Happy May & It's Meetup Time!

Vintage Maypole Dance!
April a pretty terrible month. I didn't get as much as I wanted done and was kind of stuck in a bit of a funk for a couple of weeks. But now it is time I get back to action because there is a lot to be done.

So here's my business plans for May:
  1. First of all, my first priority is the book. The illustrations are almost done and then I will be going on to the layout stage. 
  2. For the book, choose type and create hand painted letters for certain pages.
  3. Create a Step by Step for blog.
  4. Work with author on back pages and title pages.
  5. Work on new pieces for the shop. I'm hoping for one new piece a week.
  6. Start my SFEtsy Mission Meetup group.
  7. Get photography done for New Bohemia Signs.
  8. Research and apply to upcoming craft/fairs, anyone know of some good ones.
  9. Mini weekend trips! Time for some camping! 
  10. Keep up with daily walks and exercise.
  11. Start some collaborations with other artists.
  12. Rework blog.
  13. Rework portfolio website.
  14. Work on my "about" page on my Etsy page. (Get some good photos taken of myself and rewrite bio)
  15. Get more involved with the Makeshift Society.
One of the big things I learned over this depressing month is I tend to spend too much time inside the house. I think isolation is one of the hardest parts of being a freelance artist. There is so much to do and I tend to feel guilty taking a hour going for a walk. But you know, I have to do it. I am my happiest/healthiest when I am involved with other people and projects. Anyone else feel this way?

Here's to May being a super productive month with some relaxation and fun thrown in!

What are your plans for May!

What's The Meetup? Do you have any business goals to share? You are welcome to join us at The Meetup, where creative people join together online and encourage each other to share their goals and dreams each month. Sound interesting to you? You can find out more here.





Back to it...Ze Frank on Creativity.

Working through the weekend trying to catch up with my book project. (I'm so close to getting to the next level with this huge project). Sometimes, I have to remind myself to keep pushing through the work despite wanting to take the easy way out. I love this reminder by Ze Frank to just do the work...



Push yourself towards your dreams...everyday!

Update...I found this lovely post on Pikaland today that works really well with last weeks posts. Read it here.

lost and found

I just wanted to say a few words about the events in Boston. I grew up in Massachusetts and went to school in Boston (Massachusetts College of Art). It broke my heart to see such unimaginable wreckage happen on Monday, I got sucked into all watching all the pain and gory details on street that I spent a lot of time on in my youth. It sickened me, it sickened all of us.

There is not much that I feel like I can do when events like this take place. (There just seems to be more of them these days). I get lost in them. I lose my self for a few days and can't get much work done. I don't really care for this weakness in myself. I want to understand why? This kind of shit happens all over the world everyday and we don't hear much about it. We definitely don't hear the stories of the dead. We feel numb about it if we hear anything at all. With newscasts, it is all just a numbers game, isn't it?

I think we are all a little numb and waiting for the time to stop thinking about the events until the next one comes along. Something even more horrific to wake our selves up for a day or two. Something to be forgotten a week or two later. I sometimes wonder about what artists can do. What I can do? Is there still room for activism? Can we really make some sort of real change?

Art activism seems too political and p.c. these days to make a connection. I want to feel, I want to feel part of something. But where do you start? What can we do?

Any thoughts?




Illustration Hero: J.C. Leyendecker

It amazes me that I could of missed someone like J.C. Leyendecker (1874-1951) when I was in art school. (I'm sure some of my teachers must of mentioned him but I was probably daydreaming of other things)  His work is so incredible! But now that I have found him and have so much reference at my fingertips, I have no excuse not to study what he did.

His work is so detailed, and his colors are so rich. The lines and shadow work are pretty much perfect. Each of his characters are so fluid in their movement and so, so beautiful. As an illustrator, he was known for his advertising for Arrow Shirt Collars, The Saturday Evening Post (he did over 300 covers for them), Kuppenheimer's Good Clothing, illustrations for Interwoven Socks ads among many others.

