Warm Wishes...

Warm & Wondrous Wishes to You and your Loved Ones!
The East Coast had it's 1st big snow! The yard behind my building glistens in it's stark white.




These photos were taken at the Union Square location of Olde Good Things Architectural Artifacts and Antiques. I was introduced to it by production designer and friend, Sherri Adler many years ago when I started in the film business. I was lucky enough to make some purchases here when I did set decorating on her films. Love the little train set in window and I think the chandelier would be a nice gift, if anyone's wondering what I want this year ;)


Always been a fan of milk glass knobs!

Bigelow is a very charming 168 year old apothecary on 6th Avenue. They have great lines of products, neatly displayed with lovely windows that lure me in!

I've always appreciated the tiles on this 5th Ave. building near Washington Square. I think it belongs to NYU, most over there do. I'm a sucker for old doors, as well as grand entrance ways.




Pink :)


Soho has been bustling during the holiday season. I moved to NYC when there were mostly galleries down here. It's now chock full of stores, chains and high end boutiques. I'm surprised by how many restaurants have lasted, even the little Cafe Borgia II where I once worked still sits on Prince & Thompson. I have a soft spot for the large warehouse windows and the cobble stone streets.

Fanelli's serving up goodies at window, YUM :D

Walking down Crosby Street, I often notice the Savoy restaurant & make a mental note to try it sometime. I haven't yet, but it looks so cozy & quaint it must be good!

Had no idea we had a Bjorn Borg store here and looks like they offer a nice ladies collection, too :)

Now these were shorts!

Sherri Adler, I mentioned above, has started a delightful and delicious New venture-- Rogue Confections Handmade Belgian Chocolates with beautiful, edible designs imprinted on them. Inspired by vintage patterns, you can choose from collections including her Monarch or Cameo or create your own custom pieces. Dark, Milk & White chocolates that melt in your mouth! Yes, she came up with the name before Palin book published.

These pictures were taken as they came hot off the trays :D


*Your kids can design them, too!* See how on the Cool Mom Picks blog or simply visit her site :D

Rogue Confections has been a big hit so far, especially after participating in New York's One of a Kind Show earlier in the month. Recent press can be found at Craft Critique , Interior Design , Woman Around Town and quite a few others!

Kristine Lombardi superb illustrator & Blipadee contributor, and I had our final Perspective drawing class at SVA last Wednesday night. This was a rough one for me and wish I hadn't missed some classes. I recommend this to anyone who has the mental capacity to remember more than 3-5 steps at a time. I learned the hard way that this was not what I remembered from high school ;)
Sal Amendola was our patient instructor, a renowned artist for Marvel, DC and Archie Comics.

The last night was a bit looser. Kristine scored an Archie and Sal took our requests. Very kind and talented man!!

Gramercy Park below all sparkled up :)


Back at Bigelow Saturday night during big snow!! Above, Leslie poses like a trooper! I don't hang out here, just conveniently located near W4th station, so may as well stop in when I can, right?






Running, good resistance!

Here, Zexter returns after looking for her lost glove-- was in her purse!


Back in Carroll Gardens, this is Nick's Garden which I blogged about last Spring. It looks magical now in the snow :)


I like this toy arrangement by Mirabelle & Odille above. There were several set ups on my yoga mat.



She is special. Purchased some sweet little ornaments at Anthropologie this season :)

Hope you enjoy the Holiday Season and have a Kick Ass New Year!!!!!

Floaty Gets Going @ SVA

I've finally started sketches for Floaty the Hovering Dog! I just finished a very fast, but motivating 5 week class at SVA with Rachael Cole called Publishing Picture Books for Children.

I enjoy looking at sketches of other artists' work and seeing how they get from point A to B. Below, an aerial floating dogs-eye view and pencil studies to color versions.

As you can see below, I'm trying various versions of street scenes, trying to loosen up some. I always admire illustrators whose work maintains that free, energetic feel in final, finished pieces.

Above is the original Floaty I painted many years ago. He's patiently hung around waiting for me to give him a life ;)

Here is my class above. I hate the bland institutional look of classrooms, but Rachael and my classmates' work spiced it up a little. Rachael Cole is an illustrator and the Art Director at Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House. Our 1st night, we discussed professional & practical sides of the business and she presented the numerous sketches & edits for the book below. Abe Lincoln Crosses A Creek is by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated beautifully by John Hendrix.

Rachael also designs and silkscreens these fabulous pillows. Each one is like a piece of a puzzle that comes together to form a quaint small village. I love them! You can see more and purchase them at Village Pillows. She also sells them at the Brooklyn Flea. Check her website for more information.

This class was part of SVA's Continuing Education Program, so the students are all professionals, usually in related fields. Below Patrick Dorian is talking about his work. This particular story is about a robot who steals candy and one child must seek his revenge! Really fun stuff and so well executed, always a pleasure to look at his work and he is very prolific.

Below is some of the work of Jack Harris, a very talented illustrator transitioning into the children's market. You've got to see the freaky, evil fish in his story!

This portrait is by Shay Grabowski. I found it on her website, full of eclectic work ranging from brand & logo design to animation, photography and painting. She wrote a story bursting with great visuals about an adventure in the jungle.

Above is the fashion illustration done by Lynsey Hirth. She is working on a story about a little girl following a day in her mom's life as a fashion designer. Her drawings are lovely and even better are her super fun & creative collages! Take a look at her blog, Hodgepodge illustration and see her prints for sale on Etsy (seller: hodgepodge prints).

This amazing illustration is by Doug Salati. He has been working on a Eugene Field poem, Norse Lullaby for class. Doug has sketched out a full book dummy for it. Even his sketches are beautiful and create a full and enchanting world for the story.

This is the business card for Sachika and her website is not quite up yet, but do check back because her work is sweet and very charming! She has completed a color book dummy about a mouse who wants to fly (little jealous of some of her handling of flight scenes, but that's ok-- moving on ;) Love this card, too.


Below is a print by Estrella Vega. She is an art director and showed us several wonderful pieces she's created using silkscreen. I love the clean, graphic style of her work. She's been working on a story about a small dog with big moxie! It's gonna be great for adults, too I think.

This little guy is also by Estrella and I had to add him because he is sooooooooo CUTE! I want him.

Now, on to illustrators living the dream... fast cars, big boats and exotic cities :D Not exactly, but it is the dream of an artist/illustrator anyway.

This book is brand spanking new by Sara Varon. She came and spoke to our class about her journey, jobs, promotional advice & current projects. Below is from her series of Chicken & Cat stories for kids. You must check out her site Chickenopolis. She also did a graphic, wordless book you may have seen called Robot Dreams. It's fantastic!

And finally, Brian Floca, illustrator/author extraordinaire! I took a class with him about 6 years ago (hard to believe that long ago) at SVA. He was a great teacher, thoughtful with criticism, thorough about the book dummy process and quite funny, as well! Moonshot is his new book about the Apollo 11 mission. Brian's work is so well researched, not a detail left out and he moves seemlessly between several styles. All of which are engaging and fun. I think the cover for Moonshot alone, is stunning!

I recommend taking a course in Continuing Ed at School of Visual Arts. I recently took a licensing and greeting card class with Cheryl Phelps that was also well worth it. She is a terrific teacher and person. Cheryl is moving to San Francisco this summer, but hopefully they will still offer the licensing course.

Again, I want to send a big ThAnKs out to Rachael for being so generous with her time, ideas and thoughts during each person's critique. She spoke about practicalities of the business without ever being discouraging and gave only the most constructive feedback. Only regret that the class was not longer, as will have to rely solely on my own motivation >:()