Einstein Quote

Here is my next project- it's a 30 inch long quote by Albert Einstein that is very special to a friend of mine. This is what it says:

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.

I'm nervous about printing this long linocut! Hopefully it goes well! I will definitely post photos when it's time.

Foam Stamps with Kids

Earlier in April I did a fun project with the preschoolers and kindergarteners at my daughter's school, Mountain Village Montessori Charter School. I did a simple line drawing with hills, a river, pond, train tracks, houses, roads, a school and a farm. And then I added lots more foam stamps to the ones that I'd already made for a similar project I did a couple years ago at our library.

It started out pretty calm and organized.

But it soon got very busy with lots of kids stamping!

Above is my friend, Ann who was a big help teaching with me. There were three classes of children who added to our long skinny picture, or about 60 kids. Half way through the project we realized the picture was filling up so much that it was running out of empty spots for stamps! So I got out the other similar drawing I'd started as a practice piece with my daughter. We'd done some stamps on that one but it still had plenty of room. The children filled that one up too and at the end there were two 12 foot long pictures chock full of stamps. A good time was had by all! And hopefully all that ink did wash out of clothes and hands. I swear the ink pads say they are washable ink!

44 Easy Steps To Follow When All Of Your Art Submissions Are Rejected And No One Buys Anything At Your Art Show

1. Overeat.
2. Be depressed.
3. Feel like quitting.
4. Consider moving and deleting all social media accounts.
5. Rearrange the furniture in your house instead.
6. Listen exclusively to James Taylor.
7. Feel assured that everyone knows that you are a dork.
8. Try to make some new art and have it turn out badly.
9. Become extra depressed at everyone else's success.
10. Develop severe social awkwardness.
11. Eat chocolate.
12. Go to your depressing day job.
13. Laugh when you read about a famous author being rejected 10 times..... What, THAT'S ALL?!?
14. Realize that you've wasted your whole life.
15. Indulge in retail therapy.
16. Indulge in some other things. I mean, who cares?!
17. Make some more bad art.
18. Accept that you are a terrible artist.
19. Look at your website and think, maybe it's not ALL bad.
20. Listen to inspirational podcasts and briefly think maybe you could have some success eventually.
21. Sleep too much.
22. Go back to your day job that has nothing to do with your interests.
23. Wonder why anyone bothers to talk to you at all.
24. Overanalyze everything.
25. Make some more art.
26. Pretend to be happy.
27. Go for a walk.
28. Make some more art.
29. Read a good book.
30. Cry.
31. Remember that your joy in making art has nothing to do with whether other people want to buy it.
32. Accept that you are a dork but some people seem to like you anyway.
33. Be brave.
34. Make more art.
35. Delete your Facebook app for a while.
36. Make more art.
37. Make more art.
38. Enjoy the sunshine.
39. Enjoy your family.
40. Try to believe in yourself.
41. Try to stop overeating but first eat a little more chocolate.
42. Make more art.
43. Laugh.
44. Make more art.

It's ok, you don't need to worry about me. I'm on number 44! Although I might need to take a break from submitting for a little bit and just enjoy the sunshine and Easter candy for a week or so before I dive back in.

In the spirit of being brave, below is a photo of my little girl who is shy, nervous, and most definitely an introvert like her parents. She was so brave and excited to sit on Mrs. Bunny's lap! Happy Easter to you all!

More Animals

Three new animals have been added to my recent animal series- the Bumblebee, Hummingbird, and Peacock!

Below are some process photos: 

My 3-year-old did her own painting on some of my reject prints.

And here they all are together!

If you are interested in buying any of these sweet little animals, you can find them on my website.