Alphabet Cutouts and Edward Lear

Cricket magazine covers might be at the very root of why illustration has always been so important to me, and I love that I get to read Babybug to my son several times a week (or every day). While I tend to stare at the pictures, my son focuses on the words and rhythm of each poem, and he especially favors the nonsensical alphabet poems by Edward Lear. Today I cut out my own idea to the letter 'A' in Lear's alphabet. I believe this little ant needs a house, but its a start.

Little Ochre Airplane

I'm working on a children's book project, and I've been focusing on a short little poem about airplanes. Because its aimed at a very young audience, I feel I really should make these colors happier and brighter, yet I love the ochre, and I keep coming back to this. I might try a simple cut out tomorrow. I'll post it if I do. 

Archer I Love

Before I went to sleep last night, I decided to make a quick Valentine's Day card for my four year old to wake up to. I did not plan out the page, but I knew I wanted it to say, "Dear Archer, I Love You."
This is how it turned out: 

Although I received a humongous hug and various words of gratitude, my son finally said, "Where's the 'You'?" I said I'd kinda messed up, but the real message was there, and that in fact, it was much more of a solid statement this way. He was unconvinced but moved on graciously.

Open Rehearsal at the NY Philharmonic

I love the New York Philharmonic, especially when they are performing Beethoven. But because I do not enjoy being out late, I am limited to their matinees. A couple of weeks ago, however, I decided to attend a rehearsal for the first time. 9:45am on a Thursday morning. I loved it!

I was surprised by how many people were there, and how enthusiastic they were. I heard lots of Wows! and saw various people nodding at each other with big smiles. There was no shushing of others, no permitted "cough breaks," no sleeping elderly folks in their black tie wear. Very casual, enjoyable and the music was fantastic.

I highly recommend trying out an open rehearsal, if you like the Philharmonic. You can find their schedule here. Let me know what you think!

My first time sketching at the American Museum of Natural History

I very much prefer to stay on a schedule, planning each day's tasks in advance. But lately, I've been taking myself on impromptu little dates to the the city.

Today, I went to the American Museum of Natural History for the first time without my son. I took my sketchbook, a few pencils and two erasers. I have never understood the appeal of the North American Mammals wing, with all of its stiff taxidermy and fake backgrounds, but I finally kind of got it. I really looked at the animals today. I noticed their size and scars and hair length and the shape of their ears. It was all so beautiful.

I sat down in front of the grizzly bears and sketched for about 15 minutes. Then I walked through Central Park for a couple of miles and got on the train to pick up my son from school.

I felt wonderful.

Big Bridge Studios fan photo page

I love fan photos! Have one to submit? Send me an email at kendra(at)bigbridgestudios.com

The Pleasure of Mistake-Making (aka, Upcycling with city-made.com)

When I first opened my Etsy shop in 2009, the only item I was selling was a hand-printed onesie that said, "i love tacos." I initially created this design to encourage my dear friend Lea, whose California wedding dinner was appropriately provided by taco carts (my baby and my friend's toddler each wore a onesie to show support).

The design became a hit, and I began filling multiple orders, printing each one haphazardly with my little Gocco silkscreen printer. It soon became clear that my set up was poor, as I often printed them askew, off center, too light, too dark, with smeary ink, and so on. I made so many mistakes that I found myself feeling anxious every time I needed to print more. I was able to donate the best of the worst to the Goodwill and to the Haitian earthquake relief efforts, but it was clear that I needed another plan.

Fortunately, I've found a couple of processes that work much better for me, lithograph printing (listed in my previous blog post, here) and digital printing. Both produce far fewer mistakes. Things do continue to get botched, especially when I'm in experiment-mode, but it no longer crushes me. Why not? Because of citymade!

Citymade is a collaboration between my longtime friend, Carol, and her cohort Melany. Both conscientious, creative and crafty moms, their aim is to re-purpose, re-cycle and make better.

I visited Carol last year in our hometown of Omaha, NE, and I was very impressed with what citymade was doing. I asked her if I could send her some items that I had fouled up, to see if she could give them a new life. She accepted, and it has totally changed the way I feel about making mistakes.

One of my favorite collaborations is what they did with a botched test print of my Hooray Brooklyn Pigeon design. When I first tried to print this design, the ink began to dry as I rolled it onto my linocut, and my print came out too light. At the time, I was flustered. I felt the tshirt was ruined. Before Carol and I discussed working together, this toddler tee sat in my drawer, awaiting its fate as a kitchen rag. Luckily, citymade found a better use for it, and they turned it into this super cool tote,  http://www.city-made.com/?p=1460. Since then, citymade has successfully transformed many of my other mistakes into awesome new and usable items.

To find out more about citymade, visit city-made.com or their Etsy shop, http://www.etsy.com/shop/citymade. They can also be found selling their wares at the Omaha Farmer's Market, located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Check them out, and support their business. They really do make the world a better place.