portable washi art station
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Bitter Pills - ACEO
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com I can't sleep so here I am making a hopefully quick blog post after dusting off the Wacom tablet and doing a little sketching. A sketch that I added to my sketch collection on Flickr.

Both blee and I are still a bit sick so I am going to try and get back to sleep and take it easy today. Getting back into the swing of things slowly.

Done this week:

1) Made this new ACEO/ ATC
2) Finished carving
3) Hung art at cafe
3) Cleaned studio
4) Sketched with Wacom tablet

Things to do:

1) List ACEO/ ATC
2) Print
3) Finish hanging art

Cultivating the eclectic
Originally uploaded by foftychel I was feeling pretty stressed out and awful yesterday, then I saw this and I smiled and then laughed for the first time in awhile.

Check out the statue next to it. Squirrel headed bride! Just another reason for me to love BirdNerd! Not only is she a talented artist, a sweet person but she is cute and funny. And of course she has great taste as well.

Thank you my dear!

Masks
Originally uploaded by m.Lee This is one of my first woodblock prints. At the time I was still pretty into doing self-portraits and masks are a theme that have come up in my work on and off for many years.

This piece was made for the class I took at Mass Art called "Print into Books" taught by the inspiring Annie Silverman. She's a printmaking not a bookbinder and the book part was a bit of an afterthought. And I am cool with that because she and that class changed my life.

ACEOs
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Back to my roots, well one of my roots. The ACEO! (or art cards in general as I do love trading for these little gems) These have been one of my favorite methods of experimentation. My first mixed-media woodblock print collages were ACEOs and there is no reason for me to stop now that I have moved on to larger pieces. They are still fun to make and still the best for experimenting. The two I made on Tuesday night are no exception. Enjoy!

mmmm smells like milk
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Winter Light Shines on Ginkgo Leaves

365 Sketch - 12/365
Originally uploaded by m.Lee First, I would like to thank everybody who participated in my little Valentine's Day contest. I gave everybody who commented or wrote me a number and then picked a number at random.

The winner has already been sent her lovely prize.

I have a lot of information to go through as there were so many great suggestions. Apparently I need to get started carving some monkeys and Ron Paul along with using more metallics, bringing back monotypes, and working in black and white.

So glad to have my phone back!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Didn't get too much accomplished on the art front yesterday, because we were too busy out playing outside. I don't know how mom's with strollers manage. Wearing blee around the city is so freeing, I don't have a stroller to lug around, get in the way and hold me back. It was a gorgeous day and today is looking to be one too. Luckily for my art my feet hurt a bit from all the walking I've been doing and my new comfy shoes won't be here until Monday at the earliest.

I hope everybody enjoys their Friday and their weekends. I think we will go walking around an area we are interested in moving to in a couple of years. There used to be a very cute toy store around there.

theme for the day - Day 1
Originally uploaded by m.Lee I've started doing these from cards that I wrote and put in an empty drawer. At night I shuffle them up and pick two. Then when I sit down to do some art I keep them in mind. We'll see how it goes. I didn't have much time for art yesterday so all I ended up from these suggestions was this simple sketch, but it was good to get back to my daily sketching.

Today I have:
Change Tools
Read a Page from the Closest Book (that would be Eat, Shoots and Leaves

Royalty
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Maeby Cockroaching
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Getting rid of a sofa. This is more complicated than it sounds.

framed reproduction!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Wish me luck! My heart is racing from it, I finally opened up a second shop for my reproduction prints. High quality archival prints in various, easy to frame sizes. I am going to stick to selling reproductions of my more expensive pieces and never in the same size as the originals. My 4" x 4" block prints and ACEOs will not be reproduced.

now this is my kind of bouquet!
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comHope the mother's reading this blog had a great day and that the sons, daughters and partners were able to appreciate the mother's in their lives.

This was my first mother's day, even though last year while I was pregnant I did get a mother's day blessing from a gas station clerk while driving back from Brooklyn.

