Mewey Christmas

or something like that!
Out for the next few days, but I  hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and most merry of Christmases!

subway angel

Still reading (and loving!) all the poems from dVerse, but finished this and thought I'd go ahead and put it up here.
For the Sketchbook.

Art In Poetry In Art (in poetry [in art...]...)...

So my dear bloggy friend, Brian Miller, has given me the distinct honor of using some of my art for his hosting of the dVerse poets site today. It doesn't go live until 3pm (est) but he started the ball rolling with this most lovely of poems.
** update ** dVerse is  now live. To see the poems go to comments and click on each blogger's link and it will take you to the site to read the poems. (You can't see me, but I am so doing the happy dance right now!)

Be sure and check out the other offerings, I'm sure they will rock almost as much as Brian's.

Poetics: Balloons & Dirigibles

You want to see the world?
You want to see the world?

Let me fix you a cocktail
     one part Crash, cause it hits every angle
     mix in some P.S. I love you
     stir with Hotel Rwanda
     and garnish with a spritz of Once

Watch them all in one night, no matter
how your eyes sting, not from lack of sleep
but where the shards of what ricochets
round your chest scRaTCHes tunnels
out your tear ducts, one spoonful at a time
like Edmond Dantes,

“Moral wounds have this peculiarity -
they may be hidden, but they never close;
always painful, always ready to bleed when touched,
they remain fresh and open in the heart.”

But tonight I am in McDonald's & she
is wiping trays, with a white rag speckled
in slight stains

swipe
        stack
swipe
        stack
swipe
        stack
swipe

they say she is touched, fucked up or just
REtard-ed (oh, how i hate that word)
with their looks or stance or awkwardness
as they pass with perfect polished balloons
& she a dirigible, which may seem more
powerful but pulls her here & there, especial-
ly when she opens her mouth as her face

goes sideways, everything rolling gravel,
elongates & does a twist as it passes her lips,
so she mostly
               just smiles

Kids love her, gather at her ankles
with empty trays, cheeks red sun rays
at the twinkle in her eyes, opposite the ones
that turn away as if she is contagious, or act
oblivious in ignorance

The kids though they know she is a special
kind of beautiful---
        my son pops in the last nugget of his
        happy meal, seals the red & yellow box
        with prize inside and goes to slide
        out the booth, tray in hand, but i intercept
his pass, not wanting to miss the chance to intersect

& say "Thank You" just to bask in those pearly whites
so brite i'd hate to pay the light bill, on our way out
as the credits roll on just thirty minutes of life at McDonald's,
so tell me

You want to see the world?
You want to see the world?

Let me fix you a cocktail, better yet,
try taking a trip on a dirigible.


-brian miller

Playing around with some old art

About 100 years ago - well, okay, maybe more like 20... I did a few sketches of some fairies. Dunno exactly what I was going to do with them, maybe a calendar or something.
Anyway, not too long ago I found them in an old folder, so I thought I'd scan them and then do my digital "thing" with them to update them.

Here's the first one, my Ice Fairy.

Changing Lanes with Brian Miller

I love reading Brian's blog, Waystation One. His poems are awesome. Often they provide vivid imagery and sometimes I can't resist drawing for one of them.
This was his post a couple days ago and my picture:

 Changing Lanes (or A roadtrip with Poe)

The car is out of control, careening corners
and Edgar Allen Poe has commandeered the radio

Every channel he turns to the songs are so dour,
and between them, even using his happy voice,
dj E.A.P. can't make the news more bleak---

He mumbles something about populous pits
and politicians controlling the pendulum,
or---maybe he said asylum, it was his
third point so i forget.

Looking east, I wish on satellites, somewhere
over Georgia in decaying orbits, a 'little
change in my pocket' and though it may
be little, it is Change, You Can Believe In,
at least what is left after taxes---

We dreamt once, but the raven's wings
blot the horizon & without the sun we've lost
direction, we just sing along to songs replaying
but don't stop to think what the words are saying

"Nevermore, nevermore," I hear, then ask

"What?"

