Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 And because I do not know when I will be posting again, I will cover everything with

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

It's been a GREAT year! Hoping you will come back here for more in 2015!

Book Launch Party!

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On December 6th, I attended a book launch party for the latest children's book I illustrated, Santa's Mistake. The father-daughter team of authors, Robert Pitts & Michele Christian-Oldham put together a fun, holiday-themed event at the South Shore Pottery Shop in Abington, Massachusetts.

Kids young and old came to paint, enjoy all kinds of refreshments, visit with Santa & listen to a book reading, purchase a copy of Santa's Mistake and have it autographed by the authors & illustrator, & request a drawing from the illustrator, yours truly!! 

Santa was a big hit!

The kids (& parents!)  really seemed to love watching me draw. I had a line for 2 hours solid!!

They were so enthusiastic, appreciative, and polite, it was an absolute pleasure taking their requests! (Although I should have watched Frozen before I arrived, as there were LOTS of requests for Elsa!!!)

They were all really cute. It was fun to see the excitement and magic of the holidays from a child's perspective once again!

It was actually *difficult* to squeeze in the time to autograph the books because the line of kids waiting for an illustration never seemed to get any shorter!!

And my amazing fiance', Chris gave up his Saturday to attend and support me, as always!!!

(Most of these photos are courtesy of him!)

All in all the kids seemed to have a lot of fun, and I had a BLAST drawing for them!!!                     What a GREAT way to kick off the holiday season!!!

ACEO Cards - - Big FUN in a Small Package!

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It all started with a single little sea horse...........that got me completely hooked!!

I'm talking about my recent foray into the wonderful world of ACEOs! 

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What the heck is an ACEO you might ask?? ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals".  These cards can be finished in any medium, but have one main rule:  they MUST be 3.5" X 2.5" in size. (About the size of a baseball card)   They are extremely collectible, fun to trade, and are a very affordable way to collect art. They will fit in any standard trading card album and can also be framed (in a VERY small frame!!)

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For an artist like me, who tends to come up with all kinds of great ideas, but never seems to have the time to bring them to fruition,  ACEOs were a way to do just that! You see, the advantage to working so small is, it isn't long until you run out of space! So you can come up with quick little images that occupy the entire page, and actually have the time to FINISH them!!! 

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The other thing I LOVE about these cards, is they are the ideal size for me to play with my Copic markers. I don't like to work large with Copics because then I am laying down a lot of ink, and large backgrounds tend to get really streaky. I really enjoy working in marker, and this size allows me to really play and experiment with them! As you can see, I had an absolute BLAST!!!!

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 I created a series of 10 numbered pieces, all whimsical, *FUN* little characters, each designed to elicit smiles. They are now available for individual sale on Ebay, starting at ridiculously LOW prices for original art! You can see the auctions at the link !HERE! What makes them EXTRA special, is they are the very first pieces of original art I have ever offered for sale! 

They were so much fun to create, I am excited to start on the next series.........although I *may* just keep them for myself! :)

As always, I appreciate you stopping by! Would love to hear what you think!

Happy First Day of Fall and a BIG Update!

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Happy first day of Fall! I know the coming of fall means colder (or just plain COLD!) weather is many areas, but it ALSO means beautiful foliage, baking with cinnamon, apple, & pumpkin, Halloween, and my favorite thing- getting to wear BOOTS again! So while it DOES mean I will have to put my convertible away soon, there are still good times to come!

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I haven't been participating in many Illustration Friday challenges lately, but HAVE been very busy in the studio! Last week I finished my first ATC (Artist Trading Card). If you are unfamiliar with ATCs (Also known as ACEOs), they are tiny little works of art on a card the size of a baseball card. They are very popular with collectors, and are an affordable way to buy original art, as well as prints.  I'd been wanting to try my hand at these for awhile, and I had a BLAST creating this little guy! I've already started on my first series - all original artwork - & hope to have them available for sale soon!

 And then there's the latest book I've illustrated, "Santa's Mistake" written by Michele Christian-Oldham and Robert Pitts. It is off to the printers, and should be available by mid to late October, just in time for the holidays! This was a FUN project to work on, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!

