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danielle and kyle

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new portrait finally! this one is from an engagement photo which was originally a bit different. i photoshopped a different head from another photo and painted it for her because she wasn’t looking at the camera, but she loved this photo of the two of them with their adorable dog, Yotie. It was painted on a small canvas – 12×16″, which came with a wooden frame i stained dark brown. Now this painting is hanging up somewhere in their first home together in Canmore facing the gorgeous three sisters mountain!! Congrats guys! (I’m so jealous…!)

New Character Designs

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this is IGOR the “bear” and ELEANOR the “bunny”. They are friendly monsters, trying to disguise themselves as animals in the human world so they don’t scare you away. They’re not the smartest pencils in the box, so they tend to think they are doing a mighty fine job of fooling you.

The original design was the clay sculpture i did with my very talented father in law Nick Partridge – who does clay and wood sculpture, last night I did some sketching of him and then today I decided to illustrate him digitally. I have a whole series of these guys in mind, so I’m going to do my best to get them on the move. The next one, “Eleanor”, is already in the works :)

Last night i decided to spend some time working on my illustration portfolio. It feels good to illustrate just for fun! some of the music that helped get me motivated to get my desk cleared and organized to do a bit of drawing was:

the dirty heads – any port in a storm album
kosheen, a mix of songs…i really do love kosheen. such an incredible, and powerful voice. lots of great tracks, totally recommend her to anyone.
adele – 21

Now. On my way out to the studio to finish up a couple commissions! Will post pictures hopefully this week of the finished products!

“Mr. Mom” and “Mrs. Dad” — My decision to go back to work early.

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^^^^ Us; Lorien, Soren, Holly, and me, Nina.

 

So, as some of you know, we had our second baby, our son Soren 5 months ago (September 6, 2011). This was a bittersweet event, having our last child together, and it being a boy after we had our first baby, a girl, Holly. It was like, YES! I don’t ever have to be pregnant again! But then part of me is thinking, Man…I don’t ever get to be pregnant again. I don’t ever get to have a newborn ever again. I don’t get to have a 3 month old ever again. I don’t get to have that first smile or first solid food experience or…..

And now its shifted to: this is my last time to enjoy an entire year off work. I’ll never get another year off until I retire! Every little thing that I have had to let go of during the course of my little boy getting bigger each day has been so bittersweet. I don’t know what else to call it. I’m very thankful that I got to take the whole year off with my daughter but as I do remember, I was very ready to go back to work around her 10th month. I am just such a worker bee! I have even found myself looking for ways to work since Soren was born, and have done multiple paintings in the last few months. I even took over a friend’s art loft space for the last 3 months of her lease. I just can’t stay away.

So back in July of last year, my husband Lorien found himself back in sudden absolute agony with his back while we were in Kelowna checking out real estate, as our plan was to move out there. He hasn’t been back at work since. Turns out he has two bulging disks in his spine, which have been putting him through misery. 7 months later and he’s now waiting for an MRI, and thereafter to see a surgeon. This all began about a month before I went on maternity leave. Talk about stress. We have both been on EI since our son was born!

Now, this has its plus side. Having the four of us together for these last few months has been awesome. Having him home every day to help out with the baby and, even moreso with our 4 year old has been nothing short of amazing. But of course, all good things must come to an end…when you get to the point that you aren’t sure how you are going to pay for diapers. A brilliant, hardworking Journeyman Red Seal Electrician, and a helplessly-addicted-to-work College Instructor/Graphic Designer/Entrepreneur. Just never saw it coming.

After a lot of scraping by and careful spending the last few months I finally decided that it was time for me to go back to work. My husband is not healed yet, he is in constant pain, and I am perfectly fine. He is a fantastic father, and I am so happy that he can take my place and take care of them while I am at work. I think they’ll be happy to be home with him too. I have been running my own studio for close to 3 years now – from my house and have loved every minute of it, and have also been teaching, and marking, and writing assignments on top of it. I have been conditioned to have work around me at ALL times. That desk is always just a few feet away from the couch. Life is busy. Even busier when I try to work from home with kids around. I never thought I’d say this, but I think a 9-5 job is just what the doctor ordered, at least for now. A steady job, steady paycheck. Where I don’t have to manage working until 4am on a regular basis, and still wake up with my kids…starting the day at a nice, comfortable 8 or 9 am…stopping at Starbucks on the way…getting home from work knowing I don’t have to do anything but spend time with my happy family, who is more than ready to just let me come home, kick my feet up, and relax. Maybe in a nice hot bubble bath. Ok ok, I know that probably isn’t the reality. Remember? Addicted to working…two (“CFA”; one of two terms my husband coined recently: “Constant F*@#ing Attention”, along with “Reptile Brain”, which I’ll explain another day) little kids…I’ll still find ways to sneak my sketchbook around the house trying type a blog entry (I am going to try to do regular posts now) over the constant chatter of my ‘Babblebox Junior’ Holly or to conceptualize something while I’m feeding my son his bedtime bottle. I know I will dream about bad logos chasing me once again. I’ll be back to overanalyzing every typographic no-no in my daughter’s bedtime stories. I’m ok with that.

