A Slow Start Builds to PRINTMAKING! BONANZA! this weekend

current mood, courtesy TripAdvisor

I suspect I'm in the middle of a post-holiday slump. I'd like to nap and snooze and not do much of anything. Which doesn't really jive with reality, but one can dream. Or one *could* dream, were one to rest for more than 20 minutes, at any given point of any day. The time of easy napping has long since left me.  Last Sunday was a local art event (Westside Art Hop, interesting interview with event creator here), for which I was a venue organizer --  a happy affair, with a worthy end goal of art promotion and community building. As it often does, the role of "organizer" expanded to fill any available time for a couple weeks. But the event pulled itself together well, Michigan unrolled one of its perfect Fall days, I made some new friends, and sold an encouraging amount of recent card designs.

This is the first year I took a more serious stab at Holiday cards (Judeo-Christian). In the past, whenever I trained my sights on a design for a specific purpose, my brain always faked me out with something appealing but irrelevant (Christmas, hunh? …What about a hedgehog? Or a paranoid/appropriately afraid/ armadillo?). But this time, with a little encouragement, I tried to push through. I came up with some cynical ornaments giving side-eye, and an utterly dire family bingo; sadly, neither surmounted their initial roadblocks. Rick shared the germs of ideas for Hanukah cards, two of which made it to actual production. Between sketches of angels and penguins with hobby horses, plus the 4 y.o. spitfire, I have been busy since our return from Pennsylvania at the end of August.

Some glimpses into design evolution:

original angel treetopper was mildly babushka-like

sketch plus foliage

I decided to add wing detail to the key block, but left dress details to the color blocks

how does a sheep earn its wings? This, I do not know.

the backside of the mousie design, on its last color block

More of a classic holiday card, free and swoopy.

Two variations, each one printed on three blocks

My Dreidel/Gimel (“Take all the chocolate" side of the dreidel) card was the surprise hit at Westside Art Hop, along with “Dark & Stormy.” 

“Holy *!” said one future customer, “It’s the ONLY CLEVER HANUKKAH CARD EVER!”

*

 

“Right !?!” replied Rick, later that night, “And it’s so weird. Because we’re such a funny people.”

So, I’m feeling good about the Hanukkah cards. I have another, which is still drying in the basement.

Dark & Stormy: It’s not quite a Halloween card, but it IS a nightmare of our modern life, so I also just printed this in orange and black.

The more books you look in, the more surprises you find

Otherwise, the Art Hop was good for a few overheards (nothing outrageous). A professor, gesturing to the armadillo, said to his colleague, “…Yeah, I’m going to hang that IN MY LAB”  -- though he failed to buy it, alas. I hovered in the background, wondering what is studied in his lab. A woman walked past wearing a black tee shirt, with white lettering which I thought Anne (co-author of this study) would appreciate: Not that Kind of Doctor.

If you missed Westside Art Hop, you have another chance to catch me this Fall, this Saturday at the downtown Ann Arbor Library, at the PRINTING EXTRAVAGANZA known as Wayzgoose! 

Printing demos, talks (including the amazing Amos Kennedy), and workshops, as well as a bevvy of printmakers, displaying and selling their wares. Come visit!

Rotary Phones, Emily, and Art Hops

Begging for a plant.

Last Saturday’s Makers’ Mart in Toledo was the culmination of incredible hustle & inventory bolstering. A tiring-but-rewarding event, made infinitely more enjoyable by All Who Stopped By. Thanks, Friends! The event was sadly under-caffeinated, but the burnished food truck fries and buttery crab rolls were splendid. People watching, as always, is one of the best things about any fair; and this did not disappoint, though, what with the day’s hustle and the passing of a few days, the more deliciously freaky interactions/overheards have dissolved like dream fragments.

