light and white

This afternoon, I was attempting to take close-up shots of cuttings from my 'Bells of Ireland' plants but most of the shots turned out poorly. When I took the plants away, I noticed how lovely the upside-down jar looked in the sunlight (it was being used as a platform for the cuttings). Ya gotta love happy accidents.

I could do this forever

I have a terrible memory, but I'm pretty sure it was my friend Risa that used to ask all of us what we would choose if we could only have one food item for the rest of eternity. I think my response was always pasta. These days I'm more likely to choose Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce or an ever-lovin' California Roll. If it wasn't Risa, then it was Jeremy or Nathan. I know for sure that it was Risa that clued me in on her 'Look-Level Theory'... the genius of which I might expound upon in a later post.

That being said, you may notice that it usually takes me a while to get to my point. If you're already tired of reading, you may want to skip to the end.

My point, dear reader, is this: if for some bizarre reason I was forced to choose one task to perform for all eternity, it would be Logo Design. I could do this forever. So why am I not designing full-time?

I'm smart enough to know that my purpose on this planet IS NOT to pick up 30 pounds of dog shit each week, but that's what I do. No loss of love for the dogs that produce the poo, dear ones, I just wonder what happened to my design career. Hmmm.

Chiaroscuro Artichoke

Both dogs are passed out on the couch (taking up the entire couch, I might add). I am completing a bit of design work while sitting on the floor. As I write about this scenario, I realize my priorities may be a bit off. Hey, as long as the dogs are happy...

On a totally different note, many of our neighbors used to stop by and bring us vegetables from their gardens and I've noticed that none of them have done so this year. I can think of two possible reasons for this: 1) we've finally mastered the art of total social alienation OR 2) our neighbors are as broke as we are and are saving every bit of food for themselves.

The artichoke in the photo was from one such neighbor (took the photo last summer). After using it for it's 'chiaroscuric' qualities, I tried to steam this poor artichoke. I totally botched it and couldn't eat it. I need to learn how to cook an artichoke!

a few decades behind

...speaking of being behind the times, my digital camera is basically a rock with a battery in it. It might be time for a new, fancy-pants version. I'm always setting up little photo shoots in my kitchen. I call them Kitchen Window Pics... because we all know how natural light streaming through a window can make for kick-ass lighting.

I had hoped that this photo would be crazy-clear (even used my mini tripod) but the quality is just not as good as expected. So, I choose to blame the camera and not the pin-head operating it.

I make art.

a few billion years behind

Seriously. I feel like I must be a few billion years behind the rest of the world in terms of this whole blogging thing. But, it's so typical... it always takes me a few years to catch up to the outside world.

The real point of this post is to announce that my art is now hanging up at MOXIE in Portland! Little old me... and my little bits of art. For the entire month of August, my art will be gracing the walls of a clothing shop that ROCKS. Check it out if you're in Portland: 2400 E Burnside (moxiepdx.com)

I make cut-paper illustrations... one-of-a-kind, hand-cut originals. The bold and simple 'line-work' is created from paper cut with an x-acto knife. My cut-paper illustrations are usually for sale on Etsy (www.stripesandplaid.etsy.com) but I've cleared out the Etsy shop for now.