I guess what I’m saying is that ‘normalicy’ really has become a stranger around here, and we’re all craving that right now. Amazing how a job can give you that. Normalicy. Routine. Something to give you a bit of an ability to schedule your life again, and help you stay organized. Work is a reason to get up early every day, get out the hell of your pajamas, brush your hair and put your game face on. It’s a daily balance between adult/children time, an opportunity to exercise your brain in a new way each day, by facing new challenges. A reason to attack the world with your unique awesomeness.

I’m not really sure what the future holds at this point, and truthfully this experience has taught me not to hang on to expectations..because life really can change on you just like that. But what I can tell you, is that I’m excited to start moving forward again. Bring it on, world! I’m ready for ya!

 

What I’m listening to

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Tonight, its all about classic songs that pair well with yoga. Every now and then at Moskha Yoga, one of the instructors plays a classic, sweet song that makes me hear it differently from that point forward, because it was played in that yoga studio, in that moment. A couple of them that i loved when they came out are:

Enigma, Return To Innocence
I suggest you close your eyes, and give it a listen! :0) We all need to just learn to chill out and get that reminder that we’re all loved and deserve to be here.

Enya, Sail Away

Deep Forest, Sweet Lullaby
Another great song I came across after listening to the Enigma one was this one. I got curious about what the lyrics were, and i was surprised…definitely not what i thought:

Little brother, little brother, stop crying, stop crying
Though you are crying and crying, who else will carry you
Who else will groom you, both of us are now orphans
From the island of the dead, their spirit will continue to look after us
Just like royalty, taken care of with all the wisdom of such a place

Little brother, little brother even in the gardens
This lullaby continues to the different divisions of the garden,
From the island of the dead, their spirit will continue to look after us

Little brother, little brother, stop crying, stop crying
Though you are crying and crying, who else will carry you
Who else will groom you, both of us are now orphans
From the island of the dead, their spirit will continue to look after us

Wow so sad! But very beautiful. I have more respect for this song now.

Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau

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  1. Allow events to change you.
    You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
  2. Forget about good.
    Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.
  3. Process is more important than outcome.
    When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
  4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
    Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
  5. Go deep.
    The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
  6. Capture accidents.
    The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.
  7. Study.
    A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.
  8. Drift.
    Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
  9. Begin anywhere.
    John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
  10. Everyone is a leader.
    Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
  11. Harvest ideas.
    Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.
  12. Keep moving.
    The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.
  13. Slow down.
    Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.
  14. Don’t be cool.
    Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
  15. Ask stupid questions.
    Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.
  16. Collaborate.
    The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.
  17. ____________________.
    Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.
  18. Stay up late.
    Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.
  19. Work the metaphor.
    Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
  20. Be careful to take risks.
    Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.
  21. Repeat yourself.
    If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.
  22. Make your own tools.
    Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.
  23. Stand on someone’s shoulders.
    You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.
  24. Avoid software.
    The problem with software is that everyone has it.
  25. Don’t clean your desk.
    You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.
  26. Don’t enter awards competitions.
    Just don’t. It’s not good for you.
  27. Read only left-hand pages.
    Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our “noodle.”
  28. Make new words.
    Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.
  29. Think with your mind.
    Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.
  30. Organization = Liberty.
    Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between “creatives” and “suits” is what Leonard Cohen calls a ‘charming artifact of the past.’
  31. Don’t borrow money.
    Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.
  32. Listen carefully.
    Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.
  33. Take field trips.
    The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.
  34. Make mistakes faster.
    This isn’t my idea — I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.
  35. Imitate.
    Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You’ll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.
  36. Scat.
    When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else … but not words.
  37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
  38. Explore the other edge.
    Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.
  39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.
    Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.
  40. Avoid fields.
    Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.
  41. Laugh.
    People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I’ve become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.
  42. Remember.
    Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.
  43. Power to the people.
    Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can’t be free agents if we’re not free.

recent work

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there seems to be something about black and white lately as the last three paintings i’ve done have all been as such. there’s something timeless and beautiful about monochrome…i love getting these requests. don’t forget that your painting doesn’t have to match the photograph – with a little bit of graphic magic we can transform your image into just about anything you want it to be!

 

my childrens’ great grandparents december 2011. painted for my mother in law, (12×16″ on canvas). this one proved to be a bit of a challenge due to the quality of the photo, the amount of detail and the small size of the canvas, and i might take it back yet to finish up a couple details but you get the idea.

 

meghann and ava december 2011. this one is sitting in my studio waiting for some touch ups (i asked to get it back because it was a rush, 8 day window painting for christmas), but cute nonetheless. 20×20 on gallery wrapped canvas.

 

merideth and mischa december 2011. 16×20″ acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. i really enjoyed this one as the original photograph was all black and white, the pink and yellow were added in. such a precious moment.

Welcome!

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Babblebox Creative is currently undergoing some big changes from the old site! For now, you can enjoy just a few of the paintings done recently or in the past.
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