Why am I always so tired?

Nursery Tree Murals

2011-12-16T10:06:00.011-06:00

After recently finishing my last nursery mural, I sat down and thought about all of the one's that I have done before it. Apparently I get asked to do a lot of tree murals. Don't get me wrong, I like doing them. I think that I'm pretty good at painting trees.

If you google "nursery tree mural" literally thousands of murals will come up. And they are all so very different from each other. Why is it that when you are about to have a baby do you suddenly want to have someone come in and paint a tree in your house. I think that they represent life, growth, vitality and strength. All things that you want to incorporate into the very first room your baby will live in. Maybe we want to return to nature, but since we cannot really sit outside so much here in Dallas we choose to bring the outdoors in.

I want to paint a really gnarly tree in my office/studio. So at least I'm not sick of them yet. I promise to post pictures.

IF-disguise

2011-08-26T17:09:00.003-05:00

Rex was sure no one would recognize him with this disguise.

My first entry in Illustration Friday. Tee Hee. I plan to enter much much more.

Ballooons!

2011-07-25T15:29:00.004-05:00

I love this picture of Wilder and I at the Nasher Sculpture Center here in Dallas this weekend. Click on the Title to follow a link to the exhibit page. The room is filled with 9,000 balloons that go up to a height of eight feet. They tell you not to go in if you are claustrophobic or have a latex allergy. It was definitely fun but can get kind of confining and disorienting towards the middle. Think ball pit amplified.

Word Wall

2011-04-30T12:26:00.005-05:00

I am really bad at blogging. I am visual not verbal and since I am already posting on Facebook and Flickr it seems really redundant to post here unless I have something to say. I have not posted anything since February even though I have been producing so I thought I would talk about this last mural that I did.

It was done for little boy who isn't quite two and just moved into his big boy room. His mother wanted me to create a wall with words that would inspire him to be a good person. She has decided to not have a "theme" for his room like airplanes or sports but wants to make his room all about learning and I think that so far it is very fresh and modern.

I created the layout in illustrator and then projected it on the wall using an opaque projector. It sounds a little like cheating, except my projector is very finicky and painting in the dark will give you a crazy headache. Once the layout was on the wall, I turned the lights back on and went back over all of the words to make them look a little prettier. I wouldn't say that words are my most favorite thing to paint, but I think that they turned out really well.

Happy Birthday Sarah

2011-02-27T12:08:00.003-06:00

About five or so years ago I started this tradition with my friend Sarah where I would make her something for her birthday. This year I asked her what she wanted and she said she really liked the dandelion mural that I did in a clients bathroom but would like it in more brown tones. I asked her what her favorite flower was and she said she liked lilies and birds of paradise. I used to really like birds of paradise but now, not so much. So I went with the lilies. To make the pattern on the background I went to Lowe's (where I'm sure they think I'm crazy) and got this big piece of perforated aluminum and spray painted through it. I love the effect it gives. I plan on doing another one very similar to this one but with tulips for my friend Rachel for her birthday in March. But just because it might be your birthday don't expect me to paint you something. =)

Height Charts

2011-01-09T16:47:00.003-06:00

My sister had wanted to do something different this year for Christmas, so she hired me to make custom height charts for her best friend's kids and for her neice and nephews (on her husbands side). Of course I waited to the last possible minute to do them even though she asked me in June. I had to photograph them in sections and then photoshop them together, since they are so long. So if any one wants one for next year, let me know now. I will need to know the child's name, favorite color and a theme.

Ten Year Plan

2010-09-26T08:14:00.003-05:00

On the eve of my thirtieth birthday, I've decided to make myself a plan for the next decade. Everyone knows that I want to be a children's book illustrator, but after going to California, I know that I have a lot further to go. Recently, I've realized that I need a better day job, so I've started studying for the GRE. That's the first step. I have to re-learn algebra. If that goes well, I want to apply to UNT. They have a Master's program in Art Education. The program also certifies you to teach art. If I get a job as an art teacher I will have the same schedule as Wilder, which is also a plus. Of course I can still work on my portfolio and do murals during this time and hopefully find an agent. I know that plans are dumb and nothing goes the way you think they are going to, but it makes me feel better to have a plan.

