My linocut print, "Coy Pond" was featured in a 30-second commercial spot for the Venus Envy show produced by WHBF CBS 4 in Davenport, IA. How fun! (Look at seconds 0.06-0.09)
It is a banner day! Eraser Carver for including me in your Treasury! I've ♥ everyone you have shown. Thank you so much!
I'm honored! Thank you FavreBijoux for having me listed in your "Drawing on nature treasury" on Etsy!
Available now in my etsy shop!
I have never been so happy that Spring is here! You would think that I would be used to the harsh, bitter Northern Illinois winters because I have lived here my entire life - but no! Each year that passes Spring 
becomes more and more a time to rejoice and celebrate new life and the promise of better days yet to come. These cherry blossoms embody the joy and delight that I am finding in Spring this year.
This was printed on Hosho washi with water based Graphic Chemical ink and heightened with watercolor from the reverse side.
Thank you to FunkyFinds for allowing me to use her photos as reference material.
I'm doing photo restoration here at work for a woman who is documenting her family genealogy in a book.
This photo really caught my eye. I'm not sure if it is because the muskie is so huge, that he is wearing a suit while fishing, or the environment it is being shot in - like the pebbles a chew can at his feet. It is all a real juxtaposition of elements that I find interesting.
Jurors: Carol Zack, Judith Nahill and the women of the Cambridge Artists Coop
Judge: Nina Weiss
Awards:
Best in Show: Christine Zachary, Oregon
2nd: Linda Horsley, Oregon
3rd: Jill Brody, Rhode Island
Honorable Mention: Christine Alfrey (WI), Amanda Stark (MI), and Jess Larson (MN)
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I am filled with inspiration after viewing the artwork shown at the NAAC Women's Works Show! Below are some of my personal favorites from the show: (top: Christine Zachary, Oregon, "Girl in City" - BEST IN SHOW!; Regina Lombardo, Illinois, "Morrell"; Ouida Touchon, New Mexico, "Women Dreamings"; Cindy Drozda, Colorado, "Moonstone"; Paulette Colo, Illinois, "The Blacksmith"; Tonya Hedgeman, Georgia, "Retreat")
Viewing the show helped me to refill my creativity cup. So many thoughts are now racing through my head (which is why I am up blogging at midnight! lol).
Foxontherun from Etsy was generous enough to design wardrobes for 15 lucky people and I was one of them!!! Here was how I described my "style:"
I like biomorphic, organic shapes and textures and a muted palette. I'm also a size 14... at 5'5'. I have no style because, at 42, I don't know what to wear that isn't too young or too old-lady-ish. What do you recommend?
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Here is her (AMAZING!!) response:
pejnolan:
pants (twine): www.lanebryant.com/apparel-accessories/bottoms/top-rated/...
shirt: (lilac) www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id...
sweater: www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?su...
shoeses: www.bluefly.com/Delman-pear-patent-leather-Mona-flats/cat...
bag: www.bluefly.com/Helena-De-Natalio-yam-pebble-leather-Bald...
earrings: www.my-wardrobe.com/emilie-hagen/gold-aspen-leaf-earings-...
ring: www.bluefly.com/Fabrizio-Giannone-smoky-quartz-Bacurupu-w...
Mary Richmond Design specializes in original watercolors and drawings of birds and wildlife. Her blog features such artists, especial those which use recycled materials. Although I don't use recycled materials in my artwork, she decided to feature it nonetheless. I admire the other artists she is showcasing, too! Take a peek!
As a side note, the tulips and crocus are popping up from the earth! I guess spring IS coming this year after all. You don't know how excited I was to see these small bits of life breaking out of the soil. I think I may have audibly gasped. It was 19°F at 6:30 this morning when I took the photo. Despite the cold, Spring knows better and has decided to arrive. I've said before that I've heard the robin's chirping in the mornings. The geese have been flying past in their V-formations on their way north. Ahhh. Each day will bring another sign of warmer weather and better days ahead.
Another step in the process of making PEJNOLAN Studios a reality. I've always wanted to own my own business, nothing huge. No glamorous fantasies, just a good solid little business. I've studied for years as to how to go about it. Now I've taken the plunge and there's no going back.
I've read my posts from the last year. So many of them are about what I've done and where I've gone. I've simply been stating the facts. I haven't shared what I've been thinking or capturing those beautiful, tranquil moments that I find amid the chaos of life. There have been many, many reasons for this.
