In Dublin's Fair City

 
 

I’ve been wanting to do a series of prints based on Irish songs for awhile and finally finished the first this week. The original plan had been to screenprint this (I still might at some point) but for now it’ll be a digital print available next week.

The first time I heard “Molly Malone” was in grade school, when a folk group came to perform. The song was catchy, but I became progressively more and more worried with each passing verse as Molly’s fate was slowly revealed. I distinctly remember thinking that the happy go lucky tune couldn’t possibly result in something bad happening to its heroine, so image my seven year old horror when I realized Molly doesn’t make it.

It was a very long time before I could manage that song again. Luckily, I like it much better as an adult.

Croquet Conundrums

 
 

I’ve been watching Frankie Drake lately because it’s fun and fluffy and #januaryblerghjanuary. The end result is all I want to do now is draw 1920’s costumes. A few years back, I used to participate in vintage reenactment events. Think LARP-ing, but for history nerds. I sewed most of my dresses, learned to enjoy a good G&T and developed passable swing dancing skills.

But the one thing I could never manage was croquet.

It wasn’t for want of trying. It seemed de rigeur for anyone attempting to time travel to the ‘20’s. But no matter what I did, I could not manage to get that blasted wooden ball through even the first wicket. The day I finally admitted defeat was liberating (see also: driving stick shift and making pancakes). So no more croquet for me, not then, not now, not never.

Unless I’m drawing the wretched sport. Then, I’ll make a concession.

 
 

The More Things Change...

 
 

Over the holidays, I thought I’d rearrange a few things in my bedroom. And next thing I knew, that simple task had morphed into a terrifying, post-modern version of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, as I sorted magazines, bagged goods to donate and cleaned out the boxes of mementos I’ve had since junior high.

I ran across a sketchbook from high school in that box. 99.9% of it makes me wince, which I suspect is a good thing. Some of it made me choke up, like the drawing of my grandmother doing dishes. And some sketches made me laugh, particularly the drawings that included teen Abbie’s numerous self-critiques: “Good, but this angle is wrong” and “This doesn’t really look like my sister, so I need to practice more and do better.”

Occasionally I can see things that will spill over into the work I do today: historical costumes, a love of detail, a fascination with people. So when I was thinking of something to warmup with today, I thought I’d have a shot at redrawing something in that teen sketchbook, in my style now.

And maybe in the year 2045, when we’re all traveling about with jetpacks, I’ll have a shot at that illustration, again.

 
 

No clue what is going on with that kid in the tophat. No idea. Nope.

Old and New

 
 

Some old things, some new things:

* The block print ornaments I made before the holidays, inspired by Norwegian folk costumes. So much of what I do involves pixels, so the physicality of carving, inking and printing a block is a much appreciated change of pace. More of that in 2022, yes, please.

* I’m a quarter of the way through Catching Breath, a fascinating read about the science and history of tuberculosis. Who would have thought bacterium could give you a page-turner.

* I finally finished the Alabama Chanin skirt I started back in 2019. It’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into one of these garments, but I loved making this and can’t recommend this pattern and technique book enough.

Twenty Twenty Two

 
 

New Year, new pattern. And once I finished this, I couldn’t resist doing a mockup. All of the pattern elements are parts of this clipart collection.

So 2021. Was. A. Year:
I finished final artwork for Anne’s Tragical Tea Party, had a few weeks off during the summer to spend with family, then jumped into final art for a 2023 picture book that I’m just about ready to turn in. I did some editorial work, designed neckties, got back into block printing and did a handful of virtual events. I dragged out the manuscript that’s sat on my laptop for eons and slowly started adding pages throughout the year (bargaining with myself that I could go out for coffee weekly, but only if I’d write). And Itzhak being selected as a Schneider Family Book Award honor book was a delight.

I wasn’t particularly adventurous when it came to books, music or movies, rather wanting to just curl up under the comfort of something familiar. I rewatched The Detectorists, which left me listening to large quantities of Johnny Flynn. New episodes of Death in Ice Valley were very much enjoyed. And I time travelled to the 90’s and returned to reading John Bellairs and C.S Lewis.

But enough about 2021. 2022?

I’m turning in the aforementioned 2023 book, then have a bit of space before starting sketches for another installment in the Anne of Green Gables series. I have a goal of expanding prints in my shop, provided that I can strike a balance with work. I’m planning to create an online sketchbook workshop. And I’ve started working through Stephen Bauman’s drawing lessons on Patreon.

I’m already daydreaming about my vegetable garden, I’ve got loads of books on my to read list and just bought the yarn to knit Caitlin Hunter’s Ghost Horses sweater. And maybe, just maybe, if the year ahead cooperates, I’d like to host an honest to goodness in person party. The further along in life I get, the more I realize that while I can “plan” the year ahead, it will invariably take whatever meandering, unexpected paths it wants to. But I love the line from Douglas Adams’s Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul where detective Dirk Gently remarks, “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

I should probably tattoo that on my arm.

Happy New Year!