Shared Art

2010-09-08T19:38:00.003-05:00

I was browsing a photographers website, who I must say does beautiful work when I came across one newborn portrait that looked oddly familiar. And strangely it wasn't because of the baby in the picture. It was the mural in the background. I have only seen pictures of Kailynn Bree but I was very intimate with her nursery way before she came into this world. So I was very excited to see her beautiful portrait taken in front on my mural. The photographer was nice enough to allow me to post the photos on my site as well. Please go to her site and look at her other work http://www.apmdesignphotography.com/ and you can follow her on Facebook as well.

It's a Small World

2010-08-14T09:28:00.002-05:00

So I just finished the playroom for one of the doctors that I work with. She just built a new house, so we have a couple of projects in the works. The map was originally supposed to have the kids on it, but once I painted it, she loved it sooo much she didn't want to cover it up and we moved them down to the bottom of the wall. I actually like them down there better. I am really happy with it. It's very colorful and fun and a nice idea for a play room. I can't wait to start on the next project.

On a side note, I am going to begin implementing some of the advice that I received at the conference shortly and start up a fan page on face book and also a flicker account, so look for those in the days to come. Also, I am going to start participating in Illustration Fridays because they are supposed to be a good way to get noticed. Thank you for your support, and if anyone knows of someone having a baby or moving into a new house or someone that might need something pretty please pass along my name.

SCBWI LA Conference

2010-08-08T10:11:00.002-05:00

Catherine has yet to tell me the names of everyone that contributed to me going to LA for the Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference, so I can't thank you all individually. However, I can tell you that it meant the world to me that you did. Everyone keeps asking what I learned while I was there, and that's kind of a hard question to answer. Mostly, I learned that I am doing everything wrong. I went to classes with speakers ranging from famous writers to big name agents, publishers, editors and art directors. I now know that I need an agent, most likely a literary agent who handles illustrators instead of an artist representative. I know that the $300 I just spent on marketing materials was a waste of money and that while my website is probably formatted correctly, the content is mostly wrong. So now I have direction and a path to follow and hopefully will not feel as lost as I have been. So thank you all once more for hopefully putting me on track and one step closer to my goal of becoming an illustrator.

new mural

2010-08-05T12:32:00.002-05:00

Here are some of the characters I created for the playroom mural I will be doing next week. My favorite is the little boy from Thailand. They are just a quick study so that I know how to have them seated, but I thought they were cute so I wanted to share them.

A new baby!

2010-07-27T19:54:00.002-05:00

My friend Chad from work is about to have his first baby. He already had two beautiful step-daughters, but there is just something about your first baby. Chad originally told me that they were going to have brightly colored bird bedding for the crib so I painted him the peacock, but then just as I was about to finish it, he called and told me that they got pink and brown ladybug bedding. So if anyone needs a peacock painting, let me know. Since Chad is the only man in a house soon to be filled with four girls, he said that he was going to make this one a tom-boy. So to oblige him and possibly a princessy little girl, I tried to do both. And who doesn't love glitter paint and sequins?

However, I have realized that I have to get a new camera. In order to take pictures of my paintings, I have to photograph them outside and still do a whole lot of photoshopping to get them right. Today, it was of course raining and I had to take their pictures in my dining room, and they didn't come out as good as I would like. I guess I have to get more orders, and save up for something awesome.

Two More

2010-07-17T14:46:00.003-05:00

As some of you know, my family and friends were nice enough to come together and gather up money to send me to a Children's book writers and illustrators conference in California. There will be publishers and agents and writers and other illustrustors all coming together to talk about children's book publishing. I am super excited and more than a little nervous, but hopefully I can make some contacts and hopefully nose my way into this field. Here are two more paintings that I did for the occasion. Thank you again for everyone that pitched in. It's probably the best birthday present I've ever gotten and a good way to kick off my 30's.

A Flamingo For Bella

2010-07-08T16:42:00.003-05:00

I have been trying to make new things to pad my portfolio for my trip to California in a couple of weeks. So, I asked my neighbors daughter what she would like a picture of and she responded with a flamingo. I think she likes them because they are pink. Heath had the idea to do the scene from Alice in Wonderland where Alice is playing croquet with a flamingo and a hedgehog. I have to admit that my hedgehogs came out ridiculously cute. When I told Bella that I had a surprise for her, she asked if it was a princess dress. I think that she was a tad disappointed that it wasn't a dress, but she seemed happy with her flamingo.

