Veda’s chubby nubbins, taken with iphone
If you’re bored, you’re boring.
You’ve heard that saying, right? I think my mom may have said it to me when I was a terrible teen and pulling that typical “I’m boooorrrrred” teenager crap. You know… sulking around, writing horrible poetry (and thinking I was onto something brilliant!) and wondering why [...]

Boy, I’m behind on writing lately. I have so many posts in the wings, but I am once again finding it hard to keep up. The days and weeks seem to fly by and suddenly I look up and it’s Friday. The current of life is lulling me gently forward…
But lists are pretty easy. Here [...]

I am signed up for TUT’s “Notes from the Universe” and I really enjoy them… Yesterday’s note said:
“Some things should just be done for the fun of it, penelope.
Not because they’re inexpensive, practical, organic, logical, fashionable, modest, brilliant, green, expected, proper, spiritual, thinning, fattening, prudent, or allergen-smoke-chemical free.”
And I was going to write a whole [...]

So I’m a little late in saying something, but ArtStream Studios is doing a huge show called The Incredible Print Show. There are tons of prints in the gallery (so pretty!) to choose from and all are reasonably priced! I have two pieces in there if you’re interested. Pink and yellow. Yummy. :)

I don’t dance. I’ll just start with that. I’ve tried, mind you. Many a-time I’ve tried to get up on the dance floor and shake my groove thang. But, um, my groove thang just doesn’t shake all that well. Never has, really.
Middle school dances left me sitting on the bleachers waiting for my mom to [...]

You all are so kind and supportive. Thank you for your gentle words of encouragment and understanding. I should have wrote about the breast feeding problems sooner and found my support here. You all are wonderful. If I could, I’d have you all over for tea.
More posts coming soon… I’ve taken on a few jobs [...]

(illustration for Duncan Baird’s “The New Secret Language of Dreams“)
I haven’t been sleeping at night. This may sound obvious with a newborn, but even when she’s sleeping peacefully, I lie awake with my mind spinning. I tumble over thoughts and problems and ideas and memories. It’s frustrating, to be sure. But I don’t know what [...]

Shari’s project, “Everyone Needs a Rock” is beautiful. I was happy when she invited me to be a part. I found my rock on a beach in south carolina. I miss that beach… oh yes.

At slightly after midnight, Penny started having contractions. Severe ones. She doubled over in the bed and had to get down on her hands and knees, while I rubbed her back and stroked her hair.
At slightly after one, we called Brooke, the doula, and woke her up. The contractions were only a few minutes apart, [...]

(”Helicopter” illustration. Available for purchase here.)

A friend recently emailed me this article from Orion Magazine, which I really enjoyed… Thought I’d pass it along. A good reminder to unplug occasionally and live/be/see.

“Babe! My face exploded!”
This is how I woke Colin up this morning after I’d accidently scratched open the strawberry (the small red mole) on my cheek. I was sleeping somewhat soundly and suddenly felt wetness gush all over my face. I jumped out of bed (I still have no idea how I managed that with [...]

I have been railing against winter since we moved back up north. I guess in my short two years in the south, I’d forgotten how much I dislike being cold. I have a really hard time with it… I feel it to my bones… and I’ve been letting thoughts of “why did we move back [...]

A mysterious email was waiting in my inbox about the Beckoning of Lovely. This little film made me smile. Hmm… Want to make something?

We had another baby checkup appointment on Wednesday where they discovered that I’d gained over 10 pounds in the last four weeks and my belly is measuring more than 5cm bigger than normal. She also looked at my ankles and said: “Those don’t belong to you!”. hee. Told you they were bad… I had apple-patterned [...]

Hiya.
Sorry about crossing all that out on the last post. I’ve been quite wishy washy lately and I think I just panicked that I was doing it wrong… I don’t feel quite like myself lately. I’m not sure how to feel or which way is up. Which is weird for me because I’m usually pretty [...]

I have been thinking that I need to start slowing things down a bit to prepare for baby bean’s arrival in February. Just a few weeks of self-care and downtime to center myself before my world gets turned on its end. This requires taking on fewer jobs and fewer obligations. And this is something I’m [...]

So busy lately… house guests, traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, seeing friends, and lots of studio time. I’ve been really into black and white since winter arrived. The silhouette of trees against the snow, india ink drawings, clean lines. Wanting to pitch b/w to all my clients lately and have to fight the urge.
My thoughts [...]

Inspired by the cutie Nina Beana’s list, here is my own good things list:
- starting to feel in touch with our neighborhood… watching the flow and routine and bustle of the residents and workers.
- new, super-warm maternity clothes courtesy of my mother in law. My belly is not squeezing into too-tight tees any more!
- our [...]

