Year Of The Fox

The fox - member of the family Canidae - found on every continent in the world except Antartica. Looks like a dog and acts like a cat. Out of my fascination came my obsession and I picked up my pencils and began to sketch.

I've never been very confident about drawing animals - or humans for that matter. I've always felt like most of my drawings turned out very "cartoony" and perhaps they are. Nevertheless, I'm artistically compelled to create my series of foxes. This one is titled Big Red.

Sketchbook Challenge - 1703 Miles To Milwaukee

I don't draw...seriously I don't. So when my partner and friends suggested we all join The Sketchbook Project and enter our own books, I begrudgingly signed on. Little did I realize how much fun it would be. I know I can say that now that I actually completed the book and got a receipt that it made it to Brooklyn.

We signed on to the "tour" and theme: 1,703 Miles and Back. The theme piqued my interest since I was pretty sure I could use some maps in my work, and the fact that the tour was actually going to stop in Milwaukee in September. Turns out I won't be here after all when the tour arrives, but I had a seriously good time playing with the theme of what one might see on a trip to Milwaukee - maybe back in the 50's. And the nerd in me made sure I figured out the starting point, 1,703 miles from home - which turned out to be Halifax Nova Scotia, one of the most interesting places I've ever visited.

So I drew - a bit. And used maps and collage as much as I could along with the sketching so that it felt like a book I might actually do, which I did. And I had fun.

Here are some of my favorite pages.

Games Well Played

When I was growing up, every Friday night was game night in our house. My family loved playing games... well most of us did anyways. Not my Mom however. She would always have a good reason to beg out of game night. "You already have 4 players", or "I have to clean up the dishes." At least that got us out of doing dishes!

My friends will tell you I'm very competitive. Can you blame me, after all - who doesn't like to win? I've transitioned from playing a lot of games (in the literal but not yet in the figurative sense) to creating games. Fantasy worlds primarily using 1950's graphics or icons whenever possible.

I had a lot of fun with this box. The image of the Raven gave me the feeling that he is the protector of the hidden world inside. A world where elves hide under the mushrooms raised ever so carefully by the garden Gnomes who would never consider taking the mushrooms to market. I used the map of my neighborhood to symbolize my own secret garden and the fun I'd have playing games with any raccoon or rabbit that might show up. As long as they don't eat my plants, that is!

Race To A Green Thumb

When green thumbs were handed out in my family, there were definitely enough to go around. I just think I got the celadon thumb - not necessarily the "greenest" of all the choices - but still within the acceptable range of green. So while my Mom, sister and both brothers have the most beautiful, vibrant interesting or well-designed gardens, my gardens fill the space I've provided for them, and make our yard a nice place to hang out. 

Gardening, and farming in particular, is part of my family heritage. My great grandfather, after all, was the "melon king" of Milwaukee. Last year my sister passed on to me what turned out to be a journal of my family's planting history, started first by my great great grandmother, and carried on after her death by my great grandfather's sister Flora. I was immediately drawn to the entries written in German, as well as the ones later in the 1960's that documented current events such as the assination of JFK.

I used those journal pages, along with my Mom's obsession with capturing and "moving" rabbits (or squirrels) out of her neighborhood, to create this piece I call Bunny Hutch. I found this German game board as part of a multi-game collection - not too old but a lot of fun to discover.

Composition

As a virgo, it's not always easy for me to be spontaneous about anything, let alone my artwork. I pretty much get an idea in my head and don't stray too far from what I had envisioned it would look like. This work is different. My only plan was to use the cigar box, and to use the bird. The German theme came on a whim. Instead of displaying the piece as a box as I originally intended, I decided to take it apart and join the two halves together.

This is my favorite piece, the one I don't think I can ever part with. The message is simple -  a fun German girl is certainly worth singing about!

Fun Inside My Head

I wasn't sure what to do with the all the boxes of nostalgia inside my head, until I started to create. I'm thankful every day that I have a partner who encouraged me to do what I love and challenged me to allow a mistake or two. What started out as artist trading cards quickly morphed into an obsession with creating three-dimensional pieces. When I discovered I could incorporate my love of vintage objects, my weekends at the flea markets became treasure hunts for collage. At times I feel really stuck on a theme, but there are so many birds and fish and games inside my head.