Congratulations

2010-07-01T15:23:00.002-05:00

My friend Kellye jumped over every hurtle that life has thrown at her and still kept a smile on her face. I am very proud of her for graduating from college, even though it took her awhile. I asked her what she would like to commemorate this special occasion, and she requested an owl. Today is also her birthday, the big 3-0. I love you Kellye. Hopefully life with get easier from here on out.

Website

2010-06-29T19:24:00.003-05:00

It took me four days but I finally finished updating my website. It's still not awesome, and everything I wanted in a website, but it looks a lot better than it did. I think some people take for granted all the work it takes to put together a website because they've never had to do it. But trust me it's a lot of work and very time consuming. Let me know what you think of the new look.

Old stuff

2010-06-25T14:33:00.002-05:00

Awhile ago I had sent some stuff off to Highlights, the children's magazine to maybe get published. I never heard back from them, so I'm guessing they didn't like me. Here is some of what I sent them.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-17T15:55:00.002-05:00

Last year for my Father's birthday, I asked him what he would like me to paint for him. He said that he would like a portrait of all the grandchildren. This painting is done from seven different photographs. I am not super comfortable doing portraits, so this was a challenge. It took a while to get all of their faces to look like them, but I think that I got pretty close.

Karate Logo

2010-05-18T20:36:00.002-05:00

This is the logo and mock-up business card that I made a co-worker who is trying to start his own karate studio. Ka is the Japanese word for the element fire. He hopes to open next year.

Nursery Mural

2010-04-17T21:47:00.003-05:00

One of the nurses I work with is having a baby in September. Once she knew she was having a girl she was so excited to have me come out and paint her nursery. It took me 12 hours and got a crick in the neck, but she is uber happy with it.

Crane

2010-04-13T11:20:00.002-05:00

I finally finished the crane version of my origami painting. I want to put it in our living room but Heath says that there shouldn't be a painting over the tv and that they will compete for attention. I like how the brown on the foil makes them look like leather, though it is hard to tell on the photo.

Singing logo

2010-04-12T16:05:00.002-05:00

My step-brother asked me to make a logo for his wife so that she could brand herself and have a theme for her business cards and website and blog. She picked the one with the purple guitar. (I was secretly hoping she would pick that one. ) The one with birds came in second but I'm posting it because I thought it was cool. You should check out Beth's website and listen to her sing.

Aprons

2010-04-12T10:04:00.002-05:00

Here are the ladies wearing their aprons for the bake sale/cookbook sale. They apparently loved them and hopefully they will make a ton of money off their cookbooks. Thank you Mother for sending me the picture, it made me smile.

Cookbook

2010-04-05T18:41:00.004-05:00

My mother asked me to design her a logo for the cookbook of Copper Canyon, the city where she lives. She needed it in a week and a half, I did it in two days. I was a little proud of that.

New Stuff

2010-03-29T19:35:00.002-05:00

I have been posting on Facebook and not on here so I thought I would put some new things up here as well.

The butterfly painting was done for my friend Sarah for her 30th birthday. She owns several of my paintings and this year I let her pick what she wanted me to paint. She couldn't decide so a week before her birthday I called her and asked her crane or butterfly. She picked butterfly. Then I told her to pick two colors. She picked blue and red. This painting acctually looked completely different, and I stripped it down and started over because I wasn't happy with it. The butterflies are made out of foil so that they can be shaped, but I have to admit that I was a little obsessed with fluffing them.

The bee I did as a plaque for a bee hive that my friend Christy recently purchased. The hive is painted sea foam green. Kind of different. I can't wait for the honey to come rolling in.

Promotional photo

2010-02-23T13:45:00.003-06:00

I have to have a picture of me to promote my classes at Michael's. So far this is the one I have chosen. I am not entirely sure it will be the one I use.

New Cards

2009-12-30T17:04:00.004-06:00

Diane needed new cards to keep up with demand. Her DVD should be out later this month.

Tulip

2009-12-30T15:40:00.002-06:00

This is the painting that I did for a company called Chartpak. They want to start doing siminars in Michael's stores in the area. The tulip was originally photographed by my mother.

Magnolia

2009-11-23T16:14:00.002-06:00

This is the painting I did for Catherine for her nursing school graduation. She requested a magnolia.

squished animals

2009-11-02T11:44:00.005-06:00

Here are some illustrations I've been working on.

finder's flowers

2009-10-29T14:19:00.006-05:00

This is the logo for the business that Stephanie wants to start. She wants to do wedding flowers, like bouquets and boutonnieres.

