Several weeks ago I began taking a lithography class at the Manhattan Graphics Center. This image is my first lithograph ever. I am pleased with it. I consider it an experiment in which I got to know the materials, the crayons, the pencils, the metal plates involved with the process. My next experiment? Liquid Tusche.
The story for this month’s Soapbox in Publisher’s Weekly was a pretty fascinating one. Ben Cheever (son of John Cheever) writes about two seemingly unrelated topics: running and seeking the truth. Yet they come together in a most interesting way in his life.
Having just written a book about running (“Strides“), Cheever talks about how in his family of runners, running together lead to moments of surprising honesty because “the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen to support a falsehood”.
I was struck by the mention of his family’s deepest secret, his father’s bisexuality (thus the closet imagery) which lead to the idea for the illustration.
You can see more of my work for Publisher’s Weekly here.
This is another illo created for the Stowe Guide, a magazine in Stowe Vermont. The humorous article deals with the phenomenon referred to as the ‘Dude Patch’ in which a group of snowboarders move about a mountain in a tightly packed posse. Click the image to view a larger version.
This is the invite i quickly designed for my nieces upcoming 4th birthday party. Unfortunately the invites never made it to her friends school mailboxes, as her school was closed on Monday (and has been ever since) as the school is located near where the fires are burning in San Diego, and all the roads are closed. I am supposed to fly out there next friday… I guess we’ll see how it goes. She was so excited to see herself on an invite. (Her actual quote: “I AM SO EXCITED!”) Btw, she really is that cute and sweet and blonde. 🙂
Also – this weekend (and last weekend) was POST (Philadelphia Open Studios). Brian and I participated from 12-6 on Satuday. It was busy and fun. (So busy and fun that i didnt get to take any photographs!) Anyway we got some great feedback and I even got a lovely mention on a local design blog: design-phan. Thanks Caroline!
Also – i have 2 pieces in this toy art show at philadelphia’s city hall. The opening reception is next Thursday from 5-7pm. I’m not sure if NY has something like this, but in Philly, it’s a great opportunity for artists. (Especially since Philadelphia closed it’s Office of Arts and Culture in 2004!) How crazy is that?!?
About 10 years ago I did an illustration for the Vermont weekly ‘Seven Days’ about a couple getting caught in a blizzard while hiking up to the Stone Hut which sits atop Stowe. The hut was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 and is a special place; perched as it is atop the famous Nose Dive trail. Recently the Stowe Guide contacted me about reusing the art though I recalled having sold the original (pre-computer days: no scan). But I had a few sketches and drawings stored away and thus did a Dr. Frankenstein and stitched, spackled and redrew the drawing above. The original story by David Healy is a great tale and can be read here.
This is another illo for the “Soapbox” column in Publisher’s Weekly.
Author Steve Weinberg laments the fact that once you are a bona fide published writer, you immediately become besieged by people looking to get their manuscripts (of varying degrees of quality) published.
He writes:
“When my telephone rings, I almost always check the caller ID before I answer. If the number and name look unfamiliar, I assume that the caller probably is (a) a prison inmate, or (b) a would-be author seeking advice about publishing a book.”
This illo for Publisher’s Weekly was for a story about a book with a tricky title. Robert I. Sutton’s “The No Asshole Rule” proved difficult to discuss on public airwaves, and the way the interviewers approached the title varied greatly. An NPR producer killed the interview after a producer got squeamish, and anything-goes satellite radio actually asked him to mention the title frequently as they figured their audience would enjoy hearing it on their radios.
I was listening to the audio book of Frank Herbert’s Dune while working on this. Nothing like an epic story to keep you glued to your desk while working on a deadline.
You can see more of my work for Publisher’s Weekly here.
A drawing in the sketchbook made of the mountains of northwest Montana as seen through Google Earth.
One of my favorite things about this website, is that when it’s my day to post, and I don’t have anything lying around that’s obviously post-worthy, it forces me into the lab to play around and experiment…I don’t do it enough, but it always leads to interesting things (though not necessarily this piece).
