a few GOOD things

I am so honored to be included in GOOD's : Designing Women: 25 Female Designers and Illustrators We Love  
I have to thank my friends Akasha for letting me know there was a call out to submit links and to Nikole for letting me know that I was selected! 

It's a pretty awesome feeling to be included with illustrators and designers that I look to for inspiration and admire. And, quite honestly, after all of the time I've invested in school, in art and in design it was a nice little pat on the back and just at the right time.

Return of the Art

My Etsy shop is back up and running. I had to go on a bit of a hiatus to move up to Portland and get settled at my new job. The dust is settling and now I have reopened the shop with a whole new body of work! I've stocked it with my wood art and prints of the originals. Super affordable, in my opinion, original artwork. These are stained wood panels, some with decorative edges some without, with oil paint marker drawings then colored in with prismacolor pencils. I'm really excited to share this new work with everyone and I hope that you will enjoy it too!

More to come!

When I was a little girl we had pets.

Brandy / Mom / Me

When I was a little girl we had pets and though I have very foggy memories of my childhood in general, I can remember these furry creatures clearly.

Our family dog, Brandy, a german shephard that was impressively smart and well-trained, is the one pet I often think about. I remember sitting with my brother on the sofa in the basement, with a fire cracking in the background, as my dad would wrap towels around his forearm in preparation for the "look how your dog will defend you" demonstration (as I remembered it to be called).

How I loved this demonstration.

It showed me just how viciously (and admirably) our dog would protect us from harm. The demonstration would start, as I said, with my dad wrapping his attack arm in anticipation of the attack. Then the role of the victim, played by either my brother or myself. My dad would pretend to hit us and we would dramatically scream out, "OUCH, NO, STOP, HELP!", When I was the victim, I could hear Brandy deeply growling and barking in the background and when I was the viewer I could see her getting ready to strike... suddenly a blur of brown-black fur would race past and then strike the (towel protected) arm of our attacker. My brother and I would freeze and stare wide-eyed as we witnessed our dog attacking our dad to protect us, it was so badass. Brandy was a great dog, the best one I ever met. But aside from her ability to protect us she also had that amazing "great dog" ability to cheer me up, as if she knew when I was feeling down. I'm so thankful to have these memories of her.

distracted

how do you solve a problem like maria?

I remember when I was younger and grown-ups would say things alluding to the idea that I should really be enjoying this time in my life because being an adult, for the most part, sucks. And then, I would roll my eyes and think "no way, not me, when I'm adult things are going to rock... everything will be better".

I find myself longing for my childhood again. For freedom and time.

Work is consuming. Surviving has become consuming. It's a daily struggle to find that imagination and motivation that fueled much of my youth and young adult-hood.

I'm at war with my mind. I'm distracted.

WHEN I GROW UP

Please take a moment to read the blog post below by my friend Christine, a fellow artist.
A very good cause to help a little boy.

christine mercer-vernon: WHEN I GROW UP... auction for Caiden Hammond: "when i grow up | 20x16 inch | watercolor on clayboard Click Here to Bid(this auction ends at 9pm EST Thursday October 14th) I am auctio..."

Keeping it Weird in Portland

goodbye Oakland!

mt. shasta

mt. shasta, rest stop

filling up at a station in who-knows-where Oregon!

here we are!

We made it to Portland, OR!

We left Oakland, CA on Thursday in our 14' Uhaul towing the car, arrived in Medford, OR that evening. Hit the road again on Friday and arrived by 2pm in Portland. Our new place is great, considering that we hadn't physically seen it nor did we have much knowledge about the neighborhood we were moving to. Thankfully, it all worked out great. It's very quiet, lots of trees, squirrels and much to my dismay... spiders. I have a huge fear of spiders and so it's been a bit unsettling seeing so many creepy crawlers lurking outside, in doorways and even on the walls! ahhh! To make matters worse I hate killing bugs so I'm conflicted, very conflicted.

Also, today was my first day at work. I'm pretty tired, not from work load, just mental exhaustion. Let's just refer to the paragraph above... we got here on Friday and I started work TODAY. So, we are still unpacking and living among boxes but I already feel happier up here.
It's going to take some time to get to know our neighborhood and the city of Portland in general but I really can say that I feel a greater sense of mental peace being here.
I'm pretty sure work will be fine, it's just a matter of getting back into the regular work week routine and getting a better feel for the personalities I work with and how the office runs in general.

Now, I must go unpack some boxes.

School's Out FOREVER!

It's back to school time... but not for me. Oh sweet relief!
After 3 degrees (yes, including high school) and 1 certificate program I can safely say that I've had my fill of schooling... in the academic realm.

These stamps and postcards designed by RISD grad Heather K. Phillips made me laugh. I think these could be very useful tools for those instructors who tend to say everything except what they should be saying to students about their work.

Available for purchase, here.