woodfiredkids.com

For 10 years, my cousin Nate and his wife Hallie have been operating a woodfired pottery business from their home in north eastern Iowa. They make excellent pots, and its a great story of two people doing what they love.

Enter Noah! Two years ago they had a baby boy -- who I got to hang out with for several days earlier this summer. He's a fantastic kid with a wickedly powerful high five.

As these things go, he's also inspired Nate and Hallie to start a new branch of their pottery business: Woodfired Kids!

In a nutshell, these new pots are a handmade, non-toxic, thoughtfully designed alternative to the standard plastic kidswear. Smart stuff. Check it out!

Harts Pass Online!

After a nice vacation and busy summer days, I'm back to work on all fronts. Harts Pass is now online and will have a new comic strip posted every week. Cheers!

Polar Opposites: Coloring page no. 1

Polar Opposites: Outakes no. 1

"Alex is nervous. Zina is not."

Polar Opposites ships out in just a little under 1 month. Reserve your copy today! In the mean time, enjoy this "deleted scene" from the book.

Bon voyage!

Harts Pass!

It's official, I'm a cartoonist :)

You've seen a few experiments posted earlier in May, but the first OFFICAL issue of Harts Pass debuted on June 23rd! With kind consideration for the Methow Valley News -- my new patron saint of "sure, we're ready to go on this" -- I'm still debating when I should post the strip online. I definitely won't pre-empt or even compete with their mid-week release, but I'd like to get this out to a wider audience at some point relatively soon.

In any case, I'm thrilled. As stated in the News, "Harts Pass will chronicle life in the Methow Valley (my home range) from the perspective of two (mostly) fictional wolverines named Thor and Melanie."

Stay tuned!

The Methow Arts Fest 2010: Elevate Your Senses!

A small piece of art that I did 18 months ago was recently re-appropriated for the greater good. As if you needed any further reason to visit the Methow, our July 4th Arts Fest, as hosted by The Methow Arts Alliance, is far and away one my favorite celebrations in the valley. Fair warning -- there are no fireworks -- but I promise you won't miss 'em. Cheers!

Illustration Friday: Ripple No. 2

Hans Brinker 2010: Sadly, the folk hero for Deepwater Horizon has yet to arrive...

Purchase this image for a $10 donation by visiting ripple.

Illustration Friday: Ripple

Its not quite the whale that I should have drawn for the Gulf of Mexico, so I'll do an additional image or two on this theme later in the week...

Suzuki Violin: Book No. 1

Presenting: Polar Opposites!

Art Away No. 6

The Muse

Art Away No. 5

Heart's Pass No. 3

Heart's Pass No. 2

Heart's Pass

UPDATE: After several days of consideration, it felt like the icons in my first version (below) were a little confusing. What do you think? Does this read a little more clearly now? Melanie and Thor are grumpy, they see each other, say hello, and in passing their outlooks change.

We'll see where this goes, but I'd like to pitch a comic strip to our weekly paper, The Methow Valley News. Heart's Pass, starring a pair of local wolverines, will be a chance to observe and comment on both the local scene and the world at large. It will also be a deadline driven reason for me to "practice" telling stories in a comic strip format. How in the world do cartoonists keep up with those daily strips. Amazing!

Wild Woods

While not right in my backyard, this yawning black bear did spend most of it's Mother's Day weekend camped out near a friend's house in Mazama. We don't see the Ursus americanus of the Methow like this too often, but it is a great reminder of where we live and who we share the trails and tree wells with :)

Supermom!

Three cheers for the fearless super heroines of the world!

Happy Birthday Mr. Audubon!

My calendar tells me that today is John James Audubon's birthday. I'm certainly no genius naturalist, but I painted a few different birds recently and I have always been a fan of Audubon's amazing renderings. Melissa Sweet illustrated a great picture book biography about Audubon a few years ago. Enjoy!

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