You are a Gift

5 x 7" blank inside greeting card, comes with "brown bag" Kraft paper envelope.

Express your appreciation!

1 card $2.95 USD12 card set $15.95 USD

I made this card as a personal thank you to all the loved ones who helped me through a challenging year. I also made it for you. If there are people in your life who are due an appreciation, this card was made to help. By a set of 12 for $15.95, or one at a time for $2.95. Shipping is free.

Real Deal Gift Certificates

1 card $2.00 2 cards $4.00 3 cards $6.00 5 cards $10.00 20 card set $25.00

I've been designing these "Real Deal" Gift Certificates and making them on nice ivory card stock with my fabulous new printer. The hope is to inspire gift giving that is more about sharing yourself, creating treasured memories, and deepening relationships than about putting an object in a box.

There are twenty cards so far. I'm having a blast creating them.

You can purchase the entire set for $25. Or pick them individually for $2 each. Shipping is free. Here are a few, more images to come. And yes, I take requests. If you have an idea for a gift certificate card that you'd like to see me produce in full color glory, let me know!

Inner Moonlight

1 card $2.50 2 cards $5.00 3 cards $7.00 5 card set $10.25 10 card set $18.00

Thank you Allen Ginsberg for reminding me that whatever craziness I am ashamed of is just the unique wonder of ME. I made this art card in honor of the one-of-a-kind beauty in all of us.
Want one? Shipping is free. More cards here.

"Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness." – Allen Ginsberg

Freebie: Psychedelic Wallpaper

A present for you to inspire creativity. Download this image (right-click PC, Control-click Mac) and use it as your computer's wallpaper (tiled, of course).

Here's what it looks like tiled:

Art on Video, Frogger, Milli Vanilli, What More Could You Want?

I made this while I was a student, lots of art, philosophy, the game Frogger, and the secret origins of my dog's name. (Hint: her name is Millie Vanillie).
More of my videos here.

Five Inspirations to Live By

I believe in affordable art. I also believe in inspiration. These are both.
7" x 5" postcards (suitable for gifting, framing, mailing, or tacking up over your desk).
Get you some! Just $2.50 each. Available on the studio site. 

Card 1. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass;
it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

Card 2. What if it were guaranteed that half your efforts would succeed -
  would you try twice as hard?

Card 3. Rule #1: Plant all your seeds. Rule #2: Visualize success.
Rule #3: Ask for all the help you need.

Card 4. In the end, only three things matter...
how much we loved, how gently we lived,
and how gracefully we let go of the things not meant for us.

Card 5. Don't ask yourself what the world needs.
Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.
Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.

Dancing in the Rain

This painting was inspired by the old proverb: "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning how to dance in the rain." Hope you like...

24 x 18" - Gouache and ink on 100% cotton rag paper.

Stay tuned, I'm in the process of producing this as a 7 x 5" postcard, with the quote included.

Three Things I Love Today

#1. The Dumpster Project - When forced to downsize his huge collection of memorabilia/salvaged art supplies, Artist Mac Premo did so by creating a walk-in collage in a 30-foot dumpster, lovingly documenting and eulogizing its contents on his Dumpster Project blog. Beautiful, touching, and funny.

#2. This quote, from Winston Churchill: Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.

#3. Collaboration. What a fun way to bring great people closer to you, to get inspired, and to expand your creative horizons. Here's a poster I recently designed in collaboration with my thirteen-year-old nephew:

Four's the Charm

Finally! I've tried four times to scan this painting, which I must do in pieces. I stitch the pieces together in Photoshop, as my scanner isn't quite big enough to do it all in one shot. Twice my software crashed, the third time the computer crashed, and now, computer repaired and software restored, I can happily report: Success! 

Dreams/Spores (or The Residue of Dreaming)
gouache on 100% cotton paper
18" x 24"

Apparently sometimes you have to go at it repeatedly before you succeed. Fours the charm, I suppose. Which makes me wonder, what else have I tried and failed that is worth another attempt, or perhaps three? A lot of things. Hmm...

Work in Progress

Unfinished painting

That title refers to this painting, my battle with cancer (more about that here), my book proposal (I'm working on a cookbook - more about that here), and many many other things.

Though of course I eagerly anticipate wrapping up many of these ongoing projects, there are many more waiting in the wings. I do not doubt that when I die, I will leave many an open loop.

I would have it no other way.

Creatures

I've been thinking about dreams, about bad dreams in particular, where primordial creatures represent our deepest fears. Someone recently told me about such a dream, and it reminded me of all the similar dreams I've had over the years. Which brings me to this painting, and my thoughts and feelings making it - how those beings in my dreams represent not only my own fear but my own strength, my ability to fight on my own behalf.

I think we all have strengths untapped, inner dragons and demons and sloths, layer upon layer of them, that can be our most loyal and steadfast allies, if only we turn our unflinching attention their way.

Patternalia Continues

There are other creative projects in the works, but right now, my weekly pattern regimen is the anchor. Here's this week's installment, moving toward eclectic simplicity:

I was going to make color variations but my computer crashed last night and I lost the working files. For now, this will have to suffice.

And here's another twist on the Morning Glory theme:

Patternalia

Morning Glory

In my last entry, I gave myself an assignment: a series of textile patterns within the same nine-color palette, one each week.

Okay so I'm behind a week. Sue me.

Better yet, let me make it up to you with an extra pattern and a few color variations.

And here's this week's bonus pattern:

Amish Bubbles

Assignment: Pattern

Honeycomb

Daisy chain.

My chosen colors.

I am giving myself an assignment to design a collection of textile patterns. Eight patterns in all using the same color palette. And then I'll make versions of the same collection using two other color palettes.

I think they will all be very clean, geometric designs, with bold color interaction.

There are a couple of sketches. Nothing final yet.

It took me a little while to settle on a series of colors that inspire me and work well together. I chose nine colors.

My goal is to add a pattern a week to the collection. We'll see how that goes...

Design for Good

My latest art project is a graphic design project, a logo and t-shirt design project, to be exact. The logo is soft-spoken but the t-shirt is not. Get the full story from this post on my other blog.

Fantasy Quilt

As some of you may recall, I've gone in and out of obsessive pattern-making. At one point, I took a bunch of patterns I'd generated and constructed this fantasy-quilt - digitally speaking.

It belongs in my fantasy zen-bedroom of ultimate restfulness.

I wish you ultimate restfulness and expansive dreams.

Beading

During recent inclement health conditions, I've laid on the couch with my bead collection and a movie on the laptop, and very simply strung myself along. So nice to actively take pleasure in color, texture, and pattern, while remaining relatively passive. I am reminded of an earlier beading spree, which I wrote about in Art as Play.

This one's just an appetizer. I will post again soon with more of the necklaces I've been making, and a Paypal link, in case anyone feels the need for a little beaded bling.