Another really interesting aspect of J.C. is that he was gay. And although he was never out of the closet  during his lifetime, his illustrations contain a lot of homoerotic aspects. I love looking at all the connections between all the male characters in his paintings. In retrospect, Leyendecker is pretty damn brave to create the worlds that he did. So many of his images seem really contemporary now. It is also really fun to notice that his partner, the lovely Charles Beach, is the model for so much of his work.  Wouldn't that be a sweet tribute to the love of your life?


Here are a of my few of my favorite illustrations by J.C. Leyendecker:

J.C. Leyendecker, Couple Reading on Deck Chairs, 1904,

J.C. Leyendecker, Ridolfo & Gismonda, 1906

J.C. Leyendecker, The Vacation, 1907

J.C. Leyendecker, Arrow Collar Shirts Advertisement,  1910

J.C. Leyendecker, Charles Beach (the love of J.C.'s life and the perfect model for his illustrations)

J.C. Leyendecker, Couple Descending Staircase, Arrow Collar Ad, c.1930


J.C. Leyendecker, Interwoven Socks Advertisement, c.1920's

J.C. Leyendecker, Arrow Collars 

J.C. Leyendecker, Cupid's Kiss, 1923

J.C. Leyendecker, Saturday Evening Post Cover, Lifeguard, Save Me!, 1924

J.C. Leyendecker, Golf or Tennis, 1910

J.C. Leyendecker, Arrow Collar Advertisement, 1929


J.C. Leyendecker, Kuppenheimer's Good Clothes, 1920

J.c Leyendecker, The Butterfly Couple, 1923


J.C. Leyendecker, War Victory for Saturday Evening Post, 1918

J.C. Leyendecker at work in his studio via HagginMuseum
What do you think of Leyendecker's work? Did I mention that his work was all created on large canvases and painted with oil paints? Pretty impressive don't you think. I would love to check one out up close. Wouldn't you?

I heard that George Lucas is opening an illustration museum in San Francisco in the next few years, hopefully he will have a few of Leyendecker's painting in his collection. Fingers crossed...




Time for the Meetup! April's Goals!

Back Garden Cabaret, Poplar, June 28, 1935 via Steroge Will Do

Hi All! I don't believe that it is April already. March really flew by. But it was a pretty good one. As far as my March goals went, I continued to work on the book. I painted another custom portrait and I got my artwork in my first shop.

All in all March was good to me. The housing situation is a bit on hold. My husband and I decided to try to buy our place. Buying a house is a pretty scary situation anywhere, but seems even crazier in the intensely over-priced housing market that is San Francisco. Fingers crossed that we get this place...and I can relax once again and feel stable.

Here's what I have planned to April:

  1. Continue working on the book. The illustrations are almost finished but I need to perfect them and make sure they all work together.
  2. Scan illustrations and layout the book, add text.
  3. Create at least one custom portrait a month.
  4. Research upcoming art fairs and apply.
  5. Start preparing more inventory for fairs.
  6. Work on ideas for SFEtsy community. 
  7. Add new work to shop. 
  8. Continue learning better time management skills. (I've been working with the Pomodora App.)
  9. Rework portfolio website (this has sadly been neglected for too long).
  10. Get a exercise program working (even if it just 10 minutes a day)
  11. Get back on a blogging schedule. Post at least 2x a week.
  12. Get more active in the Makeshift Society
  13. Take a screen printing class. 
  14. Keep adding new work to my shop.
  15. Get ready to submit work to magazines and blogs.
  16. Start planning mini vacations and camping trips.
Well that looks like April is pretty damn full. I will be concentrating on the book most of the month, but hopefully I will be able to do most of this work.

What are you up to this month?

What's The Meetup? Do you have any business goals to share? You are welcome to join us at The Meetup, where creative people join together online and encourage each other to share their goals and dreams each month. Sound interesting to you? You can find out more here.

