She Sure is {Sketchy} Swamp Thing

I think I love you....

Those may not be the words, but this week at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, they were exactly the sentiment.

Happy Friday!
Draw your hearts out this weekend, I'm going to ;)

She Sure is {Sketchy} Field(ing) Dinosaurs

I jumped and jogged along the Chicago Waterfront's freak 70 degree magnificent mile this week. I stayed at the Chicago Essex where I swam every morning, raced instep with sailboats every evening, got schooled in bagpipe traditions in dimly lit pubs, took care of mega-business and fell madly in love with every freaking thing I came across....

I'm sure I'll be back in the windy city before we head into June. In the meantime, here's some of the blueprint babies I found on my walkabout. Seeing so many skeletons was exhilarating. Process wise, I started by sketching an accurate representation with purple ink ballpoint. I'd cop a squat and whip out a little pot of ink and a waterbrush to really bring it home. Without further ado, these are straight from the book, done whilst I floated on dinosaur cloud 9.

(Admire that sexy-sexy bandage on my thumb. If I had procured said gash in the 18th century that paper-cut would have taken care of any malady imaginable. P.S. Chicago's ER was a breezy dream when it wasn't a disappointment of 90's proportions. I did not see a single man worth of Noah Wyle's pointy nose cuteness or George Clooney's eye crinkly laugh.)

Jumping Julian Rex' development was one of the focus' of this week's sabbatical. I had no idea how much I would learn, or the fact that there are a ton of T's in the world, and not many Rex'. It makes Julian that much more special, but it also is sure to expand his social circle ;)

 

There were lots of reasons I found myself in Chicago for St. Patty's Day, but now that I'm back in my Brooklyn art studio, I have to wonder if this sketch was the main reason ;) 

Oahu Shore

Sometimes when The Duchess and I are exchanging pleasantries such as this....

Me: you know there's a taylor swift video, and also an episode of "The Secret Life of an American Teenager' - in which both girls are singing into the non-brush end of their hairbrushes
TheDuchess: yes! totally bass ackwards.
Me: thank you!
TheDuchess: it makes NOOOO sense
Me: totally counter-intuitive and uncool looking
TheDuchess): agreed, kids these days...
Me: you give me peace of mind
TheDuchess: anytime...

I truly feel like we are meant for better things... talk show things... reality television things.... luckily those things (or better things) come to those who wait. The Duchess and I have returned to the East Coast, well rested and tan after a thrilling and long Hawaiian vacation in a house worthy of prime time fist bumps.

If I were in a reality television series I would like to only live in Hawaii, exactly as and where I did for a blissful looong vacation in October. I'm still in recovery mode. What do you mean if it starts to rain I can't just enclose the patio and go back to my People magazine for ten minutes before I open the panoramic doors to bask in the sun and the sand?? What do you mean no one has made me a pre-bed MaiTai??

It's been rough.

I like these photos, even the ones that were taken with a salt covered lens. I look at them fondly from my Brooklyn apartment where I am wearing double socks. They remind me that once, I was truly, wildly and completely baller.

We're back to blogging. Sabbatical over.

Seattle Days Drifting Away

It is a little known fact that nestled up along the region of America
nom'ed 'The Greater Northwest' lies an enchanted "Emerald City".

Two weeks ago I spent a blithe four days cozied up with The Benevolent Queen of all Bethtopia. There was dark chocolate to eat, animals to pet, REVENGE to watch and oceanfront strolling to be had for all. I finally crossed Puget Sound, a place I had never seen but have long loved. (Thank You Cynthia Voight

Beth and I spent the first two days of my indulgent Washington adventure with our asses stapled to her cozy little couch and the next two eating every cheese product we could find at the Pike Place Market.

It was wonderful. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been allowed such complete luxury. 

We ate out. We stayed in. We talked until our faces turned blue from forgetting to breathe.

We channeled magic and danced in the firelight cast by a glade of lanterns unlike anything I have ever seen.

Once Molly finally deigned to be my friend the couch got even cozier. I totally appreciate her willingness to extend her paw in friendship, even when it was scary to let some one new and unknown in to her doggy heart.

I had the chance to finally meet the famous Flossy. She is even better than previously anticipated. Man that girl can stink-eye. The Kahuku girl in me was impressed. Please, note this picture is taken on a completely different night, although I'm not sure if I had moved from the couch since the above photo was taken.

Oh wait, I take that back. This photo was taken after our divine dinner that we made from scratch. The domestic culinary goddess' that we are created something entirely new, 'Scrambled Eggs and Green Salad'. We ate fresh tomatoes from the garden and reveled in our brilliance. Everything I ate in Washington was a delight to the pallet.
 ...............................................
I got to see Seattle all proper like too. Beth is a Pike Place market superstar (a boy even hollered her name as we forced down fresh peaches from his cart after eating our weight in lunch-like things). Is it any wonder what with licensing designs like these?!

This first leg of my gargantuan trip of wonder, relaxation and spiritual happiness was exactly what the doctor ordered -- maybe for all of us. It was such loveliness to just be.  Beth and I are kindred.  I always believe that when you're lucky enough to find the people you just click with you need to force them to spend all day with you for days on end.

This trip was bliss. Special thanks to every member of this little family for making my Washington dreamz come true. Mad props to husband-guy too for letting me come and kidnap his wifey for days and days. That man is so too cool for school (in the best ways).

On my last day in Seattle, i turned a corner and there it was....

and keeping with the theme of my wildly indulgent and lengthy sabbatical...
that wish was a wish that came true too....

Peace, Love and Sandy Feet

In recent news: I was shocked to learn that the Duchess was willing to put aside her differences with NYC's Fire Island and deign to return to its sordid shores.  

So she, Tess and I got in the van with some of my favorite NYC imports, sorry Rachel, you're Canadian now so it's true, eh? We drove to Fire Island, hopped on board a boat, sung several verses of the Lonely Island song most likely to get stuck in your head, felt the wind in our hair, befriended a dog, got annoyed at people who were not us and coveted the houses that lined the shore on our way to our destination.

Once there we made a bee-line for the beach. It was hot, and as you can tell from this picture,
so were we.


The water, however was freezing. Dave and I were happy to brave the waves and the cold

Thomas, not so much.

We napped, noshed, laughed, read magazines and loudly mimicked the obnoxious behavior (and Long Island accents) of the one party that had to sit next to us on an almost deserted beach. We marveled in awe at the world's largest beer belly and split our time baby slash Sun worshiping all the live-long day.

We spent the late afternoon walking through the town. Boardwalks span the entire island. Fire Island's terrain varies from jungle fever to beach couture. Everyone (and I mean everyone) rides bikes to get to and fro. There is lots of to and fro to be had.

The island is so laid back. It was an ideal place to chill with Rachel. She is one of my top three people to beach with, and considering my background, that's saying something. We fell in love with a thumbprint of a shop on the most leisurely walk I could desire.  I longed for Hawaii and an excuse to buy ocean things to furnish a sandy house with a view of the pacific.

I sketched on the sand. Once the sun fueled me enough to lift a pen, I abandoned sand sketching for my sketchbook. I penned lots of little thumbnails, each tiny line mocks of people far enough away to look like they were shot with Super 8. These were my favorite.

The day's end found us walking along the boardwalks or sitting, exhausted at the edge of a pier. People watching was prime and the company was grand. That evening on the boat back to shore, the sun waved good bye - a sunset cherry on our sundae of calm and happy content.