Painting a picture.

I saw Hanson in concert (yes, Hanson) last weekend in Portland. The trees were perfectly scarlett and pumpkin colored, and Portland's sky was heavy with rain. The entire trip was perfect and a wonderful break from the usual California scenery I'd come to see every day.

I love California, but once in a while you need to see....comething else.

Hanson was really special. 11-year-old Annie came out and danced around with 29-year-old Annie. I was silly. I made new friends and remembered something that I'd forgotten about.

How does one paint a picture?

You work on it a bit at a time. Sometimes making mistakes one day, sometimes kicking ass the other. One step might be to mix a color and not paint at all. The next step might be to paint over a part that wasn't quite what you wanted.

I looked up at the Hanson bros as they were leading their pre-show walk; a ritual of walking in your bare feet for one mile amongst Hanson fans and friends, in order to connect with the earth and each other. For each person that walks, Hanson donates a dollar to a person in need, living in a country where the average daily wage is $1. It's simple yet effective. Three brothers created something that doesn't seem like much but helps a lot. They show up before every show and walk whether bodies join them or not.

They're painting a larger picture. Their picture has more than MmmBop. It has walks and 5 different albums. It has a love for old rock and roll, family, kids, community, and helping people because.... well because we all have enough. We all can afford to share.

Their music is a part of it, too. They share stories and emotions. They connect with people as well as connect people with other people. A web of hearts!

What's your picture? Can you look at each day and see how you're adding to it, bit by bit? What will you do to make it as beautiful and rich and vibrant as you can? It doesn't have to be perfect. Some days you will mess up. The most important part is that you show up, paintbrush in your hand. Ready.

After all is said and done....

It was worth it.  The whole "making a book thing"... yeah I'd do it all over again. :)

With wonderful friends at the O.C. Kid's Book Fair, October 4th, 2015

I've gone as an attendee to the Orange County Kid's Book Fest for several years, but this year I was an author/illustrator. It was exciting, exhilerating, touching, and although it was a lot of work preparing for it, it didn't feel like work. Must be on to something here....

I shared a booth with the lovely Toymaker- Mrs. Marilyn Scott-Waters!  www.thetoymaker.com

Since it's #Inktober, my instagram account has been littered with drawings like these:

More to come.

Oh and the book is available online! Just head over to the shop if you want to pick one up.

Still working on the last pieces for the kickstarter folks. They get some extra swag and have to wait for their books, but I think it'll be worth it. The swag is starting to look legiiit.

Lots of love,

Annie

Creating an environment for yourself- one that you WANT.

So....I'm going to create an environment for myself. One that looks like this.

I don't necessarily mean a physical one, although I might incorporate some of those lovely light strands into my decor, I mean an internal one. I want space, connection with the outside word AND the inside world.

It's a great time of year to push the good ole reset button. In order to do this, I'm going to try and few things:

I'm going to refuse text messages.

Yes, I said that, folks. I'm going to take a break from texting.

I'm going to call people when I want to talk to them.

I haven't talked to so many "close" friends and family, because I resort to text messages. Enough of this and thanks, Hannah from more love letters. I don't want to be Socality Barbie.

I'm going to choose some other activity over web surfing.

I have "The Wake" by Paul Kingsnorth on my bookshelf and it's whining to be read.

If I order out food, I will make a date with a friend.

The goal here is to either prepare my own food, or enjoy company, and get away from the isolation and convenience of take out.

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It's an experiment. A chance to implement some new habits and dig around for old patterns in hopes of identifying what's holding me back from being creative and connected. And it's also a chance to see if I'm full of bullshit. ;)

Want to try? We can have a discussion via email. Contact me and let me know how it's going!

Gearing up!

It's time! The books are on there way, T-shirts and other fun items are in production, and I'm wrapping up a few freelancey things. It's time to push all the energy down one lane and see where it can go!

You'll notice "The Illustrated Journey" next to my watercolors in the photo above. It's a beautiful book and reminds me to constantly create, interpret, be in the moment, enjoy the journey. I'm mentioning this because the last few days I did NONE OF THIS!

I'm getting anxious but so excited about my book baby. I wanna do it right! All I can think about are the unanswered questions and all the things I have to learn in order to get my vision up and running.

But then I see views like this (outer Mission in San Francisco this past weekend) and I'm like, "Oh....yeah. I should be enjoying this. Hakuna Matata!"

So to all of you- create, be in the moment, relax, interpret, OR do none of these things! Hakuna Matata.

Love,

Annie

Back a brother up

I headed down to Santa Cruz this past Saturday to paint a bit on the beach. I hadn't done this before, at least not with a proper canvas and acrylic paints, so I had a marvelous time even though there's a lot of sand all up in my paint box.

I cruised Pacific avenue after a healthy amount of sunshine and seawater, stumbling upon a wellness fair which is right up my ally. After listening to a very stoned man talk about herbal suppliments (which I'm totally into...the suppliments, not the stoned man) I treated myself to a meal at Cafe Gratitude. I love this place with all my heart. It's delicious and vegan, and has a neighborhood cafe vibe pulsing through it's walls.

I thouroughly enojoyed my solo art date and I smiled to myself as I strolled by shops and musicians, feeling elated that I had granted myself the sacred time to make a painting on the beach. Out of the corner of my eye I spied some men in costume. They were dressed in colonial garb and pointing to art prints on tall pieces of plywood. I crossed the street and introduced myself only to recieve a great message at the end of a great day.

The man posing as a founding father was named Alex Skelton and he is an artist. He and his fellow creative were trying to make a point about free speech on the streets of Santa Cruz, and give a clever middle finger to the city for trying to drive them all away.

As we got deeper into his story it was clear that this guy had something important to share. He quit his 9-5 and hit the road, selling his art and living out of his car. You could say he's living the dream, or you could say he gave up a decent life for constant struggle and gosh what a kook he is. But this thing is, he is highly intelligent and he seemed happy.

"Get involved with your community, get involved with art, get involved with life!" he said. "It's cliqué to say art is important, but it's true. I mean, look at what's happening here. I share my art and it opens a door for you all to come over and talk to me, and therefore we're all connected right now, whereas in other situations we might just pass eachother on the street and never stop."

Now, I hadn't thought of it that way. The part about being an artist that scares me the most is the part where we connect with others. It's exhilerating when you experience it, but it's so very difficult to open that door sometimes. That's what held me back from launching my kickstarter for so long. What made me stop playing music after my tour. What makes me scared for the next leap I'll need to make- the song that's calling in my heart that is telling me to sing loudly and dance wildly even if no one understands.

But when you open the door. Oh....the beauty. I know it's worth all of that, and that's why I'm trying my hardest to push it open.