Test Patterns

Hatching

2011-10-31T07:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't been completely idle these past months. I have been hatching a new piece. The inspiration, was to commemorate and celebrate the grand struggle to showdom that Paula and I endured, survived and brought to actual fruition. At show's end Paula presented me with a marvelous piece and the above was my answer "Shiny Things"
We had said more times than I can count the hardest thing about putting something together was focusing.
We were like two crows always after the next shiny thing, which meant an awful lot of extra work finding our way back and then reigniting those works that we were supposed to be preparing for the show.

Here is the most fabulous piece "Decision Points" from Paula.

Summer song

2011-07-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

In this season of cicada, shall we

Too, emerge sans our outer skin

to become some other thing?

Fly and expire

with a final buzz in the dirt?

What changes us is what we make of the time

Waiting for our wings to dry.

What's left...

2011-06-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure whether to put a period or a question mark after this blog title. Depending on my mood it could be either. Tomorrow Paula and I are dismantling the show and I think that I am finally over my post partyum depression. I have never given birth to anything that cries but rarely have I created anything that didn't call out to be changed. I have since cleaned up my studio ( a little ) but looking at it right after the big push to get everything ready is a really good visual analogy for my post-show state of mind-
Yup...a mess.

Parallel Lives extended By Popular Demand?

2011-06-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Paula and I would just love to say that.

The truth is somewhat less spectacular, but no less of an honor.

Our gracious hosts, Cooper Young Community Association are letting us keep the show up for another couple of weeks.

So, if you missed it and are feeling guilty or unfulfilled, we'd love to have you take the opportunity to see it before it retires.

So, if you have lost your invitation- scroll back a few posts and you'll find all the pertinent information there.

Go and see-

And speak up-

We'd love to know what you think- even if it's "don't quit your day job"

Pictured : "Of two minds"

Quilting by Paula Kovarik. Figure by Jean Holmgren. 2010

Saying goodbye to the party animal.

2011-06-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

Sadly, Wednesday we had to say goodbye to our dog Neville. You may recognize him from his part time modeling job as party animal for our occasional house party invitations.

He was like that old saying, "when he was good, he was very, very good- but when he was bad he was horrid" It was the sweet charming side that sustained us and we loved him anyway warts and all.

He is shown here in his full fall party ensemble, doing his one and only trick, sitting up on his haunches being master of all he surveys.

Gravity Shift

2011-06-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Is this a face or what?

For those who did not know John Slorp, this is a face that just might keep you up nights. For those of us lucky enough to have called him friend or mentor, sometimes we did not sleep so well either. He pushed, wheedled, cajoled, demanded, and sometimes even made nice to make sure that we were the very best artists and people that we could be- and we loved and admired him for it.

His strength, counsel, presence and wicked, wicked humor will be greatly missed. John passed away on May 21, leaving all of us that he touched with a sense of loss and a feeling that gravity had surely shifted.

My very favorite story about him, almost worn smooth in the telling, is the time I was in his office showing him a clay-headed soft sculpture figure (OK, a cat doll) that I had just completed. As we were talking, John spied the spectacularly humorless CFO of Memphis College of Art in route to his office.

"Watch this" he says, as he balanced the cat on his head.

He had an entire financial policy conversation with four striped legs and a very long tail draped over either side of his face and a leering neon head menacingly peering over his own head (which he kept, unflappably- along with a completely straight face and focus) through out the entire conversation. (as did the CFO)

I think if there is one story that defined John for me that was it.

Under all that steel wool, was a passion for silliness that was just as unbelievably well cultivated as every other creative thought, painting or philosophy was serious, important and compelling.

I will miss him.

Marvelous photo of John:

Courtesy of Terrence Coffman

Showing off The Show

2011-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

I finally recovered from the last giant push for the show sometime last week- but it has taken this long to gather up the wherewithal to say thank you to everyone who helped us, everyone who came and all of our trusted friends, family and cheerleaders.

Here's proof that it was well attended:

This is really happening.

