Studio Day Success

Yesterday I had the day off so first thing I did was hit up some thrift stores in search of books. I came away with some real finds. The Salvation Army just happened to be having a sale where 15 books were only $1. Just my luck. I love all those Time Life books.

Also, the Goodwill wasn't having a book sale but I really lucked out with the Family Creative Workshop series find. I'm pretty sure my friends Joanna and Don have these same books and they are always making neat retro crafts.

I keep playing around with this little heart. Valentine?

Here are some pieces that are almost finished. Just a little bit more to go. I'm also working on a print exchange that I am embarrassingly behind on. I feel like I have low printmaking self esteem lately. Do you ever feel that way? I need to start doing more relief. I always liked it but switched to doing mostly silkscreen because it was quicker and much more instant gratification feeling. Oh printmaking!

Do great things with your weekend. Bundle up in the cold. Drink some apple cider. Make tissue paper pom poms and write letters to your friends.

Small Art World

Remember when I was in the Molded Heroes show? Well I met someone from the show at a wedding yesterday. Small world, right?

I met Jaime Torraco whose prints I love. It's always nice to meet artists in person. Jaime's pieces, not surprisingly, sold out but there is still plenty of work for sale at the Sixty Bones website here.

You can still find my Jem prints as well as many other great ones.



Dreamy, artful couple Don Picton (above) and Joanna Goss (below) can be found there as well. Wouldn't it be dreamy to have their pieces hanging side by side in your home? If you hang them above your bed it will give you sweet dreams.
Buy yourself some summer artwork and go out and meet three artists today!

Oh! Look at me there!

Last week I mentioned in a post that I would be featured in Don Picton's new 4-Square. Well now it's here and it can be yours for only $2! That's less than an iced chai at any coffee shop chain!

I haven't seen the whole zine yet but I can't wait to get my hands on it. Don drew the cover here. That's me with the ribbon in my hair. Well, I guess it's pretty obvious which one I am... I love that we are playing Hungry Hungry Hippos in this drawing because I recently mentioned how I want to play that game. This just seals the deal.

Here is Don's description of the zine and some of the pages inside...

Quarter-sized, 28 pages of sheer awesome. the second issue of 4-square has a sportacular Jarrad French story. Ann Flowers's'es's rookie zine yarn involving ghosts, tee pees, and jellyfish spectres. I do a comic that travels from the south pole to the not so deep reaches of outer space. And finally Alex Taylor, a man who has worked at more subway sandwich shops than anyone his age should have, tells a story about....wait for it... fast food jobs.
all this for just 2.00! buy now and put it in a plastic bag with an acid-free backing board so one day when your down on your luck you can sell it for 2.50, that's .50 profit kid. dig this, you but 4,000 copies, resell them when the market peaks, you just made yourself 2,000 bucks to spend on erotic massages. everyone wins.


Get yours today here!

Things I love

Today I'm traveling to my parents' house so I have my Ipod loaded up with at least 8 hours worth of podcasts and a gas tank filled with super expensive gas. My Eat This Don't Eat That book is traveling with me so I can figure out the best junk food to eat on my journey. It says it's a quarter pounder sans cheese at McDonalds is an okay choice so McDonalds here I come. I know I know, I shouldn't admit McDonalds eating in blog world so just pretend that I'm stopping at a Whole Foods somewhere and having a quinoa salad with tofu. ( :

Before I go I just want to share some things I'm currently loving while surfing the internests.

Like discovering my friend Jule's etsy shop. Beautiful art from a beautiful lady!

I also love keeping an eye on my friend Don's shop. He has a new zine coming out that features yours truly. Don may not be a beautiful lady but he's a very dapper young man that makes fantastic stuff!
I'm also pretty smitten by this blog. I first discovered her through her flickr because her name is Eating Ghosts. How can I not be smitten by that?
And a little shameless promotion. I love these little houses and they are still for sale here!
Last but never least, I'm really enjoying watch my friend Hannah as she finishes up her last year of grad school. Her thesis show is sure to be fantastic and hopefully I can get a post about it on here soon with an interview with the lovely Hannah March Campbell Sanders.
Okay, I'm going to fix myself an iced coffee and hit the road. Have a lovely rest of the week and weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there including my very own fantastic mother!!

Molded Heroes

Remember a few posts back when I showed you my "Jem" print I was working on? Well it was made for this show, Molded Heroes. Aurora, IL artist Mike Mancuso curated this amazing show that is based on inspirational toys from childhood. Much of the artwork is a walk down memory lane for anyone that is a product of the 80s and 90s.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the show last Saturday night but I heard it had a huge turn-out and based on pictures the show looks fantastic.

I took these show shots from the amazing Joanna Goss who was also in the show.

Look at that cake!


It's Jem!
Not only did Mike do all the legwork of getting the show together and hung, he's also being generous enough to put all the artists' prints in his online shop so that he can help everyone sell their work. Take a look at the shop here. These are some of the pieces you can find there.

"Acne Amy" by Becky Mancuso
"Buttercup" by Joanna Goss
"Failure to Launch" by Don Picton
"Teenage Mandala Ninja Turtles" by Mike Mancuso
"First Love" by Ryan Schultz
"Ariel" by Tim Shumate
"Boys Against Girls" set by Jaime Torraco
"Toys Playing Uno" by Darick Maasen
"Kaaaa-Choooooooooow" by Glen O'Neil
Go buy yourself a great piece of art at super affordable prices! Also check out the SixtyBones website for more info!

Out of the Dumps

I've really been pulling myself out of the dumps lately. So far the best cure has been my day with my good friend Joanna. We got to have lunch last Thursday and do some major catching up. Joanna has been busy all summer making lots of neat things for an art sale she did with her boyfriend Don. I was not able to go to the sale so she brought me a bag of goodies to make up for it. It was such a great treat to see my friend and score some awesome art! Definitely inspired me to get into my own studio and just start making stuff.

Here is the screenprinted bag Joanna and Don made for the store. They really paid attention to every last detail.

Joanna recently took a felting workshop and now she is making these cute popsicle felt pins.

There is also this handmade, hand-drawn pinwheel that is super adorable.

And Flags! As you can see Joanna has named her shop Prairie Dog Museum and I'm being told an Etsy shop is coming very soon.

While Joanna and I were out to lunch we stopped by the Farmer's Market and I treated myself to these flowers. They are so beautiful and really freshen up my place.

So that was my wonderful Thursday. I have more goodies from Joanna and Don but have not photographed them yet. Be on the lookout for them. They are making amazing stuff.

Don't forget today is the last day of my fundraiser. Go to the site to snatch up some awesome work that is priced so so low. I scored this beautiful piece by Kristen of Knotted Nest. Never-you-mind the blurriness of the photo... But seriously, the money is all going to a great cause. You can't beat art and good causes. Go take a look!

Oh! And Happy Labor Day! I forget it's a holiday. I actually have to labor today but it's okay, I love my job!

Homecoming Birthday

Saturday night my beautiful and talented friend Joanna had a special birthday party. The theme was homecoming dance and every inch of the house was decorated. Joanna and her equally talented and amazing boyfriend Don worked hard to transform his house into a high school dance. So much attention was paid to details, including lockers, posters and a photo backdrop for all the couples. This really was a beautiful party. The images are courtesy of Joanna.

Here is the happy couple's homecoming picture.

Lockers!