Under A Lamp I

I never seem to get around to doing Illustration Friday anymore, so when Flossy jokingly started a new meme, I thought it was perfect! I'm working anyway, so why not show what's in progress? It gives me a chance to show some of my stuff without feeling like I need to start something new for IlloFriday!

So here's my What I'm Making This Week, Holding It Up Under A Lamp To Get Enough Light, Wednesday submission.. on Thursday:


© Kermode Kids (This is one of 13 pieces I've been commissioned under contract.)

I figure I'm about 2/3 done, there's a lot of detail to go yet but I honestly have to say that, so far, this has been the most fun I've had doing an insect illustration yet. Maybe it's because I've been away from it so long and it feels good to be back, maybe it's because I feel so much more myself lately (more on that in another post) or maybe it's just a kick-ass-looking bug!

How Does He Do That?!

I just sat here to start a post, expecting about an hour left in Lochren's nap and then he wakes up. The stinker. I have about 5 mins before his, "Hello....!" turns into, "Alright, come get me already!!" so here are some of the more important points:

• I brought Lochren in to the neighborhood clinic last week to get weighed, since I figured he's nearing 20 lbs and is probably going to need to move into a bigger carseat soon. On an empty stomach, he was 19 lbs, 14.5 oz! So after his bottle he would easily be over 20. (He turned 6 months on the 9th of June.)


• In a limbo between wanting to do something about my hair -which grew in straight while preggo (again) and has been shedding like a corgi- I came to the point of either doing a home-perm (I cannot consider spending 2 hours at a salon to pay $80-100 to have someone do it during the day) or chopping it off. In a fit of impulse before hopping into the shower yesterday afternoon, I took the scissors to my braids. I didn't mean to cut it so short in the back but *shrug* I like it and it'll grow back. :)


• Lochren is sitting up solo better and better each day, though he still does an occasional face plant. He's trying very hard to crawl and can do a backwards belly scootch (just like Theya started out) so I'm sure it's a matter of weeks before we're in heavy Baby Proofing Mode.

OK, the calls are getting more earnest now, gotta go. :)

For Flossy

I was the lucky random draw winner of Flossy's Pay It Forward event and I'm not sure if she's talking to me in this post but it couldn't hurt to revisit some of my favorite images from around the house(s). :)

From the previous house in the Highlands neighborhood in Edmonton, which I still miss a lot. I love love LOVE our new neighborhood and life is good here but that last house was just so US in a way I've never felt about this place. In my heart I feel that, at some point, we'll either need to add on to this house or move into different home for me to feel HOME.

Anyhoo, three of my favorite images from the Highlands house:


Some small, stained wooden photo frames and a wicker basket that served as a fruit dish.


Our gorgeous bed frame and the awesome candle-sticks we mounted on the headboard -the furniture (we have the matching wardrobe, too) was made by an independent craftsman in Edmonton and I absolutely love that stain colour (Jacobean) and that paint colour on the wall (King's Gold, I think).


The old, original hardwood, the huge philodendron vine (that didn't survive the move to Red Deer), the cove ceilings, the huge corner windows... *sigh*

Hm. Anyhoo, from the house that we're in now, which we moved into on Dec 2nd, 2006:


The coolest teapot ever, which was a wedding gift and has a frog as the lid handle.


What can I say? I like bookshelves! If J and I had to sum up our decor scheme in a word, it would be "alchemist." We love the old-world dark colours, worn-but-loved looking books, antique-ish candles and interesting bottles and boxes. (Has anyone has ever played the computer game Zork Nemesis? That's exactly how we want our house to feel. When we find something that fits our look, we say, "Oooo, that's really Zork-ish.")