On the basis of visual entertainment alone, I’d like to award extra points to the vendors of tiny-cacti, planted in teeny clay pots, the new owners of which walked about, awkwardly holding their new succulents. Waiting for friends, cradling a cactus; browsing, one hand held aloft, away from the body.  I am quite certain that, sans packaging, I’d be unable to make it home without crashing the little pot, or spilling it across an unrelated display, or inadvertently abandoning it in some murky spot. They were much more confident than I. I envied the guy who passed by with a medium sized cactus, planted in a retro black table model rotary phone, spiky leaves arcing out where the number/letters had been. That was cool. But to commit, I’d still need a box.

Mystifying

I brought a couple art books and an Emily Dickinson volume to riffle through, and was quite happy I
did so. A full day of friends, strangers, new fans and casual dismissal is always a few hours beyond my limits – best to bring some book friends, for an instant oasis. And when is this NOT a good idea? This browsing, however, brought with it some unwelcome news: somewhere along the way, my ability to read and discern meaning from poetry has diminished. I used to read a LOT of poetry. A LOT. And I don’t think I was a tool about it – I wasn’t wandering around randomly quoting passages and missing the substance – but…I don’t know. On Saturday, I picked up Dickinson – read and re-read – considered death, the bee, captivity – and knew I missed a lot of each one. Sad little brain, what happened? I eventually ate the aforementioned fried food and felt better. Still disappointed.

Fast forward to a quick table break down under lowering clouds, a peaceful drive home, and a blissful reading bath the next morning, on Mother’s Day. I drew a bath on the sly and snuck into the tub, since my daughter would want to clamber in the moment she realized there was bath water to slosh onto the walls. I steamed and sunk into my water logged copy of Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing; ate clementines and drank ice water. Lovely. Midway through, the child burst in:

“Oh! You surprised me, I didn’t know you were taking a bath.” A pause before she shrugged one arm from a sleeve, announced: “I will JOIN YOU!!”

I hurriedly said No, the water was too hot for her; I just wanted to read, not play (“—I will read WITH you!” countered the pre-literate); I would be out in a little bit~~

She stopped mid-negotiation. “I didn’t realize you could DRINK in a bath. I didn’t know you could EAT in a bath!...Next time I’m going to have a bath WITH A BOOK AND AN ORANGE AND WATER” I was able to scoot her out while she was all filled with purpose about future bathing options. A good start to a classic Mother’s Day. See also: breakfast in bed, chocolates and apricot ruggelah; flowers, and card drawings. All fine, and fine. ‘Course there were also meltdowns, anguish, and fury much later on in the day. But the start? Golden.

What comes next for prints and cards? So glad you asked! I happily delivered a new batch of cards to Nicola’s Books yesterday, so they will have a robust Cakeasaurus Prints card inventory for the Summer months.

Next up, the last show I will do for a while: Westside Art Hop. If you’re local, this is a really cool art fair/art walk to explore!

This Sunday, from 10-5, over 50 artists will display their work across 20 homes and businesses, across a handful of streets in the Westside of Ann Arbor. I’m excited to be at Gretchen’s House on 700 Mt. Vernon Ave, along with thirteen other artists. All participating venues will be marked by two red balloons, plus area signs. Check here for list of artists and here’s a handy dandy map:

No cover and a nice meander! Don’t forget to ask your artist for a sticker with purchase, to take advantage of the following local deals:

• Conor O'Neill's - special reduced rate Art Hop menu
• Washtenaw Dairy - adult size for the price of a kid size
• Sweetwaters - Free 16 oz coffee or tea with any food purchase
• Parrish framing - percentage off of next framing job. 

 Happy Thursday, All! I hope to see some of you this weekend. 

It's a Card Partayyyyyyy! And the Groundhog Needs No Invitation

Busy Busy Busy! Fall has come, along with some nasty, flu-ish thing. Aside from scheduling myself to sell in the somewhat-outdoors tomorrow (insulated garage), I timed it pretty well, haha. Rick was able to watch our sweetie for most of yesterday and all of today, making extended nap times and dubious home remedies possible. Hopefully the illness ends with me! 3 y.o. definitely sounds nasal-y, but she often does, but is also rambunctious as ever. I'll be layered like an onion tomorrow, and hope that the rain mostly holds off.

