putting success before happiness

Last night Edgar and I watched one of the best TED talks I've seen in a long time. It was so good, in fact, that I feel compelled to share it here today. Otherwise, I'd just be stingy. The topic of the talk: the happy secret to better work. The speaker: Shawn Achor, CEO of Good Think Inc. Take the time, watch it and let me know what you think! Could we have been putting the cart before the horse this whole time?

opening up at just be

Many, many thanks to all those who supported Just Be and Cabrera Creative by attending our workshop this past weekend. I can't describe how thrilling it is to meet with others whose passions match our own.

We would also like to send out a special thank you to Lauren Kelley Mack. Lauren was a student in the first studio I ever taught and has gone on to pursue a variety of design avenues with her talents in the years since: not the least of which is photography. Lauren was kind enough to capture the workshop for us with her camera. I've included a few of the images here, but hope you'll visit Lauren's blog to see more. And while you're there, stay a while: SO much inspiration in one place!

working on a project

...that involves duck feet. Can't say anything more now [they're top-secret duck feet], but want to let you know I am here behind a computer and not in labor and delivery. [Some of you asked...] Let's cross our fingers we're not there until mid-May!

While we're on the subject of feet, big thanks to Carla of Decorativity for featuring our kicks as part of her fun Art Alphabetical Series. See the whole collection here!

new additions to the line

Speaking of home, check out this sweet, sweet baby gift we received for ours from blog friend, artist and graphic designer Molly Bilbow of MoolyBee!

Thank you Molly! Can't wait to get this framed and up on our wall. I think I know the perfect place...

Want to see more of Molly's fun work? Visit MoolyBee here.

home is where the heart is

I'm loving the home tour of illustrator Tad and designer Jessica Carpenter as featured on Design*Sponge yesterday. Of course I'm a sucker for their eclectic style, but what tickles my fancy more than anything is Tad's response to the question of what he loves most about his home.

GOOD ANSWER...good answer! Something great to remember on the days when all you seem to notice is the crack running through your kitchen cabinet door, the patches needing to be painted over in your master bedroom or the unattractive light fixture hanging smack dab in the middle of your living room <---no, of course this isn't our house :D

Check out Tad's illustration website here.

a.j. strikes again

My pal Andrea Joseph just released her latest zine titled 'How to Draw Like a Nut'.

I'm fairly certain I already have the nut part down, but I'm still eager to learn new tricks from Andrea, as well as get my hands on more of her outstanding pen work. If you haven't seen a piece of Andrea's in real life (as opposed to via computer screen) you're missing out. The detail is breathtaking!!!!

Draw Like a Nut here.

brand spankin' new website + celebratory giveaway

I'm happy to announce that my new illustration website is up and running!

After stressing for ages on how to go about building a website with limited HTML knowledge, I discovered Big Black Bag, a super-easy template-based service that makes building a website as easy as blogging! A few painless hours of work and, voila!, I have a new online portfolio!

Have a look and let me know your thoughts!

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Also, as an added bonus, the kind folks at Big Black Bag are generously offering one reader of an open [sketch]book their very own website starter package (valued at 129-) and a free domain name for a year!

In order to be entered to win, all you need to do is leave a comment under this post detailing 'who?...what?...where?...when? OR why?' you're the perfect recipient of this prize. You need only answer one of the questions, but extra credit is awarded for cleverness and specificity!

A winner will be chosen next Monday, November 1!

Good luck!

excerpts from the world wide web of love

Addie's and my work was featured in two love-inspired blog posts this past week!

First up, Claire and Patrick's big day at Elizabeth Anne Designs! Check out the fabulous shots of the bridal party's ride from church to reception via the Marta. They are soooo good and the perfect contrast to the couple's rustic wedding.

Regrettably, Edgar and I didn't get to ride the subway at our wedding, but we did pose in front of an eighteen-wheeler. That counts for something, right?

In hindsight, though, I'm not sure how I feel about WIDE LOAD...think I prefer this instead:

It just so happens that this photo was taken by our very talented friend Jen Yuson, who also happens to be responsible for the second blog feature!

