allsorts

It's about time!

I hope you like the new look for the blog, the old tired banner had been up there for at least a year... possibly longer! Every time I would get the urge to do another one, I couldn't come up with anything I liked better (not that the old one was so wonderful, I just wasn't inspired). But it was time. And I was especially motivated since sweet and talented Holly of Lake House Dry Goods contacted me about using my blog banner in an article she's doing for a quilt magazine! I am thrilled! Unfortunately that led to the sort of "crisis" cleaning one does when company is coming. The article won't come out until December, but I had to provide her with my banner now or else we all would have had to look at that old one for the rest of the year. So, I was forced to create one that I liked. The result is different but hopefully similar enough that visitors will recognize where they are when they get here. I'm loving the bright colors! As if it wasn't colorful enough around here... ha!

I'm totally undecided on the background, though. I've put the red one back but I'm not 100% sure about it. No telling what will be up there next hour.

Next I'm planning some reorganizing so its easier to find patterns and tutorials and maybe I'll add some galleries and some new categories. Things have stayed the same for way too long. Still deciding what changes I might make. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

And I know I don't say it enough... a huge thank you to everyone for visiting my blog, especially since I have been rather sparse in the posting department lately. You are the greatest!

Cheers,

Jenny

Boy howdy!

We had quite a surprise last night! Our niece Alison wasn't due for a month, but guess who couldn't wait to join the party? Meet Master Easton Rex, the handsomest new addition to Clan Harris!

The newest generation, held in the hands of his great grandmother. So sweet.

And the happy parents, Alison and Eric...

Easton's early appearance caught me completely off guard. I had a nifty project in mind to welcome him, but when he jumped the gun I ended up printing out this quick bit of bunting so we weren't empty handed. It looked quite festive hung in the window of the hospital room.

And while I was at it of course I had to make one for his big sister...

Thanks Alison and Eric for choosing such cute names! Tatum wasn't at the hospital when we visited today, but I hear she has already announced that Easton is her baby. Cute family!

Cheers!

Jenny

Water under the bridge

Meg has a tradition she calls "Flashback Friday" where she revisits artwork she did in the past. I like that. It gives you a perspective, a roadmap of how you got to where you are. So despite it not being Friday lets look back at the very first book I illustrated: The Day the Lifting Bridge Stuck written by Robert Yagelski and illustrated by Jennifer Beck Harris (yes that's me).

Looks harmless enough, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't quite a walk in the park, since it was my first and you know what they say about seasoning the pan and so forth. Complicating matters was the fact that Ro was offered a position in London at the same time, so I packed up my Dr. Martin's Dyes along with the kids and a house full of furniture and off we went. We moved into the top three floors of a house in Hampstead, and I took over a spare bedroom on the fourth floor for my studio. It had a huge window overlooking Hampstead Heath. I parked my desk smack in front of it where I could look out over the landscape. Bliss. Every day after the bus from the American School picked up the kids I'd scoot up to my treetop studio. I work digitally now but this was before I made that switch, and it took several months before I shipped off the artwork for this 32 page book. And after all that, they hated it. In truth I hated it too, since they had pushed me in a direction that I felt all along was wrong for the character of the story. So despite being gutted by the amount of work that lay ahead of me, I got my wish. I was able to completely repaint the entire book, and at the end of the day we were all satisfied with the result.

No happy ending, though. Sadly the book went out of print almost as soon as it was released. The publisher, Macmillan Press, was struggling and was purchased by another house which immediately dropped huge numbers of books from their list. I was crushed. Copies show up online and are in libraries, but in a way its almost like it never happened. Weird. Really weird.

Here is my favorite spread, the climactic scene where the lifting bridge gets stuck and no one can get to where they need to be. Click on the image to see it up a bit larger. Ack, I hate seeing this early work! My style has evolved since then so it's odd looking back on this phase.

Anyhoo... onward and upward, like I said it's water under the bridge now. Lots to do this week, I'm well stuck into a huge educational project. Good thing I work indoors, the temperatures are up in the 100's! Yikes.

Cheers,

Jenny

Hearts

Have I shown you these? I once did a brief foray into actual paint on canvas as opposed to pixel pushing, and became obsessed with creating as many graphic representations of hearts as I could dream up. I mean that literally... I was so possessed by the motif I would dream of mad, wildly patterned hearts. I painted quite a few and even sold them on eBay. I wish I'd kept some, but sadly these digital files are all the evidence I ever did them. I'd forgotten about these completely until this morning when I was dusting around in a dark corner of my hard-drive.

I think this kind of artistic side trip is good for the creative soul. I've had many similar artistic flings. They must serve some mysterious purpose. I wonder what I was trying to work out with this short-lived but intense passion. Not a clue.

These and many more hearts are definitely called for, because sweet Charlotte gave me the nod for a thinking blog award, and dear Daisy nominated me for a "nice" award! Aw shucks... you guys are just the best!!! XOXOX!

Cheers and have a swell day!

Jenny