duckie shows what the mirror can do
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.

mmmm smells like milk
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Butterfly in Greenery
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.comIt was green and lush with just a sprinkling of rain late in the day on Sunday.

I hope everybody had a great weekend, ours went pretty well over all.

Jon's birthday was this weekend, and it was a good one I think despite Saturday being pretty hard on him. Sunday made up for it.

The weekend went a lot better than expected and we owe it all to little blee and her perfect behavior on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday daddy had to go into work at 4am and was there until two in the afternoon so it was just us girls. She was pretty easy going already and I had just mastered back carries in our new Mei Tai so we went on what turned out to be a two hour nap. She slept the entire time.

don't tip over!

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

Progress
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Guess I lied when I said that I would be taking a break. What can I say other than that my moods can change on a dime.

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.

I love my girl
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Desperate haircut time.

This longhair with a baby just isn't working out. I'm shedding like crazy and having to pull it back in a ponytail or pigtails all the time isn't helping as hairs get tangled in the tangle free bands. blee also is fond of pulling on it. It is just too difficult. I miss how my hair was when I was pregnant. Now it just feels ratty.

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.

Peaceful Butterfly
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Merry Christmas!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee To me.

New Hair with clips
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Poppies at Nightfall - ACEO
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Royalty
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

She Speaks to Nature
Originally uploaded by m.Lee Where is it going to? Because I seem to be losing all sense of it. I completed this piece on February 21st, five days ago tonight. Yet it feels like it was something I did ages ago.

I'm tired, so very tired. And I am sick with a cold round two just after recovering.

I was waiting to write the perfect post about what went into this piece but life just kept pushing it aside. Now nearly a week later and it still hasn't been written. But I love this piece too much to ignore it and not share it here in my blog. So much of myself went into the creation. Images taken from various sketches, block printing, gocco, collage and even some drawing and painting all dancing together on the stage of the canvas. They work together to hopefully create a vibrant and complex yet well balanced piece. Collage challenges me in a totally new way.

Pfau
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Woodblock prints are back, my first of the year actually! Not that I am anywhere near done with collaging and gocco. In fact I made a collage that I am quite proud of just last night. But I had a chunk of time and was in the mood so I made about ten prints. Not a lot for me but it was what I was feeling. The peacock is my favorite.

Sunny Day Butterfly
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

hiding out
Originally uploaded by m.Lee He is hiding from the three dogs that lurk outside this room and I am hiding from everything else. I moved his litter box, food and water in here so he can just stay in here all day. He loves this room anyhow. He will happily sleep on my glider chair for hours.

I am really feeling the stress. I am going to try and take these moments to finish up a carving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Me and blee - Self Portrait Thursday

the not so elusive blee smile
Originally uploaded by m.Lee My baby is a happy little caterpillar today. She's a bit of a stinky caterpillar to be honest because I am afraid to give her a proper bath by myself. But I cleaned her up as much as I could getting into her chins with a wet cloth and then lotioning her up good.

Mermaids - #18 Collage
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

portable washi art station
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Art Cards from today
Originally uploaded by m.Lee From yesterdays printing session. Here are some of the strongest art cards I have made in awhile. Sure, they might induce an acid flashback in some but I love the colors. Not really what I had in my head but that is half the fun! I never can anticipate exactly what I am going to end up with. Expect these and more working their way into my shop in the next few weeks.

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

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.

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.