Jen and her equally-creative-husband Shawn celebrated their one-year anniversary yesterday [Big congrats!] with the traditional gift of paper. Jen was kind enough to allow me to lend my hand to her gift with an illustration of their wedding vows. The sentiments are so sweet and so true to the kind hearts of Jen and Shawn.

ring around the fountain

Back in Portland, the day I was drawing this

Jason Das was sitting in the middle of the fountain [in green] painting this:

There I am [in stripes] next to Lapin and Liz Steel, two other artists I admire so much! How cool.

Here's another. I admire Jason's ability to capture details so quickly, like the way my hair flips out to the side like Carol Brady.

See more of Jason's outstanding portfolio of work here.

flight of the illustrator

illustration by Christoph Niemann

In the past two weeks, Edgar and I have both endured some pretty intense red eyes, so when Kelley sent me a link to this New York Times blog post, I couldn't help but laugh...and cry! Oh the pain!

P.S. I think it is worth mentioning that unlike Christoph, I didn't receive a single peanut on my cross-country flight....not a single peanut.

See more of Christoph Niemann's incredible portfolio here.

drawing as storytelling

As I mentioned before, I have SO many drawings to share from the Urban Sketchers Symposium....a whole accordion Moleskine full! I'm trying to figure out a way to share the whole thing at once, but in the meantime, I'll continue posting snippets.

One of the many highlights of the Symposium was getting to meet Gabi Campanario in person. I've corresponded with Gabi via the internet for quite a while, and have also had the privilege to exchange sketchbooks with him over the past couple of years as part of the International Moleskine Sketchbook Exchange.

Gabi is one of the most dedicated sketchers I know! Not only is he the founder of Urban Sketchers, he is also a staff artist for The Seattle Times. At the symposium, Gabi shared some of his work at the paper and highlighted the type of people that he finds most commonly sketching: artists, architects and journalists. I thought this was an interesting observation and, oddly enough, while I've had training in all three disciplines, I feel, like Gabi, I approach sketching as a journalist more than anything else. I like to record moments. I'm less concerned about the picture being beautiful [thank goodness!] as I am it telling a story. This is why I think blogging is such a natural compliment to the work I do.

How about you? Why do you sketch? Why do you [or don't you] share you work online?

wagonized to the rescue

Just pulled up to the computer for the morning, at a loss for what to post today. I've been working on several FUN projects this week [insert inner-applause] but am not far along with any to share here. What to do...what to do?

Well, because this week is magical, there, at the top of my email, is a note from one of my first, and dearest, blog friends, France [Belleville] Van Stone, sharing with me this drawing---of THE most loved beagle in the whole beagle world.

Eeeeeeek! Are you hearing my squeal of delight where ever this post finds you?!? I apologize if you're on a laptop in public! France--you never stop amazing me! You capture those velvet ears, sad puppy eyes and moody personality so, so well.

Check out France's blog, Wagonized, for other examples of Pokey goodness and much, much more! France's talent is breathtaking. It's a honor.

throw caution to the wind

You may remember Heather, my friend who was a finalist in last year's Mannington Commercial carpet tile design contest.

Unfortunately, when all was said and done, despite buying multiple fish drinks, Heather's design wasn't chosen for production. The good news, however, is that lightening does strike twice and Mannington chose this design star as a finalist in this year's competition. Whoohooo!

This time Heather drew inspiration for her design, 'throw caution to the wind', from the wings of dragonflies.

Heather is a tremendous designer, who I was lucky enough to work next to in studio during my last semester as a student. I'll be voting to help Heather win this year's competition and hope you will too after learning more about her design and inspiration here. [Be sure to watch the video about her process...if you've been following this blog for a while, you may recognize a tie back to 'an open [sketch]book' :) ]

As was the case last year, the winning decision is based on a total number of votes from those visiting the contest website. So, let's help Heather and start voting!