If you're not out doors all day, it sounds like a lovely day for a meander! I'm excited to take part for the first time in the Westside Arthop, a free local event, where you can check out 16 venues, with a varying number of artists selling their wares. I'll be at 800 Mount Vernon with two other artists; one door down from another venue and one block away from the most populated venue (featuring the work of 12 artists at Gretchen's House, where I believe this event was first staged). Full artist and artist host map here.

Amongst a robust show docket, I still got to experience some play time.

1. Here are three new card designs, inspired by our daughter's drawings + her words about them:

They have a different feel from some of my other designs, I think, so we'll see how they do! The green ones *just* finished drying, so their first outing will be to the Westside Arthop tomorrow. After this event, I think I'll deliver some to the yummy El Harissa market, which I'm very happy to have carry my cards.

2. I dropped off a nice batch of small cards to Nicola's Books. May they sell happily and well!

including the new "Thank You" card, also here

3. Thank you, Everyone who stopped by to browse and visit at the DIY Street Fair in Ferndale, at the end of September! All you groovy, cool, and odd folks -- fellow vendors and friends & customers -- made some long days seem shorter. As did some fine music and the discovery of a new favorite brew.

Show favorite? The groundhog.

I sold this vociferous fellow more frequently than any other print. Quite often, it spurred stories of animal deck occupations, and frequently, an older male relative who was being driven crazy by them. Purchases were contemplated, but would Bill find it funny OR would it send it him over the edge? Not for me to say. Either way, I'll also have this one at my table tomorrow... Consider yourself invited.

Happy Weekend, All.
Best,
M a/k/a Cakeasaurus

Goodbye Summer, Hello BookFest.

Fall is upon us and we are re-entering the school groove. There is nothing of school about me, specifically, but as the partner of a youth theater director, whose schedule will now exponentially ramp up, late nights proliferate, and Saturdays be claimed by football, I feel it settling in about me with a certain sense of...dread? Doom? Anxiety? Surely not, we are: up! for the challenge, gazing lovingly and expectantly upon our growth opportunities! Perhaps the caffeine just needs to kick in.

Anyhow, Javier needs to leave earlier than normal today and is getting his shower out of the way so he can give me a little time to myself before driving into Detroit. Estimated shower times are difficult to discern for someone like Javier, as they may include him taking a shower and they may include his sudden reappearance to announce things like, "BREAKING NEWS: HUMA ABEDIN IS SEPARATING FROM HER HUSBAND" before he closes the bathroom door once more. And as you know, something is always breaking, whether news, or furniture; spirits or tree branches. Dizzying existence washes over us. But this morning, nothing especially noteworthy, the shower pressure sounds impressive from one room away; and I am listening to the Moppet throw progressively larger and heavier toys outside her play area in a ploy for our return.

On Saturday evening, we returned from a week-long road trip to visit my parents and sister in Pennsylvania -- a long overdue collective reunion with Oyo. It was heartening to see them all get to know each other again, though we have skyped sporadically (dodgy internet connections and hyper-mobile toddler permitting). Oyo excitedly christened my Dad "Dada!" but refrained from settling on a name for my Mom. At meals, Mom would intone, "I'm Grandmom. Grannnnd....Mommmmm. Who am I? Grandmom!...Oh, it's okay, it doesn't matter...Grandmom!"  Oyo continued to refer to my sister generically, but also continued to be snuggly and trusting with her, so all was well. The visit was short and the trek was long; and when the baby slept she slept very well, and when she would not, it was horrid. Or something to that effect.

*** {Minutes, hours, most of a day}*** Well, if this was gaining any steam earlier, I'm not feeling it now. This is my problem with the idea of getting all kinds of things done after the baby goes to bed, though I know this is when a lot of productive parents must take care of things. My will seems to dissipate once I turn on the fake crickets of the sound machine each evening. I just haven't ironed this out for myself yet.  

ANYhow, what I most definitely AM building toward is BookFest on September 11th, in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown. I'm really geeked to be a first time exhibitor in this robust event -- excited to be among our local booksellers, writers, printmakers and book artists (including John Gutoskey and his new A2 Print Studio, Ephemeral Books, Fineburg Art Studio, Sloe Gin Fizz).

