national arboretum


capital detail, yep I shimmied up a column to get a better look! ; )


Bonsai Tree

Capitol dome and DC on the horizon

Gorgeous weather and restless dogs led us (finally) to the National Arboretum this past weekend. Of course, my favorite feature, (pictured here) is the freestanding Corinthian colonnade prominently atop a hill at the center of the park. Against the blue sky, these giant columns feel like something out of a surrealist painting. ...or at least Athenian ruins. As with everything in this city, there is a historic back story. These sandstone pillars originally supported the U.S. Capitol's east portico (1828), but were replaced with marble columns during an expansion in the 60's. As you can also see, the trees and flowers are just beginning to blossom - there's a sweetness in the air that lifts your spirits a little. Hope you're enjoying the same!

the Frustrated Artist (home movie)



With all the buzz out there around the silent film the Artist, I thought this would be a good time (and perhaps the only) to share with you this home movie I made in my parent's backyard in 1992. I grew up idolizing the silent greats, especially Chaplin, who is obviously my inspiration for this somewhat lengthy, but noble effort. Ha! I was 12! Anyhow, when I was last at home I converted all the old tapes to dvd, edited what you see here in imovie, and used the 8mm app to give it that vintage feel. Hope you enjoy!


p.s. let's make a movie sometime : )

ABC world cities book

Athens, Greece - Acropolis


Copenhagen, Denmark - Canal Scene


Freetown, Sierra Leone - Market Scene


Guatemala City, Guatemala - textile market
Katmandu, Nepal - Ancient temples of Durbar Square


Prague, Czech Republic - Prague Castle Guard

Rome, Italy - the Colosseum

San Juan, Puerto Rico - El Yunque National Rain Forest
San Juan, Puerto Rico - El Morro fortress
Tokyo, Japan - Kabukicho district
Zagreb, Croatia - Zagreb Main Square w/ statue of Ban Josip Jelacic

*Details
Colosseum (detail)

San Juan Toucan (detail)

Kabukicho district (detail)

Zagreb Main Square (detail)

These are part of an ABC handwriting book for Sterling Publishing. As everyone around me can attest, this was my life these past couple months. I just got the okay to share a few, so here they are from the top; Athens, Copenhagen, Freetown, Guatemala City, Katmandu, Prague, Rome, San Juan, Tokyo, and Zagreb. I'll post more from the series when I can. Thanks so much Meredith, you are the best! Can't wait to see the finished product! Get your's here!

Jesus Christ Superstar



Where does the time go? I know I've been away, but I hadn't realized it had been so long! This is my latest collaboration with Brian and Pierre at Mercury Summer Stock. Check it out, it's a great cause. I liked what was happening with the Superstar so I included a detail.

3x3 Annual 2012

cover: Wonil Suh

The 2012 3x3 Annual in the mail yesterday and it cheered me up. Looking through all the cool stuff, I was surprised to see these! No one had let me know I'd made it in this year. I'm most proud of the teacher piece. When I see it, I think first and foremost of Mom and how much she loved her kids. I think of my own teachers Mr. Portwood, Mrs. Hunter, Mr. Geist, Mrs. Wunker, and Mr. Herd. I think of my middle school art teacher Bob Lynn. I think of you Mrs. Robinson, I can still recite All the World's a Stage, I think of you Susan Story, though I never sat in one of your desks, you've helped us in so many other ways all the more. I think of Ms. Hazel Haley who taught highschool English for 69 years! ...even teaching a Governor of Florida. I think of Frau Chapman, my German Leherin, I think of Rebecca Sexton Larson, Karen DeMichael, and Rocky Bridges - you guys are such amazing artists! Sending out a BIG thanks to you all today for all the good that you do! Do you realize how much you shape us?

Stanley Clarke Box Set



I'm playing catch up today - a few months back, Edward from Sony came to me with this job. Half the fun with working with you Edward, is catching up on the phone, always a treat! He just needed a black line art bass guitar to drop into his design. Here it is! After giving Stanley a couple hearings, I'm not sure he's my thing, but I absolutely love the music genre. Let's work together again Edward!

Vintage Care Bears






You know I don't think these ever went anywhere and for the longest time I didn't know what to do with them. But I figured what the hell, I'll share them on here today. Ryan from American Greetings came to me with this concepting job a while back asking the question, what if the Care Bears had been around in the 1930's? What would they look like? These were the results of another fun collaboration. Hope its okay if I post them...


Season's Greetings 2011




Surprisingly, Brad couldn't find Christmas cards with the White House out there. So, being the fabulous boyfriend/marginally talented greeting card designer that I am, I offered to help out. ; ) We thought it'd be fun to really play it up with script lettering, an oval frame, and crisp white on cream envelopes to make it all as 'Presidential' as possible. This was the end result, it's very 1968 LBJ administration to me. As for this Christmas 2011, wishing you all the best, have a wonderful holiday!

