So, I know I haven’t updated in ages, but I’ve been keeping very busy!  A while back, Dragonfly Publishing offered me the opportunity to illustrate a book for them.  It was quite the learning process, but the book is finally published.

Albert’s Perfect Pet, by Donna M. Zappala, illustrated by Kristin Huxman

I hope you’ll go take a look and give it some consideration.  It’s a marvelous story of a little boy looking for the perfect furry, feathery, or scaly companion.  Which pet will he choose??

There are a lot of reasons I was excited to work on this particular story…

Growing up my family had pets, and I think you learn a different (and in some ways deeper) level of friendship when you’re raised with furry siblings.  Lady, a beautiful English Springer Spaniel was already a few years old when I was born.  She had a litter of puppies around the same time, actually, and I think that really taught her about how to be a good godmother to human children too.  We also had a siamese cat named Sin.  Unfortunately, Sin got sick and I don’t remember her very well. 

Not long after losing Sin we got a siamese kitten named Noel.  Noel could be kind of picky about who she’d put up with and I was one of her chosen few.  After we moved back to Colorado, my bedroom was the surest place to find her.  On cold nights she’d crawl under the covers to snuggle with me, which could be complicated because she wanted to be able to see out but I didn’t want to let the cold air in.  Somehow we usually found a compromise.    Noel was my best friend for almost 2 decades before her arthritis got bad enough for one very last trip to the vet.  That was May 6, 2006.  I still miss her every day. 

For a short time my brother had a cat, a spunky American Shorthair named Jeff.  He was always entertaining.  Tragically, he got very sick while still pretty young.  We had lost Lady in the late 1990s, age and arthritis.  A few years later we got a new puppy an adorable, if rambunctous, black labrador we named Shadow.  Her whiskers are getting grey now but she’s still pretty sure she’s a puppy.  My parents also have a new cat, Magic.  She’s a matched set with the dog (black) and likes to stretch out next to Shadow and pretend that they’re best buddies.  Shadow mostly ignores her.  After college and after finding my own apartment it was really just a matter of course to find a pet that would suit me.  Of course, my apartment complex gets pretty expensive with either dogs or cats and, frankly, I wouldn’t have time for a dog anyway.  But I’ve always wanted a bird, so last fall I started looking for a feathered friend.  I was lucky enough to find 2. 

Custard and Belinda (named from Ogden Nash’s poem <em>The Tale of Custard the Dragon</em>) are my pintsized roommates.  They’re Celestial Parrotlets and, though they don’t always want much to do with me and they <strong>never </strong>let me sleep in… I’d sure miss them if they were gone.  We’re still working on things like manners and not shouting at me when I’m trying to work on art, but it’s a working relationship. 

By the by, I took a few liberties in designing the cover for Albert’s Perfect Pet.  You can see Noel eyeing the fish on the back cover and Custard & Belinda are hanging around near the top of the page, left of the window.

The Pikes Peak Library District ( http://library.ppld.org )is a pretty swell operation, serving the community in more than the essential borrow-a-book capacity that every library is responsible for*.

A few months ago the PPLD invited artists to bring work to be juried for hanging in one/many/any of the several branches the district is composed of.  Happily, I was accepted for three shows, across three months and three different buildings.  Last Saturday (after much phone tag, several scheduling conflicts and a flat tire), I finally got down to the Old Colorado City branch to hang my first show.  Everyone there was really nice and I’m proud to have the opportunity to show my work in their building.  January and February will see my art moving to the Rockrimmon Branch and the Briargate Branch, respectively.

Exciting stuff!  So, the moral of the story is that you should go support your local library.  A lot of them will host events, invite speakers on important subjects, support local school programs, and yes, even help to perpetuate the allure of the “starving artist” as a way of life**.

 

* I’m a nerd.  One of my favorite things up at University was to wander through the library and finding brainy books on subjects that I didn’t know anything about and sit down to skim through them.  Or, better yet, check out several huge volumes (which I couldn’t possibly get through in 2 weeks) on some of my favorite subjects (such as Archaeology, History, Anthropology, Astrology, Cosmology, Mythology, etc., etc., etc.) and look at them longingly in between trying to do the reading and work that was actually assigned to me.  It’s a hard life, being enamored with Learning and Knowledge.   

** Not really.  But it’s a great opportunity for local artists to get a little exposure.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it.    I hope everyone had an opportunity to spend time with loved ones.  And also to stuff your faces.  Pie might be the best thing about the holidays, after all.

  We had snow here in Colorado last night, and despite expected higher temperatures again in a few days, it seems that we’ve begun the notorious “Holiday Season”.  For those of us who work retail, good luck. 

  I have a new project underway, as I’ve been contracted to work on a children’s book!  It’s proving challenging to manage my time between work and illustration and planning several hand-crafted gifts for the holidays, but I’m determined to make it work.  I’m very excited about the illustration project and I’ll see about posting more details (and maybe artwork spoilers) as I work.  Take care everyone.

Despite appearances, I haven’t actually forgotten about keeping up the site.  There are still lots of things for me to work on and add, I’ve just been kind of busy.  At any rate, take a gander at the top of the page to see a new header image!  I didn’t have anything quite right for the proportions, but at least this image is something of mine and I think it’s a good compromise in terms of cropping.  Also, be sure to check out the “Paintings” page to see the new images.  Hopefully I’ll be putting up more soon.  In the meantime, best wishes to all and I always appreciates comments/criticisms/what-have-yous.

Hello and welcome!  You’ve found my art website, please make yourself at home.  I’ll be working on putting up several galleries and customizing the layout over the next few weeks, so please consider this area as “under construction”.  I hope you’ll be checking back to keep an eye on what’s developing!