Thank you!!!!

might i recommend

As part the aforementioned exercise routine, I plan to start off each day reading this new e-book courtesy of the ever-so-willing-to-share-his-talents-and-sketches-Michael Nobbs. [You may remember that I posted about Michael's journals before.] Not only is it full of great advice on recording life through drawings...it's free! Definitely cheaper than a gym membership.

Get yours here. And, in the words of Michael, 'embrace it all. record it all.'

love notes tied up in string

an extension of Felicia Dean's design happiness project

Wow, wow, wow. Yesterday, a day I've been dreading for weeks now, turned out...remarkably...to be one of my happiest. I feel very inspired...and loved. It is beyond incredible. I have so much to share, but that will have to happen another day. I'm still reeling...

I owe many rounds of thanks...

all she did was listen

So as I'm sure you've gathered, I've been going through a bit of a rough spell. I pride myself on being an optimistic person, but lately this hasn't been so easy. Slowly, however, I'm *beginning* to see that elusive light at the end of the tunnel. Included in that light is the work of Rachel Awes. Just look.

Isn't it lovely?

I asked Rachel what inspires her drawings and she shared the following:

one of my greatest passions is to support and celebrate people living fully into who they are and shining it out. this is one way i can contribute a small offering to help heal our world, because people long to be seen and loved. through both my work as a psychologist and in my personal life, i simply see people happiest when they are authentic.

i've always loved to notice pretty things. maybe it began with agates and marbles. now it's also in people and the pretty sentences that tumble out of them like gold. that is what ultimately inspires me. then i want to draw it. savor it. love them some more as i do so. and then share it with the beautiful people, who is Everybody, and remind them of their incredible insides. at least that is my brightest and deep achiest hope.

Thank you Rachel for the goodness [and authenticity] you put out into the world.

See more of Rachel's work on her blog and at her etsy site.

one-hour group exercises

Wow...I am so excited to share with you the fine work of those who participated in the one-hour exercise.  And who said exercising wasn't fun?!?  Oh, wait, I think that was me...

Please an enjoy a sample of each artist's work below, but be sure to follow the links back to their individual blogs for even more images and commentary on their hours of drawing.

: Tim Robison of That's Just It: 

: Keith of Lining a Drawer : 

just one of many lovely portraits

: Jasmine Nora :

: Kerstin Klein of Snowflakes + Black Vampires :

: Krista Meister of Hope in Everyday :

one image from a hour spent shopping + drawing

: Miti Aiello of Sketchbloom :

: Liz Steel of Liz and Borromini : 

Thank you so much for exercising along with me.  It's much more fun with buddies.

scene it?

I was amazed last week when Michelle, who lives in Canada, correctly identified a small hole-in-the-wall cafe I had drawn, but not labeled, in Amsterdam. Wow! It truly is a small world after all!

This made me want to try another 'name this place' exercise here. So, if you live in Greensboro (I know there is at least one or two of you that do)...try this one on for size. Where am I?



Finished here? Go ahead and visit Michelle's blog : A Schematic Life. Her drawings are sooooo good.

beauty in the ordinary

Sooooo excited about Uppercase's newest book release --- The Suitcase Series : Camilla Engman.  If you haven't visited Camilla's blog before, it's a must see!  I like to think of it as beauty in blog form. Serenity captured.  I'm certain the book is beauty in book form.

Santa Claus, please add this to my list.

hold on to your antlers

(aka : I have multiple-personalities and divulge too much info on the internet)

illustration by Maira Kalman

You've GOT to check this out!

I wonder if I'm so attracted to Maira's work because it is incredibly inspiring [and there is no doubt about that : it is! it is!] or because it makes me feel a little more normal. I struggle with the feeling 'normal' part sometimes. Take a conversation I all too often have with others:

Q (others) : What did you do today?
A (me) : I drew my cereal.

Yeaaaaah. So it makes me feel good when the same things that stand out to me stand out to others. She's cool...so perhaps I'm not as big of a dork as I think I am. I guess it's human nature.

I have a feeling I may delete this post later. Too self-effacing. I feel like I'm in junior high again...and I swore I'd never go back.