2009 Highlights: FAMILY!

Nothing beats being near family! And though some of our family still live far from us, we've been able to see them a lot more than when we lived in Boston. And they've been such a huge support as always. They're generous and loving, sacrificing time and money and plans to be with us, help us, encourage us, rescue us. What a lonely year this would have been without their familiar smiling faces!!

Being near family this year meant being with Granny til the end
and being with new additions from the beginning...

not having to miss their shows...

working...

relaxing...
exploring...
playing...

giggling...


celebrating...

loving...

and just being...together.

Thanks for joining me on these trips down memory lane. More to come...

Arian : )

Date NIght!

We're off to the Seabird release party! (Check out their new Christmas songs--they're great!) I get to pick up one of my shirts and spend some much needed time alone with the Mr.! Have a good night!!

On The Drawing Board

(working on another Seabird shirt)

Hard at work today! I've called in some reinforcements to help me with the boys and with printing/shipping so that I can hopefully get my nights back. You know that you love what you do when you're regularly willing to do it til 2am.

We're taking Hudson to the opening night of A Christmas Carol at Playhouse in the Park for his birthday. And we've got a ton of family activities planned for tomorrow and Sunday too! So I should have lots of pics to show you!

Have a great weekend!

Arian

Seabird!

I just finished up this Seabird tshirt design. (Check out the shirts I did last year here and here) It's off to the printer and the new shirts will hopefully be available for their cd release show on the 12th (come by and snag one if you're a Cincinnati local!). I'm working on two more designs that should be done tomorrow.

I love doing t-shirts for bands! I get sneak peeks at their new music and get to create wearable art--not a bad gig!

By the way, the lovely Sara Janssen (of Happy Foody and Live Lightly Tour fame) is giving away one of my prints (of your choosing) on her blog so stop on by and leave a comment if you'd like. (psst..it's also your chance to cash in on another Buy One Get One offer!!)

Have a good one!
Arian : )

Feelin Generous

BAM!! Here's another freebie for ya--Christmas cards! I'm bringing back all of last year's Christmas goodies as freebies because, hey, I worked hard on them and you deserve a break!

You know the drill, click on the card image to see the larger version, then right click or drag to your desktop. By the way, does anyone know a better way to do this with a blogspot blog?? I'd love for you to be able to click on something and actually download the pdf but haven't figured that out. Any technical wisdom you can pass on is welcomed!

Stay tuned for more Christmas card goodness!

We're in Daniel's home town spending Thanksgiving week (and doing Christmas) with family. I'm soooo looking forward to relaxing, laughing, watching everyone open presents, good food, HGTV, crafting, and sketching out some new t-shirt design ideas for these fine fellas. I got a sneak peak at some of their new music and it's pretty sweet!

Hope your week is full of gratitude! (whether you're a U.S.A-er or not) : )

Arian : )

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The Weekend.

This is one of the pieces I finished for this weekend's opening at A.R.T. I call it "Friends". Someone who would not just share their umbrella in a storm, but give you theirs-- now that's a serious friend.
And here's the opening! It's such a cute little place in a cute little town. The show will be up til January so stop in if you're local.

Speaking of serious friends ; )


And then we topped the night off with some Artists & Authors...a little private show for a friend's birthday. Yay for coffee shop birthdays!!

And speaking of coffee shop birthdays.... I finally nab the photos of my surprise b-day party from my sister's iphone. It was awesome!! Lots of friends and family...
...tables full of art supplies...

... and uber talented musicians taking turns at the open mic...
I felt loved. : )

Hope your week is off to a good start!!

Arian : )

Prints Available

I spent some much needed time alone in (one of) my favorite coffee shops this morning...just me, my journal, the Word, some Owl City in the ipod, and a soy latte, (and a mumble, mumble..chocolate chip scone...mumble, mumble). Good stuff. A lot to process these days so it's good to have a small chunk of time to sort out my thoughts. (And I find a little dose of morning chocolate helps clear the mind).



Just added some prints to the shop. I think the owl is one of my favorites. Don't usually hang up my own work but I think I might have to make an exception.



Gotta run and get the boys. Hope you're having a good one!

Arian : )

Aaaand We're Back.

We're hittin the ground running....my next deadline for the book is this week, packing our apartment, and moving...crazy, crazy.

So I think the weekend in Memphis was really good for us. Not only was it fun, relaxing, and inspiring, but it was a little mini vacation from the madness. Now I'm ready to kick these deadlines in the rear end, be a packing/moving/unpacking machine, and start work on another art show!
One of the weekend's highlights was my first live painting experience. Live band, several hundred people watching, and an hour and a half to start and finish a painting. Fun stuff! Hope I get to do it again sometime!
Here's the finished product, in line with the prayer theme of the show. And here's a little video to show the process. (The wide format doesn't quite fit here so it might be best to follow the link.)


I'll try to pop in once or twice this week with photos of the new place. Til then, have a good one!

Arian : )

In a Fog

For being a basement apartment in the suburbs, our little space has a lot of light and a lot of green. The fog that rolls in off the Ohio River early in the morning before the rest of the house wakes up makes it feel like there is no one else around for miles. Though I wouldn't call myself a morning person, mornings like this--not too bad : )

Painting today! I've been getting a lot of inspiration from this video. I love the colors in all the Sigur Ros videos. I could spend way too much time cruising the Sigur Ros and Sigur Ros-inspired videos on YouTube. Like this one! About 1/3 of the way through I realized "Hey! I recognize that city, that bridge, that river....that's MY city, MY bridge, MY river!" Right? Correct me if I'm wrong you Cincinnatians.

Later!

An Urban Love Story

In recent weeks, our love for the city has grown and grown and we find ourselves spending more and more time there-- late nights out with friends, early morning walks with Jude through the "ghetto" (which is far less intimidating at 7:30am and quite beautiful on a Saturday morning), afternoon lunches in the city parks.

We've adopted a new family vision: We LOVE Cincinnati-- in the "feeling love" kind of way but more importantly in the "showing love" kind of way. We want our boys to know and love this place, to give to it, to take from it, to make it better. So we're gettin out there! Meeting people we wouldn't have the privilege of meeting in our current suburban setting, seeing places we haven't seen, experiencing, watching, learning, loving.


One way I'm excited to show love to the city is through art and we've got lots of plans! I'm going to be starting work on an art piece for Playhouse in the Park's 50th Anniversary. So Hudson and I headed up there today for a little private tour (thanks, Mae!) I'm excited to get workin on it!

So stay tuned for more art and more city-lovin' family fun : )

Artists & Authors Show Poster

I just finished this show poster for my sis and her hubby's band, Artists & Authors. If you're local to the Cincinnati area, you should check them out!

I do a lot of work for or inspired by musicians. Doing illustrations for a music video, however, is still on my "to do" list. How cool would it be to work on something like this video, to see your art brought to life!

Today I am working on an illustration for some friends' wedding invitations. Yay for cute couples, creative weddings, and being a part of great love stories!

The Champion

I just finished some cover art for The Champion and His Burning Flame. The band is releasing a digital album of their movie soundtrack. You can check out some video and music clips here!

We're heading out of town this weekend. Daniel is going on a 100-mile bike trip with his dad and brother and I will be catching up on some girl time with my mother and sisters-in-law.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Scenes From the Day

("Rise" by The Robbie Seay Band)