So proud of this project for reasons big and small.

On the big end of the spectrum–this project fills a huge void–we need more multi- and bilingual websites with resources for people. Localization/multilingual solutions are increasingly becoming an issue in more and more of the projects we work on–as they should.

Venerable places–like he ACLU–have vital information available. Getting that information and disseminating it to more people is what I dream about when I dream of the power of teh interwebs. (Yes. It happens. More often than you’d imagine.)

And on the tiny end of the scale is how it impacted me. I got to work with the ACLU. This was my first big project of 2011. When I left my comfy corporate digs (oh how I miss some of those digs…), my goal was to use my powers for good. To have had a part in seeing this work come to fruition, well, I just don’t have words for how much that blows me away.

Worth it as it drips less than just linseed oil (I’m trying them with minimal, if any, pigment for now), and is much richer and more flexible than acrylic media. The depth of light and warmth of color is very nice to work with. I’m hoping to make the areas that have the glaze pop a bit more, but I’m liking the cooler yellows that are coming out in that area (I was going for a warmer effect in the middle, but so far the painting ended up reversing that idea).

Acrylics are so easy and such a dream to clean up, but still feel soulless to me. I can’t seem to get the colors I want–likely my lack of knowledge, but they just feel plastic. And they dry too quickly for how slowly I work. (For instance, this painting started as a completely different beast maybe ten years ago–you can still see parts of it through the more recent layers, but I keep adding to it and changing it…).

In typical fashion, I’ve gotta couple sketchbooks going. Here’s Kolokai being floppy and waving hello to you all on a rainy Monday…

On top of that, I find it hard not to imbue objects with character and personality. The NY coffee cup is stoic and trustworthy with its iconic design. The eggshells (coated with acrylic medium) contain all the wonder I felt at holding the chicks as they grew into egg-laying dinosaurs. The wishbones (washed and sunbleached) feel optimistic and hopeful…each one a potential wish-come-true.

No need to call in the professionals–I know enough to see the folly in it. To further keep the judgement at bay, every so often I make sure to I purge my tiny studio of these artifacts, mourning for every flimsy bit of lost potential along the way.

Above, the pines laugh,
tossing boughs on me below,
shattering lonely

The clouds move two ways
world spinning against itself–
try to hold steady
- by Kathy Couch

Here’s my two submissions for Mama’s Royal Cafe’s Napkin Contest.

510 <3 [above]
Just a bit of the bay and the cranes I love.

Sausal Creek [left]
Found some gorgeous graffiti on our dog walk along Sausal Creek. Altered it a bit to afflict the protected, and protect the affected, or something.

Seemed wrong to copy it outright without permission. Some of the drawings came from the graffiti, but I’m hoping I made it obvious that I’m not out to rip it off.

Forgot to take down measurements. The 510 <3 napkin (top, brown) is unfolded, and fairly large. The Sausal Creek napkin is smaller and folded.