... now i'm blogging another pie

you may remember about a month ago i took my first trip down pie street. this is the pie my sister crafted for thanksgiving dinner. beautiful!

stuffing jam '08

here's some pics of our late night stuffing jam. the event was sponsored by herradura tequila and we would also like to thank the wu-tang clan for their generous support.

jesus jumped-up giblets

i finally got my hands on those giblets. this whole thanksgiving thing is bigger than i thought. enjoy this picture of my giblets.

yet another one of these posts

another day has gone by without any arts and crafts accomplishments. i was working today for a friend at the cue art foundation picking up and moving some art work for an upcoming show. i had some pretty nasty flashbacks of my old film production days being in that van driving around the city in traffic. any way, i promise some art tomorrow.

where there's smoke there's firefighters

after getting a late start to the crafting today there isn't any new art to post. i was called away to turkey shop for my first thanksgiving dinner i'll be hosting - that is if you don't count the spinach and rice meal i consumed alone in nepal in 2000. shauna and i picked out what by all measures appears to be a winner of a bird. oh yeah, and we woke up to a fire in the building next door to our apartment. no was hurt. i'm not really sure it was all that serious, the firefighters were very relaxed the whole time they were outside. at any rate one of the first things i'm thankful for this year is that that smoke wasn't pouring out of our kitchen. that bird is begging to be roasted and nothing must stand in our way. i can't wait to get my hands on those giblets!

very nearly there

papi's house is very close to finished. all that's left is to paint some ivy on the outside and some grass and flowers around the foundation.

guy le teach

so i know that i had promised to finish papi's house but i was called in to teach today. i'm going to have to finish up tomorrow. in the meantime enjoy this olde tyme print of a monkey providing nourishment to a child. really it's more or less just like my day at school but instead of porridge i'm coming with knowledge. and i'm not wearing a bonnet. oh, and i'm wearing pants and a shirt.

someday this war's gonna end...

this is taking me a lot longer than i thought it would. here is the day's progress; it's kinda barfy right now but i'm counting on it coming around. keep your fingers crossed that papi likes it!

kitty house inspiration

i had hoped to blog the finished kitty house today but it's taking me a little longer then i thought it would. sorry, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. in place of the finished product i offer you an image of the house that inspired my final design. i loved the brothel suggestion but papi is a boy; we've already taken his testicles i don't want to promote any further gender-bending confusion. tune in tomorrow to see papi's painted house in all its glory.

scratchy shauna

this is a sketch of shauna for the comic book. she's the final regular character. i'm not sure how i feel about this one; i'm still trying to work out a style. finn's much cuter in real life.

papi's new home

when shauna and i moved to jersey city a few months ago we radically upgraded our living situation. it only seemed fair that papi should be treated to some new accommodations as well. you may remember that i built his old house out of cardboard. it took a beating over time - papi had a taste for that particular cardboard - so i decided to go with wood on his new house. hopefully he won't chew his way through this one. this house was built last august one day up at the allen-stevenson wood shop. it has to be painted; i'm still trying to settle on a fun design or color scheme so if anyone has any ideas please share them with me in the comments section. heather, in an attempt to make papi the most spoiled cat of all time knit him the little blanket under his paw to cuddle up on in the new crib.

monkey art

i've got a full day of art teaching and a full evening of art openings so no new art of my own to post today. this painting is pretty sweet however. enjoy!

finished scratchboard owl

owl sketch

this is a first pencil sketch of another of the characters from the comic book. the owl is a part of the supporting cast for our hero's crime-fighting activities. hopefully tomorrow i will be posting a finished scratchboard version.

a couple more practice sketches in scratchboard

these panels are establishing images of the apartment on the evening our hero embarks upon his crime fighting career.

unearthed during comic book research

not sure where it's from or what it's about but i like it.

a little cross-promotion

today, for two reasons - 1) i haven't had time to work on the comic so there isn't much new art to post and 2) shauna's work is amazing and more people should be seeing it - i want to take a moment to promote the bee warbler's blog. the link can be found in my links section, so if you stumbled across this blog somehow i encourage you to check out her work - and stunning photos of eleuthera were she is staying for her friend christina and tommy's wedding.

smoke 'em if you got 'em

for ten years i was a cigarette smoker. during those ten years i justified my dirty and deadly addiction by describing a cigarette as "the icing on the cake" after anything good. despite some occasional crankiness and the addition of a few unsightly pounds i am so happy that i was able to quit and would never recommend that anyone take up the habit. last nights election results and some timely received federal and state income tax refund checks have restored my faith in our democracy. the return of intelligence and fresh ideas to the white house certainly has me breathing easier. it is my understanding that president elect obama enjoys an occasional smoke. all health concerns aside, i hope he enjoyed one last night after hearing the results announced. sweetest smoke ever.

shauna's birthday birds

every year i like to try to make something for shauna's birthday. this year i was inspired by a collection of carved wooden bird pins i saw in the book the art of gaman by delphine hirasuna. the book focuses on arts and crafts that were made by japanese american prisoners of u.s. internment camps during world war 2. the birds in the book were carved out of scrapwood, painted, lacquered and then fitted with a safety pin. I have been interested in animal dioramas for a while so rather than making a pin i decided to carve 5 different birds and set them up on a fallen branch i found in the lawn in front of jersey city hall. we hung the branch in the living room. i'm very pleased with how it turned out.

it was a nice little sunday... i just wasn't sure if there would be enough time

this sunday was one of those brisk fall days that's just perfect for a stroll through central park with your special lady and an old jelly jar filled with herradura tequila and lime juice. as luck would have it we ran into my sister heather in the park on sunday as well, running in the nyc marathon for the first time. we kicked the day of with a little burger time picnic party at grand army plaza with a to-go sack from the burger joint. that place never dissapoints and then bolted up to the 25 mile-mark of the marathon course to shout "run chicken run" and "hurry up, we're hungry for dinner" as my sister blazed by.it was a truly remarkable performance by heather, not only did she run a marathon but afterward she cooked a big birthday dinner for shauna and made it down to her local pub for a couple of pints. how she did it i don't know but i was tired all day today.
it's worth mentioning that i came up with the slogan for those t-shirts like the one shauna is wearing so f.y.i. my copywriting services are available. anyway, congrats to heather and a very happy birthday to shauna. love you both.