Urban Bonsai

I picked up this beautiful little book at the Portland Japanese Garden's Urban Bonsai exhibit last month. Both my boyfriend and the cashier at the gift shop made fun of me for buying a book I can't actually read, but really, You don't need to be able to read it to enjoy the beautiful photos and design. I love the step by step photos and watching the tiny landscapes come together.

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Couple

I started this drawing last year and just pulled it out and finished it the other day.

Unrelated to that, this is a beautiful animation for a music video.

Bubble from Elliot Dear on Vimeo.

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Things I've Seen Recently

A fiendly neighbor cat

Yellow thistle

This is the window we put together for the Swamp Feelings show, I'm pretty proud of it actually.

A breakfast.

Blue things.

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Changing Plans!

It turns out there was a tremendous hail storm in Denver, which damaged a bunch of planes, so my connecting flight to my parents was canceled! I decided to take a refund & travel later this summer after I move and things are less crazy. I'm sad not to be going home but I am relieved that I'll be able to get ready for the move the rest of the month. Anyway, this means that shipping in my store will continue as usual.

Also thanks so much for your supportive comments about the move!

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Several Announcements

After almost a year of looking I'm moving apartments! I feel both happy and extremely sick. I've lived in the same place with the same roommates since I moved to Portland three years ago, so it is a big change. I'll be living by myself, in a new part of town! It feels like the right time for something new though, and I think it will be a positive change.

Because of this however, and because I'll be doing some traveling between now and moving things are going to be pretty crazy around here. I'm leaving my shops open but any orders placed after today will not go into the mail until August 1st. Change of plans! I'm traveling later so shipping will continue uninterrupted!<

Wish me luck!

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Checker Lilly

The remaining pieces from "Swamp Feelings" are now available to buy online, right here!

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The Borrower Arrietty

I'm crazy about this movie right now, it's just fantastic and the animation is gorgeous. (I'm sorry this trailer is sort of weird but it's the only one with subtitles). It's loosely based on one of my all time favorite books The Borrowers by Mary Norton, and even though details of the plot are pretty different it's definitely the best film adaptation. On a side note, I'd love to do some illustrations for that book someday...

P.s. you can actually watch the whole movie here.

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Wedding Invitation Commission

I'm happy I can finally share this wedding invite I did a few months back. The couple loves trains and wanted themselves represented as some sort of animals, but not foxes, which is sort of my default animal. We settled on rabbits and I think they turned out very nice, but not too sweet. As well as the drawing for the front I also hand lettered the text for the back. They handled the printing and got the image put on a tote as well. They were kind enough to send me one of those as well as some authentic mango pickle from India, where they were working last year. So nice!

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Shop Update! Pt. 2

The second part of todays store update, and the most exciting for me, is this 2012 Calendar! I've been wanting to do a calendar for a while but never did because...? Maybe it just seemed to daunting. Well I finally decided to just go for it and did this one over a couple of weeks. I decided it would make the most sense to do a "year at a glance" style, that is also the kind of calendar I prefer so I can check dates quickly. I had them professionally printed locally, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

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Shop Update! Pt. 1

Part one of today's store update is new brooches, Hooray! And new this time I also made some necklaces to use up various supplies I had. I know I said I wasn't going to be making brooches anymore buuuut I had all these supplies still and didn't want to just let them go to waste. Also a big problem I was having with the epoxy before (and the reason I said I was done making them) is that it is light hardening & there just hasn't been any direct sunlight since about last August! I ruined so many in the last few months it was just making me crazy. However I think I mostly fixed some of the problems, it's still finicky and drives me a bit crazy, but it works much better in this sunny weather. I made a bunch that I'm going to put in the store now, and another batch I'll add a around the holidays.
Please click here to see all the brooches & necklaces.

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Some inspiration

I thought I'd share a few images from A Nursery Companion by Iona & Peter Opie, a compendium of early 19th c. nursery rhymes, alphabets, and a few illustrated grammar lessons. I found it by chance a few years ago and I look at it all the time when I need some inspiration, the illustrations are so odd & completely charming.

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Summer is Here!

Summer just arrived about three days ago here in Portland and we are all so glad. I spent the weekend reading in the park, having hot dogs and cocktails on a friends balcony, and generally trying to not worry about anything.

This last week I've been busy bringing a few projects to their close, which is satisfying, and dealing with a few minor disasters, which have been discouraging (mainly printer related).

Also I wanted to let you know that the piece above is for sale in my store!

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