CafePress has a cool Flash site called the Ungiftables. It's a fun way to browse for gifts for the ungiftable characters in your life. I was happy to learn they chose my Give Bees a Chance t-shirt as a potential gift for the "nosy neighbor". They also have products for "conspiracy uncle" "emo nephew" and "vege-liberal activist". Very clever, certainly there's something for everyone at cafepress. Visit my shop, Matissimo Online Boutique, it's a fun sideline for me.
I stood before this huge driftwood log two years ago, it hasn't budged. The wild north Washington coast is the land of big driftwood beaches. We've gone out here every February for about 4 years, and somehow we luck out with the weather. Sure it's cold, but clear and sunny? That's not normal, it's a treat. The afternoon we arrived I asked the woman manning the front desk of the Ocean Park Resort if she had seen any sunshine that day. She laughed like I was a crazy person. But sure enough the sun came out for our visit. We visited the beach at Oil City (not really a city at all, but reportedly the beach with the most driftwood in the world.) It's a ten mile drive from the highway, then a 1 mile walk to the beach, which is at the mouth of the Hoh river. Part of Olympic National Park, Oil City is a starting point for hiking the Olympic Coast up to Third Beach which is near La Push. That would be a rugged challenge, bring your tide chart for sure. Instead of roughing it with a backpack, we stayed comfortably in deluxe cabins and drove south to Ruby Beach, pictured below, to enjoy the sunshine and search for the perfectly shaped rock.
In March our fearless leader will be holding a workshop "Mixed Media Figure Drawing" here in Seattle, I can't wait.
Tuesday I completed a six session class, "Drawing outside the studio" taught by Barbara Fugate. The focus was expanding our mark making vocabulary, making marks that move, touch and feel. What an inspiring way to spend Tuesday afternoons, it was a treat to get away from the computer and get my hands dirty with conte crayon filling up a 9 x 12 sketchbook. We drew at three locations, the Conservatory at Volunteer Park, the Seattle Asian Art Museum and my favorite, the Woodland Park Zoo. It's been years since I visited the zoo, the diversity of the animals at Woodland Park is amazing. Emus, ocelots and elephants, oh my! Above is a barred owl, who slowly moved his head around checking out the other raptors and people watching him.
I can't believe it's almost time for Halloween! Where did summer go? The West Seattle Junction Association is using my Trick or Treat poster to promote their very popular trick or treat event. They really don't need to advertise it, somehow kids and parents just know and they turn out in droves. But the poster I designed last year was popular so we're using it again. I really like my hairy green spider, so I decided to add this design to my CafePress shop. My order of mini buttons and magnets arrived today and they're a lot of fun. Of course, if you're so inclined, thongs and mousepads are also available.
I finally had the opportunity to use Cooper Black, a classic retro font, that I used to hate, but now have a strange fondness for.
Recently I had the opportunity to create a Spring direct mail promotion for the Junction Association. It was their first big mailing, it promoted the start of the popular West Seattle Farmers Market and Spring sales and events coordinated by merchants. The back of the postcard had 20 coupons from Junction establishments. They let me go loose with a fun and colorful illustration, you certainly couldn’t miss it in the stack of mail. I think it brought the Junction’s visibility up a notch — with style!