2011-04-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

After only two years of conversation, constant questioning, sharing ideas, holding each other up, shopping galleries, learning to accept rejection gracefully (sort of) and oh, I almost forgot, making art-
Parallel Lives will go live at:

Cooper Young Community Association offices
2298 Young Avenue, Memphis TN 38104
May 20 – June 11, 2011

Opening reception:
6 – 9pm, Friday, May 20, 2011

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: Noon – 5pm
Tuesday: 12:30 – 6pm, Closed Friday.

PLAYFUL FABRICS AND EDGY TOYS ON DISPLAY
Textures, toys and stories will be on display at the CYCA offices from May to June. Parallel Lives captures the spirit and sense of two Memphis artists. Jean Holmgren and Paula Kovarik work as graphic designers but find art in odd and different directions. The work includes Toys from the Other Side by Jean Holmgren, art quilts by Paula Kovarik and Conversation Piece, an installation revealing their collaborative process.

So, with much humility, fear and trembling and a BIG thanks to our respective spouses, Leigh Ann Dye (our matchmaker muse) and the Craft B'ers for their support- IT IS REALLY HAPPENING and we hope you will come see what all the fuss is about.
Marvelous postcard by Paula Kovarik, wearing her everyday Graphic Designer hat.

My Heart

2011-02-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

Every year I am honored to make a heart for the Memphis Child Advocacy Center to be auctioned at their annual fundraising event. (All the hearts will be on display from February 7-11 at the Memphis College of Art)

It is wonderful to contribute in a small way to an organization that takes cares of our smallest and most defenseless citizens and give them a voice and a defense against those that would abuse them. It's hard to even imagine what those kids have had to endure and the work that lies ahead of them in order to heal.

http://www.memphiscac.org/

Fir Klimt

2010-12-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

If this doesn't prove that design colors each and every part of your life, I really can't imagine stronger evidence.

I think I may have to come up with a graphic designers Christmas carol... hmmm...

...I'm dreaming of a ...foam core Christmas...

I made this tree a few years ago to cure the broken ornament problem. I have a cat heavy household and Christmas trees are just a compulsory (if you are a cat) invitation- they just can't help themselves. So, to keep from making them into purses, I made a cat-proof tree. It's lasted for three years and it's getting a little ragged- but so far no cat purses.

Hope you all have a happy holiday and a happy healthy new year.

At least once before the new year.....

2010-12-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

How did it get to be December? I feel like I have been underwater.

I have been working really hard but not making much visible progress anywhere.

I'm in the refinement stage of several things and since I am not quite sure what I am doing... I move very slowly.

I'm hoping for a tipping point soon, one way or another, otherwise I'll have no alternative but to make a mess.

Conversation

2010-10-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

I couldn't have been less permeable, when I'd hear my mother say to my father...."Well, that's fine, but you GO to work..... I wake up and my work surrounds me..."

I get it now.

Mornings when I am still and quiet, my work surrounds me. It's partly by chance. My current work, in it's various stages, sits on the mantel directly in my line of vision. I put it there to keep it away from curious noses and paws, but the unintended prize is the realization that it's constant presence keeps the conversation alive, even when I am distracted.

It is always there.

"My arms are wrong."

"You didn't make me very interesting"

"This is what my head needs to look like"

"This is a great dress, but it doesn't fit."

"What was your intention, when you gave me two heads?"

"How come I only have one head?"

"You did a good job on these wire thingies"

"Fix me"

Is this a face....?

2010-10-08T06:15:00.001-07:00

Introducing Habit, she goes by her middle name (first name bad), the newest member of our country family. She had been living next door and D took her in to get her spayed to keep the population in the neighborhood somewhere near manageable (and of course she was in heat). Sooooo.... she has been living in our playroom to rest, recover and quit arousing all the boys in the area.

What can I say... we grew accustomed to her face.

And what a face...

It's what's on the inside....

2010-09-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

Isn't that the accepted view of first impressions? I have strayed from the original plan and gotten so involved in the structure of my figures that I'm thinking that at least one of them needs to be naked. Paula had the great idea to have one of them holding a dress- and I love that idea for a lot of reasons not the least being, that it addresses the all important and all encompassing question:

"What AM I going to wear today?"

Home is where you make it

2010-09-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yes. I have pet envy.

Wouldn't it be nice, at that after-lunch crash time, to just unroll the paper towels and take a nap on the counter?