Life kind of takes over once in awhile and the tenuous veil of control we think we have is torn in two. I could list everything that has happened, but then that would just be a list of more facts. I really want to delve deeper. So, rather than make a list of specific experiences; here is what I have learned (or maybe what I wish I could learn):
1. Hold on to the people you love because we are all mortal. Tell them how much they mean to you - SHOW them how much they mean to you.
2. See people for what they are. Look at what time and experience have proven this person or situation to be. All the talk in the world, all the good intentions – none of them trump actual action.
3. True friendships are few and far between. It is sad when they change.
4. I came into the world alone and I will leave the world alone. It is not a bad thing, it just is.
5. You may as well try for what you want because you don't get second chances.
6. Anxiety and worry don't help. Worrying about potential future events is counter-productive.
BooksbyStephen was kind enough to include my Dragonfly print in his Treasury entitled " Paper, Paint, and My Favorites." Thanks BooksbyStephen! If you get a chance stop by his shop for some wonderful hand-bound books. He also has vintage illustrations cut straight out of old books, not digital reproductions.
Tonight I was honored to meet my host, Sally, and all the residents at Oak Crest Retirement Center in DeKalb. They welcomed me with a fine dinner and great conversation.
Then it was down to business: I started with a brief history of printmaking starting with the eastern traditions, moving to the west and then finally how Commodore Matthew Perry's travels influenced to two in the mid to late 1800s.
I spoke about why I like woodblock prints and gave a demonstration showing each stage–Blocks using the same sketch were prepared at different stages so I could easily show each step quickly.
After the print was made I answered a few questions and told the stories behind the pieces. The participants seemed to like this part best and they invited me back sometime to show my work again!
Using a microphone wasn't as difficult as I imagined. There was a delay like I was expecting and it wasn't overly loud.
I think next time I would talk less about the history - there is just too much to say - either that or give just a few sentence overview. The demonstration part went smoothly and I don't know that I would change anything there. I had a great time and would enjoy the opportunity to give another "show."
A BIG thank you to Jacob for helping me set-up and clean-up and for taking photographs.
Tomorrow night I'm scheduled to give a demonstration/lecture about printmaking at Oakcrest Senior Center. I worked up the same block at different stages to show them quickly how a print is made. I'll be cutting that last little bit during the demonstration, then printing the block for them for the first time there. The block is a black and white study of the color print by K. Koizumi entitled "Bird on Berry Tree."
I'm nervous, but that is a good thing, right? That adrenalin will empwer me to do my best. I'll be wearing a microphone, which I've never done before. I hope that will help everyone to hear me because my voice is naturally soft.
Wish me luck! I'll let you all know how it goes.
I ordered her away and it was a honey bee. I looked around and there was another and another. Possible a hundred bees in small holes in the snow next to the tree where the raccoon lives. I could find them for about half a block.
I thought that maybe the bees had died in the late fall and the raccoon was digging in the tree and dislodged them, but then I noticed that all the bees were whole and all the wings were still attached. I would have thought that if they were dug out that some would be broken. A mystery!
The small holes could be accounted for because they warmed up more in the sun than the surrounding snow and so the snow had melted around them forming the holes.
Finding bees in northern Illinois in the middle of February?!? - it must be global warming... or the bad economy... lol.
UPDATE: I was doing some research and came across this blogger's post.
If you read that person's post, he mentions a brownish liquid around the dead bees. That same liquid was found with most of my dead bees. According to him, bees will take defecation flights in winter, but it was too cold for them and they died. This also explains the burrows in the snow.
We had an earthquake last week here in Illinois! I woke up at about 4am. Normally I am a very heavy sleeper and to wake up in the middle of the night is very unusual for me. The entire house was shaking. The objects on my dresser were rattling. Then I heard the very low rumble. I kept trying to think of what it might be. A passing train? No. A snow plow? No. Then I heard a loud, but muffled BOOM! I thought a snow plow had hit the curb or something. Then in my sleepy state I thought, "I wonder if this is what an earthquake would feel like? Maybe I should do something..." Zonk... just like that I went back to sleep. I didn't find out it actually was an earthquake until the next morning when it was on the news.
The Blue Heron print was created by request specifically for fellow Etsy shop owner KimWheatonCeramics as a trade. She wanted a heron print for her husband's birthday. I traded for a beautiful small pottery pitcher. So cool.