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And then there was THIS really cool project! I created this trio for Cheryl at  Our Mims Retirement Haven in Paris, Kentucky. Our Mims is a non-profit sanctuary for retired thoroughbred racehorses and broodmares; animals who are often discarded when they're no longer deemed "useful." The lucky residents at their facility get to live out their final years with proper care and plenty of love. This image depicts 3 of the Our Mims residents: Blue Viking, Elmhurst, & Tea Biscuit and will be used for publicity and to raise funds for a new horse trailer that the sanctuary badly needs. It was my pleasure to be able to help the gang at Our Mims out with my artwork!!!

As always, I appreciate your visits & LOVE to read your comments!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Illustration Friday - SKULL

This week's illustration challenge word was SKULL. An odd choice for August....but then, where I live, the temperatures already feel like fall, so I guess this theme would be consistent with that! :) 

 I always like to try to do something a little different for these challenges, but there's not much room for interpretation with a word like SKULL. So instead, I drew 2 separate illustrations, & then decided to combine them to tell a short story of sorts....hope you like it!! 

Illustration Friday - JOURNEY

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Hank had a terrible sense of direction, so he relied heavily on the rest of the flock....

This week's Illustration Friday word is JOURNEY. I would guess nobody

knows more about journeys than migrating birds!

 This was another quick doodle done during our weekly Tuesday meeting at work! 

(I swear I really DO pay attention....)

As always, I appreciate your comments! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Illustration Friday - KING

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King Leo enjoyed his "creature comforts...."

Was feeling a little silly this week.....obviously.....

When I saw this week's Illustration Friday challenge word was KING, this is what popped into my head. I really can't explain it beyond that..........  *grin!*

What do you think? 

Did he make you smile?

Illustration Friday - PEACE

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 This week's Illustration Friday challenge word is PEACE.  I chose to go in what I think is a slightly unexpected direction on this one. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and my Mom would say my brother & I "fight like cats and dogs!"  Hoping you animal lovers appreciate it!

It's been a month since I've had time to post to my blog. But I have a good excuse! The July Doodle Day theme was my favorite subject: ANIMALS! And I took a much needed vacation to beautiful Vancouver British Columbia, and the surrounding area. Several people questioned my choice of vacation destinations, 

    but I think this 21-second video  ** CLICK HERE! **  that I took 

at the top of Whistler-Blackcomb  pretty much sums it up!

 Will be sharing some of the Doodle Day animals & more from my trip in my next post, so stay tuned, or better yet, join this site by clicking the blue box under the Facebook block on the right hand side of this page! As always, I appreciate any comments, and thank you for stopping by!!!

Whistler Olympic Park

Illustration Friday - FRAGILE

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It's been awhile since I've been able to participate in an Illustration Friday challenge, & it's good to be back!! I'm pretty much a klutz, so fragile items are best kept out of my hands, but Walter, here, seems to do pretty well with them! (He must have a particularly smooth waddle!) If he gave you a smile, please let me know in the comments section below, or with a "like" on my Facebook page. Thanks! And as always, I appreciate you stopping by!

Illustration Friday - TEMPTATION - & A Sneak Peek!

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This week's Illustration Friday challenge word was TEMPTATION. I went with this idea, because kids seem particularly susceptible to temptation and particularly bad at exercising self control.........or is it that they are just particularly GOOD at disregarding the word 'no?' Ha ha!

 AND because a friend of mine commented on a recent post I made on my FACEBOOK page that she was surprised to see people because she couldn't remember seeing any illustrations of mine that were NOT of animals,  I just *had* to give her another person, albeit a little one! :) (Thanks, Amy!)

 The funny thing is, while I certainly DO enjoy drawing animals....arguably far more than I do people, the current book project I'm working on is ALL ABOUT people! Including everyone's FAVORITE person, Santa! And I'm having an absolute BLAST with it!

 Here's a sneak peek......although I'm on to color now, and finishing up the final art....

Looking forward to the holidays when it is scheduled to be released! 

Illustration Friday - UNI-Verse

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Yeah, I admit I was feeling a little silly this week....

That, and I didn't want to do another space scene like everyone else for this week's theme, "UNIVERSE." Anyway, my piece for "SPACE" was one of my favorites, 

and I just couldn't attempt to top it! :)

 I hope the absurdity of this gave you a smile! :)

SPACE

DOODLE DAY!

