It's Here, It's Here!

The phone call came about 5 minutes ago. The months of work and anxiety have all come together into this colorful 24 page children's book titled "If We Hopped On Our Bike...".

I have had a few review copies with me for a few weeks but I have been guarding them like gold. Of course I sent one to my mom but the others have been carefully protected. But now I can swim in them. Sell them wth wild abandon. WAHHOOOO the books are here.

Now what? Well, I have a show on April 2 at my gallery at 3150 C Street that will feature all the original art from the book and a display showing the making of a book and all that goes along with it. I have shows set up through out the year to promote my little creation. It is all quite exciting.

Indeed there is a degree of worry that goes along with all of this. What if people don't like it? What if this time next year we don't call it "the book" but "firewood"? What if when I am doing one of those magazine quizzes and they ask about my biggest regret and "THE BOOK" screams in my head?

Enough of that gloom and doom, time for my happy dance. The book is HERE!

Art History

I won my first art contest when I was in Junior High. The contest was called "Healthy Food/Healthy Heart". I had a great idea and with an artist mom I had any help I needed to execute my idea. My felt, google eyed heart flexing his muscles looked healthy and the surrounding vegetables and fruits clearly indicated the connection of our diet and health.

One afternoon my mom had been supervising me as I carefully practiced sketching out each veggie before redrawing it on the school provided poster board. After she was confident I was creating a masterpiece she laid down on the couch for a nap.

I was pleased with my work but there was something missing. Hmmmmm....green beans! I loved green beans and clearly they were essential to healthy living. I wanted to run this by my art mentor but her heavy breathing warned me she was sleeping. Waking my mother from sleep was not something you risked. As I had been taught I practiced sketching a pile of beans and then carefully transferred and colored it onto the poster.

When my mom awoke I proudly announced my addition. I will never forget the look on her face. She was horrified, sure I had ruin my perfect poster. My mom never did my work for me but she knew how hyper I could be. How I could have a flash of an idea and try to create it without thinking it through. Then cry with sickening regret at my ruined masterpiece. She practically ran from the living room into the dining room where I worked. And then relief flooded her expression when she saw the perfectly drawn, perfectly placed green beans.

I often think on that lesson when I am too wound up in an idea to take a few minutes to prepare it properly. To walk through it on paper before I swipe paint on a canvas. I know I always benefit from a deep breath and a little planning.

I am sure I didn't want to sketch those beans first but in doing so I was able to take my idea from a mental image to a literal image. A few weeks later I was posing for our local newspaper holding my blue ribbon and my smiling heart.

The NERVE!

I am not a coffee drinker but I do enjoy a hot chocolate or a frothy Chi tea now and again. And I most definitely enjoy the cozy feel of many of our coffee shops.

Last week I was meeting a friend at a local spot. Her text message informed me she wasn't going to make it. Having some extra time and some paper work needing attention I decided to snuggle in for a bit and enjoy a hot drink. You often see people sketching, writing in journals or doing school work among the tables. Although I have never used that setting for creative inspiration I can see the appeal. That was until SHE showed up.

There were three wing back chairs facing the fireplace. A woman was deep into a book at one chair, I took the furthest away one. We exchanged a smile and I slipped into warm contentment. This was to only last a moment. The remaining chair was soon filled by another woman. I couldn't blame her, these were the best seats in the house. But to my horror she whips out her cell phone. "Don't panic" I tell myself. I was texting back and forth to my husband, maybe she too was flirting with a special someone over the air waves. Nope, she started yakking. " My son's hockey game blah, blah, yeah HAHAHAHAHAHA I know, blah blah. You're kidding me right! Calm down Gina, maybe it's just a quick call. Sure enough after a minute or two she hung up,whew. Nope she dialed again and AGAIN! By now the book reader got up and moved and I was leaving my warm corner. She was unfazed by the mass exodus, laughing and gabbing loud enough so we could all hear about her enthralling life. Sheesh.

No inspiration was happening that day. Well, I guess it did move me to create the above illustration. Hmmmm, maybe I got it all wrong after all....hold up, my phone is ringing.

Beauty and the Beast

As I discussed in my last blog, the variety of critters in Africa is quite amazing. Seeing a leopard in the wild with my own eyes was breath taking. I often stare at my own cat impressed by how soft and pretty she looks. How the patterns of her fur are perfect. I don't think I took a breath as the incredibly beautiful 2 year old female leopard strolled by our jeep glancing up at my face. It wasn't fear that slowed my respiratory system, it was the absolute awe of her beauty. How black her spots were. How velvet she looked and how graceful she moved. The leopard above is a one year old male. He was sitting and waiting for his mom to come back with some grub. He was pretty too but not like the female.

Then we have the humble wart hog. We scared up this mom as we were taking a walk. She was hunkered down in a hole with her little babies. She didn't go far, watching us closely to be sure we weren't going to cause any harm. But the longer I looked at her the cuter she became. Now it is hard to separate the beauty of motherly love but the artist in me could she her image on canvas. Her tusks shining in the hot sun, her big ears picking up the sounds of Africa.

Will anyone buy a painting of a leopard? If I do a good enough job it is quite likely. Will anyone buy a painting of a wart hog? We will soon find out.

Sounds of Africa

I could talk about my Africa trip to anyone willing to listen. Being an absolute lover of all animals great and small my African safari was one of the highlights of my life.
I make my living painting animals. I often spend a good amount of time before embarking on a painting doing research. I want to make sure I don't paint a bird with too many tail feathers or a whale with a overly small pectoral fin. I knew seeing the "Big Five" of Africa was going to be a treat but I received some unexpected surprises.
I never considered what a giraffe sounded like as he strolls from tree to tree. I didn't expect to be surprised at the girth of a hippo. I mean, come on, I have visited my share of natural habitat zoos. But NOTHING is the same as the roar of a lion greeting his pride in the wild. Nothing prepares you for the crashing of a HUGE bull elephant as he emerges from the brush. And yes, I may never be able to enjoy a zoo again.
My other unexpected surprise was the "little five". Of course there isn't a real little five but I was estactic to see a chameleon stroll by. The giant African land snail was beyond impressive. And the birds....oh my the birds. So much color and personality. I need to come clean and admit the fascination I had for the dung beetle. I could watch them all day. Working hard, pushing with their back legs to perfect the roundness of their poop ball. Their lady in waiting clinging to the side as he rolls it along. You really didn't dare to blink!
Well things are busy at the drawing table these days with so many mental images to get on canvas. I have a feeling my experiences from this trip will be creating ideas for many years to come.