Got The Call

Follow your heart. After many years of being a bystander to the annual shows, but an SI supporter nonetheless, I doggedly submitted what I love best to illustrate: reportage. This year, two of my pieces were accepted into the Institutional Category as part of the Society of Illustrators 52nd Annual. They are part of the project that I recently posted, A Sneak Peek. The chop in the corner represents the interpretation of my name, and translated, means "sing." Fitting since, when I draw on location, I do feel like I am singing to the world!

Thanksgiving Post-It People

Wall to wall travelers on the LIRR this weekend makes for just a few notes on this installment of Post-It People.

Behind The Scenes

I had a fleeting chance to capture some behind the scene drawings at Fashion Forward, the fundraising Fashion Show for GMHC.
The real drawing stars were seven of my students, who really rocked the cocktail hour by drawing everyone at the party and then, we donated our drawings for sale- raising over $500!!!!

To Honor This Day

It is Veteran's Day in America, but why not pause the world over to think of all who serve their countries?
About a year ago, I had the chance to be imbedded with the US Air Force on live fire training exercises. If these brave young men and women thought for a minute "what was this round woman with graphite pencils doing climbing into their "truck"?!, they did not skip a beat as they welcomed me and included me in the training. For all the in-between joking and answering my unfailing barrage of questions, it took but a nano-second for them to get serious when they needed to. Their fresh faces and keen minds took me through what they experience day in and day out, on bases on our continent, and of course, in lands afar. It matters little what your political stance is- these are young people whose families are without them this day. I salute them, one and all.

Sneak Peek

I am in the final stages of finishing a body of work that is being produced as part of a grant. I was sent to China last year to be the documentary artist that recorded the FIT factory visits in Hong Kong and mainland China. NO photos allowed, and so, it was up to me to keep apace with the groups, the tour guides and the translators- who barely stopped to take a breath. The machines were whirring away, up the stairs, down the stairs, on with masks, off with masks, cutting, folding, pressing, drying, dyeing.
It was terribly exciting and my hand was moving like crazy trying to capture it all.

When Vacation Seems So Far Away...

it's good to bring it back. It's been some time since I posted. School is keeping very busy in a very good way. My classes this semester are just great and have once, again, reminded me how much I love drawing. I took a little trip back to South Africa in my mind today- the crisp air and the beautiful blue sky brought me right back there...

Out of and back from (South) Africa

It is a land of big skies and purple mountains. It is a coast with the
turquoise Indian Ocean crashing its shores. The air of traditional cultures,
struggle, and renewal hugs the mountains, the villages-and the malls. So much
to see and to hear and to eat and to drink in. Three weeks in South Africa
have left me with a sense of awe and curiosity, wanting even more. I am just now beginning to digest all of what I experienced and drew. My first posts here represent what struck me most- that people walked- from the early hours
of the morning, through the day. Their silhouettes dotted the landscape as the fiery sun set; wrapped in their winter clothing, determined to make life good for themselves and their families for another day. They walked the highways, through the sugar cane, out of the townships, the cities, down from the mountains.