Sketchbook blog

Clarice with her gift of Clarice, Rudolf's girlfriend! Clarice & cousin Liza celebrate being 5. "Happy Birthday, Sweetums" cake. Turning 5 is a big deal and this December, we celebrated with a couple parties.

Clarice & her Dad enjoy taking out the Harley for a little ride.

Clarice and her friend, Sophie, spooked up some Halloween fun this year in their respective costumes, witch & angel. But they got their headgear a little mixed up later on... Happy Halloween, everyone!

I am known for an optimistic style, so this is truly as sad as my work gets. This is from a book I did, published back in 2002. I always called it the "Lonely Juan" illo since the boy was supposed to be by himself, fishing w/o a friend in sight -- except perhaps a butterfly. I listened to Saint-Saens' "Carnival of Animals -- the Swan" on repeat to get myself in a lonely, sad mood. It worked! I always think of that music when I look at this illo. I think as artists, we devalue the importance of place, lighting, timing and mood in our work. We need to control our work environment, but I know it's hard! All those of you who, like me, have little ones running around the house -- you know how hard it is to create the proper work environment when there's always chaos around you! But life isn't perfect -- I have learned to embrace its messiness. And aren't we all glad for a little chaos sometimes? Especially the kind that hugs you with sticky ...

Panning for gold and precious gems at the gem mine... Having fun at McDonalds.... Life is better with a best friend.

You are so funny! Having fun on my bike... "Now, wait one minute..." Loving life and her little painted-on kitty face!

Olivia Clarice and her swimming instructor at the Avery County Pool in Newland, NC. She is loving every minute in the water!

Olivia Clarice at Elk Falls Celebrating Steve's bday with the World's Most Handsome Man Cake Friends at Vacation Bible School

Some fun things we've been up to... Dance class Turtle friends Teaching Mom how to Hula Rain puddling

The 4th of July was a blast this year! We had fun at the Newland town festival on Riverwalk. Clarice enjoyed being with friends.

I love John Mortimer's Rumpole books about the crusty old London defense lawyer & I love the BBC series with the late Leo McKern. I am marking my progress with a postcard I just got from Kelly who was nice enough to drop me a line from Paris.

On a GLORIOUS day, Olivia Clarice posed for some photos of her "fishing" with her pretend fishing pole/bamboo stick in our waterfall at The Views at Cranberry .

Kelly is planning a wedding and looking at wedding dresses , and while that's exciting , sketching wedding dresses has to be the most fun thing in the world. :) So I'm having a lot of fun working on these sketches that we've been discussing over email. Feel free to vote in the comments section here or email us about which ones you like or why you don't like them. The main idea we wanted to achieve was a look in harmony with summer and the outdoors: free and light and flowing. This dress is clean and has simple lines. She can use stark white material and use some satin on the piping/cinching at the waist to make for a clean summer look. She could also have a satin skirt. I have sketched some roses in her hair, which could be white chiffon material or real white rosebuds or white satin rosettes. Also, we are thinking that some chiffon rosettes in pale colors: peach, pink, foam green or pale yellow would be lovely. This dress is basic and could stand embellis...

Mom with glasses Mom with curly hair + lipstick Arnold family in one big boat together against the world! These are 3 of my favorite works of art by Clarice at the end of 2006. The first 2 are of me: MOM. When I feel bad, I look at this picture of me in the red & orange striped outfit and I automatically feel better. Your vote counts: is Mommy sea-sick in the family boat? :)

We really enjoyed spending time with Kelly , my Duke roommate, her sister, Merrill , and her mom, Jennie , over Christmas break. We miss them already!