Studio Time, plus Coffee: Better to Drink than to Wear

Life is busy, Summer's whipping past, etc. etc. etc. I am here for I had a running appointment with a neighbor friend, before she texted a rescheduling; and in an odd twist of fate, my body rejected both the solo run AND the more sensible back-to-sleep. Good thing I'm still wearing a sports bra and running shorts, quite needed for a jaunt at the computer! To help myself wake up, I also managed to simultaneously swat my camera from the dining room table to the floor, while spilling a bowlful of coffee over: my clump of house keys, recent sketches, a couple vitamins, a cardigan, the floor. Aces. Let it never be said that my clumsiness is half-assed, oh no: when I'm clumsy, I'm all in.

So, that said, what's new? The Chelsea Sounds & Sights Festival is coming up fast; as is the Ann Arbor Art Fair, which will compel me to rove about for hours...I spent some time in the studio over the past two weekends, pulling 200+ prints...

Within the larger Cakeasaurus picture book project, I have come to a curious spot: the new designs will not necessarily stand on their own, for a viewer. They advance the narrative, sure. But would a newcomer, surfing the waves of Etsy, stop and exclaim: What? I must have! Less likely, I suspect. Which is not to say that sales drive me. Cakeasaurus has been in my head for many years now, and I wish to bring the monster and his tale to light, most definitely. But...being a larger project, it can overshadow the possibility of other designs...and having the happy sale here and there is a nice boost to keep one going. Penguins and mice are less likely to show themselves when monsters lurk about. So! It'll be interesting to see how the next chapters play out.

Onward! I pulled two different Cakeasaurus designs the weekend before last.

After we left off with password girl, I carved a line around her to make her stand out more

When I got to the studio, a chrysalis was suspended above the printing press

intriguing! Complete, with the gap in ts center, or in process?

Lots of nothing. An absence of cake.

I like how the backside of the paper has an embossed feel to it.

Laying out to dry.

Bonus jaw, with teeth! Always more curiosities in a fellow artist's studio.

...And back to the password design.

Will she get into her party? Highly unlikely.

Prints and more prints!

Such studio prettiness, to look upon...

And such activity! If there's a surface, put a print on it.

...More to come. Happy Tuesday, All.