Forest Friends and Website Store Launch

One of my goals is to create more art that is part of my own creative vision, characters, and stories. Although I love working on book covers, there are some constraints with subject matter and designing for marketability. After doing some art with animals, I realized that they provide a certain freedom that I don't find with figurative human-based work and are a great jumping off point. Expect more forest friends in the near future!

 "The Messenger" has a silly origin story, but more depth materialized as I worked on it, both for the character and the environment. It started from the desire to visualize the word-play of chipmunk with chip-monk. From there I wanted to create a feeling of hope and the stories of saints being visited by heavenly beings found its way into the narrative.

"A Possum Mom" celebrates the amazing marsupial of North America, the opossum, and moms everywhere! I kept in mind the spring timing of Mother's Day and was generous with the blossoms.

I am taking an exciting step in my art business by opening an online store integrated directly into my website! It will launch in about a week on April 24 and will coincide with some deals! I will send out a special newsletter with the launch and a special discount code.

Iowa City Gallery Walk This Friday, October 13

We have the official Iowa City Gallery Walk map for this Friday! Come see me at #15, which is the Artifactory gallery— also listed as Arts Iowa City on google maps. Artifactory is located in a multi-business church building that is adjacent to Pop’s BBQ. The gallery is in the basement, so you will be going down steps (there is also a small elevator). For parking, you might check street parking in the Northside and walk via the alleyway at Marco’s Grilled Cheese.

October: Arts in Galleries and Alleys

A quick recap: I had a reception with Artifactory earlier in September to kick off my "Cover Story" exhibit. It went well and was covered in a lovely little article by Lily Czechowicz from The Daily Iowan that you can read here! We talked about my process and the importance of human-crafted art. The following day was a good turnout for Lib Con that I tabled at, a mini comic con hosted by the Iowa City Library.

Coming up this Sunday, October 1 is Arts in the Alley with an array of outdoor dance performances. The Artifactory gallery is right next door to the alleyway and will be open for the special occasion, providing another opportunity to view the "Cover Story" exhibit. 

Next in October is the Iowa City Fall Downtown Gallery Walk on Friday, October 13 from 5pm-8pm. This is a fun gallery-exploring event with a prize involved for visiting a certain number of venues with your punch-card. The gallery at Artifactory will also be open at this time and I will be making a visit for an hour or two to provide some insight to visitors. The October Gallery Walk Map has not been released yet, but you can see the layout from the previous Summer Gallery Walk below.

Image for educational purposes and does not represent the official Iowa City Gallery Walk.

One of the new pieces I finished for the exhibit was a book cover illustration I did just for fun. It may be my one personal piece this year, but hopefully this will change as I learn how to manage my commission schedule. The piece is my take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which can be viewed at the Artifactory exhibit in printed glory. It is also available for purchase on my print store.