Shades of pink and blue

Every year Blue Bell comes up with some new seasonal flavors that I can't help trying (tres leches with strawberries, I miss you). Cotton candy ice cream is so wrong, but it tastes exactly like you might imagine: a very sweet and creamy burst of nostalgia. Mmm.

A slice of summer moon

Some links from the illustration blogosphere:
*Tips on bio writing for your various media presences on Humblearts
*A podcast interview with Artist Rep Scott Hull on EFII...chock-full of good info (I'm listening to it a second time)
*I've really been enjoying Becca Stadtlander's blog recently (via pikaland)
*Just saw Larry Day's work for the first time on a Spilling Ink post. He's got some really beautiful watercolor images that include lots of detail but still seem loose (I'll have to check out the bookstore to see them full-size).
*And just for fun, paste your latest blog post or some paragraphs of your writing into I Write Like, and it will come up with a famous author comparison. On the first try, I got David Foster Wallace. And then I got Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hmmm.

Garden kitty

Birds from a rainy morning

Saw this Carolina wren and green heron last Thursday while walking my dog at the park.

Giant

Library love

Just returned Kitchen Diaries last night, but it was so good I may have to buy it one of these days: part cookbook, part journal of the seasons, on the plate and in the garden. Just checked out Jam it, Pickle it, Cure It on the same trip; love the idea of homemade crackers and marshmallows, but that may be unrealistic. Might just stick to learning how to pickle a few things from the farmers' market. Or from my garden, if it would ever produce more than one cucumber a week.

Note on painting text freehand: best to have a guide! Didn't leave room for the final 'it' on the second title. Live and learn.

An Illustrated Summer: Bing Cherries

A refreshing afternoon snack...

An Illustrated Summer: intro

Every year when the Texas heat kicks in for several months straight, I start complaining. And vowing to move some place with a less brutal summer (or at least one that cools down at night). But then along comes a crisp autumn, mild winter, and lovely wildflower-filled spring, and I remember why Austin is such a great place to live. This summer I've decided to distract myself from some of the heat & humidity fueled complaining and channel that energy into appreciating what is wonderful about summer, illustration-style.

The tomato is from Saturday's visit to the farmers' market (Two Happy Children farm stand; the name totally drew me in), and it is the best one I've had all year, especially served in Caprese salad with some basil from the garden. The red striped ribbon snake startled me trying to cross the path at the dog park yesterday (I followed it trying to remember the "red and black, friend of jack" rhyme).

Rainy start to the weekend

What a rain-filled week! And only 4 more weeks till the SCBWI conference in LA...my 'to do' list is long.

A few links from the week:
*Great American Illustrator month has begun over on the Ripple blog. Some exciting names coming up on the schedule! And all for a good cause.
*Interview with quilt-artist, Denyse Schmidt, over on Design Sponge. Her work is modern and graphic and totally appealing.
*Saw this post about Rise and Fall on Book By Its Cover yesterday and highly recommend checking out the artist's site (his name is Micah Lidberg)
*Can't wait till this book is released. David Small & Jane Yolen: what a dream team!
*I've seen a lot of e-brainstorming recently about creative uses for illustrations, and I really like Katie Green's zine over on Pikaland. It looks totally charming AND includes vegan recipes.
*These photos from Noa Emberson's The Visual Mixtape poster series are stunning.
*Love both these recent posts by the talented Meg Hunt: this and this

Happy 4th of July weekend!