Love

Today my husband and I both remembered at lunch today that it is our 2nd anniversary. You would think we would have noticed this, but we have both been under a lot of stress. Nathaniel is in the middle of an internship at the Public Defenders Office, in La Crosse and although he is enjoying it and loves his work it is very stressful, especially for someone starting out. For me, Maya is having one of her more difficult periods. And life just takes over sometimes. But we remembered, and shared a 3 minute moment, forgetting about work, books that need to be remade, and a child asking for something, always. And it was nice.

This picture was taken early in our relationship, in 2004, and it is one of my favorites. I love you, Nathaniel, happy anniversary.

New

Printmaking

For those of you that don't know, I was a printmaking major and although I don't get to take advantage of this fact very often (due to the lack of a press and space) it is my true love of the artworld. I love to etch, make monotypes and woodcuts. I get very obsessive, unable to do anything else with my life until the piece is finished (kind of like reading a book). I admit that my least favorite part is everything that comes after carving and etching, the messy process of an acid bath, and inking and going back into the plate to get it just right and the multiple times you have to do this to get a perfect print. But I do like the fact that I can make many many prints from the same piece of art. I think art should be accessible to everyone and printmaking has always (way back to the days before Gutenberg) filled this role.


Anyway this is the linoleum cut I am currently working on for a custom guest book order. Linoleum isn't my favorite material to carve, but for a book cover it is inexpensive and quick to work in. The wedding this is for is going for a rustic theme and the cover will be an oak tree.

Birthday

Maya turned 7 (oh my god, 7) on Monday and we had her party on Sunday at the park near our house. I think it was a success. Here are the pictures.

Grandpa and Maya

The two dads, Nathaniel (my husband) and Dave (with the funny face and ninja turtles shirt)

I found a great cupcake recipe here, for cherry limeade cupcakes, they were a hit with everyone but Maya, who thought they were too sour.

Making a wish


Presents!

Moved!

We are officially in LaCrosse for the summer! Nathaniel has an internship at the Public Defenders Office here and we uprooted for the summer. We are living in a large 3 bedroom home, with a studio and office downstairs. It is heaven compared to the cramped 2 bedroom apt. we have been stuck in for the past three years. It is a bit of a tease, though as it is only for 3 months and then we are back in Madison. LaCrosse has some beautiful parks, but it also has the most bars per capita, so it has its' ups and downs. No internet at the house yet, which has made my online presence sporadic at best, but that will change on Monday. I will post pictures of the new house at that time. I have missed you, tell me how you all have been!

Moving Sale!

Hooray! We found a place to live for the summer! It wasn't the place we initially wanted but it is big, and right across the street from a really huge and wonderful park. Since I am moving in less than two weeks (don't panic don't panic!) I am having a huge moving sale in my fine art shop. I mean big, everything is marked down 30%-50%. I rarely have sales, especially whole shop sales, so if you were eye-ing something now is the time to grab it for a steal.

Etsy Finds

A few posts back I promised that I would share some of my purchases from Etsy. Today I would like to feature The Peach Tree. Amy hails from Brooklyn NY and I am in love with her jewelry and have purchased it many times (and will keep coming back for more) not only because she immaculately crafts beautiful earrings, necklaces etc... but because of her great customer service, great deals (she is currently offering free shipping worldwide!!) and because she is one heck of a supportive member of the Etsy community. Here is what I have:

Eplipse Earrings

Ditto Earrings

Shirley Earrings

The Congo Necklace