It started on Thursday when Jon surprised me with this incredible bouquet of fruit flowers. He told me later that he basically could have had the whole thing dipped in chocolate for an additional fee if he had clicked a button but I am glad that he didn't. There were more than enough chocolate dipped strawberries to keep me happy for days. Yum!

stamping thank you cards
Originally uploaded by m.Lee For being so wonderful. Please bear with me while I deal with a teething baby that fusses all day and doesn't sleep well at night. I'm trying hard to keep up with everything and am struggling. Right now my online activities including blogging, Etsy and blog reading are suffering the most. Since I end up wearing her most of the day I generally need to keep moving. I try to catch up on reading blogs at night but am often too fried to comment. I'm a bit of a lurker these days.

duckie shows what the mirror can do
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Night Falls on Two Trees
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comMy normal Wednesday plans have been canceled and I am going to try and made the best of it.

Things aren't so good. My friend's illness is not getting better and my cat seems to have a problem with his eyes and I need to call the vet today. I might end up putting him in the carrier and pushing him in the stroller while I where blee down to the vet today. Good times. I also need to call a woman about pet sitting next month while we go to a funeral in Ohio.

But if I have some time I will use it to print and not jerk around and waste time. I still have a bunch of paper printed in various stages of completion. And while I have a fair amount of work from last week I would like to have more, in different colors.

Peacock
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Is new around here. Little blee is still pretty sick and needing to be held/ carried constantly. This is wear my baby carriers are coming in extra handy. Especially two shouldered. I wouldn't have anything done if it wasn't for them.

I'm feeling a total creative block at a very bad time. I really want to make some new pieces for my show but I am just not feeling it. I did manage to list this piece and this one
from last month in my Etsy shop

what I did with my day (while blee sleeps)
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Moments in Time magnets
Originally uploaded by m.Lee New in my shop are a new collection of totally different magnets and buttons/ badges to collect. These go well on their own or paired with my earlier woodblock print sets. They can all be found here along with my Gocco printed sketchbook journals.

Things are okay. My friends surgery went alright. No miracles but no disasters either. Honestly I am still in shock by it all as it unfolds I can't believe it is happening.

We had decent weather and it is looking like good weather for the rest of the week and I am going to focus on that.

Quiet Playground
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comThe new street team for Etsy Printsy is up and running with me doing the first artist interview. Check it out over at the Printsy blog. Printsy Interview : Fustian

Last Thursday and Friday I was finally able to get some printing done, first time since March I believe. It felt very good to be printing again and even better having new prints like these. I was able to use my latest block, but only with this one for now but I know I will be bringing it out again in the future. All of my latest creations will be making their way into my shop in the next week or two. With new pieces in the works this week my shop will stay current for a good long time hopefully. Check it out!

Delicate
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Good night and good morning. I am off to bed as soon as I post this. Blogging before bed seems to be the best time for me.

In case you missed it yesterday I am running a Studio Sale in my Etsy Shop in honor of spring cleaning. Clean up my studio and clean up my shop to make room for new pieces like this one and of course plenty of collages and other fresh goodies. Nothing is over $50 so if you have been coveting a piece for awhile it is worth checking out.

Blue Girl
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

New Hair with clips
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Mermaids - #18 Collage
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

addicted to rounded corners
Originally uploaded by m.Lee This week is going by so fast! Monday was long but since then it has been zippy. I'm excited because tonight I am getting out with a girl friend to a local coffee show after blee is put to bed. This is a first for me in awhile. I love having her with me everywhere but when she is sleeping going out is great. And boy is she a sleep champ these days. Last night she slept twelve solid hours! We were shocked when we woke up this morning. She wasn't even grumpy, just chit chatting away with herself.

Peaceful Butterfly
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

rearranged print corner
Originally uploaded by m.Lee First thing this morning I did what I had been thinking about the night before and rearranged my print corner so that the drawers faced out in a better direction. They had been facing toward the press and the top ones would bump up against the paper rack and not open all the way.

But it could be more productive. Like right now instead of being at the computer blogging I could be finishing up cleaning my studio so I can do two things.