How I see myself

2009-09-21T19:04:00.001-05:00

Playing

2009-09-10T13:36:00.002-05:00

First day of school

2009-09-03T13:55:00.002-05:00

Wilder was freaked on the first day of Kindergarten. I couldn't even get him to make a silly face for me, so of course I was so anxious all day, but when we went to pick him up he said that he absolutely loved it. He's made lots of friends and loves P.E. and recess the most.

Egg characters

2009-08-03T19:46:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine works at a french restaurant and the owner had thought about doing a pop-up book about eggs. These are some of the characters that I came up with.

DB Yoga

2009-06-22T16:33:00.002-05:00

I realized that I had not posted Diane's business card. You should definitely go to her website and see her in her crazy positions.

Wilder turns 5

2009-06-06T12:05:00.004-05:00

Wilder doesn't turn 5 until the 13th but today is his party so he got his presents a little early. Yesterday he got a bunny which he named "Hex" and this morning he got his first bike. I can't believe how big he's gotten. My baby isn't a baby anymore.

My new website

2009-05-22T16:20:00.001-05:00

www.octopustreedesign.com

is now up. I am super excited. I haven't gotten everything done yet but I got it started! Please go and check it out.

Bluebonnet Bakery

2009-05-07T13:47:00.002-05:00

This is my logo design for a bakery that a friend of mine wants to maybe do. I don't know yet if the bluebonnet is coming across enough yet.

skydive puerto vallarta

2009-03-24T23:13:00.004-05:00

Anyone want to go skydiving? I know a guy. Let me know. Would you trust this logo?

Rap Logo

2009-03-03T13:28:00.003-06:00

I doubt anyone is looking at this anymore. However, I am feeling like working again, and here is what I have been working on. My friend Kendrick, the one who I did the CD cover for is starting his own production company and needed a logo, so here it is!

Hospital Business Cards

2008-07-28T12:37:00.002-05:00

We are having a "Customer Service" meeting on Friday at the hospital and I was asked to make business cards to give everyone so that they could pass them out to patients. The nurses are supposed to write their names on them so that the person will remember who they had after they have left and have to fill out a survey about them (hopefully in a positive way). This was the first time I have ever had to send anything to a printer before so it was a learning process.

Rap CD Cover

2008-07-09T13:04:00.006-05:00

A friend of mine at work wrote a rap album and asked me to do his album cover. I thought it was odd since I don't listen to rap at draw mostly children's stuff. But he just wanted a picture of himself so I drew it on Sunday while I was at work. We'll see if it's "hard-core" enough.

Jungle Babies

2008-07-01T21:51:00.004-05:00

For all of those who were waiting with bated breath I give you my latest mural. It's finally finished.

Family Photo

2008-06-20T20:50:00.002-05:00

Wilder wanted to go see Kung Fu Panda for his big 4, so we did just that and ate alligator at Razzoos, because he thought that would be awesome. We decided to commemorate the occasion by having our photo taken. We are a serious bunch.

Almost New Paintings

2008-06-17T20:50:00.002-05:00

I did these paintings a couple of months ago for a friend of mine's son's birthday, but I forgot to take pictures of them because of the "three month long" headache. So I finally convinced her to email me pictures of them so I could share them with everyone.

Jungle Nursery Mural

2008-06-03T10:09:00.003-05:00

This is the new mural that I will be starting in a few weeks. The pictures show the mural as it goes around the room. It will also be painting clouds on the ceiling in a little cut out space around the fan. I think that it has really come out cute.

The new face of Dickies?

2008-06-02T20:08:00.003-05:00

Mother took this while she was here the other day. I think it's a pretty good shot. Maybe she should stop taking pictures of flowers and start doing action shots. Wilder's teacher told us on the last day of school that she totally expects to see him on TV. She might have something there.

"E" #2

2008-05-17T14:13:00.001-05:00

This painting was done for my new baby step niece.

Invitation

2008-05-08T09:56:00.004-05:00

I just finished the invitations for Wilder's birthday. Yes, I am aware that it is really early to get them out, but today is his last day of school and in order to get them to his school friends they have to go out today. I think they came out really cool, so I wanted to show them off. I took off our address so they whole world doesn't know where we live. Last year we had some issues with extra siblings that we weren't expecting and I read in a parenting magazine that it was totally acceptable to specify in the invitation ahead of time that that's not cool, so hopefully it goes over well.