Evidence of Slackery

2010-09-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

I just had to give it a rest this weekend, I've been spending pretty much any and all of my free time working on my doll figures- and I did do the final sanding on the seated figure. But Sunday found me worn out and uninspired.

So, I sat, I watched movies and I doodled.

Dress on Dress off

2010-09-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

Sometimes breaking your own rules is a good idea. I don't know why I even make rules while I'm working, and even more to the point, why I find it so difficult to give myself permission to break them when I am the one who made them in the first place.

Anyway, jumping past the other projects to work on this one paid off this time. I managed to work through some support problems with all the rest of the doll/figure projects and find some sorely needed direction.

This is the very rough form for the body I put up a couple of posts ago- her feet obviously need some love, and of course she needs a head-

but she has a marvelous dress ala Paula and I can't wait to get my hands on her.

Ribbonsphere

2010-09-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

This is a doodle from the archives, since I don't intend to labor over Labor day.

Doodle of the week

2010-08-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

I finally scanned a couple of doodles I've had in my sketchbook for a while. They both seemed to need something, which is why they've been untouched and unfinished for so long. I'm thinking they just needed to perk, because as soon as I opened both files- I knew they needed each other.

Above is their consummation, with a little help from Photoshop and their mother, looking on with affection.

Everybody wants a great body

2010-08-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of views of the next body, one of the first batch of magic that Paula quilted and designed. It is already as full of personality and attitude, as it is headless and limbless. All the wonderful little fussy details are perfect, so deciding who she will be is the easy part. Waiting to get my hands on her has been the tough part. I've had her for quite awhile, she's been sitting on my mantle amongest all the extra and unassembled body parts.

So, I've decided to break my own rules and jump ahead. I should be pushing on to finish: "One day there will be a port into our heads or navels so that we can download the latest update to sanity."

But I just need to start something new.

It's either that or buy another pair of cowboy boots.

I'm of Two Minds...

2010-08-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Finishing is as terrible as it is rewarding. It's tedious, stressful, and very, very satisfying all at the same time.

These girls are a milestone and a collective voice that says "Here we are and this what it is like to be half of an inspired pair. Aren't we just amazingly cool and beautiful in our not so subtle confusion?"

The dog who fell to earth

2010-08-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I stepped out onto my porch to see if I could survive for more than a couple of minutes without catching fire. We all have our ways of keeping cool. Apparently, Gator thinks that China is cooler and that if she digs long enough and deep enough, she'll get there.

It just looked like she just rocketed in but did not burn up on reentry.

We are calling this.... wait for it....

The Gator Crater.

She lives

2010-08-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the image is a little soft but the mood is right. It's been a long time coming but there is finally light. No name yet, because she has not definitively told either Paula or I what that might be, but she lives- And short of a few more tweaks and a final and formal permanent assembly she is finished.

"Two minds" which you might remember from former posts, is permanently assembled, but also lacks the final

touches. We are close to having these two new friends stand on their own and speak for themselves.

Paula and I took a hiatus to rest, recover and renew after the plan for a group show blew up and took with them some unexpected pieces of us. We have been busy polishing them to their former luster and look forward to blowing up and blowing away the rest of the obstacles and challenges.

I still love robots

2010-08-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

Nothing really edges out the first loves, visually, verbally or literally. I love robots, puns and my first grade teacher.

I've been working on this off and on for a few years, sometimes for a creative stretch and a little fun to break up my day job.

It's almost a growth chart. I swear I still learn something everyday about Photoshop and Illustrator. It's like my brain, I only know how to use about ten percent.

Rust

2010-08-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

As I half listened to my daily portion of "Morning edition" on my drive in last week, a name caught my attention, then a voice. The name was Ted Rust. The voice, Veda Reed's.

I had read Ted Rust's obituary on that Sunday morning with a mixture of lost opportunity and hero worship. I rubbed shoulders with him briefly a few years ago, and will miss his influence and fingerprints.

As for Veda, still a heroine, still a great influence from my graduate study years and present way of seeing, some of which I am still processing and probably will be for a long, long time.

A new head

2010-07-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

The heads are always a response to Paula's most excellent bodies- (I'll shoot the body and include it soon. It is somewhere between attitude, attitude, attitude and a great height glance) this one is no exception, she's still pretty rough but I'm still figuring out this new black clay.

