Uppercase Contest submission for They Draw and Travel!

I really wanted to submit something to this contest as it is a combination of 2 of my favorite things. I love the TDAT website, and traveling in general, and Uppercase is my fav magazine. You can see the full map here on their site. I wished I hadn't already submitted my map of Westborough, MA, that I did for Make Art that Sells, Part B , but  because I had, it made me work on something new! 

I had to reformat Lilla's assignment to the more horizontal specs of TDAT.

Since I had already done a map of the town in which I am currently living, I decided to focus on the area I spent many years in and around, the Providence/Pawtucket area of Rhode Island. I used to work at Hasbro, at 1027 Newport Avenue in Pawtucket. Let's just say it's an "interesting" town. Rhode Island has a lot of faces... from beautiful beaches, quaint seaside towns, to chain-linked fenced yards, triple decker housing, tattoo and pawn shops, well you get the idea. Pawtucket has a lot of the latter. Another strange characteristic is what the locals like to eat. For some strange reason, they have a certain fixation on "New York System" hot weiners (Rhode Islanders do not adhere to the i before e except after c rule). SImply put, weiners are skinny hot dogs, topped with a meat sauce, onions and celery salt. Anyway, I thought illustrating a little tour of the top wiener spots in the area might be a funny topic. Back in the day, Dot's Dairy Bar (see spot number 6 on the map) was within walking distance of 1027. I went there mainly for the shakes, but I was known to occasionally pick up a weiner alongside. At around a buck a dog, the price was right.

It was a fun map to do and if you look closely, you might see my homage to my former employer with a guest appearance of Mr. P and Rich Uncle Pennybags. In retrospect, even the little houses look like the ones in Monopoly! If you ever go there, I don't recommend hitting all these spots in one day... I won't be held responsible for the state of your digestive system after, but enjoy!!

40 days of lettering... day 34

Yup, I'm still plugging away. This was a particularly long quote to work with, and seemed especially so since I started working on it the night before it was due :/ Desperate times, made me turn to desperate measures. I knew the only way this gets done in a few hours was to actually use some traditional media :O !!!!!! I know that might sound silly to most, but I haven't used something I've hand drawn and scanned in well.... I'm not sure I ever real have. gulp. And I gotta say, it was really quite a relief to lay off the pen tool in illustrator for a night. Not to say that I didn't use it altogether (don't go all crazy on me...) but I actually relied on my trusty micron, this after I searched the house for it. I still couldn't help myself from adjusting/smoothing out some points after doing live trace, but for me, it was a big deal. In the end, I like how it turned out. I can't see me changing my ways here, but I can see how it could be pretty handy to do line work, and a whole lot less mind numbing. Hey, baby steps...

Oh, and the interview with Matt Batten, Chief Creative Officer at Wunderman, can be read here

free easter printable!

yup, you heard that right! The girls at happy happy art collective decided to make our April group project fun and free printables, just in time for spring! Head on over here to check out the goodies that Denise, Muffin and Lauren came up with!

For my piece, I decided I wanted to do some sort of activity type placemat. You've been there... it's easter dinner and old Uncle Joe is taking forever and a day to eat that fancy spring green salad that your kids all hate. They're getting antsy waiting for the ham (and bunny cake...keepin' it real, here) to arrive. This after getting super hyper with a bag of jelly beans and chocolate eggs in their system, right? What to do? Well, time to hand out the crayons and this fun placemat. When they're done finding the eggs, they can turn it over for some quality doodle time!

