Crafty Wonderland Sneak Peek! Gift tags, ornaments... and Holiday "Who" Hoops!

I made a 2010 "Year Of the Tiger" poster calendar! Will be in my Etsy shop soon... Am also working on a vertical format version with one sweet & swell tiger smelling the flowers around him. Size is 11x14, and it looks awesome in a  clean white frame! I want to draw more tigers...

CONGRATULATIONS!
And the winners of the bowl and tumblers are....
From the @my ruppel Facebook fan page:  Amy Hsu
and from the blog comments:  Susan

I will be contacting both of you shortly to get your info.
Thanks SO MUCH to everyone for all of your sincerely kind comments! It's people like you that make it all so incredibly worthwhile. xo

DIDN'T WIN? DON'T FRET!!
Delight.com has offered a 15% discount until December 4th on the @my ruppel Artist Series

Twist-and-Shut Bowl & Hot-and-Cold Tumbler!!
Just enter the code

"DelightAmy"
(case sensitive) at checkout. Nice of them!!

CLICK HERE for the @my ruppel Artist Series Bowl!

~

CLICK HERE for the @my ruppel Artist Series Tumbler!

Enjoy!

Hello! Delight.com has generously offered to give away two sets of @my ruppel Artist Series bowls and tumblers! Simply leave a comment after this post as to why you think YOU should have a bowl and tumbler set. TWO Winners will be chosen at random (names in a hat! ;) The contest runs through Tuesday, December 1st at 10am (pacific time). You can also enter at my Facebook Fan Page by leaving a comment there. Good luck, and thank you!!

Become a fan of Delight.com on Facebook too!

"Oregon Endangered Species: Western Snowy Plover & Northern Spotted Owl"

These two birdies are my two paintings for the  2nd Annual "Family Quilt Show" this December at Together Gallery, where they'll be tiling the walls with loads and loads of affordable amazing art. Opening night is Dec. 5th from 6-11pm (festive holiday sweaters recommended!) The show is up for two months, ending January 24th."Sielaff and Schonberg" will be closing out the night with some experimental jams for everyone's listening pleasure. Sielaff slings my perfect lattes in the morn, so it will be nice to see him out from behind the coffee machines!

 

SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT:

Here Gallery in Bristol, England!

I am very happy to be a part of this wonderful show in England! I only wish I could be there. If you're in the UK, please stop by the show!

I have some new "Mean Bird" paintings in this show!
SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT:

WE-ARE-FAMILIA at FOUNTAIN MIAMI
DURING ART BASEL WEEKEND Dec 3 - 6, 2009
2505 NORTH MIAMI AVENUE MIAMI, FLORIDA 33137

Presented in a series of 25 one-of-a-kind Keepsake Boxes made from recycled furniture and surplus materials; WE-ARE-FAMILIA showcases original "mementos" contributed by its family of artists and designers. Also on display, a selection of new work by members:

AMY RUPPEL 
CHANGE DESIGN
CHRIS YORMICK
DAVID TRUMPF
JEFF LEWIS
MARC MCANDREWS
NIGHTWOOD
SAGA WIDEN
SEB JARNOT
SEEE
THUNDERCUT
TINE LUNDSFRYD
TOBIAS ZARIUS

...enough said. He may be a dumbass, but he's a regal dumbass.

Two more "mean bird" paintings. Two pigeons, or doves. Same difference, really: "idiot" and "stupidhead". These are for the Fountain Art Fair in Miami, where they're building a sort of family tree out of our artwork. I picture these two as rival siblings about to roust!

My friend Scott Patt sent me this image via iPhone from the ICA in Boston. They're selling my cards there! I made them through the card company, Vigo. Cool.

Sold! This beautiful guy found a new home over the weekend. It was hard to part with this 30"x38" bastard, but it went to a lovely new spot in the lofty art-filled home of BT and Wil. It looks AMAZING there!! A perfect fit. He needs a black swan twin...

I was just in San Francisco for my art opening at Rare Device (more on that later), and had a lovely week in the warm fogless sunshine. On my way home, I stopped in Arcata along the coast to see my old friend Peter Mulvey play at the Arcata Playhouse. I've known him a long time, from my Milwaukee years, and we only get to see each other when he migrates south along the west coast from gig to gig like so many ponds... But it's always like I had just seen him yesterday. You have not heard a guitar until you've heard Peter play his. His music and words are inspiring to no end.

Long ago, he handed me his well worn hat and asked me to put an owl on it. I decided embroidery was the best way to place this feather in his cap. It's a little wonky, but, I like it. And more importantly, so does he.

I and many other local artists were asked to paint a bird to help the birds (with the help of the Portland Audubon Society).  This is the painting I made for the upcoming 6x6 Wild Art Project, "scrub jay". I love painting these noisy, greedy birds of blue and gray. It will be up for auction next weekend at the Wild Arts Festival, November 21 & 22. 

When I went to the festival last year, there was a woman with a great horned owl on her arm, on display. Staring into its deep, glassy, scheming eyes – that alone was worth the trip.

show ponies

Four commissioned wax paintings for a law office in Portland (11x14" each).
They needed some lobby love ;)

I was attempting some sewing last night. Here's my cat Camper, with that "just give it up, lady" look about what I had just made. I designed four different owls to make into plush toys. This one is the "I Am A World Traveler" owl. Obviously, "The Camp" is NOT impressed! I think I just need to make them a little bigger... or perhaps fill them with catnip.

