I had the immense honor of being invited to illustrate the conbook cover for Eurofurrence 2018. This image proved to be a deeply personal journey for me and my personal gift to not only EF but to the furry fandom for all the support, encouragement and love you all have given me over the years. The fandom has changed a great deal since I first dipped my feet in in 2005 but one thing, at least for me, has never changed. The furry fandom continues to support and encourage artists in a way few outlets for the creative can or do. I continue to be humbled by the amount of enthusiasm you all share with me whenever I share something I have created from the deepest wells of my heart. It is a precious gift and I strive to not take you all for granted. (Basically my way of saying I won’t tolerate people dissing the fandom anymore)
The last year has been one of deep personal growth and exploration; both on an emotional level and as a creative. Eurofurrence gave me free reign over the final illustration, leaving me the chance to explore myself through my art. I am sure all artists eventually face a similar dilemma, in which they feel they have lost touch with the passion of creating. I have faced this over the course of the last decade; trying to juggle adult life and relationships, personal artwork with a professional career. I began to rely on my mechanical skill; muscle memory and technical knowledge and at some point began to lose touch with that ineffable inner voice.
For me the place where I was most free to be and to create was in my childhood. There was no urgency to the next thing; all there was and all that was important was the now. Yesterday was best left to it’s own devices and tomorrow was too far away to be bothered about. All there was was the invitation of a blank spread of paper and a tool that would guide my hand towards the call of inward adventure.
In essence, that is what this piece was to me. Featured in the piece are our(My husband Bagheera’s and mine) personal oc’s Kaylee and Samwise (my take on Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings). I had no expectations for this piece and let it unfold like a personal fairytale.
Thank you all for continuing to share the journey with me and to be, each, a voice of encouragement that reminds me to dream away from myself.
*– NSFW for Tasteful Nudity –*
Men can be beautiful. Men can be flirty. Men can be sexy. But most importantly, it is ok to want and be all of those things.
Feel beautiful. Be Beautiful. It is your right.
Gift art for my husband who is beautiful to me inside and out.
as a personal aside, I think it’s a shame that men’s clothing today is so generic that I often refer to it as “a series of regrettably like tubes.” There was a time historically when men wore boots and it was socially acceptable, or elaborate fitted attire and it did not rob them of their masculine identity. I’d love to see men more free to explore fashion. In this way we live in a time where women have more options to explore their outward image through fashion in a way that is deemed socially acceptable (IE I, as a woman, can wear men’s clothing or fashions inspired by men’s clothing and it is more “normal” than a man doing the same with fashion perceived as “women’s”.)
.: The Light After :.
A hummingbird found by a friend. Thank you to Maquenda / @artofmaquenda for inspiring me to honor and preserve this small life in photos.
Artists are free to use these for reference. If you make something based on/inspired by these, I’d love to see but it’s not required!
Interesting fact about Shetland sheepdog noses: they are telescopic.
Our doghter Kaylee.
“The road was straight, long and uneventful and with the morning
energy waning from our group, each person fell to their own private thoughts.
I wondered if the stars would be as magnificent over the
Kalahari, whether I might glimpse a brown hyena, and that I couldn’t wait to
peel my socks off and have them laundered.
It was appropriate then that when we least expected it, when our
exuberance for this magical place was somewhat dulled by exhaustion, that it
should remind us that wonder stalks around the corner.
Lelobu, our new vehicle, slowed with a lurch and B-man
whispered, “Leopard”.
And there he was, trotting on the roadside ahead, not 40 feet
away. My heart clenched in disbelief as
he swerved and dove into the swaddle of ochre painted brush. Our vehicle pulled
up beside him and I became acutely aware of the awkward prattling din of our
vehicle’s engine.
A fierce effulgent gaze that rivaled the brilliance of the sun
commanded us to the fall of awe.
And
then he was gone.” –Excerpt from “Dry
Season Only”
Dedicated to my husband, Lorien, and to Hawa,
The Leopard Sun.
There are so many more words I could use in this description
to talk about this piece, what it means to me and how it came to be but I feel
I’d just be regurgitating passages of the book.
If you are interested, there are still some limited number
of books available through the artists that I was blessed enough to share this
journey with. This is an extremely
limited run and unlikely that it will be published again due to prohibitive
costs. But if you would like to have one
of your own and share in our story and support it’s creators, you may purchase
a copy from myself or one of the other incredible artists that went.
You can buy one of my copies from: My Store
Or Laura Garabedian’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LauraGarabedian
Or Foxfeather’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/294961275/dry-season-only-book-a-creative-sojourn?ref=shop_home_active_9
Mt. Rainier wildlife spotted on our hike.The marmots were a highlight as I’d never seen them in the wild before! We are also pretty certain the deep grunting we heard when we took a dead end trail was most likely a very nearby bear. What an incredible day out!
