The year is winding down to a close. There has been good stuff and bad stuff. Pretty much life as normal. I guess as one gets older, the loss of friends and family hits a little bit deeper. It seems as if there has been a funeral or service to attend every month this year. But life continues, and I choose the path of optimism. The holes the passing of my loved ones leave can never be filled, but there will be new friendships and new plans for the coming year.

Today is the Solstice, a time of turning inward and making plans, clearing out the dust bunnies in spiritual and emotional corners. I am setting into motion plans which will come to fruition in the spring. I have a good feeling for this coming year. I think it’s going to be great.

creature for the day december 18, 2010The prompt for this week’s Illustration Friday was mail. In keeping with my creature of the day daily doodle, I made an angry mailbox.

This time of year seems to make our mailbox into a beast. So many catalogs and fliers and what-not seem to fill it everyday. Some days it is so stuffed, it is difficult to get things out without something tearing. It as if the mouth of the mailbox has sharp, pointy teeth. I even have the scratches on my hand to prove it.

This creature also marks the last page in this sketch pad. I have a brand new daily doodle book waiting for me already. I got one with a soft cover this time, and it looks as if it should fold open flat so the shadowing I’ve been dealing with because of the spiral binding on the old one when scanning will no longer be an issue. It would be nice if I could start the new book on the first of the year, but I don’t think I want to take the next 2 weeks off from my creatures. They are fun.

It’s Saturday, so I should be taking the day off, but I have deadlines that need to be met and places to be later, so as soon as this post is updated, I am pulling out a sketch pad (not the doodle one) and working on character studies for my picture book. The main character’s looks and visual personality are eluding me with this story. But on of my crit partners just said to scribble until something happens and the girl shows up. I also want to work on some new portfolio pieces and some patterns for licensing. Yeah, a slow day. Go ahead. Laugh at me, I’m laughing at myself.

Later on we are heading in to see the new daughter-in-law graduate from college. Afterward we will have dinner at Pi (a gluten-free pizza place!) with her and her parents who are in town for the graduation. We didn’t get a chance to spend time with them while they were in town for the wedding this summer and they told K they’d like to get to know us better. Should be fun.

creature for december 17, 2010You may have noticed there was no creature yesterday. I wasn’t up to drawing.

For the past 3 years I have been starting my days with a IM chat with my co-author and sister-friend, Trudy Herring.

After the wheels of publishing made it possible for Rabbit’s Song to become a picture book is when Trudy and I met. Since we live in different states, we actually met online months before we met at the first signing for our picture book. It was as if we had always known each other. Daily conversations about everything under the sun ensued.

Trudy passed away Wednesday afternoon. I am still reeling from the news and even as I type this my eyes are again filling with tears.

For those of you in publishing, I don’t have to tell you how rare it is for an author and an illustrator to even have any contact, let alone become fast friends.

But Trudy was like that. Her heart was so big it encompassed anyone who came near her. She was the community storyteller, the community secret keeper, the community anchor. She will  be missed by so many. It’s impossible to count the ways she touch people’s lives. People who never knew her are also mourning her passing.

Words fail me in saying how much I shall miss her and how huge the hole in my life will be without our morning conversations. No matter how bad I was feeling — physically or emotionally — the hour or so at my keyboard with Trudy always had me smiling before breakfast. Mornings are going to be very hard for a while.

creature for december 15, 2010Not sure if this guy is happy and playful or evil and twisted. I do know some days I feel like flailing my claws around and making loud growling noises.

I have a deadline today, and in spite of my best efforts, I have been besieged by outside forces demanding my attention. Today, I am having the duct work cleaned. It needs it, don’t get me wrong, but today was the one day I didn’t want to deal with strangers in the house.

I had to reschedule because the company called me all in a tizzy. Seems some lady absolutely needed to have her ducts cleaned before her brand new carpet was installed and was being very demanding. The company asked if I wouldn’t mind switching days with her.

In the grand scheme of things, having the ducts cleaned on one day or the other isn’t really that high on the list, so I said sure. The company rep was clearly relieved I was being so accommodating. I’m assuming the other lady was being a bit of a pain.

So while I am trying to concentrate there are all sorts of banging and whooshing and sucking noises going on. Not the most conducive to peaceful creativity, but there you have it. It’s just going to be one of those weeks where I am not going to have quiet and uninterrupted studio time. I might as well get used to it.

creature for the day december 13, 2010

Some days are more creative than other days. The studio is quite chilly today and I am having a hard time finding my creative groove. At least I managed to file all the piles of paperwork that have been deepening since September while answering phone calls. What can I say? It’s a Monday.