i have a lot of things to say to people, but generally i try not to say the things i have to say in real life. thank goodness for sketchbooks. and here is a valentines day comic. 

greg-the-fox and I picked up a small archery habit for a few weeks. it is good and makes me feel like artemis, even though my form is actually terrible and i bruise my wrist up with the bowstring and i accidentally got an arrow stuck in the rafters at the shooting range, once. 

hello! here is the first page of my new sketchbook. as the years go by that I have been keeping regular sketchbooks, the first page has always remained a real challenge. here is the best advice i can muster, but no practical tips to make it easier/possible. 
well, i guess it's true that i did this weird castle drawing on a paper towel that i had dried my paintbrushes on, and then i glued it into my book. is that a tip? first pages are just hard.  

Here are some non sketchbook embroideries that I have been working on in recent times--it is easy to make these on my train commute. They are just made with embroidery floss on muslin, freehand. Thanks to one man named Greg for taking these photos for me!

autocorrect has been getting me a lot, lately. here it is, giving me and greg new nicknames. i'm "creeps", obviously.

this is a true story. about how i was never meant to be an adult.

another gasping comic. breathing is an issue for me, i guess.
here are 3 beautiful rocks that we found on christmas day on a beach at lake ontario. they were in my wallet when i lost it, so they are gone forever, except in drawing form.

for better or worse, right?


here is my grandpa and greg, when they met. poppa made sure to give greg a disclaimer about my singing habits.

i am teaching myself and someone else these words as often as i can. 
when i didn't know what to draw one day i spun my sketchbook on the pottery wheel at the steelyard. that is where those pencil circles came from.

sometimes words are more important to draw than pictures.

happy new year! i lost my wallet! on the last day of 2011. do you know where it is? it is pictured here.

i have been wanting something, these days, and i generally can't figure out what it is that i want.

oh. apparently i have been having some difficulties. paying for grad school has proven to be a bigger challenge than i expected (though i have no idea why i thought it might be easier) and art-making has proven to be a bigger challenge than i expected (though i have no idea why i thought it might be easier.)
ALSO! here is my 500th post. 

one sweet potato pancake to share and a game of dominos at the liberty elm! the best treat. also, eleanor's bafflement that i would own hairspray. don't worry, i haven't figured out how to use it yet.

does this ever happen to you? not the flying away part, the forgetting to breathe part. it happens more often than is reasonable, in my life. i thought that it was an involuntary function, breathing, but sometimes it seems like i forget.

a secret note! and something important written backwards and painted in red. underscores its obvious importance. 

Here is a comic inspired directly from some of Lynda Barry's Ernie Pook comics. That lady is the MOST inspirational. If you haven't looked at her drawings, quit looking at mine right now and go to thenearsightedmonkey.tumblr.com POSTHASTE.

three ghosts who stand for three things and then also three patches of static.

greg told me about a goddess that i might be interested in, Hecate. Obviously, yes, I am interested in her, because she is the goddess of witchcraft, ghosts and magic. Also she is related to the dirt, garlic and other medicinal herbs. Here is a very very very preliminary sketch of her. I am sure she will evolve and change as I think about her more. 

THIS is a very special post! It marks the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this blog! I am proud of my commitment to scanning, which I have never learned to love, color correcting, which I have become much more efficient at, and drawing in my sketchbook fairly regularly, which is one of the most important things in my life, probably. Thank you, whoever you are right now that is reading this. I am very grateful that you look at my drawings.
here is an important question that happens to fall on this special day.