My "Earth Goddess" print was accepted into the "Art Woman" national show in Woodstock, IL and I sold "Coy Pond" from the showing at the Rockford Midwestern at the Rockford Art Museum.
My computer died and so my family was off the internet for a week - AH!!!! I had no idea how this tool has become interwoven into our everyday lives. I couldn't balance my checkbook, I couldn't pay bills, I couldn't communicate with my friends or run my Etsy shop. It was horrible! But we ended up buying a Dell quad processor, one terabyte computer and are live. YAY!
Finally, I completed the monochromatic portion of the UCC church painting and started placing colored glazes. I'm really liking the progress being made on that painting. It will be something I am very proud of for a long time!
FRIDAY:SATURDAY:
Cleaned, Cleaned, Napped, attended "The Nolan Family Meeting" at Twin's Tavern
SUNDAY:
Lazed about with a headache in the am, painted all afternoon, made a good dinner of bacon wrapped steak, sauted mushrooms and double baked potatoes. Klondike bars for dessert. Added tumbled marble tiles with my prints to my Etsy Shop.
UCC Painting - continued, originally uploaded by pejnolan.
It was a nice weekend. Friday night was the Rockford Midwestern Bienniel awards reception at the Rockford art museum. All day at work I kept thinking about it and each time I did my heart would race and my stomach would do flip flops! It was a lovely evening and many, many people I knew were there. My brother-in-law came, my husband and son came to cheer me on. There 
were a group of friends from the Kishwaukee Valley Art League, people I took classes with, and college instructors; and of course my brother and his wife. This year the museum grouped the work according to the artist. I was so proud to see mine hanging on the wall of a museum. It was very gratifying! My brother's work was on the opposite wall. Afterwards, we went out to eat at The Mediterrano restaurant to finish off the night. It was perfect. I was so jazzed up, though, I couldn't get to sleep until after midnight.
I woke up late on Saturday - 10:30am! Then Grace and I went for a walk at Northern Illinois University's lagood to look for the great horned owl which nests there every year. It was pretty cold and I couldn't find it. I figured it must be staying inside its nest in a hollowed out tree. I was driving home when I remembered there was a print show goi
ng on in the Altgeld Hall art museum. Mr. Bennett had chastised me for not being at the opening reception while I was speaking to him on Friday night. So, I stopped by for a quick visit. LOVED THE SHOWS! They were called the Cannonball Press: Root Hog, or Die! and the Midwestern BLAB!2. The cannonball Press show was of insanely large woodblock prints by the folks at Cannonball Press. I was in awe at the size and complexity and shear fun of the pieces. Take a peek at their work if you get a chance!
The day wasn't over, so I went into the studio and worked on the UCC painting I was able to finish the sleeve and was pretty pleased with how it turned out. Next I printed my Dragonfly woodblock (above)
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Sunday I made baked beans and went to my brother and sister-in-law's birthday party at my mother-in-law's house. It is always good to get together with everyone to catch up. They are an energetic bunch who revel in good conversation and there are many conversations going on all at the same time! It is chaotic and warm and friendly at the same time.
It's back to work tomorrow...
The cuts were made using a 3mm Josei Moku Hanga Maru To (u-gouge) and an X-acto. The finished print will be 7.75" wide x 9.5" high to fit comfortably inside an 8x10 mat with 1/8" on top and sides and 1/4" on the bottom to allow for the title and signature. The paper is still attached to the woodblock at this point. I'm carving away the wood outside of the image area and creating the kento registration marks. Here is what it looked like when the drawing was first applied to the block.
The paper has been removed (above) and this is the last time it will be pristine wood. I'll have to wait tomake a proof. It's already a quarter to nine and it's back to work tomorrow! I was glad to get the carving finished this weekend though!
I am very excited to be interviewed by Trina with The Bumpkin Blog where it's always folksy! They are based in Idaho. If you have a moment, please take a peek! I think she did an excellent job. A Big Thank you to Trina!
Finally, I have the final products from my very first thrown pottery class to show you. I really, really like the one with the handle. It is a matte finish with celedon and some type of white with brown specks in it. (I forgot what the white glaze was named.)
That's all for today. Hopefully tomorrow will be fun-filled, too!
I remember when I was younger being called outside by my father to witness Canadian geese fly overhead on their migration. Back then, it was unusual to see one. I remember hearing them breathe as they few overhead. It was one of those magical moments. They have made a comeback and now are almost a nuisance.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to see Sand Hill cranes more often? Maybe when my son is my age, he will!