Monday, December 29, 2008

a little post

Christmas is over and the end of the year is approaching like a freight train. Once again I don't know where the year has gone. The family all had a wonderful Christmas, it was one of the most relaxing I can remember.

Yesterday brought some much needed sunshine. I actually got out to the garden to do a bit of work I should have done a month ago to prepare for the long winter. Today might bring some of the same.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

many parties

The holiday season has come with a vengeance along with many parties. Don't get me wrong. I love parties, but so many in a row begin to strip the soul a bit. Even if you don't go all out, it still wears you out. This being said I am very fortunate to have so many wonderful friends who I do like to hang out with and celebrate the season.

Monday, December 15, 2008

really cold


Woke this morning to fins that it was 9 below zero. Growing up in the desert of Arizona does not condition your body for this sort of silliness. I have to say it was beautiful outside, but incredibly cold.

Yesterday was a day of doing absolutely nothing which was actually really nice. I caught up on some reading and took care of little things that I had been putting off. I should have taken the time to clean the house a bit, but that was not the case.

Here's another painting. It is watercolor on masonite.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

mabel and bear


I'm migrating a lot of work from an old blog to this one. Here is the initial character study from Mabel & Bear.

better day


A night of good sleep and my mind is much calmer. Finished a couple of projects that have been on my mind this morning and am prepared to take a break and do nothing for a while. Here is another painting.

Friday, December 12, 2008

time for a change?

It has been one of those weeks where you wonder if it would be better to hang it all up and just find shiny objects on the beach for a living. With shiny objects you don't have to worry about their checks bouncing, or wanting to move in a new direction after said objects had bought in to the original direction for the last six months, then suddenly getting cold feet and deciding that nothing is working and it must be your fault because you designed it. It never has anything to do with failed business models, or bad investments - it must be the design.

So the question is do I merge my two lives together finally, incorporating the farm with the bigger picture.

I really don't know.

Monday, December 08, 2008

a little Santa


Just a quick sketch done for our holiday party.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

must control

I think I need to relax and let things flow a bit more. Controlling everything I am involved in is not a realistic approach to a sensible, productive existence. For a person who by nature is riddled by anxiety, I am constantly put in situations where I have to be the main focus and lead everyone through what we are doing. That is after all the nature of my job and usually it runs quite smoothly. I enjoy myself and everyone else enjoys what they are doing and we have a fantastic, motivated studio. This unfortunately is not always the case. Sometimes I make things more complicated than they need to be and let little things get under my skin. This causes a great deal of frustration and me leaving the studio wondering what the hell happened and who was that ranting idiot standing in the middle of the room causing problems. Of course the idiot is often me, letting the little things get in the way of the big picture, my controlling nature taking over.

- sigh

Hopefully today the ranting idiot will stay home and the calm person who knows what he is doing will fill in.

Monday, December 01, 2008

finally


I am finally getting around to archiving all of my paintings so I can post them up on this blog and my website. Here is the first.

clearing away the turkey fog

Everyone is moving a bit slowly this morning, but the studio is starting to come to life. I can hear competent sounds coming from within.

It could be a long day for everyone to get back into the groove. We were on such a fast pace before the break, it could take a bit to get the energy back. I need to be particularly on my game to get things moving.

Friday, November 28, 2008

sweet victory


In the hard fought thanksgiving day battle, I have emerged victorious. In an unprecedented win, I dominated the game. No one is more surprised then myself who has a long history of humiliating losses.

We had a wonderful day yesterday and everyone slowed down and relaxed a bit. I hope the rest of the weekend is as peaceful.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

thanks

The turkey is happily roasting in the oven and the parade is in full swing in New York and I am trying to slow my pace down and enjoy every minute with my family. They have all gone their separate ways momentarily to get clean and dressed before the annual monopoly marathon begins. Paige has been trash talking so heavily about her future win that I am predicting she will be blown out of the water early. Crystal had such a poor outing last year that she is looking for revenge and a chance to save her tarnished reputation as the raining Thanksgiving day monopoly champion.

I am so thankful for all that I have. All the best to everyone on this wonderful day.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

the longest short week ever

Well I have almost made it through this week. For a short week it has really felt long. Five pitches in two days plus a cold has really taken a toll on my voice - and I still have two pitches and a concept meeting to go today.

The studio has been pushing really hard for three weeks straight and everyone is ready for a break. I hope I can make myself relax and enjoy it. I like it when the pace is like this and don't want the studio to lose any momentum, but at the same time I think my body is telling me to stop and slow down.

Time to push out the last work of the month. Hopefully my voice will wait until tonight to go out.

Monday, November 24, 2008

back at it

Still feeling a bit under the weather but much better. Unfortunately I have passed it on to Crystal, where it has really settled in. I have two major pitches today so I think that is helping me not to think too much about how I'm feeling.

This was the first real weekend without teaching and as nice as it was I felt a bit lost and just sort of laid around which I am terrible at. I think as time goes on I will find things to replace my time I would have spent teaching.

It was nice to not have to do anything - now I am noticing all kinds of things around the house that need fixing...

Sunday, November 23, 2008

a very nice time

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. I hope that as the day goes on I will be able to rally and get something done but I am not hopeful this will happen. We had the restaurant opening last night and a very nice time was had. This might account for some of my slow thinking today. There were many nice people there and they all seemed to enjoy the food and the atmosphere.

I think I will make some tea and try to sleep.