The Florida Swamp

My sweetie's mom lives in South Florida, so, we often end up visiting around the holidays. Besides all the subdivisions and traffic which make me mad, there are some really interesting wild places. Here are some photos of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. At some point, you may see a Florida series about all the invasive pets that now are taking over the wild. Including lionfish, which people think either came from an aquarium during a hurricane or people just dumping their beloved aquarium fish into the wide blue sea.

Happy Holidays Lionfish!

I tell myself every year that I am going to make holiday cards, and then I end up being too busy! I feel like I cannot buy a card, being an artist and able to make something so I end up not giving cards at all! But, I can make a digital lionfish happy holiday, kickstarter e-card :) with warm wishes enclosed, er...ah, or warm wishes from my screen to yours.

How to make a Narwhal

just two more colors to go!

criss cross, I was toying with the name swizzle stick for this piece because that is another name for Narwhal tusks.

ink reflecting

block pre-light purple

In Tents Installed

Poodle in the Print Shop!

A view of the back room

Johanna Mueller's fantastic wood engravings, they look particularly lovely next to an etching press.

Chris Plummer's fine woodcuts, just $85 each, framed

The front room of The Ink Shop

In Tents, prints from the Art Fair Circuit will have a 2nd reception for First Friday Ithaca on December 2nd! Come check out some really great affordable art for the holidays. http://ink-shop.org/ Sorry, my poodle will probably be at home since we are hoping for TONS of visitors.

Not a Turkey

OK, so this may not be the best thanksgiving recipe, but, I could not resist posting these when everybody is thinking of food. Warm wishes!

A flock of black birds

Soon I will have a flock of black birds for my book! More swooping, whistling, squawking starlings coming your way. Two more for now...Tree Bird (Click to see on my website)

Starlings Shipped (click to see on my website)

Starlings in progress

Preview of "Starlings Shipped," only one more color to go! And a quick peek of "Tree Bird" shown in the 2nd photo.

Booth Shots from "In Tents" artists

Wowsers! The "In Tents" artists have collectively shown their work in 173 US cities. Marina Terauds wins the cake having traveled to 60 cities with her van, art, walls, and stamina. Come to The Ink Shop this Friday November 4th for the opening of this exhibit.

Chris Plummer's list of cities where his work was shown "In Tents"

Cincinnati, OH
Columbus, OH
Cleveland, OH
Bowling Green, OH
Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
Atlanta, GA
Reston, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
State College, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Indianapolis, IN
Bloomington, IN
Milwaukee, WI
Madison, WI
Ann Arbor, MI
Chicago, IL 
St. Louis, MO
Kansas City, MO

Heinrich Toh's list of cities

Seattle, WA.

Portland, OR.

Sausalito, CA.

La Quinta, CA.  

Scottsdale, AZ.

Sun Valley, ID.

Park City, UT.

Denver, CO.
Kansas City, MO.

St. Louis, MO.

Des Moines, IA.

Chicago, IL.

Milwaukee, WI,

Ann Arbor, MI.

Austin, TX.

San Antonio,TX

Houston ,TX.

Chattanooga, TN.

Birmingham, AL.

Reston, VA.

Winter Park, FL.

Daryl Storrs list of cities

Chicago, IL

Ann Arbor, MI

Rhinebeck, NY

Tarrytown, NY

Saratoga, NY

Syracuse, NY

Armonk, NY

Glastonbury, CT

Greenwich, CT

Guilford, CT

Wickford, RI

Cohasset, MA

Chatham, MA

Northampton, MA

Amherst, MA

Rutland, VT

Manchester, VT

Stowe, VT

Lyndonville, VT

Middlebury, VT

Shelburne, VT

Burlington, VT

Woodstock, VT

Lancaster, PA

Pittsburgh, PA

Wilmington, DE

Shaker Heights, OH

Johanna Mueller's list of cities 

Nashville, TN
Webster Groves, MO
Dallas, TX
Duluth, GA
Boulder, CO
Golden, CO
Evergreen, CO
San Antonio, TX
Rockport, TX
Wayzata, MN
Wyoming, OH

Ann Eldridge List of cities
Newbury NH
Wolfeboro NH
Manchester NH
Northampton MA
Worcester MA
Marlborough MA
Great Barrington MA
Chatham MA
Wellfleet MA
Lowell MA
Guilford CT
Glastonbury CT
Greenwich CT
New Britain CT
Armonk NY
Manhattan NY
Chautauqua NY
Lyndehurst NY
Wells ME
Shelburne VT
Stratton VT
Wickford RI
State College PA
Philadelphia PA

Marina Terauds list of cities  Ann Arbor, MI
St Joseph, MI
Marquette, MI
Pontiac, MI
Lansing, MI
Novae, MI
Port Sanilac, MI
Lexington, MI
Birmingham, MI
Rochester, MI
Southfield, MI
Bellevue, WA
Salem, WA
Bend, OR
Sausalito, CA
Park City, UT
Sun Valley, ID
Jackson Hole, WY
Crested Butte, CO
Scottsdale, AZ
San Antonio, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Dallas, TX
South Lake, TX
Houston, TX
Kansas City, MO
Des Moines, IA
Minneapolis, MN
Madison, WI
Milwaukee, WI
Oconomowoc, WI
Chicago, IL
Peoria, IL
Springfield, IL
St Louis, MO
New Orleans, LA
Covington, LA
Jackson, MS
Memphis, TN
Chattanooga, TN
Louisville, KY
South Band, IN
Indianapolis, IN
Bowling Green, OH
Cleveland, OH
Columbus, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Birmingham, Al
Pensacola, FL
Tampa, FL
Orlando, FL
Fort Myers, FL
Bonita Springs, FL
Naples, FL
Miami, FL
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Jupiter, FL
Boca Raton, FL
Vero Beach, FL
Winter Park, FL
Charleston, SC
Bethesda, MD
Philadelphia, PA
Lancaster, PA
New York, NY
Armonk, NY
Greenwich, CT
Westport, CT

