ImagineandCreate

From the Moleskine.

Books!

I found two beautifully illustrated books while I was traveling. The first one is Wish, illustrated by Elisa Kleven. I love how childlike, colorful and detailed her artwork is. 

The Story Blanket introduced me to illustrator Elena Odriozola. She leaves lots of glorious white space, mixed with touches of intricate detail. Heavenly.

Baby Moon

Thanks for all your sweet well wishes for our new baby's arrival! We are taking it very easy here at home for the next few weeks. I have to return to work eventually and have a couple of painting commissions to finish, but for now I am enjoying resting and nesting and just being cozy.

Ian is a pretty easy baby~ although he is still on this schedule of sleeping during the day and having awake time starting around 8pm. He was the same way when still inside. Isabelle is having a harder time adjusting, she is suddenly going through the terrible threes and that's been the hardest part. I hope she grows out of it soon!

Summer is creeping in slooowly here. It is still in the 30's and the grass has not yet turned green. Today it was snowing. I cant wait to see the tundra flowers and green grass, eventually. Quite a change after being in lush green Seattle for 2 months. I have lots of pictures to share, will do that soon.

It's a Boy!!

Ian James Penuelas was born June 5 just after midnight, on a warm, windy and beautiful Seattle night. He weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces, and I did not have a cesarean!!

Ian is a sweet, dreamy little fellow and we are all doing well. It is taking some time to adjust to being a 4 person family, but we are adjusting. We are still traveling but will be going home next week to settle in to our own nest. 

Isabelle picked her special Mexican dress to wear when she met her brother for the first time.

I was able to watch the trees dancing and the sky glowing as Ian's arrival approached. It was beautiful.

See You Soon

 

edit:

Hi Everyone, 

as of today June 3, we are still waiting! Thank you for thinking of us. 

The Great Turtle Race

I just heard about 'The Great Turtle Race'~ and since sea turtles are very close to my heart, after having illustrated a book about them, I thought I'd share the link with you.

About the race: Eleven leatherback sea turtles are racing from foraging grounds in the frigid waters of Canada to nesting beaches on the sun-soaked shores of the Caribbean. The turtles are tagged with state-of-the-art satellite tracking devices that allow us to follow their incredible 3,700-mile (6,000-kilometer) journey. Which turtle will reach the finishing line first? Which will dive the deepest or go the farthest afield? Here's the link!

watercolor + photoshop = fun

I guess she still wasn't finished! I played with photoshop and added more color.

2 very different things that make me happy

First is this book, My Letter to the World by Emily Dickinson, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault who's artwork I am totally enamored with right now. I ordered the book from the library then had to order it for myself, it's just a treasure. I don't know what I think about Emily's poems- they dont quite resonate with me although I appreciate their beauty. It is Isabelle's artwork that makes this book so perfect. 

Next is this movie, Planet B-Boy, the story of break dancers from around the world competing for 'Battle of the Year'. It is full of cute boys and dancy music. It did make me feel a little sorry that I am currently the size of a small island and cant get up and jump around, too. Not that I have much break dancing talent, but still. It will be nice to shed some weight and feel light. I just remembered that my friends and I used to have break dance competitions in the hallway of our apartment building, to Michael Jackson songs. It must have been 1982 or so. Wow.

Update of an older illustration

This is an update of an illustration I did back in 07...it started with a swoosh of paint that I thought looked like a mermaid's hair. Today I decided to add to the original watercolor with more paint and some paper collage and sparkles. She looks happier and doesn't look so much like she's missing an ear. She is one of several mermaids who float in frames in my bathroom, keeping watch over my jewelry.

so.much.snow.

 

Hello! Although I have not been posting regularly, I think of my blog often and wish that I had more to show you. We have been having many wind/snow storms and today it finally cleared up enough for me to take a picture of this odd formation that we have outside our house. While the rest of the world is seeing signs of spring, we have a ways to go yet. I'm leaving for home (Seattle) at the end of April to wait for baby and I am so looking forward to being surrounded by Spring down there. This week Im 29 weeks pregnant and feeling it very much. I probably wont be posting much between now, and July or August when we are back home and adjusting to life with our new baby. That's all for now...

Illustration Friday ~ Breezy

Illustration Friday's theme this week is 'breezy', so I finished working on this little for-fun picture. I started out on a page from an old book about Lappland, then pencil, then acrylic, then almost threw it away, then scanned in to photoshop and finished it. It's also fitting because we are holed up in our house waiting out a blizzard...out of milk, cheese, eggs...hoping it stops tonight!It has been a very breezy winter here to say the least. Hope all of you are cozy and warm in your igloos too!

Josephine and the monster

pencil and photoshop