Father's Day

Two oldies in honor of Dad. The long hair and pipe were true to my seventies father, but I'm not sure what's going on with that arm there. Maybe he needs an occupational therapist? Happy Father's Day!

Stewardess

This post is in honor of my favorite flight attendant turned occupational therapist, who graduated today. Congratulations Annika!

Houses

I'm away from my art supplies and scanner, so I'm posting another oldie that's stored on my computer. This one caught my eye. My friend Sarah and I used to love to draw the houses we planned to have when we were grown ups. Even though I wanted a classic Vermont house, I always added a pool.

This subject caught my eye because I'm moving at the end of the month. I've had a strange relationship with housing. My first apartment was robbed four times, the first place where I lived alone burned down and almost took me with it, and my first house is being lost due to the downturn in the economy. It looks like the people in this drawing are doing yoga, which is strange because I'm sure I didn't know about yoga that long ago. It reminds me that you never know how seemingly disconnected events are working in your life. It reminds me that home is where you are. I think my strange relationship with housing has served to teach me that.

Sun mother

This is one of my earliest works, a collaboration between my mother and I. I told the story and she wrote it. I love what it says in the top left corner, "The sun but it looks like a mother", and there she is on the bottom right. Happy Mother's Day!

Rest

I still feel so lazy. Aside from going to work I don't want to do anything at all. Once or twice a year I wish I had a TV, I could use a Real Housewives marathon right now.

A+

I found out that because I got an A+ on all my neuroanatomy exams I don't have to take the final next week! So today was my last day of school for the semester. I'm taking the day off from all obligations and am posting a thirty year old drawing of my mom tucking me in after a job well done. You know you've hit a different stage of life when, instead of going out to get drunk on the last day of class, you're looking forward to getting some sleep and finally cleaning the house.

Movie Star

It was one of those days where time stood still. No, not still exactly, but moved at an angle. Time shifted at an angle different than most other days. We saw the first showing of "Revolutionary Road" this afternoon, it cut straight to the emotional bone. From the theater we drove silently down Central until we reached the end of the road, eating lunch at a BBQ joint at three in the afternoon. 

A yellow silhouette against the dark blue sky, the Sandia mountains looked like a cardboard cutout on a movie set. Eating lunch at three in the afternoon, far off the edge of my beaten path, reminded of the days when I first moved to Albuquerque fifteen years ago. How I had so much time then, and loved exploring the city that was so unlike where I came from on the East Coast. Old neon, antique shops, diners, remnants of Route 66. I'm in awe of how writers and actors and artists can do that, cut straight to the emotional bone, reminding you of how things used to be this way, or could have been that. The movie made Louie sad, which he reacted to by feeling angry. I told him that was a great example of what I just learned about the insular cortex. It's the part of the brain that tells us how we feel about what we feel.

Back to School

The teacher entering the classroom looks just like my mom did in the seventies. She was an art teacher in the local elementary schools when I was young. They didn't have any art rooms so my dad built a big cart out of wood and painted it bright orange. It was called the "Art Cart" and it was filled with all the art supplies a room full of kids could need. She pushed it down the hall and wheeled it from room to room. I remember that feeling of being both excited and mortified when the big orange cart entered my classroom. What ever became of the Art Cart?

Classroom

I'm out of town for a couple of days and don't have access to a scanner, so I'm posting another oldie. Trying to get the last bit of vacation into my vacation before school starts. I'm so good at vacationing, I wish I could just be a professional Enjoyer. 

The teacher is quietly preparing her classroom before the students return, powerpoints completed, handouts assembled. The scene is a bit too colorful for grad school, but one can always dream.

Christmas list

On Friday I'll be able to drive back to Albuquerque to get that cord for the digital camera. Louie has spent hours trying to figure out why the scanner doesn't work. For now, another oldie. My step mom Stephanie sent this Christmas list. I was a little older when I did this one. High school was hard, and I notice that I started using less color. 

I like how I must have received the stereo, because in this one I'm hoping for record cleaner and albums. And I'm in a phase between hippy and new wave as evidenced in the glass pyramid prism and indian rug vs. electric earrings and suede shoes.

Presents to kids

I did draw this morning, but without that stupid cord I can't post it. This old drawing is the best though. It's from a little book I wrote about my mom, who is a teacher and the keeper of all these treasures. It's the only page I have though. I need to get these technical problems sorted out soon, I'm starting to run out of material!

Candy store

Today was my first day working holiday retail this season and I'm EXHAUSTED! We're having a big snowstorm right now, and tonight is the first night I've had to admit defeat on daily drawing. I brought something home from the store, but it's late and I couldn't get good lighting to draw it. I'm on location right now and forgot some supplies, including the cord for the digital camera. Luckily I had this gem on file. I hope tomorrow morning brings new energy and insight on how to organize all this despite a different schedule and missing parts.

Want list

I'm heading out to do a bit of Christmas shopping today, and thought it would be the perfect time to post an old "Want list" from junior high. My friends Sarah and Lauren and I, used to love to get together and draw our lists, long after the age where doing such things was common.

I'm happy to say I've received some of the most important things on this list, like getting out of high school, a stereo, CB coat, seeing the world, and long, bouncy blond hair (I was trying to grow out my Lady Di hairdo at the time). Never did get those knickers though. But I'm okay with that. Really.

Remember that you can click on the image to make it large enough to read.

Happy dance

I just finished my final final. This semester is DONE! Happy dance!

Wonderful day

Susie and her Mom found everything they were looking for, as well as many things they hadn't even thought to think of. They are thrilled to be living in the 70's when customer service still mattered, and they leave Gimball's South with a skip in their step. Outside, they discover that it's raining. Living in New Mexico, they are so delighted to see rain that they whisk around the parking lot again and again before heading to the car. Arriving at home, they discover that their realtor sold their house while they were out, spurring a home buying frenzy throughout the neighborhood and across the land. What a wonderful day!

And that's what I love about art. Whether you're 10 or 40, you can create the world the way you want it.

Perfect fit

Sometimes I wonder why I majored in textile design, but drawings like this help me see the connection. I love the gal on the far left wearing the tube top. I've always had a fascination with self-assured racy women. Their shoes seemed so intriguing compared to Mom's practical foot wear. Susie's Mom would like you to know that she saved for all this, and does not shop on credit.

Shopping

After a few days of overeating and mindless TV viewing (Thank you Real Housewives of Atlanta!) I feel my energy starting to rebound. Meanwhile, Susie and her Mom are having so much fun around town that they ignite consumer confidence and the Dow goes up, up, up.

Black Friday

I'm going to take the weekend off, and will be posting a few pages from a book I made when I was nine or so. It's called "Susie's Summer". Watch as Susie and her Mom do their part to try to boost the economy.

Famous artist, starving artist

In elementary school, if you love to draw, you'll probably hear that you're going to become a famous artist. In high school, if you still love to draw, you'll probably hear that you're going to become a starving artist. If you go to art school, you'll be surrounded by people haunted by that same question, "Will I be a famous artist, or will I be a starving artist?" I know few artists that don't still carry that dichotomy somewhere deep within their veins.

Why, in a world filled with so many colors in so many shades, do those black and white stereotypes still remain?