Penelope Illustration


		Tuesday, February 28, 2006 Illustration Friday: Tea This was a painting that sold in the recent show at the harrison center. (sold four total! yay!) I wanted to give a sense of calm and quiet...hence the cool color. I titled it "Welcome". I'd like to have tea in a place that looks like this... If only we could walk into our imaginations. Monday, February 27, 2006 What's Up Show news: I have a show opening March 4th at the really really cool Pr1mary Space Gallery in Detroit. It's a three person show and I have 8 pieces in it. I hope if you live near Detroit that you'll go and be a spy for me! Should be fun! Site news: I plan to reopen LopiePop in March. Thank you to everyone who's been asking me about it. Y'all make a girl feel loved. :) I'm excited to reopen, but haven't had much time to work on the update yet... soon! There will be some additions, too. I just picked up the posters from the printer last week. Posters! Other news: I am head over heels for The Weepies. If you don't have them, you simply must. They are ridiculously wonderful. and... My speech presentation is going well so far. I'm excited to share it. I am also working on an on-line presentation to show you after my speech... with some of the work I did as an art director and some other cool stuff. My story in a little online nutshell. :) Peace out, lovelies. Friday, February 24, 2006 That's me being goofball jones.... Oh how I wish I could bottle that feeling (joy, playfulness, confidence, silliness!) and drink it down when I need it... for instance: I'd take a giant gulp next Thursday when I am scheduled to give a speech to 100+ college students and their professors for their Art Career Symposium. I am talking about my career, my art, my life, my experience. A subject I know well, so I don't think it will be all that hard (that is what I am telling myself at least)... but I have never spoken in front of that many people. What if I barf?! Today I am working on my outline and putting together an internet presentation for them. Maybe I'll let the images do most of the talking. :) I think this is a good thing for me though because I've been facing a lot of my fears lately. I feared backflips until I did one. And I feared the telephone, until I had to give an interview via phone. It was nerve wracking for about 5 minutes, until I settled in and just spoke from my heart. I am trying to look at my fear directly in the face... eye to eye... nose to nose... heart beating loudly in my ears.... and just smile. pass through. (and maybe kick it in the shins while his back is turned!) roar! Thursday, February 23, 2006 Been in kind of a funk lately. A weird headspace... you know how sometimes you just feel scared and blue for really no reason. Nothing exterior has changed, but there is this sense of hopelessness inside. I was moping around trying everything I knew to get over it: talking about it with a friend, chai tea, incense burning, a chocolate bar, crying, napping, yoga... And nothing was really working. I went for a walk and decided to meditate for 15 minutes. The whole time I felt like I was going to vomit, and I could not concentrate. My thoughts kept wandering and wandering. So with 35 seconds left to go, I gave up and decided to take a shower. I felt the water pour down on me, warming me up a little and I looked up at an empty bottle of conditioner sitting on top the shower door (feeling guilty because apparently I was too lazy to throw it in the trash last time). Anyway, I looked up and noticed a word on the bottom of the bottle: H O P E. I picked it up to make sure I was reading it right. I was. It did say H O P E. And I thought to myself: what are the chances? How wonderful it is to know that the universe (the universe or God or the forces that be...whatever you personally call it) sometimes reaches out and gives you what you need at the right moment. A simple little reminder to hang on and just keep going. It didn't bring me out completely, but at least there was a smile. I glimmer. And I'm very grateful for that. Wednesday, February 22, 2006 ... there was no such thing as a mistake? If everything was just a way to learn. Saturday, February 18, 2006 "Best Advice I Ever Got" project is now complete. You can view all the wonderful submissions by clicking here! Thank you to everyone who participated. I really love the way the project turned out. :) Cheers! Friday, February 17, 2006 Just a reminder that today is the last day to send me your best advice submissions. I'll be posting them all this weekend! Also, I recently wrote an essay on the subject of the intersection of our creative and professional lives for the inimitable Danny Gregory. Click