On top of all that jazz, I’m redoing this site to more clearly focus on my work and make it more conducive to regular blogging. More to come early next year… just going with the quickie update for now.

Well, that’s an exciting thing to write. Magically, the Vertical Cities prints sold out with minimal intervention from me. The whole thing began as an experiment, having set aside the money for the first edition on a bit of a lark. Expectations were minimal. As a buyer and window-shopper, I’d been on Etsy for a while… so when I ended up with a stack of one hundred prints in my project closet, it seemed fitting to give selling a try. I’ve learned a lot in the process and am really excited to start the next chapter of this adventure with the follow-up prints and a far greater sense of direction. After going to college to pursue studio art, and then ending up in the tech industry (like so many of my brethren and sistren), it’s a thrill to be actively making (and selling) art again!

Also, watch for Vertical Cities in the follow-up to Fingerprint, to be released sometime next year! More details to come. And thank you to Ben for being supportive of my artwork time, just as I aspire to be for him. On the pictorial tip, above is a shot of the day after I picked up the prints from the wonderful folks at Rohner here in Chicago — I brought a couple into work to show off. Onward and upward!

Oh man. Some more greatness via Julia Rothman’s Book By Its Cover: Yelena Bryksenkova’s sketchbooks. As an avid and perfectionistic sketchbooker myself, I relate very much to this quite from Yelena:

Despite warnings not to, I have always treated my sketchbooks as precious objects rather than a place for unfinished ideas. I suppose this can be limiting, but I can’t help it! The beauty of certain objects, places, people, and moments fills me a frustrated kind of awe and drawing them – carefully, so completely absorbed that I sometimes dip my paintbrush in my tea – helps me make peace with that feeling.

Yes! Do yourself a favor and check out her portfolio and sketchbook archives. I know it inspired me.

Oh, Iceland. It’s truly a magical place. I’ve long dreamt about living there, but that won’t be a reality anytime too soon! Of course, vacations can go a long ways to salve such long-term desires, and this recent trip more than fit the bill. Ben and I spent a couple of weeks circumnavigating the island counter-clockwise, continually being blown away by the changing landscape. Somewhere around Mývatn, we were informed that we were driving the wrong way around, clockwise being the general rule, but that trajectory now seems quite difficult to imagine. Now that Ben has the photos up, check out our journey via the complete set on his Flickr… or merely take a quick gander at the edited set, put to music, on Vimeo.

We spent some time last weekend in the Upper Peninsula. Cell signals, traffic (foot and automobile), billboards, and general commotion were nearly non-existent. Here are an assortment of rocks – chromatically arranged by yours truly – that we plucked from the shores of Grand Marais during a slow, lazy morning of meandering.

Check out Benja Harney’s brilliant papercraft and get to know a bit more about his process via this interview at The Design Files.

We were in Iceland and took our tiny wooden effigies along for the ride. Originally serving as our wedding cake toppers, Ben got the brilliant idea (inspired by his friend Anisa, who, incidentally, makes awesome clothes) to take them on our travels and garden gnome-style, documenting them in photographs. Visit the slideshow for the whole deal!

Holy wonderful. I’ve been wanting to post about these birdhouses by Jeff Canham and Luke Bartels for some time. See the Curiosity Shoppe for a few more glimpses at their handiwork. Check My Love for You… for some context via interview.

Well, I got hitched last month! Ben and I held a great little shindig at Jane’s in Wicker Park – chill and intimate, complete with a late-March snowstorm. Above is niece Ella, holding up the wedding guest dossier I designed.

Loving Simon Page’s astronomical prints! Simply perfect.

I don’t know much about them yet, but I am loving the two Warpaint songs I’ve heard tonight. This video in particular gives me chills. It reminds me of sisterhood, dreams, and random forest expeditions from days gone by. Beautiful.

Some early illustrations for what will become our home-brewed wedding invites.