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Today is the 1-year anniversary of the Doodle Day Facebook Group. It is a group of people of all artistic abilities & ages that just love to doodle! There is a daily prompt, that you can follow if you wish, or, you can just share what you've been working on. It was started by a wonderfully talented artist, Alison, & her young daughter Erin, and over the year they've watched the group grow to over 200 enthusiastic & creative people! 

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 I discovered Doodle Day back in December, when the theme for the month was "underwater alphabet." I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST creating various sea creatures each day, & it was something fun to take my mind off the stress of the holidays. Here are a couple of my favorites from that time.

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 Lately, I've been caught up in my children's book project, with a deadline looming, so I haven't been able to participate as often as I'd like. But I still visit the Facebook page every day to check out what the group members have been up to! Always eye candy to look at!! And they are always so supportive when I AM able to post something!!

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So because I discovered Doodle Day in December during the underwater alphabet theme, I thought an underwater tribute was appropriate! I had a lot of fun playing with my new Copic markers on a pad of OLD marker paper from college that I discovered during a visit to my parents' basement to create my artistic octopus! I honestly have not used marker paper since 1993!!!  In fact, I had so much fun, that I'm thinking I need to make a trip to Dick Blick & pick up some more! (Do they still make it?! LOL!!)
Anyway, I'd like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to Alison & Erin, & a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Doodle Day! I hope you have many more!!!

Illustration Friday - VANITY

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This week's Illustration Friday challenge word is VANITY.

 One of my friend Donna's often used expressions is "It's like putting lipstick on a pig," & while I was listening to her run a meeting at work today, this just popped into my head. Ironically, she also would really like to get a mini tea cup pig as a pet (I've been telling her this might not be such a good idea).............I hope that if she does........she doesn't put lipstick on it......  :D 

As always, I appreciate you stopping by! And if this made you smile, please join this site by clicking the blue button on the right! Thank you!

Illustration Friday - NATURAL

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This week's Illustration Friday challenge word is NATURAL. 

Sorry for the nudity.... *grin!*

As always, I appreciate you stopping by, & LOVE reading your comments if 

my work has made you smile!!!

Happy Easter!

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A day late, because I realized I couldn't post the photo from my ipad! But the thought was there! :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Illustration Friday - SIZZLE

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This one was a SUPER-QUICK doodle in today's meeting at work.  Hope it gave you a smile!

Illustration Friday - RED (times 2!)

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 Doodled two for this week's challenge in a particularly long meeting today. 

I couldn't decide between them so I posted them both.

Which one do YOU like better?

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As always, I appreciate your visits & your comments! To see more of my silliness,

(Because yeah, I admit the 2nd one is pretty silly) please visit my Facebook page.

Illustration Friday - SPARK (A blast from the past!)

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Well, it's more like a "blaze" than a "spark" and a rather fuzzy scan, at that, but I wasn't able to squeeze a new drawing in this week (& Illustration Friday wasn't able to change the prompt this week, either!) so it will have to do! This is actually a MAJOR blast from the past - it is a scan of a promotional postcard I had printed back in college....21 years ago! (Ugh!)  My college friend, Jodi, recently dug up the collection of postcards from our senior class  & made me think of it, so I thought I'd share....I loved this piece back then, and surprisingly, I'm still liking it now! I know a lot of artists look back at their older work and cringe, so I guess I'm pretty lucky......or else, maybe my eyesight is going........... 

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And I just received copies of the coloring book I did for Big Cat Rescue's "March for Lions" event that was held last weekend! It's always exciting to see a project in it's final, printed form, and even better to learn that the event it was tied to was a BIG success! Big Cat Rescue does wonderful work, and I was happy to participate in their mission of awareness!!!

As always, I appreciate you stopping by! If this is your first visit, please consider subscribing to this blog (button on right under the tiger!) and/or liking my facebook page (link also on right!)

Happy National Potato Chip Day!

It was 4 months ago on the 13th that I lost my beautiful little studio mascot & friend, Miss Miga. Things are certainly not the same without her, but she still finds ways to influence my art! Happy National Potato Chip Day, everyone! :) (Yes, believe it or not, that is a real "holiday!"....& one I can really get behind! YUM!)

