Bowling in Color

Kids today are surrounded by colorful, beautiful objects and clothes. My adult world of grey and black and sometimes pale pink, can't touch it. My daughter has this tiny ceramic bowling set. Today we sat and painted together. She painted what I thought was an abstract, but I was quickly told that it was a "princess skirt." Sounds genius to me. I painted the tiny bowling pins and ball on her white table with her tempera paint, with a brush that was slightly too big. It's so much easier to paint with her, then to look for time to paint without her.
$100 +s/h

I Love Barbie

It's Barbie's 50th birthday this year. In honor of the "Barbie Doll," here's my Barbie story and painting.

As a kid (I was born in 1973), my best friend and I played with many Barbie dolls, our Barbies had a plane, a hot tub, a camper, and a sweet apartment. To give you an idea of what kind of girls we were, my best friend and I also: rode our bikes down sand dunes, rescued animals, played war with batteries, did some break dancing, were competitive gymnasts, lifted weights, spent all day in the woods, and choreographed dances to an Alvin and the Chipmunks LP full of pop covers.

I left for NYC after high school, where I took classes on sexism, at the New School. I learned there that Barbie was evil and one of the reasons for the oppression of women, (her and her impossible figure and straight hair). I quickly wrote off Barbie.

Ten years later, in 2005, I give birth to my baby girl.

In 2008, at age three, she talked me into the unthinkable, renting a Barbie movie. "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" (rocking movie) to be exact. I am that night shocked to see Barbie totally EMPOWERED. It's something you never see in the princess movies, "Stay true to your friends," was the main message. She supports herself, is kind, smart, and a rescuer. The movie is awesome with great music by Katharine McPhee.

That night I was magically transformed back into a fan of "Barbie." She may not be perfect, but at least she's trying.

And to Barbie, I say, "Sorry old friend."

Super Baby- Adventures in Color

I've decided to start up a blog for my "Super Baby" books. I've written another children's picture book: "Super Baby—Adventures in Color." I'll post all the illustrations there, so you all can watch the book develop day by day. I've posted a handful of pages here from my other picture books, but I think this will be much more fun, to post it page by page.

This first post is my first sketch of the little Super Baby character with a type treatment. My favorite part so far the 'S' of hair on the top of his head.