Collinwood Pocket Garden.

Several months ago I submitted a raccoon design to be a part of a new pocket garden on East 156th Street in Collinwood, OH. It's just around the corner from The Beachland Ballroom and Music Saves. My friend Amy and I both had designs accepted and last week (after many hours of painting 4'x8' panels while watching the X-Files) we got to see the finished garden and mural installation. It's definitely a good feeling to be a part of something that will bring a little bit of life back to this part of the neighborhood. 

My original raccoon drawing can be seen here.

"Take me outside, sit in the green garden"

The spring blossoms have come and gone already. I snapped these photos just in time. The ground is littered with fallen petals. I have been carefully picking out plants to fill our yard - a seemingly never ending project that started the day after we had the keys to this house - and sprouting seeds under lights in the basement. This year I will plant my first real vegetable garden and hopefully not lose it all to the chipmunk who has taken up residence in the beds we made. It seems that the friendly outdoor cat in our neighborhood may be too friendly to scare the menace away. But I like the challenge. This is the time of year that I love. Spending time in the evening watering my plants. Watching the flowers I love bloom. Everything becoming green again. 

This song has been my soundtrack this week: Green Garden. 

The pigeons fly again.

I had drawn these pigeons a few years ago for a shirt design that never got used. I've always loved them, so when I was asked us to create some new shirts for the Relient K Spring 2013 tour I decided to try and revive the pigeons. Turns out they're currently the top selling shirt. Bravo pigeons.

(Side note: listening to Relient K again while working on this shirt was like taking a time machine back to high school.)

Prickly Pear.

This piece, which was accepted into the American Greetings Spring Fine Art Show, is a further exploration of a sketch that I did while in Sedona this past fall. I really enjoyed the way that the prickly pear would sprawl across the landscape in every direction and all of the color variations that could be found in just one plant. 

(Click for an enlarged version.)

It's been a while.

Sometimes life is too busy and moves too fast. Life has been like that for me lately. Lots of ups and downs. Lots of anxiety and stress. But lots of good too. 

I had been working on two pieces for the American Greetings Spring Fine Art Show. One piece was accepted into the show and sold on the night of the opening. This is the piece that wasn't accepted. 

To Florida and Back.

I love the spontaneity of road trips. Not knowing what you might see along the way, where you will end up stopping, the conversations that will be had. Discovering the what might be the best salsa ever 702 miles from home. Choosing to stay at a hotel almost solely based on the fact that Bill Murray was in one of their promotional photos. Indulging in Little Debbie Zebra Cakes at a gas station. It's the little things.

We made stops in Atlanta, St. Augustine, Orlando and finally Deerfield Beach, Florida. We visited an amazing aquarium, ate at Caddy Shack, walked on old roads, drank a lot of bad coffee, played at Disney, finally saw Captain EO, relaxed on the beach, and spent too little time with dear friends. 

(More photos HERE.)

Encyclopedia of Work Spaces.

I participated in Art House Co-op's Encyclopedia of Work Spaces project. They recently posted the completed Encyclopedia to their site. Here's my entry:

It was interesting to see all of the other spaces that people sent pictures of. Some very personal. Some not. Some clean, others, like mine, quite messy. 

Some X-cellent Valentines for you!

My friend Amy and I created some nerdy X-Files Valentine's to share. 

If you're a fellow nerd and would like to print them out and spread the love, click here to download.