What I'm Excited About:

My Crown. If you were painting a self portrait, wouldn't you have a crown? Be honest, now. I am the queen of my castle after all. With my three little princess in tow. An emerald for May, a topaz for November, and a peridot for August.


Bill Carman. He is a former student of my dad's and I love his art. Check out his website. He has done some fantastic children's books, and some day I will pick his brain about it. Have I mentioned I'm working on a book? Another post. Mr. Carman is a professor at Boise State. He has a crazy intriging imagination and does beautiful things with paint.


Granola. I love granola. I'm obsessed with making granola. I have made (and eaten, mmm) granola more times recently than I care to admit. One or two more times and I think I will come near to perfection. With a few small adjustments and additions, it's my mom's recipe that wins. I love that, "It's a family recipe. Sure, I'll give it to you. But, I'll have to leave out a key ingredient. I'm sorry, your granola will never be quite as good as mine, but I've sworn not to divulge the family secret."

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!! I love this holiday. I wish I could decorate for Valentine's day year round. (Hmm.. red is my least favorite color, gives me anxiety. Small doses in the shape of hearts, accompanied with pink - that seems to make it better than OK for me.) I did not get to enjoy my decorations long enough this year - got them up late. Delia suggested we leave them for a while. Right on. We could count them as Easter decor, or better yet, Birthday pizzazz (|pəˈzaz| (also pizazz) noun informal: an attractive combination of vitality and glamour). I can if I want to, it's my Birthday... OK, it's Gavin's too, but do you think he'll notice?

Speaking of decorations, these paper balls were my Valentine project. I got the pattern off a friend of a friend's blog. She does some neat stuff and has a few patterns you can download. They were a little time consuming, and I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Perhaps I'll give them away to some deserving friends who will wonder the same thing but will have to figure something out because you can't just throw a handmade gift away, at least not for a couple months to a year.

We have a super romantic Valentine's tradition. We (kids included) go to Village Inn for a delicious breakfast-dinner and pie. It started when I was big pregnant and was craving skillet sensations, catsup free-for-all, french toast, extra hash browns, and chocolate cream pie big time. It's such a randomly delicious idea that we stuck with it. So raise your glass of fresh squeezed orange juice to romance and gluttony. I hope you enjoy this Valentine's day!

My name is Simon

You will never hear me boast of my drawing skills. (I wear down erasers faster than... ezra can throw her bowl of oatmeal on the floor... again.) But, I do love to draw. I made a New Year's Resolution to find a figure drawing session where I can draw figures for an hour or two once a week. I'm still working on that - hey, it's only February. My yoga teacher always says, "Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make us better." No idea what she's talking about, but what is perfection anyway? I would like to be better at drawing. I think my paintings would improve as well as my confidence in putting out ideas.

This drawing is done on a recycled litho plate. It is for a show at Art Access Gallery in Salt Lake City this May. I am doing four of them and they are all about what is on their minds. Dinner: important for little bodies who shun veggies, process can be enjoyed but often feels like a chore, usually interrupts quality work time, requires creativity and mental effort, efforts rewarded with deliciousness and satisfaction at fulfilling one's responsibility, tends to come around again every single night.

More to come.