Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Best Christmas Gift Ever!


There was no art made at my house this past weekend. Plans for a quick trip to New York to hear friend and awesome singer/songwriter, Michele Karmin, turned into one festive expedition for six of us. It was all about wonderful friends, family, extravagant food, and so many laughs. I did manage to trek off to the Museum of Modern Art for a few mind-candy hours. I caught up with the rest of the group in time for the three-touchdown, fourth-quarter of the Eagles and Giants game. We all should have bought lottery tickets . . . it was just one fantastic event after another.

I have been catching up on some overdue illustrations. Today's New York drawing is a bit ironic, as there was no time to shop this weekend. I did purchase a few drawings of the city from a street artist. I love souvenir art and the rush of memories whenever I look at it.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Read Between the Bylines

Writing has become a second (or is it the third, fifth, eighth . . . too many to count lately) job for me. I'm certainly not alone. Many of my favorite artist blogs are filled with interviews, stories, commentary; and yet the artists still manage to regularly post their artwork. I'm sure many of them also write for others. Although I've done my share of copywriting, I have avoided it whenever possible. I'm an artist, not a copywriter.

This is the last thing I ever thought I'd spend this much time on. Paintings to finish, a new website to design, and article commitments to keep; how does everyone manage this? (I didn't even mention a regular job.)

I am somewhat of a spelling and grammar Nazi. For my own blog, I try to edit carefully before I post, but if there is one thing I have learned from my advertising experience, it is no one will care how perfect the ad is if it doesn't make the deadline. There are some gremlins that manage to appear between my iPad writing app and the formatting on the site. I'm still catching typos and revising sentence structure after I post, but it is my blog. I set my own deadlines (I really don't have any,) and I don't have to be too fanatical because I know I can change it later.

Writing for others is a whole different zebra. In addition to a thesaurus, a dictionary and a grammar reference, I'm now a regular visitor to the "AP Stylebook" online version. I'm learning a new variation of  'getting over perfectionism;' write it, post it and hope the editor approves.

I have added a new tab section, "Other Stories." I will post some guest articles here, when I am permitted to do so.

Can I go paint now?

Saturday, December 4, 2010

You Can't Always Get What You Want

If you've read this blog from the beginning, (not all that long ago,) you might be wondering how things are going with my efforts to find a social life, so here's an update.

Still haven't actually joined anything (Groucho would be pleased.) The Art Director's Club of Philadelphia (missing for a few years now,) had a Launch (or re-launch) Party on Nov. 11th. I missed it, but I keep looking for updates on the somewhat blank website. Nothing. Another artist group proves my point. (See: Where Do You Go to Meet People in 2010?)

What can I say about my Match adventures? I still look, but I've been a little busy the last few weeks. Before that? Well, no, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find, you at least get yourself out of the house.*

*Thanks to The Rolling Stones for the paraphrase.