HEY!

Oh hi!
I'm blogging over at michelemauleart.com!  I'm trying out having my own site these days. So far it's okay. There is a bit of a learning curve, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Come say hi to me!

Tuesday Things

Neko Case's album "The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the More I Fight, the More I Love You," came out today. If you're looking for some new music to listen to, this is one to consider. It's good. It's really good.

I heard this interview on NPR this morning and it struck a nerve for me. She talks about how her relationship with her parents played a part in writing this album. She also talks about depression and how it influenced her writing. Both things that I identified with and felt a connection to.

You can read the interview here:

http://www.npr.org/2013/09/03/217189246/neko-case-i-couldnt-really-listen-to-music

In other news, I'm still working on my little book. I'm taking time and considering what goes in it. I typically rush ideas to get them down on paper/panel as fast as I can. Often I'm not 100% happy with the work I make. I want this to be different. I want to reflect. I want to pay attention. I want to be more present with what I'm working on.

So far I am happy with the results. I have a few more pages to work on, and then a cover, which I still haven't quite figured out. I know it will materialize. I'm just going to wait until it does.

Happy Tuesday, folks.

 I've been thinking about cards a lot lately. They seem to be a great source of income for me so I'm going to keep making them. Sounds logical, right?

I think the typewriter would make such a cute little sticker.

Last week I got to thinking about how I can help my cards stand out from the rest. Instead of thinking about the front of the card, I turned my attention to the back. Right now the back of my card is a bit lack lustre. It's just my name, website, the year and that it's made in Portland. Not a lot going on. So, I thought, why not dress it up a little, make it a bit more personal and eye catching.

I might go with this one...

I made a series of little logos that might look cute on the back. I worked on this a little bit more today and I think I've got something I like. I think it will cost a little bit more to make, but I'm okay with that. I think I might make some labels with the other images I've got. They'd look cute on packaging!

I really like this one!

 I realized my appreciation for those who do hand lettering for a living. Wow. That is not an easy job.

Another!

At about 5am this morning, as I lay trying to sleep, I recalled a photo a took of Chloe, years ago, wearing some antlers. I thought what a perfect thing to make into a holiday card! I knew that I wouldn't be stuck without ideas for long. It always seems to hit me right when I'm trying to sleep...

Here's the picture I referenced. She looks completely thrilled to be wearing those antlers, doesn't she?

I remembered to pull out my camera to document the process! Such a rare thing seeing as I always forget to do this.

The no eyes thing always kinda creeps me out. I try to get them done first.

I was hoping to create a bit more of a goofy card, but her expression came out a bit serious.

That's better.

Overall I'm happy with it! I think it's cute and festive which is what I was aiming for.

So, that's 3 holiday cards under my belt. I don't think I'm going to stress about it anymore. Whoohoo!

Now, it's onto the next project. 

Almost done.

Creative Block

One of the hardest obstacles to deal with when you work in a creative field is block. We're all familiar with writers block, but there's also artist block and I'm pretty sure there is such a thing as musician block. Although, I'm not a musician, so don't quote me on that. Maybe they never get stuck. But something tells me that they are not the exception.

So, what do you do when you get to this dreaded block? Take a walk? Go for a hike? What if these things don't work? What if you have this frustrating thing for days, weeks or months? Then what do you do?

I don't have the answer.

Sorry.

These things happen and sometimes they go away quickly and sometimes they last a very long time. the most frustrating thing about it, for me, is when I genuinely WANT to work. When I want to sit down and draw, or paint, or just make shit, but nothing happens. Or, even worse than that, you make something and you have these tiny little voices telling you its not good enough. Or you sit down to draw something and it looks like you've been drawing with your eyes closed, and really, you're just not into it.

I know it never lasts too long. Two weeks is long for me. Two long, frustrating weeks. But I just try to tell myself that it will come back and in the meantime I try working on things like organizing my work space, working on tax things and sometimes going for a hike...

I also try making things I haven't for awhile. I made a book last week, and today I started doing little drawings and writing in it. I love these little books. They're like portable pieces art. They're also like these little worlds you can experience all on your own. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. I was thinking of opening up a separate Etsy shop and maybe selling them. Or maybe I'll just keep them for myself...





This week has been a bit of a struggle for me. I've been trying to come up with a new Christmas card design. It hasn't been easy. The number one reason for this is because it's summer. Summer! It's beautiful outside and the furthest thing from my mind is the holidays. Also, it's the holidays. When you work retail, this is can be the most stressful/tiring/no fun part of the year. Which, for me, is really sad. I love the holidays. I really do, but the site of that first Christmas tree brings some panic and dread to my heart.

So, today, when I finally sat down and got this out onto paper, I was both happy and a bit sad... Sad knowing that I won't see family, friends or really get to spend much time enjoying a happy time of year as much as I could be. I was hoping last year would be my last holiday season, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. I'm okay with it. There are positive and negative things about it, and right now the positives outweigh the negatives, so I'm sticking to it. For now.

Some New Things

New Water Tower Painting.

It's been months since I posted some new originals in my shop, but I finally did just that today. There are two new pieces in my shop right now.

Inspired by a Dog Mountain Hike

I was looking through my Flikr page yesterday, trying to come up with a couple of images to draw and paint. I forget how many photos I have over there. I found these two images and I knew I wanted to recreate them with pencil and paint.

While I was looking through those photos I came across a number of pictures that I took while I lived in Michigan. They brought back a lot of memories. This photo in particular reminded me how much I used to love selling on Etsy and getting so many orders everyday.

So many!

 It's hard to believe that I used to send out a stack of orders like that almost everyday! I don't get that many orders in a month these days. I'm okay with though. My wholesale/consignment business has been growing steadily and I feel like it's just going to keep growing. I'm going to surpass the sales I made last year, and the two years before that!

It's hard not to miss those days sometimes. It was such an immediate transaction and it made me feel so validated. I also really loved packing all those orders. Really!

Ah well. I'm going to mention television again because I remember this clip, from The Office, whenever I start to think about "The Good Ol' Days."



 Oh Andy, you really summed that one up nicely.

Let's Talk Television

Yeah, let's talk specifically about Orange is the New Black. Seriously. Who isn't watching this show? If you are not, then I highly suggested you get Netflix streaming (if you already have it you're half way there) then sit down with at least three days of groceries, your favorite pajamas and watch all of the episodes right now. 

It's a show about a womens prison and it tells the stories of the women who are there and why they are there. It's about relationships and love, but it's also about the politics of womens prisons. Healthcare, race and sex are also topics of this show that depict womens issues and how they might be handled in prison environment. These issues aren't really something that most people think about when you think of women in jail, and I think it's great that Netflix has decided to produce a show about it.

One of the most interesting depictions of  these women is of character, Sophia, played by a transgendered actress, Laverne Cox. It's not often you see a transgendered woman playing a role on television and it's also very rare that the actress is African American. It's easy for television to stereotype a trans person but I feel like this show helps show a different side to them. A side that for many people, humanizes them.

I'm not saying this show is a perfect depiction of what it's like to be a woman, or a woman of color, in prison. I don't think most people really know what that is like, ( I don't) but for television to show all races, ages and sexualities on one show, is kind of remarkable.

This is one of my favorite scenes. It totally makes fun of me and most of my friends, and I'm okay with it. You have to be able to laugh at yourself, right?



Anyway, if you haven't seen this show, DO IT! It's good. If you have, you already know that it's great.