gratitude

Here’s a little thank you to my family, friends, and followers! I must’ve worked at Hallmark in a past life; I am so fond of making cards. If you haven’t already gotten one of these in the mail, send your snail mail address.

I am grateful for all blessings, big and small, especially the folks in my various circles of life. May each of you have happy and safe travels today. Any journey whose destination is the welcome arms of loved ones is worth it. We normally travel on this day, but with no Nana destination, we are staying put. A relief given today’s weather, but bittersweet nonetheless.

While I was (still) waiting on a response regarding sketches, I did a piece commissioned for a retirement gift. I am always thankful for clients who know original art makes a fitting gift for momentous occasions!

The client sent this, since my art would accompany the gift of a chair crafted in Maine.

The required elements of a Dickenson poem, the chair, a nest, and a robin needed to be integrated with a dedication. Whew! Lucky for me I like a challenge.

While drawing the Shaker chair, I decided to make time to see, and hopefully sketch, at the current exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art, by all accounts a stunning display of Shaker craft.

I also recalled an illustration I did years ago, for the Boston Globe, of a chair and desk. It’s a piece I framed and gave to my mother, and is now back in my possession. Something about the blank paper, the used tea bag, and the draped coat make for a certain melancholy. And maybe a bit about an absence, of a writer gone to check the tea pot, stalling in the face of that blank page.

Oh how I know that feeling.

Right now, as the wind howls and the ice thickens, we await the delivery of a new couch. Furniture does not quite last a lifetime. The simple couch that was our first married purchase has more than reached the end of it’s duty. Our daughter and dog will be upended, but at least I’ve documented their moments upon that couch.

Time now to bake, and ready for tomorrow.

I am thrilled to have my new copy of Balloons Over Broadway, by Melissa Sweet. Haven’t seen her since June, when a crew of lady illustrators gathered to catch up in Portland, sharing our current projects at the time. You can see Annie O’Brien’s mouth open in awe here, looking at the proofs that Melissa shared, for her story about Tony Sarg, puppet maker and creator of the balloons for Macy’s parade.

We were all blown away, and knew this book would be a big hit. Indeed, it is! Watch the parade tomorrow and be glad, for the curious eye of Melissa to bring forth the wonders of how things came to be. Bravo!