Walking the stairs into my studio this morning, flipping on the lights, turning on the space heater and the Pandora… I paused and realized that I feel extremely grateful for this right now. For jobs I’m excited about (another piece for a typography campaign that I love and setting up a web presentation I have [...]

Oh my gosh. This morning I woke up to powdered sugar rooftops and the whole world outside my window looking like a giant snow globe that’s just been shaken up. Just gorgeous! (I haven’t seen snow since we moved to SC two years ago and I forgot how much I love it.)
Anyway, this week I [...]

Have you heard of this new book by Danny Gregory coming out very soon? I am a part of it, along with lots of other artists… looks to be super inspirational and fun. It’s kind of a behind-the-scenes, sneak peek into artist sketchbooks and personal journals. Check out Danny’s video about it:

You can preorder a [...]

Hi there.
I just got back from an artist/designer panel discussion in Cincinnati at the American Sign Museum. The event was informative (good stuff to think about in terms of collaborating more with art directors), but the letterforms in the museum were hard to walk away from. So much cool old type. And especially interesting for [...]

…Working a bit late tonight. It’s always thrilling when I send off a new finished piece to a client for their approval. It’s like asking “do you like me?” every time, even if I try hard to not feel that way.

New piece for the Balt Sun. I had fun with this one, reflecting the colors of the day… cool and sort of greenish. Pops of orange. :)

Recently I was kind of stuck on an assignment… not coming up with any good, usable ideas and feeling that creeping sense of despair: “I will never come up with another good concept again in my whole life. I’m doomed!” (Ok, I’m a little melodramatic, I know this.)
So in the afternoon, after wallowing around the [...]

- walking across the park to buy a chocolate chip cookie from the bakery.
- coming back with a surprise butternut cinnamon roll for colin.
- striped, mult-colored leg warmers. Yum. Gotta find more.
- bath time in the claw foot tub.
- being madly in love with my husband. I like sweater season because he’s all fluffy and [...]

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the experience of birth from the baby’s perspective. Or at least trying to imagine what it will be like for her that chilly day in February.
Right now she’s all snuggly and warm in her world… in my belly.  She kicks and rolls and can hear my voice and [...]

After a long, arduous buying process, we finally moved into our new house last weekend. And it took rearranging a couple of times, but we have the studio set up (it’s tiny), and have basic furniture placement working now in the rest of the house too (read: the couch is actually in the living room! [...]

Hi all!
Just a quickie post since I’m sick. (boo to that!)
I wanted to let you all know that there is a TON of my work for sale online right now. Prices range, so hopefully everyone can afford a little something for yourself or for a gift perhaps?… :)
Art Stream Studios
Nahcotta
Enjoy your day, friends!
xo, p

Hello there.
It’s been far too long since I’ve written, but I got swept up in the tidal wave of recent events that I haven’t had a moment to sit down to write. I have so much I want to tell you about … where do I even begin?
I am sitting right now in a penthouse [...]

Ok! I finally have five minutes between jobs to breathe. So I thought I’d sit down with my feet up (still rockin’ the lovely swollen ankles) and jot down some initial thoughts about Squam.
For me, the experience was all about letting go of expectations, doing what was right for me, and holding myself accountable for [...]

I’m back from Squam. Back from closing on the house (!). And back to work. More like slammed into work. I have a GINORMOUS pile of stuff to get through right now (some really cool, never-before-attempted-by-the-lope projects!) so I will write more about everything soon. Please be patient with me.
Word out for now. xo

This weekend I celebrated my 31st birthday. I spent the day bummin’ with Colin at Ten Thousand Villages. (Bummin’ is my family’s word for “window shopping”). Driving through the country. Babysitting for my niece. Taking a long walk with a stop for ice cream. Going out for dinner in the evening. And watching a movie. [...]

HOUSE: We are still waiting to close on the new house. It’s been pushed back twice already and that has been extremely stressful for us. I am not sure what the deal is, but Colin and I seem to be playing the middleman, which makes the whole situation even more in-your-face, and frustrating. I hope [...]

- worked. But it was fun because I am whipping up a KILLER WICKED FUN campaign for a local agency and it’s totally pulling me out of my eff-art phase. I cannot wait to show you eventually!
- took a day off to go kayaking with my mom (the avid kayaker), Colin and Tom. The river [...]

One of my illustrations got into July’s Communication Arts Annual No.49. Yippee!
Here’s the pick:

These last few months have felt like I’ve been standing at the window of my life, looking in. Not totally involved, but just an observer. Watching the characters inside pass by the window, catching little bits of conversation, a few light scents as they reach my post, the muted music from a few rooms away.
I’ve [...]