Sign Painters Movie

As most of you may know, my amazing husband  Damon is the owner of New Bohemia Signs here in San Francisco. A few years ago, filmmakers Faythe Levine (of Handmade Nation fame)and Sam Macon stopped by the shop and started filming the sign shop for their new documentary, Sign Painters. Well, I am happy to tell you all, the film is finally coming out!

We are beyond excited to see it. There are so many talented artists represented here. I've had the pleasure of knowing so many of these awesome artists over the years and I am feeling so proud to watch them represented on the big screen. Check out the trailer...



SIGN PAINTERS (OFFICIAL TRAILER) from samuel j macon on Vimeo.

The film will be opening at the Smithsonian on March 30th at the Renwick Gallery.

Yay! Doesn't it look amazing?

Thank you Amanda Palmer!

This made me cry! I've been hearing great things about Amanda Palmer's TED Talk this week and had to share it. I love her passion and creativity and her rebellious spirit. (Oh, and her music is damn amazing too!)

As an artist, I am always afraid, maybe embarrassed to ask from help or money. Maybe deep down I don't think that I am worth it...I don't know. There is so much still deep inside me about the starving artist mentality, it gets pretty stupid after a while.

Amanda makes a wonderful point about art and community. Giving yourself to that community and trusting it. They will give back. They will help. You just need to be strong enough to ask.

Life Questions: Have you surrounded your self with a creative community? What can you do to make it stronger? Do you jump in deeper or coast by on top of it? Would you trust your community to support you?

Well, I don't have all the answers to those question yet myself but I do know this, I'm working on it. How about you?

One last thing...I think when you are living a trust the universe and your community way, the magic starts happening. Do you agree?

March On and on...

School Children with Teachers Under Magnolia Trees on Oxford Street by Charles C. Zoller c. 1910

Wow, the year is certainly flying! Here's to a fabulous new month! I'm really excited about March. I'm ready to get out and get things done.

In the past, I had been sharing my monthly business goals but stopped because I got too busy, or so I thought. But truthfully, I kind of miss them. It is pretty empowering to create a public set of goals don't you think?

So what have I been up to? The last few months have been OK as far as illustration goes. I have been steadily working on my book project and had a bunch custom portraits completed. Etsy has been a great learning experience and I think I am finally getting how it all works (although it could be much better).

As far as March goes, I have a bit of news, I recently became one of the leaders of SFEtsy! It is so exciting for me. It will be a lot of work but I am really happy to get to know a bunch of new people and shops (There are over 850 members shops in SFEtsy). As a bonus, I think it will teach me more about marketing as I learn through helping the other shops promote their artwork.

Here's my March Goals:

  1. Continue working on the book. The goal is 6 pages a month. I'm almost on schedule...BTW, the books has been really fun so far. I'm illustrating my way through a light historical tale and really getting into the fun of Medieval Europe.
  2. Redo website. It is time to get this as professional as possible. 
  3. Become a Adobe InDesign Expert! I will be designing my book and need to make sure this process is as easy as possible.
  4. Add original pieces to my Etsy Shop.
  5. Add new prints to shop. I am working on some new animals right now.
  6. Work on my Storenvy shop.
  7. Read "The Fire Starter Sessions" by Danielle Laporte. (Has anyone done this?)
  8. Read, "Grow Your Own Business" by Kari Chapin.
  9. Research my next steps...
  10. Get more involved with The Makeshift Society.
What's that saying, "March Comes in Like A Lion"? Well, Roar...

Do you have any big plans coming up this month?

Hope you all have a wonderfully productive and happy March! Do you have any big plans coming up?

New Work...Meet the Twins!

Here's my latest illustration! Isabella and Irene are part of my Victorian Orphan series, "The Foundlings".

They were definitely an example of a illustration that kind of quickly drew itself. Do anyone else have illustrations that seem to become alive on the page?  The girls have such strong yet haunting personalities. It may seem pretty subtle, but a tiny curve in their months makes all the difference.




They can be found in my Etsy shop right here! 