He sighs, "Take me back to Baltimore,
so I can Usher in the Apocalypse."

Brakes squeal, smoke from our tires passing us,
"Get out! I know you been here before, so poor
you burned the furniture, but I can't take it anymore.
You may wall yourself up in the wine cellar, but
as long as I have two cents to rub together to keep
warm and share, I  refuse to settle for a better future
we won't recognize when we see her."

He stares grim, then the raven once more hugs
his head from behind, covering his eyes

And my heavy heart settles in my foot on the gas
leaving his last words hanging, "For the love of God!"
by the side of the road

Out the window, I answer, "Yes, For the love of God!"
because, I refuse to become another disillusioned victim, just
in time to hear a campaign ad come over the radio, so sing
at the top of my lungs---

"Don't gimme no lines, an' keep your hands to yourself."

 

New art listed on Storenvy

I have a new shop at an online store: Storenvy! I'm going to be listing some of the same stuff I have listed at my Etsy stores, but it will have a lot of different things as well, such as the pictures from my Sketchbook Project from last year.

I have the following listed and more!

Wynken Blynken and Nod catch the baby stars

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
by Eugene Field (1850-1895)
 
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
   Sailed off in a wooden shoe---
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
   Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
   The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
   That live in this beautiful sea;
   Nets of silver and gold have we!"
                     Said Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod. 

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
   As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
   Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
   That lived in that beautiful sea---
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish---
   Never afeard are we";
   So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod. 

All night long their nets they threw
   To the stars in the twinkling foam---
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
   Bringing the fishermen home;
'T was all so pretty a sail it seemed
   As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 't was a dream they 'd dreamed
   Of sailing that beautiful sea---
   But I shall name you the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod. 

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
   And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
   Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
   Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
   As you rock in the misty sea,
   Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
                     Wynken,
                     Blynken,
                     And Nod.

More 'bubble stuff!

New t-shirts available at redbubble.
I also discovered yesterday, that all  my t-shirt designs are available as stickers! Go get some!

Now available on redbubble!

At my redbubble shop, on t-shirts and iPhone cases.

iPhone Zombie

Braaaaiiiinnnnsss.....

New!

I have a sadly neglected account at redbubble.
It is a little less sad now!
Do you have an iPhone?  You do?  Did you know that you always wanted a really cool iPhone cover with a cute Space Girl on it? No? Well, you do!

Starting today I have three (three!) cool iPhone case designs on redbubble!
If you scroll towards the bottom of the page you will see where you can click on links for the other 2.

Almost makes me wish I had an iPhone...

Minuet

Beauty and the Beast by Jaimes Alsop 1. The Beast Knowing how you loved the birds I fixed them to the trees so they wouldn't fly away. So you would stay. And you remained silent and never questioned my bloody palms or reproached me the birds because they didn't sing. It couldn't last, of course. No new birds came and those crucified were taken by small animals or simply disappeared from the nails. I was sure then that you would leave me. Finally I confessed. Trembling, I brought you the hammer and showed my broken fingers. Leaves and branches in my hair, the diagrams of Autumn on the sky. And you smiled and said it didn't matter about the birds and drank at my tears like a rare and fragile wine that they too would not be wasted. 2. Beauty I came to you so carelessly there were those who thought I had not been warned. I could only point to the false lovers who carried marks where you had pressed coins into their palms and admit I was impatient for your scars. The rumours followed us as easily as if you murdered me every night; hemlock in my evening wine, a loosened bannister on the stair. The dull villagers and daft princes waited still and at distances for grave news and relentless until I could only point again at their jealous eyes and whisper I had discovered why you handled me as though I were made of glass. I know they want to know about our bodies. Our virginity confuses them and they are reduced to words and silences. What shall we allow them to believe? We are a thousand years old, no histories and nothing to confess.

poem from  Endicott Studio

Hide n Seek

Snow White and Rose Red play hide n seek with Bear.
For the Sketchbook.

Lost Crates

A couple months ago I found a company online called Lost Crates.
I don't remember exactly how they came to my notice, but once I found them, I couldn't forget them!