I'll have not-one-but-two! tables, of woodblock prints from my picture book, an expanded line of linocut cards, and - brand spanking new! as of today! - two tote bag options: "All Good Cakes are Born from Books" (cream tote) and "Lost Cake Anxiety" (black tote). Both feature Cakeasaurus on the back, scrutinizing a recipe.

front and back of "Lost Cake Anxiety"

The black one is really soft, and hangs nicely against the body; the "natural" one is more structured, with a wide gusset sewn in -- both are surprisingly roomy.

 

Same "Cakeasaurus Prints" image, entirely different feel

"All Good Cakes..." tote

nice side action!

For the original woodcuts the totes are based on click here (Lost Cake Anxiety) and here.

Plot Hatching!

Scheming babies, they're everywhere

Beware the plotting babies! It's no coincidence that this sketch came to me just as my 15 month old has started to walk, loves sitting on adult chairs, even if she can't get onto them herself...and is busy, busy, busy. Baby sock in the silverware compartment of the dishwasher, baby sock flattening in the beginning pages of a novel from the library, duckling finger puppet nestled in my shoe. She's full of vim, vinegar and mysterious plans. Sometimes we can see the wheels turning; other times, just a blur of motion.

I drew this on Monday, in a peevish fit -- I would have been plotting, myself, had I more energy. As it was, I doodled, and then distracted myself from crabbiness*, by getting sucked into Photoshop world with texts and coloring layers. I'm still really clunky with the program, but am closer to the a-little-knowldege-is-a-dangerous-thing stage. But! After I pass that stage! Golden! ----ish. 14 karat? I'm enjoying it more, definitely.

Etsy listing for Plotting baby card here

*Something we should all follow babies and toddlers in doing! ...Or we may already do, without knowing. Wahhhhhhhhhhh~~ooohhowthatswings! Helpful at any age.

Linocut Level: High, Crazy Level: Low Simmer

Tom Petty has been following me all day. I have never had a use for him, though growing up it seemed most of the local stations did (to a lesser extent than Led Zep or Bon Jovi, go TRI-STATE AREA!). I get that he has a sizable catalog, but really, why do people care anymore? It probably serves me right, I suppose, as at home, I'm lazy enough to set the radio dial to a halfway acceptable station to me in the morning, instead of descending to the basement to dig up CDs, or listen to Spotify, because I'm cheap and have held off from subscribing; and then here I am choosing to do my tasks in the least efficient manner possible.

I am, ostensibly, listing my new cards on Etsy, but this bar has dodgy internet connection, at best; and the downloading has been lamentable. The nail in the task coffin is that Photoshop has crashed on me three times. And in the meantime, the music has shifted from the lovely Temper Trap and Black Keys to an extended live version of Tom Petty's "Breakdown," which briefly morphs into "Hit the road jack, don't come back no more, no more, no more." Eh. I left the house because A.) I could, what with a sweet teenage babysitter who is great with the baby, even as she goes "Oooph!" most times she lifts our densely-packed girl and B.) my short streak of high productivity seemed to smack into a wall today, so C.) why not expose my sheltered self to some local color?

And local color I'm getting, as I set myself up at a table at the tail-end of a bartender story about having to deal with a female paranoid schizophrenic who had to be removed from the premises by police, after various threats. I didn't get any of the interesting details, only Bro's reaction from the audience table: "All women are batshit crazy, I go from that average and go down." Hahaha, crazy females! He is smugly provocative. Late twenties/early thirties, but still playing boyishly defiant, in super baggy, long shorts and baseball cap; his delicate eyes protected by iridescent, wraparound shades. He faces his table of (mostly older) five men, two women. One of the latter: "So where would I rate on the scale?" I don't listen closely enough for his assessment; clearly neither participant is worried about the answer. A gay male friend of mine years ago said, in defense of an especially egregious friend -- slavering over women + stupid gay jokes -- "I mean, everyone's gotta have the loveable asshole friend, right?" But do they really? Do we? My judgment is very comfortable, lacking knowledge of the entire table. But. He says, at one point, to the other guys at the table, "I take your silence as agreement"; he points his beer bottle at the remainder of the table: "They agree with me." Call me crazy, but it's dismaying to walk into a Feminism 101 lesson, simply by dropping by the nearest microbrew. 


