Un dimanche d'été

"Où est ma Flore? As-tu vu ma Flore?" Un éclair blond, une robe bleue,des espadrilles, Maman descend les escaliers ensoleillés et rentre dans le salon ombré en coup de vent. Moi, j'ai enfin réussi à récupérer le fauteuil le plus confortable , j'ai le nez dans un livre…"Allons bon où est cette Flore?" C'est qu'entre le déjeuner pour quinze et le dîner pour dix huit, une lessive, le gouter des petits, la leçon des grands et trois bobos, elle n'aura sûrement pas le temps, et puis elle oubliera, ou il sera perdu, fané, sans nom ni classification, ce drôle de pavot jaune, cette orchidée en forme d'araignée, ce pois de senteur fragrant…Monocotylédone, dicotylédone, court toujours, ce sera fichu! "Mais où est donc ma petite Flore?" On dirait qu'elle cherche un enfant de plus: mais non, c'est un livre, et bon courage, dans cette maison de lecteurs, il s'est évaporé . Elle le retrouvera sous une des piles qui ont leur vie propre et naviguent d'une chambre à l'autre, rangé à l'envers dans une des bibliothèques, ou sous un ouvrage, que sais-je. Elle cherche, un brin agacée. Je sens que je ne tiendrais pas le fauteuil longtemps …Tiens qu'est ce que tu fais la, sors-donc, il fait beau dehors, va te promener! Trop tard. Je prends mon livre, je lirais sur la pelouse.

Je tiens de ma mère cette habitude qui agace un peu ceux qui ne sont pas curieux.
À chaque plante un nom, au sol sa composition chimique, aux arches leur petit nom, romane ou gothique, corinthienne ou asthmatique?

On se retrouve et on se reconnait dans le paysage, même au bout du monde on retrouve un ami : un brin de valériane, un oeillet sauvage. Et on en découvre d'autre : California poppy, milkweed, manzanitas...

Si je ne sais pas encore tous les noms de rue dans mon quartier, je me repère déjà aux arbres : jacaranda, magnolia, et...ho non, ce fichu persistant à feuilles lancéolées dont je n'ai toujours pas trouvé le nom...Où est ma Flore?

A cute bridge in Paris

There is free shipping worldwide on Society 6  this week!  

I decided to rework one of my favorite illustrations for print:

I hope I will have a chance to sketch again in Paris this summer.
I really miss my long art walks in my favorite city !

L'envoi est gratuit sur Society 6 cette semaine donc j'ai décidé de retravailler pour l'impression une de mes illustrations préférées. Ca m'a pris un temps fous, je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de redessiner plein de trucs.

Je pense la mettre dans mon atelier pour accueillir mes amis, ça va être très chou.

Doodle geese

This came to me while in New York. We took the subway and walked a lot.It reminded me of Paris, but not always in the best of ways. Translation : " On vacation. We took the public transport a lot"

Que ce soit à New York, Paris, Londres et même Los Angeles, je crois que je préfère le vélo au métro...

Idée pour la leçon de dessin : dessiner le corps d'un dessin au feutre de couleur, et les details avec un feutre fin. Ça permet de travailler les espaces :  il faut penser avant de dessiner.

Seize your (work) day

Quite a post today: one of my lovely friends asked me about my "Hemingway rules for a working day", and here they are, illustrated with what I did today. 

I remember teaching masters of arts. The problem was not to get the students to be creative. The problem was not to get them to be clever. They were clever and creative all right. They were terrified. They were procrastinating. They couldn't get to work. I think being able to get to work makes all the difference. 

What I know about how to get to work I learned ...from Hemingway. Yes, Ernst Hemingway. I know there is a lot of people who don't like him (especially the ones who didn't read him) but what he wrote about love, war and , yes, work I really like. He has a resonance I find quite universal, and I might be a bit right, considering I have very little common points with Mr Hemingway, except my love for the great outdoors, the fact that I lived in almost the same street in Paris, and a belief in true love.

In " A Moveable Feast", he gives hints about how he works and it inspired me. Working as a freelancer is not always easy. Getting inspired is easy, but getting inspired on a daily basis, not so much. So here's my Papa Rules, and why I stick to them :

1.Get to work.

