Home Sweet Houseboat

One of the really cool things about living in Seattle? Houseboats. Rowing and kayaking around Lake Union and Portage Bay, a longing glance toward every For Sale sign. Even if you don't find yourself living on one at the moment, it's inspiring to know they're there.

Shuffle Play

Click on Shuffle, then hit Play. Then begin to draw. Dinah Washington, Lady Gaga, Radiohead... With half a zillion songs loaded up, you never know what you're going to hear next.

A December Sketchbook Page

"I knew a girl who tried to walk across the lake
Course it was winter when all this was ice
They say the lake is as big as the ocean
I wonder if she knew about it?" (yoko ono)

A Blue Sky, White Clouds...

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child-- our own two eyes. All is a miracle. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Marshlands Nature Walk

This design always reminds me of a certain place along the trail in Seattle's Arboretum. As you cross the footbridge between Foster Island and Marsh Island, you can always see ducks, sometimes cattails and dragonflies, and in mid-summer, water lilies. And now this scene is available on fabric. And not just any fabric-- it's "Snuggle Flannel!" Check it out here

2010 Is Just Around The Corner

...and our brand new 2010 Sentiments calendar is now available here.

Perception

This little illustration is based on a sketchbook drawing. The idea for the design came from the notion that the range of things one sees, the details of the day, depend little on what actually exists. Reality is fluid. Perception is mostly a matter of standing in one particular place instead of another.

Lions And Tigers And Polar Bears

Also newly-available at Target.com-- our Ark Bath Set! Check it out here

Where The Wild Tamarinds Are

Where can you find our complete Wild Tamarind Bath Set? Why, at Target of course! The full set is available now-- shower curtain, soap dish, lotion pump.... and so much more. Be sure to check it out.

Early Autumn

Right now? Is this the time? Little tentative leaves eye each other for cues. Catching glimpses of hesitant gold and crackling amber along curly, newly-brittle edges. How will we know for sure? Each of us feeling so hopeful, evergreen.

September Snow

Our new, glittery Snowflake fabric is now available at the Joann Fabrics online store here

Back To School

All children are artists -- the problem is how to remain an artist as one grows up. (Picasso)

New Tattoo For Me & You

Our Tattoo fabric is now available at the Joann Fabrics online store-- here
This pattern has only been available for a week or two, but according to an inside source, initial sales have been quite brisk... Yay!

Summer Song

Near summer's end, songbirds begin to plan for new adventures. As they pack their things they whistle a hopeful little tune. I think it's in A flat.

It's A Wrap

And it's brand new from the folks at Current! Check it out here

Autumn In Seattle

As Seattle flirts with triple-digit summer weather, it's a welcome, cooling experience to open our box of samples from Sunrise. Cards we designed for Thanksgiving and Halloween. Save me a piece of Ian's famous ginger/pumpkin pie!

Daily Find

Hey, did you happen to catch this little article?

At Long Last -- Lodge Labels!

Lovely. And brand new. Available through Colorful Images.

Howdy!

Some new things we did for Running Rhino. Several new designs, available as die-cut counter cards, boxed notes, and journals.

The Pen Keeps Moving Until The Lights Begin To Dim

When you're sitting in an audience, waiting for an event to begin, it's always good to have a sketchbook at the ready.

SoBlee

Early summer. Might be nice to take the hound for a little walk around SoBlee (south of Bleecker.) But at the moment, New York is thousands of miles away. Luckily it's also quite nice to be right here in Seattle. WaWeBlee -- WAY west of Bleecker.

Rain Or Shine

This is a new design we did for Sunrise's 2009 Father's Day collection. The streaks of rain have a very subtle clear foil detailing. We love doing these "half and half" images (rain/sun-- day/night--summer/winter, etc.) especially when there's a strong central image to tie the two halves together.

Dino Flannel

Just got samples of this new fabric we did for Fabric Traditions. It's flannel!

As we worked on this design, I was remembering a visit to the Henry Doorly zoo when I was about five years old. For some strange reason there was a dinosaur theme going on (at the zoo?? Hmm....) Anyway, they had one of those cool machines where you could make your own customized, injection-molded plastic toys. You slide in your money and then choose the shape you want. My brother chose the Triceratops, I chose the Stegosaurus. Then you choose your color. My brother chose grey, I chose that not-found-in-nature, not quite red, not quite fuchsia, cherry Icee color. Which is actually more of a raspberry color than a true cherry color. The injection process left a hole in the base, and so you were supposed to carry the toy upside-down for half an hour--until it dried completely. But of course a five-year-old who wants to play with his Stegosaurus right now and a 90 degree Omaha day was just the right combination to leave a trail of raspberry dots from the monkeys to the lions to the camels...