Mercury Summer Stock 2012



We're working on the upcoming season's promotions and so far this is my favorite. It began as one of those 'what the hell am I going to do with this situations?' I mean, whatever you think of the play or the original poster, they're icons, and so what business do we have even approaching them? But as I played around with it, I grew to like what was happening. I wanted it to be bright, bold, and completely different. I'm just not sure how limited I should go with the palette. I'll keep at it and will post the others soon.

Out There: 1970's San Francisco







This series appears in the latest edition of Out There Magazine, a sexy, aesthetic, very handsomely produced Gay travel magazine out of the U.K. They accompany an interview with Armistead Maupin and Jake Shears on their recent collaboration, a musical adaptation of Tales of the City. As you can probably imagine, this was one of the coolest opportunities to come my way and became a sort of escape, there for a few weeks. I want to send out a big thanks to Senior Creative Editor, Martin Perry, it was a true pleasure collaborating 'across the pond' and I'm hoping to do it again soon. Check out the latest dazzling issue of Out There, on shelves now at Barnes and Noble.

Right better bash on! -Martin

It's beginning to look a lot...






...like Christmas in Old Town, Alexandria. You couldn't help but hum christmas carols as you strolled down King Street Saturday night. This will be our first Christmas in the area and as you can see it was quite a festive night. Holiday shoppers, families, dogs of all sizes, and men of all ages in Scottish kilts, made for a surprise around every corner. : ) Of course, I had to throw a pic of Spencer into the mix. I hope you're experiencing a little 'magic of the season' where you are as well.

The Christoph's: Grandpa

The Christoph's of Erie, PA, are an untapped literary goldmine. You wouldn't believe the stories... But before we get into that, I want to focus on the cast of characters. I introduce to you Frank Christoph, the patriarch of the family, avid train enthusiast, and honorary city council member. He prided himself in his collection of stamps, lps, model trains, and lava lamps. Stern, Teutonic (I know I'm being redundant there), and possessing a biting wit, Grandpa was a proud union man and FDR Democrat. I knew him at the end of his life, when diabetes had taken his eye sight and hardened his shell, but deep inside, pumping insulin throughout his giant frame, was a heart of gold. In addition to raising eight children, he and my Grandma cared for 63 foster children. More to come!


Blue Sky and Gleaming Monuments





A couple weeks back we headed down to the National Mall to check out the newly restored District of Columbia War Memorial. It's long been one of my favorite spots, tucked away in a grove of trees off the main strip. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves as to the beauty of this little temple glowing in the afternoon sun. I will just say, you half expect to see the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream prancing about and that I wish I could have one of my own.

Letterbox remix




The other day I was playing around in photoshop, reformatting recent jobs to look like scenes from old movies. It was fun seeing them take on an entirely different context, just by dropping in the two black bars and adding the 'out of focus' background lights.

two things...


original version (they flipped her in the magazine, so glad she still held up! ; )

There's finally a nip in the air and the leaves are just starting to show their colors. On that note, I thought it would be a good time to show these. The first is the latest little fashionista for Family Circle, I believe it's out on the racks now (a fun fashion tip for all you ladies and cross-dressers out there). The second grouping arrived in the mail earlier in the week from Berlin. It's part of a funny named calendar produced in Germany featuring illustrators from around the World. I believe they found me on here through Tumblr. It's truly becoming a smaller world, so happy to have been included in the collection! You can see more illustrators and buy copies at Gestalten.com.

the latest from Washington...

Somehow it's all ready Fall again. Although it's my favorite time of the year, I have dreaded posting anything new. How do you move on? ...from that last post and in general? My dear Mom is one tough act to follow but as some of you have kindly expressed to me, Mom's creative spirit lives on in my own work. (and Sarah's too!) I really like that concept.


While I was in Florida I had plenty of time to think back on the world I was just getting to know in Virginia/ D.C. I began working on these at that time and so I thought I'd share them today. You probably know by now how fascinated I am with George Washington and his story, but what you may not know, is how fascinated the first President was with architecture and interior design. George was the sole designer behind Mt. Vernon, overseeing extensive renovations and making furniture purchases from the front lines of the Revolutionary War. The White House design was a sort of pet project, he took up on the side while serving as President. In selecting architect James Hoban's design, Washington set the aesthetic standard for all government buildings in the new Federal City. In contrast to the palaces of Europe, The White House's humble yet stately size was also attributed to Washington, as was it's color, white stone instead of the fashionable red brick of colonial Virgina. I know I'm crazy but for some reason I've always gotten into this stuff and Mom was always right there cheering me on.