Ernst woke up early and got to work. That's it. I just do the same, except for the "early " part, because I am a night bird, not an early one. I get up and I lit my computer and here I am, with my second cup of coffee, and since I have coffee and a computer, I get to work. I read my email and connect on Facebook when I wake up on my iPad, but when I get up, work. Concentrating on this one task is key. It's a rule that became such a habit that I am very uncomfortable on vacation. 

2.To avoid artist's block, stop at a reasonable hour but not when you are finished with a task.

This is the main rule. If you have something waiting for you in the morning it's easier. You just get back where you were and continue and inspiration comes back easily. It's a flow. 

3.When you stop, stop.

You don't need to rush to La Closerie des Lilas and have a drink. It's quite unhealthy actually. But when you stop, stop. Don't speak about what you are doing. Don't think about it. Sleep over it. Give yourself a chance to get back to work refreshed. Like that you won't turn a problem again and again in your head without finding a solution. The solution might come easier if you sleep over it. And since you are not speaking about it, people won't find you a bore.

I must admit I am quite good at the first two rules but not so much with the third one! Sometimes talking about a specific problem helps...Oh dang, I must be a bore sometimes! 

If you want to know more about Hemingway's work habits, I just found an interview on the Paris review I quite liked : The art of Fiction nº21

click to open a printable image of this pattern. Use it for origami!

Images and patterns on this blog are copyrighted. Use them for home use only, no commercial use, thanks.

Ca va cartonner

Je vous reparlerais de ce titre qui doit sortir à la fin de l'année, mais d'ici là je ne peux pas m'empêcher de vous montrer une photo de ce que sera le livre:

Haha! En fait j'aurais du mettre comme sous-titre "Les doigts dans le nez quand on a deux mains gauches", mais bon, c'est pas très commercial. Il va falloir être patient, mais ca vous promet de belles après-midis de bricolage...Je vous montrerais  comment faire des tas de chouettes gros joujoux vite et à peu de frais : un cirque en 5mn , une fusée, une grosse voiture...Mon fils a adoré, allez hop, un peu de patience les gars, ca vient pour vous aussi!

En mai fait ce qu'il te plait

May is a bit late : I found my wacoms but not the styluses. 

Un Mai tres frais fait à la souris, pas moyen de retrouver mes stylus dans l'armee de carton qui encombre encore mon atelier...Je retourne au deballage!

Animated sketch

⌘R if you missed it! 

In between two boxes, a dragonfly or two.

Entre deux boites, un petit truc que j'ai vu hier et qui est impossible à capter avec l'iphone...

Un croquis animé ! 

Keeping to the essential

We are doing a lot of packing here. I find a bit bizarre to be between two places. I wish all the packing was behind!

News:

A very much loved bunny scratched his nose open yesterday. The filling was poking out, horror!

His owner was much more traumatized than the bunny was. I would have waited until my Maman could take a look at it, she is an accomplished embroiderer and a patient pediatrician, it would have been so much better than the care I provided.  But of course it wasn't possible and an emergency surgery had to be performed.

I am a pityful embroiderer. I used felting techniques you can find here and here instead . I poked very lightly with the felting needle to be sure not to make the nose area more fragile than it was. I wet and washed the area with Marseille soap mid work to help felting. I hope it will be sturdy enough of a repair.

It was quite difficult to find the right" not too flashy but still pink enough" pink!

I can't wait to see mister Bu reaction to my job. He was very specific about the heart shape. 

Patient is doing well. A close examination revealed that a filling transfusion might be necessary, but the necessary surgery will be postponed until we move.

These will go with me. I know it's ridiculous, but I couldn't help myself and had to put them aside...I lost Origami Made easy  in a move and had to buy it again , it's not published anymore, what a shame, it's one of my favorite books. The title is quite right.

Second book I found in my parents attic. I lost it for ten years! This is not going to happen again, and the Art of Beatrix Potter is going with me, in my purse. This book was published 24 years ago, I can't believe it, I still remember how I waited for Christmas in 1990 so I could get it, a gift from my mother if I remember well.

I feel amused at myself caring so much for books. But I am OK with it. Books are part of ourselves once they are loved, much more than other items I guess.

Except for stuffed bunnies maybe?