From The Sky

In the Tang Valley of Bhutan, way up near the Tibetan border, there's a magical little village called Namkha that we were lucky enough to visit one sunny autumn day. Our hike began early that morning in Bumthang Valley's misty village of Nang Lhakhang. Walking through fields of colorful prayer flags, moss-draped cedar trees, and frozen waterfalls, we sang loudly to announce our presence to the curious Himalayan black bears rumored to be sharing the trail that day. By the time we crossed over Pepe-la pass, we had just about run through our repertoire of songs we know by heart. (songs popularized by Blossom Dearie, Dorothy Shay, and Brigitte Fontaine led the pack!) When we got to Namkha, the caretaker of the village temple interupted work in her field of mustard to allow us access. Inside the temple, we were surprised to find a very non-Bhutanese-looking Buddha--with Thai characteristics. It was delightful to learn that the word "Namkha" means "it fell from the sky." Cool! How else would an ornate Thai Buddha find its way to central Bhutan 50 years ago?

A Flocking Of Happy Birds

This is a brand new addition to our Sunrise Elliott Bay line. Sunrise has been able to add some really interesting processes lately-- all the white areas on this design are flocked! Very dimensional and tactile.

Tattoo For Joann

Received samples (many yards!) of this fabric we designed for Fabric Traditions. We love this design-- the printing looks as good on fabric as it did on catalog covers! This fabric should be available at Joann stores pretty soon...

Animals Love The Holidays

We've designed a series of 12 happy (holiday-themed) animal designs. (Peaceful penguins, celebrating squirrels, rejoicing roosters...) Here are some of those designs -- a portion of Running Rhino's brand new 2009 holiday line. If you're at the Stationery Show in New York next month, be sure to check 'em out...

We Love Letterpress

Here's one of the designs we've done for Sunrise's new line of Premium cards. We love the thickness of the paper stock. And the toothy texture. The super-deep embossing really gives the feel of real letterpress. And, oh, did we mention one of our designs from this series has been nominated for a Louie award??

Also Came Across...

...this drawing of some much-loved steps in the heart of Seattle's Pike Place Market. This drawing was done during the time that we were both lucky enough to be taking classes (drawing, painting, and design) from this guy. (And, hey, come to think of it... this drawing was also included in a coloring book!)

Happy Graduation, Mom

Just got a big box of samples from the folks at Sunrise Greetings. Some nice cards we designed for Graduation and Mother's Day. Especially like how this Mother's Day design turned out. There's a very, very subtle clear foil on the white flowers. It provides a surprising contrast to the quiet chalky background colors. This new collection should be hitting the shelves soon.

You Never Know What You Might Come Across...

While looking through old sketchbooks from the 90's, we came across this rather hilarious tongue-in-cheek "self portrait" sketch. Have NO idea when exactly it was done (or, for that matter, why!) but it was fun to see it again.

Glittering Trees of Autumn

Here's another pattern we did with Fabric Traditions. This one is awash in glitter! Very sparkly.

It's Fabric!

It's almost Springtime, which means Halloween is just around the corner! Just received samples of some fun fabric we did for our friends at Fabric Traditions. Here's a little snippet of the over all design. This pattern will be available at Joann stores later this year.

The Woods Are Full Of Song

"Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." --Henry van Dyke

Birds. Aren't they just the best? And they make for such a wide-ranging design motif. Birds, either in flight or balancing on a branch, give us a way to represent the qualities we'd like to see in ourselves.

Year Of The Ox

Losar Greetings! (Water Sheep 2003, Wood Monkey 2004, Wood Bird 2005, Fire Dog 2006, Fire Pig 2007, Earth Mouse 2008, Earth Ox 2009, Iron Tiger 2010, Iron Horse 2011, Water Dragon 2012, Water Snake 2013, Wood Horse 2014)

More Bookmarks

We like these new bookmarks! Here are a few more...

Cool, Tasseled, Magnetic

Just got a big box of samples! Bookmarks we designed for our friends at Magnetic Bookmark. We really like how they turned out. The print quality is great-- so is the finishing. They have a nice "feel" to them. 48 designs in the initial release-- Tasseled Bookmarks, Die-cut Bookmarks, and cute little fold-over bookmarks with interior magnets. Fun!

Le Hibou d' Hiver

It's midnight and all is still. Even the owls begin to close their saucer eyes. The snow gently falls, hiding the acorns that the squirrels will find in the springtime.

Just A Thought

Doesn't it seem like Valentine's Month would be more fun than just Valentine's Day?

The Running Of The Rhinos

Just got samples of the new Running Rhino catalog-- brimming with stuff designed by us! There's more info here

Barack On

and on and on...

East Village Music Boy

This brand new illustration began as a little sketchbook drawing of a guy we saw recently. He was dragging his empty red wagon around the East Village, carrying a big tote bag full of various drum sticks. Was he on his way to pick up his drums? Or maybe take the entire band for a spin? As the illustration grew, so did the band. (Wouldn't you love to hear the music that this combination of instruments might make?) And the guy in the sketch somehow transformed into somewhat of a self portrait. Except my cool faux-coon cap has been AWOL since the 80's.

Direction

"Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere, wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation." W. H. Sheldon