Jenny Pope's list of cities
Northampton, MA
Marlborough, MA
State College, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Mt. Gretna, PA
York, PA
Baltimore, MD
Washington, DC
Reston, VA
Chicago, IL
South Bend, IN
Toledo, OH
Savannah, GA
Naples, FL
Montclair, NJ
Morristown, NJ
Armonk, NY
Ithaca, NY
Buffalo, NY
Rochester, NY
Windsor, NY
Canandaigua, NY

Bats from the Past

A little red bat etching

Peddling Affection from a Sweet Bouquet

In lieu of All Hallows'

Curated show "In Tents: Prints from the Art Fair Circuit"

I am curating a show at The Ink Shop Printmaking Center in Ithaca, NY that will include 6 great printmakers. They are all full time artists, traveling thousands of miles a year to get their work out to the public. They are tenacious and business wise trying to make a life and a living by taking their work on the road. The artists are Heinrich Toh Kansas City, MO Daryl Storrs Huntington VT Christopher Plummer Alexandria, KY Ann Eldridge Bradford, New Hampshire Johanna Mueller Denver, CO Marina Terauds Leeper, MI. If you find yourself in upstate NY, the show opens Friday November 4th and will be up until December 23rd.

Being “on the circuit” selling art full time is an interesting life. All of us have loads of gear; tents, portable walls and pedestals, directors chairs, and a large van to pack it all in. Dodge Sprinters, Ford Cargo Vans and a whole medley of Minivans drive in and out of cities full of artists and their gear. We set up in streets, fields, courtyards, and shopping plazas. The show usually goes on regardless of hail, hurricanes, downpours, and sweltering heat.

This year I heard a number of stories from the midwest of tents blowing away. During the heat wave in July artists were standing in buckets of ice water to keep cool. My booth flooded in Pennsylvania due to hurricane Irene. There are times where I stand in the rain for days and barely make back my booth cost, when I miss my partner and my poodle, or my tire blows out on the journey. Even so, it is encouraging when somebody purchases something from me and says that they have never bought art before or when a newly married couple tells me they are going to make art a part of their lives. I know I don't have to wake up in the morning and drive to a job that I don't care about, and everything I do for my business will continue to pay off, I just have to keep showing up. A colleague once said, “being your own boss = priceless.”

I am an advocate for people who want to try art festivals to get out there and do it! It is not just grandma's painted jars and grandpa's whittled ducks for sale, there is some truly wonderful work.  If there is a festival in your town, appreciate the vendors on the street and think about the path (or super highway) they took to make it easy for you to see their wares.

Starlings Shipped

New starling woodcut showing the birds journey across the Atlantic

My partner Craig wondered if I cracked open a can of bondo for the first color. See more starlings on my website.

Deep Sea Delicacy

                                  What a green! It may be awhile before I use this color again.

                                           The wooden handle palette knife is my favorite!

I love this little spookfish and rubber duck. Bioluminescence has to be one of the most amazing feats of that ma'nature.

Bowls of Borscht

Octopi! Eating Borscht (beet soup) is truly a pleasure when there is an eight legged friend at the bottom. Glynnis Lessing is the creator of these wonderful pieces, see her website for more lovely functional as well as sculptural ceramics.

How I make Borscht (the veggie way):

• Saute 1/2 - 1 whole onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a large pot with a lid.

• Chop up a bunch of beets, how many people do you want to feed? Have a beet and a half for each person. You can substitute potatoes and/or carrots for some of the beets to "stretch" the recipe. Sautee with the onions and garlic til' soft.

• Add a bunch of water and 1-2 veggie bouillon cubes. My favorite brand is Rapunzel with sea salt and herbs.

• Season to taste. I add thyme and balsamic vinegar to almost all my soups, well, maybe to almost everything I make. I also usually put a hearty amount of parsley, marjoram and dill and salt. 

• Cover the pot and let the soup bubble, then, turn down heat and simmer for 20-50minutes.

If you desire, put a plop of sour cream and a sprig of cilantro on top. Be sure to have a mighty spoon on hand if you chop the beats huskily. Though borscht seems like a winter treat, it tastes just as good cold making it a nice summer soup too.
Blast off with a bowl of Borscht! Yummy.

Website Headers

Corn + Plan B Climate Change header

Working within series is really helpful because I can create an ongoing dialogue about a particular ecological topic and talk to people (in a confident way) who study the animals that I want to make art about. That is until I find a picture in the Living Bird magazine about Acorn Woodpeckers that store caches of nuts in trees and I just want to make art about it...my thoughts in my head go to where would I put this wonderful woodpecker within my already set "boxes?"

Endangered animals including a Right Whale and a Whooping Crane

Since revamping my website earlier in the year, I made headers that correspond to the different series. I hope you enjoy having a peek at my boxed in art :) Please click on an image and it will go to my website about the particular topic.

Deep Sea header featuring rubber critters and deep sea dwellers

Megafauna extinct australian animals, on the back on an echidna

Commissions featuring Monarchs, Cuttlefish and Orioles

I'm out of the Swallows that make up this Bird Migration Myth header

Birds of Paradise are wild and wonderful Oddballs

A flock of Starlings, backyard birdies.

Most comprehensive collection of woodcuts about invasive animals from around the world

Newfoundland woodcuts. Puffins + doggies = a playful affair