Gorgeous day spent hiking on Mount Rainier. The clouds rolled in just as we made our descent from Mt. Fremont Lookout.
Took a walk at the beach near our house and had the pleasure of sighting a bald eagle up close.
A tangle of inspirations, and I as lost among them as in a sea of stars. The first was heavily inspired by the incredible work of Paul Jouve. Please do yourself a favor and explore the staggering multifaceted visions of this man. The latter are a series inspired by my time in the Makgadikgadi Salt pans and Savuti. Life and death formed an intimate bond, each end and new beginning interminable.
~~~~
And again, if you missed out on the book and want to have all these sketches and a bajillion other wonderful pieces of art AND photos AND stories from myself and the 10 other awesome people that went, we do still have books for sale! It’s a very small run and it’s doubtful they will ever be printed again so grab one while we still have them. Here’s a list of all the people that went and are selling them online, grab from me or one of the others listed. No matter who you get it from, you directly support someone awesome with your purchase!
You can buy one of my copies from:http://spiramirabilis.storenvy.com/collections/1255428-books
Or Laura Garabedian’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LauraGarabedian
Or Foxfeather’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/294961275/dry-season-only-book-a-creative-sojourn?ref=shop_home_active_9
And thanks, as always, for looking guys! YOU are what makes art possible!
Here’s a few more silly doodles I did for our Dry Season Only book. I was kicking myself for EARNESTLY agreeing to anthropomorphize our vehicle companion Mhondoro (Lion in Shona) in pseudo Ghibli Catbus fashion. But now, every now and then, I get an itch to draw our poor Mhondoro. He was not the bravest lion, or even the most graceful, but he was loyal and ‘stuck’ with us when times were rough, in so far as he could be. Thank you Mhondoro. We will remember you always.
And again, if you missed out on the book and want to have all these sketches and a bajillion other wonderful pieces of art AND photos AND stories from myself and the 10 other awesome people that went, we do still have books for sale! It’s a very small run and it’s doubtful they will ever be printed again so grab one while we still have them. Here’s a list of all the people that went and are selling them online, grab from me or one of the others listed. No matter who you get it from, you directly support someone awesome with your purchase!
You can buy one of my copies from: http://spiramirabilis.storenvy.com/collections/1255428-books
Or Laura Garabedian’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LauraGarabedian
Or Foxfeather’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/294961275/dry-season-only-book-a-creative-sojourn?ref=shop_home_active_9
(If y'all are reading this artists that contributed and I missed your store link, shout out and I’ll list it here as well C:.)
And thanks, as always, for looking guys! YOU are what makes art possible!
I can’t believe it has been over a year since our trip to Botswana. When I reach back into my memory, it feels just like yesterday. Some moments just continue to live larger than life and change you in indelible ways. This is certainly one of those experiences for me.
I was feeling especially reminiscent when I ran into my neighbors the other day. They had apparently borrowed the book (Dry Season Only) that I had gifted another neighbor, and close friend, and said they couldn’t put the book down and read it from cover to cover. What an incredibly humbling and uplifting comment to receive from someone who is not only a stranger (we have met once while I was walking our dog!) but also doesn’t move in the same circles of art and art appreciation as we do.
When first we talked about doing a travel journal book as a sort of keepsake of our trip together, we wondered if anyone would even be interested in such a thing. Much to our surprise you all were and we blasted through our goal in just a few days and every stretch goal after!
Well to those that couldn’t afford the book at the time, or at all, I’d like to share some of the art I did as a contributor to the book. I’ll share them in batches until I’m all caught up, with my contributions anyway. This book has so much art and photos and stories by everyone that came along for the adventure.
If you missed the chance and are wondering “what the heck book are you even talking about??” I and some of the other contributing artists still have some copies available for sale! This was a very small run of books so unfortunately it is unlikely it will be available on such retailers as Amazon. But the nice thing is, if you do buy the book from one of us, please know you are directly supporting each of these artists that made the book possible and such an inspiring journey! I feel blessed to share pages with such incredible people and creatives! Listing all the people I know whom are selling copies so ya can choose who to grab one from (and/or discover some cool new art ;} ). No matter where you grab it, you support someone awesome in doing so!
You can buy one of my copies from: http://spiramirabilis.storenvy.com/collections/1255428-books
Or Laura Garabedian’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LauraGarabedian?section_id=14826162
Or Foxfeather’s shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/294961275/dry-season-only-book-a-creative-sojourn?ref=shop_home_active_8
(If y'all are reading this artists that contributed and I missed your store link, shout out and I’ll list it here as well C:.)
