Who knew... 01/09/2012
 
I've found a truism in life, which for some reason no one ever really sees coming. It's that you really can't guess where you'll end up in one year, or 2 or 20. In one way or another, life will surprise you. Who knew that I'd be a mom and wife within 5 years of graduating high school? I didn't see that one coming. Or that I'd be living in Indiana. Well, the latest development that life has thrown at me is art lessons. Who knew that I'd end up a teacher? Me, of all people? I hate the spotlight. Teaching piano was an epic failure. I never would have come up with it myself. What happened was, a friend approached me about giving her daughter private art lessons and I thought it could be a good experiment. Who knew it would be so fun! I think it speaks to the passion I have for art. I come home from teaching every week feeling cheerful and in love with drawing. I'm excited that very soon I'll have 2 students. Who knows? In time I could have quite a number. What a fun (and unexpected) way to appease my artistic appetite.
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I should have some figure sketches on here. They are rather old (3 yrs?), but I still think they're a good job. 
Now here are some 12 hr oil paint sketches I did this spring:
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Portraits 10/19/2011
 
I've been working on my mom's portrait for awhile. It doesn't photograph very well, but here it is:
Here's another portrait I did about a year ago. It was lost on my computer for awhile and I was happy to see it surface again!
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I went to a great book conference last week. And by great I mean, I got to meet David Weisner!! TOTALLY a longtime hero of mine, right up there with Mark Buehner and Will Terry. Both of whom I have also had the privilege of meeting.

So let me tell ya, Weisner had a great presentation that revolved around the theme of how great ideas come from your surroundings. He was trying to relate that he's not a genius, but that there are very down-to-earth reasons for his awesome stories. (Still a genius in my book...). I've now got 'Art and Max' down on my book wishlist--I always get a children's book for my birthday and Christmas, and they are most often from Weisner. And Buehner. And Terry. It's great stuff, I'm telling you!

I was also excited to hear from illustrators such as Gennady Spirin, who talked in Russian and had his son translate; and Susan Meddaugh, creator of Martha Speaks! (Martha was an average dog, who went woof and woof and grrr, til she ate some alphabet soup, and what happened was bizarre...). I wish there was a music note emoticon.

Here's a digital study I did where I was going for realisitic:
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I'd like to introduce A--, the reason I ignored my blog for so long!
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BFA Final Show 08/08/2010
 
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Well, I decided on my show's name! I was trying to be too clever, when all it needed was a simple adjective. Plus, I've updated 7 more images to my portfolio that will be in the show. Still not satisfied with the other 7...(to a total of 15). There will be a lot of tweaking this week! 

For all you strangers out there, the HFAC is the Harris Fine Arts Center on BYU Campus. I sure am excited to see you all there!

PS-A couple of people convinced me to add my black and white pen drawings to the show as well. They were my inspiration for the colored paint versions, so they deserve a little spotlight, right? Be excited, be verrrrrryyy excited!!
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I am at a loss for words. And often am when it comes to naming artwork. So what am I to do when I need to come up with an all-encompassing name for my BFA Final Show? All I know is that the subtitle shall be: 
"Selections from an Animal Alphabet." 
I've decided on 15 letters, all involving an animal acting out an awesomely eloquent vocabulary word. I'm mostly done, but I still have some touch-ups to do. The "Investigating Iguana" is the first to graduate:
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The reception for my currently unnamed final show is tentatively set for either 8/19/10 (Thursday) or 8/20/10 (Friday) from 6-8 in the Harris Fine Arts Center of BYU. Mark your calendars, and I'll get an official invitation up shortly.
~~Any name suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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Success! 06/13/2010
 
I am now the first 9 hits on a google search engine! Last year none of them would have been related to me. Woo-hoo! (yes, I am the tomato/horticulture hits; it was my college job and it rocked!) Many people find it strange that I am into research. But now my husband is getting a masters in plant genetics, so I can live my scientific life vicariously through him while I focus on my artistic career! I love how things work out. :)


Here's a graphic of a yeti. I think I like the black image better though, and I even made a stuffed animal to match it. My inspiration was Yeti Bikes. They are beautiful to me. 
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I Love Dilbert 05/17/2010
 

I invite all to check out this hilarious Dilbert comic:   http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-12-21/

All in all, it boils down to the question, "What is Art?" Which, honestly, is philosophical argument I find tedious and unpleasant. The definition is different for everyone. And shouldn't it be? We all view the world differently. But as an illustrator, I really enjoy it when others like my work. That's kind of the point of my job. For any artists out there who only paint for self enjoyment or shock factor: well done, you've achieved your goal by expressing yourself; however, I do not see the point in getting offended when others don't agree with you. "Art" is just a label anyway. For the record, I think that anything that's created for the purpose of expression = art, but labels such as "bad art" and "offensive art" and "pornographic art" also exist and are necessarily different for everybody. Hurrah for agency and self-expression!

Secondly--does anyone else feel that "Art" is rather an ugly little word? Not at all representative of what it encompasses. Here's some trivia:

The word art derives from the Latin ars, which, loosely translated, means "arrangement" or "to arrange", though in many dictionaries the word's listing istautologically translated as "art". This is the only universal definition of art, that whatever it is was at some point arranged in some way. http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/art/etymology.html

Let's adopt a foreign word, like Sanat in Turkish, Seni in Malay, or Tipo in Italian. Interestingly enough, most foreign translations actually represent the word "Type" instead of arrangement, which I think is very poetic.

Three cheers for all you umjetnika/kunstnikud/fasihai/muveszek/listamen /ealaiontori/menininkai/artists out there.
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Today was the first day for this forum--and the first time I've attended an art conference. Well, there was probably more discussion about the writing half, but when it comes to children's books, the art and the words are hard to separate.  Eric Rohman, an illustrator and writer, had some really constructive things to say about this, and several of the other speakers said about the same thing. When you illustrate, you need to tell the author's story, but you tell another story of your own as well. Rohman's example was his book, "Last Song." It's a children's picture book about saying goodnight to the sun, moon, and stars. But the pictures illustrate a bunch of happy squirrels playing with each other.  These squirrels were completely uncalled for! Apparently, you can pair words and pictures that don't necessarily fit! 
I myself have been trying to be more metaphorical and less literal in my representations. Ruth Katcher, an editor at Egmont, said the same thing as Rohman but used book passages as examples instead. For instance, in one memoir (that I don't remember the name of), the author writes about sifting through coffee grounds in the trash to find his daughter's lost tooth in order to describe his feelings over the loss of his child. You can't just start off talking about your loss and anger with God; you have to take specifics of physical detail to allow the readers to connect, then tie it into the main point. 
Katcher used the term, "magical realism" several times.  I don't know if she meant it the way I have decided to think about it, but it will be helpful I think in the future. I take it to mean that the reader/viewer must calibrate his/her senses to the story's idea of normal. It is the illustrator's and the author's job to facilitate this transition.
Some other people of note that I was able to meet include Gene Nelson (2-year Caldecott board member) and Candace Flemming (esteemed author extraordinaire)! Looks like I'm in for an equally awesome day of instruction tomorrow as well!
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