My Mom's the greatest!

Alright, I'm writing ANOTHER post about the wedding, but look at the picture my mom sent this morning:

Tell me that's not the cutest thing ever! I think my mom needs to open an Etsy shop. She's an artist herself (a fantastic photographer), and her handiness and creativity is, I believe, the main reason I became an illustrator. Not only did we always have art supplies around the house that we could use (EXCEPT, of course, for the sacred orange-handled scissors!)- but seeing her always making and creating is certainly what led me to a creative life.

On another marriage subject, here's a question that I've wondered about for many professional women about to get hitched: What did you do/intend to do about the name change? I'm planning on (and I think perhaps lots of women do this?) taking my new husband's name, but keeping Jamieson as my professional nom de plume. Since my website, email, postcards- let alone my books- all use Jamieson. And I don't know about you, but I always get confused by, say, Jamie Lynne DiScala (Sigler?), or Courtney Cox-Arquette.

For the Birds

I have been distracted from my blog-reading and upkeep duties, as I've been preparing for my wedding in TWO WEEKS! My creative outlets have been of the crafty variety recently- including the centerpieces for the tables. When I say I have been making the centerpieces, what I really mean of course is that I made a prototype, then employed an Andy Warhol-type factory of sweatshop laborers (my mother, bless her) to do my bidding.

*Spoiler alert: If you are actually invited to my wedding & want to be surprised by the favors, don't read ahead. Second spoiler alert: If you're still waiting for your invitation in the mail... don't hold your breath.*

If  you'll remember from a few posts back, my invitations featured birds:

And since Martha Stewart says that weddings are all about the theme, I wanted to make something birdy for the favors/slash/centerpieces. 

Bird tree ornaments! That will hang from some dead branches from the yard in the middle of each table. Oh, don't worry, it's going to be pretty, you'll see.

That's me sweating! See, it's a sweatshop, get it? Two of my lovely bridesmaids are helping me out this shift. See, it's not really a sweatshop, I let them eat! ONE banana each.

Aren't they grea.. Hey, what's this! Quit goofing off! I don't pay you those bananas to monkey around!

Here is the tray of bird eyeballs (EXPERTLY hand-dipped by my dad! Who said I got my artistic bend from my mom?!)

Some birds with their nose jobs...

and some top hats...

...and 116-odd birds awaiting their accessories!

My mother really is a saint for making 97% of these birds- Thanks, Ma! 

I'll post some pictures post-wedding of the final displays!

Memory Lane

Greetings from Florida! I'm visiting my parents in an extended vacation/slash/wedding decoration-making frenzy. So, what better way to take my mind off of the 1001 things left to do than take a trip down memory lane?

My mom's a saver, and I came across this book that I wrote and illustrated in the third grade:

 

I distinctly remember this day in school! We had someone come into our classroom to teach us how to bind the books, and we had a nice selection of wallpaper scraps to choose from for the binding. I don't remember how long we were actually working on the stories, though...

A little discouraging to see that my humor has not changed much since the third grade.

I remember being rather proud of the viewpoint of this picture. The story lags a bit from this point on, so I'll skip right to the denouement...

I also remember thinking this illustration was spot-on in terms of feeling and emotional tenor, but I was frustrated that I didn't keep all the chairs on a straight line.

This illustration, I recall, I considered to be the crowning glory of the book, and perhaps of my artistic life to date. A silhouette, against a movie screen, complete with fine cross-hatching skills?!? Top notch.

I guess I do still have an interest in barnyard animals.

I had some blank spreads at the back, so I added some illustrations. I think I was reading a lot of books from the library with color plates at the time.

Ahh, memories!

Fleece Navidad!

I thought that joke was so funny when I wrote a recent holiday card, I just had to use it again.

Above is the title page for Bea Rocks the Flock- f&gs are in, and they look fantastic! Just one of the many things I am thankful for this holiday season.

If you are curious from my last post, I regret to inform you that I will not be a Gotham Girl next season- I did not make the roller derby cut. BUT, it was all good fun, and all good research for the story I'm working on now. Maybe now I can write off all the money I spent on equipment and practices for my taxes. JK, IRS! ROTFL!!!

Wishing you all a very happy holidays- or as the Gotham Girls newsletter said, Season's Beatings!

Cheerio & Pip Pip,

Vicki

A Sporting Post

Here's a quick illustration I did for the New York Road Runners Foundation (a terrific organization that funds after school running programs in NYC): 

I don't normally like to work digitally (I stare enough at computers during the day, thanks), but I found it liberating, for a change, just to think about line, and not worry about color until the end. I don't think I'll make it my norm (or my Cliff), but fun for a change.

Speaking of sports, I have mentioned my love of roller derby in the past... and tryouts were this Saturday! It's funny how life imitates art, etc, no? My next story idea is about learning how to be a good sport. Well, let's just say that I did not feel that I did such a great job at tryouts on Saturday, and how quickly my grapes soured. I did not want to play roller derby anyway! I have other things to do with my time! I like all of my bones intact, thank you! Then, on Sunday afternoon when I received word that I made it through to callbacks... Well, maybe the tryouts were a LITTLE fun. Maybe I could give it one more shot. So callbacks were last night, and am waiting to hear the results. Really, I don't care one way or the other. I have my new book to work on, anyway.

You are invited...

...to see my wedding invitations!

(I took the info off, natch- I've seen the movie Wedding Crashers!)

It's kind of a goldy-glimmery paper (and believe me, I tried a bunch). I did the edges with some special scrapbooking scissors I got from the art store by my office (Lee's-- expensive, but the same one that Angelina Jolie brings her kids too!) (according to my magazines- I've never seen her).