Do you like stationery? Maybe a little too much? Do you lovingly caress notebooks when you go to card stores? Do you like to doodle? Do you have a desk full of note cards and tablets, or wish you did?
Then this is a store for you!

When you first go to Lost Crates, they ask you to take a fun personality quiz. It's set up with pictures and you can re-take it whenever you want:

(Fun fact about me: I did NOT pick the yogurt...)

Once your account is set up and you pay your dues (no, sorry, it's not free) then you have to wait.
And wait.
And wait... Okay, it's not that bad, it just seems like it takes forever!

I got my first Lost Crate last month, and just got my second one today. I have to say I'm rather tickled with them! It was almost like Christmas, getting to open the boxes.

The blue thing is an "eco stapler", meaning it uses no staples. Super cool little gadget! The pens are a lovely quality and I can't wait to have time to actually do some sketching with them. I love the notebooks, too, the big one is especially fabulous! 

Today I got my second crate: 

I used to love fountain pens, and used them all through college. I was happy to see a new one in my crate today!

I guess I'm going to have to get busy and so some real sketching! If only I didn't have to have a grown-up job...  :)

The neighbors.

I like where we live, because technically we are in the city limits, and we have a nice neighborhood area but we are far enough out of the city proper, and up in a wooded area, so even though it's a pretty big neighborhood, we have lots of trees and natural areas, with miles of trails for walking or bike riding.

We also have nice neighbors that sometimes stop and chat on the trails, like this:

We also like that sometimes they just drop by to visit, like this:

We also have a family of coyotes that sing us to sleep at night, though they are more shy and we don't see them around as much.
It's a nice neighborhood.

The new shirts are here! The new shirts are here!

That's right, the Keep Calm and Carrion shirts are up and live in my Etsy shop!
I'll be listing a couple each day to keep the listing fresh, but right now there is one of each size listed. If I get enough interest in a women's style, I'll get some of those, too.
So go there!
Buy something!
Yes, you!

And now for something completely different!

Well, okay,  not completely different...

I have placed an order for Keep Calm and Carrion t-shirts!
I'm announcing on my blog for pre-order, then once they are actually in my possession I'll list them on my Alice's Secrets Etsy shop.

So- if anyone's interested, let me know. $20 for pre-order from my blog (via PayPal - you would just use my email address - admin@olivehuedesigns.com), they will be $25 on Etsy.
I will have the following sizes:
M-4
L-7
XL-7
XXL -2

They are a unisex t-shirt, white, with a dark red design. If they sell well, I'll do another run. If you need a size you don't see listed (and I'll keep what's available up to date here) let me know and the next run I'll add it for you.
(Then later I might add the Keep Calm and Klick Your Heels and then maybe the Aim for the Head as well.)

Wish me luck!

I have a blog

No, really, I do! It's just that, well, life sort of got in the way. Again. So I apologize for being lame all month.

And I sort of dropped the ball on the contest I was having, so we'll go there first.
I got some great ideas from the suggestions that were given me (Otin, your poem rocks! I may have to re-visit that later on...)
The ones I decided to go with are Bella Sinclair's "Little did they know...", Rebecca S's "Once upon a time they lived happily ever after...and this is how it all began," (which I think I'm going to end the book with) and Dala Horse's "I put it under a magnifying glass and..."

Congrats! Once I get the artworks done I will get in touch and get addresses where to send the prints!

***************************************************************************

In other news - I am thinking of offering my Keep Calm and Carrion design as a t-shirt.

 I have had a great response with those posters, and the shirts that came from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project have been pretty popular with the few friends and family that have received one. So I think I'm going to do some, without all the Conservation Project stuff  on it , of course. Once I get those printed out and in my hands, maybe I'll have a little giveaway with those, too (no, really!)

And...I'm trying some new ideas out in my Alice's Secrets Etsy shop. I have always been interested in typograpy, and I love the graphic look of typography posters. Here's some of my new designs, they are being uploaded to my shop today.