I think a lot about kitchens.  This is not only because I seem to spend an inordinate amount of my non-studio time in the kitchen, either cooking with friends or raiding the fridge.  A lot of my artwork is very kitchen-friendly (chickens and vegetables, anyone?) and so naturally I tend to spend time thinking about ways to apply my art to add beauty to a kitchen.

At shows I meet a lot of people who love the bold and dramatic look of my hand-carved Asian Vegetable block prints.  But it’s a smaller subset of people who have the luxury of a big, empty wall space in their kitchen to hang the framed prints.   I started thinking, Why not hand-screenprint designs on dish towels?  Almost every kitchen, no matter how cozy, has an oven handle or a towel rack or some kind of horizontal bar where one hangs a dish towel.  Why not use that space to add a dramatic artistic bit o’ flair?  Best of all, there is no framing involved and it’s easy to switch out your artwork– just throw it in the wash and replace with a different bold design.  It’s like having a traveling art show in your kitchen.

With that philosophy in mind, I’ve added 4 cool new cotton flour-sack dishtowels to my product line.  Each design was originally hand-carved into blocks.  Like all my vegetable and fruit illustrations, the inspiration for these designs came from the fresh-picked produce of the incredible Chino Farms.  I love the bold black and white designs on the white background, and the little red accent gives each one just the right amount of punch.

The towels come singly or in a gift pack of 4 (1 each of the 4 designs).

And if you want even more variety, I have gift packs of 4 green vegetables and 4 colorful chickens.

I’m fortunate to be a longtime collaborator of the incredibly talented poet Steven Withrow.  Out of gratitude for his daughter’s recent stay Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, Steven wrote a book of poems to be offered free to their young patients.

Steven asked if I would contribute an illustration for one of the poems, and I was very happy to help.  I love the poem and I am stoked at the final result.  This is a slightly new style for me, and I’d love to explore this direction some more.  Perhaps with more of Steven’s poems?

Hello!  After a long hiatus from posting on my blog, I’m extremely excited to announce that I’m participating in my first National Stationery Show this May 19 - 22  (Booth #1767). This is a big step for me on the road of expanding my stationery and gift lines to stores across the country.  (To reps who may be reading: I’m hiring!  Please contact me to set up an appointment at the show)

Prepping for the show has so far been eye-opening and incredibly rewarding… and the show itself is still almost 6 weeks away.  The process also been very immersive.  I believe the best phrase to describe it might be “drinking from the firehose”.  I feel I’ve already learned so much from the planning process that even if I were to not be able to make it to the show it would have been worth all the time and effort.  (Mind you, I will get to that show even if I need to ride a tricycle across the country!)  My skills in logistics, delegation, organization, layout and design, working under pressure, and decision-making have all leveled up in a serious way.

I’ve also created many new products which I’m excited to share with everyone in the coming weeks.  My newest line of items focuses on bright, happy colors and themes with a looser illustration style.  I think the result is fun and gorgeous and can’t wait to share what I’ve done.

Concurrent with the show prep, I’ve also been doing very exciting illustration work with companies like Williams-Sonoma and La Brea Bakery, as well as some very cool small farms.  I’ll be posting updates on those projects soon.

I hope to see you at the Stationery Show!

Instantly add some rustic zing to your kitchen with these five new screenprinted chicken kitchen towels. I’m so excited about these new designs.  The artwork is big and bold, the fabric is super-absorbent flour sack, and the colors are fun and complement each other well.

Only $10 each, or get all 5 for $42.50 (save 15%)

These make such a terrific match with my block print Hen and Rooster wall art that I’ve put together some combo gift packs.  Click on the links to be taken to the store:

The “Betty” collection: Save 15%: Two Towels, Two Prints
The “Rosie Ann” collection: SAVE 25%: Five Towels, Three Prints

By popular demand, I’ve turned some of the images from my illustrated vegetables card series into 8″ x 10″ prints.  Now there are 5 designs to choose from:

Carrots, Strawberries, Eggplants, Cherry Tomatoes, and Winter Vegetables.

So you want to give a gift to a friend who you are pretty sure will like my work.  But you’re not positive, and don’t want to get them the wrong present.  Dilemma!

Enter the all-new Etsy Gift Cards! They are redeemable at any shop which is signed up to take them, including my Etsy shop.  Now your friend can browse my store but ultimately may choose to buy something else on Etsy that they like more.  Either way, everyone is happy. Holiday shopping = Easier!

Even if your friend doesn’t choose my work, I still consider it a great opportunity and privilege to be able to personally introduce my work to someone you think might enjoy it.  Therefore, I’d like to send you a free card that you can use to present an Etsy Gift Card to your friend.

Here’s how it works:

1) Convo me to let me know what general category of my work your friend would be most interested in (Farm, Dog/Cat, Circus, or something else?)

2) I’ll mail you a card from my collection (of my choosing) which I think would showcase my work well, with a hand-written introduction to myself and my work.

3) When you receive it, pop in the printout of your Etsy Gift Card into the envelope I’ll provide, and voila!  A personal introduction from the artist, ready for gifting.

Notes:

~ This card will NOT be blank, it will contain a message

~ I am not offering Etsy Gift Cards.  This listing is for a presentation card only.

~ I will ship USPS First Class Mail

~ Please leave enough time before the holidays to account for prep and shipping.  I’d suggest purchasing it at least 10 business days in advance.

~ If it’s too close to the holidays (or if you are purchasing overseas) I’m happy to send a personal introduction email to your friend

~ I can’t be held responsible if the card is delayed or lost in the mail.

~ This free offer is good only for shipping within the USA.

When I’m writing a thank-you note to a customer, adding a note to a gift, or just want to let someone know I’m thinking of them, I find that more is less.  Leaving too much space looks kind of lame, even though all you want to write is a brief but sincere sentiment.  But gift tags can be too small for the task.

To help solve this size conundrum, I came up with a new line of flat-panel cards.  Each card features a big illustration, leaving room for a short and sweet note (with a blank back if you want to write more).  I find them to be the perfect size when you don’t have/want to say too much.  Plus, they’re pretty.

I just finished illustrating 5 new designs, which brings the collection total to 17 designs!  Check out the collection on my Etsy shop.  It’s a notecard-designing party over here!

I’d like to introduce my new line of playful card designs aimed to help the fight against breast cancer.  These designs feature dogs and cats untying and playing with pink ribbons, the traditional symbol of breast cancer. The designs symbolize the process of getting through treatment, recovery, and moving on to the rest of life.

For every card pack sold through my Etsy site, I’m donating $1 to the Breast Cancer Research Fund.  BCRF provides critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide.  This A+ rated charity puts 90 cents of every dollar donated into research and awareness programs.  According to BCRF, a $50 donation supports one hour of life-saving research.

These designs are also being sold at Pink Ribbon Annex and are an integral part of their social networking campaign. Pink Ribbon Annex is a new online community for women who have, or have had, breast cancer.  Please show your support for this great cause by checking out their site and Liking their facebook page.

To buy a pack of cards, click here.