So, my first foray into stationery was a success! If somewhat time-consuming & frustrating. There's some palpable tension between me & my printer now-- it started printing things askew & electrically shocking me every time I touched it. Hopefully all of my angry mutterings won't seep into the cards & infuse them with negative chi.

I also have some fun updates to share on Bea Rocks the Flock AND my roller derby tryouts (to be held on Saturday!!), but as it's dinnertime now, that will just have to wait!

Doodlers Doodling

I am a doodler. Always have been. It made me a little self-conscious in school, like my teachers would think I wasn't paying attention-- but I WAS. I think I pay more attention when my hands have something to do! Imagine my relief when I learned that our President Elect Barack Obama is ALSO a doodler!

And then the loss of that relief when I saw that Sarah Palin is too:

(she's more of a word/number doodler, though, so that doesn't really count, right??)

I still feel like people think I'm daydreaming when I doodle away during meetings, but if anything it keeps me more in the present. My only problem is occasionally not wanting to turn the page in our progress reports when I'm in the midst of a nice sketch.

(yes, that's an email from THE Surly Temple, of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby! Emailing ME! ... and a bunch of other girls)

Which probably led to this doodle. Side bar: I LOVE ROLLER DERBY PRACTICE. I've only been to 2 and am pretty convinced I won't make the team on Dec. 6th, but it is SO FUN. And for me, anyway, doing things outside of my "comfort zone" (literally- I've been in DIScomfort since the first practice), I get all fired up creatively. The day after the first practice was when I finally started in on that new dummy I've been thinking about for months now.

Didn't Barack Obama's sketch sell for like $2000 on ebay? FYI- in case you like what you see here...

I'm still alive!!

The Marathon didn't get me, although it tried its darndest! You'll never get me, Marathon! Look, here's a picture:

That's me, right up front in the Xtreme Closeup. I'm moving so fast the camera can barely catch me! You can tell it's early on, because I'm a) still smiling, and ii) still in an upright position. I was downright Cro-Magnon by the end! I finished, though! In 4:53... EXACTLY the same time as my first marathon. EXACTLY. I am nothing if not consistent.

What else have I been doing with my time? Well, as a matter of fact I am working on my next book dummy! I am super-jazzed about it at the moment, but being superstitious I will keep those cards close to my chest for the time being.

In the meantime, why not enjoy these pictures I took at the Salt Lake City SCBWI conference this past weekend? This was truly a lovely conference- so well-run, and we were made to feel so welcome by this group. And I don't know what runs in the water in Salt Lake City, but there was an absolute slew of talented up-and-coming illustrators out there! And it was nice to see the illustrators banding together in a support group- I think it's so important to have a group of peers to turn to in times of need. Thanks for making me an honorary BIFF*! (*Best Illustration Friend Forever).

The Mountains Majesty were majestic:


Another glorious sight? My hotel room! A quaint B & B right by the capitol building- by far one of the swankiest places I've stayed in.


And what's this? Do mine eyes deceive me? Is that a jacuzzi bathtub I see?!?!

It is!!

The library where the conference was held was no less swank:

I felt like I was in the MoMA, with architecture like this! And I don't know how anyone could concentrate on the books with a view like this out the window:

(I mean the mountains, not the Bodyworks exhibit. Not my bag, baby)

A hearty thank you to the Utah SCBWI group, and I hope that you'll all keep in touch!

What I SHOULD be worrying about

...instead of those last two things I said!

1) MY WEDDING. It's in February! I got to get on the ball! I DID start on the invitations this week (which I am illustrating & designing, natch):


So this is going to go on the front of the invitations- Well, I'll post the finished invitations when they're done, there will be a few more "designy" things going on. My fiance complained about the pudginess of his bird, and I had to point out, gently, that THEY'RE BIRDS. And I am just as pudgy ("feathery", I call it). I'm surprised we're not breakin' the branch! We're some pudgy budgies.

2) THE MARATHON! It's on Sunday!
If you're in the NYC area, why not c'mon down to the marathon? It's always a fun time as a spectator, and I'm sure you'll see me easily amongst the 40,000 other runners. I'll be sure to give a little recap of the race afterwards-- if my wet noodle legs will carry me to the computer, that is.

Me Mind's been Elsewhere!

You know, I really miss having a book to work on! It's becoming increasingly (and surprisingly!) apparent to me that I have a somewhat obsessive personality. Without my Daily Dose of Sheep to keep me on the straight and narrow these days, I've been completely obsessed with 2 things:

1) POLITICS. I've been more politically active this year than I have been my whole life! First I wrote to my congresspeople about the Orphan Works Bill. Then, last week I went door-to-door in Pennsylvania for my candidate, another first for me. Not wanting to make this a political blog, I will refer to my candidate by the code name BARACK OBAMA. I was partially inspired by this posting by Cheryl Klein, and sufficiently pleased with the canvassing to do some phone bank work before the election!

2) ROLLER DERBY. Another obsession shared by a pillar of the YA/KidLit community, author Maureen Johnson. Check out her post on the subject here. (her blog also has some fantastic political pieces, including this great one on teen pregnancy, making it the perfect trifecta). I am going ahead and making my announcement to the world here, first: I have signed up for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby tryouts on Dec. 6th. I am attending a skating lesson tonight, and have signed up for their official Skillz Nites- first one next Tuesday! It is all I can do not to pull my lovely new helmet out & look at it all day long. I'm preparing myself for both the physical bruises of body checks, and the mental bruises of probably not making the team, both sure to come in my near future.

Despite the abundant time that I have spent worrying about these two things, I DID manage to paint an author photo for Bea Rocks the Flock:


This was the me of 3 weeks ago, of course. My new author photo would be of me, with matted fleece, hunched over CNN.com.