With Love

A Soul Kiss c.1909 Via The Library of Congress

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! I hope you all have a day of many kisses and much love. If you haven't found that special someone, may they appear to you in a dream tonight.

I'm cooking up something special for my honey tonight and am ready for a lovely quiet night at home together. Do you prefer to do something super fancy for Valentine's Day or keep it simple?

Happy Friday!

I just wanted to share this lovely animation by Minkyu Lee that I found on the Drawn Blog today.



Beautifully done, don't you think?

"Adam and Dog" is nominated for an animation Oscar this year! Here's to it winning.

Art Hero: Amedeo Modigliani

One of my first art loves was the Italian Expressionist artist and sculpter Amedeo Clemente Modigliani. The way he painted portraits was magical to me. His art was seemingly so simple but the artist created so much emotion in each face. Modigliani's gorgeously rich color palette is incredible and I find him influencing my portraits everyday.

Just look at the way he did his eyes of his subjects. They sort of look right through you, don't you think? The sitters almost become ghosts. I love that some of his characters eyes are sometimes just blurred-out grays? So simple but so powerful.

When I paint my portraits I try to do the same thing, I focus on the eyes. Each person I paint seems to come alive when I finish the eyes..

And that little twist of the head, amazing...

Here are a few of my favorite paintings:

Seated Young Woman, 1918

The Servent Girl, 1918
Portrait of Paul Guillaume, 1916

Reclining Nude, 1917

Victoria, 1916

Jaques and Berthe Lipchitz 1916

Nude Sitting on a Divan, 1917


Madame Kisling 1917
Marie, Daughter of the People, 1918

Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne, 1918

Dedie Hayden, 1918

Tragically, Modigliani died young at the age of 35.  He lived the prefect bohemia artist lifestyle and he influenced generations of artists through his painting style and way of life.

Modigliani in his studio
Which artist has most influenced you?

Hitting the Wall - Searching for a Place

Because everyone needs a place to hang their hat...via George Eastman House
I hesitated to do my New Years Resolutions this year because I have a lot of uncertainty right now. One of the big things that I am forced to do this year is find a new place to live. And in a city like San Francisco, this is a crazy endeavor.

I don't want to bore you all with the details, but basically my landlord is selling our apartment and retiring. So we have to go. It's a pretty sucky situation because I love where I live. I'm in the heart of the Mission, which is a very cool place to in San Francisco. I don't know where Damon and I will go. The prices in the city are crazy. If anyone wants to talk about lots of late night panic attacks, I've become an expert...

It makes me question all things. With a higher rent (or possibly a mortgage), do you put your career on hold while you look for a day job? Do you keep pushing on and hope for a miracle to happen? What do you do when you can't plan for a near future?

Hopefully, all this will be settled in the next few months. I must remain positive, and keep those worst case scenerios out of my brain...And my husband and I (and damnit, I pray the cat can come too) will be happily living in a new spot in the city where we love even more than this place now. And I will be back in full force and planning all my crazy new artistic endeavours to share with you all.

 So... if anyone knows of lovely places to rent or buy out there in San Francisco or perhaps a cool creative part time job...PLEASE let me know.

Thank you!

Make a Victorian Love Match!

Would Miss Eleanor & Ambrose make a good pair?

How about Miss Charlotte & Benedict?

or perhaps Mordecai & Miss Lydia?
When I first started creating all my Victorian Portraits my main goal was to start a romantic dating site. The "Ladies & Gents Victorian Dating Service", is a place where my lovely characters with meet each other and hopefully fall in love. So, in honor of Valentines Day,  I have a created a new fun listing. You get to play matchmaker!

Here's how it works: Simply Pick any two of the Ladies & Gents Victorian Portraits, make a love match and I'll give you a discount.  Follow this link to my Shop Listing.

(Also, feel free to choose: Ladies & Gents, Gents & Gents or Ladies & Ladies...These Victorian   are all pretty modern minded!)

Have fun with it. I'd love to hear about who you would choose!