Well alright then! If anyone has this feed bookmarked or on RSS, they’re probably wondering if I’m still alive. I am! Never fear! I couldn’t quite believe it when I saw my last entry was in November. Way to keep up with news, right? I suppose I’ll have to give a news-in-review update…

1) Mid-April I finally managed to find a full-time job! It’s in an incredibly non-art field, but the people are great, the financial/benefit end of it is great, I’m able to find some ways to get creativity into my day, and it gives me the peace of mind to really focus on other things sometimes. Now if I could get up the non-work oomph to get back into the studio. 😀

2) May through July I was part of a traveling book show called The Artful Book: An Exhibit of Unique Handmade Books, sponsored by the Chicago Calligraphy Collective. The books were shown at three different libraries in Illinois (Arlington Heights, Oak Lawn, and Palatine). My friend Luce Zolna asked that I and another one of our friends, Angie, include our art. I only got a chance to see it at the first location, but Luce said that people were very receptive to the show at all venues. The pieces I chose to show was the 6th book of The Sky Above the Storm, my senior thesis project.

3) This is actually current news! I’m presently in a show at Saint Xavier University (aka the university alma mater) of former silkscreening students. You can see my piece here, thanks to my lovely artistic partner in crime, Angie, who was able to stop by to see it. My piece is the one on the upper left, with the owl and the blue sky background. It was the first silk screen print I ever did! Here’s the write-up about it:

“Screen(ed) Gems” exhibit at the VAC through Sept. 7
Hidden in a studio in the basement of Pacelli from 1983 to 2009, students enrolled in Printmaking #210 learned the art of serigraphy – more commonly known as silkscreen printing.
Using a fabric stretched across a wooden frame, students applied stencils, and printing one color at a time, layered the images you see in this exhibition.
When the Art & Design Department moved into the Visual Arts Center in fall of 2009, this art studio was finally integrated with the other production studios of the Department.
Printmaking #210 is being offered this Fall semester, and is sure to produce more “gems” worthy of exhibition!
Make it a point to come over to the Visual Arts Center and see this beautiful exhibition by Saint Xavier students and alumni.”
The VAC is located at 10435 S. Spaulding Ave.

So if anyone is interested, get over there quick!

Other than that, it’s been fairly quiet in my part of the world. I’ve hit a few summer art shows, and Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago (where most of my time was, as always, spent in Artist Alley). I just started a new journal/sketchbook today, which is always strange yet exciting. Though a little sad too, because I want to keep carrying the old one for all the things in it that I’ve saved/written down. But onward we go!