Cardamom. Oh my goodness, they yummiest spice ever. A woman I used to work with commented on first smelling it, "It's very sensual," and it is. It smells like velvet feels. It tastes like Billy Joe's voice sounds (I know, weird, but that's how I feel about it, I hear a Green Day song and his voice makes me think of cardamom -I don't find him particularly sexy but his voice just gets me somehow). It's good in baking (coffee cake with saskatoons=divine), cooking (two words: tandoori chicken) and in drinks (we grind it with our coffee beans every day and chai just isn't chai without it as far as I'm concerned).

So, there you have it. There's no denying my love of browns, spices, cozy-ness, natural light and materials, and warmth. If you're talking to me, I hope this helps, Flossy. I can't wait to see what finds its way to my mailbox!

I Started Something

This is mostly a heads-up to any friends and family who frequent Flickr to see what's been going and watch the kids grow: From now on, you will need to have a Flickr account and be signed in to see us in all our glory. Membership/registration is free!

Wondering why I've decided to do this?

Because, when you search 'insect illustration' on Flickr (as some people have been), you will find that page 1 and 2 each feature one of my images and on page 3 there are 7! This is freakishly awesome for me as an illustrator, I've already had some interest in possible future commissions from it!

The thing is, that with strangers coming to my pages looking for artwork, I feel it has become necessary to protect my family's and friends' privacy. (Especially with the weirdoes that keep marking my preggo shots as Favorites, especially when they list 'milfs' as one of their interests.)

So, I have made my illustrations, most of my bug and plant photos and some other miscellaneous images public for the sake of continuing to get interest in my artwork or photography (I had one woman contact me for permission to use a rosemary photo in a herb book!) but nearly all family, friend and other human images will be protected.



I apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm sure you understand.

(I should add that, to see my stuff, you'll need to be marked as a member of my family or a friend from my side. So, once you create an account, search for me (my user name is just 'Chair') and add me as a contact. I will get a message that you're interested and once I make you one of my contacts you'll be able to view everything once again.)

My Friend Flickr

Per Ada, here's another fun meme!

The rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image (like Ada, I checked the 'most relevant,' 'most recent' and 'most interesting' pages to see what I liked best).
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker (if you click my results image below, it'll take you to the Flickr page & the link to the mosaic maker is there).

The questions that inspire the photos:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Blaby Steps

Yes, Blaby. As in Blog and Baby. I'm (finally) actively inquiring about resurrecting thisisnotachair.net and Babyness is making life, well, life-like. Haha. Boy, I should really just give up and go take that nap I really need.

Lochren is teething so hard that the opium motrin* is only helping so much, his appetite is off (for a big** hungry dude like him, that's saying something) and he's not sleeping well. Yet, when awake and fed as much as he can stand, it's still pretty easy to make him laugh (just looking at him sometimes does it) so at least there's some reprieve.

Theya has started having nightmares. Ugh. My Used To Sleeping In Pitch Black Darkness is 'seeing monsters' in her room. I think she finally fell deeply asleep at around 1am, when she's usually out by 9 at the latest. Who do I blame for these monsters? Treehouse? Books? Kids at the day home? Lutins? I'm just happy that today is a day home day -she'll be kept occupied enough to not get too grumpy and there's a good chance she'll actually nap there. (Well, I can hope.)

*both Theya and Locrhen seem to have my med-metabolism and Tylenol/acetamenaphine(?) doesn't work so ibuprophen it is.

**According to our bathroom scale he's 20 pounds if I'm holding him and 19 if he's precariously balanced on it by himself. I'm taking the two monkeys in for a check up next week so we'll get the accurate score then. He'll be 6 months on Monday. ZOIKS. If he's actually 20 lbs, we have to stop using the infant car seat! ZOIK ZOIKS!

OK. I'm going to bed. As my luck tends to go, Lochren will probably wake up about 5 mins after my brain shuts off. Oh well. That's 5 minutes more than well.. um. It's just 5 minutes more. K?

Semi Blunken Drogging

It's 3 minutes to 1am.

I freakin' love my neighborhood. FREAKIN. LOVE. IT.

Man, I smell like campfire. And wine. And...um, I'd better go to bed.