Thursday, April 30, 2015

Bye Bye Birdie

The tacks did work much better than staples. And brass tacks might be prettier for the next one.

The corners were by far the hardest part.

Here he is!

There he goes! Only 24 more to do. I've decided to just take it bird by bird.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Progress Report #4

Here it comes! I think I finally got the colors I'm after; I'll see for sure tomorrow in the daylight. 

I've already used up seven feet of my precious 50 ft. roll of canvas for this tiny 8"x 8" piece.

My stretcher looks like it's been attacked by 1,001 woodpeckers! Forget staple gun. Try tacks.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Progress Report #3

The first print turned out too dark, but you can see how nice the texture of the canvas is.

Torture! I slowed down and made a test strip to print out on the actual canvas. 

Here's the test strip printed out. It reminds me that Tom's printer is super heavy on the reds.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Progress Report #2

My roll of canvas is delivered!

I'll be running the roll of canvas through Tom's wide format printer.

A color test in Photoshop.

A sketch, and a color test on paper.

Testing size (on paper). Making sure I'll have enough extra canvas to wrap & staple to the back.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Progress Report #1


Remove the shrink-wrap from the canvas. You'll get hungry during this process, but try not to snack on the little white package you'll find inside.

Slice the pre-stretched canvas with an X-Acto knife, then rip it off the frame.

Voilá! A beautiful stretcher ready for your own use. Stay tuned.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

New Project

Let's hope so!
You're looking at a stack of 26 blank canvases. I'll keep you updated on my progress. The poster is by Susan O'Malley.

And from the Coastal Trail this evening.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

On the sidewalk by the Great Highway.

Monday, April 20, 2015

They're Back.

The beach is covered with them. They're Velella velella, or by-the-wind sailors.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

The seawall at Quintara Street

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

These Story Doodles Place Mats by Taro Gomi are giving me nightmares! I love them anyway.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

The seawall at Quintara Street, 6:01 p.m.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Walking home down the Great Highway / 7:21 p.m.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

A Cautionary Tale

Isn't this completely goofy? Why do I love this place mat so much that I can't throw it away? (I finally did dispose of it after 5 or 6 meals.) It was another great find from the Chronicle Books warehouse sale––from a big tablet of 52 different Story Doodles Place Mats by Taro Gomi. Why, why, why did I not buy out the whole stock of these when I had the chance? I exercised way too much caution at the sale.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

From Aggles This Morning


Aggles and I have endured several stretches of grueling times together. When we were small, I took delight in torturing her. And then later when Mom was ill we went through some impossible times. This might be why we've been doing our own Science of Happiness Experiment for a few years now. Every night we email each other the best thing that happened that day. Just a word or phrase. Even on the very worst day there can still be a slice of pizza in the mix.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Chronicle Books had a sale at their warehouse on 2nd Street yesterday. Everything was 65% off. Here's one of my finds: a Girl Scout journal for $3.50.

I was a scout. And the sole reason I joined was because I coveted the badges. I got a camera badge and a hobo badge before I quit. It just took too long to earn the badges––and then to add insult to injury our scout leader would forget to order them. Having gone through the rigorous training it took to earn my hobo badge, I found it much easier to hitch a ride to the Army surplus store and buy fistfuls of badges out of their bin.

But isn't this the most beautiful book?

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Pinks

New paint job on the seawall

The short cut from the Great Highway to Balboa Street

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

RIP Grandma

Ortega Street Steps

Sunday, April 05, 2015

Head of Marketing was supposed to have posted this picture two weeks ago so you could have bought a copy of the book before Easter. But she forgot.

Happy Easter anyway!

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Multiple Choice Easter Contest

This is the inside of whose refrigerator?

A. My own
B. Aggles' (my sister)
C. Allyn's (my editor)
D. Anne's (my beach bud)

The first person who emails me the correct answer wins something big and chocolate.

Friday, April 03, 2015

The stairs at Pacheco Street

Desperate.

What do you do when you've just finished two books you adore and can't for the life of you figure out what to read next? If you have a good suggestion, please email me!

Thursday, April 02, 2015

The perpetrators dropped their weapons and fled on foot.

Wednesday, April 01, 2015