my moment with Mom

To honor my Mom, I thought I'd share this video I made two years ago to the day. I cannot remember why she started showing me how to draw the Anhinga bird but I'll cherish this moment forever. It's classic Mom, or Miss Christoph, as she would have been known to her beloved students. If only I had fully known how little time we had left... Words cannot express the love I feel for this creative and beautiful woman, how less joyful and colorful, our world will be without her.

I also thought I'd share a few wonderful pieces of children's art created by my Mom's students at Alturas Elementary School. More beautiful examples of her student's artwork can be viewed at Artsonia. Take a moment to explore the various galleries, it'll melt your heart.

Peter & Wendy

My friend Brian Marshall and I worked on this for Caryl Crane Children's Theater back in Cleveland. It was a sort of update on a design they used previously. I just thought it was cute to give Peter Pan green hightops. Break a leg guys!

where shopping is a pleasure

I've been back in Florida for a bit and found these out on the gift card rack at Publix. I worked on this a while back, but never saw the final product. To all those, who haven't had the benefit of shopping at the quintessentially Floridan grocery store chain, they rock! ..and I hope to get to work with them again. : )

NY Times: Theater

So they ran it after all- I'm so happy! Check out the article here for my ridiculous quote, gosh do I really talk like that!? Ha! Big thanks Brian, for connecting me with Erik and for the heads up on the article being out there. It's funny seeing all of our pieces together, similar little trendy hats and lettering, all tapping into that vintage aesthetic - thanks for that Urban Outfitters!

Summertime Magazine Spots

A few spots out there now in Family Circle, Threads, and the Boston Globe. Check them out! Apparently cats prefer women and columnist, Kevin Alexander writes about a new concept, 'blog envy', in a funny story about his father's successful book review blog. Fortunately, my dad only rants on facebook. ; )

mother F

Not sure if you happened to watch the Tony's last night, but what a welcome change!? Compared to other such award shows, it was surprisingly funny and entertaining! Because I'm beginning to doubt they will ever be printed, I though this might be a good time to share these. To make a long story short, a fellow graphic designer friend referred me to a theater editor at the NY Times. The editor had the fun and interesting idea, to reinterpret the Mother F***er with the Hat poster, the new play on Broadway with Chris Rock. The end results were to be published in an article demonstrating how illustrators work (from concept sketches, to graphic design etc...) I didn't know the first thing about the play but chose to focus on it's themes of alcoholism and conflict, as well as it's explosive dialogue. I'm posting the sketches too, only because I liked something about them that was lost in the finishes. The last I heard, these were well received but that the article was getting pushed back a couple weeks - that was like a month and a half ago. Ha! Oh well, win some lose some.

Sunshine at Foundry

Shortly after the move, I was contacted by David Lanford, an accomplished designer and active member of Foundry United Methodist Church here in Dupont Circle. He had stumbled upon my blog and expressed wishes to use these Sun designs in the church's upcoming Summer promotions. I was of course, very excited, you may remember, President Clinton regularly attended Sunday services at Foundry in the 90's. I love David's bright and colorful design and am happy these Suns found a home nearby (by coincidence, the church is only a few blocks away). You can learn more about the Summer Sermon Series here.