At a certain point, between my slow-but-hopeful downloads and the Photoshop failures,  Bro loudly amends his position: “70% OF ALL WOMEN: BATSHIT CRAZY.” Was he still entertaining to his table, or were they simply waiting him out? Does any part of him get that women experience passing dismissals regularly, in public, whether professionally or not? At all? The idea that half of a population could still be treated as a minority, as an oddity, is astonishing, even given the current popularity of such a blatant misogynist as Trump.

***
Back home, Oyo's snug in her crib, and I'm lured into flipping between The Shining and The Usual Suspects. My grimness scale may soon be exceeded; and I'll take myself down for some basement printing. The goat I tested yesterday is on for tonight:

in search of decorative papers

...though I did carve him with a starry night background

*******

Thursday post script: didn't make it past the couch last night, but the super energized one napped well today, so I have 50 goats drying in the basement from this afternoon. Woohoo! Onward and upward. I have trouble believing I made 5 new card designs in under three weeks -- and this plus two larger card designs, which I may or may not pull. I usually sit on things for...quite awhile. Flurries of productivity!

Of course, I am in the final stages of the Cakeasaurus picture book...I can barely remember when I wasn't talking about this...so maybe I needed to create something unrelated to remind myself I could? Hmmmm. In any case, have some shots from the recent flurry:

Sweet bunny in brown

with my current favorite backing paper

now in Etsy shop

Also in shop

New new new! The bear came first, followed by chipmunk and goose.

If the Bear Knocks Twice, Let Him In

Greetings! One day shy of June, during which my Dad, my sister, Javier (same day as sister!), and myself all celebrate birthdays. Much planning, perusing, and a handful of packages to assemble. And of course, a time to take stock of one's life, the subjective analysis of which is ridiculously variable for me.

This time around, barring my lax approach* to exercise and a few other things, it's looking pretty good. Baby's thriving: talky, adorable, puppylike in the treatment of her adults**. I am down to a couple last sketches needed for the picture book project and I just delved into linoleum cuts after years of having a couple unused blocks in my basement.

I've been thinking about the small cards I sell. My biggest sellers are birds from a larger woodcut I did many years ago. I love their continued popularity, I love combining these mini prints with pretty decorative papers, I love browsing the paper stores and considering my options. But I also don't feel like I'm growing with them. What's next? That's the smaller and larger question for me now.

I have been giving myself more doodly playtime in the past month, and it's starting to pay off: random characters are showing up in my mind, with more random things to say. This used to happen to me more frequently, before I started funneling my energy into a single larger project. I missed this! And now it seems to be back. Not that I know what to do with all of them. I make note of them and file some away. Some will gain life. The bear design below is an exception, having started with a photograph, without something pointed to say. He'd like to be in your business, though.

the pillow-animal hybrid resurfaces

Like the Oyo, the bear is in-your-face friendly. I doubt he'll have the widespread appeal of the birds, but maybe he'll resonate for the same folk who like the snacky Badger. One acquaintance saw the first photo and said, "Ahh, you're making a kids' card." It could be, but I don't think it has to be.

 Either way, it was a fun exercise to try out the lino block's butteryness.

A fine Friday afternoon!

I carved a few layers for multiple color printing

The flip-side is promising

A certain charm...

...But ultimately I returned to post-print markers

On sale soon -- likely venues: Cakeasaurus Etsy shop, Literati, Bookbound...

--> Next up: pensive chipmunk.<--

*it's true, I approach it. wocka wocka!
**so scrambly, when you sit on the floor, she charges at you, flops into your lap, snuggles for a moment and then tries to push you over. Pushy, pushy child. More bitey than we would like. No pinch, no bite!

