the buttons and then I also need to choose 10 designs to have postcards made of.  I need to get these ordered so they arrive in time for San Francisco.  The problem is what should I order?  The prints I like are usually not my top seller.  The morphs sell well but so do the squirrels and bunnies so perhaps a mixture?  Buttons are no big deal since I will be making them myself I can have a large variety.  If there are any designs you would like to see on a button, postcard, or even a pillow please either leave a comment here or email me at wendy@orangewillow.com.

As usual I can’t seem to find time to blog between family time and my art. There is so much involved with running a small business I never imagined. I suppose I will just recap all the major happenings. I am not good at remembering things chronologically so I may jump around, please be patient.

Lets start with the business side of things. I completed three illustrations for the spring line of Lark and Loon. I am not sure when the release date will be, maybe April 7th, but the clothes are super cute so I encourage you all to hop over there and snap up every last item.

I have been working with other local artsy folks to get an artisan’s meetup group together. We just had our first meeting as an official meetup night this past weekend. Sadly enough I could not attend. I did a craft fair in Oxford, OH and not only did I get one heck of a sunburn (40 degrees out) but I somehow managed to catch the lovely bug going around. I was running a fever that night so decided to stay home for everyone’s sake. A good thing too because I am still sick and its very nasty. The next meeting will be April 19th since I will be in San Francisco for our normal meetup date.

I will actually be in San Francisco twice in a 2 week period. One week I am meeting with a wonderful gal I actually met through Twitter! She would like to review some of my artwork… shes in children’s publishing. Its not official business type meeting but I am looking forward to the feedback and you never know what may blossom from our relationship. Either way she seems super cool and I am looking forward to our lunch. A week later I head back for the Bazaar Bizarre at Maker Faire in San Mateo. I am very excited to be one of the chosen vendors. I hope to have lots of new postcards, buttons, and hopefully lots of pillows. Speaking of buttons I got my button maker in the mail after over two weeks and its the wrong size! 1 1/4 inch instead of the 1 1/2 inch I ordered. I hope the new one reaches me in time to make lots for the show.

I have applied for other craft shows but I want to wait to post them until I get confirmation I have been accepted. I have been putting a lot of new work up lately in the shop but that will be slowing if not halting. I have been focusing all my energy on getting my children’s book finished. Its so much more time consuming than I ever imagined. I am not super used to water color so I am sure I will pick up speed the further along I get. I tried a few different mediums but settled on ink and water color. Anyways, between the illustrating and trying to get merchandise ready for San Mateo in a month my time is pretty much tied up.

I have dramatically reduced the prices on a lot of originals in my shop to try and do some spring cleaning since I will be moving this summer. But thats about it on the professional side. My web site revamp stopped again due to the designer being overwhelmed with work so at this point it will pretty much happen when it happens. On the personal side of things I had a wonderful easter! Zoe got 4 easter baskets! Whats up with that? She was also a champ at easter egg hunting.

Zoe is without a doubt one of the sweetest and smartest kids I know. Yes I know very few kids and I happen to be her mother but others who meet her are pretty amazed by her as well. People always guess her age at 4 or 5 (shes very tall as well). There are not many 3 year and 4 month olds explaining the differences between a Raptor, T-Rex, and a Brontosaurus or explaining that Mars is the red planet. I am so blessed to be her mother.

And I think we may be officially potty trained. Panties were worn out this evening with no accidents! We got “Who cakes” to celebrate.

In closing to this long catch up post I want to express some of my joys in life. Zoe is obviously one of those joys but there are so many other wonderful things I have been thinking about. I have a job that allows me to be my own boss and travel all over the country. I have a really swell guy who always wants to put me and my dreams first in his life. I have one of the most loving families a girl could ever ask for. I have a sister who is my best friend and makes my world a brighter place. I am trying to live every day to the fullest and instead of looking at things as a bother look at simple tasks as an adventure. Cooking for example, I love it but clean up is a pain. I have realized its only a pain if you put it off and allow it to be. Procrastination was making so many things my enemy and as I have begun to do things in my life like there may not be a later I am feeling much more at peace with the small annoyances.

Recently I have had a lot of people contacting me from the cyberspace world and I am so thrilled with how many sweet and totally awesome people there are in this world. I want you all to know I am thankful for you and you are one of the great joys in my life.