"E"

2008-05-01T14:13:00.003-05:00

One of the doctors I work with just had a baby so I painted her something for her room. I am not sure that I am good at girly. My step brother's wife also had a baby so I will be painting another "E" painting very soon. If you can't tell, there is glitter paint on the "E" and polka dot ribbon on it as well.

Pigeon

2008-05-01T13:20:00.002-05:00

I made this for my friend's daughter's birthday. It is from the book "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus,"and she loves that book and the authors other book "Knuffle bunny." Heath cut him out of particle board and I painted him. The wing and bunny as well as the eye lid are actually on a different level. His legs are made from pipe cleaners, and I think it came out really cute.

The Missing Post

2008-04-29T13:06:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted in a while so here are the updates. I have had a headache for 4 months now. Heath has a good job that he likes. Catherine is getting pinned for nursing school on the 8th. Wilder has two new cousins. And Father broke his foot walking down the stairs. That's about it in a nutshell. This picture is a book cover that I did as a test for Brown Book Publishers in Addison. They liked it but the author did not I guess. I had put it up before with the title and stuff on it, but since it's not actually published that's a big no-no, so they asked me to take it down. So here it is with out the title and author's name. Lately I have been making presents for my friends and I will post those pictures when the send them to me. Hint, Hint, Steph.

New Ad Sheet

2008-03-15T22:27:00.002-05:00

I am sorry that I haven't been posting anything lately. I have been trying to teach myself how to make a website and send out mailers to publishers. So I thought that I would share one with everyone. Feel free to print it out and give it to your friendly neighborhood children's book publisher.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T11:05:00.002-06:00

Wilder wanted to give everyone kisses.

My new logo

2008-02-07T21:36:00.001-06:00

I don't think I am ready for website just yet, but I wanted to make myself a logo. Let me know if you like it.

DINOSAURS!!!

2008-01-23T07:15:00.000-06:00

Last week Mother took us to the Herd Museum to see the dinosaurs.

New Mural

2008-01-14T12:35:00.000-06:00

This is the new mural I'm doing. It's for a little boys room, a bathroom, and a little girls room. The client liked a specific book and we are going with the characters in it for the theme of the girls room and the bathroom. Please give me comments. I am not sure how many people look at my blog, and I want feed back, especially about my art. And not just sweet "Oh it looks great" stuff, which don't get me wrong, is great but I need constructive criticism. Now, if you are going to say something really mean please email me directly. Also, feel free to comment on old posts, this site notifies me any time some one comments. Thanks.

Wilder is.......BATMAN!

2007-12-26T12:24:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all.

I had to make one of myself

2007-12-10T20:29:00.001-06:00

Vet Mural

2007-12-10T11:54:00.000-06:00

This is my ad sheet for the vet mural. Click on the picture to see it better

And one more

2007-12-09T23:46:00.001-06:00

And another one for the holidays

2007-12-09T23:21:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have to admit I was a little bored. But it was fun.

I want to make the whole family

2007-12-09T22:11:00.000-06:00

I have recently become really fascinated with silhouettes. So I thought I would make some for Christmas. If you like it, send me photos and I'll make you one. It's really easy.

My babies

2007-11-03T21:32:00.001-05:00

I am thinink about putting these as the inside covers of the book.

Vet clinic mural

2007-10-22T13:09:00.000-05:00

My friend Liz's husband is a Veterinarian who just opened his first independent clinic and he's having me paint a mural in his lobby. So here is the mock-up for you to see and I'll post the final when I get it done. Let me know what you think.

going in a new direction

2007-10-02T18:15:00.001-05:00

Just one of the team

2007-08-18T18:29:00.000-05:00

I think that it is funny and kind of sad that I cannot even look at publishers websites without getting anxious. My stomach feels like I am on a first date. Shane is so funny and sooo excited about getting his book published. My goal is to be an illustrator by 30, so I have 3 years to become successful at this. This is a mock up of the cover for our book.

Wilder's Birthday

2007-06-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

The happiest birthday boy ever

My mural

2007-05-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

This is the mural that I did for Dr. Yang's emergency clinic

pic of the monkey at easter

2007-04-11T18:08:00.001-05:00