Chi-town!

It's always a great thing to plan a getaway now and then. I'm just getting home from a doozy of one. Chicago, Chicago... That toddlin' town! The instigation to hit the Windy City was to visit friends and it was great to see Roller, Michelle, Kerry, and Mindy (who are all recentish transplants) as well as Tim, Shaun, and Jesse who were visiting too.

I also made it a point to catch a bunch of the sights I didn't get to on my short visit last autumn. I walked my little legs off as I experienced the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, a great riverboat architecture tour, and Giordano's Pizza. That was Monday. Tuesday brought Old Town and the Lincoln Park Zoo, a fantastic show at Second City, and a fun blues club called Kingston Mines where we loved the band headed by guitarist and singer Joanna Connor. On Wednesday, Roller and I took a little road trip down to Munster, Indiana and the brilliant Three Floyds brewery. Back in town, we caught the genius Avett Brothers at the House of Blues and then met up with more friends and more blues at Blues Chicago. Then before I hit the L out to O'Hare, we grabbed brunch at the fantastic Orange. It was a trip full of friends and food and music and adventures, and now I feel rejuvinated and ready to tackle this next week of art and packing... well, after I catch up wee bit on sleep.

Yes, the next week will bring lots of art including major strides on numerous projects, both commissioned and personal. I also hope to finally get the Squigs' Ink site redesign up and running. I'll be packing for my month in Wichita... and memorizing as much of my scripts and scores as possible. And, yes, I still have more adventures planned before I head to Kansas. These may include the Doheny Blues Fest, the Southern Cal Scots Fest, and a working getaway to the San Diego area. Does it seem like I'm packing too much in? I love it.

So now I've gotta get on to the next thing. But before I do, I have to give thanks for loved ones responding well to cancer treatments. Especially Grandma who has a much better idea of what to expect next. Take care, all. Hug a loved one. Go on an adventure. Peace & love!

In a rush...

Since I'm heading off to Chicago for a few days – and then after I get back have a mere 10 days before I toddle off to Wichita for a month – I'm working hard at getting some art done. The major projects are two collections of promotional logos for theatres – one localish and one in Seattle. My goal is to get finalish versions done and sent off for approval before I go, so that in the time after Chicago, I can make adjustments and hone the final art. That would leave my crazy Wichita schedule free of deadlines. We'll see what happens, but I'm giving it a good try.

The audition I mentioned in the last post didn't work out in my favor. Among whatever reasons it didn't happen... I'm too short for the mix of the cast. Ah well. That's the biz. Disappointing but understandable. On to the next thing.

So here I go... back to the illustrations on my light board. Wish me productivity! Peace and love, y'all.

Preparation.

I received a great big package in the mail today that included the scripts and scores for Forum and My Fair Lady as well as some research resources for the latter. So exciting! It's funny how as an adult I actually look forward to homework. Forum is relatively simple for me – parts of a few songs and some sections of fast-paced dialog (which I do realize are substantial) – but I have a bit of freedom in my approach. My Fair Lady is going to take a bit more work. Alfie Doolittle is a renowned key character in literature. There's that specific dialect, those two big songs, and thanks to Shaw, the lengthy and lovely rants on morality. Add to this the delicious challenge of portraying a character quite a bit older than myself, and I've got my work cut out for me. I'm SO thrilled to have been given the opportunity to tackle all of this, and I look forward to the work. Here we go!

In other show biz news, I had a callback today for a show that would begin rehearsals the day after Fair Lady closes. I think it went rather well, but you never know how things will go for whatever reason. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

On the drawing board, I'm plugging away at numerous projects. I've just finished up a bookmark and two t-shirt designs for the green education project out in Riverside. I'm currently working diligently on the 2008/2009 season artwork for theatre companies in Seattle and Southern California. The work load has been abundant and enjoyable.

Finally – and I'm realizing this has been quite the post – I'm headed to Chicago next week to visit friends Justin, Michelle, and Mindy. Can't wait! Things have been busy and it will feel great to get away for a few days and see these folks. Take care, all. Peace and love!