
My little brother turned twenty one this month. Happy Birthday Bro-ha. I love you.

My little brother turned twenty one this month. Happy Birthday Bro-ha. I love you.
I had this painting in my head for a while before I painted it last month while showing at the Mill Creek Art Walk. It came out rather odd and a little creepy. That was not part of the plan. But I like it anyway. The main of the idea was to capture Oscar being held by Edward in the way that he does. Oscar completely trusting, just hanging out, looking around, as proud big brother affords him a better view. I did the painting without reference material so you’ll have to forgive the vague likeness and the fudged details. I must say it made me very happy to have a chance to work with oil paints on wood again. 
I made this little thank you card illustration for a friend who is graduating from UW with a degree in math. She also owns two adorable goats. Pygmy Goats. Who can say no to painting pygmy goats? I drew a bit of inspiration from Holly Hobbie on this one. Toot and Puddle are some of my very favorite characters and Holly’s illustrations always feel so fresh and beautiful to me.
Of course, my sense of humor on this one is a bit more…juvenile.
I will be participating in tonight’s art walk at the Mill Creek Town Center from 5-8p.m. Come on out and say hello!
Here is the link for all the information: http://millcreektowncenterbiz.com/?p=1198
I am showing my watercolor work tonight. I will also be participating next month, showing my oil paintings.

Today I will be doing portraits at the Snohomish Craft Bazaar at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Snohomish from 10 – 4.
It takes about 30-40 minutes, but the kids don’t really have to sit still. (Oscar definitely did not sit still pretending to clap his hands for 30 minutes!) Portraits are done in watercolor on 9×12 paper. $30 each. There will be lots of other crafters there selling there goods. Come on out and find something for your mamma!
2727 Lake Ave. Snohomish
My little brother got married this past weekend to a beautiful, sweet, Christian gal! I’m so proud! I cannot even tell you how happy I was when they asked me to be creatively involved with making the invitations. It was so much fun, and I really like how it turned out. 
I designed a logo and had stamps made to use on the front of the invitation.
Then I surprised them with an address stamp to match as a pre-wedding/house warming present.
I really liked the idea of using stamps, especially since the designs are such that the stamps can be reused indefinitely.
The idea for the invitation is loosely based on a passport, as Caleb and Angelica love to travel.
This is also why the map is a rather prominent element (hand illustrated map in watercolor with digital elements).
Keeping it subtle and casually elegant was important to us, so we avoided any over the top travel theme-y stuff.

Caleb and Angelica came up with the clever wording and had the rad idea of placing a magnet with their photo in each invitation.
The “Party Pants” reference on the magnet was something I pulled out of the wording they came up with for the invitation.
One last thing I want to share was a little gift my mom and I put together. We initially got the idea from a baby shower we went to recently where the guests all wrote letters to the little guy for each of his upcoming birthdays. We basically stole that idea.
We bought 35 blank greeting cards and then numbered them 1 – 35. Then had all the guests at the bridal shower, the brides maids, the grooms men, the parents of the bride and the groom, and the pastor at the ceremony (also a good friend of the groom) write letters to the happy couple for them to open on each upcoming anniversary.
I painted their logo on the top of the box and did a little embellishment inside. Personally, I think this is the most seriously amazing idea ever!