meet bluebird

Sorry for my absence.

D & I were at a lovely wedding in the Bahamas.

It was absolutely beautiful, and if we didn't have two wonderful pups at home,

I would have tried to stay.

{thereby avoiding the thesis that is looming over my head and has not been written yet}

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Meanwhile, I had open studio hours yesterday.

Sweet, little Bluebird is my newest creation.

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{bluebird}

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IF*expired

{the house eater}

It appeared 

that the house's time 

had expired.

IF*subterranean

Alfred's favorite album of all time is 

"Subterranean" 

by the Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames.

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I would have never guessed.

Strange, isn't it?

gratitude + tiffany patterson

Today, I am grateful for Illustration Friday.

I have met so many people,

and have had many opportunities arise

since I began submitting in 2007.

{thank you Amanda M. for telling me all about it}

I exchanged a few e-mails with Tiffany Patterson{the terrific artist below}a couple of months ago.

I absolutely adore her style!

Tiffany has a fun blog~ Ugly Yellow

and a beautiful portfolio~ Curse Words and Birds

It was great to find out that she lives just a couple of hours away,

and has even made a pit stop in my little town.
A little art friendship has been formed~

I can't wait to have one of her pieces hanging in my house!

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{the ocean is a liar}

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{tiffany's moo cards}

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{gratitude}

I am grateful that I am inspired to work in my new studio.

I am grateful that my thesis is finally coming together.

I am grateful for friends who stop by my house and bring me treats {loaded with sugar}.

I am grateful that I didn't pass out during my endurance swim this morning.

I am grateful for my little nephew~

his first overnight stay with Aunt & Uncle couldn't have been better!

Have a lovely Thursday~

 

the first three...

Since moving into the new space

I have been inspired to create three new pieces.

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{the meeting place}

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{samuel meeler}

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{forgiveness}

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All three originals are now available at Unconventional Ida

all moved in!

I finally moved in on Saturday night!

Here is the empty corner~

 

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A little progress.

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All moved in!

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Time to get to work~

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IF*brave

She new that she must be brave~

It would be a long journey through the dark cave,

but it was the only way to get through the mountains.

gratitude + elsa mora {elsita}

I was spending a little time on flickr the other day,

and stumbled across these moleskine sketches from Elsa Mora a.k.a. Elsita.

They are part of her Blank Book Project.

I fell in love with them the second that I saw them!

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In addition to illustrations, Elsa is an incredible papercutter.
She writes a beautiful blog dedicated to the art.
Last Saturday, Elsa's family was directly affected by the Chilean earthquake.

Her neice, Graciela, lost her home.

Elsa has posted an emotionally moving tribute to Graciela, and is also accepting donations in her name.
Please visit her website to learn more.

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{gratitude}

I am grateful for the health & safety of my family.

I am grateful for my new residency, and the community of artists that I am becoming a part of.

I am grateful for the sunny days that we have been having in Missoula this week.

I am grateful that my grandmother came finally home from the hospital yesterday,

and has made a full recovery.

I am grateful for my husband's wonderful cooking. 
Without him, I would live solely on pastries & ramen noodles.

*^_^*

What are you grateful for?

k*

big news!

I wanted to wait to write about my big news until I had pictures to go along with the story,

but it doesn't look like that is going to happen until this weeked.

So, here it is~

I am the new artist in residence at Zootown Arts Community Center {ZACC}!

It is a terrific nonprofit arts community center that is located just a few blocks away from my house.

I will have an "official" studio & act as gallery manager

along with the other artist in residence~ Chris Koelling.

So, it is official~

I will graduate with my master's in economics in May,

and enter the world, not as an economist, but as a full-time artist & freelance illustrator.

I am so excited to become further imbedded in my community & my neighborhood!

I will make sure to take a few pictures of the building and my studio space this weekend.

*^_^*

Also, I will be restucturing my blog a little bit~

The first change will be a weekly post I've named

{gratitude + thursday}

I will be featuring an artist whose work I am grateful for,

along with things that I have felt blessed with in the week prior.

Look for it every Thursday!

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a trip to the post office

First thing on my to-do list for the day is a trip to the post office.

I absolutely love packaging up art to send.

I adore buying all sorts of fancy stickers & labels.

Sending packages gives me a chance to use them~

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I also enjoy riding my bicycle to the post office.

It is such a beautiful building to visit~

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And riding on the brick street is always a bumpy adventure!

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today's to-dos

I have a few things to do today,

and thanks to Susie at boygirlparty,

I have a sweet little list to write them all down on!