Tiny Expo! And Snacky Badgers

I used the terms "Summer" and "Fall" the other day and Javier reminded me that it's November. Michigan is trying to catch up with some weather nastiness (last Friday's high wind advisory, Saturday's rain, snow, hail pellets), but in between we're still getting days in the 50s and 60s -- bonus, bonus, bonus days! Let's buy balloons, let's throw a party! The Inner Eeyore intones: "we'll only pay for it later~~"

In the meantime, here's a little bit of local celebratoryness, for which I'm making busy like a bee. I'm excited to be a vendor at the Tiny Expo, held at the Ann Arbor Library (home to huge Connect Four sets and checkoutable theramins! to baby playgroups and mesmerizing aquariums!). Behold this year's enticing poster: 

Wouldn't we all go to more fairs if we had confidence bears, foxes and rabbits would be among the attendees? ...So, something else to stave off the early evening dark. I have been building up my woodblock card inventory, playing with collages, and have steadily chipped away at the picture book pages*, so I'll have a lot to share on a little ole table. The baby will most likely make an appearance as well, though for the sake of my back, Javier will also be with her.

*hah! hah! hah! woodblock humor!

Sneak peek of prints hot off the press from Studio Wednesday:

Next Up -- New Card Design, for the Discerning Snacker

An enthusiastic, but generous, Badger

Brand Spanking New, Just for Cards:

Happy Moments Plentiful, Happy Hours Rare

Marissa didn't lie about the Kunde Zinfandel. Lov-er-ly.

Weheeeeelll, so I was going to post a flurry of photos, but I am on Vinology's dodgy internet connection, and was, perhaps, overambitious, and clogged it. So I'll start without visual aids... As of yesterday, we are ONE WEEK shy of Baby being 5 months old, which brings us close to almost half a year of Dumpling's existence, which is hard for me to fathom. Today is Baby's day at the office, which meant I woke her up a teensy bit early for her for a good nursing session and then waited for Javier to get his things together and be off. He couldn't help it -- at whatever stage, he kept wandering over. Him, in his bath towel, leaning in, "DADDY" pointing inward,"loves BABY" pointing to her. She gasped and gazed upward, starstruck, pistoned her legs. Her body struggled to convey how utterly exciting he was. "Come ON," I said, "Let's go~~" He harrumphed and eventually got himself and the baby gear good to go, and was off in time for Fresh Air.

Which left me a little time to finish up a new batch of cards before meeting a new artist friend for afternoon tea. Not bad! The past couple days have been a visit to my old existence: yesterday -- > hair cut, followed by a leisurely browse about Salvation Army (with new tweaks of looking for dresses that would A.) make me feel like a properly dressed person while also B.) easily allowing me to whip out my breasts at Baby's whim; plus a fabulous "update" text from babysitter letting me know they had a nice walk, looking at leaves and shadows, and such). Today, extended cafe socializing as if one didn't have many time constraints, followed by Hallelujah! a Happy Hour glass of wine and Thai chicken flatbread outside, because the almost-Fall weather was too beautiful to defy by going back to the house, and down into the basement for carving...

So heartening to be making new connections now in the midst of some new-Motherhood isolation, especially with fellow creative folk (new friend referred to us collectively as Makers, a term I have certainly heard before, but had not applied to myself. I guess I associated this with more technology/cool geekery/rebellious creativity. But I much prefer it to "Artist," which I sometimes cringe from, for my own neurotic reasons; and which reaction has brought flak. But do I, we, make things? Most definitely! And it also carries with it the practicality, too, doesn't it? It conveys a sense of proactive being in the world, which I most definitely appreciate. Ahem.)

***Back at the house. With count-down to Dumpling arrival, behold some card designs:

Favorite color schemes right now

Toss up between which decorative paper is better. Table rim a big change in feel

Hopeful and happy to me

My ever-apprehensive woman, from the online dating print

A side design for the Cakeasaurus Picture book, guest appearance as card

Bonus shot, with Fisher Price Chime Ball