Growing up at my house, the old bunny gentleman was a rather heartless fellow. I'm sure most kids have an egg hunt or two to fill out the day, but the bunny that visited our house also hid the baskets! And hid them well. So well, it was not uncommon to still be searching looong after sundown. I can still picture my dad sitting in the living room, smoking his pipe (which he often did on Sundays) reading the paper, while thoroughly enjoying our angst and total misery as bedtime approached and we STILL had not found our baskets. Cruel, right? As the youngest of five, it was also common practice for my older brothers to rub it in, claiming that they had found mine hours ago, and couldn't believe how stupid I was for not having found it already. One of best places he ever used was in the waste basket. Yeah. Imagine this... your basket (somewhat hermetically sealed) in the bottom of the trash can with a "clean" liner on top. Kinda twisted, right? But the all-time winner, would have to be what he pulled on my oldest brother... the basket was tied to a string, dangled below his bedroom window on the back of the house. Who thinks like that??

Like all family traditions, I carried this one on with my own kids, much to the dismay of my husband. However, I usually cave and start giving hints by mid afternoon or when they start crying in utter frustration. Good Easter fun! 

Happy Easter!!

happy 50th small world!!

Just a little rework of a piece I did a while back... I wanted to do a little fan art for my favorite disney ride! sorry if the song runs through your head all day... ;)

40 days of lettering... day 33

yup. I'm still at it. This piece was from a quote from  a piece over on creative interviews on Michael Sharp, founder of Standard Times. I tried to tap into the idea of a hanging sign, like something that  might be hung on the door of a small business.

uppercase :)

I finally got my copy on Friday and I must say, it still seems surreal. I submitted on a whim at the last moment, figuring I had nothing to lose and to say I am humbled at being included is a huge understatement. I had done the middle and bottom patterns as an offshoot of my second round submission for the GlobalTalent Search, last fall and the top piece was an extension from the final assignment from MATS A for giftware, as you can see below. 

I gotta say, when I look through all the pages of loveliness and then get to mine, I still get a "what does not belong here?" moment, but I'll take it. It's not flowery or super graphic in nature, but kinda goofy like me, so I guess they needed a dose of that in the issue. What can I say, but now my silly anthropomorphic flirtatious pear has now had her thirty seconds of fame, and that's a good thing :)

Lilla Rogers' bootcamp...jello?!

I have to admit, when Lilla gave us the theme for March's bootcamp assignment, my thoughts along with the general consensus of the other participants in the classroom was whaaat?? Jello... and on bolt fabric seemed like an odd fit, but like all the assignments Lilla doles out, it's up to you to run with it as you see fit. Many others focused on the intricate molds, the fun translucency of it, or gave it a tea and dessert feel, many of beautiful pieces and approaches. Here is a link to the gallery that is super fun to browse through. For me, being a lover of all things vintage kitchen (yes, I have a large collection of cookie jars, pixieware condiment containers, tablecloths, etc.) going the retro 50's vibe seemed the most natural fit for me. For whatever reason, I stumbled onto vintage tea towels on interest, which really sparked my interest. They are always fun and kitschy, and are great examples of the use of limited palettes (something I always find extremely challenging). When I saw this pretty pink western themed example, I knew I had the beginnings of my palette. I don't think I've ever used that drab green, but I really like how it plays off of the pink and raspberry colors.

After the February cuckoo assignment, I decided I wanted to maximize my final design as much as possible, so I thought of incorporating a little kitchen scene onto my presentation. Hopefully, it does not take away from the main fabric print behind it. I really enjoyed doing the limited line and fill look that I've seen used in illos from the 50's, so this was my little ode to that era. In retrospect, it looks a bit more like a cookbook cover than bolt fabric, but that's ok I guess. I added teapots, pyrex bowls, spoons, etc. because that's what I think of when in regards to making jello. 

Like lots of kids, I was raised on the stuff. My mom had it as a side and almost considered it a salad (as opposed to a dessert) for many meals. Her usual formula was to dump a can of fruit cocktail in it for added nutrition ;) I can still taste the texture of those horrible hairy gooseberries...ugh! In fact, I found this photo below as an actual example! Note that I have to be at least 5 and am still in a highchair....hey, when you have to fit 7 people into a 10' x 10' kitchen, you take any seat that's available! I was a picky eater, and apparently did not want any part of "make-your-own-sub-night!" Gotta love those knotty pine cabinets, don't you?