England is a land of lush grasses, as I recall from my days there as a college student abroad for an unforgettable semester. I remember riding in a car with my friend Trevor, and his excitement when we saw a forest. He had lived in England his whole life, and had never seen a large grouping of trees. A forest. Ever. Made me appreciate growing up in the woods even more.

This is a print for the upcoming "Christmas Show" in Bristol this December at Here Gallery.

I illustrated some blog / site headers for Julia Lahme in Denmark. She just emailed me and asked... so I said yes. Ask and you shall receive! I love doing illustrations like these... colorfully minded, simple and sweet. The site is so nice and clean... I only wish I could read it!

I received a furry little package in the mail yesterday... "The Wild Things" by Dave Eggers, via McSweeney's. I'm glad I pre-ordered it, for I see it is now out of stock. I love holding this book, and can't wait to read it. Dave Eggers is one of my favorite authors ("Zeitoun" was amazing), so I'm excited to curl up with some hot cocoa and a blanket and read this fur-covered wonder.

On a crisp, breezy, autumnal Sunday morning, I was lucky enough to be a part of the wedding of two dear friends of mine, Carol and James. I love gifting my talents to dear friends for such occasions, and this was no exception. I designed invites + rsvp cards, programs, table numbers and the web site for their special day, and it suited their sweetness perfectly. Plus, it made them so happy! The greatest reward for me as an illustrator is to watch the smile spread across one's face when they see what I've done for them. The web site was really fun... I started a theme based on a favorite Robert Frost quote the couple chose, and drew two foxes that meet from afar across a brook. If you click from left to right on the links at the top, you will see the two foxes grow closer with each page of the site. I don't know if anyone else caught that little element, but I enjoyed it!

The wedding itself was so increbily sweet. A breakfast wedding! Complete with Voodoo Doughnuts, and the scent of bacon wafting in as they exchanged vows. Everything's better with bacon! Here's to a lovely new life for my dear friends...

I have a print available for FREE download at Indie Fixx's "Feed Your Soul: Free Art Project!" Just scroll down the page to find it, click it, print it and enjoy! Lots of lovely images there, including a sweet image by Julianna Swaney of Oh My Cavalier.

The "State Insects Series" sale starts today! 11am, Portland, OR, time. 14 honeybees, 5 monarchs... I've never drawn (or cut out) so many antennae in my life! But they turned out lovely, so, I hope you like them. Enjoy!

View the sale page here.

I recently designed two notebook covers for Engrave Your Book! Right now, the first TEN ORDERS receive a discount! Enter the code: 25ar1001lksjfsl to receive 25% off your purchase. Not too shabby! These covers are laser engraved onto all natural vegetable tanned leather and handmade right here in Portland, OR. These covers will last FOREVER, and will gather a lovely patina over time... like an old overstuffed leather chair in a gentlemen's club. And, you can refill it again and again with your favorite Moleskin notebooks. Did I mention how good they smell...? So very nice. Be one of the first ten to receive this very generous discount!

Click here for the "State Animals" cover.

Click here for the "Branches" cover.

Oh, Oregon. How happy I am that I moved here long ago... I made this print dedicated to the stands of trees all over this lovely state. Want one? It is available in my Etsy shop. Or come by my studio and pick one up (contact me for an appt).

Limited to 100 prints

Digitally printed onto heavyweight matte paper

Signed & numbered

Size A3: 16.5" x 11.7

Here's the lovely Lili at a press check for a t-shirt I designed for her team "Hi Lili Hi Lo" for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. The walk takes place in Portland on October 4th at Oaks Park. Lili is a dear friend with type 1 diabetes, and wears an insulin pump just like my dad does. She was lucky enough to have met President Obama earlier in the year as a member of the JDRF Children's Congress (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). To learn more about Lili, or to donate to her team, please visit her blog. Go Lili!!

Here's a sneak peek at a painting I made for an upcoming show with Lisa Congdon at Rare Device in November. Bovids represent! This is my portrait of a lovely "chamois". He's French. Ooh la la... Painting is 11x14, acrylic on board

Hello everyone! It is I, @my! I have been away from the bloggin' scene for a spell... but now that I have a new web site, I felt it was time I got back into the swing of things. This blog will focus on my artwork, shows, projects, etc. Every once in a while I'll throw in some pictures from my personal life or something... in case you find that at all interesting. My cat seems to think it is... But she also eats about 10 moths a night and really only follows me about the house in hopes of the occasional non-moth snack. So, go figure.

What's up with the red scarf/ghost title? Well, that stems from a long ago car ride when I wasn't wearing my glasses, and I saw a string of lights on someone's front porch. From my ultra powerful squintvision, the string of lights looked like ghosts... but then I thought, "No... you don't put a red scarf on a ghost." Or at least I thought I "thought" it. I actually said it out loud, much to the confusion of my car mates. They then said "They were snowmen." And, "Where are your glasses?"

The moral is: I am always, always observing and cataloging everything I see, interpreting it and putting it away for future drawing fodder. So lo and behold... there it be, as the subject of my new blog header... I try.

Anyway, it's good to be back! Have a good one everybody!