It's easier and harder to work with, I like the finger marks that are still in the shoulder and bosom, but I want her head to be smooth and polished. So, it will be a challenge finishing her to match the image I have in my head, of course I can't remember a time when that image did not change daily or even hourly- so I'm guessing it will be a surprise to all of us.

If you put a dress on a sculpture, does that make it a doll?

2010-07-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

After having spent ten days that I'm calling the "Doll Days of Summer"

I've finally made progress enough that I'm not completely freaking out at the notion of having the girls ready for the show in August.

My fireplace mantle is completely covered with little hands, little feet, little heads and the internal structures that they all hang on, respectively, in order to become the statement that finally defines them.

I think Paula and I are both almost tempted to show this one without her skin- but I can't wait to see what she looks like after I hand her off to Paula for the final futzing and assembly.

I know it must still be night-time somewhere

2010-06-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Swim in the pond that you're given

2010-06-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

Habitat is where you find it, I guess. This was my gift from the universe this morning for schlepping to Lowe's.

This mama duck seemed absolutely unruffled that her pond was only a half inch deep, that she was being gawked at by a

group of unruly hardware store addicted humans and towered over by giant roasting machines.

Wish I could be that hopeful and that focused and fearless.

Feet of clay

2010-05-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

What you've been seeing as support for this figure is the modeling stand that I use for all the figures. This particular one asked me for feet and in fulfilling her request I think that she may need to be suspended for presentation-

Now that she has feet, she's become part of the dance, which I am pretty sure was her intention all along.

I'm of two minds (unsurprisingly) on the position of her feet. I like seeing her heels pointed at each other, but once she is suspended, I'm thinking that it might be better for them to arc out behind her as if she were in flight, or caught just before leaping.

One more step in the journey

2010-05-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

While Paula is busily configuring a body for the bonticool head, I am finishing the two minds figure (see its virgin appearance a couple of posts ago) I am chronicling its progress here. I've managed to tack on a collar around the neckline of the body and put a coat of primer on the body parts. My initial thought was to stain the primer and warm it up a bit, but I have to admit to being really seduced by the white velvety surface as it stands.

After getting the collar on and dry fitting the heads to the body, it needed some kind of interaction between body and heads. I love the thread trailers on the body, it speaks to both of our attractions to simple line and adds another dimension of scale without being fussy. So, I added some Paula magic (as supplied to me in a bag of stuff and bodies) and affixed some crazy curly wire- it helped but was still a little too unrelated-

I added the tiny green leaves this morning-

It's getting magical.

Bonticool

2010-05-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

In an effort to maintain my title of collaborator with Paula, my hero- I had to grow another head.

Our plan, as it has unfolded, has been to supply each other with heads and bodies, respectively, (heads/ me and fabric bodies/Paula) and see what happens- I've been playing catch up ever since.

I have several bodies, one that has all its parts (but not finished) as seen in an earlier post, and more that have clearly spoken to me that I have not yet translated. So, this heavily Lee Bonticou inspired head, will be the first head that Paula will be translating. In true Paula/Jean style we have already emailed back and forth with the pretty much the same ideas for her finishing.

I think we are taking "making friends" to a new level.

Stop and sniff the thistles

2010-05-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

As some of my friends recently reminded me, the time to do things is now. I have been looking at these thistles on the side of road for a week and thinking that I really need to stop and photograph them. So, I did.

The light was not exactly right, the conditions were not optimum -but here it is and I'm celebrating.

Now, for the rest of that list...

I wish the impetus for this destruction of fear and procrastination was not so jarring or that it would not require such personal drastic rewiring on my part. From the outside it would not seem to be such a big deal to do what is in front of you, to exercise your passions or to say how you feel. But I am out of practice.

The biggest reason for this sudden attack of vulnerability and mortality was that one of those reminding friends recently suffered a stroke. So, I am feeling small in the face of that enormity and trying to deal with the fact that this personal rewiring job of mine, that I let overwhelm me most of the time, is so very, very minor.

Reward

2010-05-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

Gardening has its own rewards, but none better than the beauty of the tools at the end of the season.

