*assignment from class 7-classic fairy tale hansel and gretel

All I can say is it’s been a very long month and a half. Juggling contract work plus school has been challenging at times but it’s been worth it. We’ve produced an eight panel action sequence, a 32 page book dummy and a finished illustration of a classic fairy tale and we still have three classes to go.  I’ve learned a lot in the class and feel really inspired to work on my book idea. The critiques have been so valuable and it made me realize what I’ve been missing working in my studio alone. In Brooklyn I shared a studio space with some amazing artists and I forgot how beneficial it is to be a part of a community. Trying not to turn this blog into a therapy session… but moving and starting over has been more challenging then I imagined. Sometimes I really miss New York, or the idea of it anyway. Hopefully my husband won’t read this because he will remind me why we left and how much I hated living there. This is such a pattern for me. The whole looking back, second guessing and idealizing the past. The whole being in the moment has always been my biggest challenge.

Tonight I’m taking my first class at California College of  the Arts. The Tuesday night, ten week course is an introduction to children’s book illustration. In the past I’ve done a couple educational children’s books and music workbooks, but not the kind of picture book project I’ve been dreaming about. This July marks my two year anniversary of full time free-lance illustration and I’m hoping to branch out into books (covers, interiors, the whole shabang). It’s a daunting goal and I definitely have a lot to learn…this is just the first small step.

Lately I’ve been challenging myself to push past that automated voice that says, “you can’t do that” (a.k.a fear) and into new experiences. This has led me on a messy path of missteps, some accidental success and a lot of laughter. The more I say yes when my mind is screaming no, the more open life feels.

This is how I’ve been feeling about social ME-dia lately.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to illustrate a very funny article by one of my favorite authors Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love). Her article in the March issue of Yoga Journal talks about her first yoga experience fifteen years ago. She showed up to class in an itchy wool turtle neck and cowboy boots. Her hilarious take on all the stuff that can sometimes feel new age-y like the chanting and the incense had me laughing out loud! I can totally relate. One this project I worked with Ron Escobar, one of the fabulous art directors over at Yoga Journal. He has a great blog called magazine junkie where he interviews and features all kinds of creative types. I did a short interview with him in January that I’ve been meaning to post. You can read it here…

We’re off to Thailand for two week! I will be checking e-mails periodically and returning on 3/9 (unless I get eaten by a shark scuba diving:)…

On Weds. we are heading to Ohio for Christmas and then to New York for round two with Jed’s family. Really excited to see family and friends even though there is still  much to do before we go. We decorated our place a few weeks ago and I love turning on the lights every night while we eat dinner. Speaking of dinner…one of my super talented friends Yukiko sent us hand made plates and cups with our faces on painted on them for our wedding gift. They are so adorable, I just can’t bring myself to eat off them. When we were roommates, I taught Yukiko how to drive and she tried to teach me Japanese. She eventually got her drivers license and I used my sad foreign language skills  to make the Japanese team at work laugh on a daily basis. Even though Yukiko now lives in Tokyo she is one of those friends that changed my life and inspires me on a daily basis!

Recently, I had the opportunity to illustrate a great article for one of my favorite publications Yoga Journal Magazine. The article contained short stories about creating your own meaningful holiday traditions (even if you don’t celebrate Christmas). One of the stories was about a mother and daughter planting a spruce tree every year and decorating it with apples and  popcorn for the birds to eat. They also wrote their hopes for the upcoming year on small slips of paper and tied them to the tree. If you get a chance to pick up the December issue, I highly recommend it. Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas, Chanukkah, Kwanzza, Winter Soltice, Bodhi Day, Omisoka….