Alison passed away tonight around 7pm. She was surrounded by all the family and friends one could possibly hope for… Surrounded by love. Each one taking time to say goodbye, hold her hand, tell her they loved her. Tom was amazing…
The sun sets each evening, but the sun is always rising somewhere else.
We loved you [...]

We just found out we got the house! The other offer didn’t go through, so it’s ours! Hip hip!
I’m going to celebrate. Have a good weekend friends!

I like to picture the things I’m looking forward to as carrots dangling on the end of a string in front of a horse, making it walk forward, step after step. (And eventually the nice carrot dangler allows the horse to eat the carrot so it gets the reward.) Colin and I will often ask [...]

What do you do when you get bucked off the horse? You lay there for a moment to gain composure, you stand up slowly, you cuss and dust yourself off, and then you get back on.
We found another house we’re stoked about… a few more compromises with this one, but it’s still a wicked cool [...]

We found the perfect house yesterday. The house we walked into and immediately thought: “this is us”…”this feels like home”. And I moved in mentally. It only took a heartbeat. I did the happy dance in the living room and we decided to make an offer in the evening.
An hour later the agent called and [...]

I am the suckiest blogger in blogland right now… my apologies. If you’ve read my brother’s site, you know that Alison is in the hospital and everything that’s going on there. (She’s not doing well at all… we’re all praying and thinking positive thoughts.) We’re knee deep in the house search and I’m swamped with [...]

I’m pretty funkadelic funkalicious right now. But I am still seeing things worth cheering about right now. Things like:
- a brand new haircut. I’m light and airy now. I heart short hair.
- rocking my niece to sleep this afternoon. She’s a sugar-butt.
- new sushi restaurants. Bring on the wasabi!
- getting fun mail from friends. (pink [...]

I have officially clocked one week of living in my brother and Alison’s basement. It’s dark down there (Colin is out getting night lights as we speak) and I often bump my knees when attempting to find the bathroom in the middle of the night. But it’s also very spacious. We have our own bedroom [...]

Dudes. I’m sorry to be such a bummer! I just needed to write that to get it “out there” and less “in here”. You know?

In better news… my dear girl Christine has a new print for sale… You can read about the story behind it here and purchase it for 25 bones here! All [...]

This weekend we slammed 34 hours of driving into 3 days, delivering our first car load of stuff to the new destination. But we got to hold baby Gianna for the first time. Celebrate my little sister’s birthday and graduation. Get lost in a sea of green. And witness a gorgeous sunset road side.
So good. [...]

Just a quick hello before I start on the massive pile of work I have in front of me…
- Saw this movie. Loved it. I think it helps put poo into perspective, a reminder I needed right now. Plus, every dining outdoors scene had me swooning and wishing for something similar. (I love eating al [...]

This afternoon we had some repair men out to start work on the inspection list. Really nice guys. The one gentleman is older, maybe 60 or so, with that kind of reddish pickley nose and absurdly tan arms. He tells it like it is and believes that “what goes around comes around”… a kind of [...]

This month-long blog break has been exactly what I needed. I reinforced that I am teeny tiny itty bitty. And that the world ticks on and on without me. And that is totally GREAT!
Looking at that fact in the face this month has taken pressure off for me. And I feel like I can be [...]

- putting on a poncho and scrubbing the outside of the house in the rain
- teaching two four year olds how to do a cartwheel
- them teaching me how to pretend to roll down hill on a flat surface
- saying goodbye to my brother and alison, who left for Indiana yesterday
- sitting out on the [...]

A windshield on a rainy day. That’s me right now. The wipers swoosh back and and forth, momentarily clearing the droplets from the glass and allowing a clear view. But even before the wipers are back at their resting place, the next rain droplet touches down and again starts the process of obstructing the view.
I [...]

sitting here in an abandoned cafe in raleigh north carolina. The only place I could find with free internet. (Internet should be free everywhere, dammit… although, I hear all mcdonald’s have free wi-fi. No thanks. I’ll probably be smacked down by god if I step inside a McDonalds. Or turn to a boiling vat of [...]

- flannel pjs and a thin red woobie with black piping
- mug of hot chocolate
- all caught up on laundry… fresh sheets
- swept floors
- remembering the new mental videos I created this past week of bike riding with my mom, brother and husband
- more mental snapshots of gardening and digging toes into the sand
- skipping [...]

does art have to be difficult to be good?
and what is good art anyway?

You’ve always got someone around for some mac photobooth fun. one… two… three… POSE!

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=x3Rw_3ky-uo[/youtube]
hee! here’s another one that made me grin: click.