My first Blurb book

In preparation for Blueprint I made a Blurb book to use as a portfolio. It was my first time to create a book online and the process was fairly easy. The turnaround time was quick and yesterday my very own book arrived.

The quality of the paper and color are great. Here are a few spreads from the book.

India Flint: Inspiring Speaker at Confluence

I'm at the Surface Design Association conference, Confluence, and this morning India Flint was a speaker. She uses natural dyes from plants found on her walks and wanderings in Australia. Her work is astounding. Here's a sample.

Eucalyptus Prints from India Flint

She gave a wonderful talk and recited my favorite poem from Mary Oliver, The Summer Day.

The Summer Day

Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

Birdhouses as Surface Design

Check out these cool pictures from the Pattern People's blog:

http://www.patternpeople.com/coolness-birdhouses/

Printsource Preview

I've been furiously working on new designs for Printsource which is happening in NYC on April 12 and 13. Some of the work I create by hand usually starting with a line drawing or painting. Other work is created entirely on the computer. I hope to have 100 prints by April 2 so I've been working furiously. Here's a preview.

Playing with Painter

Top is a pen and ink drawing which I brought into Painter and colored. The bottom is the same illustration that I put through a filter. I like the effect.