lately, i've been making a lot of artwork for the bookstore. and i'll admit, i'm enjoying it profusely.

yesterday i drew a poster for c.'s story hour...except that i inadvertantly did a self-portrait! oops. i swear, i didn't mean to. big nose, fat eyebrows, blue eyes...yeah, it's pretty much me, with red hair. v.'s been teasing me ever since and tried to get me to buy red hair dye. actually, it might not be such a bad idea. what do you think? heh.

if nothing else, i am working in new mediums and not only loving it, but learning a lot. for this piece i used pastels, colored pencils, and acyrlic paints. i've never really used pastels and colored pencils very much in the past...but i really like the way the combination works together and how it allows for both soft and saturated effects. it's interesting how these little projects have the potential to influence my personal artwork in big ways. i love getting paid to do these things...and i love that i'm learning something in the process. who knew?

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ok...but today's artwork ranks up there as some of the strangest i've ever done:

i'm sculpting a salamander
huh? yes, a salamander.

and when i'm done, he's going to live in the front window display with copies of The Salamander Room. and although he's still a work in progress...

this is him in the oven:

and this is him after the oven

i've never sculpted (let alone baked!) a salamander before! we'll see. he's already suffering from a few minor cracks. hopefully he'll survive. when he cools off i'll paint him orange with brown dots and add a nice shallacking of varnish to make him look wet. oh, and my not-so-small salamander needs a name. i'll have to think on that one...because i'm already growing fond of the little guy. awwww.....

this is, quite likely, the weirdest, most interesting job i have ever had. thank god.