here to read all about it. Wednesday, February 15, 2006 More good advice has been added to the "Best Advice I Ever Got" project. You can view the submissions so far here! Thank you to everyone who's played so far. If you'd like to participate, click here to find out how. Deadline is February 17th... that's two days! I hope you play. :) Tuesday, February 14, 2006 Crawl through. pipes, originally uploaded by penelope!. Tuesday night, 9pm. It's dark and the air is chilly. Perfect time to jump into the pool because the water is warmer than the air. Just don't put your shoulders above the water. Can I do a backflip without my nose plugged? "I don't know... but watch my frontflip." "That's great, but can you do a backflip?" "I've never tried because I'm scared." "What's the worst that can happen? You get water up your nose. You're not going to die." "Okay. I'll do it." (start to attempt, but chicken out.) Again with the attempt, but I catch myself. "Double dog dare." "Fine." Attempt, but chicken out again. Finally summon the courage and do it. It's so easy I wonder if I got it wrong and accidently did a front flip again. Say as much. "Nope, it was definitely a backflip. And a darn good one." Proceed to do about 50 more, until I get dizzy. * * * * * Lesson learned for about 20 seconds. * * * * * I just finished a podcast interview with Erik from Iconic. Something I've been nervous about because I was afraid I wouldn't know what to say... or I'd say nothing more than "um... ah... yeah... you know?" But he still wanted to interview me so we did it. He called. I said hello, my butterflies doing backflips of their own. He asks the first question. Palms clammy. Give my answer. The interview goes on and I find myself talking with ease. I have answers to all his questions and feel comfortable saying what I have to say. I find I have more to say than what I initially thought. I get through it easy. I wonder if I did something wrong because it was so easy. I joke with Erik and say that I could have done that 10 times! He laughs and we hang up. * * * * * Same lesson again. How long will it stick? * * * * * If you have fear, accept it and keep walking. Go through it. Trust that you will come out on the other side. p.s. My interview will not be posted for a while. But in the meantime, there's an awesome interview with Cathie Bleck that I urge you to listen to. She's fascinating! Click here and scroll down. Monday, February 13, 2006 Illustration Friday: Simple (click for bigger view) For this simple topic, I simplified my color palette to gray and orange... Limited. I got this idea two weeks ago when I was walking my dog, Vince. It was gray and rainy out. But the sky had this incredible depth. The clouds were moving slowly against this subtly gradiated sky... darker the further you looked up. It was breathtaking. And I thought "oh... I'd love to have a bright orange umbrella to contrast with this right now". And so the idea was born. The chair comes from the idea of sitting still and enjoying what is around you, including the gray skies... Not just sitting around waiting for blue skies. Just some things I've been thinking lately... Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow, by the way! Still in the gloaming of vacation. That time when you can still grab onto the feeling of letting go and total relaxation, but you know that it's not for much longer. There's got to be a way to hang onto it. I didn't realize how badly I needed this vacation. I could almost feel the flecks of Indiana's gray sky peeling off my shoulders. Lots of sitting and reading...almost constant reading. And cross word puzzles. (I love crosswords and stink at them!) Belly laughs brought on by my hilarious sister-in-law, enlightening conversations with my brother, seeing the ocean reflected in my husband's blue eyes, listening to stories of my sister's life, admiring my mom's outlook again and again... It was downright blissful. I brought home a clear bag full of shells. Mostly broken ones, their architecture sacrificed because of the waves or the undersides of walkers' shoes...but still so beautiful. Grayed with hints of pink and orange. As I was arranging them on my mantle a pile of sand spilled out of one and fell to the floor. I haven't bothered to sweep it up yet. My own private beach. Hold on... hold on... * * * More wonderful pieces of advice have been added. Due date is Feb 17th! Saturday, February 04, 2006 I take assessment of all the things I've done lately. Not for work, but for me. Building me from scratch it seems. And I'm liking where I am so far. I've changed what I put into my body... good foods... foods that help and don't hurt. I've begun walking and practicing