swallowfield

blue skies ahead

it has been a busy week, spent alternating between packing my babies kids for sleepaway camp and working on a huge freelance illustration job that's due next week. plus there's been the managing to keep the feelings of total hopelessness at bay while looking out the window at day after day of rain and heavy gray fog. i cried a little in the trial-sized aisle at target while i was buying the kids each their very own soap dish, because this is their first sleepaway camp experience and i am going to miss them terribly.  but later that day when they were determinedly trying to choke each other, i thought to myself that a week away really isn't that long for them to be gone.

i did see a wee patch of blue sky up above for a total of about five minutes today. it was something special to behold, let me tell you.

if you live in or are visiting maine this summer, i wanted to let you know i have some working hanging + for sale at two of my favorite places on mount desert island: the burning tree restaurant in otter creek*, and at lisa hall jewelry in northeast harbor.

*they don't have a website because they are too busy cooking the world's most delicious food in the history of ever to worry about such paltry concerns, but you can see a picture i took there here.

in a fog

when i was a kid, i remember being sort of disgusted by adults who talked too much about the weather. i was a tomboy, and rainy/snowy/less than perfect conditions didn't bother me at all; i would play outside in almost any weather. that's how i remember it, anyway. grown ups who were obsessed with the weather seemed like terrible one-track bores to me, and i couldn't understand how a perfectly good conversation could be ruined by pondering the long term forecast. 

i've turned in to one of those grownups. it might be because we've had the rainiest, most overcast june i can remember in my adult life. unsurprisingly, i've realized the weather has a significant impact on my mental health. i've still been outside with the kids a lot, hiking and biking and making the best of it, but i am desperately yearning for a few solid sunny days right now. big time.

maine summer

we were up on mount desert island again last weekend, and the fog + rain made everything feel kind of smoky grayish blue. i drew this while i was up there. it is exactly how i feel every time i am there - so much to do and enjoy, and never enough time. 

and while we were there, we also spied a nest tucked up in the top of the porch - i stuck my camera up into the corner kind of blindly and took this photo. the eggs were so tiny; i was sort of awestruck by them.

feeling nostalgic

we're up north for a few days this week. it's nice.

 

i am feeling really sad about michael jackson. i know he was a problem-riddled celebrity, but he was a key figure in my adolescence.  my childhood best friend suzy and i obsessed over every move, and knew every word of every song.

(thanks for the link to the video, picnics under the moon. )

found in the recycling

am i the kind of person who pulls her son's top secret drawings out of the recycling, takes pictures of them and posts them on the internet for the WHOLE WORLD to see?  yes, yes i am.

i think this is just about the best thing ever. i've been crying inside a little ever since i found it. (+  i've received the sage advice to tuck this away and save it for his wedding.)

also, since it's been raining pretty much non-stop, we've been needing to come up with some indoor play plans.  i overheard this yesterday when they were playing little house on the prairie, ellie and chase style:

"ellie, play a really sad song on the piano, and i will just stand here with my pa ingalls hat on, looking into the distance for a long, long time."

ha.

silver lining

silver lining, a new drawing this week

i don't want to jinx anything, but i am happy to say it is NOT raining this morning. nice.

summer vacation has begun

here's one more photo i forgot to include in yesterday's post of the azalea garden. i think it is my favorite one.

we're starting our first day of summer vacation today. it is so nice to let the kids sleep in and then hang around in their pajamas, curled up with a book.

some nice links i've been meaning to post:

'I putter. I nurse old grudges. I fold origami while nursing old grudges. I think about the past. I wonder if there’s any grudges I should start.' 

post-it genius  and  grooveshark, both found via the post family.

a place i love to visit::the asticou azalea garden

one of my favorite places in the world for drawing inspiration is the asticou azalea garden in northeast harbor (maine.) i've written a bit about it before, probably at this exact time last year. we got a chance to visit again last weekend in the early morning, before many people were there. it had rained a bit the night before.

i always feel a little bit silly taking pictures there, because it is a place where you regularly see serious, pro photographers setting up monster tripods with ginormous lenses on their cameras. i tend to take pictures on the fly, while reminding the kids that it's supposed to be 'a place for quiet reflection' and 'please stay on the path!'

we've been going since they were teeny, and i'm pretty sure they know the paths and stones by heart.  these photos aren't anything great, but they make me happy. i'll pull them out again this winter when i'm vitamin-D deficient, grouchy, there are six foot high snowbanks and  i can't get the wood stove going - always a good reminder of how beautiful maine can be at this time of year.

if you find yourself anywhere near acadia national park, i highly recommend a little visit.
 

it is a happy surprise when someone you haven't heard from since your college days emails you to say they saw your artwork on apartment therapy  - in a very nice post about the incredible print show at artstream.
(( this print is now sold out at artstream, but you can also find it here if you're looking for it. ))  thank you, AT!

weekend plans

island house 5x7" pen and ink 2009

the kids and i have hatched a master plan to climb a whole bunch of mountains this summer. we're headed off to get started on a few this weekend. and because they are hearty souls, i think there will also be some swimming in the ocean - i will sit and draw while they do that, then resuscitate them after they've turned all blue lipped and goose-bump-y. 

i hope your weekend is wonderful. 

cozy, quiet

it's been pretty rainy for most of this week, which i haven't really minded at all. it's given me a chance to clean and putter and purge in between art deadlines.

i snapped these photos today while i was cleaning - they're nothing special, other than maybe an observation that i guess i really like mix and match sheets and patterns. and i suppose i was thinking that the house is about to be fuller and busier during the week. a lot fuller and busier. and maybe, probably,  i was liking the quiet + the order today.

my room:

ellie's room:

chase's room (with lazy prerequisite cat):

and, nothing to do with anything, i bring you this:
dramatic squirrel
(we've watched it about 20 times.)