April Foolishness

2010-04-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

I found this while I was hunting around on my hard drive and I thought I'd take advantage of these last few days of April to be officially foolish.

This is an April Fools card from all of us at Patterson Graham Design Group that I did few years ago- I always liked it and as one who always laughs the loudest at my own jokes, I thought it was hilarious... as for everyone else, I'm pretty sure they were just humoring me.

Sowing seeds of content

2010-04-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

A particular page in the graphic novel that I am working on, calls for a crow to help a woman plant her garden- He is described as flying over the garden (crop dusting style) with a sack of seed open to the wind.

Of course, I obsessed about the seeds- Now.... how to fit everything else in that is needed to advance the story... Maybe the seeds need skirts...

The beginnings of a wonderful journey

2010-04-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the seeds for this were planted a few months ago- as I was introduced to and connected with a fellow artblogger and graphic designer. After many emails and too many uncanny artistic and personal connections to be anything but a long lost sister, Paula and I are collaborating on a body of work, tentatively named, "of two minds".

The body and quilting of the fabric are Paula's, the heads and hands are mine- we are visually finishing each others sentences and I think this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

This the first and not yet complete figure, it is echoed, underlined and inspired by Paula's fabulous quilts-

Carried away again

2010-04-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I should just say, I love Photoshop- this is what happens when you play I wonder what would happen if i took that doodle and combined with that other one and then added that backgound that I didn't know what to with and overlayed with that ..... well you get the idea.

Carried Away

2010-04-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of crows that were supposed to be characters in the graphic novel I've been working on (way too sporadically)- I always have every intention of actually working on the project, but something happens and it makes a left turn. I think I would probably be through with it if every page could be a different style to reflect the personality that wakes up and drives my creation for the day-

As usual

2010-03-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

So, it has morphed into something a little less testosterone infused and with more heart, bound to happen considering the source- And just so you know the Circus presentation won a silver ADDY (I was a quarter of a second behind) - But it was very nice to have my strange passions validated and have Patterson Graham given a wink , a nod and attagirl-

goodbye Columbus?

2010-02-22T07:03:00.000-08:00

I think I'm proving my case.

I never know...

2010-02-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Doodles have a way of just telling me what they are going to be, this one, I think is going to be a beautiful tumor . . . or maybe it's that set of balls I've been threatening to grow.

Snow day!

2010-02-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

We and the dogs had a marvelous time!

after only thirty years...

2010-02-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I may not have worked up the gumption to send the Circus presentation to Tom Waits (yet), but I persuaded my working home and family (Patterson Graham Design Group) to enter it in the ADDYs- It's fitting, it's been a family project.

So, we received word last week that it made it into the show.

Hurray for us-

Hurray for me too, after only about thirty years of entering-

I finally made it in.

Seasons' Wish

2009-12-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite wish for the season, that we all revel in some indulgent joy.

Here's wishing you some Joy Sauce.

Frameable Rust

2009-10-29T05:02:00.001-07:00

I have taken lots of pictures of great places, cute animals and family- most of them to record where I was, who I love- taken to capture a memory or mark my place- but the real treasures are those beautiful things that appear when they are framed by the viewfinder and make themselves into a painting without any help at all.

The Unkindest Font (a designer's rant)

2009-09-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

The perception of good design is that it is deceptively simple, so simple in fact, that most people question it's credibility and challenge its elemental process.

"Process,what process? It's just three squares, I could do that."

In other words there an awful lot of people out there who feel qualified to practice without an artist's license.

This is for all the people who: have a knack, have a good eye, know what they want when they see it, want it to match the couch, want to change that one color to purple instead of green and then it will be perfect...

This is a rant that is as old as our profession and yet, still has the power to strike me dumb and curse the anathema that is desktop publishing.

The perfect logo in this business is the holy grail, and as rare as the perfect poem sprung word for word in one sitting, whole and unedited, pure in prose and emotion, each word measured and spot-on with no extras, clean, direct, and evocative, no more- no less-

So, when a client called recently with the problem of not being able to open and rearrange a few things in her final identity assets files, so that she could "lay out a new business card and flyer" I was a little upset.

