Well, it is about time. So I made it. A new website to house my portfolio on the web. www.luckyfootstudio.com

I recently took an illustration course at Furman with instructor Tim Davis, which was just what I needed to jump into watercolor illustration. So expect to see more of that show up on those pages, and some progress updates here.

Also have been working on a t-shirt design for the Laurens County Beekeepers Association. I'll add a photo once the shirt is printed.

Thanks for your support!

Visit Lucy and Marshall's Web Page Here

Musicians Lucy Allen and Marshall Goers have commissioned me to do a cd cover for their upcoming release.  The tentative title is "You Won't See Tadpoles Covered In Fur". It is based on the song "Froggie Went a Courtin'" which they perform on the album, about the wedding of the frog to the mouse. Here you can see the frog sculpture in progress.

Mu? Cow

Here is the new logo I created for Daniel's ceramic business. Feeling good about it.

The logo design I did for This Old Porch the awesome Old Time Music radio show on WNCW.

So this summer I've started barter painting. Now you're like wha? No I don't paint barters...rather I paint in trade for a product or service. It started with painting a friend of the family's vegetable stand window in trade for some plumbing work in the bathroom. Now in the same shopping center I'm going to do windows for a hot dog stand and a liquor shop. In trade I get....dirt.
Yes I actually am trading for dirt. I've been wanting to do some landscaping under shade trees, around the rose bushes, and build some raised beds in the garden so I am bartering for top soil. Now you may be looking at the date of my post and thinking....okay...it says July, and she's in South Carolina where it's in the 90's everyday all summer. Fear not, for I do my painting backwards and from the inside! Not only does it keep the acrylic looking nice and out of the weather and away from tempted bystanders with keys, I also get to paint it all in the air conditioning, hooray!
The only hard part is having one car right now, so Daniel and I have to coordinate when either he doesn't need a car or can drop me off and pick me up. I'm thinking maybe I need to barter with a mechanic next? Know anyone?

Well we closed on the house at the beginning of March and moved in toward the end of June after our baby boy was born. Things have really been coming together and my studio is almost ready to go. Fixing up the house has taken up most of our time and creative energies, but it feels great to shape the space you live in. Soon we hope to add a piano and 6ft long aquarium and really make it exciting!

Now, I had entertained ideas of spending alot of time while my baby is sleeping doing art and such. Yes, go ahead those of you with children, have a good laugh. My own precious and ridiculously cute 2 month old monopolizes all my time. And when he actually sleeps I find myself more happy than I have ever been in my life about taking a shower or a nap.

But as things get more settled in, and the big projects finished up, I will be spending more time in my studio (at least while Dad is home). Because no one should go too long without the joyful play of creating!

あけましておめでとう！

Looks like I have gotten away from regular posting since August.

To catch up I took a writing class at AnAuthorWorld in Greenville together with my mother, which was good fun and got me warmed up for the SCBWI Carolinas Fall Conference in Durham in September where I was so lucky to ride up and room with Lauren and had a lovely time. Not to mention bring home a head full of things to think about.

Before I had time to think about books anymore though, Daniel and I had to get his booth ready for Squealin' on the Square, the BBQ festival here in Laurens. He sold a few pieces of pottery, I played the banjo, and we both smelled enough BBQ smoke to last a lifetime.

Not too long after that I found out the great big news that we are expecting our first child! We are both very excited and decided to make some more serious living arrangements. We hope to close on our first home by the end of January and then push up our sleeves and do some DIY remodeling before baby comes in June or July.

The only downside of being pregnant now is not being able to get my hands in polymer clay as the plasticizers are said to be absorbed through the skin( and in the air when you bake it of course). So I miss making new characters in 3D. However, I have bought some books on watercolor and am gently coaxing myself into the idea of doing it. It's funny because watercolor is one of my favorite media to see in picture books, but the few times I've tried it, nothing really amazing happened, so I haven't been really motivated to try again. I'm hoping to change that though, by learning some technique before I give it a go this time.

Though to be honest, I am sure my near future is going to be occupied by packing boxes and setting up house. We have yet to pick out everything from paint and flooring samples, to a washer and dryer. While the scale of it sometimes seems a bit overwhelming, it is a PROJECT and I can be CREATIVE and that is very exciting! And I am looking forward to having a studio/office all of my own and Daniel will utilize the nicer shed building outside for his own pottery studio.

So HOORAY 2010!

I am very excited to have artwork in both the July/August SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators) Bulletin and the summer SCBWI Carolina's publication, The Pen and Palette. While it's only one little sketch in each one, seeing my work in print is very encouraging.

Recently I went to the Illustration Schmooze in Charlotte and met some other illustrators in my area. Everybody was really great and constructive and very encouraging. I hope everyone came away feeling as motivated as I did. When I ask whether I should go with 3-D photographed illustrations or drawings, most everyone answers "both". Which was something I wasn't really considering before. I thought "I have to do one or the other. I just don't have time to do both."

It was like I had walked to a place where the road T's. 3D on one hand and drawing in the other and since I couldn't decide which way to turn, I didn't go anywhere at all. But now I realize, they aren't roads at all, they are more like........socks. They are both comfortable, but today I may where the blue polka dot ones and tomorrow the fuzzy pink striped ones (though this may tell you too much about my fashion sense).