"Things Don't Have to be Complicated"

First blog post of 2013 and I have some exciting news to share! I recently had "Feeling Small in this Mechanical World", a piece from my master's thesis, published in the latest book put out by SMITH Magazine and TED Books. The eBook is called "Things Don't Have to be Complicated:" Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World and is officially on sale for all iPads, E-readers, etc. There are a ton of sweet and talented students featured in this book that are all separated by grade level and I am honored to be a part of it. My painting actually finishes off the graduate work section at the very end of the book - saving the best for last, as mom would say.

There is a short blog post on SMITH's website about the work (including a link to purchase the book) and TED has a post featuring an interview with Larry Smith which includes a quote of my memoir in one of his answers. This has been in the works for quite awhile and it feels great to see the finished product, I really hope everyone gets the chance to download it.. SMITH is a great, creative community to support!

Under the Sea

After nearly four months of silence, I'm back! I really can't believe that much time has passed, life has been absolutely crazy since starting as a full time designer at Cranston. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Immediately after my last post in June I was asked to officially join the team of textile designers! It's been a blast so far, I still have a lot to learn about the industry but each day I feel more and more comfortable going to work. My coworkers are great and I don't mind when the deadlines get a little crazy. The one thing that is killing me is not being able to show what I'm currently working on. We work very far in advance so it'll be a little while before I can post any links or images of anything I've done. If you want to take a look at some of our lines in the mean time, you can see V.I.P Fabrics here or Quilting Treasures here.

Bonus drawing:
I made this digital drawing for a friend's baby shower a little while back; now that baby Jordan has arrived let's celebrate by looking at it!

Now I'm off to draw some mice and cheese. Tootles!

Textiles and Memoirs

Hello hello! Life is as busy as ever and time really flies after graduation, let me tell you. It's already been over a month since I moved my tassel from the right to the left for the second (and final?) time and so far I've spent some time traveling the seas of the Caribbean with my love to celebrate graduation and being an adult, reading and re-reading all of my student loan documents while breaking out in a cold sweat, and applying to more art and design jobs than I can count on my fingers and toes.. and a half a dozen other people's fingers and toes too. Sadly this is going to be an all text post, but to that end I have two important announcements to make:

1.

This week I started working at Cranston Print Works as a freelance designer. The atmosphere is peaceful and everyone is extremely nice and helpful. My first assignment is for Valentine's Day and I'm excited to see where it goes, I will say though that I'm always totally cool with drawing chocolate and all things love. I've never really done textile or pattern design before so I'm currently learning as I go and enjoying the journey. There will be more to come on this subject in the near future, for sure.

2.

Today my interview with SMITH Magazine was posted on their website, front page! (For future reference when I'm no longer on the front page, the blog can be found here) The interview is mostly about my thesis work which has everything to do with their mission, and just answering their questions was enough to inspire me to make more visual work revolving around six word memoirs. I will also have more information on my involvement with SMITH's new ebook within the next few days. The interview is 100% worth reading though, if I do say so myself, so go do that while I go cuddle with the dogs before bed. Goodnight!

Masters: check!

You might be wondering why it's been so long since my last post and I have a number of reasons to give you! This list includes but is not limited to: preparing for the thesis exhibition (mounting, framing, bubble-wrapping, trucking), hanging the thesis exhibition (what a long day!), preparing for graduation (making SVA logo earrings for the ladies in the MFAI department, picking up my cap, gown, and hood, running around like a chicken without a head, etc.) actually graduating, and celebrating lavishly with my family afterwards. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall this past Thursday, May 10th (this also happened to be the date of my parents 26th anniversary!) and everything went extremely well - my name was pronounced correctly and I did not fall or even wobble in my five inch wedges, it was everything I dreamed of and more.

With all of that said, I can officially announce that I have my Masters degree! It has been quite the journey, of course having its ups and downs, but I'm happy to say that there were far more ups than anything else. It's hard to believe the two years have come and gone already but the one thing I can hold onto for a bit longer is my studio on 21st street - until July, at least. Before I get too emotional, let's move on to the fun part: pictures!

These are the eight original paintings + book that I have in the exhibition.

SVA logo shrinky dinks before baking...

And the SVA logos after baking.. they came out too cute!

Much more perfect than I had anticipated

I personalized an earring card for everyone and they seemed to be a hit!

Inside Radio City on graduation morning, everything seemed to glow red...

while my parents and I were just glowing in general.

And just for fun, Matt happened to get a picture of Marshall and I hugging on the big screen, right after I was handed my diploma.. what a moment!

American Illustration 31

I am so excited to announce that the drawing I did of my grandmother on her motorcycle has been selected to appear in American Illustration 31! I found out on Friday but have been super busy finishing up some loose ends in my thesis, causing the delay in posting. Now the hard part is waiting until November to see the show and book!

A Flared Alphabet

In preparation for the making of the cover of my six word memoir book, I'm drawing up some new alphabets to make my life a little easier. This is number one of... a number that is yet to be determined.

The City by the Sea

Yesterday I was forced to take a break from painting the map I'm making for thesis and make a completely different map for a completely different reason. Although the last thing I can afford to do at this moment is take a break from thesis work, you'll have to trust me when I say that making this map was extremely important as well. I really like how it turned out and so I want to share it with the rest of you!

This is a map of the area of Wildwood I visited every year growing up. The boardwalk is two miles long but we always stayed right near the center on Schellenger Ave at the Landmark Motel. Oh, sweet memories (I'm looking at you, Douglass Fudge).