I was able to maintain an outward calm and asked if she would send me her attempts so far-

I wasn't surprised at the Frankenstein document that was intended for the printer, but I admit to a total meltdown at her suggestion to the printer that they use COMIC SANS, instead of the subtle and elegant Garamond for her business card and flyer.

"Do you want this to look like a ransom note?"

"Do you realize that there are even tee shirts that advocate the destruction of that ridiculously cheesy font?"

"Do you want your logo to be followed by a punch line?"

"It IS called COMIC sans"

To my client's credit, she did not hang up on me and admitted that Comic Sans was the only typeface on her computer that was the right size and weight.

In the end, she got ten minutes of free design work and I got the logo in it's original form- without the punch line.

Actually the punch line came later, in a follow up call-

as I said in my sternest, most professional voice "Please don't try this at home"

More Circus Obsession

2009-09-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I just could not leave it alone, I printed out my postcards and they looked so plain, I designed a back so they are more like trading cards now- but I am happy- I have covered every square inch and there is no turning back-

for BMC

2009-09-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Congratulations and thank you, BMC, for your voice, your courage and your frank discussion in defense of us all.

The last postcard

2009-09-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well, here's the last one, I wanted a group shot so that all the bodies would show-

I still have three characters to make, but if I waited until I was through with the entire group, I'd never be able to keep up my nerve to send my proposal to Mr. Waits-

Next is the storyboard scrapbook and then it will be ready to send-

Postcards from the Circus

2009-09-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest on the 'Circus' project... four out of the set of five character postcards.

This is is as close as I get to running away.

An actual pattern posting ...

2009-08-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to love up to my blog name - so I thought I'd actually post a pattern. This is one from a few years ago. It's a tribute to my obsessive compulsive side- it's done in ball point pen.

The Feather wins

2009-08-14T06:19:00.000-07:00

For all of you who were wondering, the quill pen is a winner.

There is just something about Roosters

2009-07-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile- but we've been busy here at PGDG-

It's vacation time, so everybody wears a lot of hats and since some fit better than others, I have been struggling a bit and staying busy.

So, I thought I'd just post this rooster art that I did after we returned from Key West, a couple of months ago. Key West is covered with roosters and this one was so accommodating, I must have taken six pictures, before he strutted off, but not before giving me his best side and his trademark one-foot stance.

When in doubt go for the archives-

Evil Taxman

2009-07-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share the latest character from the graphic novel, I really enjoyed casting this one- My veterinarian graciously allowed me to shoot some reference shots while he was doing his annual family house call-

I was stumped on the character until I had to take one of the cats in to the clinic- I had the "aha" moment then, but it took awhile for me to gather up the courage to ask him to do it-

He was perfect- and not the least bit evil-

What do you guys think? Does he need a feather quill pen under that top thumb to break up the white space, or should I leave it as is?

www.pgdg.com

Handsome Grampa

2009-07-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

I've been serious and arty- now it's time to show my true self- this is as goofy as it gets- pretty much like me. This was inpired by my great niece, who after playing with her grampa ( you know the game, push on the nose the tongue comes out, pull an ear and the tongue moves from side to side) she said, "He's like a game!"

Any similarities to Alfred E. Newman are entirely unintentional.

www.pgdg.com

To and From

2009-07-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks, everybody for your comments- Please stay tuned and come back soon-

So, everyday, I drive through the parking lot behind the Kroger store and strip center and admire the texture on the concrete retaining wall.

Last week I finally made myself stop the car and take some shots of the wall for my pattern archive, yes, the same one where my turtle shell resides-

I loved the results and was so proud of myself for seizing the moment-

I'm working on one chapter in

a book of six for a graphic novel- So, on my drive home I'm usually at least partially occupied with what's next in that project, or the remnants of my last file from work-

The reward came when I scanned in the latest splash page for the graphic novel, that was done in black and white. I wanted to add some texture and give it some more interest- AhHah- I wonder how that concrete texture will work with that?

www.pgdg.com

Treasure from the Back Ten

2009-06-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, there was a turtle shell soaking in the kitchen sink.

Today it's new art for the pattern folder- ready to become a part of something else or, like most things a seed that will eventually be

perfect for something-

Or just beautiful as it is-