(Inside A Black Apple)

Bess, Maude, Frances, Matilda & Maryanne

Bess, Maude, Frances, Matilda & Maryanne      14"x11"1"     Acrylic on wood

Another new painting - five little friends masqurading in five different disguises.

I have just had a really nice couple of days! My children's book editor (who I love) came to visit, and we went to a few of my favorite haunts and talked endlessly about books and not-books. It was so lovely & a nice excuse to take a work break/painting break (I need an excuse, or I will squirrel myself away for days and days.)

I'm more excited than ever about my first picture book's release, and about beginning work on the next one. I cannot wait to share more of everything - more news and (most importantly!) more pictures!

And thank you for all the kind words about these new paintings! I love how this strange little collection is coming along.

In the Spring, She Married a Bear

 I feel like I could ramble for a long time about this painting, so I'll leave it alone and just say: I am fond of it & here it is.

In the Spring, She Married a Bear     11"x14"x1"    Acrylic on wood

I thought you might get portrait hypnosis, so I thought I'd share something more scenic.

Thank you for all your kind words about the new work! It's been a really nice rabbit hole to fall down, and I don't plan on coming out of it for a good little while.

Happy Weekend to you!

Portrait with Pet Bat

Portrait with Pet Bat    11"x14"x1"     Acrylic on wood

There's a nursery/nonsense rhyme that turns up in several of my old children's books (Mother Goose & elsewhere) which goes:

Bat, bat,
Come under my hat,
And I'll give you a slice of bacon;
And when I bake
I'll give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken.

I'm not sure if she lured him with bacon, or how exactly they got to know each other, but whatever treats she promised him aside: How nice to have a docile little bat to perch on your hand!

I wonder what his name is? Morris? ...or Mervyn? ...or Melvin?

More new pictures for your viewing amusement very soon. Illustrated ladies...forest weddings...beasts wild & tame.

Bear Disguise

Bear Disguise    8"x10"x1"     Acrylic on wood

I love how simple and still this ursine girl portrait is. This is another new painting from this series of wild things and mild-mannered things masquerading and creatures who might not be what they seem.

I've been hard at work on this new work for a little while now, and there's a not-unsizeable stack of pictures ready to be shared. More portraits, but scenes, too.

I promise it's not all bears.
(But there are a lot of bears.)

Stay tuned!

Ursa Minor

Ursa Minor     11"x14"x1"     Acrylic on wood

Where have I gone to?

I've been making paintings and being very hermitty and that feels very right in the dark cold of January.

Ursa Minor is part of a series of work that has begun coming together rather organically. It's one of those things that might result in 10 pieces, or 15, or...? There's not much lovelier than when a bunch of pictures swimming in my head start to tell some kind of story together.

This particular story seems to be about the wild and ordinary intermingling, the woods and the domestic all woven together.

I'll take you further & further into the story as the paintings come along!

2013

On my less-industrious days, I think Miette is the sanest person I know. Costantly burrowing into blanket-nests and staying there in a quiet decadence. I would say this expression is Classic Miette - begrumped and disdainful and ferociously protective of his coziness.

What all of this has to do with the New Year, I don't know.

But I'm looking very forward to it, for lots of reasons.
One is simply that I can be a little numerically superstitious & it includes one of my favorite numbers (lucky 13) and besides, I vastly prefer odd numbers to evens any day.

Another is that I have some exciting things happening this year: a solo show and a picture book coming out, and lots of personal work and another picture book to make. I look out on the expanse of the months ahead, and they already feel very busy and full. It's lovely to have a million things you want to make and only be hindered by the time it takes to make them (given that you can carve out the time, that is.) I think 2013 will be a year like that.

I don't make proper New Year's resolutions because I am in a state of making vows & making changes (secret & known, big & little) no matter the time of year. Then I sink or swim accordingly. And beneath those, running like ribbon in the background, I have general, everyday resolutions. Sometimes I can't sleep for reminding myself:
To work hard.
To forge ahead.
To be kind.
To remain curious.

Happy New Year!