yoga every morning. I love yoga so far (I'm just a beginner) but I love the way it makes me feel... stretchy like a cat after a catnap. I've reintroduced clothes that show my personality... new boots, new skirt. Pulled out the good stuff from the back of my closet, and shoved to the back my workout pants and over sized tees. I've started taking down time to breathe. Meditating. I've even dyed my hair. Starting over. And over again. Feeling so much better. So healthy and a little bit more whole. Happy. I wonder why I ever waited so long to take care of myself. It's so rewarding. I am going to visit my grandparents this week. And my siblings and I are flying my mom out as well to celebrate her 50th birthday. I am looking forward to being in the sun... bugging my mom about what she's reading. Telling my brother to get in the water first. Asking my husband if he'd like more sunscreen. I find myself smiling as I'm writing this. Because I'm not taking any work. No email. No phone. No computer. I'm going solo. Just me, a bathing suit, a book and some good company. many blessings to you this week... xo Friday, February 03, 2006 A few more submissions have been added to the Best Advice Project. Click here to see them! The deadline to participate is February 17th. I hope you play! Click here for more info. * * * * Also, thank you to all the people who've asked about LopiePop. I plan to relaunch in March. Sorry for the delay... these have turned out to be very busy months! Thursday, February 02, 2006 ...Open up your eyes You can see the flames of your wasted life You should be ashamed You don't want to waste your life I walk along these hillsides In the summer 'neath the sunshine I am feathered by the moonlight falling down on me Change, change, change... -counting crows, august and everything after Been inspired by music lately. It's been a while. Really. I drive with the radio turned off. Silence. I thought it was because I was letting myself think. Maybe it's just that I haven't been struck lately with anything to listen to. I leave the music and all it's names and dates and lyrics to my husband, who miraculously knows everything about it. He could tell you when a specific song was played and how it fits into the musical fabric of history. Me? Nah. I can barely remember my favorite song's name. So imagine my surprise when I find myself inspired by it again. My favorite counting crows song: Murder of One (I looked it up). And was listening and inspired to do something about it. Free. no client. just me. looks like crap really. and I'm damn proud of it. (kinda fits with everything I've been examining lately. change...change....change.....) I have been tagged by the beautiful Bohemian Girl! Here goes... Four jobs I've had: bagel toaster for einstein bros bagels art director for an advertising agency window designer for a school grocery store checker (had to wear heinous maroon smock) Four Movies I could watch over and over: Great Expectations Amelie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Chocolat Four Places I've Lived: Mayville, Wisconsin Winter Park, Florida Middlebury, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana Four TV Shows I Love: Seinfeld The Daily Show Today Show hgtv Four Places I've Vacationed: Ireland Naples, FL New Orleans, LA Beaufort, SC Four of my Favorite Dishes: Sushi Greek Chicken Taco Salad Spaghetti Four sites I visit daily: On Like Popcorn Camilla Engman port2port Swirly Four Places I'd rather be right now: On the beach with a book On a sailboat Glacier Park Belize Four Bloggers I'm tagging: Melanie Christine Mati Camilla Wednesday, February 01, 2006 Illustration Friday: Glamour Here's my interpretation of glamour. Juicy colors, a content smile, and a young-at-heart who is in love. and a closeup: Feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of work I have right now. I'm trying to breathe, walk and face it head on... one thing after another. I feel like I'm at the carnival shooting at those cardboard ducks that keep popping up. I think it's time to write some things that are making me smile... - lunch with two fabulous and inspiring women yesterday. Telling them all about my transformations and them being happy for me. - the sunshine (blessed sunshine!) finally came out today for a while. I'm going to bundle up for walk to soak it in! - a mixed cd that my true blue friend sent me. - feeling more free with my last couple of paintings. - seeing the old woman above materialize onto my sketchbook. - laughing with my husband. - skirts! - next week (I'm taking it off to celebrate my mom's 50th bday with her!) - my show on friday - my pink woobie

		© Penelope Illustration. Stealing is not nice.