spring pretties

A recent Sunday found the family and I at the in-laws celebrating 3 occasions at once—the co-birthday party of nephew Andrew and niece Grace (that Sunday being about the midpoint between their birthdays) and the 45^th wedding anniversary of Jeff’s Ps, Bobbi and Wayne.  Andrew picked blue, Grace picked teal, and I made airbrushed lizards and butterflies for the kids.  For the happy couple, I made blossoms in their wedding colors, peach and white.  I added a few in coral for fun, and some yellow sugar “pollen” for sparkle.  Happy birthday/birthday/anniversary to you, may there be many more years!

The lizard to the right has a smooshy tail, because it was humid.  Commercial kitchens, which I intend to utilize more, are more climate controlled than my home, where I bake for my family.  I will be more into the business of selling cookies for real—licensed, insured, business-carded, advertised, vending to your local businesses, teaching(?), and stocking your parties with awesome treats—in the coming weeks.  So tell your friends! (striking a superhero stance)

These hearts were to welcome a baby girl.  I have no other details, but “welcome!” to the little one.  The little-kid-like scribble flowers were a similar technique to the purple flowers on…

…these cakes, for a bridal shower in Milwaukee.  Cousin-in-law Kati ordered them, and took delivery of them after I elected to take care of 2 tasks at once: to get the cookies delivered to her, and to give myself 2 hours off.  I accomplished this by driving to Milwaukee.  I love and miss driving—all I do in the suburbs is short trips to the same places.  Driving on 94 through that rolling, half-green (it was march), nowhere of space between Chicagoland and when you start seeing outlet malls after the WI border, is like driving across the steppes of Russia, dotted with business parks and RV dealerships and the like.  I imagined that I wasn’t headed for a Starbucks at a busy intersection, but a hut in Ulaanbaatar.  But Starbucks it was, and we all had somewhere to be, so we agreed to get a real family gathering going at some point.  And then I was on my way east across Russia again.

Finally, here are some bits o’beach I did for my kiddo’s school’s Daddy-Daughter dance, the theme of which was “under the sea.”  Fondant shells and pearl dragees, and 3 kinds of sand colored sugar made little seaside circles sparkle.   

Thanks for stopping by; coming soon, Shakespeare…

#EFFit

And the other pile of pictures I’m sitting on was from Elgin’s first annual Fringe Fest.  I took part because if I look at everything as a no, I won’t do anything, right?  So here was a never before art show for artist who were not quite mainstream and I thought, yes, let’s see what can happen here.  I inquired, was (enthusiastically, I might add) encouraged to join in the fun, and after much daydreaming, I narrowed it down to my five favorite (that week) shapes.

I participated on a Saturday, first at the Family Fringe Fest, in a wee park in the middle of town.  Here’s my table…

I chose shapes and techniques based on what I thought would demonstrate my skills as an artist.  I don’t usually use that word self-reflectively, as art is usually in the eye of the beholder, but if I were to attempt to convince you that lovely things can happen on a cookie, as well as a on canvas or stage, I’d have to bring the good stuff.  So I brought:

Rockets—a composite shape, and the airbrushed water-color spots make the moons look nice and cratered.

Asters--A mini fondant cutter added extra petals to a sun shape, with multiple shades of yellow to accentuate the wavy contours of the petals.

Grapes—each grape was a piped dot, sugared in 2 shades of purple, or brushed with purple pearl dust.  They were gorgeous up close.  It’s also a composite shape that I made with a mini maple leaf and an upside-down Christmas tree.

Geckos—aqua blue, like a gecko isn’t, with little arabesque gold dots.  Scales are so unevolved, right?  These were the hot seller—they might be my favorite too.

And the fest was selling stenciled t-shirts with the twitter hashtag #EFFit.  So I made a few myself with a homemade stencil and some “paint splatters” with my airbrush.

When the Family portion ended, I packed up and finished up the afternoon and evening outside the Side Street Studio Arts, so incoming ticket buyers would see my wares.  I did well, but probably could have gotten away with simpler designs for less.  The kids wanted cookies no matter what they looked like.  But I wasn’t there to “sell” my baking skills, though I always bring them of course, I really did want to make this hard on myself as an illustrator—making them in volume, and making them awesome.  And I did it.  And if I have the space and time this summer, I expect I’ll be signing up again.  So see you on the fringe ;)

leapin' lizards!

if you've been tuning in, my 6 year old Dell blew a fuse, or whatever they do, so i'm blogging from loaned computers, and checking email on a reader with Starbucks wifi.  this would be a non-issue if i were still employed, but the temp job ended and i'm thrown back to the huddled masses and job hunting, and the dreaded tightened budget. le sigh. if anyone out there wants to pre-order for year-round projects, (or is hiring!) please email me. 

meanwhile, here are the "leapin' lizards" i brought to the office on Leap Day.  the "scale" effect was brown airbrushed over a piece of lace (the same lace from the witchy dresses last fall) i thought these little guys were kind of sloppy--crossed eyes, undefined toes, less-than-sharp airbrushing--but everyone's inner kid was mesmerized anyway, pausing because "they're too cute to eat" then eating them anyway.  :)

still on the way are groovy flowers, flying ladies, more purses, a 60th birthday, and a pot of dirt. (you'll see...) also on the way: i intend, at least once, to hold a bake sale for Share Our Strength this summer, with a goal of $3k.  i have math to support this, as long as i can round up 23 like-minded people. doing anything in June?