Been difficult to squeeze in the time for Illustration Friday challenges & random doodles like the one above lately. My Tuesday meeting at work was always a great time to sketch, but now I RUN the Tuesday meetings, so that kind of throws a wrench in things....I'm good at multi-tasking, but not THAT good! *wink!* (I won't tell you when I got this one done!) I finished the coloring book project for Big Cat Rescue, & am now eagerly awaiting my copies, but also just signed a new children's book contract last week that will keep me insanely busy for the next few months. It's a crazy-tight deadline, but should be a fun project, nevertheless!

Despite the busy schedule, I WILL be trying to keep up with my blog, so DO check back! And as always, I appreciate you stopping by!

Press Release - Woo hoo!

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All nice & official looking, isn't it? 

I don't know who actually READS these things....I kind of feel like they'd be more impressive if rolled in a scroll-type fashion with an official wax seal and delivered on horseback by a man wearing a red velvet cape................ a blog post seems far less dramatic.  I think Sunny looks kind of nice against the lime green, anyway.........

Illustration Friday - SPACE, TWISTED2 & A Really Bad Picture!

I finally feel like an Illustration Friday veteran! Because when I saw this week's challenge word was SPACE, I immediately said to myself, "Hey! We already did space!!" Granted, it WAS 2 years ago, but aren't there enough words in the dictionary to not have duplicates after only 2 years? OK. So maybe I'm just being persnickety. (read: cranky) I mean, there IS more than one meaning to the word SPACE, afterall. But the second I saw it, my mind instantly went to this guy, who was a favorite of mine during my first year at Ill Friday. I LOVE this little ET hot-rodder! So I'm posting him again, like it or not. :)

BUT, just so you don't think I'm a total slacker, I did another TWISTED from last week's prompt. I think I like TWISTED2 better. Pretty much anyone who has ever had a dog tied up in their yard has experienced something like this, right?

And finally, there's THIS....not exactly a flattering picture (understatement!!), but I felt obligated to buy a copy anyway. (But just one!) I don't even think it's worthy of bumping one of my friends' kids drawings off my fridge!!! But hey, I'm famous.........sort of...........  :)  To see more (read: BETTER) photos from the book launch party for the most recent children's book I illustrated, Sunny the Sneaker, please check out last week's post. 

As always I appreciate you stopping by, as well as any comments you might feel incline to leave! And DO consider subscribing to this blog and/or visiting my super-cool Facebook page! All the links are in the right column! :)

Illustration Friday - TWISTED & Book Launch Party!!!!

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Some women are so clingy!!

Another quick one this week for Illustration Friday! This week's word was TWISTED, and while I had LOTS of ideas, and several that I sketched out, this was the only one I managed to finish. *Sigh!* 

 Just been an unbelievably hectic week, with a deadline looming on a project I've been working night and day on before & after my day job, but I DID want to share some photos from the book launch party held on Monday for the most recent book I illustrated, Sunny the Sneaker. A big crowd showed up at the South Shore Pottery Shop in snowy Abington, MA to kick off school vacation week. The author read aloud to the kids and signed books. Ceramic plates with the likeness of "Sunny" were available to paint for those interested, and  I taught some young artists how to draw the quirky little footwear. I also took open drawing requests from the kids (LOTS of open drawing requests!) and signed countless copies of the book! I had a line for over 2 and a half HOURS, but the kids were so fun & appreciative, it didn't seem like it! Overall it was a fantastic event, and I was happy to get to be a part of it!

Illustrator, Michele G. Katz (Mit) and author, Michele Christian-Oldham

Working with a young artist

More fun drawing with some talented boys

The line waiting to make requests!!! 

Two new friends & my best two "customers." Aiden, on the left , really kept me on my toes with his creative requests. He deliberately tried to challenge me with a rock band comprised of 2 great whites and a hammerhead shark (pictured) & then thought he surely had me stumped with his final request of a "giraffe laying on a couch, watching tv, holding a remote." The look on his face when I nailed it was priceless and one of the best moments of the day!

My dear friends, Noah & Evan, who came out to support me with their Mom, Leah.
 (who has been supporting my art for more years than I can count!!) It was great to spend the day with them!

Signing books

 I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out my photographer, boyfriend, & biggest fan, Chris, who worked behind the scenes to save the day for me!!! I often wonder what I did to deserve him!!!

OK. Enough with the mushy stuff! I've got that deadline still looming, so it's back to drawing lions, lions, and MORE LIONS!!! Stay tuned to see what that is all about!!! As always, I appreciate you stopping by & love reading any comments you might be inclined to make!!